[Day 5 - EN] Hedge House (Autumn Only)

[Dapper Dog]

The Autumn Court members found a secluded place in the bayou just outside a cabin to gather and celebrate the court with ritual, booze, and a little terror…

There may be blood.

[Gray]

Gray slinks his way over, his Mask returned after shedding it in the revelry earlier in the evening.

"I wonder how many of us are going to make it...and if he'll be passing on what I found." It seems like idle musing, but Gray can't quite put aside a swell of pride.

[Tiffani]

Tiffani stands a little way off from the cabin, arms folded across her chest as if warding off the cold - despite it being a warm, balmy night in Minuit. The drinks she had had at the pub were making her thoughts a bit cloudy - her small build and intolerance to alcohol meant it didn't take much to make her tipsy - or just plain drunk.

She spots Gray - more so because his musings said aloud caught her attention or she might have missed him completely. Looking around the bayou, she was more than a little creeped out by the location. The thrum of insects, the night sounds of various birds whose calls she had never heard before, and, let's face it, the presence of a ... cat(?) with way too many teeth. Why were the Fae so damn ... eccentric?

"What did you find?" Tiffani asked Gray as she finally decided to ignore the strangeness of the bayou and seek out some company. "I know it's none of my business, really, but ... you seem a little perturbed by whatever it is."

Like Gray, her Mask was back in place, as well, especially now that she wasn't in the midst of a crowd containing quite a few people like her.

[Gray]

Gray looks over Tiffani. He really didn't want to overplay his hand about some business...especially because some things he had to keep close to his chest. He hadn't realized she was around, and cursed himself for his carelessness. She she is Autumn, and secrets were their currency. If he extended some...

"There's something seriously hinky with one of the professors at the local college. Like, "mind might be a conduit for a vastly powerful over-worldly being." kinda thing. I left Dewitt what I had found, but I don't know if he got anything new..."

[Tiffani]

Tiffani drew closer to Gray so that they could speak in at a lower volume - but she could feel the worry eminating from the cat-creature. She even caught the faint but steady feeling of mistrust. She was perceptive enough to understand what it was.

"Haven't a fear, Gray. If you do not trust me with your findings then by all means do not tell me. Even so, whatever your worry, no one's secret will ever leave my lips."

Then she listens as Gray explains what he found all the while maintaining a somewhat deadpan expression, her own emotions almost impossible to read either from her face or her body language.

"Hinky ...." She pinched her bottom lip between her thumb and forefinger as she mulled over the unfamiliar word - but she thought she understood its meaning from the context.

"So what you're saying is that, perhaps, one of the professors at Miskatonic is channeling something not of this world? Are you thinking Fae? Anyway, I am unfamiliar with DeWitt, but should you need my help, I will gladly do what I can."

[Gray]

Tiffani drew closer to Gray so that they could speak in at a lower volume - but she could feel the worry eminating from the cat-creature. She even caught the faint but steady feeling of mistrust. She was perceptive enough to understand what it was.

"Haven't a fear, Gray. If you do not trust me with your findings then by all means do not tell me. Even so, whatever your worry, no one's secret will ever leave my lips."

Then she listens as Gray explains what he found all the while maintaining a somewhat deadpan expression, her own emotions almost impossible to read either from her face or her body language.

"Hinky ...." She pinched her bottom lip between her thumb and forefinger as she mulled over the unfamiliar word - but she thought she understood its meaning from the context.

"So what you're saying is that, perhaps, one of the professors at Miskatonic is channeling something not of this world? Are you thinking Fae? Anyway, I am unfamiliar with DeWitt, but should you need my help, I will gladly do what I can."

It is a strange thing, having someone concerned for him. Even memories of his mother, dimly flickering bits of sight and sound, seem to be more concerned about him. It's..unusual. Not bad, but...unusual.

"I don't think that he's channeling it, so much as I think he poked his nose into something, and it poked back...hard, and is now channeling him. The thing...it's not Fae, I'm sure of it. What it showed me in his dreams weren't Arcadia, it was something" Gray pauses and trails off. "Different. Part of me thinks that we should slit the door bastard's throat in his sleep, and part of me is worried that doing that would let something worse out."

[Tiffani]

Tiffani's eyes widen in shock at the mention of slitting someone's throat while they sleep. This level of violence was - beyond her, not a part of her world. But she knew it existed and, with all of this uncertain magic floating around in a world she once saw as perfectly rational and scientific, well, she understood that violence might sometimes be necessary.

"Different ... hmm ..." Tiffani thought it over for a few moments. "So if it isn't from Arcadia, where would it originate? Perhaps if we can find the answer to that question we'll have a better idea of how to handle it. I certainly would not like to think that this thing possessing the professor is some creature from a religious legend - like, say, a demon. Can you tell what its intent may be? Not specifically, per se, but does it seek to do harm?"

[Gray]

"It called itself Karkosa...the city, and the thing. Something from the Yellow King, 'cording to Dewitt, and the legends are positively Lovecraftian. So I have no clue where to go from there."

"But yeah...it was talking about trying to tempt him to raise himself over other people, so I am thinking that it means harm to...well, someone, and probably lots"

[Tiffani]

"The yellow king ..." Tiffani says the name slowly, thoughtfully, falling silent for a moment as she thinks. "I've heard of that ... from somewhere. Isn't the yellow king a Lovecraftian creation? Seems that's where I may have heard it from."

She begins pacing back and forth, putting an awful lot of thought into this.

"Karkosa ... hmm ... if you want, I can do a little research, maybe I can come up with something ... ?"

[Gray]

"Sure, it couldn't hurt." Gray nods. "I gave everything to the King earlier, so maybe he has turned something up. I'm at a dead end on it."

Gray looks around. "I have no idea where the others are. It look like we're all alone. We could get that hand holding in if you'd like." Gray offers a bemused smile.