Duana signals for the party to stop and looks about for sign of shadow to approach the structure cautiously. There, among the treeline was a faintly carved path rounding it, but without, scarcely enough shade to skulk. Fortunately, Duana had training enough to balance the lack.
She follows the scent of the bake, hoping to catch sight of that which dwelt within so that she might report it to the others.
Moving silently through the low grass and pine needles, to one side Duana notices a kitchen garden. The windows are small and dirty; the glazing thick and distorted. Even though she peers inside.
A tall woman with long white hair down to her thighs moves slowly throughout a steamy kitchen. She appears to be talking to thin air, as no-one else is present. The building seems to be divided into 2 simple areas and this kitchen has no external door. Moving around to another window showing another area, it is a living room. With a space partitioned off for sleeping and another with a goat pen (where a brown goat eats some hay).
As Duana moves closer to investigate the cottage, Danny continues to think. He knows this sounds familiar, but where has he read,...?
No. He never read about it. He heard about it. At the same party where he saw Duana duel the elf-lord.
"Um, guys?" He whispers, barely audible to Axe and Gabriel even though he is almost whispering into their ears.
"This looks a lot like something I heard at the last Winter party I attended. About some witch who lives alone in the woods, who couldn't be bothered to attend the party. The big-wigs all had their knickers in a knot over the insult. But apparently they weren't so insulted that they wanted to actually challenge her over it. So she probably isn't one to trifle with. Does the name 'Esmay' mean anything to you two?"
Gabriel hisses his displeasure while Duana creeps off alone.
"I suggest we be polite until actions require otherwise, shall I knock on the door, perhaps we can negotiate passage"
[ooc] Axe considers the skulking around outside someones hut as not very courteous or respectful, this sort of thing would put anyone on edge and might violate guest rules [ooc]
Gabriel looks at Aximeus for a time and motions for him to be silent.
Danny places a (cautious) hand on the arms of both warriors. He watches Duana a trifle tensely.
"Um, what IS she doing?" He asks with a tight-lipped smile that says he's not certain he wants to know.
Duana remains peering into the house until it is clear that she has not been seen. At a height in the creature's conversation with the air, when she is least likely to be listening to anything, she will slink back to the group, using the same path she carved for herself previously.
"One female sighted, tall, white hair, and her goat. Possibly a second sentient creature, unknown. She was speaking to something." Duana shrugs. "This is neutral territory. Maeve's knight is hardly unknown, but if she is mad she may favor the Summer creatures," she smiles at Danny. "Perhaps this ones charms can be the key to unlocking that which we seek?"
Duana moves back to the group, through the low grass and shrubbery. As she tells the group what she has seen there is a loud clanging; the harsh sounds of falling pots and brass crashing against each other.
Ryuko/Jericho
Danny gives a slight jump and a startled "Eeep!" As Duana reappears. He swiftly regathers his dropped dignity as Duana outlines what she has seen.
Danny straightens with a small smile at Duana's final words.
"Well, if you insist. I'll see what I can do." He ofers with mock humility. Anything else he might have said is lost in the sudden clatter of pots and pans. Which also covers his second "Eeep!" and loss of dignity in as many minutes.
pots and pans, hehe, cant be all bad; that is what I do to relax smirks Aximeus
Deep in the forest towards the slowly descending sun, there is the scream of domestic cats. A abrupt high pitched sound that sets the teeth on edge. The smoke of the long house infront of you drifts to mingle with the clouds. The underbrush between you and it rustles in the wind that swirled around the moors.
"is the setting sun of consequence or import in this place?"
"Well, let me put like this." Danny says, eying the underbrush suspiciously.
"You remember the fairy tales you heard as a kid? Well they're all based on the real things from here. And the real thing makes the Grimm's stories look like a Disney flick!" Danny mutters.
"Well, I guess we should go say hello, before we get spotted. Wouldn't do to look sneaky!" He says. Danny assumes his usual pleasant smirk and takes a step forward. Then he stops and looks back.
"Um, You guys are coming, right?"
yeah, lets go
As you walk up the path, the hoary gravel crunches underfoot. Looking down it seems to consist of small seashells or small bones. The path curves slightly towards the main door of the building. The walls pealing whitewash over a plaster facade, the low eaves just topping your head.
The plain door lies heavy with age and a large tarnished brass knocker shaped into a grotesque hangs awaiting. Upon knocking at the door, hollow booming sound reverberates internally. The clattering of pans as they are replaced stops.
"Hello there." an ancient voice crackles inside. "I don't often have visitors." a slight titter punctuates the announcement. "Enter stranger." The door slowly swings open as if due to a breeze, however the wind is not blowing that direction.
"Come to see Esmerelda, have you?" the voice comes from the kitchen area. In front of the open portal is a living area, a bed in one corner - the other has a goat's stable. The central dividing wall has a roaring peat fire producing warmth for the house.
Later after the setting sun a man with a wide brimmed dark hat and dark leather gloves entered the building. Leaving a little while later. The only visitor to the disheveled sanctuary of God.
This decided, the lanky youth stood, dropping his book into his messenger bag and pulling his dark jacket closer to him, and steps out toward the church. Absently, Jericho removed his sunglasses, thinking they'd be rude, and tucked his gauntlet under his sleeve. It's generally better not to enter a possibly supernatural situation holding the equivalent of a loaded gun. Thus prepared, Korben opens the heavy doors and steps inside.
He bows his head, hiding red rimmed eyes. "How can I..help you my son." The mans voice falters slightly as one a few decades older might. Slowly he moves towards the younger man.
"Hello there." an ancient voice crackles inside. "I don't often have visitors." a slight titter punctuates the announcement. "Enter stranger." The door slowly swings open as if due to a breeze, however the wind is not blowing that direction.
Danny pauses, his hand hanging in mid air where he was about to knock on the door. He looks over his shoulders at the others.
"Nice touch." He says straight-faced.
"Come to see Esmerelda, have you?" the voice comes from the kitchen area. In front of the open portal is a living area, a bed in one corner - the other has a goat's stable. The central dividing wall has a roaring peat fire producing warmth for the house.
"Yes, I suppose we have. Although I hadn't the privilege of knowing your name until now." Danny calls through the doorway, taking in the interior of the building.
"Very nice to meet you Esmerelda. My name is Danny. My friends and I were, well, we're trying to take a shortcut, but I think we should have turned left at Albuquerque. I was hoping that you might be able to help us. May we come in? I promise that we mean you no harm."
The vicar though takes a slight confidence in it, drawing himself up. "I am a keen amateur genealogist, yourself?" He says boldly, although you can see a hint of the former panic in his eyes.
Others
Entering the building is scupulously clean, even the corner whence the goat is housed. Doilies upon the rustic tables, and small bowls of flowers and porcelain figurines adorn multiple surfaces. "Oh, Danny-boy, of course you and your friends can come in." The old woman voice from the kitchen doorway comes. "Take a seat, I am just cooking some cookies. Don't mind Arthur. I'll be through in a moment."
A light wisp of steam, smoke and fresh baking come from the kitchen. Low beamed ceiling force the taller people to duck. "Lost babes in the woods, I don't get too many visitors." her voice holds an ominous ring.
Danny pauses in mid-step at the last statement. He takes one last look at the outside of the house.
"Just making sure it's not gingerbread." He murmurs with a panicked grin at the others, then steps through the doorway.
"Oh that's quite alright. Please, take your time. We don't want to be a bother." Danny calls back cheerfully.
"Although I shouldn't wonder at the lack of visitors. You are just a tad off the beaten path. The solitude must be very peaceful. And your glade is quite lovely." Danny continues chatting cheerfully as he looks around the tiny cottage. Just to make sure nothing's changed.
The cottage is, dare I say, quaint. The old woman cackles or chuckles roughly at the word 'gingerbread', her voice echoing from the other room. "Oh, you heard the stories. I may have died with laughter the first time I heard them."
"Aye, me garden is a treasure. And I have Arthur he's a good guy, but I could always do with more...visitors."
"So, I can tell you are from the other place. Would you like some goat milk with a cookie? I have some meat pies for desert." The woman says, the voice and smell of the food coming closer.
"Cookie? Oooo, That's tempting. They smell good. But I've heard that the food from the Nevernever doesn't always agree with us from the other side."
' Kinda like the water from Mexico.'
"But they DO smell good,... No, I'd better not. My doctor said to avoid sweets. He says they'll be the death of me." Danny babbles, straight-faced.
"Thank you very much though. It's very kind of you to offer."
Danny looks at the others, especially Duana, grimacing in (well, not panic exactly,) nervousness as he points around the cabin and shrugs his shoulders. His silent message is clear.
'Which way? Where are we supposed to go?'
Duana chuckles at Danny's clear apprehension. "It appears as though our hostess unsettles the Summer child," she says. "Lady, do you have any thoughts on why that might be?"
Duana's smile is feral and begins moving towards the kitchen and the lady's voice. "When I first arrived in the human world, when my lover was teaching me to read, I saw illustrations of such stories that you fear, Danny," she muses. "Grimm's Fairy Tales pale in comparison to the reality of the Never Never," she informs him and spares him a glance over her shoulder. "But if there is one thing all immortals fear alike, it is steel."
Through the looking glass
The old-ladies voice sounds crest-fallen; "You don't want my sweeties? How about the rest of you?" A figure moves slowly through the opening from the kitchen, a brown ceramic plate loaded with ornately decorated and slightly unreal biscuits leading the way. The woman has the ethereal beauty of the fae, standing tall a cascade of white/silver hair flows down her shoulders to hang in a cloak mid-thigh. A warm look in her sapphire eyes, promises all sort of different things that you are sure she cold deliver. Her timeless beauty and composure is at odds with her crones voice.
She looks around the group quickly, you feel as if you are being measured as ingredients for a buffet. She meets Duana as she approaches the kitchen; "Mistress, from your essence you have the force of the Queen-to-be in your heart. An honour?" for you, or her; Esmerelda does not specify. The fae double talk continues.
"As for his nervousness, I suppose it's a matter of blood. When I was at court, your mother(?)" she pauses looking at Danny directly, unsure of the exact connection. "was always nervous around me, so much that she chose to leave for a time." the words slip out but there is certain to be a meaning to them.
At the mention of 'steel', the silver-haired womans eyes widen in mock surprise as she looks to Aximeus; "Oh, to threaten an old lady in her own home. Surely you don't mean harm?" her voice holds a deceptive edge.
"Hauntings..." the priest fall to his knees, the crack upon the stone floor reverberates throughout the high ceilings. "Oh, I don't think I would know too much about that. You shouldn't deal with the supernatural it imperils the soul." His voice tight with lies, although the last line is from the heart.
Slowly he gets to his feet and sits heavily on a nearby wooden pew.
Danny's eyes widen in shock at the mention of his mother. His breath catches in his throat. But when he speaks his voice is no more unsettled than before.
"You knew my mother?" He asks casually, but just a little too quick.
Esmeralda smiles, amused at the quickness of the mans' reply. "Yes, I knew Roxanna. It spoiled my amusement when she went to the mortal realm. She was ever an interest. Would you like to take her place?" her voice holds an allure and softness.
"I thought the scent of your delicious sweets might have concealed that of our metals, and did not wish to alarm," Duana replies to the lady's quip about steel.
Duana smiles an impish grin as Danny and Esmerelda speak. Now that the pieces have fallen into place, she is all the more willing to get the box and hurry to the Winter Court.
"Unfortunately, Esmeralda, we've prior appointments. Are you aware of the portal in your kitchen?"
Esmeralda places the plate of cookies upon a centrally situated coffee table and moves over to stand by the central fire-place. Her movements measured. "Oh, you are careful Milady. A product of the Courts?"
"As for the Way to the Mortal Realm, well it has been a while since it has been used."
Duana's smile persists. "Oh, Lady, if I were a product of the courts, surely you would be aware of me no?" she answers, "as you were of our Danny's mother?"
"You said that you had not had visitors in quite some time," she observes concerning the portal. "Why leave the portal open and put out food for hospitality if you were not expecting any?"
Empathy:
[B] No thank you, I do not yet require sustanance yet I admire your offer of hospitatilty to strangers such as we. [B]
Never-Never Land
The woman leans against the mantle-piece, and slowly shakes her head. "Ah Mistress, the way you move words would do any court justice. As regards the food, ever felt like creating. I need little physical sustenance and these may not have to rot on me. However...." her rasping voice picks up a iced cookie from the plate , crumples it in her hand. The bones flex powerfully, she casts the crumbs into the fire. They produce a kaleidescope of coloured flames.
"The portal is closed at the moment, although if you wish to use it, what would you have me charge?" Esmeralda smiles and looks to Danny. "Yes, too long since I saw those eyes. Quite interesting."
He takes a breath, "Despite us being in the same town we have kept apart. Broken by her death.... He says he can return her from Gods hand." The tears stain the stone floor. "He hasn't been himself. I am damned along with him, but for a moment more with her I am not sure if I care."
Danny looks surprised at the woman's words. (But old hands at deception like Duana will easily note that he is isn't as shocked as he seems to be.)
Danny smiles back, relaxing against the nearest wall.
"AH yes, thank you. Dad always said I had my mother's eyes. Fortunately I got his rugged good looks!" He grins broadly.
"Hm. 'Take her place'? A most generous offer, and I am sure you mean that as a complement. However, since I have no clue what that would entail, I think I shall regretfully decline." Danny says politely.
"Besides, we really didn't come here about that. And we are on a bit of a time-table." He shrugs apologetically, looking deliberately back to Duana, as she seems to be the most knowledgeable about portals and the negotiating of passage through same.
"Misstress it intrigues me that i did not have the pleasure of meeting you in court when it was called." Gabriel speaks for the first time after merely listening to the others do the talking.
Crones Cottage
Esmeralda has a faux-sad expression at Danny's words; "Well, if you ever want to know more about her and are willing to make a deal..." she reaches over to the plate of cookies, picking one up. "Take a bite out of this, I may contact you. There will be no obligations to either of us or harmful effects of the food-stuff." Esmeralda places the cookie in Danny's hand and wraps his fingers around it, seemingly giving him a sensual caress.
A predatory smile upon her face she turns to answer Gabriels question. "Easy young knight(?), Roxie and I walked between the court even before your predecessor Slate was naive. Politicking and so forth. Believe me if I had met you at Court, there would have been alot of pleasure." Her face flushes slightly, as her scratchy voice continues. "However, Winter Knight tell your Queen this 'The time is right, I will collect what she owes me or she will feel my wrath. I will have [b]it back once more. I will be restored. Said thrice and witnessed, it will come to pass.'. These ears may be old and away from Court but I have my resources."[/b]
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." The Ferromancer was on a roll now, hoping to reach out to the good man he saw here. "Isaiah 53:5. Your God believes in redemption. He believes that men can change. Whoever made you a priest believed you were better than this." He threw his arm towards the window, revealing the streets outside. "And if you let your brother continue, without helping me to stop him." His voice dropped to almost a whisper. "You're stabbing every one of those people who trusted you," He stabs a finger toward the father. "In. The. Back." He looked imploringly at the father. "Father Millier, I can't do this without you. Are you a good man? Or are you as bad as your brother?"
He takes a breath comp[osing himself. "You do not want to go down into the cyrpt, the ghosts guard it carefully, Henri has ensured that, and I would not be surprised if he did not plan for my life to fuel her return." His voice despairing but the manner he talks to you is in confidence.