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Tree branch: check. Assorted lightweight seed-bearing fruits and nuts: check. Other seeds: check. Water bottle, for when she has to veer away from the river: check.
Better not linger in her starting place too much longer. Yellow's faster than her and may have already come home to a wreck. Thorn might have a habit of checking up on the place, even, just in case. She's invisible, inaudible, unsmellable - that won't help if he sends someone thorough. Or comes in person.
She sets out.
She's been flying for about thirty minutes after her shopping trip when she falls through a tear and squeaks inaudibly and lands in the middle of -
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imeanforever
wormcan
"In Fairyland, you have everyone else outnumbered," comes a Gesellschaft voice. "And very plausibly outplanned and certainly outgunned." Fairyland's existence is better-known than Hawthorn's; it's an easy mistake to make. "Even if you're hosting people selected for being able to hurt Scion, do you really anticipate trouble removing them?"
imeanforever
"Not for most people, but there might be someone, and they would have to give me their name to be welcome."
wormcan
"We'll make sure not to send anyone who can't be contained, then."
"Not that it will come up," Alexandria announces, "because cooperating on this is going to be taken as seriously as an Endbringer truce. Most of the groups here have participated in those fights, and those that haven't at least know how little tolerance there is for infighting or betrayal." She stares down the speaker.
"Not that it will come up," Alexandria announces, "because cooperating on this is going to be taken as seriously as an Endbringer truce. Most of the groups here have participated in those fights, and those that haven't at least know how little tolerance there is for infighting or betrayal." She stares down the speaker.
imeanforever
"Speaking of which, it's possible I should formally incorporate into the Kept the few vassals who I allowed to be conventionally imprisoned before establishing myself. Lung and Bakuda could be useful."
wormcan
Saying that now, in front of every cape faction that matters and then some, is inevitably going to come across as a show of power whether she wanted it to or not. Especially if the relevant hero group agrees.
"Possibly. We can negotiate something afterward," says Alexandria, who is entirely in favor and will insist on throwing in Oni Lee and Kaiser.
"Possibly. We can negotiate something afterward," says Alexandria, who is entirely in favor and will insist on throwing in Oni Lee and Kaiser.
imeanforever
Promise doesn't exactly object to showing power as long as it doesn't look like she's trying too hard. She adds to her to-do list.
wormcan
The Suits send mostly Swords and Hearts to Fairyland, the Elite nominate Agnes Court and Nonpariel, and of course most of the capes are going to be unfamiliar to Promise. In general the capes are selected for being potentially offensively powerful but not in a position to fight Scion in person.
After some debate among themselves one of the thanda informs the other groups that they're washing their hands of this unless it does turn into an apocalypse. Neither they nor the Yangban have any members accept Promise's offer.
After some debate among themselves one of the thanda informs the other groups that they're washing their hands of this unless it does turn into an apocalypse. Neither they nor the Yangban have any members accept Promise's offer.
imeanforever
Promise learns what there is to know about her would-be visitors' powers and inquires what sorts of accommodations they will require.
wormcan
Human normal ones work for most of them. And one of them can conjure housing for arbitrary numbers of people in a matter of days right down to the water drainage system, so they aren't too concerned about accommodations. Food will be an issue, but if the regular gates are still happening they'll be fine.
imeanforever
Promise will find them a nice empty place to conjure up the housing (what a useful power, is that one available for contract work?) and make sure they have mortal food staples, no problem.
Anything else before she goes and finds a suicidal fairy and asks Nilbog for cannon fodder?
Anything else before she goes and finds a suicidal fairy and asks Nilbog for cannon fodder?
wormcan
(Kind of. She and her organization are less concerned with money than with influence. If Promise doesn't mind exchanging favors with an organized crime syndicate then they can probably come up with something.)
Not really. There are capes continually arriving from the assorted sides, but since Promise has to be there to open and close the gate anyway she can check them for containability or willingness to hand over names then.
Not really. There are capes continually arriving from the assorted sides, but since Promise has to be there to open and close the gate anyway she can check them for containability or willingness to hand over names then.
imeanforever
(Promise is concerned with ethics, not crime. They might be able to work something out.)
Promise brings her visitors to a yet-uncolonized area of the Steppes and then goes to talk to Nilbog, butter him up, and ask for a construct with more courage than smarts to follow her on a dangerous experimental mission. Then she goes and asks a Queenscourt musician named Perish why she is called that, receives the predictable answer, and brings her along too. Once on an Earth with Moord Nag's name firmly in mind: "Door to Oshakati."
Promise brings her visitors to a yet-uncolonized area of the Steppes and then goes to talk to Nilbog, butter him up, and ask for a construct with more courage than smarts to follow her on a dangerous experimental mission. Then she goes and asks a Queenscourt musician named Perish why she is called that, receives the predictable answer, and brings her along too. Once on an Earth with Moord Nag's name firmly in mind: "Door to Oshakati."
whole_new_can
If she's using doors instead of gates, finding Moord Nag is going to be even easier. The parahumans behind Cauldron's network are good at figuring out context from general directions; no need to go looking for the ominous shadowy skull tower at all. Moord Nag comes to find her. The skull crowning her shadow shifts into the shape of a human's, then a crocodile's.
"You've brought me the subjects?"
"You've brought me the subjects?"
imeanforever
"Yes. One possible result with this one," she points at Perish, "is that she disappears but reappears alive somewhere else; if that happens, you should be able to re-'kill' fairies in general many times but will have an annoying chore if you want a pool of more than one, since where they reappear is probably fixed."
whole_new_can
Moord Nag barely glances at her victims, but her pet swirls around them and the fairy and creature disappear. "Nothing. Like a pair of animals. If the winged one did survive, you can tell her I have no plans to kill her again."
imeanforever
"It was worth a try. Thank you for cooperating with the experiment."
whole_new_can
"It cost me little.
And it seems I will not be helping you if you fight the golden man."
And it seems I will not be helping you if you fight the golden man."
imeanforever
Promise goes back to Fairyland, thanks Nilbog and tells him that the creature was very brave, and sends someone to check Perish's starting place. (Perish is in it, and she's very disappointed. Promise says that after the whole mess is over she will maybe see if any other parahumans want to try killing a fairy.)
At the meeting place, anyone else want to be stashed in Fairyland?
At the meeting place, anyone else want to be stashed in Fairyland?
wormcan
Mostly capes with wide-area damaging attacks, hoping for a chance to fire through a gate, and some people who are more useful for organization within their groups than for their power. Anyone whose tactic against major threats involves fighting them head-on has less to gain from being stashed in Fairyland.
Promise also gets the Kept she requested and then some.
Promise also gets the Kept she requested and then some.
imeanforever
Excellent. She perfunctorily inducts her old new Kept into the standard Kept rules, shoos them into Hawthorn, evaluates her would-be visitors and sends the acceptable ones through.
wormcan
They're all acceptable; Promise said her requirements in advance and nobody wants to risk her insisting on a name. But movers and strangers are less useful here anyway, so the loss from requiring containable capes is minimal.
imeanforever
Good, good. Promise also reports on the results of the Moord Nag experiment.
wormcan
No one is very surprised by Nilbog's creation not working. The fairy was less of a long shot, but expectations weren't huge there either. Well, it's not like she was ever strictly necessary to fighting Scion on this end.