Log:Papers Please

Papers Please
So if she freaks out at the sight of you, don't take it the wrong way. I don't really know what all Velvet explained.
Participants Dani Utridge, Weaver Utridge, Bronwyn Gallagher	28 June, 2018 Weaver catches up with Bronwyn, introduces his aunt, and drops off some papers for investigation. Part of The Church in the Wild.
Location Bronwyn's Cabin
After all the current chaos Weaver has been trying to gather up as much as he can and as much help as he can. There's also checking to see who is okay and alive. Dani got the short version on the drive out. Weaver got stabbed. Weaver and Velvet's wedding reception was ruined by way of several attackers and attempted thievery. Now they're going to check up on one of the people privy to this. A recently ensorcelled mortal and the best friend of Velvet. As they near the front of the cabin Weaver explains a little bit more while he gathers a stack of papers from the dashboard. "She's an anthropologist, and really curious. She was ensorcelled when all the bullshit went down. So if she freaks out at the sight of you, don't take it the wrong way. I don't really know what all Velvet explained." "Kinda thought I look reasonably adorable. Or stately, let's go with stately," Dani muses, straightening up a bit and puffing out her chest importantly. "I do kind of miss the machete, though, are you sure we didn't need at least a sword... maybe a small knife? Well, I brought a knife anyway," At some point she seems to realize there's some babbling going on and she shakes her head. In truth, she's clad in sharp professional fashion... or at least as sharp a fashion as a reliance on short pants and skirts allows for, having opted for the latter this time around, the original pattern on her garments already having rearranged themselves into a myriad of thorn imagery on the drive over... as they do. She doesn't even seem to notice anymore. The porch light over the cabin door is on - no matter what time of day it is, that light is always on. The curtains are drawn and what looks to be a bear trap is set in front of the front door. There is no attempt to hide it but it is there as a hopeful deterrent to the unwanted. Music can be heard inside - the calming classical music of Brahms. With the arrival of the car, the front door cracks open just a little and someone is peering out at the new arrivals. "Knives are fine. Velvet keeps like five or so on her at all times anyway. It's kinda scary, but it's part of her charm." Weaver chuckles as they get out of the car, and he adds. "No swords. That's more a thing of freaking out anybody, and I think she might still be scared. Not completely sure." Then there's the hedgebeast in the backseat. "Fido, I want you to watch the door. You see or smell anything weird you call for us asap. Understand." The overlarge hedge beast barks in agreement, and hops out of the car when Weaver makes a bit of room for him. When at the door Weaver knocks a few times over. "Bronwyn!" he shouts. "It's me! Weaver!" "A little creepy, yeah..." comes Dani's response to the bit about knives and Velvet. As the climbs out of the car, she quips, "You named him Fido?" but there doesn't seem to be much expectation of an answer as she follows up, letting Weaver lead, sure, though this sort of reinforces the fact that she's really not so scary, in the grand scheme of things. The blue eye peering through the gap in door looks Weaver over before falling on Dani. "How many of them are there?" can be heard under the breath of the watcher before the door is closed again. Then comes the sound of chains being unhooked...three at least...and the door slowly opens. Bronwyn is peering around the open door, still not quite believing what she is seeing. "Come in" she gestures, now looking past them in case there are more 'monsters' coming. "Watch out for the trap" she adds, nodding to the bear trap. She is wearing a silk kimono...and leg warmers. There are a number of empty whiskey bottles on the coffee table in the lounge though no evidence of any plates or food. "He picked Fido, and that's just what we're gonna go with. If he wants something else, then it'll happen. I preferred Cerberus, but-" That has the dog growling back to the then until Weaver turns back. "Alright, alright. Like I said. Fido is-" Then he hears Bronwyn's query. "I don't know. I mean, I know about fifteen or so of us in the city, but that's not important." His gaze drops to the beartrap, and then back up to the woman. "I was told that you had shit prepped for anybody coming in, but isn't this a bit crazy?" "Fee-doe," Dani adds in an idle twisting of the typical pronunciation, sort of spicing it up even as she let's the topic go with a smile. She raises a hand in a wave to the woman with the invitation, one large ear flicking up, perking just a moment before flopping back down under its own weight. "Hiya! Quite the party," comes the cheerful chatter as she sidesteps the indicated trap, adding quietly to Weaver, "I actually should probably pick up some of those..." Bronwyn stares at Weaver's last question, her mouth dropping open in shock for a moment. "Umm...yeah...it is a bit crazy. Because /EVERYTHING/ is crazy." She eyes off the dog for a moment before closing the door behind her guests. "So...umm...would you like a coffee or something? Do you drink coffee? I'm not sure about your kind...but you're human, right? Just changed by these Gentry things." She is starting to babble as she pushes past Weaver and picks up a rather large and old looking book, bringing back to the pair to show off the pages within. "I got this book sent to me from New York." She looks guilty for a moment. "I hope the delivery guy's foot gets better. Anyway...it's all about the Changeling myth..." She has to laugh at that word. "...in Europe. And I was reading it and things started to make more sense. I mean, the whole folk tales around here. How they are more European even before there were Europeans here. And there is so much that I'll be able to add to this knowledge." Her words speeding up even more before stopping and looking at Dani. "Hi...you are?" "It's a bit more complicated than just the stuff outta Europe. I've met people like us in Europe and South America. Native and otherwise, too. It's really all just-" Weaver stops before he can get started. Academic debate isn't the dragon's foray. "It's complicated, and I'm likely making things worse." Then he moves to the side, and points a hand at Dani. "Bronwyn, this is or was my aunt, Dani. Dani, this is my friend and my wife's best, Bronwyn." To the offer of coffee Weaver notes, "I do drink coffee, but I like my stuff while it's still burning hot." "Oh, I'm just peachy! Have any milk from a virgin mare?" But Dani can't hold the joke for long enough to really sell it, breaking quickly out in laughter. "Coffee will do, however, if it's a less than insane temperature," she nods with the introduction, "and it's a pleasure." At a brief lull in the budding conversation, Dani adds, "That's a lot of effort into it. More than I think I put into figuring everything out after I got back... probably a minor failing on my part, as I consider it. Learn anything interesting?" "Nice to meet you, Dani. Nice look too." Is that what you're supposed to say to these people? "I know it's not just Europe, Weaver. These traditions are everywhere though, like I said at the reception, it is usually children. Or that was the idea." She heads for the kitchen to boil some water. "When I got home that night I...well...I didn't take it all very well. I thought I was going mad. Went mad. Madder." A twirl of her finger around her hear. "But after I thought about it and calmed down a bit I realised what an opportunity this was. I could study an entirely new human society. See the effect of the supernatural on societal conditioning. Not to mention the whole hidden sub-group kind of thing." She turns to look at Weaver, brow furrowed. "How many did you say?" A purse of her lips. "And how many did I sleep with" she adds in a softer tone. "This is why Eden disappeared, right? And what did Velvet do to me? The seeing things bit. For a while I was convinced it was that stuff the wedding conductor was drinking. When did this happen to you two?" Bronwyn nods to Dani's question. "It's all interesting, but I want to learn a lot more. From you. From Widget. And anyone else that I see. I worry how many that will be but I think I can handle less than twenty." Weaver corrects, "There's probably more than twenty. Just all I know is less. When I went to check out a meeting last month there were about..." His voice trails off as he moves to take a seat. "I wanna say abpit thirty or so. So maybe more than that too." He's helping! In his own vapid way. "I don't know an Eden, and what Velvet did was open your eyes. It isn't permanent unless you want something like that to be so. It'll last for about a season, give or take. And if you mean Zuzanna it was probably some hedgefruit. She brews the stuff and mixes it with alcohol." "It may have been better to remain innocent, but alas, the scales have fallen from your eyes, or some other such poetic phrasing," Dani nods, "Many live entirely happy lives in ignorant bliss, but..." The faun shrugs helplessly, the gesture conveying how little there is for it all. A pause, then, "It's really about what you want to do, and where your desires lead you," and almost on cue as she goes briefly all Spring on everyone, there's a faint scent of flowers on the air that mingles oddly with coffee. "I don't mind questions, at least." "Thirty...or so." Bronwyn lets this sink in as the water starts to boil. "And there are meetings? Of course there are. You need to build a society to function. Everyone does. I am so getting a Nobel prize." She pours the boiling water into a cup for Weaver (instant coffee alas) before asking Dani. "White and two lumps? Like your women?" she giggles before waving off her own attempt at humor. "Sorry, that was pretty bad. You don't mind questions? Oh, we're going to get on great." A frown calms her down for a moment. "I am going to see everything for three months and I can't do a damn thing about it? Most veils you get to put back over your eyes when you want to. I mean, no offence, but some of you are scary." She sniffs at the air. "Is that one of you two? Magic is real. Unbelievable. And that magic fruit stuff...I need to send some of that to a guy I know to study it. Oh...wait...this is all supposed to be a secret, right? But why? Why not let the world know?" "No." Weaver's denial is terse, his visage growing more severe than the usual cocksure and jovial demeanor. "No nobel prizes or whatever that is. This stuff stays between our kind and normal folks that might be brought in. That thing you agreed to and that you heard is called a pledge. It isn't just some fancy stuff we say, and the Wyrd isn't just about something being weird. It's an actual force that governsr a lot of shit, from our power to the proof in our words, and it means a lot. A lot a lot. The bad thing she said would happen to you if you broke that promise of secrecy means shit won't go well for you. At fucking all. As for why the world doesn't know, I can only think of a few reasons. People getting out of hand with demands and what we can do. Us potentially being used for whatever people want. Then there's the fables and shit, especially for people like me." Says the dragon. "I really don't like the thought of a bunch of crazy fucks coming at me with pitchforks, torches, or AK 47s." Dani shrugs, "I'm not sure you're thinking that through very far. You're considering exposing something that would be utterly unprovable to your peers. Even if it wouldn't mean a great deal of trouble for yourself and others, you'd be that crazy scholar claiming that ordinary fruit has magical healing properties, or that woman over there looks like a goat." She takes up that offered coffee, taking it however it might have been offered, with a smile, "And that's about the least worst thing that could come of it, I think. But I'm not opposed to answering questions to satisfy your itches. For one, there is magic, of a sort... I'm not sure it really likes being defined by laws, or even descriptions, sometimes, however, even if it has them." Bronwyn tenses as Weaver gets all fire and brimstone - it's hard to handle the sight of an angry dragon when you were positive they didn't exist just a week ago. "Okay. Okay. I'll keep it to myself" she sighs because she knows that will kill her...just as much as all the horrible punishments the pair or warning her about. She is a scientist and her job...her desire...is to learn, explain and educate. Education will stop those mobs with pitchforks...eventually. At least it sounds like she can still learn. "Any technology could be considered magic to those who don't understand it yet. I'm not a physicist or chemist so I probably won't be able to but, one day, someone will. Probably one of your kind." A wince. "Sorry, I shouldn't say that. You're humans...but modified. Actually, there is a first question. Do you consider yourselves human?" "I can say from my time before I even got changed that time and education won't fix a lot of ignorance." Weaver shrugs, and removes his jacket to let his wings stretch a little. "I also don't really think you can say this is technology." First he thumbs back to his wings, and then he's gone. The only thing that initially gives away his presence still being there is the heat that comes from his coffee and his voice. "If you can find me the machine that lets me do this please let me know. Glamour alone gets annoying some days." The faun glances at Weaver's little show and nods, nursing at her coffee before turning to the question of humanity instead, "Well... that's one of the bigger questions out there," Dani muses with a shake of her head. "You're kinda bumping up against one of the more troublesome elements for many of us, but the simple answer is yes. Go with yes. Those of us who don't consider themselves human anymore are often the sort you'd want to avoid, regardless." A brief warm smile, then her nose twitches, "Oh, the smell? The flowers are me. It's a bit of a curse sometimes, but you get used to it. At the worst of times it can go... very fairytale Princess, with flowers popping up around me and the like," the faun shrugs, "nothing unusual." "Well...maybe a little unusual" Bronwyn points out to Dani about the flowers and, speaking of, Weaver has gone invisible. "Wow" grins the blonde before shaking her head. "No, not a machine. An evolution if you will. I have no doubt it is all natural...supernatural...the kind of thing we would consider genetics now. You just went invisible. That means that you can bend light around yourself. Your very cells are so advanced that you can do what appears to be magic. Dani can make flowers grow...so maybe she emits some kind of nutrient. I mean, sure, all that sounds stupid but so would electricity to a caveman. Everything can be explained. I have to believe that." A wave of her hand. "But it's also not my field. I am interested in how societies work and that I can definitely understand if you're all willing to talk to me." There is eager excitement in her voice and eyes. Weaver's back in his seat again, sipping away at coffee that steams around his fanged maw. "Maybe. I skipped most of science in high school, and dropped outta uni." He shrugs idly. "The flowers is a bit more weirder to explain. Same for the shadows all around me. That's something for another day, though. I came over to check on you, but Velvet also needed a favor. A big one from what she said, but I don't know what it all means." With that it he takes the papers he had in his hands, and holds them out for Bronwyn to take. "That way lies madness. I would be careful trying to explain everything, but if it makes you happy..." Dani smiles as she settles to let the thought linger. "What is it that you do with yourself, Bronwyn?" Though she pauses as the papers get shuffled about and handed over, large ears again briefly perking up in an overstated, floppy motion. "I'm an anthropologist" Bronwyn explains to Dani as she takes the papers, her expression curious before she remembers to elaborate a bit more. "I study how people work. How communities work. I cam here because this one was a bit odder than most. An outlier for the area. Guess I know why now." She starts to look at the papers. "If there's anything I can do for Velvet then of course I will. Though after seeing her at the reception, not sure what I can do that she can't" she snorts in amusement. Weaver nods. "Madness is something I can completely understand, but it may be best not to go down that rabbit hole in one night." As he's got most of his own emotions in check once more his usual shadowplay is subdued, and could easily be mistaken for tricks of the mind and nothing more. "She can kill. She can fight. It's part of what she was shaped and turned into. We're all changed in ways that make us more of what we are or something else completely." A shrug follows as he takes anotehr sig of his coffee. "Point is, neither of us is as smart as you. Don't need to be either. We are what we are, and the same's true for you." The papers in Bronwyn's hand number a dozen. The language isn't anything normal. Much less human in nature from the looks of it. It's full of circles and triangles with the primary differences in characters coming from lines that go through vertically, horizontally, or diagonally one or two at a time. Each piece of paper bears a symbol on the top. That symbol is a half circle that's empty as a thick, blocky line goes through it. The other half is that of wide, blocky rays that give it the appearance of the sun. Beyond all of that are three maps. One that looks like a set of roads. Another is a map of Fort Brunsett. The last is a map with odd, circling features that looks more like a blueprint than a specific location. "You know, I don't think you've caught me up on just what the big worry is at the moment, Weaver. There's the stabbing mentioned, and shame I wasn't about to help with that, but short of waiting around for more stabbing, and that gardening thing I was talking about the other day... is there something that might need be done?" Dani loses interest in her glance at the pages quickly enough and settles back, letting Bronwyn browse as the watches Weaver. Bronwyn rushes from the room but soon returns with her glasses on - huge nerdy ones - and looks over the papers. Sucking slowly on her lower lip as her mind gets to work. "I'm not that smart..." she manages to mumble before her focus is on the symbols and maps. "Where did you get them from?" she asks as she moves to sit at the kitchen table, bumping into a chair with her shin on the way. "Owww" is hissed at the world before she settles. "Anything in your society that they could refer to? Sun important? Half moons? I assume that this has something to do with your society. Which means it probably won't be coded English but we can try everything." Weaver laughs, gaze following Bronwyn behind the rim of his cup. He holds it in his hands despite the blistering heat coming from it, and shrugs. "No, Bronwyn. You are that smart. You don't have to bullshit either of us, and humble don't mean a damn thing to the Moon. But the symbols, fuck if I really know. Shit's above my paygrade and over my head. The most I can tell you is that it belongs to some Changelings that kidnapped a dude. Probably heard about him from Enid. Thompson or some shit like that. Took his arm and both his legs." To Dani he notes, "It's complicated. Really complicated. Most I can wager Velvet may have pissed off some pople when she went and saved some kids at a hospital that were being snatched up for The Dread Prince. That's how we ended up with a Fetch at the house. He stabbed me half to death, and then a bunch of assholes tried to kill Bron, Vee, and Widget. That stuff I gave to Bron is from that guy and other Changelings getting kidnapped. You'll have to ask Velvet more on that part, if I have to be honest with you." "To a point, it probably doesn't matter how much I know. We all tend to keep out own little spheres of influence I suppose, and that might be a bit outside of mine..." Dani certainly looks concerned, if probably less concerned than a discussion of people being maimed truly warrants. "Seems a mess, though." Bronwyn has already zoned out and missed most of what the others say. Put a puzzle in front of her and she will do her damnedest to figure it out. All twelve pieces of paper arranged on the table now as she kneels up on the chair and peers over them. To begin with, she wants to make sure they are in the proper order. Suddenly, she remembers other people are in the room. "Can Velvet come and see me with what she knows?" she asks before adding, "This will take longer than five minutes, Weaver. Sorry. If you leave, watch out for the trap." Her concentration is back on the papers for a moment. "Oh, nice to meet you, Dani." Then back to her study. "More than five minutes? Well. Shit." Weaver stands, and finishes off the rest of his coffee in a few large gulps, and pulls it away with a sigh that spreads smoke all around him. Its set to the side, and he bows his head in thanks. "Thanks, BronBron. I'll send Velvet over asap, and with whatever it is you want." With that he motions to the door. "We can leave her to it for a bit, Dani. I got something else I wanna show you."