Log:Autumn Court Meeting: June 2018
| Autumn Court Meeting: June 2018 | |
|---|---|
"I'm in." | |
| Participants | 2018.06.06 The Autumn Court holds their meeting for June. |
| Location
Caretaker's House | |
| The Caretaker's house smells AWESOME as people enter. Someone has been cooking again. If you leave an Autumn meeting hungry it's probably your own fault. In the meeting room there's a dish of cookies and brownies along with different drinks for people. Ashe herself is sitting at one end of the table with a few cookies in hand and trying to fend off her vampire bat from stealing one, "Go get your own!" she laughs. It's Boss that arrives first between man and dog, the latter following his nose full tilt through the door as soon as it was opened to start snuffling around the floor for crumbs. Gabe called a gruff, "Boss," after him as he stepped through himself, dressed in his usual flannel and pants of many pockets, well worn workboots. The dog has the decency to look a little sheepish, but snags up a stray crumb just the same before settling down to make his gregarious rounds greeting anyone that doesn't shove him right off. Gabriel couldn't be more different from the dog, lingering at the edges of the room and nodding his greetings with softer spoken, "Evenin'"s until he found an out of the way spot to sit. Using the front door just when Gabriel was crossing it, a flock of crows comes inside. They're very noisy and fly around the first floor of the house for a moment or two, scarying the little animals that might've been hiding in the dark corners. When the flock finds Ashe, her companion, Gabriel and Boss, it starts flying in a circle tighter and tigher until it becomes Ben. The man, adjusting his tailored suit, grins."Evening, Ashe." He offers to the Court leader with a light bow before turning to look at Gabriel."Hello, again, Gabriel. Long time since our last meeting, no?" He says smiling to the man and offering a black hand to a shake. The only face that Velvet really recognizes in the room is Ashe, and that's from Court. As the small woman arrives, it is completely without flair, but more of a sudden thing. She wasn't there, and now she is. Easing into a chair, her chin tilts in greeting towards Ashe first, then towards the others with a quick glance. "I was afraid I might be late, I am glad to see that is not the case." Haydn's slow to arrive. Always. He is a patient man, in no rush to get anywhere on anyone's schedule but his own. One should expect nothing less of a man of his particular ilk and inclination, those eyestalks, the subtle coat of slime beneath his suit suggesting a particularly sluggish nature. Nostrils flare as he draws nearer to the table, though he does not go in for all the sweets, choosing instead to find himself a cup of tea, preferring wet, dead leaves to brownies, evidently. There's no accounting for taste. Though there's a deep, respectful nod toward Ashe, the Miller otherwise offers no greetings as he finds his seat and settles in, the particular cant of his head implying some--potentially undue--air of superiority. Ashe gives a smile to everyone that arrives, "Good evening." she tells them. "It's good to see those that I know again and welcome to the new faces." she states. Then Haydn arrives and there's a bit of a head dip to the man, "Haydn, it's been a while. We're pleased to have you." she tells him. "Everyone, get something to snack on if you like. I think since it's such a new group we'll do introductions." the Witch King states. "For those that don't know me, I'm Ashe Whelan, Legate of the Black Apple, Magister of Nightmares and Autumn Councilor to the Fate's Harvest Freehold." she offers. Gabe instinctively ducked his head fro the birds when they started to circle round, ears tipping back somewhat. Boss trembles with the restraint of not jumping after them after a piece of side-eye from the hermit. When the crows condense into a distantly familiar fearsome face, he leans up to his feet with a small crooked grin. He takes the hand offered for a firm grip and a dip of his head. "Been a spell," he drawls agreeably. "Look t'be doin' well," he adds before he settles back into his seat. As the room started to fill up more, he gave a little whistle for Boss, calling the mongrel to sit between his boots out of the way. From his seat, Gabe takes in the far less familiar faces one by one. With the matter of introductions lays out, he offers up, "Gabriel Grayson, Magus of the Gilded Thorn ..." with a vaguely uncomfortable shift to his seat. "Gabe's fine," added shortly after. Ben doesn't head for the food, but goes for the drink and, in case he finds tea, that's what he gets to himself before turning and picking a seat to himself."And I'm Benedict Utridge, also a Magus, and Custodian Recruit." He offers to those that he doesn't know. A grim smile is given to everyone, though. Everyone in the room is studied, Velvet's glowing lavender eyes flickering between each new face as they are introduced. Her thoughts are hidden, expression blank and unreadable as she listens to various titles and entitlements. It's Ben that gets her to pause for a moment, eyes lingering on him for a little bit longer than the others. "Pleasure," she rumbles to the group. "Velvet Danvers, Pilgrim of the Endless Road, Harvestman."
There's the click of heels in the hallway as one of those latecomers arrives, in fact, in the form of a siren wearing a fitted leather jacket over a loose, white shirt patterned with a skulltapus, black skinny jeans, and stiletto heeled boots. She offers a sharp grin to those gathered and a salute to Ashe before glancing briefly around and belatedly introducing herself, "Poppy Devereux. Professional Cat Herder." Likely unsurprisingly, her voice has odd, eerie over and undertones; opalescent eyes gleam at that, then she moves over to help herself to tea. "It's nice to finally meet you, Gabe. The name has been floating around. Now I know the face." Ashe states with a smile. Then there's nods to Ben, Velvet and all the others. Though Haydn gets a chuckle, "You're fine. I think some of us have been taking turns." she admits. Then there's a click of heels, "Harken..." she whispers. Then Poppy appears and there's an amused tone to her voice, "Good evening, Poppy." she dips her head to her. "There's cookies and brownies if you want any." she offers. "I only had a few things business wise. One was Freehold positions for Autumn. We're looking for an Ashen Notary and a Ranger of the Thorns." she offers. "If you are interested, please let us know." she looks to them all. And even though her face isn't visible, it's kinda like she is looking at each person. Somewhere in Poppy's wake, there is a candleflame flicker. Fortunately, it's accompanied by the rest of Kelsey's body; their hair hasn't gone wandering off on its own. There's a very small apologetic wave to Ashe before the Fairest immediately tucks their hands behind their back to avoid accidentally volunteering. "Do we already have a Magister of Nightmares?" Velvet wonders curiously, her focus shifting towards Ashe as she quietly studies the other woman. "Or is that not a position within this freehold?" One eg folds over the other, hands settling in her lap. She glances to the side as Poppy enteres, giving the woman a little bob of her chin in greeting. Haydn's smile is a slender thing, but it's present, offered with a gracious dip of his head toward the Legate. Those bulbous tips at the top of his eyestalks don't shift for the reorientation of his head, the tendrils stretching ever so slightly. One of those stalks turns toward the click-clicking and flame flickering before the rest of his attention follows. Poppy's considered, but it's Kelsey who gets the longer look. He draws in a deep breath then moves to sip his tea and resettle his focus on Ashe. "Has there been much call for a Notary?" Ben grins to Poppy as the woman comes in while Kelsey, being an unkown face to the man, receives just a quick glance before he turns to look at Haydn when he talks lifting a hand discreetly."I'm really good with pledges, actually. I'd volunteer for the position of Ashen Notary, if no one is against that." He says with a smile to Haydn. One of Gabe's ears, both of which had been tipping and turning and swiveling, turned towards Ash when he caught his name. He clears his throat before grunting, "Guilty of stickin' t'my own. Good t'meet th'lot of ya though." He glances over the number of unfamiliar faces now named, filing those names away. There's a thoughtful perk to his other ear then, fairly predictably perhaps given the look of him, at the mention of Ranger, though his attention tips towards Ben at the same time, considering the other Magi a moment - but he was speaking on the other. It still takes a few beats longer of mentally chewing on the idea before kicking his mouth into gear to add, "I'd be interested in talkin' wit' someone 'bout th'Ranger role." Ashe's offer of food is met with another cheerful smile, and the siren grabs a brownie to go with her tea before making her way back over to join Kelsey wherever they're holding up the wall. Sipping from her tea, Poppy breaks off a piece of brownie, popping it in her mouth before offering some to the candleflame. That mention of positions has her lips quirking for a moment before she glances towards Haydn at his question. "Haven't heard many people looking for a Notary's equivalent," Kelsey notes aloud in answer to Haydn's question, "but I've only been here for half a year." Their mouth then shapes into a silent 'ooh' as they accept the bit of brownie from Poppy, thanking her for playing food-transit with a nod of their head. "Kelsey." Ashe gives a wave as the candleflame enters. The inflection in the voice states that's she's happy to see the Autumn. Then there's a movement of her head to Haydn and a shake, "We've not had much call for it, no. Just been trying to make sure that we have people in the position in case they are needed. And making sure that they are good people to be in the role." she admits. Then there's a look to Ben as he offers and she nods to him, "We'll see what everyone says." she nods. Gabe's words though make her look to him, "The Ranger of the Thorns role however is a role that we've needed filled since December and I would love to talk on that with you at length, Gabe." she admits. Haydn dips a gracious, if shallow, nod toward Kelsey at his answer. Though he turns his blue-eyed attention back to Ben, he offers no objection to the other man's claim, no profession of his own skill, no evidence of actual interest in the position save for its questionable utility. With Gabe volunteering for the other job on offer, the antlered man gets a moment of longer consideration, but his focus, as ever, anchors back on Ashe as she addresses the inquiries and offers. Gabe settled a hand on Boss' head, to scritch around behind his ears as he dips a quiet nod to Ashe. "I can stick 'round after," offered. He catches hiself rubbing at the back of his neck, that being watched feeling making his skin crawl and his eye wander to catch just the tail end of Haydn's consideration. The woodsman sits up a little taller in his seat and turns his own attention to no where in particular , following the flow of conversation fro there. To Gabriel's statement, Ben nods and grins approvinly. Then he turns to look at Ashe."If it's not a time consuming job, I can do it and keep doing my other things, no problem. When time comes for the Ashen Notary, I'd be here the same way. So my offering still stands, Ashe." He says calmly as he he joins his hands together and lands them over his lap. Velvet doesn't know any of the others well enough to have formed an opinion on which way to vote when it comes to positions. She remains quiet, pupil-less eyes scan over the group. It's clear that she's listening, filing all of the information away for thought later. "I wonder how one tests for a good Notary," Kelsey muses, but it's lower-voiced and not aimed at anyone in particular. "We stamp you, Kelsey." Ashe tells him. Poppy has been drinking her tea, listening quietly to the exchange at hand, but at Kelsey's comment she gives a brief, sharp grin again, eyes glinting as she murmurs,"I imagine a test of that shit would be pretty fucking appropriate. All things considered." The siren smirks, then laughs at Ashe's comment before breaking off another piece of brownie. "One designs a pledge and sees how many loopholes the Notary might find," Haydn answers Kelsey's potentially hypothetical question, though he does not look directly that way. Nevermind the angling of his eyestalks. He breathes a barely perceptible laugh to Ashe's joke. He's a chemistry teacher. He has to appreciate terrible. It's part of his contract. Kelsey widens eyes, flattens their shoulders against the wall, and flings up their hands in front of their face in mock-defense. "Not my perfect skin!" they gasp. That melds promptly into a brief grin at Haydn's actual answer. Ashe gives a cough, "Sorry, I get a bit of cabin fever and I make horrible jokes." she tells them as a pale hand reaches from underneath the robes to pet the bat on the table. "Gabe, I'll talk to you after. And then we'll do a vote for each position and that'll let anyone else in the Court step up that would like to. I think that is fair." she states. "Also, thank you, Haydn." she tells him with a warm tone. With nothing else to say or to add, Ben just relaxes and sips from his tea, but not without raising it discreetly to Gabriel in a greeting along with a smile. Apparently, he approves the other Magus volunteering for the position of Ranger. Haydn isn't quite sure what he's being thanked for. The laugh, perhaps? Or has he inadvertantly volunteered to impose a test upon the potential notary? Whichever the case, he smiles that slim, slimy smile of his and nods ever so shallowly. Perhaps he's treating himself, then, as he reaches for a cookie. With the reminder that there were drinks he'd skipped over before with the raise from Ben, Gabe lifts his chin in a small upnod back and finds his way to his feet briefly to move quietly around the back of the group to retrieve something, passing over the tea that seems more possible to find a bottle of craft brew from some little local brewery to take back to his seat with him. "There was sometin' else, yea? Besides th'open positions?" asked as he cracked it open under palm. Following Gabe's rise from his seat, Velvet does the same, moving after him to wait patiently as he looks over the drinks. She finds a cup of tea for herself and moves back towards her seat. "Since I'm in a room full of Autumns, I figure I should ask... is there anyone here to can decipher language or is particularly good with information retrieval from a living being?" Torture? Torture. "I have need of both of these things for matters relating to the Privateers that have been torturing and slaughtering innocent Lost for fun." Poppy grins at Haydn's suggestion, then casually tosses a small piece of brownie at Kelsey's forehead. At least she isn't yelling 'food fight.' Another sip of tea, and she glances towards Gabe, nodding at that remark before turning her attention back to Ashe inquisitively - at least until Velvet asks that question. "Not non-consentual retrieval," she says wryly. "If nobody else has a knack with languages, I can stare at that shit for a while, but I will freely admit that isn't my expertise." Kelsey lets the brownie bounce off his forehead as deserved, then catches it deftly on its way gravity-ward and pops it into his mouth. This lets him out of saying anything for now. "That would be my area of expertise, Miss Danvers," Haydn offers in that slow, dry manner of his. With a dip of his head toward Poppy, he clarifies, "Consentual or otherwise." He is, after all, a Knight of the Dragonslayer, and they do have a way of getting to the truth of things. One way or another. "If Miss Devereux would care to work together on this matter?" Ashe perks up when Velvet mentions that, "Hay..." but he's already answering. "He's got that." she nods to them. Then there's a bat crawling up the sleeve of her robe. "My only other matter was The Beast That Haunts and starting work back on it again. It seems to have gone into some sort of hibernation, but I know where the next page for the book is and we need a team to retrieve it." she admits. There's another expressive swivel to Gabe's ears turning back flush against his head as he turns eyes from one speaker to the next with the conversation at hand, expression wholly lacking in his actual face. He winds up with a small thoughtful frown considering Hadyn this time rather than the other way until Ashe starts speaking once more and regains his attention. "Can sign me on," offered without hesitation. That much, at least, was in his wheelhouse. Both Poppy and Haydn get a cheers gesture from Denver's cup of tea, her expression cracking for just a moment to reveal a brief smile. It fades right back into nothingness a moment later. "Fantastic. I can give you the details a little bit later on what we're dealing with," she assures the pair before glancing towards Ashe. "Retrieval is exactly what I do," she says by way of offering her help. The siren gives Haydn a sharp smile and a cheerful nod at his words, although she glances first to see if there are any other volunteers before she looks back to Velvet. "Sounds like a plan," Poppy replies brightly, then sips from her tea before glancing to Ashe, tilting her head, expression again inquisitive before she nods once more. "So the obvious fucking question is 'where.'" A wry look. Haydn might miss that frown from Gabe. He might not. Who knows how much the odd little eyestalk angled toward the Magus is capable of catching. It does seem rather intent on sticking in that direction, though, as if something's caught some fraction of the snail's attention, conscious or otherwise. With the talk moving on to those pages, he falls quiet, enjoying his cookie, his tea, while others volunteer and express their curiosity. There might be a hint of amusement for Poppy's bluntness. Ben just nods to Ashe as she moves on on the meeting topics."I'm in too. Just tell me what you need." He says calmly. Gabe looked to both Velvet and Ben as they jump in as well, Velvet considered a little longer as the newer face. Gabe did lift his beer Ben's way though, always glad to have another Magi along, before finally taking a long swig from his beer - which he promptly coughs on and lurches forward. He presses the back of his hand to his mouth with a thick swallow and a throat clearing. He winds up sniffing at the bottle, briefly distracted with trying to figure out just what he was drinking, apparently taken by surprise. "It's out near the deeper hedge, so, if people are willing, we'll go get it and hopefully get this puzzled out and get our Beast put to rest." Ashe tells them. "I'm not wanting to put anyone in any amount of danger. But this is the second to last page we need. The other one hopefully will be closer once the next page is figured out." she sighs. "If it's in the Deep Hedge, nothing better than two Magi to scout the way up to there." Ben offers as he rises his tea cup for Gabriel."We have a better understanding and our own way to resist the Deep Hedge than the others. No offense." He says this time to everyone in the room. "I'll need to find some Hedgespun guns if it's going to be deeper hedge. Or I'll just use my blades. Either way, I'm still in. I prefer danger to the lack their of. Otherwise, what fun is it?" Velvet finishes her tea, settling the glass on a table next to her. "Just tell me when you're ready, and I'll be there," she assures with a nod. "I am no Magi, but I can be invisible, and scouting is in my blood. I can trail the others easily enough." Gabe smacked his lips a bit, scraping his tongue on his teeth as he tucks the bottle in beneath his chair where it won't get knocked over, mumbling something about lavender before looking up again. There's a bit of a light in his eye there, the first thing approaching a smile. He nods to Ben, adding, "Gonna leave th'suit at home this time?" with a dry edge of friendly teasing. Glancing back to Velvet, he looked her over a moment longer, or more, listened more closely, ears turning her way. "If you reckon y'got it in ya, another able body won't hurt."
The little eyestalk of Haydn's that had been keeping tabs on Gabe bobs a little as the bottle of not-what-was-expected gets set aside, the gentleman himself only bothering to steal a peek in that direction when the southerner speaks again. Even then, it's brief. Mostly, he's fallen into silence and tea-sipping, trusting the others to have this particular matter well in hand. "I will take anyone in Autumn who wants to go." Ashe states as she stands from the table. "We'll just be extremely careful. And we'll be well armed." she nods to this. "Does anyone have any other business at this time?" she asks. | |
