21:09 <Crion> Time keeps slipping away. 21:09 <Crion> The case of the terrorist twenty-somethings wraps up rather nicely for everyone involved; at the very least, everyone in the Freehold who has cause to know about it appears satisfied, and the motley has another contact in their rolodex should things ever get truly dicey. (Melanie may also note that, with regards to Gemma, now she has friends on the UMBC campus that aren't mediated through 21:09 <Crion> the Winter Court. Up to her how to play that with Langford List.) 21:09 <Crion> The days roll by in sleepy winter -- sleepy for the Freehold, at least -- with no official business to keep our heroes occupied and no supernatural disasters looming on the horizon, demanding their attention. 21:09 <Crion> However, there is the one thing. 21:09 <Crion> On February 6, 57-year-old Patricia Dowd of San Jose, California became the first known death in the United States from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. She died at home without any known recent foreign travel, after being unusually sick from flu in late January, then recovering, working from home, and suddenly dying on February 6. Her case indicated that community 21:09 <Crion> transmission was happening undetected in the US, most likely since December. Her case would not be discovered and named as such by the Center for Disease control until...mid-April. 21:09 <Crion> On March 6, ten states report their first case of coronavirus: Hawaii, Utah, Nebraska, Kentucky, Indiana, Minnesota, Connecticut, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma. Many cases are associated with passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship, which is being held off the California coast near San Francisco. Testing on the ship reveals 21 positives. The day also sees 6 deaths reported. 21:09 <Crion> Four are reported from Washington, by the hospital that treated patients from the LifeCare long-term care facility. Two are reported from Florida, and represent the third state (after Washington and California) with reported deaths. This brings the total deaths to 18, 15 in Washington, 1 in California, and 2 in Florida. 21:09 <Crion> By March 11, Ohio, parts of California, Massachusetts, and Washington state have declared states of emergency or limited public gatherings by executive decree. NBA player Rudy Gobert, fewer than 48 hours after mocking the virus and jokingly coughing at beat reporters, tests positive for COVID-19. The NBA season is suspended. 21:09 <Crion> "Lockdown" begins. 21:11 <Crion> Good news, however! Changelings are made of...perhaps not sterner, but different stuff, Santander and Amelia Banthem are quick to explain. The novel coronavirus won't be a problem for them...but they can still transmit it, probably, and it's for the best to start masking up and socially distancing when it comes to the normal humans in their lives. Especially those with risk factors. 21:12 <Crion> Banthem and the Winter King assure everyone that the transfer of power and therefore Prom will both proceed as scheduled, though not quite as planned. Spring is scrambling to make the signature event of the Freehold social calendar "lockdown" compliant -- that means no human guests, and they have to do it in secret. 21:16 <dammitwho> Nothing wrong with a secret party. 21:16 <Crion> What has everyone been up to in these trying times? For the majority of their social circle, this virus is probably more of an inconvenience than anything else -- unless someone's been secretly living with their grandma without telling the rest of the gang. 21:16 <VoxPVoxD> Maggie gets real mad when you say that. 21:17 <Crion> The narrator has offended Maggie before, and is resigned to doing so again. Apologies. 21:18 <CBN> Tony's been spending most of his time Hedge-side, keeping up with the duties of the office (which have thus far amounted to 'talk to hobs' 'settle pointless, petty grudges' 'realize the first is the second, mostly'), and then reaching out to those lovely Sun's Cinders folks to offer help, repeatedly. 21:18 <CBN> They haven't taken him up on it yet, but, points for effort, they at least pick up the first time he calls, now. 21:19 <banana> Biology research isn't Melanie's forte. The sciences in general.. she wasn't good at them before and still doesn't really have the mindset, the knack of seeing the world as a machine (or Machine) with rules. So she doesn't really understand the answers, but is still spending a bunch of time worried, googling how to wear mask when you breathe through all your skin 21:19 <CBN> And so it was that just as it started to get warmer out (they say there's global warming but god, the winters in Baltimore didn't feel this shitty back in his day), he slammed into a brick wall of lockdown right when it was fixing to be time to get out there. 21:19 <VoxPVoxD> For Stewart, the lockdowns in Europe and the transition to remote work everywhere means he's finally bit the bullet on moving his regular schedule to morning/midday streams, opening up his nights for Freehold work and social time, and also, seemingly, giving him a big jump in income. His viewer count is up, subs are up, Youtube views are up... even the trickle of income he gets from Amazon 21:19 <VoxPVoxD> referral links is up. This is a very good time to be Stewart Reader, eclipsing all the previous times over the last nine months it's been very good to be Stewart Reader. 21:21 <trenchfoot> Nels was teaching music classes and learning to drive, though the music classes are on hold for the forseeable future. She can at least drive? Maybe? And read books about how the 1918 pandemic was handled and what they should have done in retrospect. 21:21 <VoxPVoxD> Perhaps it's partly for this reason he's up before dawn most days, washing his hands every time he passes through the bathroom or the kitchen, and then masking up to deliver groceries or whatever other community work Spring is starved for, before a six to eight hour morning/afternoon stream. 21:21 <VoxPVoxD> Glamour comes easy. 21:21 <trenchfoot> She's spending most of her time in the Wherehouse, now - it's nice having people around and she's not stuck at home alone. That'd be awful. 21:23 <Crion> He probably won't be too shocked to see Winter courtiers chipping in as well, here. Canterbury mostly; Kit and Jameson aren't exactly moving around yet. Sometimes the killer Spring. 21:23 <VoxPVoxD> How are Autumn people holding up? How's Lauren doing, how are Santander and Rose? Any sign of Kingsley? 21:23 <dammitwho> Maggie has been working with Union on making sure the first run of Hedge booze is both pleasant to drink and unlikely to provoke unwanted transformations in the drinker. Wizards aren't immune to coronavirus as such, but even the radical anarchist ones tend to scoff at the idea that they'd let such things affect them. 21:24 <Crion> Mages aren't immune to coronavirus, that's true...but having Life Adepts like Union around helps. 21:24 <dammitwho> Once the virus does ramp up and the lockdowns come into place, Maggie shifts to producing homemade cloth masks and bottles of hand sanitizer (which is just alcohol with extra steps anyway), and distributing them as best she can amongst the Freehold and the homeless shelters that she harvests Glamour from. 21:25 <Crion> It's impossible to tell if some of the older mages like Jesuit are "self-quarantining" or just using this as an excuse to get some more esoteric work done without people bothering them. 21:29 <Crion> Autumn is the least affected by the virus outside of Winter, which remains inscrutible on the matter; Spring, of course, is sapped of its vitality and animating principles by plague and isolation, and while there are certainly formulations of a Summer Court that wouldn't be bothered by COVID, Baltimore's isn't one: the Young Street cultivates mortal relationships highly (part of why they 21:29 <Crion> detest fetches so much; Summer courtiers routinely at least try to return to their normal lives as themselves) and has a large coterie of human and fae-touched retainers, heavies, hangers-on, sidepieces, etcetera. 21:29 <Crion> Autumn, on the other hand, mainly has logistical problems to solve and perhaps capitalize on, while experiencing an extremely out-of-season uptick in fear. 21:30 <CBN> The good news about being (mostly) stuck Hedge-side, now, still, is that it's given Tony an opportunity to make the kind of repairs to the Wherehouse he's wanted to do for awhile now. The couch doesn't sag in the middle. There's just...another leaf on the dining table (such as it is), now. No one's really asking about how that one happened because no one really wants the answer. And there's now a Steve-sized dog door, with a little lock 21:30 <CBN> and key and everything, on the side door. This has not stopped Steve from just nudging open the whole thing, but, points for effort. 21:33 <banana> Before the coronavirus hit America, Melanie was making an effort to get out more^H^H^H^Hat all. Her friends' recent adventures have reminded her that this shut-in thing just isn't her, not who she wants to be.. if only it wasn't so difficult to deal with anything or anyone. She still forgets things and upsets people but she'd been trying to spend more time at Court, on campus, 'hanging 21:33 <banana> out' in places other than her own hedge-cysted home. 21:33 <dammitwho> She also uses her quarantine supply deliveries as an excuse to introduce people to her gift-economy peddling of Aunt Mags and Local Hero's Genuine Elixirs and Tonics, as well as to snitch to the Spring Queen if it looks like quarantine has hit anyone particularly hard, emotionally. 21:33 <Crion> That doesn't mean everything's great; Lauren has at times become prone to doomscrolling the news and has had to use apps to ban social media from her devices except for an hour or so a day; Gerald, who is also immune but maintains a second life among mostly mortal friends and partners, has taken to stalking around the office looking quite like an action hero whose way you don't want to get 21:33 <Crion> in; Santander has withdrawn even deeper into his Hedge office for MYSTERIOUS REEEEASONS; Gaunt Rose and Cormorant (Remember her? Yeah, she's still around) are basically at the Spring Court's disposal as Spring's courtiers start to burn out over the next few weeks. 21:33 <banana> Now.. well, she can get some thesis work done. Actually it's kind of a relief after weeks of pushing. 21:34 <Crion> Steve, oblivious to basically all of this, is delighted to have more Tony time (and time with everyone else, too). 21:36 <banana> It will be interesting to see how the Hedge's twisted mirror reflects a pandemic. Is it officially a pandemic yet? The government's trying to play everything down... 21:37 <Crion> Kingsley is often busy, but not in the ways Stewart has previously known him to be; he spends a lot of time glued to Amelia Banthem's hip, making sure a high-powered attorney is around when Baltimore's cops try to use the lockdown to fuck with the Sidereal or the North Avenue RAC. The last time he and Stewart were both in the office, Kingsley and Gerald were having some sort of shouting match 21:37 <Crion> that concluded with Gerald storming out and Kingsley shouting after him: "I FORBID YOU TO KILL THE FUCKING PRESIDENT!" 21:38 <VoxPVoxD> Lauren's rigid self-control ends up rubbing off on Stewart, as his own doomscrolling habits were fueled primarily by wanting to keep up with what Lauren is talking about. 21:38 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart has mixed feelings on the "dudes rock" meme, but he would be willing to testify in a court of law that the Kingsley brothers, specifically, rock. 21:40 <dammitwho> Speaking of which, at this precise moment Maggie is seated in front of Steve in the Wherehouse common area, who is dressed in a small goose-sized wizard's robe and pointed hat with a moon and stars embroidered on it, holding aloft in one folded wing a stick that could, if one squints, resemble a magic wand. 21:40 <Crion> Stu will reach out at some point to make sure Stewart's doing alright and to ask about how the virus interacts with his, uh, condition; he wants Maura to bunker down, but she is instead preparing for twenty-hour days and trying to source PPE. Being a fireman helps with that, to some degree, but he feels like it should help more. 21:41 <Crion> There just aren't enough masks. 21:41 <banana> Melanie hasn't encountered doomscrolling yet. She's in some insta direct groups with cohort classmates and on the Summer mailing list(!!), where the general vibe is a mix of optimism, "this will only last another week", and mistrust, "because it's probably a hoax anyway". 21:41 <dammitwho> Maggie: "No, no, nobler! Like you're about to slay some orcs!" honk "I don't know, like cops with swords." HONK "Perfect!" She scribbles on the sketchpad she holds. 21:42 <dammitwho> Maggie can offer some of her stock of masks... they might not be good enough for medical workers, but perhaps they're better than nothing? She's not sure. 21:43 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's happy to reassure Stu, though he's only half-successful at tamping down worry about Maura. He doesn't know how to get N95s or KN95s or whatever they're called, but he does let Stu know he has sources for lots of high-quality simple cloth masks. 21:47 <Crion> Langford List will crash into that particular e-mail chain -- the stuff about hoaxes -- like an HR sledgehammer. There will be NO misinformation spread on the Summer listserv. 21:47 <CBN> Tony's been watching the Maggie-Steve "interaction" with great interest, under the assumption that any final product will end up airbrushed on a van someday. 21:49 <CBN> Along with whatever remains of the sixer Steve was promised for his efforts here. 21:56 <Crion> Santander has scheduled, and pushed back, a couple meetings to talk with Stewart and Gaunt Rose about...he wasn't very specific in his own inimitable way, but it's probably about Lord Sagehood. 21:57 <VoxPVoxD> Well, there's enough going on that Stewart doesn't have the spoons to be anxious about that. Ah who am I kidding, of course he does. 21:57 <trenchfoot> It's always possible to be anxious about things. Especially things you can't affect in any way and shouldn't be anxious about at all! 21:59 <Crion> Maggie and Nels specifically have been receiving asks for help in their capacity as Spring courtiers for some of the same stuff Stewart is doing for the, ah, emergent benefits; food delivery, organizing for the local homeless, forming tentative bonds with mortal groups -- even nerds like the Democratic Socialists of America, who have an extremely tedious and credulous Baltimore branch -- to 21:59 <Crion> help coordinate this stuff. Do they meet their obligations there? 22:02 <trenchfoot> Certainly! Though she'd rather not meet with the DSA, she will if she has to. Certainly if it's the best way to organize food delivery and the homeless population in these times. 22:03 <trenchfoot> She's certainly got the time and evidently a built-in immunity, as well as previous experience during pandemics. 22:03 <dammitwho> Oh, absolutely. This is the kind of shit Maggie lies awake thinking about doing. She's intellectually come to terms with the fact that there aren't any American factories anymore, but the DSA is still a bit of a shock. 22:04 <Crion> DSA obligations are farmed out to Harlan Jape and Samaritan, who, as a rough-living older working class white man and an Asian-American teeny-bopper, the membership will undoubtedly equally fetishize in divergent fashion. 22:05 <Crion> All kidding aside, they wear masks and are willing to go places to deliver things. 22:07 <dammitwho> If you think about it... don't we all wear Masks? 22:07 <Crion> Steve just wears hats. 22:08 <VoxPVoxD> Honestly the mask looks kind of cool. It makes Stewart feel like a ninja. He will never say this out loud. 22:08 <Crion> Better a ninja than Ninja. 22:09 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart is the only PoE streamer who never dyed his goddamn hair blue. 22:11 <dammitwho> Once Maggie's drawing is completed, incidentally, it's put as part of a label on three thick plastic water bottles filled with the funkiest looking foul iridescent concoction that even Tony has ever seen. You can kind of see some tail of newt floating in one. The label has Maggie and Union's little cartoon heads on top, but their expressions are like looney tunes after being hit on the head 22:11 <dammitwho> - swirly eyes, tongues hanging out of the corner of their mouths. The banner simply reads The Good Stuff, and below it: https://i.imgur.com/4pknlUq.jpg 22:11 <VoxPVoxD> Holy shit. 22:11 <dammitwho> These don't get traded. They're for the Wherehouse. 22:11 <trenchfoot> My goodness. 22:12 <Crion> Damn. 22:13 <CBN> Tony will never drink these, but he will think of them every time he drinks anything from now on, including water, until his dying day. 22:15 <Crion> No liquor license or federal regulator ever touched a bead of condensation from those bottles. 22:15 <banana> Melanie's speechless for a moment the first time she sees the bottles. "......If we show this to Steve, we can find out whether he's sapient or merely, horribly, sentient." 22:18 <dammitwho> Maggie: "He could tell they're nonalcoholic. I didn't think a goose could frown at me, what with the beak and all, but dang." 22:20 <Crion> It's before all of this really kicks off, but just before, first week of March, when Jackie Ordinary of all people drops by the Wherehouse. They're looking for...well, all of you. They seem troubled. It's Court business. 22:20 <trenchfoot> Nels eyes the drinks again. Nonalcoholic? Okay. 22:21 <VoxPVoxD> Well... it's nice to see Jackie's okay, at least. 22:21 <banana> "You didn't say they're safe, or that they won't get you, um, crunk.." 22:21 <Crion> They're mostly interested in Tony, though. 22:21 <dammitwho> "If you're drinking this, you're already not safe." 22:21 <banana> The elevator's ding! makes a pretty good doorbell. 22:22 <Crion> Jackie looks impressed at the digs once you let them in. "Damn. I don't think I've ever been in here before?" 22:22 <Crion> Steve: honk 22:22 <Crion> Jackie: "Holy shit. Hi, Steve." 22:23 <CBN> Tony's just finished drying some dishes, so he can do the fucking rad 'dry your hands and toss the towel over your shoulder like a barback' thing. "Hey, welcome! Mind the Steve." 22:24 <banana> Melanie stands up from the fridge, smiling. Recently she's worked out this is a good thing to do when you don't have anything to say, rather than saying whatever you're thinking anyway. 22:25 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Oh, heya Jackie!" 22:26 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Hello!" She's still sitting on the couch, though she sets her book off to the side what with having a visitor. No need to be rude. 22:28 <Crion> "What's up, everyone. Mind if I sit?" 22:29 <Crion> Jackie will have actually come in through the Hedge-side entrance, as is their wont. 22:29 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "No, of course, go ahead. How's it going?" 22:29 <Crion> "Good. Saw the Oriole yesterday, he asked about you all. In his own way. He's doing well." 22:30 <banana> Melanie: "Good thing he's not mystically tied to the fate of the team." 22:31 <CBN> Tony: "That's great! Can I get you a drink or anything?" 22:32 <Crion> Jackie: "Yeah, especially if this COVID thing is real. But he just perks up around Spring Training like always, no matter how bad they are at it." 22:32 <VoxPVoxD> Oh man, that's right. No way they're gonna be able to do a baseball season this year. 22:32 <Crion> "Beer's nice." 22:32 <trenchfoot> ...Nels should visit the Oriole at some point. At the very least to thank him for the sculpture of the Yard. 22:33 <Crion> Once they've got it: "So I'm just passing through, and this is gonna sound like a weird and maybe impossible to answer question, but...has there been anything unusual in the Hedge recently, for the Hedge?" 22:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks to Tony. He's been coming in through the Hedge more lately, but he hasn't noticed anything. 22:38 <banana> Melanie's been making an effort to go outside, but the other outside. 22:40 <dammitwho> Maggie: "I don't think anyone's mentioned anything like that, but we've all been kinda busy with work these days." 22:42 <CBN> Tony: "Yeah, they're being fuckin' weird, no offense Steve." 22:42 <Crion> honk 22:42 <CBN> Tony: "Smaller groups of hobs I know I've seen in bigger groups, staying indoors or whatever passes for indoors, just, weird." 22:43 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Like a Hedge lockdown?" 22:45 <CBN> Tony: "Or getting on the defensive, getting on their guard for something." 22:45 <CBN> Tony: "But, kinda sorta, yeah? Why Jackie, is that something you're picking up on too?" 22:46 <Crion> Jackie sighs. "Same all over. The Docks have gone into half-day shifts. Yeah, sure, they're only doing a facsimile of real work, but..." They trail off. 22:47 <Crion> Then: "Second question, might be related, might not. You're the guys who know the wizards best. That leader they've got? The one that goes around looking like a Catholic priest?" 22:47 <Crion> "Has he been spending any time in the Hedge, to your knowledge?" 22:48 <dammitwho> Maggie: "I don't think they can really do that on their own? Or just don't?" 22:48 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Not that I know of. GARY was in the Hedge, so it's possible Jesuit is following those trails around, but I haven't seen him or anything." 22:49 <VoxPVoxD> "I can ask, maybe? I doubt they'd tell me anything, but if it's important I'll try." 22:50 <banana> Melanie: "Don't they have a thing which they think is like the hedge but nearly identical and somehow non-overlapping? 22:50 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Honestly they might have like... four? Very hard to keep straight." 22:50 <trenchfoot> Nels, muttering: "Wizards." 22:50 <CBN> Tony nods. 22:51 <Crion> They finish their beer and frown at the bottle. "Well, that's probably for the best. I'm sure it's nothing. Or if not nothing, it's at least not an actual Catholic priest. But something burned a hole in the Hedge up near Jones Falls that was still there six hours later when I found it, and the Grubbubs around there said it was a guy in a frock and collar, with a couple friends. Not in so many 22:51 <Crion> words, mind. Wasn't sure what to make of it, but this afternoon found a bunch of Pigs slaughtered up I-83 on the other side near the county line." 22:52 <Crion> "Good, I say, usually. But the bodies had been fucked with." 22:52 <Crion> "Posed. Some crucified." 22:52 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart, immediately: "Parson." 22:52 <Crion> "Doesn't sound like our resident wizard guy, but--" Jackie blinks. "What now?" 22:53 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Do you remember back in autumn, when the freebooters came through? When we got Peter and Gemma?" 22:53 <Crion> Jackie grimaces. "Do I ever." 22:54 <CBN> Tony: "Son of a. People fucking around with the god damn hobs and " he trails off into mumbled incoherent swearing. 22:55 <banana> Melanie: "Of course he escaped the Mistress." 22:55 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "That was Proctor's crew. Proctor is part of a larger group, with three kidnapper teams all working under one Title: The Sign of the Pig and Ram." 22:56 <banana> "At least if you trust the intel of that.. death cat thing." 22:56 <Crion> Jackie doesn't blanch, to their credit, but they've got one mean mantle. 22:56 <VoxPVoxD> "The Proctor tended to work in the Americas. The Haruspex pops up in Asia, Africa, the Mideast. And then in Europe there's the Parson." 22:57 <Crion> Jackie: "And with the Proctor dead..." 22:57 <VoxPVoxD> "I did some research and some divination and I basically worked out that we should expect to see the Parson next. So I guess this is our first sign." 22:57 <Crion> Jackie: "Well, shit." 22:59 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "So we've got some advance notice and some preparations. The bad news is, there are going to be more of them. The Proctor sort of... tolerated the fewest other people." 23:01 <VoxPVoxD> In his mind he's already working up the message he's going to have to send around through Ravens. Santander, Kingsley, Gerald, Rose - everybody needs to know. 23:01 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Ah, cripes." 23:02 <Crion> What Jackie hears, because undoubtedly it's what Stewart actually said, is that the Parson is bringing fewer bodies to the party...but that probably doesn't mean he's less dangerous. 23:05 <banana> Melanie: "I'll let Mr. List know.. could you ask whether that spy learned anything though? The woman from.. Philly I think? She was called Knife or something." 23:05 <Crion> Jackie frowns. "Knife...?" 23:05 <banana> "Because as things stand we still have no idea why these guys are targetting us, sent from such far-flung hunting grounds to Baltimore..." 23:05 <Crion> "Oh, Loser." 23:06 <banana> "Right, yeah, the other one wasn't a spy." 23:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods. "Yeah, I'll ask." 23:06 <VoxPVoxD> "Melanie meant K.I.L.L." 23:06 <VoxPVoxD> *K.I.L.L.. 23:06 <banana> Obviously. To Stewart, anyway, and she's thankful for that. 23:07 <Crion> They shake their heads. "I remember when names sounded like names." 23:07 <Crion> "I guess that's just ornery old bullshit, but come on. Acronyms?" 23:07 <CBN> Tony: "Those were the days." 23:07 <Crion> *their head 23:09 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Acronyms are a step too far. I mean, honestly." 23:10 <CBN> Tony: "It's just a word when you say it out loud! This is what happens when people are on their dang phones and doing the typing all day." 23:11 <banana> "Also this one was an initialism. They always said KayEye.. etcetera." 23:11 <Crion> Jackie: "Weirdos. Weirdos!" 23:11 <CBN> Tony: "Which isn't even on my top five reasons why I dislike 'em. Anyway." 23:12 <CBN> Tony: "So I guess we gotta deal with these assholes again, huh?" 23:12 <Crion> Jackie: "I mean, if it's even them." 23:13 <CBN> Tony: "If it isn't, we'll still have to deal with them eventually. Probably. And if they're fucking with hobs, it's gonna be a sooner than later deal, where I'm sitting." 23:13 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah there's a chance of a false positive." 23:13 <VoxPVoxD> "God everything sounds like virus talk now." 23:14 <trenchfoot> Ugh. 23:14 <CBN> Tony: "So any other good news you got for us? He pauses. "Sorry, that was shitty, getting stir crazy here already. How're you holding up?" 23:15 <Crion> Jackie laughs. "Oh, I'm doing alright. Magus of the Gilded Thorn, remember? I can basically live out in the Hedge if I want, and a lot of the times I do. Got my own boltholes, too. Nothing like this though. Again, love what you've done with the place." 23:16 <dammitwho> "It's pretty good, yeah?" Maggie says proudly. 23:16 <banana> Melanie: "Thank you. We try to do as much as we can by hand so it doesn't turn into fish and fly away, but there's a bit of cheating on the skylights and the main walls.." 23:16 <CBN> Tony: "Thanks, one of the pros of being cooped up and...half? of us not really having places on the other side. Also frequent guests" he nods at Steve "means we gotta stay a little on top of things, pride and all." 23:17 <Crion> They kill the beer. "Absolutely. So's the booze. I should probably get moving, though. If this Parson is really in town, the King and the Regents have to know." 23:17 <Crion> "Keep your eyes out, keep your knives out." 23:18 <banana> Oh, that's why she thought it was Knife. Movie listings! 23:18 <CBN> Tony: "Oh Jackie. Some of us got guns now. He smiles. 23:19 <Crion> They grin. "Yeah, I've heard about your gun, Baron. Be seeing y'all." 23:20 <CBN> Tony nods and tips his hat. Of course he's been wearing the hat around the Wherehouse. 23:22 <Crion> It's a scant three days later when they get their next guest. 23:23 <VoxPVoxD> Damn, we're kinda Somebody now, aren't we. 23:24 <Crion> This one is announced by Steve scrambling through the...Steve door that Tony has installed like his butt is on fire, honking up a storm, half-cowering. 23:24 <trenchfoot> Nels sets her guitar off to the side as soon as he enters. "Steve?" 23:25 <CBN> Tony bolts upright, he was reading one of the old Time magazines he's got that've gotten Weird from being in the Hedge so long. "Wh-?" 23:26 <banana> Melanie's off in her library trying to work. Got to turn this into an opportunity. 23:27 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's hedgespinning up a hand sanitizer station at the door when Steve barrels in. 23:27 <Crion> There is apparently a young woman waiting outside, on the sumptuous garden patio across from the Wherehouse's Hedge-side entrance, sipping on mimosas and gently flirting with the help (mantis-women in top hats and blouses, running a fantastical bar), who kindly requests the honor of their presence, with the assurance given that she remembers and will uphold their previous oath as to the use 23:27 <Crion> of the magic of the faerie therein. Nevermind, of course, that previously no such patio or bar or mimosas existed -- the Mistress of the High House would like to talk. 23:28 <VoxPVoxD> Oh. 23:28 <trenchfoot> Ah. 23:28 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We swore not to use Contracts the next time we saw her." 23:29 <VoxPVoxD> Very important to remind everyone of that immediately. 23:29 <CBN> Tony: "Gun's not a Contract." 23:29 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "It is not." 23:30 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Okay, so, I guess, we... go on out. Do we?" 23:30 <CBN> Tony, of course, grabs his gun. "Not rude to get dressed first." 23:31 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "She cracked Proctor's Hollow like an egg. We definitely can't wait her out." 23:33 <banana> "Oh, Jesus." The tone of the conversation in the living room was very alarming and now it's obvious why. "If we're lucky this is like.. an obligatory social occasion, to use up that weird vow." 23:34 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah." 23:34 <VoxPVoxD> "What's our plan if she asks us to do something?" 23:34 <VoxPVoxD> "Like we don't do it, obviously, but... how?" 23:34 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Is that? Lucky? Because then she knows where we live and has nothing stopping her in the future." 23:34 <CBN> Tony grabs his gun, he's got his hat on already, and just for good measure he tosses his Sheriff's Star, on its chain, over his neck. No reason not to get all dressed up for our funeral. 23:35 <CBN> Tony: "My plan's walking way from whatever plane crash we're about to land in, and making sure you're all with me. Beyond that, shit. Maybe cough on her if things get rough." 23:36 <banana> Melanie: "The only thing I can think of, and I know this isn't good enough, is that we make it clear that we can hurt her enough that it's not worth actually wiping us out. Not ladylike to raise that much of a sweat." 23:37 <CBN> Tony: "I plan on being civil with one of those fucking things exactly as long as we gotta to get through the day, but hey, I'm open to being pleasantly surprised here." 23:38 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Okay, so, polite but firm no. Okay, okay. Everyone ready? Anyone wanna book?" 23:39 <CBN> Tony: "Ready as I'm getting. Steve, you hide under the futon in my room and come out when we're back, okay? Should be some emergency Banquet Beers down there." 23:40 <Crion> Steve quails out a honk and vanishes. 23:40 <VoxPVoxD> Alright, well, in that case... let's open the door and head out. 23:41 <trenchfoot> Ughhh. 23:41 <dammitwho> Eeep. 23:45 <Crion> If memory serves, the way from the Wherehouse to the Hedge is down through a double-reinforced door, through a small, dank but mostly-clean sewer pipe, and then out through another reinforced gate onto the street -- the pipe being at street level. Perhaps it's been gussied up a bit since then, but either way, once you pass through the last line of defenses out into the Hedgerow alleyway, the 23:45 <Crion> pop-up outdoor bar is a rather obvious addition to the local street life. Most of the tables are empty, but hobs seem to more and more be dropping their wariness, lured by the promise of 'free' drinks -- they're not actually free, of course; the proprietress of this establishment, a svelte black widow looking creature, is here to exercise the profit margin to its fullest. But all tabs are 23:45 <Crion> currently being paid by the woman of unearthly beauty in a great white hat, white dress, and black sunglasses holding some semblance of court in the middle of it all. 23:46 <Crion> The Mistress of the High House smiles when she sees them -- her teeth weirdly shine -- and waves them over. 23:48 <CBN> Tony reflexively, in spite of himself, returns the wave with a free hand. God damn it. 23:51 <Crion> There are seats for them, and the mantis waitstaff pushes forward carts with a variety of sealed bottles. 23:54 <trenchfoot> Nels will take a seat, trying very hard to look casual. It might even work on most people. 23:55 <CBN> Tony takes a seat and does the touch-tip-of-hat-but-not-take-it-off thing. "Nice place." 23:56 <dammitwho> Maggie: "M'm." 23:56 <Crion> "Oh, thank you so much," says the creature wearing a beautiful woman's face -- if perhaps for just a flash of a moment, from just an angle, a bit too tightly -- "but I couldn't possibly take credit. I've simply always been partial to the Scarlet Hourglass, when I have reason to dine out." 23:58 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart politely waves off the waitstaff. "Kind of you to come all this way to see us." 23:59 <banana> Melanie takes the edge of a seat, despite the whole thing being available. 00:00 <Crion> "You flatter me," the Mistress says, "but I should like to think so. Now, the refreshments are not mine nor of my nature, but I have already asked our proprietress to take no offense if you're not hungry or thirsty; I have caught you midday, and without announcing myself previously. Simply horrendous manners." 00:00 <Crion> "But these are horrendous times." 00:01 <Crion> Her eyes run across Melanie. "Not so horrendous that any need die today." 00:02 <banana> "Why, does that take-" Melanie stops talking mid-sentence and smiles. 00:02 <Crion> The Mistress runs a tongue along teeth, and sips her mimosa again. 00:03 <CBN> Tony: "How're things bad for you though?" He is genuinely shocked that a creature of spite and misery would not be giddily running through the streets at all times these days. 00:05 <VoxPVoxD> When creatures of spite and misery feed and grow, they don't grow content. They grow more spiteful and more miserable. 00:06 <Crion> The Mistress: "We lords of joy and fury have our own concerns. We are not so entirely removed from your universal, material lot as you might think. Perhaps that is the cause of so much...discontent." 00:06 <Crion> "We find it all ever so curious." 00:07 <trenchfoot> Wonderful. Glad to provide amusements. 00:07 <Crion> "I am given to suspect you have not, in fact, relayed any message to Peter." 00:09 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We were asked not to." 00:10 <Crion> She sips her mimosa again. "Well. I suppose will not debase myself by asking to speak to your manager." 00:11 <Crion> "I will at least inquire after his good health and fortune." 00:13 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks chagrined, in exactly the way a bellhop being sent out to tell a demanding hotel customer 'no' at the manager's orders would be. "He's doing well, I think. We don't really run in the same circles." 00:14 <Crion> The Mistress: "This...virus, this disease -- it does not affect the chosen?" 00:14 <banana> chosen 00:14 <trenchfoot> The. Nope. Not thinking about it. "It doesn't seem to." 00:14 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart blinks. "We... have less to fear." 00:15 <Crion> She finishes her mimosa and waves for another. "Excellent." 00:19 <Crion> "In truth, I've come here to say farewell. For now, at least. I have no plans for our paths to cross again, but you have the spark of impetuous things. You make your own logics. Tell your managers I head south, for the diseased flaccid length of America. Mice to catch. Magic kingdoms to burn. You will have your own problems here, of course, but I decline to add to them any further." 00:21 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart makes a mental note to never, ever go to Florida. There's a whole filing cabinet drawer full of just those. "We appreciate your telling us so. Might I ask why?" 00:22 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Oh. That sounds... nice?" The trick is to pretend that she's just someone they know talking about taking a vacation to Florida. That way she won't start screaming. 00:22 <trenchfoot> Nels just raises an eyebrow. 00:22 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart tried to avert his eyes but as the conversation progresses it's taking more and more concentration to even blink. He's on the verge of tearing up at some points. 00:23 <Crion> To Stewart: "Why I'm on vacation, or why I'm leaving you all be?" 00:23 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I meant the latter." 00:25 <CBN> Tony: "Or why you're telling us." 00:27 <Crion> Her smile widens, brightens, and grows more taut across her face. "The Parson, his Bandit, and his Baron have arrived, guided by some riverside King. Given that they blame you for my work, I thought a warning was, perhaps, fair." 00:28 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "...thank you." 00:28 <banana> Melanie's slightly disbelieving. "Are you.. running away?" 00:29 <banana> "That's not an objection- actually it's perfectly fine, you don't have to answer." 00:30 <Crion> "Dear." She finishes her mimosa in a single gulp. "In many ways, I have always been running away." Her smile doesn't falter; her tone doesn't change. But the Mistress of the High House does stand. 00:30 <Crion> "This concludes our business...and when I leave here, our oath." 00:31 <Crion> To the proprietress: "All drink for free for a day and a minute. Send the bill to the High House." 00:32 <Crion> The black widow genuflects; the mantis-women chitter. 00:32 <CBN> Tony taps his hat brim again as she rises. "Enjoy the magic kingdom." 00:33 <banana> We'd better send some kind of warning to Orlando. 00:33 <trenchfoot> They live in Florida, they don't heed warnings. 00:34 <Crion> Now the smile dims a bit. "Thank you. But I think instead I will just try to enjoy what becomes of it." Then she waves a hand and the Hedge-wall tears open with the sound of explosive decompression, like you've all just been exposed to the vacuum of space -- but it's just an impossibly beautiful garden on the other side. She steps through, reality untears itself... 00:34 <Crion> ...and you're all just sitting at an outdoor bar in the Hedge. 00:34 <Crion> Free drinks! 00:35 <dammitwho> Maggie slowly lowers her head to slump down on the table. "Christ almighty. I hope they keep the park closed." 00:35 <CBN> Tony looks around for a minute to make sure she's gone, then notes to the table: "Guess it's true what they say, you get old enough and everyone you know moves to Florida." 00:35 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart does his drinking at home. Which is why he leaves pretty much immediately. 00:36 <banana> "It must be so hard for her. Courtesy dictates you talk to people who hate you, because of what you did and are doing." 00:37 <Crion> It's fine if the motley doesn't partake; once the terrifying faerie tale queen is gone, all the locals pretty much flock to the establishment, including a preternaturally quick Steve. 00:37 <trenchfoot> Nels is absolutely not touching any of the 'free' drinks. "I'm not really concerned with how difficult things are for her." 00:39 <VoxPVoxD> He keeps a laptop in the Wherehouse (free from Intel sponsorship so it's got all kinds of stupid stickers on it) for when he needs to make emergency reports. You can't access an Autumn Box remotely but you can talk to Ravens through a VPN. So Stewart conveys exactly what happened, from the gentrification to the declaration to the explanation, including the back and forth on Peter, the 00:39 <VoxPVoxD> visible signs of the Mistress's stress, and the evidence in further favor of the Parson theory. 00:41 <CBN> Tony: "I'm just happy she's gone, but, also kinda sucks. I wanted to sail the coast on a boat..." 00:41 <banana> Melanie: "Er. It does sound nice, but what's the relationship between those concepts?" 00:42 <Crion> QUOTH, immediately: <'STEWART READER,' KNOWN OTHERWISE AS 'CRITICALMASS:'> 00:42 <Crion> <TRANSFERRING CONTROL TO THE STEWARD KING> 00:42 <Crion> <Assuming direct control.> 00:43 <CBN> Tony: "Well, you know how stuff goes for us. If I get a boat and we sail down the coast, you know we're going to end up in Florida, and you know we're going to end up in the Floridian Hedge, and you know she'll be there." 00:43 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart still hasn't gotten around to Mass Effect 2 so nothing punctures the gravity of the situation. 00:43 <Crion> <stewart, kingsley. On my phone> 00:43 <CBN> Tony: "It's just too good of a story, which means, " he gestures to the all-of-everything around them, "as inevitable as the tides." 00:43 <dammitwho> Maggie: "We could sail *up* the coast." 00:44 <dammitwho> "When's anything bad happened in Maine?" 00:44 <VoxPVoxD> <we're all in the hollow. everyone is okay> 00:44 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Is the Northwest Passage a thing in the Hedge?" 00:44 <Crion> <I'm headed to a regents meeting right now. I'm gonna loop them in, see how amelia and wk want to proceed on parosn> 00:44 <CBN> Tony: "We'd have to go past New York if we went north, and. Listen I'm only not spitting on the ground here to be polite." 00:44 <Crion> <*Parsons> 00:44 <dammitwho> Maggie: "We can buy salsa before we go!" 00:45 <VoxPVoxD> <noted. let us know what we need to do> 00:45 <Crion> <For the time being stay safe, don't go hunting, but youre cleared weapons free on the fucks if they find you> 00:45 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Between New York and Florida, I'm pretty sure I pick New York." 00:45 <VoxPVoxD> <understood> 00:45 <trenchfoot> "Even before, you know." 00:45 <banana> Melanie: "Yeah, it's New York, but.. sounds like things are getting bad there too." 00:46 <trenchfoot> "Okay, even before the other, different 'you know.'" 00:46 <Crion> <I'm going to put gerald back on the building you lauren nels are in too, he needs smething to do> 00:46 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Eyy, I'm from freakin' New York ovah heah, geddoudda da way I gotta go to da freakin' Dodgers game, eyyy, ohhh!" 00:46 <VoxPVoxD> <we'll make sure to feed him> 00:46 <banana> "The toadstools would fit right in." 00:46 <trenchfoot> Morosely: "They're in Los Angeles now." 00:46 <CBN> Tony: "See, this is why. Can you imagine what New York hobs are like?" 00:46 <Crion> <Haha thanks. ok we're here gotta go, will touch base> 00:47 <CBN> Tony: "Just, I don't think I'd even want to stand up for those guys." 00:47 <banana> Melanie should go report in too, but.. if we have to put up with the existence of these story-monsters, free drinks are the least they can do. 00:47 <dammitwho> Maggie, to Nels: "Wait, what?" 00:47 <dammitwho> "Did we lose a war?!" 00:47 <trenchfoot> Nels: "That depends on how much you read into the history books carefully glossing over everything since 1945? The GED was interesting." 00:48 <trenchfoot> "Anyway no rich people just got greedy and moved the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles." 00:48 <banana> Melanie tries to calculate years since Vietnam. "Yes, but that's not why teams transfer cities. It's a war on, like, stadium funding." 00:48 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart doesn't look up. "Worse. We won a war, and then we built an entire highway system and everyone moved to California." 00:49 <Crion> Steve will eventually return, sated(?) on free Hedge booze. It's clear that goblin fruit liquor isn't as close to his heart as actual fermented brewmaster poison, though. Or his liver. If he actually has either of those things. 00:51 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart gets up when the message disconnects, pours himself about two shots worth of vodka and about four shots worth of whatever the first thing he grabs out of the fridge is, and then drinks it steadily over about ten seconds. "We're waiting on word back from the Regents. Until then we should keep our heads down, but if someone comes for us, uh... the term the Steward used was 'weapons 00:51 <VoxPVoxD> free'." 00:56 <VoxPVoxD> Other than that, Stewart just sort of waits silently, not reading or looking at anything in particular, maybe having another drink if the buzz starts to dip, until word comes back or it gets late enough that he needs to talk to Lauren. 00:57 <dammitwho> That's definitely the mood. Maggie doesn't pour herself a drink though, she just sits back on the couch and kind of stares blankly at a spot just above the turned-off TV. 00:58 <banana> Okay. Melanie's beyond the crutch of emails carefully proofread now.. she's a respected member of this community, she's got important news to convey, it's not rude in the circumstances, and she can think of what to say.. generally. It won't be worse than not talking to the thing from the High House. 00:58 <banana> She's going to call Langford List... on the phone. 00:59 <CBN> Tony restocks the emergency beers (under the futon) when he gets back, and starts brainstorming ways to get rid of a god damn brunch place from the neighborhood. But that's another story. 00:59 <banana> The burner one, obviously, Summer's not as high-tech but they do do opsec. 00:59 <dammitwho> Shit. Melanie looking pensively at her own phone reminds her. She's got obligations to Amelia. Maggie'll lever herself off the couch to go make the call. 00:59 <Crion> Eventually, Kingsley will text back, through the Ravens system. <Okay good news. Summer has a lot of energy they dont know how to constructively channel right now, so theyre gonna beat the bushes. Hedges. Whatever> 01:01 <trenchfoot> Wait. Actually. Don't get rid of the brunch place just yet? Nels has some material she'd like to try out, and public gatherings are off limits right now. 01:01 <Crion> List picks up on second ring. "This is List." 01:01 <VoxPVoxD> <ok. so we should stand down?> 01:03 <Crion> <Have you been given the impression theyre hunting you specifically> 01:04 <Crion> Amelia Banthem, very clearly frazzled and walking out of a crowded room before shutting the door as she answers: "What's up, Maggie?" 01:05 <VoxPVoxD> <That was the direct implication of why the Mistress felt compelled to warn us.> 01:05 <VoxPVoxD> <As well as the previous research and divination from a couple months ago> 01:06 <Crion> Kingsley: <Then don't stand down, just stay together and stay alert. Youve got my backing for however it plays out> 01:06 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Hey, boss lady. Did Jackie Ordinary already tell you that Parson's in Baltimore?" 01:06 <Crion> <Short of a schoolbus getting blown up> 01:06 <banana> Melanie gets up to trundle over to her bedroom as she talks. "Hi it's Melanie - Melanie Lucas. Unfortunately, I've got more to report on the Hedge disturbances." 01:07 <Crion> Amelia: "They said something about that, yeah. Just what we need." 01:08 <Crion> List: "One minute." There's a weird click-buzz-click noise as he fiddles with something. "This line's secure now. Go ahead." 01:09 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Well, uh, a bit after they left our Hedge neighborhood got a visit from the Mistress of the High House for a chat." 01:09 <Crion> The brunch place is still there! 01:09 <VoxPVoxD> <Got it.> After an internally tense pause: <There might be some logic in moving us or giving the impression we've been moved, if we're the targets. To draw them away from the Freehold.> 01:10 <Crion> It was not, in fact, some weird illusory conjuration of the Mistress -- the Scarlet Hourglass is indeed apparently a pop-up Hedge bar operation run exclusively by hobs instantiated as females of the species who kill their mates. 01:10 <Crion> And they'd love some live music! 01:11 <Crion> Kingsley: <Maybe so but Id rather try brining the full might of Baltimore to bear on them before playing exile games> 01:11 <Crion> <No use to levers of power if you dont pull them every now and then> 01:11 <trenchfoot> Then they're going to love this. Nels has been wanting to get back into playing music for the public again, but - well, first she wasn't ready yet, and then there was a pandemic. But here, in the Hedge? Let's give it a whirl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOtaJKrim2E It's out of her normal wheelhouse, but she saw part of a movie where it was against the rules to play this, so of course she would ignore that. 01:11 <VoxPVoxD> <Makes sense> 01:12 <banana> Melanie: "Okay... I'm glad it even works from here today. So you know how Jackie heard about movements which were probably this 'Parson', the Pastor's associate, and we didn't know *why* they were coming back but it was like, figures?" 01:12 <banana> Melanie: "It seems it was the horse before which the cart was put." 01:13 <Crion> List: "We got the report from Ordinary a half-hour ago, if you'll believe." He sounds somewhat annoyed. 01:14 <Crion> List: "What's the context?" 01:14 <Crion> Amelia to Maggie: "Fuck." 01:14 <Crion> "What'd she say about Peter? I need to send David to do a check, one sec--" She steps away from the phone. "Okay, he's going." 01:15 <banana> Hmm. Maybe best to pass that sort of thing up to List and Street directly if there's going to be this kind of delay within the Freehold.. anyway: "Um.. we got a visitation, from the f- from the thing which calls itself Mistress of the High House." 01:15 <Crion> List, even more on edge: "Define 'visitation.'" 01:15 <Crion> "You're all still there, right?" 01:16 <banana> "Yeah, it kept the no-contract promise. Which is now over. It claimed to know that the Pig and Ram is coming.. that they were looking for it, but would blame us. and that it's going away, to Disneyworld, so we can deal with them." 01:16 <dammitwho> Maggie: "She asked if we'd passed along her message to him, and we said no, and she kinda... brushed it off? I dunno. It's hard to tell with Them. But she came to tell us that she was leaving Baltimore for Florida, and to warn us, actually warn us, that Parson's crew were after us specifically." 01:16 <dammitwho> "Well, not in so many words. But that was the gist." 01:17 <Crion> List: "Disneyworld?" 01:17 <Crion> Amelia: "Florida?" 01:17 <Crion> Both: "Fuck." 01:17 <banana> Melanie: "I quote, 'I decline to add to your problems any further.'. I'd guess she - the Title - is over Peter and- yes, Disneyworld. A very strange flex." 01:18 <Crion> List: "Well, let's hope it dies down there. 'Dies.' Whatever Keepers do." 01:18 <banana> "I think they do have... endings. Like a narrative arc." 01:25 <Crion> Nels's performance is absolutely brilliant, bringing in the entire neighborhood -- including the Sock Jerks! -- to run up tabs on the High House's behalf, to the delight of the proprietress. Once she's done with her set, the black widow even calls her over and hands Nels two rebate tickets for Notgnixel Market; they're not quite as versatile as Coins of the Realm, but they do immediately 01:25 <Crion> obviate two ledger-lines of debt from her motley when they touch her hand. Melanie and Tony benefit here. 01:26 <Crion> List: "Well, Orlando's the place to find things like that these days. I suppose. Good work, Melanie. We're going to make sure to get shooters out there on this Parson business. Nissa is taking lead." 01:27 <banana> "Well, she's certainly got the guns for it." 01:29 <banana> "Let me know if you need any more help - or details. If not, good luck with this.. shutdown.. it might actually help us out a bit. Keep the streets safe." 01:29 <Crion> List: "Agreed. Going to let you go. I'll touch base once Street gets out of this meeting. You've got the greenlight if you see this Parson, obviously." 01:29 <trenchfoot> She entirely speaks and answers in guitar noodling. A series of notes with some vibrato ought to convey her thanks. 01:30 <Crion> The mantis waitresses...well, mantis don't swoon. But you get the idea. 01:31 <trenchfoot> She keeps playing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKysXOApKVw 01:32 <VoxPVoxD> It's only right that you should play the way you feel it...