20:57 <Crion> So when's the last time any of you went to a baseball game? 20:59 <trenchfoot> Oh, wow. 1917, 1918? Somewhere around then. 20:59 <Crion> Ah. So Nels has never had crab fries. 21:00 <trenchfoot> Crab what nows? 21:00 <banana> Technically, never. There's nothing wrong with the game but... there are alternatives. 21:00 <banana> If pressed, Melanie prefers it to hockey. 21:00 <Crion> Put something else on Stewart's list of things to introduce her to. 21:01 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart doesn't remember when it was. Steve Trachsel was pitching, which seems less memorable than the date. Got in an argument with dad on the way home. 21:03 <dammitwho> What the jiminy is crab fries? French fries made out of molded crab meat? 21:04 <VoxPVoxD> They're fries seasoned like crab. Oh man does Maggie not know about Old Bay?? 21:04 <CBN> Tony was a football-all-year kind of guy. A sport where you don't hit each other? Not much of a sport. 21:04 <Crion> In fairness, sometimes they're fries with Old Bay-seasoned crab dip on them. 21:05 <dammitwho> Hmm. There must be a way to keep crab meat together in french fry shape, though. Cheese? Maybe deep fry 'em? 21:06 <VoxPVoxD> You can definitely do it. Lot of places sell crab sticks. Those are mostly fake crab meat but that's for cost, not engineering reasons. 21:07 <Crion> This will be everyone but Stewart's first time visiting Oriole Park at Camden Yards, then. Temporarily, at least. 21:12 <Crion> It's December, so there shouldn't be too many people around, but the big warehouse across from the field is where the Orioles' front office is. And that's going to have at least some people coming or going -- maybe more than usual, as some of you might know. 21:12 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart passes the warning to the rest of the motley. 21:13 <banana> That's good. Let's see if we can plan this thing better than we planned the abortive raid on Proctor's crew of malefactors. "So.. were we looking for the Hedge around the ballpark? Are we going there through the Hedge?" 21:13 <Crion> Obviously, it'll be easier to get around the Inner Harbor if you're not strapped up with bulletproof vests and handguns, but you still might want those things. What's the approach? 21:13 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Hoom. I'm not all that stealthy..." 21:17 <CBN> Tony: "I am but...if we've got a way that keeps us from having to even risk being around people we don't want to deal with, that's probably a safer way to round out the day." 21:18 <banana> Melanie makes the case for avoiding reality: "We probably don't need to touch down on Earth at all. Jackie's going to be deep in the Hedge and we can just dodge walls and guards the sme way they have." 21:20 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Suits me." 21:21 <banana> "Finding the corresponding quasiplace isn't easy, but.. Tony can get us there." 21:21 <CBN> Tony: "I hope they don't have...what's his name from the TV, from New York, the Mister Met. I hope there aren't those in the Hedge here." 21:23 <dammitwho> Maggie: "I can't think of a baseball mascot I would want to meet." 21:23 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We could go through the Hedge, but the Inner Harbor Hedge is gnarly. It'd take much longer even if nothing goes wrong." 21:24 <VoxPVoxD> "What if we just... solved our problem with magic?" 21:24 <banana> Melanie: "I knew that stuff had to be good for something." 21:26 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Do any of you have a needle or a pin?" 21:30 <banana> Melanie looks at.. Nels? Has Nels bowed out yet? If so, Tony or maybe Maggie.. 21:31 <CBN> Tony's leaning against a low fence and stretching, since Hedge shit usually resolves with some sort of painful exertion. 21:31 <trenchfoot> Nels likely wished them well back at the Wherehouse and began fretting. 21:32 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Yeah, sure! Hang on." She'll scuttle to her room and come back with a sewing needle, if nobody else has anything. 21:32 <banana> Phew. 21:34 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart thanks Maggie for the sewing needle, and immediately jabs it into his right index finger. Slight wince. He applies pressure until a round droplet of blood bubbles up from the wound, and then blows on it, causing it to vanish in a whirl of orange sparks. "...yeah. Yeah okay we should be good. Let's go." 21:36 <banana> Melanie levers herself upright and plucks a coat off the corner of a nearby bookcase. "Now, obviously as creatures of the Wyrd - attuned, um, against our wills to the currents of destiny - we can all tell that something just happened." 21:37 <banana> What was it though. What was the thing. 21:38 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I've destined myself to find an unattended Hedge portal at Camden Yards. So stick close; the hand of Fate is on my shoulder." 21:38 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Is that... good?" 21:39 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "No, to the contrary." 21:39 <dammitwho> "Oh." 21:41 <CBN> Tony: "Siiiick." Tony's geared up with some heavy clothing with a few key reinforced points, and grabbed his trusty shotgun, which in his head is named 'Slayer of Empties' but he would never tell anyone except maybe Stewart. 21:42 <VoxPVoxD> The motley, minus Nels, gears up and moves out, for good or ill. It's a fifteen minute walk at most from the Market to Camden, but no one gives the changelings a second look - a cop car hit a fire hydrant on Eutaw Street and everyone's rubbernecking that. They cut down into the concourse, and find... an open door? 21:43 <Crion> It heads into one of the memorabilia shops. Well, a memorabilia shop combined with a Remember Some Orioles Guys shrine (which then sells all their jerseys and associated knick-knacks). Or it did, at least -- until someone turned it into a portal. 21:44 <Crion> You think you can actually feel wind coming through. Not a common trick of the glamour...but not unheard of. 21:44 <VoxPVoxD> Does it smell weird? 21:45 <Crion> Down the concourse there's a custodial worker sweeping with their back to you, backing your way. Still a ways off, but could turn around any time. You fulfilled the deal, after all. 21:45 <Crion> Smells like fresh-cut grass. 21:45 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Suspicious, but in-bounds. Let's go." 21:46 <banana> Riding the currents of fate like this is an interesting experience. Melanie feels vague, swaddled away from the world despite passing through it. There's an illusion of safety, but it would be a lonely way to perceive things - props and scenery to be arranged into a narrative. She won't be looking into that contract. 21:46 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart will enter the portal unless halted. 21:46 <dammitwho> Maggie will hustle after him. 21:46 <CBN> Tony will as well. 21:46 <trenchfoot> Once they've left, Nels begins... well. Where to begin. There's family in the city. At UMBC, even. Maybe if she starts simple, and types NELS FOULKE RELATives into her new Chromebook. (She noticed the caps lock was on partway through.) 21:48 <banana> "This is the kind of portal people stumble through and get caught." 21:48 <VoxPVoxD> Flatly: "Yes." 21:48 <banana> Melanie's following too, she's just.. keeping an eye out on the other side. Worst case, there could be an actual abduction in progress. 21:49 <Crion> Inside the sky is starkly overcast, and strange pillars of...Hedge itself...rise up into roiling clouds. It's got just as much visibility as Stewart remembers from his time in Santander's office above it all, but a lot more violence. The wind whips through the Hedgerows in staggered gusts, not constant or even semi-constant like a real weather system would, and the Hedge itself is padded 21:49 <Crion> outfield walls overgrown with thorny ivy. 21:49 <banana> "It actually reminds me.. um, there was a locker room. Inside the showers, a note.." Well, that's a long way in the past. 21:51 <CBN> Tony looks around. "Wow, this is even shittier than usual. Keep an eye out for Mister Mets I guess." 21:52 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I wonder if you can still find feral Youppis in the Montreal Hedge." 21:52 <banana> Melanie: "If a big orange bird comes out of those walls, don't feed it." 21:53 <banana> "Let's follow the wind- might be affected by Jackie?" 21:53 <CBN> Tony: "How big we talking? Oh, good idea." 21:58 <trenchfoot> Well, these results are useless. A husband whose name she skips over, her long-dead parents (John Edward and Susan Foulke), and three children, all of whom are also likely dead by now: Vernon, Susan, and Sarah. Grandchildren and great-grandchildren aren't mentioned. 21:58 <trenchfoot> She's going to have to talk to someone. 22:03 <Crion> What you can tell about the immediate area you've landed in beyond its foreboding weather is...there are tracks, big ones, bipedal but birdlike, leading to the portal...and then away from it. 22:03 <trenchfoot> Fifteen minutes later, there's a knock at Stewart's apartment door, to see if Lauren Ipsum is in. She's got her laptop with her, but not much else. 22:05 <Crion> There's the scrape of a chair inside the apartment, then a darkness in front of the door as someone checks the keyhole...then the bolt is thrown and Lauren opens the door wide. "Nels!" 22:05 <CBN> Tony squats to take a closer look at the tracks. "Well, neither of these look good really." 22:05 <CBN> Tony: "I forget---does Jackie have bird feet? Does anyone we know?" 22:05 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Hi! Um, are you busy? I need some help with..." She gestures vaguely. "A project?" 22:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "You know, I have no idea. I don't really notice people's shoes and stuff." 22:06 <Crion> "Sure! Come in!" 22:06 <dammitwho> Maggie: "I don't think they do." 22:06 <Crion> "Mrrow." says Chup. 22:07 <Crion> Jackie's a Beast, but they're not birdlike. 22:07 <trenchfoot> She steps inside and makes sure to pet Chup as she sits down. "So. The project. I'm not really sure where to start with... looking someone up? But I've been meaning to start on this for ages, and, well." She absently pets Chup some more. "I've got to have relatives living, right? And I want to see if I can meet one." 22:08 <CBN> Tony: "Well, shit. Our options are tracking where the birdperson came from before hitting the portal, or where it went. Any preference before I do my thing?" 22:08 <Crion> Actually, Tony, those seem to be the same thing. You get that for free. 22:09 <Crion> The tracks come up to the portal, then retreat back the same way. 22:09 <CBN> Tony clears his throat. "Well, good news is, this should be easy." 22:09 <banana> Melanie: "..but what's at the end of the trail? Probably something as silly as it is menacing." 22:10 <banana> "Well, it's that or we start spinning and take whatever they throw at us. That's a last resort." 22:10 <dammitwho> Maggie: "I feel like we don't want anything to do with a baltimore oriole." 22:10 <CBN> Tony: "Well, whatever it is, follow me and I guess we'll see!" Tony pauses a moment to do his thing, which to everyone else looks like just sort of staring blankly ahead and wiggling his...well his feet are dirt over here, so it's just dirt wiggling in dirt, but, there's something going on. And off he goes. 22:11 <Crion> Lauren closes the door and hesitates, leaning back against it. "...Are you sure you want to do that?" 22:12 <CBN> Tony grips his shotgun tighter. 22:12 <Crion> "I mean if so, I'll help. But..." 22:12 <trenchfoot> She exhales. "I - yeah. At least to know. Maybe to meet them." 22:13 <Crion> Lauren: "...Alright. So what've you done so far?" 22:16 <Crion> The trail leads deeper into the Hedge, and the walls turn from padded-outfield into faux-brickwork, like the warehouse's. The one across from Camden Yards, that is. The creature, whatever it is, seems big, and seems to be more in a hurry going than it was coming -- it seems like it ambled up to the portal, then fled back the way it came. That, or the way its weight distribution works is 22:16 <Crion> completely alien to Tony. 22:17 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart doesn't really know Jackie, but they've been with the Freehold for a lot longer than this spate of attacks has been happening. So if they're involved - which Stewart doesn't really believe - something has to have changed. But what...? He's mostly in his own head as he follows behind Tony. 22:17 <banana> Melanie: "It's like something tried a breakout but was turned back... which is Jackie's job, incidentally." 22:17 <banana> "If we're really lucky, they're chasing it." 22:17 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Not much. I wasn't really sure where to start, so..." She opens her laptop and turns it around - there's an official Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame biography page, listing the names of her parents, husband, and children. "I wasn't sure what all would be public after that and I didn't want to go breaking anything..." 22:18 <CBN> Tony: "But how often are we lucky?" He asks rhetorically, while assuming that even saying that is daring the Hedge to start fucking with them. 22:18 <Crion> Eventually the path ends at...a door, or really a banged-on crude add-on, to a ruined storefront much like the one you walked in through. None of the words on it make sense, and the jerseys hanging in the window have unreadable script on them and random characters from the bottom of an ASCII character map instead of numbers. But the tracks go inside. 22:19 <Crion> Inside, faintly, you can hear something wheezing softly but quickly -- hyperventilating, but trying to be quiet. 22:19 <banana> Melanie: "Luck.. is another philosophical question. It manifestly exists! Stewart manipulated fortune to even bring us here. But the idea of getting lucky, both colloquial and literal, makes more assumptions: it's a claim that the subject has received an unexpected or unfair benefit." 22:20 <Crion> Lauren bites her lip and thinks for a minute. "Okay...so you had kids before you were taken?" 22:20 <Crion> "Fetches...usually aren't fertile..." 22:20 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart wonders what you would sell in a Hedge gift shop, as opposed to a gift shop in the Hedge. Little plush Oscars, maybe. Candles with Steve dressed like the Virgin Mary. Lot of options. 22:20 <CBN> Tony holds up a hand to get the group to stop, then holds a finger to his mouth in the universal 'hush.' And then, waits a moment. 22:20 <Crion> "Sometimes the kids only exist on paper." 22:21 <banana> Melanie hushes. 22:22 <trenchfoot> She shakes her head. "I... no. I didn't." 22:22 <Crion> Lauren: "Well...maybe yours was the exception!" 22:23 <Crion> She's trying to put on a happy face. 22:23 <CBN> Tony clears his throat. "Hey in there. Could you help us? We need help finding someone. We don't want to cause any trouble." 22:23 <trenchfoot> Nels: "...any way for us to tell?" 22:24 <Crion> A whimper, but no movement. You might have to go in. 22:24 <Crion> Lauren: "Do you have any pictures?" 22:24 <Crion> "Of the kids. I don't see any here." 22:25 <Crion> "Images are powerful magic, especially photographs. If it turns out we need them." 22:25 <CBN> Tony lowers his gun to alongside one leg with his off-hand and steps forward, slowly. "We're coming in, okay? Four of us, just want some help looking for somebody to tell them something." 22:25 <Crion> Still no movement. 22:25 <banana> Melanie: "..maybe send just one of us in first if we don't want to scare it. I could go.." 22:26 <trenchfoot> Nels: "No, um." She turns her Chromebook back around and tries searching "vernon FOUlke photographs." 22:27 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart doesn't have his gun out. It's not for diplomatic reasons, it just doesn't naturally occur to him to draw it. 22:27 <CBN> Tony continues advancing. "We're looking for...their name is Jackie? If you know them? We want to talk to them just quick here and we'll leave." 22:30 <trenchfoot> ...nothing doing. "Nothing for Vernon. There's mentions of him but mostly regarding my fetch..." Oh dear. 22:30 <Crion> Past the door and inside the lair beyond is a workshop with a large, warmly lit table, sitting on it a number of bobbleheads and small replica stadiums and, hanging on a hook in the corner, a straw hat with a strange version of the Orioles logo and what's not quite Miller Lite emblazoned on it. In the back, instead of a wall, it opens into a vast warehouse with rows and rows of stadium 22:30 <Crion> giveaways stacked floor to ceiling in an almost impermeable barrier. Someone has been unboxing them, one by one, and lovingly touching them up on the workbench, then setting them aside and continuing the work. 22:31 <Crion> That someone is probably the creature huddled at the back of the room, one of the ugliest single things Tony has likely ever seen in his life, a hideous combination of bird and man with a ridiculous tiny hat atop its head -- and giant, terrified, sad eyes. "No hurt," it says. "No hurt." 22:32 <banana> Melanie: "Oh my god, it's worse than I expected." 22:33 <Crion> It cringes at the insult. 22:33 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's heart breaks at the sight of the creature. 22:34 <dammitwho> Maggie puts a hand on Melanie's shoulder. "Hey... hey now." 22:34 <CBN> Tony smiles cheerfully: "Hey buddy! No hurt here, no." 22:34 <dammitwho> To the critter: "Don't worry, fella. We're not going to hurt you." 22:35 <banana> Aside: "Well, I don't mean it like that. I was expecting one of the mascots with razor feathers or beak or something.." 22:36 <Crion> It relaxes slightly, seeing the four of you for the first time. Lowering its wing-arms: "...Fans...?" 22:36 <CBN> Tony: "We're just looking for somebody. We don't want to hurt you, and we won't hurt you. No hurt." 22:36 <CBN> "Are fans good?" He gives a thumbs up and smiles. "Fans?" 22:36 <Crion> The creature looks positively delighted. "Fans!" 22:36 <CBN> Tony, happy to have made a breakthrough: "Fans! Go team!" 22:37 <banana> Jesus, this thing has the wrong impression. Let's just.. look elsewhere. The memorabilia's not bad. 22:37 <CBN> Tony extends a hand, slowly. "I'm Tony. Big fan." 22:37 <Crion> It sweeps over to the table in a rush of feathers and limbs, and you can see that honestly, it could be quite terrifyingly powerful if it wanted to be. But instead it's smiling and burbling, "First 20000 fans get bobblehead...first 15000 fans get model stadium..." 22:39 <CBN> Tony: "Is...is it bobblehead day?" 22:39 <Crion> Lauren: "Alright, one photo's good. If we run out of EVERYTHING else, divination magic might help. But first...okay, so, we're either checking adoption records, or records of live birth -- birth certificates. Not going to lie, I think it's the adoption records we want, but the birth certificates are going to be more accessible in public-facing databases...so let's at least see. Do you have 22:39 <Crion> any idea where your fetch was living when she was born?" 22:39 <Crion> "Er, when the kids were born." 22:39 <Crion> "Though I guess the first phrasing might...be appropriate." 22:40 <banana> Oh! An idea: "Wow. Are we the first to win these prizes, or was there anyone else recently?" 22:40 <Crion> The Oriole of Baltimore, happily: "Stadium day! Stadium day!" 22:40 <Crion> It pauses. "Something else." 22:40 <Crion> "Something out there." 22:40 <CBN> Tony: "Is it what hurt? What did it look like?" 22:42 <trenchfoot> Nels: "When she was born would've been... somewhere in Nebraska, maybe Iowa? I was lugging our instruments to, well. Here. The kids, probably here." 22:42 <Crion> Before your eyes, it pulls a slapdash, frankly shitty looking "Camden Yards" looking replica and goes to work with an exacto knife and pallete of paints and brushes. Almost immediately it turns from a mass-manufactured piece of trash into a true work of art...even if this "Camden Yards" has a Warehouse that's a couple stories too tall and an infield with four bases instead of three. 22:43 <Crion> It hesitates and puts its creation down. "Do not know. Secret. Hidden." 22:43 <banana> That might be a more interesting game. Make them sweat. 22:43 <Crion> "Dangerous." 22:44 <Crion> Lauren blinks. "Nebraska and Iowa. Shit. Well, you don't make this easy." 22:44 <Crion> "Republican states aren't big on digitizing." 22:44 <Crion> "That doesn't mean Ravens can't do it...but it does mean it's more dangerous." 22:44 <Crion> "And that you're likely to owe Autumn a favor." 22:45 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Hey, that stadium's pretty good." 22:45 <Crion> The creature happily shoves the knick-knack into Tony's hands in lieu of a handshake. "First fan!" 22:45 <CBN> Tony, sincerely, to the Oriole: "It's a great stadium there big guy." 22:46 <CBN> Tony beams. "Thank you!" 22:47 <Crion> The huge, ugly creature beams...and gets to work on another one. "Second fan, second fan," it burbles in sing-song to itself. 22:47 <trenchfoot> Nels: "If she's got the same records I do, it'd be Nebraska. Sorry, I thought you were asking -- well." She shakes her head. "The digitizing thing, though...?" 22:48 <Crion> The Orioles of Baltimore -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n5laVhlwKU You make the magic happen...the magic of Orioles baseball! 22:48 <CBN> Tony waits politely for the creature to finish what it's working on, before asking: "Have you seen the person we're looking for, in here or out there? They look like..."Tony looks to the rest of the motley: "Uh, anyone know?" 22:49 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart can describe Jackie Ordinary very vaguely. 22:49 <dammitwho> Unfortunately, Jackie is kind of proverbially hard to describe. 22:50 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's only met them once is all. Being outside the gender binary isn't Lovecraftian ineffability. 22:50 <dammitwho> It's more due to being a Mirrormask. 22:50 <Crion> Finishing the second stadium -- which looks different than the first -- the Orioles happily repeats, "Jackie, Jackie. Know Jackie." 22:51 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Hey, that's great! Do you know where they are?" 22:51 <CBN> Tony: "That IS great!" 22:52 <banana> Oh, so it wasn't Jackie threatening the.. number one fan over here. 22:53 <Crion> "Jackie fine," the bird says dismissively, then seems to put two and two together and turns, eyes wide. "Jackie hurt? Jackie in trouble?" 22:53 <Crion> It's already started work on the third, for Stewart. 22:54 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart knows exactly where in the apartment he's gonna put his. 22:54 <dammitwho> Maggie: "We don't know. That's why we're looking for them." 22:55 <Crion> Lauren: "Well, Ravens doesn't actually need it digitized. That just makes it easiest. But if they need to go on a trip, well...Shouldn't be a problem, but I'll check in with them." 22:56 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Jackie's been away from home for a long time. We just want to see them." 22:57 <Crion> Bird nods, finishing up the third one and pressing it into Stewart's hands. In this, the warehouse is a wide, tan brick tower, almost a wizard's tower but squat, and the grass and dirt of the infield and outfield have been reversed. "They here. Near!" 22:57 <Crion> It begins the fourth and final, for Melanie. 22:57 <VoxPVoxD> Siiiiick. 22:59 <banana> Despite herself, Melanie inches closer, rustling. "Hey, thanks. Do you want us to take one of these to Jackie as well? If you know where they are?" 23:00 <Crion> Proudly: "Jackie has many!" It shoves the trinket into Melanie's hands. Hers, oddly but very clearly, has polished basketball hardwood flooring instead of infield dirt. "Jackie big fan. Take you to them." 23:01 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Sorry, I think I got confused - um. Though I guess it might be neat to have my original paperwork and all, but, not necessary. The kids'd be from, well. Here." 23:02 <Crion> Lauren: "Well! That's much easier. Can you write down their full names and ranges for DOB, just for reference? I'm gonna get logged in to Ravens." 23:02 <banana> You could dribble on that, but you shouldn't. 23:02 <CBN> Tony: "Thank you!" Tony looks back at the motley with a happy little 'when in Rome?' shrug. 23:06 <Crion> The bird will tidy everything up super-quickly and then make an awkward waving motion to follow. 23:06 <VoxPVoxD> Hooray! 23:06 <CBN> Tony will of course follow. 23:07 <dammitwho> Naturally. 23:07 <banana> Does this thing fit in a pocket? It's actually pretty well made. Maybe worth using as a bookstop. 23:08 <Crion> It's neither stealthy nor graceful, but it seems to know exactly where it's going, obviously delighted, humming to itself as it goes, tucking its arm-wings to its side like a bird even though it stomps around like a man. 23:08 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's kitchen table needs a centerpiece. 23:08 <Crion> It's about paperweight sized, yes. 23:08 <Crion> Well, a large paperweight. 23:09 <Crion> Out of the box they were about four inches in diameter, but the bird's craftsmanship seems to have made them a bit bigger. 23:09 <Crion> ...Wind's picking up. 23:10 <trenchfoot> Vernon Thomas Foulke, 1921-1935ish? Susan Josephine Foulke, 1923-1935ish? And Sarah Helen Foulke, 1925-1935ish. Her fetch probably didn't immediately stop touring to have a family, so they'd likely be from the later 20s, but she really isn't sure. 23:11 <banana> As they move through the stadium corridor/thorns/memorabilia-wall-maze, Melanie breaks off thorns and wooden struts with gestures. She grafts them to her forearms, bright with.. defensive potential 23:13 <Crion> It takes Lauren awhile to get some leads, and she has more than a little bit of trouble getting into the city databases. She even has to consult with Ravens at a point -- not for anything on her end, but because of a completely broken web portal. Eventually: "Do you want me to order some food? Or go back to your room? It might be awhile." 23:14 <Crion> Chup, meanwhile, has spent much of the time just staring at Nels. Only now has he deigned to approach...and flop. 23:15 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's mind is again elsewhere, picturing having people over for dinner, table pulled out into the middle of the room. He and Lauren would learn to cook something together, everything would be warm and happy and *his*... 23:17 <CBN> Tony's wishing his heavy clothing protected against the ill wind that's chilling him to the bones here. It is shittier in this part. 23:17 <trenchfoot> Well, she was going to get up, but now there's a cat. "I'm all right for now. I'll just browse the internet - and Chup seems to want me to stay, so." 23:19 <Crion> Lauren: "Chup, don't bother Nels." She doesn't sound like she means it, though. Or more likely, she just doesn't expect him to listen. 23:19 <trenchfoot> Cats are well known for listening to instructions. 23:22 <Crion> The bird leads them eventually to... 23:22 <Crion> [the Hedge shifts] 23:22 <Crion> ...a baseball diamond. 23:22 <Crion> The storm up above has gotten worse. 23:22 <VoxPVoxD> But it's just windy, right? Not raining? No chance of calling the game then. 23:23 <Crion> None. 23:23 <Crion> The bird wanders to the mound, then turns back towards you, confusion in its great eyes. "Jackie...here?" 23:24 <CBN> Tony looks around. "Helloooo?" 23:24 <Crion> From behind you: "I'm here." The Hedgewall ripples and Jackie steps out of right-center, leveling a hunting rifle. "You got the bird involved? Really?" 23:24 <Crion> Their eyes narrow. "Where's Nels." 23:25 <Crion> Above, thunder. You've never heard thunder in the Hedge before. 23:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Nels didn't feel right about coming." 23:25 <banana> Melanie: "Jackie Ordinary, it's good to see you again. You really helped us out, months back. I'm sorry to say we're here with a command from the reigning, nameless King." 23:25 <dammitwho> "Is this place safe?" 23:26 <Crion> Jackie: "It is absolutely not safe. Nels didn't feel right about coming. Huh." 23:26 <Crion> They lower the rifle. "Well, this is a shitshow. I--" 23:26 <banana> Melanie sets herself against/into the ground. What with the unsafety. 23:26 <Crion> Lightning stikes home plate. 23:27 <Crion> Jackie's eyes go wide. "Bird! Run!" 23:28 <CBN> Tony prepares to cover the bird's exit if necessary, for some reason he couldn't articulate if pressed. 23:28 <Crion> Jackie Ordinary -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4zluA60hjs Rise with me forever, across the silent sand; and the stars will be your eyes, and the wind will be my hands. 23:29 <dammitwho> Maggie will also try to help the bird escape, because it's a sweet little critter who just wants to give out souvenirs to the fans. 23:29 <Crion> Eyes wide, the Oriole flees. It seems quite able to do that on its own, thankfully. 23:30 <dammitwho> Whew. 23:30 <Crion> Jackie: "You were followed." 23:30 <Crion> "So I'll ask you again about Nels." 23:30 <Crion> Her voice is rising as the wind picks up. 23:30 <Crion> Lightning strikes first base. 23:31 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "She's not here!" 23:31 <banana> Melanie: "If we've brought danger here we'll help to see it off, but I don't know what you're implying." 23:32 <CBN> Tony: "Nels was safe at home last we saw!" 23:32 <trenchfoot> Elsewhere, Nels pets Chup. 23:32 <Crion> Jackie snarls. "Not my--" 23:32 <Crion> Lightning strikes second base. 23:33 <Crion> Jackie: "Okay I don't know what the fuck this is, but when it touches home plate again, we need to be ready to kill it." 23:33 <CBN> Tony: "Yeah okay." First Hedge rule: Roll with this shit. 23:34 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart pulls his gun. Safety off. 23:34 <banana> Sure, it's not the time for argument. Melanie will trudge toward home plate, gathering the air about her as she goes; miniature gusts take over from the storm form blossoms and strip away bark. 23:34 <Crion> Lightning strikes third. "Safeties off!" 23:35 <CBN> Tony levels his shotgun at home plate. Never was one for games of reflex, but hey. Rolling with it. 23:35 <dammitwho> Maggie cracks her knuckles. 23:36 <Crion> Lauren, after almost of three hours of work. "...Holy shit. Nels!" 23:37 <trenchfoot> She snaps out of her vague Wikipedia diving and light doze: "Hnn? What's up?" 23:38 <Crion> "I've...come look at this. Make sure this is Sarah's certifice." She loads up a chunky but clear digital scan of a certificate of live birth with all of Sarah's information. "I couldn't find Vernon or Susan, but..." 23:38 <Crion> Lightning strikes home. 23:39 <VoxPVoxD> And the crowd goes wild. 23:40 <Crion> The roiling clouds in the sky shiver, then curl and shudder into a single, coursing, incredibly dense orb -- which pours down onto home plate like black molton metal, filling an invisible mold of some impossible, insane form, geometric and imperfect, too many limbs, too many angles, too many -- 23:41 <Crion> The lightning cracks again and suddenly the orb is pierced with a beam of sunlight, spot-sunlight, blowing the orb away and burning this thing's impossible shadow into the dirt behind home plate. There's a hideous laugh-scream-cry from all around as the mold and its shape are burned away, and the beam of light fades... 23:41 <Crion> ...but the shadow doesn't. And it gets up. 23:48 <Crion> Gur Fha Va Funqbj -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR0gOEyK6Tg Angels deserve to die. 23:49 <VoxPVoxD> Oh fuck. 23:52 <banana> Melanie doesn't feel guilt about having led this thing to Jackie. If it's the villain of the piece, or an agent of the real danger attacking the Courts, it was worthwhile to draw it out. She does, of course, feel fear. 23:53 <banana> Ignoring that, she pushes past the wind and bears down on the living shadow. "The sun may be in hiding but there's still no place for you in an open field." She strikes, lashing out with a testing limb. 23:53 <Crion> Mist -- black fog, black wind -- boils off the thing 'standing' on home plate. It keeps changing shape, but there is a core there, a Form. 23:54 <Crion> And it's something she can hit, and it's something she can hurt. 00:02 <dammitwho> Maggie also feels fear, but the thing that soothes fear, the sanctioned action, is to MOVE. She charges toward home plate, building up steam/speed, and when she reaches the coiling black mist clasps her hands together and swings a double-fisted uppercut that knocks the eldritch monster off its feet! 00:03 <Crion> To the extent it has feet, it leaves them badly, and starts screeching and shuddering. Then -- boompf 00:03 <Crion> It's gone. A dark fog settles over the field... 00:19 <banana> "Holy gosh, Maggie! You hit it so hard it turned into a bad special effect." 00:22 <CBN> Tony, seeing it dissipate into fog, tries something he saw in an old movie, speaking of bad effects: He swings an arm underhand, dragging up the infield dirt with it, and scatters it forward in a wide arc. Maybe the thing's invisible and this'll show it? Maybe this'll just piss it off? Who will know until we try? 00:22 <banana> Good idea, but let's juice it. 00:22 <Crion> The dirt doesn't do anything...at first. But then the fog vibrates strangely. It doesn't drop the dirt; it seems like the dirt is sticking to it, and the fog hates that. Unclean. Unclean. 00:23 <Crion> The fog shudders and moves away from Tony. 00:24 <CBN> Tony hollers: "HELL yeah" 00:24 <banana> As the cloud gathers itself back toward the unTony group, Melanie ambles to the pitcher's mound. She flings her arms to the fake sky and cries: "Sorry if this is bad for your skin, everyone!" 00:25 <banana> The winds that have gathered about her disperse outward and merge with the lightning storm. All the air in the ballpark becomes a rage, the howling winds of the upper atmosphere brought to earth. The storm of air batters at the ground and the fog alike - but there are perfect still eyes of the storm around the motley, around Jackie and around the Oriole if it's still here. 00:26 <banana> Any Hedge-birds that have the misfortune to be nearby are knocked out of the air, and the noise makes it impossible to hear ordinary speech. 00:29 <Crion> The black fog is buffeted by the wind, swirled by it, visibly annoyed by it -- then it quivers into spears and dives towards home plate all as one, becoming corporeal again, cutting through you all as it does. All except...Tony. 00:29 <Crion> The dirt worked...? 00:30 <Crion> Jackie Ordinary grunts as a spear carves through their side. They're fine though. 00:30 <dammitwho> Maggie hisses steam through her teeth as oil leaks from her shoulder. 00:30 <VoxPVoxD> They can't touch Stewart, whatever they are. 00:30 <CBN> Seeing his friends (and Jackie) get jabbed up nicely, Tony adjusts his grip on his shotgun. That's about enough fucking around. 00:32 <banana> Over the howling windstorm: "--- - --- (inaudible) ---!" 00:32 <CBN> Tony takes aim, fires, and blows a nice chunk out of...something? 00:33 <Crion> There's something there in the heart of the shadow, and it doesn't like being shot. 00:34 <dammitwho> Well, who would. 00:38 <banana> Maggie and Tony drive the cloud back into its shadow form and it's made the mistake of going for Melanie. Yes, it ripped out huge chunks of wood and yes, the sap-bleed is disturbingly mammalian, but now it's here- the wind all comes to a point and she enfolds her branches about the shadow - gusts press it against the thorns - leaving ragged fragments of darkness. 00:39 <Crion> There's an aggrieved shriek-scream, and the fog catches fire as it streams up into the sky, and vanishes. 00:39 <banana> Melanie: "(inaudible)!!" 00:40 <dammitwho> Maggie, words blown away by the wind: "Ha! ow." 00:40 <Crion> Jackie, when the weather is right again (presumably Melanie has ended the blizzard): "Ya know, I expected something to be following you. That was a bit bigger than I was counting on." 00:40 <CBN> Tony takes a few seconds to react. "Oh uh. Huh." 00:41 <Crion> Lauren, to Nels: "...It looks like your fetch had a kid." 00:41 <banana> Uprooted bases and stands clatter to the dirt as the wind, instantaneously, ends. "It still dies to shotguns." 00:41 <banana> "Um, Jackie, it sounds like you might know something about what's going on." 00:41 <trenchfoot> Nels: "She - she did?" 00:42 <Crion> Lauren: "Right race, right date, right names for the parents...I'm gonna guess they adopted the first two kids, and thought it wasn't ever going to happen...and then..." 00:44 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Oh my god." Chromebook's now set aside, and she walks over to peer over Lauren's shoulder. "Can you - is there more about her?" 00:44 <Crion> Jackie: "Only just." They open their knapsack and pull out a pocket mirror, open it, and tap the mirror twice. The second time it ripples. 00:44 <Crion> The Winter King's voice floats through. "I'm here, report." 00:44 <Crion> Jackie: "They came as you said, sir. Everyone but Nels, that is..." 00:44 <Crion> The Winter King: "She's accounted for." 00:45 <Crion> The Winter King: "What happened?" He pauses. "Let me hear it from them. Are you there?" 00:45 <CBN> Tony, to himself, mostly. "Aha! FAKE PUNT I knew it." 00:45 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "All here, all alive." 00:45 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Hi there!" 00:46 <banana> Melanie: "Urghh." This is not directed at the mirror. She's starting to feel it. This is- three hundred years ago she would've gone to the ER for this. 00:46 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart rushes over to Melanie. 00:46 <Crion> The Winter King: "Excellent. What happened?" Jackie looks to you all to let you do the reporting. 00:46 <Crion> Jackie: "One sec, boss. Melanie's hurt." 00:47 <banana> To Stewart: "Hey." To everyone: "I'm OK for now." 00:47 <CBN> Tony: "We met a giant bird that isn't, he's cool. And then we found Jackie here on the diamond, and then we got attacked by a spiky fog orb and threw dirt on it and shot it and stabbed it until it flew away." 00:48 <Crion> The Winter King: "...How spiky? How fog? How orb?" 00:48 <Crion> Jackie will give him the unvarnished and true factual rundown of what happened so you don't have to. It's completely correct, no lies or omissions. 00:49 <CBN> Tony would otherwise, but it's eminently clear he is more the action than the after-action type. 00:49 <banana> Melanie listens, though she smiles at Stewart occasionally as he does whatever he's doing that helps. It feels like a painkiller at least. "So we were the ones being tested?" 00:49 <Crion> The Winter King sighs. "...No." 00:50 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart touches one of the gouges in Melanie's flesh and it becomes overlaid with brown-white squares that shrink and multiply until there's an extremely high-res patch over the damage that is soon indistinguishable from the intact wood, and then, the wood itself. 00:50 <Crion> "Jackie, tell them. I have things to attend to. Immediately. I'd thank you all, but..." 00:50 <Crion> The mirror ripples again, then goes still. 00:50 <Crion> Jackie: "This was a mole hunt." 00:50 <VoxPVoxD> Hey, Maggie was right. 00:50 <Crion> "But we didn't suspect you." 00:51 <Crion> They grimace. "Did it seem strange, at all, that every member of the Winter Court was present at The Sidereal for that meeting with the King?" 00:51 <dammitwho> Maggie: "I dunno, this is my first Winter." 00:51 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Angelfire wasn't there." 00:52 <Crion> Jackie chuckles. "He was, actually." 00:52 <Crion> "Security system." 00:52 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Well, okay, but if people are hidden you can't really be surprised if we don't know they're there." 00:52 <banana> "Haha." 00:52 <CBN> Tony: "I totally called the fake punt. We're lining up block the return, but really, it was about seeing where the coverage was all along. So obvious really..."He trails off. 00:53 <banana> "Well, we didn't need to know, Tony. It'd be okay if they didn't trust us. We're new.. we've accumulated things of power quickly.. but it's nice that wasn't it." 00:53 <Crion> "Hey, the cameras aren't hidden. Anyway. We were able to eliminate courtiers in twos and threes, and that was fine, but the King had a suspicion. And we acted on it. And..." 00:53 <Crion> Jackie shrugs. "Winter Court's got a rat." 00:54 <banana> Melanie: "A mole rat. Haha." 00:54 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Okay. How do we eliminate the King as a suspect?" 00:54 <Crion> Jackie: "Here's the thing. The mole probably thought they were acting to preserve my cover. So. No loose talk about this. Don't like, call me a loyalist or anything, but act like you didn't find me." 00:55 <CBN> Tony: "I'm shit for lying but sure, I'll try." 00:55 <Crion> Jackie blinks, and pauses. "...Well if it's the King then we're fucked." 00:55 <Crion> "And either way, I can't know about it." 00:55 <Crion> "Because then he can find out through me." 00:56 <Crion> They look back at Stewart. "So let's consider that part of the conversation over until I'm away." 00:56 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "...sure." 00:57 <Crion> "The King will have orders on how to proceed coming down. There's an...obvious culprit, jumping to conclusions never helped." 00:57 <Crion> They gesture at the diamond. "And I've got no idea what the fuck that was." 00:57 <Crion> *culprit, but 00:59 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Mmm. Alright. Is there anything we can do to help keep you safe in the meantime?" 00:59 <banana> Melanie: "So there really is a loyalist, probably. That's.. no good." If it was Gemma, that would be devastating. She tries to run through the timing in her head. Were the first attacks before the High House breakout? 00:59 <VoxPVoxD> They weren't. 00:59 <Crion> Lauren, to Nels: "...There's probably a death record. If you want me to look for that." 01:00 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Hoom. It's bad, but there's worse things." 01:00 <trenchfoot> Nels closes her eyes. Exhales. "Yeah. Holler when you find something. Or - I can come back another day?" 01:00 <CBN> Tony: "Well, we are alive after fighting a weird storm orb stab thing, and we made a new bird friend. Could be much worse." 01:01 <Crion> Lauren: "Yeah! Come over any time. At least, when I'm not working. Then you can only come over half the time. I'm sure Stewart won't mind. ...Actually, I should check with him." 01:01 <trenchfoot> Nels: "No prob, Bob. Thank you so much for looking into this for me -- I know I didn't exactly give you much to go on..." 01:01 <Crion> Jackie stands. "Alright, let's get you back to the real world, and then I'm gonna fuck off for awhile. Don't worry about me." 01:02 <banana> Melanie gazes around the devastated, fake ballpark. "We might worry a little bit." 01:02 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Can I take care of your injuries before you go, or do you have that under control?" 01:03 <Crion> Jackie: "I'll be fine. I've shit for it at my Hollow." 01:03 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Okay." 01:04 <trenchfoot> Nels will collect her Chromebook, pat Chup one last time, and say her goodbyes. 01:04 <CBN> Tony: "Before you go, good to hear you're not a mole at least! Under the circumstances." 01:04 <Crion> They'll get to you a Hedge portal that leaves you out on the Camden Yards parking lot. For the last stretch, the bird slips out of the Hedgerows to join you. "Jackie! Jackie! Fans!" 01:05 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Hey!" 01:05 <Crion> It shoves a fifth little stadium into Tony's hands. "You had fan. Couldn't come. Rain delay..." 01:05 <Crion> This one is for Nels. It even, somehow, has a concert stage built over second base and center, like she's playing the stadium. 01:06 <trenchfoot> !!! 01:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "..." 01:06 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Aw, you're a sweetie." 01:06 <CBN> Tony smiles. "Thank you! If you ever need our help, come find me." 01:06 <Crion> Jackie grins when they see it. "Oh he will, won't you, big bird?" 01:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Tell the goose you're a friend of Tony's." 01:06 <banana> why are you inviting that thing into our home well there's one bird already but 01:07 <VoxPVoxD> The oriole is all of their friends, of course, but Steve obviously respects Tony the most. 01:07 <Crion> The bird, while nodding, and while Jackie opens the portal out: "Fans! Fans!" 01:07 <CBN> Tony waves at the bird as they go. "Go team!" 01:08 <banana> When they're safely on the other side, Melanie says: "They never expect a group of us all working together." 01:08 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart, to Melanie: "Do you want me to finish patching that up?" 01:09 <banana> "Everything in Arcadia is calibrated - to prey on the Lost alone. Which we're not, because of the Courts. That's why these attacks are so dangerous..." 01:09 <CBN> Tony unclenches once they're back safe and can speak freely: "That went so much better than expected you guys wow." 01:10 <banana> "What? Oh, no thanks- I don't understand the contract you're using so I don't know the price you're paying." 01:10 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "There's no Contract, but okay." 01:10 <VoxPVoxD> Maggie was the same way. 01:10 <banana> Melanie: "Like, I've dealt into a healing contract too? And it's a straightforward trade, blood for blood. That's how the Wyrd works. You can fiddle the numbers but not the principle." 01:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "No I know what you mean, but it's not a Contract. I can just do it. I bleed some Glamour but that's it." 01:11 <banana> "So you don't understand it either." 01:12 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart shrugs. "I'm not sure I'd say I understand Contracts, even." 01:12 <banana> Melanie's still a bit giggly from the adrenalin rush. "Yes, good point. Is that within the purview of a Lord Sage even?" 01:13 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Lord Sage is as much a political designation as it is a mystical one. We make friends in sideways places." 01:13 <VoxPVoxD> "Speaking of which, I'm gonna check in with the Belvedere about the thing we just killed." 01:14 <banana> To Tony: "I'm curious. What were you expecting?" 01:15 <CBN> Tony: "Honestly? To feel really bad about having to call Jackie home and have her get us jumped by some loyalists and accidentally have to probably seriously injure a bunch of people, then lie to Nels about what happened later, and then come clean and feel even worse." 01:15 <CBN> Tony: "But here we are, with gifts, and none of that!" 01:15 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Cognitive Behavior Therapy calls that 'catastrophic thinking'." 01:17 <CBN> Tony: "Hey, I went into the woods to take a piss and spent 40 years burying bodies in an eternal night. It's better to be pleasantly surprised." 01:17 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I'm pretty sure therapy is a psyop anyway." 01:17 <CBN> Tony: "What's a psyop?" 01:18 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "You know like, spy stuff? But just to fuck with people's heads." 01:18 <CBN> Tony: "Oh so like, lying? A lot?" 01:18 <banana> Melanie: "Catastrophes happen, but they're not the only thing that happens. The problem of good, if you will." 01:18 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah, but with production values, propaganda, drugs, misinformation... societal gaslighting." 01:19 <banana> "Do you mean like the CIA?" 01:19 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah." 01:21 <banana> Melanie: "I've read about stuff like MKULTRA but it striles me as like... what you do if you don't have access to the real deal. Ordinary people fumbling for the tools of mind control which they know from dreams must exist." 01:21 <CBN> Tony: "Hey speaking of the CIA, can one of you help me one of these days? I went to the library to try and catch up on the world, but whenever I used the googler machine for 'politics AND the 1970s AND america' I got a lot of links that it wouldn't let me open." 01:22 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Maybe, but also like... if vampires and wizards have infiltrated the regular police... you really don't think they've got guys in the CIA?" 01:22 <VoxPVoxD> To Tony: "Yeah, sure. Those are probably paywalls." 01:22 <banana> Melanie: "You can use my computer, I installed duck duck go." 01:23 <Crion> It is so insanely obvious Melanie is not from around here. 01:23 <Crion> But maybe she's just trying not to activate Steve. 01:24 <CBN> Tony: "Cool beans, thanks guys!" 01:30 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart arrives home not much later, imploring Lauren to come look what a friendly hob made him in the shadow of Camden Yards. 01:31 <Crion> Lauren she will, and her eyes will light up before getting suspicious. "It's safe, right? It didn't make you...swear an oath or anything?" 01:32 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Completely voluntary, completely unprompted." 01:32 <Crion> She peers down at it. "Beautiful. And that's totally not what OPACY looks like." 01:32 <Crion> "Which I'm guessing is part of the charm." 01:33 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Though if someone did want to put a wizard's tower behind the center field fence, that'd be cool." 01:33 <Crion> "Better than the fuckin' Hilton that's there now." 01:34 <VoxPVoxD> "How was your day?" 01:34 <Crion> Chup looks at it mistrustfully, mrows, and saunters off to find a bed. 01:34 <Crion> Lauren: "Good! Worked on the server for a bit. Just getting stuff connected without letting it get networked. Then Nels came over." 01:35 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart turns to look directly at Lauren. "What'd Nels want?" 01:35 <Crion> She sort of inhales sharply and then falters into a smile. "I think that's a conversation you want to have with her." 01:36 <Crion> "It was personal." 01:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Nothing we need to worry about, right?" 01:36 <VoxPVoxD> "Or, be worried about, I should say." 01:37 <Crion> She shakes her head. "Probably not. I don't know. Whatever it is, it's not coming back on us. But again. Talk to her about it. I'd feel weird." 01:37 <VoxPVoxD> "Alright." Stewart kisses her. "I gotta get ready to stream." 01:38 <Crion> "Good luck. Let me know if you want me to wander through to piss off your chat again."