Log:The Church in the Wild: Arcadia's Angels

The Church in the Wild: Arcadia's Angels
Get us to a good place.
Participants Catherine, Tryptych, Velvet, and Saulot as ST	24 May, 2018 "Once upon a time, there were three little girls who went to the Hedge. And they were each assigned very hazardous duties but I took them all away from all that and now they work for me. My name is Arcadia." Part of The Church in the Wild.
Location Kerrigan's Sacrifice, Evercaverns
Kerrigan's Sacrifice is the hollow for the Harvestmen, and if the Harvestmen are going out then its a good place to muster. Tryp is here, sword and pistol at her side (M-hmm, M-hmm). And Hecate, her purple panther is the size of her (if not a little bigger) looking intimidating and fierce. She has a silvery bullet of a backpack oni her back, a pair of chrome goggles around her neck, and looks ready to roll. "So, Velvet," she is saying as she paces back and forth. "Can you give me much of a layout of the path there, how long it will take, any known dangers we have to worry about and what landmarks we should be looking for?" Catherine is walkign into the Harvestmen's hollow, rifle under her arm and lowered as she looks about. She's definitely trying to get her bearings here, but the word on the street is that they're going to be scouting an area where another Lost is held. Nodding at the two present, Catherine says, "You want an extra gun on this outing?" to them. "You know about as much as I do. I followed an old scent marker to a spot, but it wasn't smart for me to go any further alone. I figured I'd follow the rest of the trail when I had backup. Have you met Catherine yet, by the way?" She asks as the woman strides in. "She can shoots and she's fairly stealthy. I figured she'd work well with us." Velvet looks like she's ready for anything with blades holstered around her thighs and a pair of pistols at her hips. That long white hair is pulled back into a high ponytails, swishing behind her as she moves. Tryp gives a nod to Catherine. "Tryp. Harvestmen," she says then resumes her pacing, stopping a few steps later "Oh. I'm a Private now Velvet. So We're on the up and up." She laughs, shaking her head at the lack of leadership. "Ill be a L.T. within two months, mark my word." She says the letters. "Allright. Here is the plan. We're going to follow this trail of Velvet's. Keep an eye out for landmarks, ambush sights, places where they may cut back and cut us off. I know, its the Hedge, its always hard to tell." She glances at Velvet again, then frowns "We're both pretty strong in the Wyrd, sneaking up isn't going to be that easy with it affecting the Hedge around us - but we'll do our best. Marching order is Velvet on point, I'll bring up the rear. This is primarily a Scouting mission, but if we see an oppertunity to either take down one or two of the baddies without alerting the rest, then we do it. If we can rescue, we do it - but not if it puts us in too much danger, unless there is no other choice." She looks to Catherine. "You'll be allright following my orders? You're not a Harvestmen yet, so let me know now if that is going to be an issue." "No problems, ma'am." Catherine says, "You tell me to shoot, I'll shoot. Hide, I'll hide. I trust your judgment in these matters, considering I'm not one for military ops." she explains. "Congrats on the promotion. Hopefully it won't be long before I'm on your tail. Lieutenant of a scouting group is what I'm gunning for eventually. Fitting, I think." Velvet smirks. "I'll have to guide verbally or with little nudges because I plan on being completely invisible. Makes things a whole lot easier for me." She checks her weapons before giving a little nod and moving for the door. "Let's do this." With a few of Roberto's things it isn't difficult to find a scent to follow. It leads the trio from the town proper all the way out to the woods. Their trek doesn't end until they're nearing the mountains. From there is the usual, known gate to the local Changelings in the rocky overlook. Through there they find themselves in the Evercaverns in the Hedge. The sound of movement can be heard in here, but it may as well be anything. The caverns are as dark as ever, and the path outside is known to most. However, the the evercaverns prove that ever-part to be just that as they leave the trod. After a good half an hour of walking from there and through a long, rocky tunnel they find themselves before a massive lack. This cave is lit by several, miniscule hedgebeasts that swim within the lake. The beasts themselves are difficult to make out in that murky water, although the long fleshy protrusions are easy to see. They hang and end in bright lights that shimmer and shift between blue and green. Past the lake they can make out three paths, and currently the scent points towards both the middle and the left tunnels. It was a slow trip, with Velvet taking her time to follow the scent that eventually led to the caverns. She wasn't hard to follow, with a little chalk mark appearing on the wall of the cavern every few feet. Not only to help them follow her pathway, but to make sure they can find their way back out as well. Caverns can be a tricky thing, and in the hedge, it can be that much worse. She comes to a pause when they get close enough to the lake, offering a quiet call of 'stop' as she studies it. "The scent goes in two directions, but we need to stay together. Separating now is too likely to end up in needing another rescue mission." Velvet's lips are pressed thin, though the other women can't see it. "Middle or left," she questions. "I say left and work our way in." Bringing up the rear, Tryp is far more concerned about whats behind them than what is in front. She has put her trust in Velvet and for now keeps more of an eye behind them than in front of them. THat is until they stop. She takes a moment to give an appreciative look around the cavern, lips pursed together, before resuming her watch behind them. Her chrome plated goggles have been up on her face for most of the journey now, and she is stepping gingerly about as she moves with them covering her eyes. But they seem to be good for scouting, because she's been well alert of what is going on around them. When Velvets voice reaches them, she nods. "Left it is. Lead on," she says in her own whisper. "Get us to a good place," she says leaving it up to Velvet to figure that part out. "Agreed." Catherine says, in the middle though waiting on opportunities to fire. She's a bit twitchy out here in the hedge, but not losing her cool. It's more of an internal twitch after all. She's following along as quietly as she can, despite the whispered assent. The tunnel does carry the scent of Roberto. It's faint, but easy enough to find through everything else. It's that awful cologne that makes it as close to easy as it may get. Away from the lake of anglers the tunnel steadily widens out bit by bit. It may as well be another cave as they continue on for almost an hour. While there is more space, there's barely any light. What they can get comes from glowing gems stuck within the cave walls, and if one pays enough attention they seem to move and away from the Changeligns if possible. In the distance they can hear the faint echoing of metal on metal with several loud clanks. Above, a constantle scuttling of something can be heard. "Then left we go." It's the last thing that Velvet says for a good long while. All of her location hints after that are non-verbal, letting the girls know that they're still moving in a forward direction and that she's only a couple of feet ahead of them. Enough to make sure she has a chance to see danger before they end up walking into it. Her footsteps chance so that she's moving in time with the sound of pounding metal, covering up any noise she might have made. The metal Tryptarch connects with is distant. 59 meters away to be exact. Its cloaked in darkness, but that sound is unmistakable this close up. The thing is long, heavy. It swings in the air, hitting something else with a loud clank. The metal Tryptarch connects with is distant. 59 meters away to be exact. Its cloaked in darkness, but that sound is unmistakable this close up. The thing is long, heavy. It swings in the air, hitting something else with a loud clank. Above them, they can see something watching them. Some things? A many-legged, segemented thing that looks to be at least twenty feet long. Each segment is about half a foot, and on each are four eyes that swivel and move to keep their attention on Catherine, Trpytarch, and the Tryptarch's hedge beast. It hasn't caugh sight of Velvet, but the fact that a few dozen of those eyes are still looking around betrays that they're looking for something. In the dark, Tryp has certainly put her Googles up. She steps with confidence around obsticles and moves forward slowly, stealthily. At one point she pauses, raising a hand to her googles as she concentrates. "There ahead. Metal. Being worked." She frowns "Its in darkness too?" she whispers, shaking her head. Then she glances up and pauses. "Ah fuck. Spiders. "...Worked?" Catherine whispers back, then looks up at the spiders whilst barely moving her head as her ears flatten. She's not a fan of spidery things. "Are the spiders up ahead or above us?" Velvet asks as her eyes shoot upward to follow Tryp's gaze in that direction. They can't see it, but her guns, with their silencers are already at the ready in her hands. "Or do you mean that the metal is the spiders?" "Sorry," Tryp says, shaking her head slightly. "Metal, ahead. Being forged or hammered or something, about 60meters upwards. And boogies above." One hand slowly reaches down to her own pistol, considering the effects. "I really hope they are natives and not outrider guards." Her hand switches to her sword slowly. "Catherine, no shots yet. I'm sorry. Unless its clear they are alerting those ahead we want to keep this silent." Nodding, Catherine isn't going to shoot or the like. She is however, keeping a keen eye further down the path as she follows. "They don't seem to be violent... yet," Velvet notes as she starts to step forward and away from the spiders. "This may just be their home and if we leave them alone, we're good. Just keep checking our back to make sure they aren't coming after us, and we'll push forward." That scuttling goes still as the Changelings do. Eventually it picks back up again, more frantic now. A few seconds of this pass before the sound becomes distant, and then eventually anothing more than a memory. The sound of metal still clanks in the distant, with as much fury and frequency as it was before. With the things above not making any more move to attack, Tryp keeps her eye on them. "Velvet," She whispers to the invisbile changeling. "Scout ahead. We'll stay close, but get a bit of distance between us and you. Don't want to alert anything. Go about... 45 meters ahead, then report what you see. Or sense. Catherine, we'll move forward to be able to back her up as needed but not to alert anything else. Lets move out. We'll head out about 20 meters then stop, waiting for a more thurough report. Catherine nods, and is keeping relatively low to the ground as she advances behind Tryptch. No sense in alerting a potential if not actual enemy, right? "I'm American," Velvet reminds Tryp with a chuckle in her tone. "I don't know meters, I know feet. but I will stay close enough," she assures. Her head bobs towards the others as she starts to move forward. She's silent as she moves across the floor, leaving to trail behind her. Where she is is practically impossible to tell without her marks to guide. Tryp nods her head. "About 150feet." She says with a chuckle, then settles in at her own position, nodding to Catherine. "Get set up to snipe. Can you see anything?" She asks as she considers the area, looking around and frowning slightly. As the group halts the metal still keeps on clanging. It eventually stops, and the place further head goes completely silent. Then a few loud laughs that causes the ceiling to shake and send bits of rock to the floor below. As Velvet nears the sound of hammering she can pick up that something moving. It turns to her, and the closer she gets it becomes obvious that it knows she's there. "Edward?" he asks. "Eugene?" The thing is a hob, that much is clear. It stands a solid eight feet tall on short, spindly legs that really shouldn't support all of that massive weight. The majority of its body makes up its size and mass, and square in the middle of that spherical form is a face. The mouth is as wide as Velvet's wingspan, and each eye the size of her head. In one hand the creature holds an overlarge hammer, and in the other it holds the a gleaming, gold knife. "Your damned knife ain't done yet, ya gets." It laughs, loud enough that it shakes the room. "You bring me more o' what you promised, and I /might/ get done sooner..." Its voice trails off as that huge schnoz begins sniffing at the air, and its tongue lolls out of its equally large mouth. "You don't smell like... Lee? That you, Lee?" While he's trying to get a good enough read on Velvet, he does smell like something familiar. Particularly, Roberto's funky ass cologne. The banging stops. Halting mid-air. The metal turns around in the air a few time, then swinging left and right for a few beats. Afterwards, Tryptych can hear the following: Edward? Eugene? Your damned knife ain't done yet, ya gets. You bring me more o' what you promised, and I /might/ get done sooner..." Its voice trails off as that huge schnoz begins sniffing at the air, and its tongue lolls out of its equally large mouth. You don't smell like... Lee? That you, Lee? That's... holy shit that's a big dude. Which means that this is going to take a big gun. Pistol put away, Velvet takes the gun strapped to her back from its holster and starts to move out of the way of the searching thing. The gun is steady, eyes locked on the hob as she lines up her shot. It's going to take a little bit to get a good bead on him. Tryp keeps one eye out on the world and one eye on the situation through her Communion with metal. She has an inkling of what might be going on, and so she turns back toward the way she came. Preparing just in case something comes along the line. The laughing stops, and the cave returns to silence. Even then it's difficult to hear the sound. It'd almost sound like a polite clap or something dropped on the ground. However, the loud thud says otherwise. Silence again, followed by a very large thud that shakes the cave for a beat. The creature was looking at Velvet. Waiting on some kind of answer. It turns to her, bringing that long tongue back into its mouth. "What're you doing? Lee?" it asks again. The knife is set down on an anvil, and it sighs heavily. When it does look back to the Darkling all it takes is a single gunshot. The hole through its head is about the size of its fist, and it tries to look it before falling forward. The back walls of the cave, the anvil, and several bits of metal hung up on the wall are soon covered in blood, grey matter - all of it covered in black spots. The metal moves a bit for only a bit longer before the laughing stops. "What're you doing? Lee?" Those are the last words that come out of the mouth of whatever it is. The metal moves again, still in hand as something else clanks against another thing there. The moving of the metal soon stops, and in few seconds later it takes a long trip and eventually hits the ground. That gun doesn't have a silencer, so there's no doubt that Tryp would have heard that. "We may have company coming," Velvet says loud enough to warn the others. "But I'm fairly sure this one is down." She starts to edge around the hob, moving towards where she heard something drop. Her eyes scan the room, looking for areas where someone else might come in, and looking for signs of Roberto. Tryp's brow raises, suddenly, then she nods her head. "8." she says then starts moving toward Velvet, watching her way with calm figures. "Okay. Lets search this place out, and Hecate?" She turns to her giant Panther, gesturing to the body. "Come on. get rid of the body. We'll figure out what we can from here, scout a bit more then bugger out." She looks to Velvet. "Unless you think we might have a chance to ambush any of them. If you think we can get the drop on them and fill em up with bullets first, then maybe... but its an iffy thing between just us few." Further along and with a bit of walking they can see the target of Velvet's shot. An overlarge thing more body than anything else. Or head. The thing is at least a solid eight feet tall. Despite this, its legs and arms are spindly looks like they shouldn't really support all that weight. Much of its mass and form is held in the large sphere that serves equally as the hob's head and body. The mouth on it is at least a good four four feet wide, and its eyes about as big as a human head. It has a fairly large hole in the middle of its forehead that gets even bigger at teh back. Its tongue - about as long as either woman's arm lolls out and lays in the dirt. At its side is a fairly large hammer that looks more like a cartoonish prop with its massive size. Further in is the makings of an anvil, although there's something off about it that can't quite be seen as much as felt. Along the walls are several bits of faux metal strung up - some shaped into blades, others simply long and innert. On the anvil is the blade of a large dagger that radiates cold if anyone approaches it. "Eight? I'm fairly sure their group is made up of Lost. This was probably just a hob they had working for them. Making them blades from the sound of it." That pretty golden blade he had earlier might have been the thing that dropped, and if so, she wants it. Because, well, blade! "We should scout more. My goal here was to find Roberto, dead or alive. We haven't done that yet." She walks with Tryptych into the room, glowing eyes narrowed as she explores. It was him that dropped, not the blade, but she does see it. Close enough to feel the cold, she starts to reach a hand out. She taps a finger against it, checking to make sure it doesn't freeze her off the bat before starting to wrap her hands around it. Tryptych nods her head, considering. "I'm a bit worried that we're going to get into a situation where we're cut off and out numbered 3 to one. But I agree. We'll keep looking." Hecate meantime, moves off and starts to drag the hob off into the darkness, moving it to go somewhere where it wont be easily found. "So where does the trail lead next - this an ending branch and we have to head back the other way or ...?" she trails off The blade proves to be benign, although there's something faint there beyond just the cold. Back they go, and along their path they can see the many-legged hedgebeast is no longer on teh ceilings. The same is true for the angler-lake. Down the other tunnel, things aren't as welcoming. The space grows tighter and tighter as they move along giving little give as it narrows. There's enough room for the woman and the panther, but it's not too pleasant as is. After an hour of walking in the darkness they eventually come upon what looks like living quarters. A pool sits in the middle, and in it all manner of small, strange hedge beasts swimming about. The makings of a kitchen can be seen in front of them and further in. To the left are three doors, and to the right are two. The smell of Roberto's cologne leads them to the furtherst on the right side. There's a few sounds coming from that room, sounds like two people talking. From the middle door on the left they can easily hear the loud snoring. Pulling up along the doors, Velvet's head tilts, a long ear giving a little twitch as she hears the snoring. Her smile turns dark for a moment as the Wyrd tickles around her, extending out as she ensures that whoever it is will be staying fast asleep. She doesn't speak, but she does lightly touch Tryp's shoulder to let her know that she's right at her side. Then, leaning in, she switches her senses around a bit, allowing herself the chance to hear what's being said from inside the room. As they get close, Tryp gestures to the snoring. Tryp is lining up besides the door where people are talking. Hecate hasn't returned yet but that isn't surprising or a problem. She makes gestures that she hears 2 inside, and waits for Velvet to decide if she can neutralize the sleeping one before they go in. Keeping it alive would be best for interregation if its not Robert, but she leaves that up to Velvet. She waits quietly. Listening, Velvet's nostrils flare a little bit. If that's Roberto talking in there, so help him. It takes her a moment to dig into her pouch and pull out a pad and a pen. She jots something down, though it ends up a little scrawly and uneven thanks to not being able to see her own words. The paper is pressed into Tryptych's palm. 'I'm going to Separation into the room through the door. Get ready to bust in when I call out. Two voices. Sleeper won't wake up no matter how much they scream.' Then she moves for the door. Tryp pulls her pistol from its sheath and nods, watching. Waiting. Inside, Velvet can make out the two talking. Both quite obviously beasts in nature and makeup. The serpentine is covered in black and green scales with white forming at around his chin that disappears into his shirt. The other, a woman of a cervid being that appears to be much stronger in the Wyrd. Her ears twitch, worry evident on her face. On her, the brand is easy enough to find as she moves. It can be found on the back of her neck with her usual tawny fur burned away for its placement. "Don't worry so much," hisses the other as he begins stuffing what look to be several plastic containers full of various powders with more colors than a 164-count Crayola box. He stops then, tongue flicking at the air as he turns to Velvet's direction. He moves to stand between Velvet and the horned woman, staring right in Velvet's direction. "Still," he whispers. The snake-man licks at the air a few more times. Eventually, he settles on a course of action. He slowly pushes the woman back, and within the next breath launches himself mouth-first in Velvet's direction. Those jaws widen disturbingly so as he lunges, and echo with a loud clack as it comes up getting the air near Velvet. "Now!" The word bellows out from Velvet as the blade slashes through the air, digging into her hand as she slices into the snake Lost. That was the signal to come in shooting. Glowing eyes dark towards Doe, narrowing. "Where is Roberto?" she asks even as the blade slices across Eugene's arm. Eugene's been stabbed and it looks really bad. At least for the snake. He hides the pain well enough, likely due to his cold nature, but it does hurt. At least until the horned woman lays a hand on his shoulder, and in seconds flesh begins to knit itself back together bit by bloody bit. Kicking the door down, Tryp is shooting before she even has a chance to really think about it. Her pistol barks at the Snake, the more dangerous one for now. Wind drifts at her back and propels her bullet forward, winging the snake. Catherine lets fly as she fires a precise shot into the snake-changeling's shoulder. It's assisted by a little bit of glamour of course, but then, the snakes-pardon, stakes, are rather high. THe ball lightning at Tryps back moves quickly, then suddenly darts in, striking the same target. The electricity must be just what is needed as it surges through the snakes man body knocking him out. "Stand down!" Tryp calls with a authority in her voice adn the power of Dusk behind her. Its a shout as her pistol aims at the changeling, but she is already drawing her sword. "Stand down or face the consequences. Retreat and it will be the end!" "Eugene!" she shouts when he goes down. He goes limp, and she looks back up again, frantically. The literally doe-eyed woman worriedly looks between them all. Well, at least the three she can see. Without even waiting for another moment she drops down, and then without another word she darts for the door and then the other that marks the exit of this place. As the deer-woman takes off, Catherine narrows her eyes and SPRINTS at top speed to try to catch her. Something in her is SCREAMING for the hunt, and a prey changeling has very much provided indulgence. It's not often she gets to cut loose like this. But Lightning is lightning,and it arcs back around, striking lightly on the side of the fleeing doe, leaving a tiny scorch mark The blade in Velvet's hand goes clattering to the floor, the woman slowly stepping out of her invisibility to blend into being. Something is not right, for sure, because she's --well, she's flickering. Her body doesn't stay in one form or shape, or even in one kith. "Oh no. No, we can't." Her voice has a hollow ring to it, with every flicker her tone changes, as if the vocal chords are changing with it. "We were having a conversation!" She hollars in a roar, the gun lifting and pointing in the fleeing doe's direction. "Can you believe her? I can't believe her." It sounds like she's having a conversation with different people, but all of the voices are coming from her. "Yes yes, run for me," she hisses before the trigger gets yanks and the shot strikes true, taking out the woman's knee cap. Hard to run without those. "You are no gingerbread man. He can't be caught. Tryp growls to herself mostly at the doe, not standing down and not listening, before she turns suddenly taking her sword and striking quickly. Her sword hits nothing but air but... "Hecate! Where are you you dumb cat! Stop her!" She growls, before heading to the door and pulling out her pistol. That doe is likely to be going stupidly fast and Tryp is not going to keep up Doe finally goes down as Tryp's sword slashes her, and Velvet's body finally settles back into its normal state. She blinks for a moment, gathering herself as she glances back towards Eugene's body. "Can anyone stabalize her? She smells like Roberto, a lot. If anyone knows where he is, I'm guessing it is her." She walks over towards the incapacitate man's body and holds the gun over his face. "Rot in hell, scumbag," she hisses before putting a bullet between his eyes. The cold blade is left on the ground for the moment as she starts to move towards the room with the sleeping man in it. "We've got one more in here. As long as we don't harm him he won't wake up until morning." Tryp shakes her head "Not an irregular. Don't have a chance in hell of keeping him alive. Maybe we can get Doe back after you interrogate her. I'm sure there are Autumns or others who want to talk to her too. We'll need infomration to give to the custodians and we generally need more info." She takes a bit of rope from her pack and tosses it at cat. "Will your spell keep him asleep for us to tie him up? Even if he is this Robert, lets time him up for now. Can't be to sure. Frowning, Catherine looks at the nearby hedge then rips off a piece of the doe's sleeve to start bandaging her wounds. "We need her alive, not as plant food. What the hell kind of caliber were you even using?" she asks. Tryp makes a look at the other, then shrugs. "if you can save her, go for it. If not, then we'll end it. I'm making a call here, we're pulling out. That fight, if there is anyone else, is likely to have alearted them. I'll leave Hecate to prowl the outside for a few hours to see if they start to move camp, before the girl comes back. But its time for us to pull out before we get overwhlemed." SHe moves onto point, and as the two changelings are tied up, she leads the way out. Finally, Catherine with a combination of ripped clothes and varying implements found around the room manages to stop the bleeding. It looks a bit wonky, and some of these things MIGHT just be oddments, but she's stable and that's what matters. "Well... Fine, I'm with you about the pulling out though." she notes, "Alerts like that are bad news bears."