Kerrigan's Sacrifice is the hollow of the Harvestmen, though it has clearly seen better days. It seems to be fading a bit, as if the Changelings that were supporting its space carved out in the Hedge have lost interest in doing so. The Harvestmen in general seem to be waning, and to the pink haired TechnoElf that is wandering around in the main area this seems to be a ... well to quote her shouted curse 'What a fucking disgrace!'
She had contacted Velvet after doing a little digging to see who brought in the changeling (Tom?) and had set up a meeting here, just down the Looptrod from the Freehold's main holding. Inside the Harvestmen Hollow, she now paces back and forth, occasionaly stopping as her purple eyes with strange glowing circles and lines win them adjust and change, focusing in and taking mental notes. She waits, but she is clearly also planning.
It wasn't a surprise to recieve the meeting request, honestly. Velvet had actually been hoping that someone would contact her, and after seeing the recent missive that Trytych put up, she was hoping it would be her. The smaller elven woman arrives quietly, dressed for the hedge in a spandex-like pants, tall leather boots, and arm guards wrapped across and down her shoulders. Long white hair is pulled back, and her array of small weapons can be seen in their various holsters.
"Good morning," she rumbles as she gives a little knock on one of the walls. "I wouldn't say it's a disgrace, just needs a little attention." She strides towards Tryptch, hands folded behind her back. "I'm Velvet. I'm glad that you reached out.
Tryp turns, grinning widely. Offers a hand arcing with electricity across chrome plated fingers before she speaks "Heya. Someone had to. I'm Tryptych, but everyone calls me Tryp. Nice to finally meetcha Velvet," she says. Regardless of if her hand is taken or not, she eventually turns her attention back to the hollow. "Nah, this ol girl will be fine with a little attention yeah. No what is disgraceful is the fucking Harvesetmen." She turns slightly, eying Velvet with her strange purple eyes. "Look, I'm gonna level with you. I'm just a Recruit in the Harvestmen." She turns back and shakes her head, cursing under her breath again. "This fucking outfit is a joke. The Captain just retired out of the blue without any warning. I've never met the 2nd in command, and the other LT is MiA. Fuckin stupid, No leadership. And no one was stepping up to take the reigns either, and I've gone and tied my fuckin stupid ass to them."
She takes a moment to visiably calm herself - and it is visible. The electricity actually stops arcing, reduced to glowing pulses down the lines etched in her robotic like skin. "I gave the more veteran member 48 hours to step up or step outta my way. No one said or did anything and this is a threat to the freehold the Harvestmen are -supposed- to deal with. So I stepped up. Looks Like I'll have to keep stepping up for a good amount of steps too at this rate," Her hand gestures outward to the decaying hollow, adding it to the list.
"Anyways. Sorry to dump my problems on you Velvet. Its OK, I may be a recruit but thats cause no one gets put in at Captain. Gotta work your ways up and I only just joined. But I'm no stranger to planning ops and taking care of business. Give me your best report on the situation. Did you deliver the letter I read, and have you directly encountered these Changelings?"
The hand is taken and given a quick shake before Velvet returns her own behind her back. "Well that's not the best news I could hear, considering that part of the reason I came today was because I intended to sign up. And may very well have another recruit in the works." She takes a couple of slow steps around, eying the place. "Well, if things aren't getting done, you step up and do it yourself. Which is what you did. They can't fault you for that.
"For what it's worth, I have already started dealing with this issue. But I would like having others to assist in it. I did deliver the message, as well as Thompson himself. It started with a man named Ryan from the Market. I wanted to trade for a contract. He said that he had already sent someone off with a message but it hadn't been recieved. He wanted me to find the message and deliver it myself. Using my variety of skills, I managed to track down the scent from the market stall that belonged to Thompson, who was supposed to have delivered the message. It brought me to a hob who was just settling down to dinner. That dinner was Thompson's foot. I killed the hob and reclaimed a toe ring he'd taken from it. Followed the scent to its strongest point, which ended up being Thompson himself.
" She pauses for a moment as a flicker of rage suddenly dances behind her eyes. "He was being held captive in a house, bound with an arm and leg missing and his antlers cut off. There were two relatively high Wyrd Lost women there torturing him with a needle and thread and a hot poker." She pauses, making sure Tryp is following so far.
The electricity arcs between those lines inside Tryp's eyes, a spark of rage at the thought of cutting off a beasts antlers. She shakes her head, clearing it. "Fuck it. You're a recruit Velvet. I'll figure out who the hell I have to bully to make it happen, but you're now officially a member of the Harvestmen as long as you are a Freeholder. You are right? Bring to me whomever else you're trying to recruit and I'll make it happen too." She shakes her head, then gestures. "Did you kill them or just obfuscate past them?"
A brow arches, amusement dancing across her features for a moment. "Well that was easy. The other potential recruit is not a freehold member yet, however. She's still fairly fresh and getting her legs under her. But once she's squared with the freehold, I'll have you two talk about Harvestmen. Her name is Melissa. Also yes, I am a newly pledged Freehold member." She glances off towards the wall for a moment, eyes narrowing. "Oh, I put a bullet straight through one of them's heart, the other I ht in the chest, but slit her throat to finish the job. Then I removed an arm and leg from each of them and pinned them to the wall with a bloody message that their sort of behavior won't be tolerated. Then I helped Thompson get up to his feet and took him to Stoneheart, then delivered the message."
Tryp lets out a peal of laughter, grinning widely. "Good. This freehold has some seriously fucking strong Changelings in it." Her eyes glance at Velvet, with an appreciative nod before continuing. "Which means its going to attract strong advesaries. Messages must be brutal and swift to those who would fuck with us to let them know we won't be fuckd with. You'll do just fine Velvet." She considers the Hollow again, then sighs. "Allright. DO you know how many more we are dealing with? And I assume you want to go along with the brute squad on this?
"Agreed," Velvet says with a serious tone at the mention of thngs being done swift and brutal. "You give them an ich and they'll steal a mile. I don't tolerate Lost abusing their own kind like. If I can stop it, I will. And did." Her head shakes. "I don't know how many. I am hoping to catch up with Thompson soon so I can talk to him about what he might have seen and heard while he was there. I was also thinking about scouting the area where they were keeping him, see who comes and goes. I can be invisible when I need to be. Also yes. I will always want to go on missions where we kill scum like that."
Tryp nods again. "Allright. That's your first assignment Recruit. Scout them out. Get me as much information as you can about them. Numbers, position, lay of the land around their camp, weapons and abilities if you're good enough. If you can take a few of them out without alerting the others go ahead and put them on edge. I want them scared and worrying about whats coming next for poaching on our turf. If you got someone you trust to take with you, do it, but if you have to do it alone we unfortunately don't have the luxury of insisting on backup at the moment. Just do it safely, and get out with the info as priority numero uno, got it?"
"There's someone that I trust to take with me, but he's not suited for that kind of mission. So far none of the other Lost I've met here are suited for that sort of thing." She frowns a moment. "Do you know of any others in town who are stealthy? Able to be invisible, silent and leave no trace? If so, I'll bring them with me. If not, I'm fine going alone," Velvet insures. "And trust that I do not pick fights I don't think I can win. SO I won't take chances I don't need to."
Tryp snorts. "Fuck Velvet, I've been in town just about a month. I don't know shit about most of the assholes here." She muses for a moment, then shrugs. "If you're comfortable going at it alone, go for it. If not, or you at least want a pair of eyes with you, I can send along either one of my drones or a Servitor. I'll have direct contact to it for the duration of the mission. Is their location in the Hedge itself or they staying outside town?"
"I'm comfortable going alone. Anything else might risk blowing my cover. Unless the drone can go up so high that it can't be notice but can still record information. In which case, I'd be fine working with that." Velvet considers, mulling everything over in her mind. "I'll see about going back tonight and figuring out what I can. It may take a couple of days, though, and a couple of trips. I'll get with Thompson first and see if he can give me something more solid to go off of." She smirks. "They're staying in one of the Hob towns. Or atleast they were using one for cover.
Tryp nods her head quietly, musing. She runs a finger down one arm with a practiced move, like it is a command for something. "Lets see. I won't send Hecate with you, she'd be useless in a fight and wouldn't want to leave my side anyways. I could send Flyboi 13 with you, but it isn't much. That bit of hedgestring and automation can barely hold itself together. Good for scouting, but I don't know if I trust it in the skies of he Hedge. Can't use a Ghost AI or Spirit Daemon either, they wont manage in the Hedge. " she shakes her head. "And no way an Electric Servitor will be stealthy in anyway. So Yeah, guess you'll be best off going alone for stealth." She frowns. "Not my favorite thought here, I'll tell you for certain Velvet. I don't like sending people alone into dangerous situations without easy to access backup." She sighs, then shakes her head. "But thats the way of it, I guess. Not working with a lot of resources here."
"With or without backup, I was going either way. I already took out two of their numbers, so I'm not planning on letting anything stop me until they're all dead." Velvet offers a shrug and a light chuckle. "Though, I am certainly interested in seeing these drones of yours at some point, they sounds pretty spectacular. Never much been one for that sort of thing, but I can admire the skill it takes to make them." She drops her hands to her sides, taking in a breath. "But, I haven't died yet and I don't plan to now, so I'm sure it'll be fine."
Tryp laughs. "Confident, Cocky, Dead," she says with a playful wink, then a shake of her head. "Keep yourself together, and I believe you'll be fine too." She turns then, surveying the rest of the hollow with a shake of her head. "Gotta try and get this togewther into shape too." Another shake of her head, another moment of disgust in her eyes before she clears it. "Allright. Anything else Velvet?"
"I'm only as cocky as I deserve to me. I am not yet perfect, but I am workng my way towards it," she assures. Pilgrims, what do you want from them? Velvet smirks. "No, I think we covered it," she assures. "I'll leave you to this place, but if you want to leave a list up in here somewhere, I can come by and help clean up in my free time. It was a pleasure meeting you Tryp. I bet it'll be an even greater pleasure working with you."
Tryp gives a sharp nod in response, but its clear her mind is already elsewhere. She's cataloging things to do, chores to assign, and what the fuck she is going to do with a subgroup that has had its head removed by a voluntary retirement.
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