Log:Blood Makes The Grass Grow

Blood Makes The Grass Grow
Participants Byron, Cassian, Dielle	21 October, 2017 A Greenie and two Harvestmen set up a Hedge Hunt.
Location Stoneheart - The Broken Hearth
The message went out: the Greenies needed stuff from the Hedge and wanted to get some Harvestmen to go with them. So, Cassian, Byron and Dielle all agreed to meet and set this up so there could be a group of folks going into the Hedge, getting what they need, and getting the hell out. Dielle's arrived with a backpack. It's got some snacks and a half-gallon jug of sweet tea, because she doesn't travel anywhere without snacks, thanks. She sets them out, and sets up the sweet tea and some cups. (She's also armed to the teeth, but that kinda goes without saying.) There's no armor, however, just clothes appropriate to the weather. Which includes an Art Nouveau t-shirt, brown, with Deadpool laying on a unicorn's back. Deadpool is crowned with flowers. It's sort of surreal. Dielle, however, has returned to her brown felt cowboy hat. It's much-loved. Byron took enough time to get together his usual 'casual stroll in the Hedge, I’m not expecting things to go tits up' outfit: sweats, boots, his axes, and a small backpack that fits between those big wings of his. Lumbering his way into the Hearth, he ducks his head a little and glances around, eyeing Dielle's shirt with a faint smirk and a nod of his head, "Imma start calling you Lieutenant Horny at this rate if you wear his stuff. He'd approve. Thanks for sending the word out." Cassian had dropped notes here and there about wanting the Harvestmen to do something, and he had been roped in to doing something himself. He would almost be proud of that, if it involved other people and not himself. When Cassian does arrive, he's shaking his head towards a smallish Hob walking beside him. "No, no, twelve. You didn't even get me the Topps Cal Ripken--I'm not gonna pay that," He says. The Hob seems to grumble about something before snatching green paper out of Cassian's hand ... is that monopoly money? Cassian snickers. "Until next time," he says, and the Hob moves onward, leaving Cassian alone to join Byron and Dielle. Dielle grins at Byron. "Yeah, like you'd be wrong. Except for the total lack of horn," she replies to Byron, heartily. "Hey, Cassian! How they hangin'? You know Byron, right?" She gestures to Byron, and says, "He's our Fearless Leader, to keep him busy for the moment." She pours herself some of the tea and says, "Y'all hungry or thirsty? I'm buyin'." Byron chuckles softly and finds an unbroken chair to park his oversized stone butt, lifting a hand to wave at Cassian, though he shoots an amused look at the Hob, he doesn’t interrupt. Instead he waits until Dielle introduces before he offers, "Hey there. She was saying we got some crafters needing some stuff?" Then as an aside to Dielle, he considers her tea and nods, "Sure, if you're sharing, I'll try some? Thanks." The other bits of monopoly money are folded away and slipped into one of Cassian's jacket pockets. "I do know of Byron, though, we've only been made acquainted of each other, and somewhat recently. I would venture to say that I know the Queen somewhat better, if she didn't know me well enough to keep my company only sporadically," Cassian explains. He approaches the pair and offers a thoughtful glance at the spread about them. At Byron's words, Cassian offers a nod. "I've been appointed the Head Gardener here at Stoneheart and with it comes the ability to ... direct some of our endeavors. I had wanted to reach out to the Harvestmen to see if we couldn't acquire something that will become more necessary for some of our ventures," Cas offers as he slips into a seat. "I'm fairly sure that we're both game," replies Dielle. She pours Byron a cup of the sweet tea, then another for Cassian. "What'cha lookin' to get? Because I know that we're lookin' to find some folks to make us some things like armor and...well, whatever, but that means materials." She, herself, has no armor. It's like walking around naked, for crying out loud. At least, in the Hedge. Byron listens to Cassian's explanation, then glances at Dielle and nods along in agreement with her, "To be honest, we were hoping to strike up a good relationship with some of the Freehold spinners since we're probably going to be asking them about making some new gear for our less-equipped folks, like she said, and I know venturing out into the Hedge to acquire items they will need is going to be part of it, so this would be a good first run for the new teams. Lay it on us?" "The good news, so to speak, is that what I need is very boring and mundane," Cassian says, offering a nod once. "I don't know how well-versed either of you are at gardening or maintenance of gardens, or even the Hedge itself, but what we need to make sure the garden is manicured appropriately and cared for is, simply, blood," Cassian explains. It wasn't overly complicated like some of their acquisitions could be. "It isn't the third son of a gleding that dies in childbirth's second dominant hoof or anything so ... demanding as the wyrd often requires. Us plants are easier," he says. Dielle tilts her head. "Just blood? Well, shiiiiit, we can do that! Things bleed all the damn time!" She looks all kinds of perky at the prospect of getting to go get some blood. She looks over at Byron, then back at Cassian. "Any particular kind of blood?" Byron laughs softly, "Not picky on the source is very good." He stops to flash a grin at Dielle's enthusiasm and nods, "How much do you need? And...any specifics at all? Needs to be from a recent kill? Hedgebeast blood only? Anything like that at all? I'm a Hedge Warden, so if we DO need to be specific, we've got a pretty good chance of hunting it down." "We have a big garden, so, that's the easiest way to manage it," Cassian offers, while shaking his head and clarifying, "No, no specific kind." He considers his words carefully for a moment before he leans forward. "As well, we could use the gardens as a way to rid you of any unnecessary carcasses and bodies you have extra. I'm not sure of how to delicately say that abusing this will go poorly for anyone who does it without my knowledge, but, I don't see this Freehold being overly murderous," he adds. Then, added, "I spend nearly all of my time in the Hedge. Moonglade is my home and I tend to it well. But, we're looking to increase the production of Fruits for the Freehold and that means increased demand. I'm sworn to give of myself willingly where I can, and so, managing the demand myself is unsustainable. With the Greenies and the Harvestmen working in tandem we can keep our interests managed. So long as we don't get too risky." Dielle says, candidly, "There's always room in a garden for decomposing Loyalist." She's a lot less delicate about things than, well, anybody. "Although, I can think of a few candidates I wouldn't have minded...well, that's neither here nor there. I remember Nana sayin' that some hedgeplants did best with freshly composted corpses. Or was that freshly corpsed compost?" Byron snerks at the decomposing loyalist comment, and just smiles a little more. Slowly he nods at Cassian, "We havent had to dispose of any bodies yet, but now that we know there's a demand, that might be changing. Im trying to get an outing scheduled up for all the new recruits and Inkblot and Dielle, so Im sure we're going to come back bloody from that. We'll just make sure we bring some extra tupperware that seals tight, so we have plenty for you. Sound good?" "As for the Makers, I know a few, I think we even have a few tending our gardens. I believe Grandmaster Isolde herself has the talent. I'm sure there are others--Possibly amongst the Satellites," Cassian says thoughtfully. "I'm less useful in that regard--Though I know a bit about the nature of those things, I don't have the Academics. I'm a different sort of horse, o' course," he says quietly, "Better suited to helping with the bloodshed." Dielle snickers. "Yeah? What sort of horse are you? You don't look piebald. Or Appaloosa. Standard Thoroughbred, maybe?" Trust My Little Pony to be asking that. "I met this guy, Red Walker, a few weeks ago, who knows a hedgespinner, and was offering that person's services. I need to get in touch with him again, find out the name of the person in question." Byron nods slowly, "Ive had a couple of people reach out to me after I posted the note out in the public area here, so Im hoping that with 4 or 5 good contacts, any time we need something, at least ONE of them will happen to be free and willing. So if you hear of anyone, chat them up and see what they're willing and comfortable to do, and I'm happy to hunt down materials they need for their own projects, as well as what we need, as trade for doing the work we need." He smiles a little at that and nods at Dielle, "Let me know. I want to compile a list and make sure you and Inkblot know everyone I know. Cassian smirks at Dielle, Elven ears twitching a bit with delight. "The kind you call when you want something, but you don't want to fight for it." Cassian didn't make his life as a Thief incredibly hidden, as some of his ventures decidedly were, but he was careful. "In any case, if you need an extra bow, or someone who knows the Hedge almost as well as the Wardens, I'm able to help. Rozalia, as well, can certainly help on the Occultly side of things. Not to mention the way the market works, with rare ingredients coming and going. I can keep my eyes out if we get some lists together," he offers. Dielle pauses a moment, then says, very quietly, "If you ever see a unicorn horn, let me know." Then she takes a breath, nods at Byron and says, "Sounds good, Bossman." To the pair, she says, "We should post this in both the gardens and our hollow, ask for signups. When do we want to do this?" Byron nods slowly at Cassian, "Excellent. I think you and Inkblot will get along wonderfully...his squad has all the sneaky fuckers in it, so you will find a lot of like-minded folks there. You might even have some good suggestions for gear his new recruits should be considering. Because gods know /I/ am no good sneaking around." Says the huge stone gargoyle, "Alright. We'll start working on some lists and shop it around with you and anyone we have on a crafters list, and we'll see who can do what and what they'll need. It'll be like going to Kroger. Where the aisles fight back and the store staff want to kill you and the shopping carts might try to trap you and cart you off to a Keeper." He pauses and smiles, "Once we have some feedback from the spinners, we can go ahead and schedule something right away, but since we already know Cassian needs some blood, let’s see if we can get a handful of folks together this week...we can find SOMETHING to beat on in the Hedge." "You know your folk best. If just having a target to go after is enough, so be it. I'd be happy to fund a Tournament to see who can manage the biggest beast, so to speak. All in good fun and keeping with espirit de corps," Cassian offers. "I'm not nearly as good with healing as my fellows, but worst case, I can coordinate something to help," is added, afterwards. Byron nods slowly and even offers a thumbs up to the Tournament idea, "Let’s try this foray first...we'll do something small that will take some work to take down, but nothing that's going to be much danger of taking someone with it. Want to whet their appetites and get them interested in working together WELL as a team. Once we have them better hooked on that, then we can go with that. Excellent idea." Another pause as he considers, "And yeah...maybe I guess we best go chat up Spring a little and find ourselves a sorta dedicated healer type. We'll certainly end up needing them." "There's a Mermaid I like, Etsy, that's one of the better ones. Grandmaster Isolde herself is the absolute best, hands down--That's why she's the one leading us. There are some others, as well, that can help. That's the bulk of what we do, ancillary functions like healing. I'm the one that's really the Outlier," he says. Byron mms and nods slowly, "I know Etsy...saw her at some of the Court sessions. I'll make sure to POLITELY pester her with any list we start compiling. Just because we're the freehold protectors doesnt mean people HAVE to help us, so I'd rather just deal with the ones that want to be working with us. Some people get touchy." He smiles a little at that, then glances between both of the others, "I think we have everything we need for right now. Anything else we need to cover?" Dielle says, thoughtfully, "Yeah, I know Etsy. She'll be good on the trip. She's also good for escape, she's got this trick she does with mirrors." She taps her chin, as she thinks, but nods at Byron. "I think holding off on makin' it a competition would be a good thing. Got some recruits, but some of 'em are good at bein' part of a team and some of 'em don't know their ass from a hole in the ground." She looks at Byron and grins. "Etsy'll wanna come along. She's VERY enthusiastic." "Enthusiastic is certainly one way to say it," Cassian offers, chuckling a bit to himself. "Between Mrbl and Iris I'm running out of shiny things to give to people," Cassian says offhandedly, before nodding in acceptance of their wisdom regarding how to manage their team. "I'll be sure to post something calling to the others for aid and information regarding the endeavors we've discussed. I don't particularly have any other business, unless there's something you need of the Greenies, the Market, or any of my oh-so-illicit services," he says. Byron nods at Dielle and gives her a thumbs up, "Enthusiasm is good. Awesome." He grins at Cassian and adds, "Nothing for the illicit services YET, but we'll certainly keep you in mind, naturally." With that said, he chuckles and slowly rolls his shoulders, rising up to his feet with a grunt, "Alright then kids. I'm going to go hunt down the Queen and cart her off for the night, before she ends up spending half the night up working away on something that can really wait. Give me a call or a text if something comes up, but otherwise...Dielle, I'll ping you here tomorrow and we'll start on a list?" "Sounds good to me, bossman. Cassian, it was a pleasure. Anything we do, we'll keep you consulted, ok?" Dielle looks pleased, and says, "Shall we walk back to reality together?" Cassian offers a quick nod, releasing the others of their business. "I'm afraid my business is only going to lead me deeper into the Hedge this evening. Though there's a few gates along the way, you're certainly welcome to be a Guest at my home, Moonglade," Cassian offers towards Dielle. "I believe about now, the Hobs are going to be finishing their shift in the mines. There might be some drinking, but, they always leave the 'Glade to get into trouble. We have ... an arrangement." He explains.