Chapter 2.8: Boundaries and Crossings

Alric and Saije stand outside the Dyer Estate. Alric yells out, "Ellie! Scratch! Anyone?"

No response for several long minutes.

Saije, loaded with equipment, takes a deep breath and crosses into the lot. She stands there for a second, frowning. "I'm feeling a very strong feeling that I shouldn't be here." She retreats back to the sidewalk. "Looks like there is a boundary up now."

A few minutes after that, a black Labrador in a leather "Guide's Dog" vest—complete with saddle bags and silly patches—trots out of the trees, tail wagging and tongue lolling. He approaches the two new people and politely sniffs their hands.

Alric yells out a few more times, with no response.

You're wasting time. You know the answer.

He takes a deep breath, forms his hands into a speaker around his mouth, then yells: "LADY WATERCOLOUR MAP. WHERE ARE YOU? WE NEED TO TALK."

No response.

The lot is too calm, there should be Shoggoths. A lot of them.

There was some antimemetic magic even when just driving here.

And then he notices Saije walking into the lot. "No, Saije, please, stop."

I'm about to fucking lose it.

"Okay, that's good to know, thank you. Please, please put the stuff back. And then, Saije. Saije, please listen to me. Right now, I'm putting effort into being polite to you, effort I could spend on the problem at hand, and that's because I know that some part of me likes you. And that part does not want me to later regret how I talked to you. But, if you really want to help and not just play the role of someone who helps, I need you to do exactly one thing, and that is: Do as I say."

The slight bite Alric's voice had when talking to Astraeus has since only grown sharper.

"'Let's go into the hive without preparation' they said. They're currently being digested by Shoggoths." "'Phoenix is a big girl and can handle herself.' Astraeus said, oblivious to the fact that his fucking detection methods aren't covering everything." "'You want to rain down hell on Shoggoths? Here's a potion of fire resistance. Let's exchange some glances because you're the weird one asking for Environmental Protection. Why no, the smoke didn't fucking occur to me.'"

He sighs, and continues speaking in a less cutting tone now. It's taking quite a bit of effort.

"And now you. We have a lot supposedly overflowing with Shoggoths. A lot we have a hard time locating and looking at, and no Shoggoths are in sight. Has it not occured to you that maybe, if we just walk in, we might suddenly be waist deep in Shoggoths? That we might have to book it at a moment's notice? What are you going to do with the equipment you're carrying when the Shoggoths are coming for you? Do you just drop it? Or are you going to outrun the Shoggoths while carrying all of this? This stuff is vital to the plan."

"I'm fine. It was only a step, and I didn't think the danger would be too much more two feet in then right here. And, med-kit, crossbow, shawl, lighter fluid. These are important things to have if we get whisked away. But sure. Fine. You're the actual field agent here. I will follow your lead." Saije glowers before taking a breath, setting down the crossbow, and fixing her pigtails into buns.

"Great. Here's the rules, in descending priority."

"One: Keep yourself out of danger. If I meet Phoenix in hell, I don't want to tell her I brought friends." "Two: Inform me if you suspect me to have missed something important." "Three: Don't do anything but the things I tell you to do."

"This is important. Repeat it back to me."

Saije opens her mouth then bites her tongue. “Mmmhmm. Ok. Because it’s important. One: keep myself out of danger. Two: tell you if I think you missed anything important. Three: Don’t do anything but the things you tell me to do.”

She purses her lips. “Sir, I have important information that I suspect you missed, sir.”

Important information that is suspected to be missed by Alric: [5, 4]-2 Result: Failure ❌

Alric is, frankly, indifferent about her attitude. Someone with an attitude who doesn't compromise the plan causes the plan to have a significantly higher chance than someone who plays nice, but carries your fucking equipment into Shoggoth territory. He'll take Attitude-Saije over No-Saije over Random-Saije any time.

"Alright, let me revise rule two: Tell me any important information you suspect me to have missed. What is it?"

“You’re gonna need to remove the stick and take your condescension and shove it real up deep in your hard ass.” She illustrates her ‘advice’ with gestures. “And I mean real good and secure up in there. Because, currently, it keeps falling out of your mouth.”

"Noted."

He'll turn towards the lot, then yell, one more time. "LADY WATERCOLOUR MAP OR ANYONE ELSE? I'M HERE TO KILL SOME SHOGGOTHS, IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED."

And that’s when the dog in the leather vest gallops out from the tree line. He’s a large-ish all black labrador with a happy tail wagging just as fast as he is running. He pulls up short just before he would barrel into Alric, and instead play-bows, before cautiously approaching to sniff.

The dog’s vest is a weird fusion of a service dog’s harness with saddlebags and studded leather armor. It has an embroidered patch saying “Guide’s Dog” easily readable on top, along with patches that seem to be parodies of scout badges. “Licorice” is embossed and inked in on the leather by the dog’s collarbone.

Alric lets him sniff his hand, then goes on one knee.

"Hi! And who- Licorice? That's a great name! Give me one moment, then I'm with you."

It's a 'Guide's Dog' and the vibe fits watercoloring. I mean. The meaning is pretty clear.

He gets up and turns around, puts Saije's stuff, excluding the shawl, back into the car, then tosses her the keys.

"Stay with the car, make sure nothing happens to it. I'm also letting you know: I'm aware you currently have a ton of great ideas on how to annoy me, including, for example, hiding the car. I can't stop you from doing that, keys or not. It is in your power to mess up my plan in a myriad of ways. But before you do so, remember that your boss and coworkers are currently in there." He points at the lot. "If you mess this up, you may well condemn them."

He turns to the dog. "Okay, do you want me to follow you? I'll follow you."

Then he puts on the shawl, and follows Licorice.

"Look. I'm serious. You need to stop being condescending. You are going to meet a faerie. You need to be polite to faeries, more so than just that it is useful to be polite in general. If you mess this up, you may well condemn them."

Saije hands him the shawl without protest and puts the med-kit bag she had slung over her shoulders in the trunk of the car too. She continues talking if Alric puts on the shawl, addressing empty air if she needs to.

"I've met Lady Map before. I don't want you going in there alone because I think you have a lethal case of foot-in-mouth disease, and I actually don't want you to get hurt."

The dog is looking back and forth between the two humans (irrespective of if the shawl is warn), tail slowing to more of an anxious wag.

"Thank you for your input, I'll take it into account. In the mean time, if you want to, think through what I actually said to you."

I don't think I could bump up my assigned importance of politeness even if I wanted, I've read enough about faeries and seen Astraeus's reaction to Lady Watercolour Map's name.

He'll start walking towards the lot, gesturing the dog to lead him.

She mutters over him while he's still talking. "Well good luck then. I said I'd follow your lead. So I guess I'll just. Wait here." She rubs the bridge of her nose.

The shawl must be pretty effective. She doesn't seem to notice Alric at all.

Licorice boops Saije with his nose and then nuzzles out of his saddle bags a loop of leash connected to his harness, which he paws at Alric to take. It looks like the not-quite-invisibility-cloak doesn't much work on this dog.

This time, lead by the dog's leash, there isn't the feeling of trespassing when Alric enters the lot. The lab leads him to a line of police tape set just deep enough into the woods to be out of sight from the street. Then, under it and to a path worn in the undergrowth. There's another path that they can occasionally spot, running parallel approximately two meters further in. And as the two pass through a clearing, Alric can see that more parallel paths cut even farther in.

Licorice follows the path as it as curves clockwise around the perimeter, pulling and nudging Alric back on the path if he tries to wander from it. Eventually, they reach the middle of the eastern edge of the loop. There, the path reaches a crossroad that cuts perpendicularly through the concentric rings of paths. The dog takes the right angle and leads Alric directly deeper into the lot.

The innermost ring is incomplete, path extending to one side, but not the other. The dog circles then sits at the second-to-innermost complete intersection, ears perked and waiting.

In the distance, music. Growing louder.

BROKEN LINK Spending a research hold

Alric mentally reviews what he's read on faeries. Enough people in the last few days have warned him that asking if someone is a faerie is rude that he has looked up why that would be the case. There was an answer in the Dawn Commission's online archives (by the same guy who wrote the ghost article, actually).

The simplest answer is that there are multiple kinds of faeries and asking a Sidhe or Spriggan or Goblin if they are a faerie is similar to asking a human if they are an ape. It is strictly accurate, but implied to be insulting by including them in the same category as Sprites, Pixies, Brownies, and Boggarts.

A deeper answer for why even the question "are you a Sidhe?" is rude, has to do with the rules the faeries have to follow. Faeries are creatures bound by rules of consistency. If they behave one way in one circumstance, they cannot behave otherwise in similar circumstances. Nearly all the trustworthy ones are bound by their word. If they say they will do something, they cannot not do it, even if it means destroying themselves in the attempt. As such, they are very careful with their promises and are extraordinarily sensitive when mortals break promises. Some faeries work around their need to be consistent by having multiple "facets" that can each have different patterns of behavior and can allow them to context-switch. Generally, faeries don't like context switching in the middle of a conversation, especially if someone else forces the switch. Such as when a faerie in a human-passing facet is asked if they are a faerie and they are forced into another facet that adheres with the Seelie rules for how a faerie should conduct themselves when talking to a mortal who knows that they are a faerie.

The dog is waiting, and the music is coming closer. Alric will wait here for a minute. Chances are, that's what he's supposed to do here.

A quick fermi estimate on the power level of Lady Watercolour Map.

Astraeus, Sawyer, Saije. All scared or in awe of her. So, probably, more powerful than an arch mage. She's also not just keeping a barrier up around the lot, but continues to draw circles in. How many Sawyers of power is that? Four?

And they're having a party while doing it. Let's call it eight.

Upper bound. Not a god. Demigod? Could be. Vreen hangs with Shannon, maybe demigods are gods that haven't ascended and are still in reality and thus approachable? I can't really put the bound lower.

So, at least eight Sawyers, probably a Demigod.

A fae demigod.

A sith fae demigod.

Great.

Current estimate for everything working out? 70? 60? 60 percent. Plus minus 30 percent depending on the outcome of this encounter.

The plan: Have her stay cooperative, collect the kids, visit Sawyer, napalm, Shoggoths, rescue the team, solve the court case, quit the job, leave the country.

Primary objective: Have her stay cooperative.

Options: ~~Force~~ as if ~~Bargain~~ Just don't fuck it up.

Objective: Just don't fuck it up.

Sub-objectives: Minimize time in the encounter. Maximize politeness. Do not promise anything. Do not make her promise anything. Do not let her know that you know that she's a fae.

There's a chorus of voices ahead singing along to a radio with varying degrees of competence and enthusiasm, ranging from smooth and melodic to off-key but energetic to soft, nervous, and somewhat competent.

... And never ask us why

The procession is led by woman in hiking clothes with a black and blue-jeweled whip coiled at her hip and holding a spear at the ready. Her dirty blonde hair is bound up in braids, interwoven with blue-black feathers. Shoggoth ichor stains her limbs and weapons, though still she sings with a wide smile and and clear voice.

Come, come, come, come, come along now Run away from the hum-drum We'll go to a place that is safe from Greed, anger and boredom

Behind her, Arkham's lost cop, missing half of his equipment and wearing a bemused expression on his face, trying his best to sing along to the unfamiliar song.

We'll dance and sing till sundown And feast with abandon We'll sleep when the morning comes And we'll rise by the sound of the birdsongs

Behind him, Scratch and Eustace, who Alric recognizes from the adventure with the Weird. The redheaded beanpole of a troublemaker who helped pin the weird and his better-dressed boyfriend, as complicit as he is long-suffering, follow behind with borrowed spears. Scratch has managed to scrounge up denim overalls and a tattered flannel that make him look even more like a scarecrow than usual. Eustace is a sharp contrast in his ichor-spattered slacks and no-longer-blue button-up.

We'll be here when the world slows down And the sunbeams fade away Keeping time by a pendulum As the fabric starts to fray

Toward the back of the pack is a young woman with Sawyer's complexion and short dark hair wearing a poofy black dress and a delicate cardigan with embroidered songbirds. She's is nervously hugging a spear while paper birds flutter around her. Close behind her, with one dark tendril gently looped around her waist is a tall, gangly teen with long red hair, a brightly coloured sundress, a sturdily crocheted rainbow cardigan and very well-worn cowboy boots, along with a bullwhip in each hand & a spear borne in another space-black tentacle. She's bringing up the rear, for good reason - three of the tendrils extending from her back have snaked out and are slowly but steadily constricting a wayward teacup shoggoth. She has several more to spare, drifting behind her like the tendrils of a hungry anemone.

There’s no such thing as time to kill Nor time to throw away So, once for the bright sky, twice for the pig sty Thrice for another day

No one except the woman at the head of the procession appears to be dressed for this occasion.

The woman smiles at Alric, despite the glamour shawl, and leads the procession to complete the circle and turn the corner to stand on the path in front of Alric.

The dog is very excited and waits until the procession nearly arrives before jumping up and greeting everyone in turn.

“Good boy, Licky!” The woman ruffles the dog’s ears. “And welcome new guest. What brings you here?” She asks, looking directly at Alric with large hazel eyes.

The others in the procession appear to be trying to find who she is talking to.

The music still continues, but without the group singing along, it’s obvious it is just coming from a Bluetooth speaker.

Thank god, it's obvious.

Alric gives Lady Watercolour Map a slight bow as she approaches, then waits to be spoken to. He then notices the others being confused, and remembers the shawl.

"Oh, please excuse the shawl. I forgot." He takes off the shawl.

56%

"Thank you for receiving me. My name is Alric Jorgensen, I've come here to bring a message from Sawyer Morgan, and then help out with the Shoggoth problem."

The others blink and are able to notice Alric. Scratch grins and whispers to the two girls in the back, “He’s one of the hunters who were after the weird last week. The one Cassidy was talking about.”

The woman speaks with a surprisingly informal tone. “Hi Alric, you can call me Aspen. You’re one of Phoenix’s people, right? She and the rest are hurt, but alive and in friendly territory last I heard. What’s Sawyer got to say?”

The redheaded girl immediately looks interested, grinning wide, while the other young woman - who has Sawyer's nose and eyes now that Alric's able to get a good look at her face - looks at Scratch with big eyes and whispers back. "The one working with Ms. Sellain?"

???

"I- Wh-" Focus. He catches himself. "You're right, I'm one of Phoenix's people. Sawyer asked me to 'tell the kids' to get back to Bright Books. Additionally, he told me that someone named Ellie would be able to help me execute my plan. I'm sorry, Aspen, just to confirm: I think I just heard you say that the team is alright?"

The red-headed girl looks even more excited, bouncing on the heels of her boots. "That's me! I'm Ellie!"

"Ellie, ssssh, he's talking to Ms. Aspen," Morgana hugs her girlfriend's arm to anchor her down to earth.

“My friend pulled five people out of here and asked me to keep the shoggoths contained for a bit while they recovered and reorganized… But that was two days ago, I don’t know their status now.” She shrugs.

Alric can see a lot of relief wash up inside him. One more emotion he's currently detached from.

85%

"That's great news, I appreciate you telling me." He thinks for a moment. "How many people do you need to hold the Shoggoths off at any moment?"

“Ay, well? It’s easier to constrict them in with more people—you guys have been a great help.” She turns to smile at her followers. “We can take a break now though. Keeping the steady-state is no biggie.” She waves a hand. “There’s a clearing along the third ring. Let’s head there for a picnic and debrief, and then you kids can decide if you want to stick around or go home. Sound good?”

Morgana stands stick-straight. "Yes, ma'am!"

Ellie pulls Morgana forwards with her as she moves to get a bit closer to Alric, expression one of unrestrained enthusiasm. "Sawyer said I could help?"

The boys nod along and the cop still wears the look of one who knows he is out of his depth and has given up trying to take back control.

I have a million things to do and a phone call to make and a Saije waiting and having the kids around might cause the apocalypse.

Picnics aren't really Alric's priority right now, and any second around Aspen is a second he can cause a massive fuck up.

70%

"Ellie, right? Sawyer mentioned that you can protect me from Shoggoths. I can't explain the details, right now, it's a lot. But if you're willing to do that, I'll explain more to you later, I just really have to talk to Lady- to Aspen right now, if that's okay with you?"

"Yeah! I can totally help!" She waves the shoggoth captured in her tendrils, beaming, even as Morgana catches her arm more firmly and pulls her back towards the boys, smiling nervously at Alric and Aspen.

"Sorry! Sorry. Go ahead Ms. Aspen, Mr. Jorgensen, Ellie's just excited to keep helping."

Aspen’s eyes flash amber for a blink. “Dude. I’ve been walking in literal circles for most of these past two days. I’m wanting to take a break for lunch. You’re invited. We can speak over food. Or, if it’s private, we can talk once I’ve got these guys settled.” She points her thumb at the college kids and cop behind her.

She addresses the dog. “Licorice, can you go fetch the basket?”

The dog barks and runs off.

She gestures down the path and starts walking. “Plus it would be good to be a bit farther away from the front lines, hmm?” She motions for Alric to walk with her.

Ah, fuck. I'm gonna die at a picnic, by the hands of the demigod of arts and crafts.

Okay, universe. You win. You get the last laugh.

Alric nods and walks with her. Picnic it is.

20%

"Sounds good, let's talk over food. I'm just going to call my co-worker Saije real quick and then I'm with you. She's waiting at the car and might start to worry. I think you two might have met already, actually."

Did Alric see anything when the flash in Aspen's eyes happened?

The flash has the momentum of something vast altering its trajectory for a brief moment. It happened when Alric slipped and called Aspen “Lady.”

“She’s invited too, if she would like to join.” Aspen says.

It’s not a far walk to the clearing. And licorice soon trots back down the path carrying a beautiful stereotypical picnic basket in his mouth. From the basket, Aspen lays a blanket out and also hands out warm towels and wipes for everyone to clean the gore off themselves. Out of the basket also comes enough food to prove that the basket is magic: home-made muffins and cookies, an insulated bag of hot sandwiches—with “veggie,” “roast beef,” “chicken,” and “chapulines” labeled on offer, thermoses of smoothies, and a variety of drinks. As well as a bone-in cut of meat for Licorice.

Scratch snatches up a ziplock baggie with a scarecrow drawn on it that looks to be full of bug trail mix.

Saije answers Alric’s call. “Saije here.”

"Saije, it's Alric. I have good news. Aspen informed me that Phoenix and the team were pulled out by a friend of hers, and that they're most likely safe and recovering. Besides the thing Sawyer is panicking about, everything is fine. Also, Aspen has invited us both to a picnic. If you want to, please come and join us. The shoggoths are contained, so you won't need the shawl. Oh, and please update Astraeus."

He'll sit down, if possible, somewhere on the edge of the blanket. Not quite outside of the group and excluding himself, but certainly not in the middle.

“Ok. I’ll let HQ know.” She sounds cooly professional now. “Should I also update Sawyer? … I do want to join. Do I just… walk into the lot?”

"Yes, good idea, please also update Sawyer. And one second, I'll ask about Licorice."

He turns to Aspen.

"Aspen, if you don't mind, could you please send Licorice to go and fetch Saije? I recall it being tough to find the way here."

Ellie drops her teacup shoggoth to the grass as Morgana carefully picks up two of the damp towels, offering one to Ellie before cleaning her own hands. Morgana picks up a veggie sandwich and a smoothie with caution, looking between them and Aspen like she's doing mental calculus.

Ellie grabs a muffin and drops down to sit right next to Alric, munching happily as one black tendril gently tugs Morgana's sleeve in an effort to gently try and coax her to join them.

“Of course.” Aspen scratches the dog’s head. “One more fetch before lunch, Licky?”

The dog gets up, digs a shallow hole to burry his food in, then trots off.

“Ah… ok.” Aspen laughs at the dirt-covered half-buried portion of T-bone steak.

“The bugs are only on the banana muffins and chapulines sandwiches. Everything but the dog treats is human-safe to eat.” Aspen tells Morgana. “My partner cooked all of this for us.”

We went, the two of us into The woods behind the little school Two went in and one came home We didn't go in there alone The speaker plays in a minor key.

“Scratch, can you not play that song while we’re eating?” Aspen asks. “You’ve had your fun.”

He protests, and they bicker like lawyers until he sets the music to the orchestral cover of Over the Garden Wall. Scratch had really wanted to time the previous song for a particularly good line drop right when the next guest shows up.

Some of the anxious tension ebbs from Morgana as Aspen says her partner made the meal, and she offers a quiet "that was very kind of them" before finally taking a bite of her sandwich. She scoots closer to Ellie's side, relaxing slowly, and looks at Alric, her eyes no longer dark and star-shot like her father's. They're a far more mundane, human-looking green with white sclera.

She smiles slightly as several small paper birds finally settle in, resting on her shoulders and the picnic blanket. "... hi. Uhm. You can call me Morgana. Sawyer's my dad."

Ellie is clearly vibrating with ill-contained excitement at the prospect of getting to assist Alric with some kind of adventurous plan!

"Okay, Saije, Licorice is on the way. I'll see you in a minute, alright?" And after Saije confirms, he hangs up.

Alric grabs a chicken sandwich and some water.

"Hi, Morgana. Nice to meet you. I can definitely see the resemblance." Polite, friendly, professional. He'll only give polite, friendly, professional answers when spoken to, and otherwise wait for Aspen to somehow signal that it's okay for him to talk to her. He will definitely not chat up anyone, including the girl flipping out next to him.

Plus one for green eyes, by the way.

"....can you tell Ellie and I more about what you need her to help with?" Morgana glances towards Aspen as she bickers with Scratch, then back to Alric. "Aspen's friendly if you're friendly. It's safe to talk right now. I'm..."

She fidgets with her contigo, nose scrunching slightly as she finds the correct words. ".... I've got a lot of practice talking with people like Aspen."

Alric nods.

I'm friendly. I'm polite, friendly, professional.

21%

"Sure! I'll set the lot and the mansion on fire, I've seen fire work on them before. And Sawyer mentioned that Ellie might be able to deal with the few shoggoths coming my way. Frankly, I'm not too concerned about that part, but I could certainly use someone on standby in case I lose my mind. So.. if you can and want to do that Ellie, that'd be appreciated."

Before Alric bites into his sandwich: What does Alric see around him? Anything concerning about the sandwich, or in his environment?

The food and immediate environment have no detectable magic vectors. The path, however, does have a very noticeable vector to it.

Morgana nods slowly as Ellie beams, tentacles unfurling from her back. "I can definitely help keep the shoggoths away from you, they're, like, really tasty? Mori says I can't eat them while we're here, though."

Morgana takes her girlfriends hand and squeezes it. "Are you going to get the fire department to keep an eye on the lots next to this one, or do you want me or my dad to call them? The border isn't holding anymore, so it's not going to keep the fire from spreading out, so unless Ms. Aspen wants to help hold it in," she pauses, searching Alric's expression like she's making sure he's caught the underlying implication that she doesn't know what the price of that help would be "-it's probably good to get, uhm. Local emergency response infrastructure involved in a safe way, so no one outside gets hurt."

She chews her lip. "Arkham's got a really hands-off approach to weird stuff, so they... uhm. Might call it a 'concerned citizen controlled burn'?"

"You're so smart, Mori," Ellie beams, wrapping Morgana up in a hug and making the dark-haired girl squeak in protest.

"I'm not being smart, I'm just. I'm just trying to pay attention and ask helpful questions," Morgana looks like she's reaching up to pull a hat down over her eyes, only for her fingers to catch on empty air, leaving her wringing her hands in front of her. "I. It's easy to forget the normal stuff! Just like it's hard to learn the normal stuff if everything's always been weird! You have to balance stuff so you don't forget that normal people who don't know about stuff are just as important as the people who do. I. It's probably actually a stupid question because he works with Ms. Inara so he's probably really smart and he probably already thought about talking to the fire department before he got here-"

She hiccups.

"No, I didn't consider that! That's a great idea, please call them before everything starts, or have Sawyer do so."

And I'm really smart for working with Ms. Inara, yes I am. His inner voice is incredibly sarcastic.

He'll take a bite from his non-magical sandwich, and think while chewing.

How did I miss that? I think it's because I imagined the lot to be clear of trees once the fires start and the shoggoths pull them in, and the lot is surrounded by streets, with houses far away. Ground-level fire won't get that far, but tree-high fire might, possibly.

And, honestly, I do not give a flying fuck about property damage, fuck, even whole Boston burning down, with extra-dimensional horrors flooding into our world.

But still, I missed it. I'm the best chance we got and even I make mistakes.

He swallows, then speaks up again.

"Actually, no, I'm going to point this out. You're the first person today to actually tell me something I should've seen myself. Props to you, I really appreciate it."

Can Alric differentiate between the path people need to take and where he shouldn't wander off to? Licorice did some nudging where there might be areas he's not supposed to step in.

The path all has a significant vector on it in the same direction that Aspen flashed when her eyes turned amber. The dog was nudging Alric to stay on the path, and the path didn’t fork or cross another until the eastern perpendicular path that cut through all the concentric paths.

Focusing on Mori with vector sight, Alric can just barely catch glimmers of vectors attached to her and her paper birds whenever they move.

Morgana looks up, eyes big and watery. "I... I did?" She seems to be genuinely surprised, even as some of the anxiety in her expression clears up as Alric's words offer her a little more confidence. "I... yes, I can do that, or get dad to - he's better at talking to people. I'm still. Uhm. Working on it."

Ellie kisses the top of her head, happy to let her girlfriend talk while she finishes her lunch. Morgana steadies herself, breathing in carefully and trying her best to project more confidence. "Okay. Okay. Uhm. Is there anything else you know you need, or that I might be able to help with? I'm not as good at magic as Dad is, but I can do some things?"

Saije arrives in about the same amount of time it took Alric to traverse the path. Aspen stands to greet her and exchange pleasantries.

Saije sits by Alric, looking relieved to see him in one piece.

Aspen is now free to listen in on Alric’s conversation.

"Hey, Saije! I can recommend a chicken sandwich, if you have trouble choosing."

While thinking he continues to eat his sandwich, then turns to Morgana in between bites.

"Mhm.. I'll have Sawyer and his friends cast Environmental Protection on us three," he gestures at Ellie and Saije, "if you can cast that as well, that'd be super helpful. What other magic can you do, if you don't mind me asking?"

Maybe a Modify Memory? Let's not mention that in front- wait, did she say her friend pulled five people out of there?

Saije chooses a roast beef sandwich.

“Your plan is to set the lot on fire yourself?” Aspen asks, “I can see why you would want protection if you were in the fire yourself, but I am not clear on why you would need to set the fire yourself.”

Morgana nods slowly, eyes lighting up. "I think I can help with that! Dad would probably do a geometry version already, and.. Ellie might be able to help with math if he or Zeke don't, but I might be able to get my birds to help?"

She hesitates again, notices Saije and offers a shy "hi, miss Saije!" before she straightens her shoulders. "Uhm. I'm really good with making puppets? So. I'm learning how to get them to do new things. I've gotten a little better using them to expand my perception of the space around me, and I can get them to send messages. I... don't like making people-shaped puppets."

Polite, friendly, professional.

"Okay, that's awesome! The Protections are the important part here." He swallows the last of his sandwich, then continues. "Mhm... I don't see a use for your puppets today. You'll have to explain that to me in detail after this is over, it sounds pretty strong."

Then Aspen speaks, and Alric's attention turns to her.

You're going to thread this into offering to magic in the napalm or something, aren't you. Saw it coming.

"Yes, I'll have to do it myself, unfortunately." Preempt. "I've considered asking you for help, you're easily the most powerful among us present." He gestures in the general direction of the lot. Reasons. Magic bad? "But, the thing is.. So, a bit more context. Sawyer is tracking what he called, I hope I remember correctly, meta-physical free space in this area. He is at this moment running a lot of numbers and very much panicking. I don't quite understand it, but he said the words 'apocalyptic event' and explained that we should have as few mages present as possible, as we're very close to the limit. It's not a long shot to assign some probability to the hypothesis that magic cast, particularly powerful magic, could also factor in. The good news is: I'm not really a mage, let alone a powerful one, and napalm is purely physical."

Same language. Deal? No. Promise? He sighs. "The second reason, and you'd be right to point it out as a flaw of mine, is that I said that I'll rain down hell on the shoggoths, and that I will do, even if there is an easier way." But maybe later? "Unless I really have to. The mission comes before my pride."

??%

Morgana fidgets quietly as Aspen joins the conversation, going pale and uncertain before she finally swallows hard and speaks again. "I ... I can also make a double of myself."

Alric looks at Morgana, visibly impressed, then turns back to Aspen.

"Ooh! Impressive!" Aspen complements Morgana.

Aspen nods slowly. “I see what Sawyer is talking about. Hmm, the thing we most want to avoid is pulling other people in to the situation here. The more visibility something like this gets, the more likely the process Sawyer is worried about starts to catalyze.” She glances at the police officer, who is frowning, trying to follow along with the conversation.

She continues, “I’ve started a working here: the paths constricting the shoggoths territory. So far, I’ve claimed about two thirds of the territory. Completing it will take another day at best, and many days at worst. I don’t expect completing it to cost much in the risk budget Sawyer is accounting. However, my lingering here might.” She rubs her fingers together like she is feeling an invisible texture between them. "It is not so much that using more magic is the danger yet, but rather pulling more attention; forging new bonds of tension. Those who are here must suffice. Though... let me check." She texts Sawyer.

Aspen regards Alric, eyes glittering faintly gold. "You're on Phoenix's new task force." She nods to Saije. "The one that was formed specifically for fieldwork. As far as I'm concerned, you are here on Phoenix's behalf. It's your job to make good use of the resources you find around you. How has your understanding of the situation changed now that you are here? And how well does the first iteration of your plan fit your current knowledge and resources?"

Alric's phone beeps as a text message rolls in from Sawyer.

Aspen, Saije, and Morgana's phones also beep with an incoming text.

BCCing so no one gets anyone else's # without permission. M said that it sounds like the rest of DC Field was on-site previously & are currently Elsewhere I have calculated in wiggle room for if they & Aspen's Usual Suspects drop into the lot We have just enough space for safe operation

What kind of magic did she do just then, as much as Alric can see?

When Aspen rubbed her fingers together, there was a very faint change in her vector, like she was letting herself be moved. When her eyes glittered gold she had a faint rotational vector… directed at you, Alric.

What was- oh. I really hope you don't.

Testable, though.

He rests his hand on his chin, obviously thinking hard about the question he's just been asked.

It's considered incredibly impolite to tread into other people's minds without consent, LADY WATERCOLOUR MAP.

And then he'll fill his mind with sounds of machines screeching, with the smell of gasoline, with flashing lights.

Any reaction?

No reaction. She continues to watch and eat her chapulines sandwich.

Okay. No eye flashing amber in response to the name, no facial reaction to the antithesis of her vibe. I'll be cautiously taking that as evidence against mind reading.

He ponders the questions.

It's almost like she's testing me, like a job interview. 'It's your job to make good use of the resources-' oh I get it now.

And here I thought I'd out-fae a fae demigod. Of course she immediately recognizes the shape of that which I'm cutting off the ways to.

He takes a sip of water, or two.

But she did get the message, that I'm not making a deal.

Mhm..

As far as she's concerned I'm here on Phoenix's behalf, and she just so happens to be a resource I find around me..

Yeah, she's offering to run everything against Phoenix's bill, that she is. I should only concern myself with the 'fieldwork', not the politics or accounting or whatever.

He screws the water bottle shut again.

But I'm not going to do that either.

"So.. I'm somewhat certain that I have taken into account most resources available. I think I'm still going to stick with my original plan, plus minus a few minor adjustments."

"The situation is far less urgent than anticipated. The event Sawyer mentioned is still a threat, but with the kids back inside, there should be a good amount of buffer. The shoggoths are constrained to a smaller area, which will make my job easier. My team is safe, and more importantly not inside the mansion, which means I can turn up the heat."

"I could potentially wait for them, but they've been gone for two days, which makes it reasonably unlikely for them to show up in specifically the next few hours. We could send them a message, somehow, but if they stuck around there for two days, it's for a good, possibly health related reason. And frankly, I'd very much like to wrap all this up before sundown so we can all go home."

"So, unless I'm missing something here, I think the best course of action is still for me to soon get started on my plan. For the reasons I mentioned earlier."

"How do the, I think you called them 'bonds of tension', work? Are those the paths, and do they only repel shoggoths? Can we walk through them?"

Morgana has gone pink from Aspen's compliment and is quietly fidgeting, letting the adults who aren't in university talk as she leans into Ellie's side, chewing her lip as she checks the text from her father.

Ellie's pulled a smoothie over with one tentacle, gesticulating with too many limbs and beaming. "So we're going to go burn the hive up from the inside out?"

Morgana puts a hand on her arm and puts a finger to her lips, whispering. "...let them talk, if you still need to know more after, ask then, okay? You're doing really good at being patient, I'm really proud of you, Ellie."

Ellie's face splits in a broad smile as she squeezes Morgana in a tighter hug. "I'm really trying!" She's not as good at being quiet as Morgana but seems to be making an attempt at it.

“No. ‘Bonds of tension’ is referring to what would exacerbate the risk Sawyer pointed out. It’s… a technical term of the… structure of the wider problem.” She waves her hand. “Accurately explaining it would take time, and you haven’t asked to be my student.”

She continues, “Anyway. My paths I’ve been cutting are a working against the shoggoths. The outer layer repels attention from outside while the inner rings act like the containing barrier that used to be anchored to the border of the estate. The shoggoths cannot cross the paths, and I’ve made sure to extend underground to sever the root arteries.” She turns to glower at the dirt and presumably the roots underneath, her irises frost to ice blue until she refocuses on the conversation. “Any of us could walk on the paths or not, but using them reinforces them while walking elsewhere weakens them, and I can sense whatever crosses them, so I would prefer everyone to use the paths.”

Scratch interrupts. “Yeah but why do you gotta go into the nest yourself to fireball the critters? Eu has a cat golem, Rocky, who can withstand, what? Kiln temperatures?”

“Mmm, no, Rocky has to stay below the paper flash point.” Eustace says.

“Fahrenheit 451.” Scratch nods. “Most valuable thing I learned in sophomore English.”

Saije has relaxed somewhat since first arriving. She gives Alric tight reassuring smiles when he glances her way.

Alric blinks a few times, then catches himself.

That came out of left field. Not 'you're not worth the time' or even 'you're not my student', no. 'You haven't asked to be my student.'

He'll take another sip of water. Given the choice between talking to Scratch or to Aspen, you obviously talk to Aspen.

"Okay, that's helpful, that means we can retreat easily. Aspen, do the paths last without you? You mentioned that you staying might cause Sawyer's event. If you intend to leave, it might be important to have a way to contact you in case your help is needed."

Becoming your student? You know what, I might come back to you on that. Depending on how the day ends.

“I could set it up to last.”

Morgana looks like she desperately wants to help explain what Aspen means, but she's trying her best to set a good example. She still can't help herself as she looks at Aspen, eyes wide. ".... you're cutting into the substructure, too? That's ... that's really cool -"

Ellie hugs Morgana tight enough to make her squeak. "....does that mean that if you get to one of the rooms it'll explode??? Zeke and Sawyer told me that if you disrupt the temporo-spatial-disjunction between the space the shoggoths create in their hive and the smaller spaces their rooms take on underground in our Age that they explode and get stuff everywhere because they're so much bigger on the inside but they're super super dense so it's really hard to hurt them from the outside and that's why we take them apart inside-out!!!"

Morgana hesitates before quietly speaking to Scratch and Eustace. "... that's because he's animated in the golem method, right? I never asked, uhm, how does that work? The method Dad told me about is made with a shem, but I thought you were from more of a. Uhm. Ritual magic family?"

Ah, yeah, got it. Man, we could've just talked this out in plain text, this is a horrible way to recruit new students. But fine. I might jump through your next hoops some day.

Shoggoths are next. Let's wait long enough so it's not rude to leave, then get going.

Alric nods. "That'd be helpful."

90%

Aspen grimaces, "They... explode? Gross. I haven't come across a room yet, I will be careful when I do."

To Alric she explains, "It would mean that I would have to come back later to strike the working. It would be easiest to not have to set it up to last, but it is an option. I'd rather get this done."

She wipes off her hands. "Alright. Morgana, what is your double made out of? Are you able to let other people control it? Eustace, is Rocky nearby?"

"Yeah, I have him keeping watch where we came in." Eustace says.

"You know that most wards aren't gonna keep you uncooked from napalm that long." Scratch observes to Alric. "But I can toss my hat in on the how to not choke on smoke. I've used enough smoke bombs to learn how to not need to breathe. Ass-pen just taught me how to lend my ears, so I think I can figure out how to lend my lungs."

"Strachomir. Why did you say that?" Aspen asks Scratch flatly.

"Why did the scorpion sting the frog?" Scratch says back.

"Why settle for being a scorpion? Scorpions get squished." Aspen says. She picks up an acorn cap and flicks it at him, striking Scratch right between the eyes.

"I hate how you phrased so much of that, Scratch," Morgana says quietly, then bites her lip and sits up straight. "Uhm. The material depends on what I use for my focus, but..."

She pulls a chip of porcelain from her pocket, carved into the shape of a small human figure. "I left my favorite doll at home, but I usually use porcelain and ceramics. My dads have been getting me some better materials, but. Uhm. This is faerie ceramic. I... thought it might be important to have something hard to break today. Just in case."

Ellie's eyes go wide as saucers. "Wait. Is that-" She cuts herself off mid-sentence as Morgana gives her a big-eyed look, swallowing her words. "Sorry."

Morgana smiles slightly, squeezing Ellie's hand, then looks at Aspen again. "Uhm. I... Might be able to? I haven't tried, but. Uhm. It's all... Control and Puppet So. You showed us how to Share, so… maybe I can use that angle to… pass the puppet threads over?”

Alright, fae demigod, take the lead. If you fuck up, you can at least magic in a solution. Won't be on my tab though.

"I'm not opposed to you guys trying another plan, you are the experts. But please don't take offense on me later also preparing my own, just as a contingency."

This, right here, might just be my personal hell. I should just rip the bandaid off and leave, and if that causes Aspen to turn me into a potted plant, at least I got it over with.

Polite, friendly, professional.

"I notice I'm very confused, so I'm going to make some observations from my perspective as someone with only a few weeks in the magical community, and hope someone can point out my mistakes here." He gives the cop a semi-reassuring smile - man, I feel you - then turns back to the group. "You guys are the experts in magic, not me, so please point out any wrong assumptions, I'm probably missing something here."

"Scratch, I'll keep your suggestion for a smoke solution in mind. The specific solution I had planned for all of this were several layers of Environmental Protection. I do not have my book with me, but I'm certain that it also covers smoke, considering that it's part of the environment similar to how it covers the lack of oxygen underwater or in space, though I do not know if anyone actually tested the latter. I do not intend to jump into the hive, stand next to explosions, or swim in the napalm. I might get splashes on me, same being true for Ellie, but it shouldn't drain the magic too quickly. For all intents and purposes, the environments we'll be in will be 'wildfire' and 'burning house'. In the very worst case we'll notice the heat increasing and can retreat at any point, should the protections weaken."

"Morgana. I'd prefer to have fewer people on scene, if possible. Not that I don't trust your dad's math, but I prefer additional safety margins wherever I can get them. However, your double might be a great tool here if you can make it fire-proof. But.. I only have one flamethrower though, and it's not fire-proof, so we'll still need the Environmental Protections. Mhm.. How long does your double last? We'll have to plan around that to make sure the thrower isn't dropped in shoggoth territory, and also loses its protection. And I think we'd also still need to send in Ellie, for the same reason."

He thinks for a second.

"I do not know how flexible magic is about the definition of a puppet, but what I can see working is putting legs on bombs, and walking them into the house. I can definitely rig up a remote trigger for that. Would that work?"

Was any of that rude? Ah fuck, Saije would probably say so. Great. Alright Aspen, let's get it over with.

"I don't know of a single spell that is 'Environmental Protection.' But I do know of multiple ways of warding against various hazards." Aspen says. She starts packing up the remains of the picnic.

She addresses the boys. "Scratch, Eustace, could you guide Officer Green to Bright Books? You've both been a great help today, but Sawyer's right that it would be good to scale back on the number of people here."

"You're benching me, Coach?!" Scratch huffs. "I wanna see the fire! And the underground gore explosions!"

"If I am your Coach, I do have the authority to bench you." Aspen sighs as she stands to shake the crumbs off the picnic blanket. "Things are going to get more dangerous and I don't have the capacity to also be teaching scorpions manners." She looks at Scratch, eyes dark umber. "If you don't like that, don't be a scorpion."

Scratch growls. "Fine. What if I promise I won't be a nuisance for the rest of the day?"

"If you make that promise and if Sawyer tells me that you being here will not be a problem for the local elasticity, then I will welcome your presence here."

Morgana looks at Scratch and Aspen, eyes a little wide, then shuffles closer to Alric, holding the piece of porcelain tight in her hand. "... faeries are very hard to break," she says, voice just loud enough to be heard. "It's survived a house fire before. It..."

She plunges on, determined, squeezing her girlfriend's hand with the hand that doesn't have a white-knuckle hold on the porcelain chip. "It's probably a lot safer to have something that can't actually die set the fire, right? I... if I can figure out how to give you the strings so you can move and sense with it the way I can, can you please let me help? Even with magic protections it's possible to get hurt, and even if I can't keep it active for a really long time I should be able to make it last for long enough to get something helpful done. I... I'm really sorry if I'm stepping on your toes, I just.. Aspen would be sending me away with Scratch and Eustace right now if she thought I'd be more of a hindrance than a helper. So. I... I think that means she thinks it's more useful for me to be here?"

Great. I have a mission, and now it's a fucking college group project. Fan-fucking-tastic.

I can't believe I'm even allowing myself to think this, but I'm unironically starting to sympathise with Inara. Burning stuff really feels like the thing to do right now.

But I'm polite, friendly, professional.

Alric answers Morgana, not exactly conspiratorially, but still careful not to draw any attention. "We'll have to discuss this later in more detail, I'm not entirely opposed. But not now."

He then starts helping Aspen pack things up. "Aspen, I can guide Officer Green to Bright Books. In fact, unless you insist on anyone specific staying around, I'll also go ahead and guide the kids back to Bright Books." As was the plan all along, remember? "I'll have an extended chat with Sawyer, think the plan over, and then everyone who is actually needed can help me unload the car on the way back here. We should be back in half an hour, give or take."

She nods. "Alright. Use the paths."

Should've left earlier. She doesn't seem as bad as everyone makes her out to be.

"Sounds good. Aspen, thank you for the picnic, I appreciate it. See you in a bit." Alric turns in the direction of the group and claps his hands. "Okay, everyone else, let's get going."

And finally he turns to Licorice, gesturing into the direction of the paths. "Okay Licorice, do you want to show us?"

She doesn't really need to know.

Morgana looks at Alric, then Aspen, then Ellie, swallows, and looks back up at Aspen. "Do you want me to leave with everyone else, Ms. Aspen, or would it be better if I kept walking the paths with you?"

"You can walk with me, if you would like." Aspen says gently to Morgana.

Licorice barks at Alric and leads the way!

Morgana nods slowly, then pushes Ellie towards the rest of the group. "Go with Mr. Jorgensen just in case he needs you there so he can plan or get you more protection, okay? I'll keep you and Dad updated if anything happens here. I can walk home when you get back, if I need to."

Ellie hates this idea. "But Mori-"

Morgana gives Ellie one of her paper birds, currently dormant. "I'll be okay. Love you."

Ellie squeezes her tight. "Promise to call me if you get scared?"

Morgana goes pink. "...I promise I'll call you when I can do it safely if I get a bad level of scared, okay?"

"Okay..." Ellie reluctantly joins Team GTFO The Dyer Lot.

He'll look at Morgana, confused, blink a few times.

I JUST told you that we'll discuss it later, later being outside of the lot obviously.

"Morgana. It's your decision, I can't give you orders. But I'd prefer to have you around when I start implementing the plan with Sawyer, considering that you want to play a part in it. And if you want to come back later to help Aspen, you can still do so, independent of what I plan to do."

"...Dad can tell you more about how my double works than I can, and he can tell me what you need me to do while I keep you all updated just in case something changes here. Dad asked me to monitor the situation for him and I promised to keep him updated until it got too dangerous or he asked me to leave," Morgana says softly, folding her hands in front of her.

"I'll be able to practice handing control over easier if Ms. Aspen wants to help guide me through it. So. If I stay here, I should actually be able to give you control of my double when you get back. Then you won't need to worry about me doing something wrong."

Alric nods. "Alright. See you in a bit as well."

He'll turn to Licorice, and start following him out.

Half-way out of the lot he'll chat up Saije. "If I'm being hazed right now, okay, very funny, but this would be the point to tell me."

"No." Saije says. "You're in the deep end, but it is not on purpose. The meeting went well."

He thinks for a moment, then responds.

"Mhm.. Let's hope it went well enough."

Once they're out of earshot of the lot, he'll call Sawyer.

Sawyer picks up. "Alric, how are things going over there?"

"Sawyer. Listen to me. Everyone except your daughter is on their way to you, she insisted on staying behind. She gave me strong 'about to make a deal with Aspen' vibes. If you understood what I just said, hang up immediately and call her."

Sawyer is quiet for a moment, then gives an exhausted, weary laugh. "Morgana's survived encounters with far worse than Aspen and she knows how to watch her words and her manners better than _I_do. My daughter would have been dead long before she found her way to my doorstep if she didn't have better survival instincts than I do. Thank you for the warning, all the same, I genuinely appreciate you letting me know. Check your text messages real quick, please."

Sawyer's sent a message in text.

Morgana knows what Aspen is. Scratch doesn't. Be careful of what you say or imply about Aspen in front of Scratch & do not tell him or his boyfriend, he has to figure it out himself. Aspen's ruleset with him isn't the same one she uses with other people & the rules will change once he knows.

Alric immediately halts. Go back. No, he knows what he's talking about. No he doesn't, HE ALMOST KILLED ME. But he knows Aspen. And his daughter. They're experienced with fae. But I thought the same about him and magic and he almost killed me-

He's reading the message while holding his phone an arm's length away, turning slightly back towards the lot, then back towards the book shop, back and forth, back and forth like a broken servo, agonizing over the decision.

It's his daughter, he knows best. But what if he's wrong. But Morgana knows what she's doing. BUT WHAT IF HE'S WRONG.

...

But maybe, maybe, he's right. Maybe I'd be the one sabotaging the mission? And who will solve the shoggoth problem if I go back in there, even if I'm right? Who will be left? The team? The team that almost died the first time around?

Nethys, please, let him be right.

It's over in two seconds. He catches himself.

"I must have.. misread the situation. Sawyer, we'll be with you in a moment."

He hangs up the call, and on he goes. Towards the book shop, gesturing everyone to follow.

Alric can recognize one of the bookstore employees, Ryan, who helped carry shoggoth bins on Saturday, standing outside the bookstore and doing something with a gadget in his hands, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

The bookstore itself has more customers than he's seen before, but several employees are easily spotted, bookstore logo pinned or printed somewhere obvious on their clothes. The other employee that helped Alric on Saturday notices their entry and silently points them towards the back hallway before returning their gaze to another employee, an asian woman with long hair pinned up and arm braces that go up to her elbows peeking out from her the loose 3/4 sleeves of her blouse.

Sawyer isn't hard to find once Alric gets into the hall - the door to the workroom he's in is cracked open and he's muttering in a steady stream of foreign tongues, punctuated occasionally by the screech of chalk.

There's a pinboard with symbols and strings and several boards filled up with insensible arcane equations, one of which Sawyer's in the middle of adjusting when the group arrives.

There are some notes in plain text scattered here and there in his equations, though, including Dyer Lot and a slashed through number that's been corrected with a symbol that seems to hold a lot more weight in the equation, considering the number of times Sawyer seems to have frenetically circled it at some point.

He knocks on the already open door. "Sawyer. Let's talk in private."

Do any of the other equations or notes potentially make sense to Alric, on a quick glance?

"Yeah, no shit," Sawyer runs a hand through his wild curls, looking over the modifications he's made to his calculations. "Come in and close the door behind you."

At a glance there are some symbols and notations that look familiar - Alric has taken math classes, after all - but Sawyer's equations are currently all but impossible to follow with the Information Alric has available.

Sawyer waits until Alric shuts the door before he looks at him, mouth pressed in a thin line and expression serious.

"First things first. Alric? I'm sorry. I wouldn't have asked you or your team to deal with the Dyer Lot if I'd realized how big a problem it really seems to be. Whoever warded that thing really knew what they were doing with their wardwork because when I could still go walking around Arkham I didn't notice a damn thing wrong and neither did Susan, but the readings I'm getting are implying that hive is probably as old as I am, if not older. Not great." His foot is tapping an anxious rhythm on the floor. "I wouldn't ask you to help now if I had an alternative, because I really hoped you wouldn't get dunked this far in the deep end this soon, but you're the only person I could get ahold of who already knows about the lot, and limiting the number of people who know about the current situation while everything I know about is at the level it's at is genuinely part of the safety measures. But. You're here! All in one piece. So. That's good news."

As seems to be the theme today, Alric, once again, looks confused.

"I.. didn't come to the lot because of you? I mean, you called me and informed me that shit is going bad, but, like, I expected my team to be in there and if I- oh yeah you're missing that context. Phoenix, Inara, Hope, that's the gunslinger one, and some guy called Saint went in there on Saturday to wrap this up, with very little prep. Went no contact, I didn't notice until Monday, then I was informed that Emeralds? which are vampires I think? are going to handle it, but that was a bust which you know, and so no one else is around to do this? Like, I've been thinking about a solution for this for the past two days anyways, I have this planned out down to the anti-PTSD Modify-Memory that I might possibly need afterwards. If everyone just-"

Alric puts his hands on his face, frustrated. Huh. Oh, right. The shawl. He shakes his head and continues.

"No, you don't have to apologize, I didn't come here to yell at you or anything. Well, technically there's stuff I'd like to yell at you for, but it's not the lot."

"I was the one who asked you to go back and bring me shoggoths," he says, raising his eyebrows above his sunglasses, then shrugs. "But I suppose that wouldn't have stopped Inara from going back and, yes, with context, you're right that it doesn't stop the fact that you were going to come back here today because the others went missing."

"Yeah. Saije called and told me the rest of your remaining team, plus Phoenix and Saint, went into the lot and haven't been heard from since," Sawyer says quietly. "I don't know where the fifth person Morgana said Aspen mentioned is coming from, but I've got confirmation on who asked her to go to the lot, now."

He winces. "...I assume you're not planning to be reckless about it but please be careful about trying to modify your mind or your memories, you could give yourself brain damage, especially this early in the learning process. It's really hard to try and find a fix for that kind of backlash if it doesn't heal itself back up. I've tried."

He watches Alric for a long minute, expression quizzical. "...okay. look. Yelling's therapeutic, if you need to take five and yell at me for something, go for it, because it would be very useful to know what you think I've done that's worth yelling at me about, particularly if it's something I can avoid repeating. Will it be five minutes off the topic of the lot? Yes. Can we afford that time?"

He flips his phone out of his pocket, checks his messages, then pockets it again. "Yes. No one is currently in a life or death situation - Morgana is fine, by the way, she didn't make any deals or promise to do anything she wasn't already doing. I've got a much better idea of the factors in play than when I called you earlier. We have a buffer. Use it. Then let me know what your plan is and what you need help with."

"Yeah, I've been wondering that as well. Wasn't anyone in the office, the team was four people when they left. You know who pulled them out?"

When Sawyer offers to be yelled at, Alric laughs out loud, then responds, now a bit more cheerful. "I.. I'm sorry, I'm really tense right now and that didn't come across right. It's just hyperbole, I'm not actually going to yell at you. But yes, this is about Morgana, and the kids in general. Her not making a deal is great news, that's one fewer concern. But during the picnic - yes, that happened - I also happen to pick up that they were talking about Inara. And they weren't talking shit about her, they were speaking her name in awe. I cannot stress enough how important it is that you keep the kids away from her. And I can't tell you why, I'm sorry."

"Also, speaking of Morgana, bright kid, she pointed out that with me setting the lot on fire it would make sense to have the local fire department informed, they seem to be somewhat cooperative here in Arkham and won't ask questions? That's the vibe I got. Is that something you'd recommend and could make happen, or would that cause metaphysical budget issues?"

"And yeah, the plan is still the same, rain down hell on the shoggoths. I'll explain the details to you in a moment, but there's a bit more info I need from you. So.. during the picnic, I put some serious effort into not even having the topic come up of making a deal with Aspen. And I think she picked up on that? There was a lot of subtext, a bunch of specific things she didn't say, and I might have misunderstood it, but.. I think she offered to teach me? Or rather, to have me become her student? I do know fae make deals, but I haven't read anything about faes being teachers?"

"Yes. A different member of Aspen's court intervened on their behalf. Knowing which one... they've probably incurred some debt, but that means Aspen's ally is going to be more likely to intervene again to protect their investment in the long term. So. It's messy, but it could be a lot worse."

Sawyer's expression darkens the moment Inara's name comes up. "...yeah, I don't want her anywhere near Morgana, either. It's.... she made an incorrect impression when she came in with the rest of you the day we met, so I made the mistake of letting her in the backroom. People I let into the backroom are safe. So..." He grimaces. "...I have to go a little slower in correcting Morgana's first impression, because Inara's got a good fucking mask when she has an audience. Just like Gervase," he mutters. "...but I've already corrected the 'advice' she gave Morgana, so the current harm she's caused should be kept to a minimum."

"Yeah... in Arkham, emergency services are way more aware of the supernatural than in most places. It also means they're less likely to step in when things get dangerous, which isn't great, but it also means when you mention that you're going to take care of a dangerous problem and just need them to mop up the edges to prevent a mundane disaster spilling over they are really amenable. That... should be well within budget. The cop was there - we've already got emergency services aware that something is going on there."

. "Oh." Sawyer pauses. "Mh. The Dynamic Court has a lot of members who are willing to shape, educate, or guide people in their development. Aspen's got a Guide facet, but I'm not sure she'd be quite your vibe, she's more art and less science, even if she is a crafter... she's interested in nudging people towards opportunities or looking at things from a different angle, and she kind of just... does that. Asking a faerie to actually be your teacher opens you up to a lot of potential danger - and, like, don't get me wrong, she's not the worst faerie you could learn from, but ... I wouldn't recommend making a Pontiff deal with the first fae you meet the first time you meet them, because there's always a catch. A member of the Dynamic Court would be one of the safer options, but... you can ask her if there's anything she thinks you should learn, and what the lesson would cost."

"Well, the good news is, Inara is incredibly scared of you being the arch mage that you are, so she'll probably stay away on her own. That I'm allowed to tell you, and I'm sure she didn't fake it, because with all the acting skills, I bet she can't fake blanching." Alric chuckles. That was a fun day.

"A Pontiff deal was the thing where you make a formal, non-accidental deal with them and then you get Eldritch Blast- nope, bad metaphor. Faerie Blast? I'm talking about the thing where you can use their flavor of magic, right? Like, don't get me wrong, I'd be interested in hearing about how the deal would be structured, but I sure as hell won't make a deal with the first fae I meet, you're right."

"And I'll get to the plan in a second, sorry, but I have to ask: Can I as a seer detect when people, or fae, use some form of Detect Thoughts on me? During the chat with Aspen she had a shimmer in her eyes, no, I mean, a literal golden glimmer, kind of like sparkles, and something magical was directed at me, from her. She did some magic there, and I'd like to know what it was, particularly if it was some form of mind reading."

"Scared of me?" Sawyer gives Alric a baffled look. "...when the hell did that happen? She's been a real bitch so far. I'm just waiting to see how long it takes before she decides to try and set me on fire. Not that it would be the first time a wizard tried to immolate me, but, like, it's not a pleasant experience, 0/10, do not reccommend."

"A Pontiff agreement gives you access to one or more of their Titles, in exchange for services, work, etcetera. Most faeries don't offer you an exit from that deal. It's Name magic, not ritual magic." He pauses. "...probably not the time to get into the details, though. Pin it for a later discussion?"

"...Aspen doesn't have the ability to read minds, as far as I'm aware of. Insofar as being able to tell if someone's reading your mind... most people have some ability to detect if someone's trying to push into your mind. You might be able to tell a bit more clearly, but until we've got a good read on what kind of seer you are, I can't be sure how well you'd be able to identify them." He pauses, thinking. "...she was probably getting a better look at you, metaphysically speaking. Trying to get an idea of what you're made of and if any of it is interesting."

"Ah, fantastic, a demigod staring into my mortal soul. Yes, let's stop here and pin the whole fae thing for later."

"The whole Inara thing was Saturday, I think? Man, it feels like forever ago. Shortly after we went into the kitchen. She cast Arcane Sight or whatever she calls it when you weren't looking, and then she looked at you through it, and then her mask slipped and she blanched and man, I wish you could've seen her face."

"But, the plan. I have a car full of equipment with ingredients and basically all my crafting equipment, and I'll mix some napalm and finish my flamethrower, and then I'll napalm the whole lot, and the mansion, and the hive. And if the fire doesn't kill them, which I doubt, the smoke will. Unfortunately that goes both ways. You remember the tome you gave me? One of the spells in there, I mentioned it earlier on the phone I think, is called 'Environmental Protection', and it describes how to make discs that protect you from a variety of different environments. One example was breathing deep underwater and not getting crushed by the pressure. And I'd been thinking to just use the same thing to become immune to the wildfire I'll be causing. Depending on how strong we can get the whole thing, It'll allow me to just be in the environment, up to being able to douse myself in the napalm and just walking in. The sky's the limit here, or well, your power level is, because you and anyone you have available to lend a hand will need to cast this, because I can't build this disc on the fly, and even then, it probably wouldn't be strong enough."

"Well, that's the gist of it. Variations so far are: Taking Ellie with me, or not taking Ellie with me but putting on the shawl," - he puts it on for a second, then takes it off again - ", or having Morgana's double go in with my flamethrower. I'm currently leaning towards going in myself, with Ellie, for a variety of reasons. If you have a better idea, let me hear it."

Sawyer stares at Alric for a moment, then gives a quiet laugh. "...I might be able to picture it well enough. Let's see how long that perception sticks."

He listens to Alric talk, expression thoughtful, and tilts his head, slowly taking off his sunglasses. "Okay, first things first, do not douse yourself in napalm, no matter how strong a spell you've got. Spells can fail and spells will end and when it's over you're still going to be covered in napalm. Environmental Protection is not a spell that can be keyed to protect you from putting napalm on your body, that spell would be a very different beast. Probably more of an Elemental Protection spell than anything else, and, still, do not recommend applying anything that is sticky and burns to your body on purpose. I was not joking when I said I've had someone try to immolate me before and it was not an experience I'd recommend replicating, it hurt like a bitch."

"Environmental Protection would help with the smoke inhalation and the burning building or landscape, though..." The stars in his eyes spin and spiral. "...I can probably figure out a spell that could help and build a few variants that my Bright Eyes can cast to try and add protective layers. I could probably make you a bit of a Space buffer... "

Sawyer stares at the shawl. ".... yeah, not going to add any layers of my own magic on top of a gramarye made by Aspen, Alric. I do not recommend tweaking faerie-made items without experience. Fae can get a bit tetchy about people an item wasn't gifted to fucking too much with their artistic vision. She probably wouldn't be angry with me if I did something, but she might be upset if her gift wasn't taken care of."

, He goes silent, staring into the middle distance. "... Morgana took a pretty potent focus with her to the lot. Her double ... would be able to do the job without having a heap of spells applied on top and she should be able to hold it for..." His lips move as he silently walks through his mental math. "...probably ten minutes if it's going into a burning building. My bigger concern with that would be if she's able to adjust the spell so she's able to see what it's doing without feeling what's happening, which... she's still working on. Ellie's good back-up either way..."

"...would you be willing to list out the reasons you think it's best if you, specifically, go in? I'm not telling you not to do it, I've done stupider shit in my day, but I'd like to know what your rationale is."

Alric holds up the shawl.

"So, Aspen made this? That's.. concerning. I figured it'd be important, but I didn't expect it to be so Aspen can see on a glance that I'm on Phoenix's team. Mhm."

He claps his hands.

"Oh well. Yeah, ten minutes isn't enough. With protections, it'd be longer. But I'm still not super hot on using the double, ba-dum-tss."

"It's.. There's just too many low-chance failure modes here that start to add up. The double is a new skill for Morgana, who knows what could go wrong. She's in this very moment learning to share the strings. There's the whole pain thing, apparently. The connection to the double could drop when entering the pocket dimension or whatever the hive does, dropping the thrower. We have to cast the protection here and then walk over, which will cut down on the time Morgana can keep up the double, potentially risking dropping the thrower. Maybe the connection isn't quite the same as being there, perhaps some delay, potentially risking dropping the thrower. Unless her double is perfect and instantly controllable, it'll be hard to do anything precise with my hands, and there's a ton of failure modes where the thrower has some issue that I have to fix on the fly. We only have one flamethrower and I feel like there's even more unknowns with this whole puppet thing. Me, holding the thrower, that's predictable."

. "But, there's one more thing that I fear is pretty important here: The Protection spell has to be shareable by me in some form. If you cast it on me, it'll have to protect the thrower as well. My first thought would be to have the spell be based on a sense of self, you probably know what I mean, but if possible, it'd be even better for me to also be able to tap potential survivors in the hive, so they can get back out. Assuming there are any, which is a low chance, but a chance worth considering. And.. something feels off at the thought of any of that working through the puppet, but I can't put my finger on it. Mhm.. An alternative here would be to have Aspen teleport survivors out, after I tag them somehow. I don't think she'd be opposed to having more people feeling grateful for her help."

"The good news is, I can easily set the whole lot on fire from the safety of Aspen's paths, but unfortunately I can't do the same for the hive. For that, I'll have to go in. I'm not opposed to having Morgana accompany me as well though, with her double. If the pain thing isn't actually a thing, that is."

"...Alric, Morgana's been running around with doubles of herself since before she was twelve," Sawyer says blankly, baffled at Alric's words. "She's used it to go to classes when she's been sick ever since I got her into public school. She's-" Sawyer cuts himself off mid-sentence.

Roll Notice.

"Nevermind. You're right, it's safer if she isn't involved any deeper than she needs to be if you go into the hive. It may even be better to just get her to come home." He rubs his hand over his face. "Alric, to do a lot of that you'd really need someone whose specialty was Protection magic, and the best person I know for that job is currently out of reach because he's already with the rest of your team. I could make something to cover some of the criteria, but the number of miracles I can pull off with limited prep time is nowhere near as high as I'd like."

He steps away from his various boards to sit down on the edge of a worktable that has a magic circle with a cell-phone planted in the middle of it. "If you want me to be honest? Anyone currently inside is probably as good as dead at this point, if your team managed to do any damage before they had to get emergency evac'd, the shoggoths would have proceeded to break them down into usable resources. Their minds probably remain, but they're probably better off dead. The chandeliers are people and animals, Alric, their eternally dreaming minds are what give the shoggoths the ability to create their rooms and palaces. Burn the resources they have in the lot, burn the house, and stay as far away from anywhere a shoggoth could hide as possible. I'd honestly recommend not trying to enter the hive, once you find it, until you know there's nothing above ground that could be waiting to ambush you. Fuck."

Does Alric notice?: [10 💥 7 = 17, 1] Result: Success with 3 raises! 🎯🎯🎯🎯

Success with 3 raises. Might need to add a little more than planned to make up for the sheer raises, dang!

Alric realizes several things as Sawyer shifts the topic away from his daughter's magic:

1. Sawyer does think Morgana would be able to help with the problem, but
2. he has just realized that he has been talking towards something he doesn't want Alric to know and
3. is actively moving away from the topic to try and sweeping what he just said under the rug in the hope that Alric won't think too hard about it.

Clearly he's underestimated Alric's paranoia and curiosity.

Hey, Alric?

Sawyer said that Morgana found his way to his doorstep when you spoke on the phone, and that she has experience with scarier things than Aspen.

Morgana has a piece of Faerie Porcelain, and when you asked her about the properties of the material she told you Faeries are hard to break and that this one had survived a house fire.

She's definitely Sawyer's daughter, but neither of them have mentioned her mother.

"Okay, wait wait wait, so, you do know who the fifth person is, then? Cause I don't recall Inara being good at Protection magic. Can you contact them? I could start remotely burning down the lot, and if they want to help, they can put whatever they got on top of what you'll have put on me by then, and then I'll go into the hive."

But what if..

"Oooh but don't tell me it's the one who pulled the team out?" He groans, frustrated. "Yeah, that tracks with Protection magic. I'm not going to make a deal with a fae, Sawyer. They're scary as-"

Alric freezes mid-sentence, eyes darting back and forth as he makes the connection.

Ah. Fantastic.

Look at me, seeing, observing. Finding clues and puzzle pieces. And then completely ignoring them.

...

I'm so sorry.

"Sawyer, let's just do it like this: I won't go into the house. I'll just start with remotely burning down everything, the lot and the mansion. And then we can reevaluate based on what the situation is afterwards. If Morgana wants to help with the first part, she's invited to do so, but she doesn't need to be around if any of that scares her. If you can make some smoke protection happen, and some protection against napalm splashes or anything blowing up while mixing it, just in case, that'd be super helpful, and then I'll take anyone who wants to help and we'll do it safely and remotely from the outside. How does that sound?"

"Phoenix's friend, Saint, is a monster hunter and protection specialist," Sawyer says. "I don't know who the fifth person who went in with them is - I assumed Lucian and two other co-workers from the Dawn Commission were helping until Saije told me it was Phoenix and Saint who went in with Hope and Inara."

He pauses, then pats the table next to the spell circle - when Alric looks at it he can see circling vectors of communicaton looping in a hold pattern - "... Aspen said that Saint's not the one who pulled the team out, but as soon as the person who did pull them out is in a place where they can be reached this call should go through."

He watches as Alric freezes and re-evaluates the information he has, but doesn't ask what his expression means. "... sure. That sounds like a good plan, Alric."

Ah, Saint, I remember that name. Yeah. You really want a cleric in your party if you're raiding.

"Okay, awesome. Let's get started then. How many people can you protect from smoke and flames? If any of the kids here want to help, I would be less opposed to have them do so now."

"More than are going to the lot," Sawyer says, laughing quietly, before pulling a notepad from a drawer. "Let me get something drafted for a few of the Bright Eyes, I should be able to modify a few spells they already know just enough to cover the bases. If you want to let the others in to confirm the plan and what everyone can or will be doing, I think it's alright to open the door now."

"Alright. Let's do it."

He opens the door, letting everyone in. And then he'll explain the plan.

"Alright. Everyone, listen up. We've settled on a two-step plan. Step one. Burn down the house and lot, from a safe, non-inside distance. Step two. Clean up the hive. And as this is a group project now, we might as well have some fun."

"Step one will be an improvised chemistry class. We'll learn what napalm is and how to mix it. And then we'll do some arts and crafts and build molotov cocktails, and test them out by throwing them onto the lot."

"Sawyer and his Bright Eyes will provide us with protection from the smoke and from any fire or accidents that might happen. All of this is pretty safe as far as I can tell, and definitely more safe than actually fighting the shoggoths on the lot. But remember, it's completely voluntary. Even if none of you want to be around the lot, that's completely understandable, we'll manage. But I do recall that there was some interest here. Now, anyone who wants to participate, raise your hand."

Scratch is positively bouncing with anticipation. “Mr. Morgan, can you tell Aspen that I’m not a problem for the ‘local elasticity?’”

Saije is dubious, but still raises her hand.

Officer Green is still trying to catch up with his new understanding of reality. He thinks through his first few objections before he can fully voice them. “Ok… I’ll interface with the emergency response and keep everyone else out.”

Ellie bounces on her heels and raises her hand to confirm her continued willingness to help.

"...you're asking permission to participate in pro-social arson with fire department supervision?" Sawyer asks, pausing to smile at Officer Green while he works on adjusting spells to suit the task at hand. "...much appreciated, officer. I'm Sawyer Morgan, of the Morgan Family, we've had our shop here in Arkham for a few generations. You can let them know I'm vouching for the group working on this.... and please, if you have any questions I can help you with after all of this is cleaned up, feel free to come back to the store for a chat."

"Hmmmm. I don't know, Scratch, what are you planning to bring to the team effort potluck today?" His voice is playful. "Even if I say it's safe, you probably should give your sales pitch to the guy who's actually in charge of burning the lot to the ground."

Alric looks back and forth between them.

Ah. Probably another fae. Special relationship with Aspen and all that.

Sawyer wouldn't set this up if it weren't safe. He's an expert, after all.

Scratch points to Alric. “He said ‘everyone.’ He doesn’t want a further pitch.”

Alric clears his throat.

"Mhm. Technically I only asked people interested in participating to raise their hand, and nothing more."

I'm getting good at this.

"Counterargument noted," Sawyer arches a brow, then grins slightly at Alric. "As is the team lead's clarification. Either way, I would appreciate hearing your pitch on how you can help out so I can make sure I've accounted for as many variables as I can in the calculations."

Scratch belatedly raises his hand. (As does Eustace in the background.) “I said before that I could probably lend the ability to not need to breathe. I can also pitch far. If the job involves throwing things, I’m one of the best for the job. And if anyone did get caught, I could probably get them out.”

"There we go," Sawyer grins wider. "Do you think you could cover more than one person with the breathing trick, and do you think you could hold it and help get someone free at the same time?"

“Prolly.”

"...right." Sawyer pauses, then rephrases his question. "How many people do you think you could safely cover with the breathing trick while still having some bandwidth to help get someone free if they get caught?"

“…I haven’t tried? I shared my ears with the five others who were patrolling the lot with Aspen earlier. It was a bit of a strain?”

"I appreciate the clarification, Scratch, that's good information. You should be safe to go, but that assessment might change if there's a big shift - if there is, you, Eustace, Morgana, and Ellie might need to come back to Bright Books." Sawyer looks at Alric. "Do you have any clarifying questions you'd like to add, Alric?"

"No questions. Also, you guys can take your hands down. But. We're going to play with fire. That means me taking any of you with me is conditional on you following my rules. Rule 1: Keep yourselves and the rest of you out of danger. Rule 2: Inform me of anything important you think I might have missed. Rule 3: Do as I tell you. Rule 1 supercedes Rule 2 supercedes Rule 3."

"And, obviously, these rules are bound to the context of the mission, but I will send anyone back who doesn't adhere to them, and any infractions will be remembered. Outside of the mission you can do whatever, that's not my business, and if you blow yourselves up, that's not on me. But, don't be idiots, this stuff is dangerous. We're casting physics-based Fireballs here, so to speak, and physics doesn't give a shit about your intentions."

He turns to Scratch now.

"You in particular. There will be napalm in our froggy mids, and I do not want you to sting it. Repeat back the conditions I just laid out, so I'm sure you actually got them."

I'm not forcing you into a promise, but you better fucking stick to this.

The other four nod, and Scratch repeats everything back.

"Alright. If you guys follow the rules and everything goes well, I might be in the mood afterwards to show you how a flamethrower works. Sawyer, anything else I should add?"

Scratch tilts his head, looking at Alric unblinkingly, and repeats back everything, mimicking Alric’s voice in just a slightly lower pitch so it sounds closer to how Alric perceives his own voice.

Everyone does agree.

“Are you also going to be following your own rules? Keeping yourself and us out of danger, informing us of important relevant things, and doing as you say?” Scratch asks, tilting his head the other way. “Our consequence for breaking is getting sent home and being remembered. What’s your consequence?”

Sawyer pulls his phone out and types Alric's rules down, sending them to Alric so he has his words in text to reference if needed...

"Nothing I'd recommend adding yet," he says, gaze back on his sketchpad, "The third rule is a bit tighter than I'd be willing to agree with, but I'm not one of the people who's going with you. Obviously. Limiting it to the context of the mission should minimize any overreach."

“Personally, I’m banking on the social consequences of burning bridges with all of us and the Dawn Commission if he’s an ass about telling us what to do.” Saije says. “I’d rather not litigate the rules of following Alric’s plan to proactively prevent abuse. Instead, I want to use this as an audit and trial of his ability to lead.”

Scratch snaps finger guns at Saije. “Great idea! I also want to tattle to his boss!”

Saije smirks in response.

Alric laughs out loud. "Of my ability-? Saije, I do not want to lead." He turns his gaze up to the ceiling and takes a deep breath, twenty-one.. twenty-two.. twenty-three.., then turns back to the group.

Polite, friendly, professional. Or something like that, I'm running out of fucks to give.

"Alright, fine. I figured I'd set some ground rules for this little excursion, but I don't have the patience to wait for my lawyer to arrive. So, from now on, Ms. Saije is officially the one in charge as the representative of the Dawn Commission. She's the responsible one. I'm just the guy reading books and building shit. I'm not responsible. In fact, consider me irresponsible. No rules for anyone! Blow yourselves up or get eaten by shoggoths for all I care, do whatever you want, just don't have your bad decisions impact me."

"Sawyer, please, let's get this going."

Saije looks stunned, Alric called a bluff she really didn’t want called. “No nonono no no! I turned down the field agent job! I am not taking charge.”

"Sorry, Alric, you're the only Dawn Commission field agent in the room," Sawyer chuckles quietly, arching a brow. "Also: does that mean Hope is usually the leader of your field team, or is Ms. Sellain the one in charge? One of you is going to have to take point, whether you all trade off or not. Right now, you're making the plan, so you're the leader for plan 'torch the lot'. Even if Saije was willing to take over, as a member of the field team you'll still need to work as part of a team to get things done, assess the skills and limits of the people you're working with, and, if possible, adapt your plans to account for changes that come up in the field on the fly. This one's dropped to a simmer, so this first part, at least, is viable to consider as a practice run for what to do in a bigger emergency."

He looks at Scratch and Saije, then back to Alric. "You'll always have a few cats to herd and you may even be one of those cats, but, from what I've seen, you're doing fine so far, about at the level I'd expect."

He grins, at this. "... I can referee for now, if you need me to, but I will need to step out and get everyone I'm tagging in to help with your protections set up in a workroom upstairs so those of you who are heading out can be adequately protected."

"Yeah, Sawyer, no."

He turns to Saije.

"Saije, you're the highest ranking Dawn Commission personell here, besides me. Consider this my notice: I quit."

He shakes himself, suddenly feeling far lighter. "Oh, wow. Whew. That's some great stuff." He claps his hands, now suddenly full of energy. "Alright Sawyer, when can you tap me with the fire protection? I can cobble together a gas mask myself if needed. Out there is a perfectly good shoggoth lot just waiting for me, and who am I to keep it waiting longer?"

He hands Saije the shawl. "Oh, yeah, have it back. It's not important anymore."

Saije is stunned. “No… You can’t just… What?” She tries and fails to string together a coherent objection. “I can’t…” she flushes, flustered.

“I’ll lead.” Eustace raises his hand from the back.

“But we already all agreed to do as Alric says.” Scratch objects cheerfully.

"Oh, you're way too much like me, sometimes, Alric. I really should keep that in mind." Sawyer cackles, setting his notepad down and leaning back on his hands.

"So. Quitting the Dawn Commission doesn't change the fact that, in basically any hazardous situation, unless it requires being sneaky as hell, you're going to have a much higher chance of survival if something goes wrong if you have help. I'm not flagging the whole assessment of the skills and limits of the people around you and adapt to changes on the fly as a platitude, I'm saying it because I think it's important, especially when magic is involved, whether you're with the Commission or not. I think your plan to go in as a group and torch shit as a group is good. If I didn't, I'd say so."

He looks to Eustace, arching a brow. "Noted."

Then to Scratch. "Also noted. Scratch. Would you like to-" a pause. "I would appreciate it if you'd elaborate on your motives for asking Alric if he's also bound by the rules, because I think it would be good for him to have that feedback, whether he's still part of the Commission or not."

"Sawyer, the group part of the plan was completely optional, it was just me being incredibly nice. In fact, your help also isn't technically needed. But it would be appreciated. You can call me or send your Bright Eyes when and if you feel like it. I'm going to kill some shoggoths now."

He turns to the door, and leaves.

Sawyer steps out of the air in front of him as he exits, the air starting to boil around his head."Yeah. No. Pull your head out of your ass. This isn't actually just your fucking problem, Alric. I called you because I thought you had a group, because I don't want you to fucking die because I asked you to help you avert a potential Confluence."

"This is, by definition, a group project, because every Confluence in Arkham has resulted in a near apocalypse. This isn't about any of you. This isn't even about the shoggoths at the end of the day, they're just one part of all the calculations I'm keeping track of, one that could cause exponential problems, yes, but they're a variable. When I say it's a good idea to work with other people, it's because I want the highest percentage liklihood of success here, Alric."

Alric, smiling, responds. "And adding them increases the chance of success? We must have a different understanding of the plan."

He turns back around, into the room. And unsees.

What exactly is in the room? Any other exits, windows, what things are in there?

There's a few windows! They don't lead to Arkham, though, instead, it looks like New York City on the other side. 3rd floor.

No bookshelves in this room, instead it is configured to be a workroom. Whiteboards on wheels, work tables, rolling chairs, old prints framed on the wall, rugs all over and rug protectors for the rolling chairs. Cabinets with frosted glass panes show shadows of supplies, most magically inert.

There's ambient magic here and there - Ellie's tendrils are related to some kind of weird space vector - but the most interesting set of active vectors would be the phone on the table, cycling to call out clear and strong at a steady rhythm.

Scratch grins at Alric and steps to the side to give him a better view of the space.

"If there's a difference in understanding, then apparently you haven't bothered to actually get into the details that would make you going solo into a situation that ended with four - five, who the fuck is this fifth person - five people nearly dying and incurring a debt to a true fae - a rational decision. Because if there's something I'm missing that would actually make you less likely to end up in a similar situation or worse I would genuinely love to hear it, Alric."

Ellie looks around for a moment. ".... I'm going to... go see how Mori is. Uh. Bye!"

Ellie's tendrils curl in and around her, much like Zeke's did when he was startled on Saturday, and she vanishes from the room with an audible pop of air rushing in.

"Sawyer. The plan we settled on was to safely burn down the lot from the outside. I can mix the napalm, build the molotov cocktails, and throw them all on my own. Other people are potential complications and reduce the chance of success. I do not know what else to tell you."

Without turning back around, continuing to look around the room, he speaks to Sawyer.

"I only see two ways out so far, both a bit extreme. But I'd first like to humbly ask you to just let me out."

Alric, roll Spirit for watching Ellie slip into a different dimension

Observing the impossible: [1, 6 💥 6 💥 2 = 14] Result: Success with 2 raises! 🎯🎯🎯

Alric sees Ellie bend space into a sharp corner and slip into the discontinuity created in the higher derivatives. The hole causes him to reflexively blink just as the vectors invert and smooth back together. He doesn’t get a view of what lies beyond. Hound, she used as her primary basis.

"...because you can guarantee the house burns down to nothing without getting closer to it than a perfectly safe distance, right?" Sawyer sighs as his phone pings with a text. He checks it. "... Morgana would like me to let you know that she and Aspen have been building a fire break between the innermost and second innermost of Aspen's pathways, since the outside section is under Aspen's control and clear of shoggoths. Would you like them to put the brush back, since you think people helping is going to reduce your chance of success?" Sawyer asks, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Fine. Get your shit together and I'll just drop you at the entrance to the lot myself, unless you want me to drop you in next to Morgana and Aspe...n.... and Ellie, apparently."

Saije watches, stress clawing at her throat and curling her fingers into fists. The tension is choking her ever since her safe distance was torn away and she was threatened with being in charge of other people.

She can’t stand incompetent leaders, and she knows herself to be incompetent at leading. And now this is all going to blow up because she. Couldn’t. Stop. Needling! This actually mattered! Why does she always mess up when things actually matter! She should just stick with what she already knows what to do: research and taking down fake psychics. Why did she volunteer for going with Alric to Arkham?

Sawyer points to his left, then walks into the room. "The open door two down from this one is a clear workroom. Use that to get your shit put together. I need to keep an eye on the phone in here."

Fascinating. Hound.

At this point, he's not even smiling, just talking matter of fact.

"I'll forgive the condescension later, you think you're doing the right thing here. I'm looking forward to understanding why, at some point."

The way is clear, it seems. He'll look out the door, and if the way out looks as it's supposed to, he'll leave the bookstore.

The doorway is the same as it was when he walked in.

Alric will leave the bookstore, go to the lot, and into it looking for Aspen and Morgana. He'll stay on the path, seeing it clearly enough.

The bookstore’s layout remains the same. Alric leaves to the streets of Arkham.

Licorice meets Alric on the path and guides him to where Aspen, Morgana, Morgana’s double, and Ellie are clearing an inner ring of underground shoggoth roots and underbrush.

Aspen no longer looks human, instead her skin is paper shaded with graphite shadows, her hair is a vibrant cascade of painted yellows and reds and browns, the blue-black feathers in her hair stick out like quills piercing through a canvas. Her clothes and spear still look real, like a paper doll collaged with photos. She stabs her birchbark spear deep into the ground while speaking softly to Ellie. She wiggles the spear before withdrawing it and plunging her hand underground to pull out a root that looks uncomfortably like a large artery.

There are no paper birds circling Morgana as she works to clear armfuls of underbrush. Her cardigan appears to have been put away and she's wearing gloves, but that doesn't seem to be deterring her from the messy work.

There is a second Morgana, however, busily moving brush and leaf-litter, occasionally pausing to thrust a borrowed spear deep into the ground. She's a ball-jointed construction with her visible skin made of white porcelain with delicate blue motifs.

Ellie is having a great time, using her tendrils to their full extent to move much larger amounts of leaf litter than the others, pausing occasionally much like Morgana's porcelain double to sink a spear into a marked-off shoggoth artery.

Ah.

Alric, not in a mood for any further arguments, just gets directly to the point.

"Hi. Quick update. I'm executing my plan now, I'll probably be able to start torching the lot in 30 minutes. I'd prefer all of you out of here by then. Is there anything I should know, or can I go ahead?"

“The firebreak will be done by then, barring unlikely circumstances.” The Sidhe Lady says, not pausing in her work.

"Great. Morgana, if you want to help me once the firebreak is done, you can find me at the car. Here's my number. If I'm ready by the 30 minute mark, I'll start torching the lot. Contact me in case of any delays on your side."

Alric will write down his number and pass it to her. He checks his watch to make sure he'll get the timing right.

And then he'll turn around and go back to the car.

Morgana looks startled when he hands her his number, like it's the opposite of what she was expecting, then offers a nervous smile. "O.. oh. Okay. I will."

“Torch within the firebreak, not outside of it.” The Sidhe says.

We need to destroy all the shoggoth biomass, including the trees, but I'm not going to bother explaining that to you. You'd just give me stupid arguments, which I'd then have to refute as well. Ad nauseam.

Alric will get back to the car. Is the car unlocked, and if not, is Saije around, by chance?

Saije had the keys, locked the car, but is still in Bright Books.

Alric will look up online the location of the secondary battery of this particular model of car.

Roll Research

Looking up the secondary battery location: [5, 3]+4 Result: Success with 1 raise! 🎯🎯

This model of car doesn't have a secondary battery. The alarm in it is wired up to use the main car battery, and, because this is a rental car and thus a newer model, the alarm system has a secondary battery buried deep in the bowels of the car as well as an immobilizer that prevents the ignition from being hotwired and an auto system that notifies the car rental service in case of theft.

Alric will phone Saije to come over and unlock the car, if she wants to. He'd prefer that over breaking the window, but he points out that his rules aren't a thing anymore and she can decide herself.

"Don't fucking break the window! Oh my god. I'll be there shortly."

Two minutes later Saije stalks into range of the car and unlocks it with the keyfob. She glowers at Alric, visibly biting her tongue.

Alric will open the driver's side, unlock the parking brake, turn the steering wheel and then push the car to the side of the road opposite to the lot. He locks the parking brake again.

Step 2, napalm.

He'll carry a few empty canisters down the road (safe distance to the car), then bring up a full canister of gas and of diesel each, and some styrofoam.

He'll put some gloves and some goggles and a mask on, then start mixing napalm in the empty canisters. [Skipping the instructions in case Discord would hate me for that.]

He'll prepare a few canisters, then start collecting the parts for his flamethrower and laying them out on the sidewalk. Until Morgana shows up, or the time is 5 minutes over.

Officer Green arrives on the scene some ten minutes after Alric starts mixing up napalm to direct the fire engines. He keeps clear of Alric and keeps others clear of Alric too.

Morgana, in the flesh, will cautiously step out from the lot and hurry over, checking over her shoulder and looking up and down the street, taking in the firefighters and Officer Green, offering him a quick, nervous smile before hurrying over to join Alric at 30 minutes on the dot. "Hi! Uhm. My double is just inside, so no one, uhm..."

She looks at the cops and firefighters again, taking a moment to process. "... notices it's something weirder than the normal Arkham weird."

Alric is looking over the parts, visualizing how all the pieces fit together. Not that complicated, really. He'll just have to make sure that all the seals are tight.

He notices Morgana approaching and turns to her, then takes off his headphones. Metal beats are audibly hammering out of them.

He listens, then nods. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I'm glad you're here, your help will make this easier. So.. Your double is great, but I was hoping you'd be able to help with your birds for this specific problem. Would that work for you? And if so, how much can they lift?" He'll take one last look at the parts, then turns back to her. "And just to make sure, is Ellie out of the lot? I also wouldn't be opposed to having her around as well, if she's up to it."

"Ellie's still inside, she still wants to help," Morgana confirms, pulling out her phone to text her girlfriend. "My birds? Oh... they're paper - I haven't learned how to make them go too far away from their base materials, yet. They can carry more weight as a group, but I've been using them for practicing fine control of groups of things and sending messages."

She starts checking her pockets. "I... might be able to make something that could lift more? I don't usually carry a lot of heavy materials on me. I can try to use some bundles of sticks or thicker branches from the lot? I have some twine...."

Ellie, extra limbs concealed, joins Alric and Morgana, exiting the lot with an eager speed to her steps. "Hi Alric!!!"

"Hi, Ellie." Alric sends half a smile and half a wave in her direction, then turns back to Morgana.

"I mean, depending on what you need, like, I have a car full of materials. What would you need to build a bigger bird? Do you need heavier materials, or is it more about how strong the materials are, and something light but still strong would work better?"

"Stronger and lighter is best," Morgana confirms, brightening. "The better and more durable the doll, the better it will be as a puppet. It still takes time to put together, but Ellie's helped me make some dolls and puppets to practice with before. I haven't been able to make it work on objects I didn't have a hand in making or altering, yet. I still need some of my own sympathetic connection to get it to animate from inanimate."

"Mhm.. I've built my own wooden planes as a kid, but those were gliders, they didn't fly by flapping their wings." He starts rummaging through his boxes. "I assume your birds fly by flapping their wings, rather than by magic? We probably want a spring in there somewhere... Do I just give you the materials, or do I assemble it and you make it work with your magic? Oh, right, you need a hand in it. I prepare it, you assemble it?"

"I can make gliders work, like paper planes, it's... easier if they can move their wings, because they'll have a stronger connection to the concept of flight and flying, but how much of it is magic and how much of it is because they can flap their wings and get their own lift is ... arguably a sliding scale? It's always at least a bit magic, but it's easier if they could or can do it themself. If you have an idea that you think will work, then as long as I help put it together at least a little, even if I'm just holding pieces in place, I should be able to puppet it after."

"Okay, mhm.. If gliders would work as well, then let's not overcomplicate the build. How about something that mostly looks like it should fly.. Maybe a glider with hinges.. Give me a moment."

He'll assemble a whole bunch of materials and some tools, then cut apart three gas containers to make into two big four-piece plastic wings.

He lays out the wings, hinges and core, roughly corresponding to what he envisions: A makeshift glider with hinged wings, allowing for an approximation of winged movement, roughly the size of an eagle.

"If we put this together, would you be able to animate it?"

Morgana carefully runs her fingers over the pieces, eyes black and starry as she considers the materials. "I could definitely animate it. I think... it could probably carry something about..." she puts two fists together. "This big, at an estimate, but there needs to be a way to hold or attach what it needs to carry."

"Mhm.. that's not a whole lot of napalm, to be honest, but it'd work. Let me think for a second... Mhm, what's the ceiling on the size of the things you can animate?"

"Uhm. The biggest inanimate object I've tried to animate was my Uncle Mike's motorcycle when the engine blew? I couldn't keep it up as long as the birds or my double, though. I'm used to having to animate all the pieces that need to work so motors that work and do part of the job are really weird to work with. I haven't tried to work with anything bigger, yet, so I don't have a confirmation for what my current top size is.."

Alric laughs, astonished. "What? You can animate anything, not just things that look like they can live? That's gotta be broken." He shakes his head. "Damn."

He claps his hands. "Alright, let's get this puppy built. I'll set it up so we can hook in gas cans, and then we'll just fill them up with as much as it can lift. You should be able to bring them back here, and then we switch them out with the next one. If you bring one or two small birds with it you should be to tip the can and pour the napalm onto the mansion, then return, and repeat. It sounds more complicated than it is, you'll see."

He gets started.

He'll drill holes into the plastic for the hinges, and for the aluminium crosses that'll reinforce the plastic wings. He'll prepare a short aluminium pipe as the core part holding everything together, and drill in the holes needed to attach the wings and a hook.

In between, he speaks up. "Ellie! I've seen you wave around a shoggoth like you just don't care, I reckon you can throw stuff very far? I'll make some molotov cocktails for you, if you want to participate."

What Alric's putting together there in parts, is, if you squint hard, something that one might just be able to imagine becoming an approximate model of an eagle, for sufficiently broad definitions of the words "model" and "eagle". He lays out the parts as he finishes cutting them to size, and presents them to Morgana.

"Wanna get started? Here's the tools you'll need, I'll build my flamethrower in the mean time. Let me know if you get stuck anywhere."

"Animate and Puppet are. Uhm. Pretty helpful, but they're not always practical - we probably would have gotten home faster if we'd called a tow truck when it broke down in the first place, instead of after I got tired out."

Her eyes flick for a moment as she listens to the plan, brief discomfort flashing across her features before she presses her palms together and murmurs to herself, like a self-soothing mantra. ".... it's just a delivery system. It's a delivery system. It could do other stuff, too, like carry baskets, it's just delivering things..." She nods, sharply, looking back up. "Yes. Okay. That works. Ellie, I'm going to drop my double, can you go grab my focus?"

"Okay, Mori!" Ellie pauses, about to run off, then grins wide at Alric. "Heck yeah! I'm great at math, that's how you get a good trajectory calculation. I could do that!"

She'll vanish in to grab Morgana's porcelain chip as Morgana settles in to start assembling the new 'model eagle' puppet. Ellie will return to help shortly.

He chuckles. "'Not always practical', ha! You're just not creative enough, yet. Eh.. you'll get there, eventually." He pauses for a moment as he screws tubes into place, then continues. "Look, the thing you're building right now, imagine that properly built. Like, professionally built, and bigger. Perhaps with white feathers instead of plastic? Or black, if that's more your vibe. And a harness, of course. Hell, maybe a set for the both of you? If you can Share one set of strings, that is. Do you see where I'm going with that?"

Maybe that's what I'll do next?

He continues assembling his flamethrower, now with a smile on his face.

"I'm serious! Some things you can't fix with magic, or. Well. You can try, but you could make it worse? We ended up stranded for three extra hours because I tried to get the two of us home with magic and didn't know my ability to make the motorcycle go would run out way before we could get home." She goes bright pink at this, clearly flustered by the recollection, then pauses and blinks as she takes in Alric's suggestion.

"Oh."

She beams. "Yeah! That sounds really cool, like a magic hang-glider? It... probably would need a parachute, just in case, but... that would be cool. Ellie would definitely like it-"

"It would be so cool," Ellie whispers in confirmation from behind Morgana, scaring Mori nearly out of her own skin. Ellie apologizes, flustered, and sits down to see if she can help after handing over the piece of porcelain.

"Uhm. I've actually been wondering if I should take some, uhm. Kinesiology courses? I was wondering if engineering would be a good thing to look into but I'm not as good at math as the rest of our family, and I'm not sure what kind of engineering would be... right? I haven't picked a major, yet, aside from knowing I'm not going into the mathematics department. So. Uhm. How did you learn to make things like this - or, well, like the flamethrower? If it's okay to ask?"

He looks at them, incredulous. "Magic hang-glider? Hang-glider? I'm talking about giving the two of you angel wings." He shakes his head. "Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I can see myself building that, but I'd have to have a chat with Sawyer about it first. A quick Fermi estimate tells me that your dad is fucking loaded, so paying me exorbitant amounts of money for this shouldn't be an issue, but I do recall him being really pissed at me" - he checks his phone - "just about 45 minutes ago. So, let's not get too excited about this yet."

His flamethrower is starting to shape up. But then again, it's not really that complicated a construction: A gas canister will be pressurized by a few CO2 canisters, carried in the left hand like a briefcase. They are controlled by a trigger in the right, releasing the valve and pressurizing the can, having the contents shoot out the hose connected to it. The other side of the hose is in the right hand and aimed at whatever needs go from 'something' to 'ashes'. In front of the hose is a high voltage spark of electricity, activated by the trigger as well, which will then ignite the napalm, thus making the napalmthrower a flamethrower.

. "Yeah, sure, I can explain. Mhm, I don't think I've ever heard of kinesiology? But if you're going to a normal college, you can probably take pretty much everything independent of the difficulty, as long as you don't NPC through the courses and actually learn to learn. Also, magic, you know. The first magical thing, well, second magical thing I built was a disc that'll allow me to never have to sleep again, which doubles the time I have per day. If you do the same, Sawyer knows the spell if you want to ask him, you can cruise through college without any issues."

"But college itself is just hard signalling that you've gone through college, which, for potential employers, means you can do boring as fuck work for hours on end without yeeting yourself off a roof. And that you have some social skills, and yes, even some useful technical skills." His voice goes down to a whisper. "But here's the secret: You could just buy any textbooks yourself and just learn the useful stuff, and only that, far faster, if you don't give a shit about the rest. And save yourself the debt." He's back to his normal voice now. "This stuff here? Super easy, it just looks complicated. Napalm is literally just two ingredients, I'm being fancy for doing three, and the flamethrower is just napalm being propelled and ignited. Here, these gas cans will push out the napalm through this hose, and these sparks will ignite it. That's all there is to it. You can just google this shit."

"If you want to design and build your own angel wings though, you'll have to put a lot more effort into it. But even those things you can teach yourself, in fact, college is just structured self-teaching. It does get you a job though, or, at least, it did a few years back. So, I'd personally pick my major based on what I want to do for work later, and learn everything else on my own time."

"So, question. How do I pronounce words like you guys do? Share. Share. Shhh-aaree. Nope, doesn't work. How?"

"Oh. I pictured a different harness structure." Morgana looks at the construction again, reevaluating her mental image thoughtfully as she continues to work. "Most of it goes back into the books, but the shop has been in the family for generations - it's a lot easier to keep a business open when the building’s been in the family for a few generations - it used to be Morgan Books, but Dad's the only Morgan left, so he and Susan changed the name when they reopened after my grandparents died."

She hesitates, then shrugs one shoulder. "...he sent me a geometry to help protect against fire & some variable adjustments for Ellie's usual hot environment protection equation to add protection against smoke and incidental fire..."

She checks her phone, mimicking her father's cadence as she reads. "If Alric Asks It's a prairie fire + house fire angle - but that one is going to be aligned more to fire you'd use a Class A extinguisher on, I don't know if napalm-sourced fire will wiggle through the fire angle & today isn't a good day to test it. Tell Alric good luck ..." She considers. ".... yeah, it sounds like he's probably still mad?"

She hums. "Kinesiology is the study of movement, usually humans, so it's a basis for physical therapy but I thought it might be helpful to understand more of the... physical mechanics? A good foundation makes things easier. I’m enjoying trying different things to see what fits." She listens, then grins, showing her neat, white, human teeth. "I'm not just there to learn academic things. Part if it is to. Uhm. Make sure I have more life experiences and meet more people, do more things on my own, and try to... get over some of the things I'm afraid of. I don't want to have only one point of perspective forever, so learning to understand and empathize with more people is... important. I want to help people when I'm older, but I'm still figuring out how.”

. “I’m doing an archeology degree!” Ellie chimes in, grinning wide. “Parent says to be gay and do crimes and one out of two isn’t bad! Most of my crimes are just against the laws of physics right now.”

Morgana smiles at her, then looks at Alric. “If everything else falls through, I’ll probably work at the bookstore, but one of Dad’s friends offered a… office internship? Kind of. It sounds like a lot of it would be helping organize files.”

She checks one of the hinges, touch light. "....plus Dad promised he wouldn't do anything too risky with his personal development project until after I graduate, so I'm going to take as much time as I need to..." She looks at Alric, eyes big and black and blank, like she's about to tell him a secret. "...and if I get really mad at him, I'm going to drop out and refuse to go back, because then I'll never graduate, and then he'll have to be careful forever."

She stares for a long moment, even as Ellie leans over to stare at her girlfriend and check to see if she’s blinking, before Morgana shakes herself, blinking rapidly until her eyes look normal again. “...that would probably be a bad precedent to set, though, and I don’t want to set a precedent where I ignore other people’s agency, even if they’re being self-destructive. Intentions matter, but the pattern you make with your actions matters, too.”

"You mean Share? It's... mh. You have to be able to hold the concept in your mind - it's... you know how rituals are meant to link to concepts inherent in the fundamental nature of the universe? It's a direct ping to the concept. It's... it's hard to explain. Let me think. It’s… I guess the simple way to explain it is that it’s a derivative of Name magic? Or opposite of derivative? Integral?”

. Ellie makes a face.

“It’s adjacent to Name magic, where you have to connect to the concept, and you’re reaching for it with your intention. The way I say Puppet and Animate is my being… specific, without actually putting magic into the connection. It’s a reference, because it’s referencing a specific thing. Ellie’s family does it all the time, it’s how they communicate and it’s really exhausting because most of them don’t use filler, they just expect you to be able to chart directly from concept to concept without the … uhm. Connective tissue? I don’t think you can do it unless you’ve got a handle on some form of Name magic to start from, and you probably don’t want to try to learn to summon anything or make deals with anyone right now, it’s really dangerous.”

"Awesome, can you setup us all up with the protections? I primarily wanted them for the whole 'mixing napalm' part, but even with that over, I'd not be opposed to have them on. It might even be good enough on its own for the hive, but the whole hive thing is a bridge I'll burn when I get to it. Oh, just to make sure, it'd have to cover any equipment we're carrying. That's part of it, right?"

A final check, and yeah, Alric's flamethrower is done. Sick.

"Most of your crimes, Ellie?" He raises one eyebrow, grinning.

He'll continue listening to their explanations about the words. And then laughs out loud when he finally gets what Morgana is implying about never graduating. "Hah, yeah, got it. If I've talked you out of going to college, I might just have to move to Arkham then. Though, mhm.. He'd probably manage to get to me here as well, somehow." Alric chuckles, then continues. "Mechanical engineering, Morgana! Then you'll be able to build your own really cool and complicated stuff to animate. And you'll make friends! And people will be really impressed by your degree! You really want to graduate, that's what all the cool people do! You'd become like Tony-"

He suddenly halts, looking like he's doing mental calculus.

Oh fuck, that's gotta work. That's smack dab in the middle between a motorcycle and her double.

You just need to..

"Okay, I gotta learn the whole word magic thing. 'Reaching for it with your intention'? So it's less about the word itself, and more about understanding the concept behind it? Because every word already points to a concept, that's what they're for, but maybe I'm just scratching the surface when I use them? Like when I say 'valve' it has more meaning than when you say it, even though the word itself is the same, because I understand more of it? I'm just guessing here."

"Mh-hm, it should cover us and the equipment we're holding when the spell is cast," Morgana confirms.

"Yeah. Curfew laws are bullshit, anyway!" Ellie huffs.

"... I can at least look into Mechanical Engineering," she says thoughtfully, then hesitates. "Uhm, yeah, it's about understanding the concept, but... yeah, you say valve and it means something but it may not mean the same thing to me, like how you can say fish but that's a big category, so you have to be specific about what kind of fish you mean? It's. Uhm. Someone told me a really good explanation a few years ago but I can't quite remember how it goes and explaining it wrong wouldn't be helpful? But also, it's... not a thing that you can just learn how to do? It's... to do Name magic you have to have a Name that can give you enough leverage?"

He shoots Sawyer a text message.

Hey, thanks for the protections, I appreciate it

Alric chuckles. "Just curfew laws, Ellie? Alright, keep your secrets." He gives her a conspiratorial smile, then turns to Morgana.

"Mhm.. So, Morgana, you're the expert. But I do recall that your dad once told me that his name doesn't hold a lot of meaning, I don't quite recall the details, but he also managed to intone his name, when spoken, similarly to how you say Share. So he either has some deals going on, or it's learnable. The weird thing is, now that I think about it, is that I knew, when he said his name that way, that it's without a doubt the Sawyer Morgan that was standing in front of me back then, and not just that, but more. I knew conceptual things about him that he definitely didn't tell me. And it's kind of the same when you say Share? On the one hand, I understand it, but I also don't? It's really weird. But I also don't know if it's me picking up more than most people do due to the whole Seer thing."

He smacks his lips.

"I have another explanation, maybe that one does ring true for you, or at least I'm closer to the truth here: When saying the word, you're not actually saying the word, but you're connecting to the concept in concept space, and project it onto reality, and that projection then is what I hear as a spoken word plus a lot of meaning, rather than just sound waves. Is that closer?"

"Did he say his Name didn't, or that most people's don't?" Morgana's eyes flick to Alric, then back to the project she's putting together. ".... what someone's implying isn't always what they're actually saying."

She looks conflicted, hands stilling as she frowns. "... Dad still has part of HaShem in him, even if he can't use it."

She thinks. "...yes. That sounds close."

"Yeah, this whole saying but not really saying thing is somewhat of a sport for my kind of muggle, but you all have turned that up to another level, seriously. Let me think.. It was last week when I was asking him what would happen if I summoned a Sawyer Morgan weird, and he said that it'd be like summoning Sawyer Morgan at that point, and then something about him not having enough weight to hear me knocking. I think. I'm fuzzy on the details."

Ha-Shem?

"Ah, so, that's what I picked up then." Alric starts mumbling to himself. "So names are also just projecting magic into reality so if you can point at a name properly you can pull it in so is it a pointing thing and the whole arts and crafts thing is perhaps just a way to get the pointing right but no, that doesn't quite feel right you've said 'leverage'.." He's now speaking more clearly. "Leverage. Leverage. What gives a name leverage, how do I get such a name besides making deals with scary people, and why do I feel like there's got to be a way to just instead build a big lever?"

He starts to prepare a secondary can for his thrower. Then he'll start filling up two gas cans ready for Morgana (and duct tape some string to them), and molotov cocktails for Ellie.

“Did he tell you that trying to summon him just wouldn’t ever work?” Morgana asks seriously. “If he did he was lying. It shouldn’t ever work. It’s not safe to let it work. He’s going to…”

She starts looking visibly uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, I... really don't want to keep talking about this? It's. If..." Her voice wavers. "If someone with a purely mortal name tries to do something like that it they're probably going to die, Mr. Jorgensen. I really don't feel safe giving you advice about this or trying to explain more than I have? It... this conversation isn't feeling safe anymore and I don't want to be rude but I really really really don't feel comfortable talking about it anymore?"

Ellie has scooted over to hug her girlfriend, having noticed her distress.

"Uhm. So. So. We'll need to make sure the stuff that needs to be on fire and the stuff that's going to light the fire aren't on us when we cast the protection spells. Otherwise it's possible the geometry's effect might prevent them from lighting up."

"I..." ??????? "Okay, change of topic! Yes, burning stuff, that's fun! Let's talk about that! So.."

So it is possible to build a big lever, I'd just die in the process? Probably just a skill issue.

"Mhm.. I'd prefer to have the flamethrower be covered by the spells, because it's also not really fire proof, and while the napalm shooting out of it doesn't cause any issues, a sufficiently hot environment might. Let's do it like that: I'll put everything on me that I want to bring into the hive, in particular the thrower and the empty gas canisters, and then after the spells are on we fill them up. An electric shocker shouldn't be disabled by fire protection, right? Though I could also take it off and then re-attach it after the spells are on if you think so. Mhm.. what else do I need.. Fire stuff, check. Headphones, check. Goggles would be nice, where are they again.."

He crams around his boxes, then pulls out safety goggles. He only has one pair. "Mhm.. Ellie, you're more likely to get hit by napalm than I am." He tosses the goggles to her. "As long as I don't get tentacle'd by a napalm covered shoggoth I should be fine."

"Oh, speaking of which. Kind of important: Ellie, if things go south, could you get us out? Either literally pull me out if I get swarmed, or maybe even teleport us both out like I've seen Zeke do with Sawyer?"

"That's what I was thinking, too," Morgana nods, focusing on the project and the group check-list to distract herself from the discomfort of the earlier topic.

Ellie gleefully takes the goggles, putting them on. "Mori, am I cute?" She grins.

"... you're always cute, Ellie," Morgana replies slowly, baffled, only to get hugged again by her delighted girlfriend.

Ellie gives Alric a thumbs up. "Yeah! Shoggoths are tasty, so I'm gonna try and just kill any that try to break through so I can take them home and get Sawyer to make me sushi!" She beams even wider. "But yeah, I should be able to grab you and pull you out, and I've teleported Mori along with me before! I'd probably try to kill the shoggoths holding you while I pulled you out. Anyway. If Mori's double's the one with us, I can grab you and pull you along, but you'll probably want to close your eyes. For some reason people don't usually feel so good after if they had their eyes open."

Alric runs a belt over his right shoulder and under his left arm and hooks in two gas cans, then picks up the flamethrower attached to one of the cans. His now silent headphones hang around his neck.

"Okay, then let's get the three of us spelled up, and then we can get started on step 1 of this whole situation. Just so I'm sure I got it right: You can only teleport me out if Morgana's double is with us? I like the idea of having her double around, but there's a chance we might not stand next to each other when hell breaks loose."

"I've definitely been able to move myself and one other person. Zeke or Sawyer move us when we're travelling in a bigger group," Ellie says. "And Mori's my favorite, so if I can't take two people I'll always pick her, but she made me promise I won't pick getting her double out of trouble over saving a flesh person, so if Mori comes close to where there might be trouble we should take her double -"

"Uhm." Morgana hesitates, then pats Ellie's arm. "Ellie, I can just leave a bird with both of you so I can keep in contact with you. I... don't have to be up front, as me or as my double?"

"Oh," Ellie blinks. "Okay!"

"Mr. Jorgensen, can you check that everything here looks like I put it together right while I draw the geometry?" Morgana hunts through her pockets and retrieves a metal tin, opening it to reveal a compass, chalk, protractor, etc. inside.

"Flesh.. person..? Do you mean.. human?"

Without the promise, you'd save the double over of a human?

He shakes his head.

"Oh, right. Morgana, my bad, I should've explained that. The reason I'd prefer you to be fire proof is that we're still tinkering with napalm out here. I don't expect you to go into the hive."

"Also, if you want to, you can just call me Alric, I'm not an agent anymore. Though I'd prefer it if you deleted my number now that you're out of the lot. Sawyer can contact me if you two need my help." He looks the 'eagle' over, checking the connections and the movement of the hinges, then nods. "Yeah, looks good. If you can magic this up, you'll be able to pour out and switch out cans on your own, as long as I prepare the new cans."

"Humans aren't the only people made of flesh, Alric! Mori's double is made of other stuff, but I still don't want let Mori get hurt even if it's not Mori Mori!"

Morgana blindly reaches over to squeeze Ellie's hand as she studies the diagram on her phone, nodding to Alric. "I was going to include all of us anyway, just in case. Uhm. Oh. I'm not calling you that because of who you might work for, but... sure, I can call you Alric if you'd like that better? Is it okay to keep your number until we're done here?"

He watches her copy the diagram from her phone onto the floor. It's just scribbles on the floor, but once she's focused on it, they can walk through fire.

Yeah, still doesn't make any sense.

"I really like Alric better. And sure, keep it until we're done here, but please make sure to remember afterwards. And I.. I really don't want to make you uncomfortable, just ignore me if you don't want to answer, but.. if you can do name magic, why still use the geometries?"

Another thought occurs to Alric.

Oh, fuck, I forgot, treasures.

He pulls his backpack out of the backseat, then pulls out the tome, crowbar, disc, notebooks, camera - oh man, I completely forgot about the polaroid - then closes the backpack and puts it on. After some inner back and forth he checks the camera - two shots left - and hangs it around his neck.

"Do you two want me to take a photo or two of you two together? I have to reload the camera before getting spelled up, and it'd be a shame to waste the last two shots."

Morgana keeps up a low whisper, talking to herself as she works through drawing out the geometries, pausing to gesture for Alric to wait to talk to her again before she picks back up, slow and steady, keeping her focus on the working as she does.

Once she's done, she carefully steps back and claps her hands together, trying to get the chalk out of her gloves before giving up and pocketing them. "Versatility. A Name is made up of the specific concepts associated with it. I understand how to emphasize things, I learned that from my dad, but that doesn't mean I can use them."

Ellie's eyes go huge as Alric asks if she wants a photo!!! with!!! her!!! GIRLFRIEND!!!

"YES!!!!!!"

Alric smiles, then gestures to the two to stand together.

God, you two are adorable.

...

Nope, don't get too attached.

He does the two shots, then hands one photo to each of the- nope, apparently he hands both to Ellie, then reloads his camera with a fresh ten-pack.

"Okay, I think now I'm ready to get spelled up."

Morgana makes sure everything that's getting spelled up is in the correct range of the spell and that everything that isn't is outside of range, then activates the circle...

Morgana Casts!: [5, 4] Result: Success! 🎯

Alric has 4 points of fire protection

Ellie's turn is next, and Morgana looks to Alric and says, emphatically: "close your eyes and cover your ears."

Ellie begins to talk.

Ellie Uses Math!: [4, 1] Result: Success! 🎯

Alric has 4 points of Environmental Protection

Total of 8 points of stacked Environmental Protection

Alric will, for once, close his eyes and cover his ears, because, well, he's really had his fill of madness for the day.

He'll wait until he's feeling a tap on his shoulder to open his eyes again.

"So.." He looks at his hands, no shimmer or shine or force field around them. "Like.. did it work?"

...

Oh, right. I'm a seer.

Does he see anything?

Yeah, there's an active vector.

"Okay, wait, yeah, it's working." He turns to Ellie. "Let's just get straight to the point: If I, a mortal seer with about three weeks of experience in this world, look at the magic too closely, will I go mad? And how mad are we talking?"

While talking he fills up the gas cans for Morgana's 'eagle', and then starts preparing even more molotov cocktails for Ellie.

"Morgana, you can hook your eagle into these cans. Your target is the mansion - just pour out the gas cans, right over it. Ellie, you'll throw these cocktails, yes, without lighting them on fire first. Your goal is to throw them into the lot, against something hard that cracks them open. The intention here is to spread as much napalm as possible before we throw in a match, to give the shoggoths no time to react. If you want to, Ellie, you can be the one to throw the first burning cocktail, but let's get this batch deployed first."

"I mean, are you sure you're not already going kind of bonkers already?" Ellie asks, bright and offhanded and immediately charging onwards. "You'd probably at least get travel sick. Sawyer gets nose bleeds, like, all the time when he pushes things. But, like, going crazy? I dunno. You might lose your weird ability to understand 'relative directions.' I don't have that, and I get along fine, but everyone assumes that 'left' and 'right' somehow make sense and don't change all the time and then look at you weird when you ask for sensible directions."

"Most people weren't born understanding GPS coordinates," Morgana says quietly, getting the eagle hooked to the cannisters before pulling out several of her paper birds and setting them down nearby. She steps back, heels clicking together, and raises her hands.

Morgana uses Puppet: [5, 1] Result: Success! 🎯

The Birds Animate.

For a moment, Morgana's fingers and wrists appear to have far more defined joints, and the faintest glitter of strings connects from her hands to her puppets before they rise and the threads vanish from sight. She absently rubs her knuckles as they rise into the air and head into the lot, with two paper birds remaining, one settling on Alric and the other on Ellie. "Okay.... You're going to throw things in from Aspen's paths, right? If we set part of the lot that she's claimed on fire she'll be upset."

Morgana settles into a calm position, hands folded in front of her and her eyes closed. "All the shoggoth veins and arteries that would have extended past her pathways have been killed, so they shouldn't be able to draw on them for any sustenance, which means if we need to torch the whole lot... we. Uhm. We should do it after she's relinquished her claim on the outer bit."

"As long as the photos are still around tomorrow, I'll know that I'm not rocking back and forth in a padded cell."

As Morgana's eagle takes flight Alric takes another photo, then stashes it in his backpack.

"Yeah, but the trees are all shoggoth biomass and need to be handled accordingly. On a scale of one to ten, how rude would it be to just torch her claim? She stared into my soul without consent, which is a solid eight out of ten in terms of rudeness, so I might have some credit there."

While the girls are busy doing their part, he'll continue preparing napalm (and eagle cans and molotov cocktails) until he's down to two cans of napalm left. Those he'll fill into his fire-protected flamethrower cans.

"Eleven," She opens one eye to look at Alric. "Please don't upset her, even if you think you have a reason to."

Alric nods.

"Great, fine, this once I won't purposefully upset the demigod. Unless she magic'd in more than the fire break, chances are the fire will hop over anyways."

Seeing the eagle flying off with the first can is EXHILARATING. He's super excited.

"That's so sick. Okay, you know your part Morgana. You have plenty of replacement cans ready. Ellie, let's both grab a case of cocktails and get going."

He's since taken off his flamethrower and the other stuff. He won't need any of that in step 1.

He grabs a case of cocktails, then gets moving into the direction of the lot. "We're back in a few minutes."

Aspen sits at the intersection of the outermost ring and perpendicular path. Her shoes and socks are set beside her and her pants are rolled up to the knee. Her legs are embedded in the ground as if she were simply dangling them in a river and not in solid earth. Her skin is birchbark; her hair autumn leaves. In front of her is a scale model of the lot: twigs representing each tree, pebbles representing each boulder. She smiles to acknowledge Ellie and Alric passing, but says nothing.

Down the path, the innermost ring between paths is completely cleared of vegetation. Something about the space makes the eyes water if looked at for too long. And then within the firebreak: the territory still left to the shoggoths. Still appearing as overgrown as the lot was when Alric first entered last week. Though, this time there is the distinct smell of gasoline carried in the air.

Aspen seems like the kind of person I would probably like, if she weren't an incredibly scary demigod that'd turn me into a potted plant the moment any words are spoken by me that aren't maximally optimized for politeness.

I mean, everyone else sure made it seem as if she's someone you have to be incredibly scared of and should definitely minimize the time around.

And there's no chance that all of them are getting things wrong, right?

That definitely hasn't been a common theme, right?

...

Right?

The two arrive at the firebreak. "Alright, your turn. Hit the trees so they crack open and cover the area, but keep cover behind a tree while doing so so no napalm splashes onto you. We'll go around once and get the lot covered in as much gasoline as we can. And let's pace ourselves, half a case for a quarter of the lot. Once that's done, you'll throw in the last two cocktails, lit that time. Ready?"

He takes cover behind a tree as well, then lets Ellie do her thing. They'll go around the lot this way, then end up back at the perpendicular path. They have two cocktails left.

And maybe, just maybe, she knows more than me in this specific instance.

"Ellie, sorry, I just had a thought and need a minute before we light the lot on fire. I have to talk to Aspen."

He gestures Ellie to follow, leaving the two cocktails behind. He soon finds Aspen, still sitting where she was a few minutes ago.

And then, he speaks. Not polite-friendly-professional, but gently, appropriate to the peaceful scene around him. "I hope I'm not intruding too much. I'm confused and was wondering whether you'd be fine with me asking you a few questions. Would that be okay for you?"

She’s wading around her map now, looking for all the world like a video game character glitched into the ground. She raises an eyebrow as she makes some adjustment to her drawing in the dirt in the center of her map. “You may ask. The traditional balance is for me to ask questions of you for each in return. Is that agreeable to you?”

"I... The questions I was planning to ask were politely wrapped statements of information I wanted to give you. I wanted to inform you that all the plants, including the trees on this side of the firebreak, were shoggoth contaminated biomass as of Saturday. I wanted to offer to have the firefighters help protect the trees on this side, conditional on you still wanting to protect them given that information. That.. is all."

He's shifting in place, uncomfortable.

"But if you have questions, there actually are things I would like to ask you.. I can't make any promises that I want to answer your questions, let alone can, but if you ask the first question, I can answer as I see fit and you can answer my question in return however you consider fair. That I think I can agree to."

“I am aware. I am using the tracks they left in the vegetation. Aspens are rhizomes too.” The tree-styled Lady looks up at Alric with even amber eyes. Though her slim fingers still work to improve the accuracy of the map around her.

“You are not incorrect in your impulse to litigate the scope of your interactions with me and my kin. However it is tiresome. Ask first, and I will answer or decline. Be truthful in your answers, even if the truth is that you would prefer not to answer.”

By god, it really fucking is tiresome.

He tosses Ellie his lighter. "Please tell Officer Green to have the firefighters protect the trees outside the firebreak, then you're good to torch the inner lot. You'll have to put your thumb on the linen coming out of the cocktail, turn it upside down, wait until the linen is soaked, turn it right side up again, then light the linen on fire and throw the cocktail into the lot." He mimes the steps, makes her repeat them, then lets her go. "You can aim the second cocktail at the mansion, if you can throw that far."

Okay. If any of her questions are dangerous, I can just dip. I'm not agreeing to anything beyond answering questions, and I can still answer that I'd prefer not to answer.

He waits for Ellie to leave.

Don't make me regret this, fae.

...

How the fuck do I even wrap this in a question.

He thinks for a moment, then asks his first question.

"Given what you've learned about me so far: What is your best estimate on how likely it is that by the end of the day, I'd be worse off for, starting now, having not minimized the amount of time I spent interacting with you?"

She laughs. “Twisty! I do not have a detailed map of you. The spread of futures is wide, and I do not know all destinations you would regret. There are paths within your power that would compel me to do harm to you. That you have broken bonds already today inclines me to believe you may trespass additional soft bonds. You are more likely than most to earn my ire. I am not particularly wrathful. I think it is more likely than not that we can part peaceably today.”

“My question to you is were you aware of the consequences of quitting the Dawn Commission?”

Okay, okay okay okay, it's mostly on me whether I get turned into a potted plant, that's good news.

Some of the tension in his body leaves him. Some.

What consequences?

Alric squints. "Uhm.. the consequences I'm aware of is that I'm out of my job, which will require me to find a different income. I have ideas for that though.. I like Phoenix, and she's been a surprisingly good boss, I mean, besides the whole getting-herself-shoggoth'd and leaving me to deal with it. And Saije." There's a little bit of sadness in his eyes, if you care to look. "I think I'll miss them both a bit. But I've only been there for like two weeks, none of this goes super deep, and there's also evil there that I'd very much like to leave behind. It may sound harsh, but added up it's more good than bad for me to leave."

"I fear though that's not what you're asking about. So here's my question: What other potential consequences should I be aware of?"

She hums. “You are new to this world. Customs are different among the supernatural, archaic even. Individual bonds are incredibly important; they give you a place in society and give consequences for any who would otherwise not have reason to not squish you indecently to their machinations. Phoenix is a powerful ally to have, and she is actively working to bring some semblance of rule of law and the concept of rights from mundane society into Aware society. She models her contracts on mundane conventions, so you are allowed to sever ties with her. However, the protection and open doors you’ve enjoyed from her patronage will be withdrawn. Some will think it reflects poorly on her to have a former underling walk free. Some will read into the severed bond and think it reflects poorly on you that you rejected her generous patronage so soon after accepting it. My read of it painted you as naïve and impulsive.” She says, tone informative and without malice.

She taps her chin. “How long have you been Aware of the supernatural?”

He chuckles. "Well, your read is probably right."

Alric glides his fingers through his hair as he finally gets what she's saying: This decision shouldn't have been rushed. There's consequences.

Damn you, Phoenix.

"And, of course, it didn't occur to anyone to explain it to me. Or anything else." He sighs. "Okay, the good news is, technically I didn't quit yet. My contract is with the Dawn Commission, and Saije isn't high enough in the pecking order to accept a notice. But whether technically is good enough seems to strongly depend on the context, and might not be worth anything in this one. But also, maybe it's still better to leave the Commission. Eh.. One way or another, I'll have an extended chat with Phoenix once this is over."

He thinks for a moment.

"Mhm.. Actually in it.. a few weeks, by joining the Commission. Before that, two to three years? I snooped around online, got my hands on a supposedly magical artifact, said artifact caused a lot of magical fire, and at that point it was kind of hard to deny that magic was real. So I randomly ran around trying to find out what I can, but pretty much everyone kept to themselves. Most of the stuff out there is nonsense, but.. okay, most of the stuff on the inside of the community also really looks like nonsense to me? I still don't get why drawing lines with chalk or etching metal suddenly breaks physics. Like, I get that it's somehow projecting the meaning onto reality, but that'd mean that those are fundamentals of the universe, and like, how is there a way to give a spell a housefire angle? That'd require houses to be a fundamental part of the universe but that'd mean they've always been around? None of these are questions I want to ask you by the way, it's just me wondering out loud. To get back on track: two to three years."

. "Mhm.. My next question would be: In your opinion as an expert of the arcane, what should be the next few steps I should take to maximize my understanding of magic, without making a deal that'll just hand me knowledge in exchange for a life of slavery or similar? As context, I've been getting into artificing this weekend, that seems to be my thing, but no big success yet."

She laughs then, nearly doubling over clutching her belly. After a moment she seems to regain composure enough to straighten and open her mouth before descending into another fit of giggling. She stumbles out of her map and crawls up out of the ground on the ‘shore’. Between one blink and the next she is no longer birchbark and golden leaves but a refined human-presenting woman with pristine glamorous makeup and vertically slit pupils. She stands up straight, easily inches taller than Alric, and brushes the last hint of dirt from her fashionable coat that has replaced her athletics wear. She smiles a sharp smile. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Digest what you have. As you are, you are most likely to die by consequence of your rush to gorge yourself now that you have discovered power of any substance. Adapt. You are no longer starving.”

She steps closer, yellow eyes half lidded. “Or… I can make a deal with you to hand you knowledge in exchange for something other than a life of slavery. I could accept clippings of your confidence, your creativity, or other expertise. One and done, no extended commitment. Mortal Aspects can grow back in time.”

The little paper bird that has been sitting, still, quiet, and forgotten on Alric's person "eeps" quietly.

The Dyer House explodes into flame in the distance.

"Ah.. Eh.." It's hard to find words when a demigod falls over in a fit of laughter in one moment, and then offers you a deal in the next.

The burning lot is nothing in comparison.

"Ah.. Please don't take offense, but I.. have seen this coming. I've decided upfront to not take such deals, independent of how.. incredibly generous the offer may be. However, I can offer you.." He pulls out his notepad and pen, and offers them to her. "to later review the precise terms and conditions of the deal if you write them down for me, and then contact you in case I'm interested. You know, so I can make an informed decision. And your number, unless you prefer me to have Sawyer contact you on my behalf."

“You do have some potential for wisdom.” She says approvingly. She dismisses him with a wave. “This game has been fun, however I have a fire to manage.” She turns and wades back into her map, returning to her Aspen facet as she does.

Alright, I tried.

He puts the notepad and pen away, then gives her a slight bow.

"I'll excuse myself then to go and fan the flames. I appreciate you taking the time to have a chat with me."

And he'll walk into the direction of the firebreak, to see the fire close up.

The fire is certainly up! This may not be Ellie's first rodeo with home made napalm. She's positively delighted as she circles the firebreak to monitor the fire and watch for shoggoths.

A good portion of the plants inside the shoggoths' territory have been retracted into the dirt with mixed success. There's still plenty of vegetation to sustain a good blaze though, and the manor house in the distance appears to be burning nicely.

The firefighters are not inside the lot, but are proactively wetting the nearby buildings and exterior layer of trees.

Good.

He'll stand there, straight, arms behind his back, and stare into the flames.

For the first time today things are happening, and things are happening according to plan. His plan. He survived the encounter with the demigod. And he did this to the shoggoths. And if any more eldritch horrors decide to invade this world and feast on its population, he'll burn them too.

Sometime later, he expects, he'll collapse and lose it. There's just too much terror screaming inside of him, pushed down, deep, deep, where it's barely audible. But right now, this very moment, things are good.

After a minute or two he'll turn around and walk back to the car. He'll put on all his gear and collect the gambeson for Ellie.

Morgana is standing on the sidewalk where Alric and Ellie left her, hands clasped in front of her, heels together, eyes closed.

The bird on his shoulder speaks, voice nervous, as he grabs his gear and the gambeson. "... if you're going to try and find the hive entrance, I'd like to send my double with you and Ellie as a decoy, if that's okay?"

While Alric assembles his gear, Phoenix finally messages him back

Hello, Apologies for missing your messages; I just regained cellular service moments ago. Mr. Knox and Ms. Black have briefed me on the current events at the Dyer Estate. Lord Luck-Spinner rescued the team from the shoggoths. He believes he additionally has a debt on you because you broke the wards on the estate. You may wish to argue; you can do so, but be polite and truthful. It is not a dire threat to you if he is able to leverage the debt. It is not ideal, but is recoverable. Be well, Phoenix

"Fuck, that's unnerving." He talks while putting on his backpack, camera, headphones, and flamethrower, careful not to squash the bird. "I won't tell anyone what to do, there was a whole fight about that. Sawyer however mentioned that you are possibly forced to feel through the double, particularly pain. You will stand in fire. And I had the impression that your 'focus' was very valuable, and it's highly likely to get lost in there. I'm going to be precise here: Do what you want to do, but be aware that I'll feel incredibly guilty if you get yourself burned alive just to help us. Or lose something valuable to you. I also have Ellie with me, and the plan is to have her teleport us out the moment anything goes wrong. I'm not in too much danger, I think? So, from what I know, I'd really prefer you not joining us."

His phone goes off. Phoenix finally answered.

Isn't luck supposed to be a lady, not a lord?

He responds to Phoenix's message.

Glad you're back. We'll need to have an extended chat sometime, but that's on the back burner for now. I appreciate the heads-up. Those are certainly interesting beliefs of his. How many Aspens worth of terrified do I need to be?

And then speaks out loud again. "But you listened to the conversation I had with Aspen. On a scale of 0 to 10, how did I do? Anything I should do differently when the next demigod shows up, later today, perhaps?"

Phoenix replies

Yes, we need to talk later. Lord Luck-Spinner is the most socially dangerous of his court. Lady Aspen can be the second most when she cares to be.

"Forced isn't the correct word." The bird fidgets, then resettles. "I'd rather risk my double getting broken than have someone get hurt, Mr. Jo- Alric. Even if I lose the piece of porcelain used to make her, my double is replaceable. You are not. I think your life is of more value than a piece of porcelain, no matter where it came from."

The bird bobs, paper wings fluttering. "... next demigod? Are more members of Lady Aspen's court coming?" Morgana's voice sounds anxious, even as her physical body walks towards the edge of the lot, sticking one closed hand through, hiding the content from sight of anyone outside.

"Oh! Uhm. Let me think... deciding to be honest about your intentions was a good choice - some fae think riddles and leading questions are fun, and many use them to point people towards things they want them to think about, but if you don't have a lot of practice it could come off as an insult. You have to be careful about what you ask and how you ask it - the wrong words at the wrong time can lead to severe consequences. Being careful won't always protect you. Be clear about what you want to know - an unclear question can get you a yes or no when you sought something more detailed. I think most of your questions were good. The last one was dangerous, but I think you knew that when you asked it."

"Lady Hypate - the facet who gave you that offer - gave you good advice. Take it. Be careful. Think about what you want and what you're willing to pay for it. The faster you go the more it will cost you, Alric. The fastest roads are the deadliest."

She goes quiet for a moment. "... knowledge and power have a price. Being born with power doesn't mean we don't have to pay for it, whether we want that power or not. The ability to choose what you're willing to pay is precious."

. The bird settles in again. "...if a faerie wants to talk to you again, they'll tell you. Most of them don't use modern technology. It's better to ask if they would like to speak again, and how to reach them if they do. If you're given an offer they probably won't make it twice unless they think you have something they want or can be made to do something they want. Asking for a way to call is... uhm. Most Sidhe need to be formally summoned to our world. So. Yeah. Uhm. Some are friendlier and less actively dangerous, but it's better to be careful, because even the cruelest Sidhe can usually put on a kind face until they get what they want."

Fantastic. And here I was thinking the shoggoths were my biggest worry now.

"I can only tell with certainty that there might be another demigod heading my way, potentially today, not necessarily while I'm here. But honestly? Probably. Bet he'll stand outside the lot the moment I come out."

He's finished putting things on. There's nothing else he can do really to become more ready.

Time to go.

He grabs the potion of fire resistance, then starts making his way towards the firebreak, listening to the bird talking into his ear.

Okay, overall solid performance. A few minor blunders. I'll probably survive Lord Luck-Spinner, but it'll be harder than Aspen.

I have the very strong suspicion that she went easy on me. I didn't get anything substantial out of the chat, but she didn't dig for anything either. How long I'm aware of the supernatural? The only point of that question I can see would be to even out the balance and let me off the hook.

"I appreciate the advice. I'm sure it'll come in handy soon."

He'll look for Ellie, then toss her the gambeson. Is Morgana's double around?

"I hope it helps.... uhm. Do you know any of his titles?"

Morgana's double appears to have joined Ellie already, keeping pace as she hunts along the edges of the firebreak, unearthly tendrils swaying and searching for signs of prey with every step the redhead takes. She waves as Alric appears and catches the gambeson, shrugging and putting it on over her sundress, tendrils confined by the gambeson as she mumbles under her breath before they phase through and resume their swaying.

"Ah, fuck it. Not that it does me any good to withhold that info. Lord Luck-Spinner is his name, supposedly of the same court as Aspen."

Alric waits for Ellie to put on the gambeson, then tosses her the potion of fire resistance as well. "It's for the double, you'll have to apply it. Morgana, don't think I didn't notice you not denying that you'll feel pain."

He turns up the music on his phone. Metal starts hammering out of the headphones that are, for the moment, hanging around his neck. "I won't be able to hear you guys in there. Tap me on the shoulder if you need to tell me anything. Ellie, please stay close and get us out the moment it looks like things go bad. We can take multiple runs at this, as long as we aren't shoggoth'd."

"Oh," Morgana's bird says quietly, voice a squeak. "Him. I... don't like talking to him."

Morgana's double looks visibly abashed, taking a look at the potion and instructions as Ellie does. They're ready soon enough.

"Alright, this is it. Morgana, lead the way. Point where you want to walk, and I'll napalm the general area if there's no fire there. I'll follow after, then Ellie."

Then he puts on his headphones and follows Morgana into the fire.

fire damage from the environment (2d6) results: 2, 5 total: 7

Environmental protection spells absorbs the fire damage

The heat is intense, but the fire protection cuts it down to a mere sweltering heat. It can be hard, psychologically, to step into fire even when you know it can’t hurt you; instincts and learned experience screaming ‘don’t touch’ even though in this case it is fine. The instinct lessens every time you challenge it and are proved unharmed.

… Overcoming fear of fire might not be a good lesson to learn.

Alric, Ellie, and Morgana’s porcelain double only encounter one shoggoth before reaching the house. It burrows up out of the ground to snatch at their passing legs, but Ellie grabs it before it can grab anyone else, and soon has a tasty roasted shoggoth-mallow.

The burning manor roars before them now. The partially collapsed walls have no easy entrances.

Alric knows he won't get hurt. He can put his hand into the fire, see it passing through unharmed, untouched. He can feel that everything is fine, that the spells are holding.

And yet, he can't get himself to move. He's still terrified.

This is the part where I falter? I didn't collapse when a demigod stared into my soul, I didn't throw myself out of the window when an archmage wanted to bully me into taking the blame, I even managed to have a second chat with Aspen. And walking into flames, completely protected, that I can't do? This is supposed to be my thing.

And yet, there's still terror screaming within him. Refusing to subside.

Anger kindles inside him. A flame of rage lashing out at everyone that played part in him having to stand right here, right now. Having gone through enough fire already today, and yet not able to take the next step. Phoenix, Astraeus, Saije, Inara, Sawyer, the kids, those fucking fae. But.. The flame doesn't find purchase.

He only has himself to blame.

Not for standing here today. No, that was unavoidable. But for even thinking in the first place that he can control anything. That he can, if he tries hard enough, have everything go exactly as he plans. That he can design plans and events like his machines, clean, predictable, reliable. If he's just trying hard enough.

But he's nothing. Phoenix. Astraeus. Saije. Inara. Sawyer. The kids. And those fucking fae. Every single one of them is infinitely more powerful than he is, this guy with his funny little contraptions.

It is not in my control. None of this is.

And yet, I'm the only one who can pull this off.

I need to let go.

He takes a step into the flames.

The terror subsides.

. . A few moments later they arrive at the manor.

"Well fuck, I figured it'd be mostly gone by now."

Alric takes a photo of the burning mansion, then pulls his headphones down around his neck.

"Ellie, exactly how strong are you? Can you rip out the stuff that's refusing to burn?"

On second thought..

"Actually, scratch that. Abort mission. This is already getting hot, and inside will be worse. I can handle that heat, probably, the napalm strapped to me might not."

Alric gestures everyone to turn around, then puts his headphones back on and follows.

"I'm not as strong as Zeke is, but I could try?" Ellie says, staring up at the house and considering where she could try and grab hold of something, even as Morgana's double moves to squeeze her hand and aborts mid-motion - they're still somewhere dangerous.

The double looks relieved as Alric changes his mind. "... yeah, it's going to be dangerous enough when it's burned to ashes - or at least crumbled down enough that the risk of part of the building falling down on either of you is lowered. The protective spells probably won't save either of you from falling into holes or getting crushed."

Ellie opens her mouth to protest as the group turns to leave and Mori's double squeezes her hand before nudging her to take the lead. "Even if you pull a high-speed Indiana Jones to pull both of you out or swing across a pit, Ellie. It's still safer to not have to do that. Inside will be dangerous enough, right?"

"She's right, Ellie. Besides, that gives us an excuse to build a bomb."

A few steps away from the mansion he'll turn around one more time to pull out his phone and take a video of the burning mansion and the environment. It's just too cool for one photo. And then he's good to go.

They arrive at the firebreak. "I'm sorry.. I.. This is my only chance for a long time. Just five minutes." He takes off all his equipment at a safe distance, then goes back into the flames, to kneel down in line of sight from the outside, back turned.

He closes his eyes. For just this moment, this is all there is. The flames licking at his skin, without finding purchase. The fire crackling, the trees breaking apart. The tinge of smoke coming through the protections, the texture of the ash as it glides through his hands.

The heat is overwhelming, sweltering, suppressive. But it is also comforting. It is safe.

environmental fire damage for the cinematic moment (2d6) results: 3, 5 total: 8

The flames lick close, but still the magic protections hold.

A few minutes later Alric opens his eyes, takes a deep breath, then gets up and walks back out of the lot. Ash smudges cover his face where he wiped away sweat.

The girls were surprisingly patient. He starts to put on all his stuff.

"I'm claiming the inner circle of the lot. Everything ash is mine." He's saying it matter-of-fact, without even looking at them. "The only other person to have a reasonable claim is Phoenix, but I'm sure her and I will find a peaceful solution."

He gestures them to follow him.

"I initially thought we'd plunder Sawyer's supply closet for cleaning supplies and build something explosive out of them, well, something more explosive than gas. But while thinking about what Sawyer might have in store I remembered that, well, chlorine gas is so easy to make that people keep accidentally killing themselves while cleaning their baths. It's also heavier than air, and well, the shoggoths are underground. Kind of the obvious solution, really. It'll probably make them inedible though. Honestly, I should've seen that solution sooner, with the whole court house situation."

They start making their way back to Bright Books.

Morgana bites her tongue and doesn't mention that the lot is probably owned by the city - or by whoever survived to inherit from the original Dyers. This isn't the time... and Alric's probably taking a leaf from Aspen's book. Which is also concerning!!! Maybe she should say something.

There are more productive things she can say right now, though, ones more guaranteed to help.

"... how long does chlorine gas take to disperse?" Morgana's double asks quietly as they walk. "If it kills them, good, but I don't know if it will kill the rooms, so we may still need to go inside to pull the chandeliers out once the shoggoths are all dead and... I'm not sure how many rooms there are going to be? Zeke and Dad might be able to help estimate the room sizes we might be working with, but I... think we might have to make a grocery run to get the amount of cleaning supplies needed. Dad said the rooms of hives like this one are much bigger on the inside."

Alric, Ellie, and Mori’s double are only about halfway down the eastern path before suddenly before them the path is crowded with people. Phoenix, Hope, Inara, Licorice, and two men appear from thin air in the space of a blink without any heralding pop of air. The two men both look human; hair dark, skin mid-brown, young faces sharing a Pacific Islander family resemblance. The differences end there. The tall one is taller than Alric and is twice his weight with muscle. Scars cross his skin where his leather and metal handcrafted armor doesn’t cover. The shorter one is five-foot-nothing, if that. He is wearing fashionable black street attire, rows of silver earrings and nothing like armor. He sports one hell of a shiner over one eye and a smarmy smirk.

</scene> Continued in 2.9: A Dyer Reunion