6110/Faerie Gold

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Faerie Gold
Date of Scene: 04 January 2019
Location: Titans Tower
Synopsis: The final piece of the puzzle falls, and it looks like the Scoobies have a new trail to follow.
Cast of Characters: 87, Stardust, Robin (Wayne), Brick




Vorpal (87) has posed:
"I really don't know what you think this will accomplish."

Vorpal is sitting at the terminal, waiting for whatever it is Colette wants to show him. "I've been going over my journals and my notes and everything, and any time I feel I'm about to remember, my head starts to hurt..."

He sighs, rubbing his forehead and closing his eyes. "Let's... let's just get on with this so I can fail yet another attempt, okay?"

He was not in a good mood. The holidays did that to him... not to mention the presence of fae in his mind was starting to get disturbing. He suspected that some thoughts were not his, and that's... never something you want to suspect.


Stardust has posed:
"It's very obvious what I think this will accomplish, kitty cat," Colette tells him as she pulls up Google Earth and zooms in on a pin. "Or hope it'll accomplish, anyway. A less angsty cat. There are a million and one things going on, and we need you a little more focused and a little less... skittish. About Scotland. Scottish skittish?" she gives a sharp shake of her head. "So I stole your phone. You were checking messages yesterday and put it down unlocked to grab a drink. I stole your location data."

    She's certainly brazen. As the image zooms in on the screen, and flips down into a 3D view, it looks very familiar to Vorpal. "The data is a bit vague when you're wandering around in the highlands, apparently. However you were walking around this area, and I've got a few of your approximate journeys mapped in." She steps away from the keyboard. "So get reliving the experience, and see if anything triggers a memory.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "Listen, she's trying to help you." Damian points. "If this doesn't trigger anything...I have something that can." Trouble is, knowing Robin, it wasn't going to be pretty, or enjoyable.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
Vorpal freezes. "... I can explain those pictures of Gar..." he quickly stammers when Colette mentions she stole his phone... and then she says she looked up his location data. And he is very glad that he's covered in fur, so they cannot see him redden.

"Oh."

He leans forward and looks at the screen, "Okay... okay..." he sighs, and frowns, clicking through the locations and looking at the plotted route. "... you know, we could go there right now through a Rabbit Hole and look at the real deal..."

Stardust has posed:
    "I don't wanna know about Gar," Colette says. "Focus, kitty cat. Because if this doesn't work, we try Damian's idea. And if Damian's idea doesn't work either, we go to plan C." She punctuates this with a smack of fist into palm. "Beat the memory out of you."

    What might be a threat from other quarters has little of the feel of one from Colette, probably because she's got a broad grin on her face. Unlike certain Robins, she doesn't tend beat up her team-mates. It is perhaps a sign that she's getting somewhat impatient with the moggy's missing memories.

    "Yeah, we could go right now through a Rabbit Hole," Colette agrees. "...And spend a few days walking the paths. Or, you can zoom overhead on the screen and see if there's anything that looks familiar enough to be worth Rabbit Holing to. Focus, Vorp."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin slaps his fist into his palm when Colette mentions plan C. "Come on, Vorpal. I don't have all day. I'm usually sleeping right now." Damian was without his mask right now, since probies weren't allowed in this section. He starts to tap his foot, then after seconds he throws up his hands. "It's not working Stardust. Time for plan B." He says, pulling out a box labeled 'Plan B'.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
"Goddamnit, you two, cut me some slack! Scotland wasn't bui-"

he pauses and stares. He seems to have forgotten whatever it was he was saying as he stares at something.

"... ing..." he mutters, and clicks on the mouse a couple of times. The images zoom into an image of a tree-topped mound.

There is silence, and then a sharp intake of breath.

"I've had enough." He stands up, shakily. "We can try again tomorrow.."

Stardust has posed:
"Plan B?" Colette says with a dramatic gasp. "Are you sure, Robin? Do you think he can take it?" She eyes Vorpal skeptically. "It could take ages for his fur to grow back. Maybe we should give him just a little more time...." She flashes Damian a wink.

    Vorpal's attempt to give up for the day is met by a firm pair of hands on his shoulders as Colette states "Sit. Back. Down." She speaks in the kind of simple, straightforwards, but utterly firm voice that seems to bypass the brain and negotiate directly with the legs. If Vorp was part dog rather than part cat, he wouldn't stand a chance.

    Colette stares at the image of the tree-topped mound on the screen, and gives a nod of her head. "That looks artificial. Not a hill. Too small. It could be a burial mound. Vorp was ranting about fae. Scottish fae live in burial mounds, right? At least according to the legends. What are you remembering, Vorp? No backing away now, you've been doing that for months. Time to face up to it. Just remember you're not actually there, you're safe in the Tower with us."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "His fur will be fine." Damian states quite matter of factly. Then Colette has a revelation with Vorpal. "I've had enough of these fuckin' fairies." He says to himself, sighing through the nose.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
Vorpal takes a shuddering breath and closes his eyes. "I... don't know. A mound, but there was mist, and..." He shakes his head and slowly sits back down again, looking at the screen. "But there's something that doesn't quite fit. It's very familiar..."

He sighs, exasperated, and clicks on links associated with that location, trying to look up anything related to the place. "If I could have some sort of..." he grumbles, frustrated, and turns around, resting his elbow on the desk as Damian makes his comment. He grumbles, "Can you pass me my water bottle, short stuff?" he asks. As he leans back, his elbow rests on the enter key, activating a link.

The webpage that loads is a folklore page that collects many different myths and stories, and at the very top of the page, the first category reads:

THE CAIT SIDHE.

Brick has posed:
Brick enters the room carrying a highly truncated cylinder of metal, closed on both ends, 28cm in diameter, in a flat-side-supported way. He's dressed uncommonly casually, which is to say, in normal-person-ish clothing. He says nothing as the picture of the burial mound goes to an article on a Fae cat-monster.

**ping** whispers Maire Boit.**Ping!** Brick murmurs back to her.

He carefully places the cylinder on a table near the entrance, where it won't be caught in the potential tornado of chaos.

Stardust has posed:
"Kate Sid-hee? Who's that?" It's easy to forget that Colette isn't American when she speaks English, as her accent is pure New Yorker. Apparently her linguistic skills don't extend to the Gaelic languages. "Cat She," she corrects herself. Apparently one of the voices in her head has a better grasp of it than she does. "My point remains though, who's she? I mean that?"

    Colette nods her head to Brick as he enters. "Hey Brick. We may have had a breakthrough with Vorp's rusty brain-meats. Ever heard of someone called Cat She? Or is it a place?" she turns back to Vorpal questioningly, then back to Brick again. "What's in the cylinder, Brick? Is that a new Boom-Tube proof Pizza box?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     The red hot fire of one thousand suns lights in Damian's eyes. "You are HARDLY taller than me, and how much older?!" He shouts, tossing the water bottle to Vorpal.

  "That's it, no more tee ball." He opens the Plan B box to reveal a top hat with a 10/6 marker in the hat band, along with another hat and matching 10/6 marker. "Put the hat on, Vorpal. You should be used to seeing it."

Vorpal (87) has posed:
"Oh no! Eff off with that ha-" Vorpal starts, but Colette's mangling of the name catches his attention. He swivels on the chair after catching the water bottle and faces the screen.

Suddenly, everything grows much darker.

It's not a matter of the lights failing, so much as it being a matter of magical illusions, shadows, crawling all over the room. Vorpal stares at that name.

For a few moments, he remains completely still, so much so, that he might give the impression of being some sort of statue... but no. Soon, a wispy, sing-songy voice starts coming out of him while not exactly passing his lips.

It rasps, and it rakes across consciousness like claws on a chalkboard.

~~From Gorias and Findias, from Murias and Falias,
Four treasures the Tuatha de brought from Tir Na nOg.
With spear and sword, with cauldron and stone,
Protected were we of the Aos Sidhe
Prevented the Dubh Sidhe we battle with...~~

Brick has posed:
"Cot-Shee," Brick says, "and it depends on whether it's the end-game boss or one of the many minions. The king of the cats, the top cat, black with white blaze, and really, it shouldn't be hiding inside someone else without their permission."

He holds a hand out and there's a **shunk** noise like a pneumatic tube from a bank hitting his palm, and he's holding a pair of handles with short iron bars sticking out like cudgels or knives.

The cheesecake on the table goes unexplained. It's less important at the moment.

Stardust has posed:
    Colette's eyes are on the 'cheesecake' and the Mad Hatter's Hat. This is all getting very confusing, and to Colette's dismay she has not brought any randomly weird items along. The only thing she brought along with her was her backpack, and for once she doesn't even have any random parts from robots she's fought in it. It does have a bottle of water, but she's not going to admit that in case Vorpal decides to drink it.

    "King of the Cats, huh? No wonder Vorp has been out of sorts. Who knew cats had a king? Oh... Brick knew. That's right." She turns to Robin with a grin. "We have a name. If you've had enough of fuckin' faeries, at least you have a name now. Do we go beat up the king of the cats now?"

    Colette leans forwards as Vorpal starts his whispering mutter. "What's that, kitty cat? Speak up, we can't hear you at the back. Project your voice!"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "King of the cats?" Damian is more than a bit taken aback on that. "Is he possessed? Some kind of...fairy has taken up roots in his body?" His arms cross, trying to examine the situation, on one hand, it's his friend, on the other, a cat. The inner turmoil is definitely clashing. "A demon! That's it, no cat would take possession of a person like that. It's a goddamn demon."

Vorpal (87) has posed:
The voice grows stronger now, almost as if heeding Colette's urgings. The words audible in their spidery, eerie way:

~~Yet as in Caer Sidi, so must it be in Tir na mBeo,
Hidden from the eyes of the fae in the hands of man.
Yet vulnerable the treasures of Caer Sidi,
In Alba the sword, as a clock was found
In Erin, the spear's bite in a fiddle's sound.

Two made safe by word and spell and sidhe law,
Two in Tir an iarthair, Seelie and Unseelie seek them.
Unscried they were until today,
A shield the stone, of the captain of that land
As yet unknown the cauldron, in a Titan's hand.~~


And then, almost as soon as they appeared, the shadows retreat from the room, leaving the fluorescent lights to cast their pale glow, making everything look decidedly... sterile.

Vorpal remains still for a few seconds and then... he slides off the chair and falls to the ground with a *thud*, out like a light.

Brick has posed:
"Not a demon," Brick says. "Your grandfather is a demon. This is a Fae. And of course cats would take possession, if they could. They're always getting in where you don't want them."

**PING**

"I see that, Maire. And I did follow the ... OK, which of us is supposed to have the cauldron then. By the way, let's see if we can rouse Vorpal again."

He slams the iron rods together, making a ringing sound like a distant church bell. CLANG!!

Stardust has posed:
    "Have some respect for Rae," Colette admonishes Damian, the shadows perhaps subconsciously reminding her of their absent team mate. "We're not supposed to call demons 'damned' any more. They are 'eternally disadvantaged beings'. Oh, I think I forgot to mention. Rae has a new job. She's out of the tower, but she'll still hear if you knock on her door. Only she's a bit busy now, because some strange guy has vanished and is either dead or on a mountain top, and she 's now the Sorceress Supreme of planet Earth. I dunno if she gets a lanyard."

    Momentous as that news is, Colette is barely aware of herself relaying it. "Brick, I know you're always monitoring everything. Did you catch all that? Can you translate? Bits of that were definitely Scottish. What was that about Titans?" As she asks, she's already crouching down beside Vorpal, checking his breathing. "Unconscious," she reports, though the word is somewhat covered up by the clanging of Brick's rods.

Brick has posed:
The bell-like tone has no effect, which isn't really suprising as the Cait Sidhe isn't really out where it can be exposed -- if it's actually still there. Overshadowings are complicated and difficult.

**PING PING PING**

"Yeah good point. He's going to be out of it for a few hours. He'll need a chamomile and mint tea when he wakes up. Lettie, Tir an iArthair is 'land over the sea' and the treasures would be the four treasures of Ireland. Alba is England. Erin is Ireland. You KNOW who the Captain has to be."

Brick slips the two iron rods into a loop on his pants and reaches down, picking up the fallen cat.

"Let's get him to a dark, quiet place."