It's evening and the Lost-only area of the local cafe known as Crossroads cafe has just a very few customers. Most of them are have coffee to help fighting the still chill temperature outside. But one of them, an intimidating looking ogre in a suite is sitting lonely in a corner. Around him, candles in many sizes are burning and casting illusory shadows forming a perfect circle around the man. His mantle, it is. And a strong one since other Lost's own mantles are not a match for his. There, on his table, his not alone. Perched on one of his shoulder is a pitch black crow with bloody red eyes. The beast glances around curiously while the ogre keeps his eyes on a book that is lying over the table.
Catherine is walking in to the Lost-only segment of the cafe, as she blinks and looks at the ogre in the middle of the candle circle. "...Am I interrupting a ritual of some kind?" she asks, "If so, I can come back later but be assured I would like the expertise of someone like yourself for some questions." she observes.
The ogre lifts his eyes to meet the woman's. His are wicked yellow and menacing. Like an old hag's."It's just my mantle." He says as he closes the book before its content can be seen."Please. Have a sit. I don't bit." He gestures to the chair opposed to his with his left hand as he leans back against his own and crosses one leg over the other in a classy way."I'm Benedict Utridge, Magus of the Gilded Thorn. And this is Helga." He offers without giving a hand to shake neither bothering to gesture over the bird on his shoulder to indicate that the creature is Helga. The bird, though, does crackle once. Maybe in a greeting.
"How can we assist you, miss?" The ogre finally asks.
Taking the hand and shaking it, Catherine nods. "I'm trying to find out more about the Hedge." she says, "Patrolling it, scouting it, perhaps even rendering some portions of it safe for the Lost to interact with on a regular basis." she observes, "It's a potential tactical resource, and yet an extraordinarily unpredictable one. I suppose the wilds are like that no matter which part of reality you're in though." she says.
Ben arches a brow after the girl's explanation. His eyes doesn't show surprise. They show curiosity. Darkness and curiosity."The Hedge is a weapon if you know how to proper use it." He says and pauses for a moment as he puts his hands together over his lap."Do you know what a Magus do, girl? We're cartographers. We're treasure chasers. We dive into the Deep Hedge and come back with Token of unspeakable power. Or we die trying. But if you want to look at the Hedge. And its denizens. As the enemy, you probably should talk to a Hedge Warden. They patrol the Hedge and kills everything that moves."
"That's not what I'm after." Catherine says, "The Hedge isn't a threat, it's untamed territory. Territory that actively resists being tamed. Some things should be tamed, but I also have enough respect for the wild places of the world to know that taming all things only ends in sorrow. As the meme goes, 'Do you want cyberpunk? 'Cause that's how you get cyberpunk'."
Ben nods sagely and lets the silence to settle down for a little while as he ponders."Tell me what is your strategy in tamming the Hedge. I'm curious. You know the bigger the area, more difficult it is to tame it and, more importantly, to keep it tammed."
"Certain areas ought to be observed." Catherine says, "Although belatedly, I am somewhat wary of the Hedge Wardens now that you mention that. I thought them more explorers, perhaps game wardens for the Hedge more than someone trying to bring blanket civilization thereto." she explains. "I have been giving some thought to an order to join but-... Well, back to the Hedge as the matter at hand. I wanted to make sure that its resources could be safely and reasonably used for the Freehold's benefits, to have established points of observation around the Hedge to be aware of incoming threats. Not just... Ok yeah, control the hedge. Stability, order, etc. That seems... Hubristic."
The ogre grins menacingly when the girls stops talking."Yes. They do sound very hubristic to me. But let me check if I'm following. Do you want to stabilish a Hollow in our most popular Trod, or around it, to keep track of the ongoings. Is that it?" He asks.
"It would seem beneficial." Catherine says, "Have an organized system of alerts and fortifications, lines of defense against incursion."
"Like a castle? With a system to let other Hollows and travellers to know when trouble comes. Like a pire. Or maybe a bell." The Magus asks looking slightly more interested.
"More like smaller fortresses-" Catherine says, then pauses. "Have you ever read the Lord of the Rings? Or seen the movies, the concept of the beacons of Gondor. Or... Like the beacons on the Great Wall of China in Mulan. Some sort of alert system for when threats come close." she explains, "I just feel like we could do better with combatting the Gentry if we had some organization in the Hedge."
"I know The Great Wall of China's beacons' system. But I'm not quiet sure on the effectiveness of the idea when we apply it to our reality. True Fae don't come marching toward us like Sauron. We're not going to see Them until it is too late. But your idea is not totally out of use." He comments as he idly scratches his chin with a black hand."What about making a circle around the Freehold's are of influence within the Hedge with these small fortresses?" He then suggests.
"Good idea." Catherine says, "I'm also looking for help in Hedge education, besides. That's actually what I wanted to talk about. Hell, I'd /join/ the Magi if I weren't so focused on the Summer Court's operations. Some part of me still wishes that they weren't so... Semi-military in mentality, but the competitive mindset is valuable to me too. Keeps me sharp." she explains.
"Keeps us all sharp." Ben murmurs as he adjusts the weight of his body on the chair."I can teach you a trick or two based on what you already know and how much education you're looking for." He offers with no humbleness.
"Survival in the Hedge, knowing its dangers, wondering if we have any classification system like formal biological taxonomy..." Catherine says, "I mean I know taxonomy exists, but hell if I know how it's organized. I really should brush up on my biology and ecology."
"We don't have a proper classification of the Hedge Beasts as we do in the Mundane World, but I'm pretty sure you can find some sort of Bestiary in the Market if you look for it. That can be the closest thing you can go in that matter." He explains and then pauses for a second. Survival in the Hedge is sometime thing you can only learn by practice, girl. How many times have you ventured yourself in the Hedge so far?"
"Twice." Catherine says, "Once when following a couple friends out of Arcadia, another time when I met one of our own number-A Dawn courtier anyway, he helped me figure out some goblin fruit and plants in general."
Ben nods sagely again."In other worlds, you were never on your own. What do you know about surviving in the Mundane World? You can use it as a parallel to surviving in the Hedge in some cases." He asks.
"Don't look most predators in the eye, some basic herbs... Especially what to /avoid/, how to handle animals, trapping, shooting, how to make a fire properly and safely..." Catherine says, "The list goes on. I hunt for a living, after all."
That bit of information echoes on the man's eyes that shine with even more interest."Interesting. We have a professional hunter here, Helga." He comments and the birds turns his eyes to, probably, have a better look at the woman sitting in front of them."It'd be easy to teach you about the Hedge. But now I'm wondering your real interest in taming the local Hedge. Are you looking for hunting grounds?"
"Organization, safety, security." Catherine says, "I hunt, I know consequently how to set up a bushwhack for loyalists. I'm no great sniper, but I do what I can. In the interest of both not drawing attention and leaving the Hedge be where we don't /need/ to tame it, I prefer to hunt troublesome Hedgebeasts that make their move first. Reactionary expeditions, as it were."
"You're starting to sound like a Hedge Warden, girl. Hedge Beasts are not, exactly, a problem. The Hedge has its own ecology. It's balance. Trouble only comes when the system is unbalanced for some reason. Just like in the Mundane World. Killing Hedge Beast before they cause trouble is a way to bring unbalance to the system. I'd not advice you doing that." He explains calmly."Monitoring those creature that would cause trouble, though, is something more achiavable. You can track them down, find their lairs and keep track their movements. It's not a big deal to a professional hunter."
"That's... What I meant." Catherine says, "They make their move first. They attack, prove that they're a problem first." she says, "Only then do we hunt them. Otherwise it's wasteful, and provokes the Hedge's wildlife unnecessarily."
Ben nods approvinly."As a gift to you and a sign that I support your idea, we can give you a tour around the Hedge. Show you the local Market and show you the Hedge Beasts that I judge capable of doing some damage in case they get pissed." He says and gives Catherine a grim smile.
"Oh, nice." Catherine says, "And sure. I can stay quiet. I'm assuming I /don't/ want to bring my rifle for this trip, since we're not going to be actually gunning for anything." she notes.
"Don't assume that. Ever. Unless you have ways to defend yourself without a weapon. The Hedge is psychoactive. It'll bring to us whatever we're afraid of finding in our way. Or make our way to cross whatever it is we don't want to find." He says and his smiles goes wider."First lesson. The Hedge will try to kill us since the very second we cross a Gate." And, as to reinforce that idea, Helga crackles once as she stares at Catherine.
"I'm not interested in being bird food, so good to know." Catherine says, "I have /some/ ways to defend myself, but none so effective as my rifle." she says. "Maybe I should fix that."
"Is it a mundane rifle? It won't work properly far away from a Gate if it is." Ben warns as his smiles fades.
"...Well I never had to fire it, so there goes that plan." Catherine says, "Maybe I really should be taking martial arts lessons..."
"Never had to fire it in the Hedge, I mean." she adds.
Ben sighs heavily."You're a young and wild fire, aren't you? Too much energy and too little knowledge. Take care with that, it can lead you to a premature death." He murmurs looking slightly frustrated. Or maybe just a bit tired."I'm a decent fighter. Maybe I can teach you some too."
"That'd... Be helpful yes." Catherine says, "I have claws, but uh. That doesn't help if I'm not able to claw or punch properly."
"Do you have a proper place to train? Do you have, at least, a home, girl?" The Magus asks as he narrows his yellow eyes to the girl inquisitivelly.
"Yeah." Catherine says, "I have a cabin out in the woods, a place to sleep. No electricity, but I heat it with a wood stove and some furs too."
"In the wild fire area?" He asks. This time, though, his eyes are not menacing for the first time. There are looking a little bit worried."Are you alright?"
"Wild-" Catherine says, then pauses. "There's... Oh no, oh no, oh no..." she says, apparently unaware that there was a fire, "I need to get back." she says.
"Hey, no. You can't go into the wild fire, It's too dangerous, girl. Even to us." The ogre says as he straightens up on his chair and looks more worried.
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