#darkgatefortress

Darkgate still looks... militant. But not in an 'evil everywhere ' way, more like 'sometimes shit gets grim' way

The nearest trod is a bit away, if Piper remembers correctly, but it's lovely out and no Satyr is ever opposed to a little physical exertion, as she happily trots in towards the freehold/lodge/fortresss...

Indeed, a bit of a jog isn't so bad now that it's not so hot

Guards greet her from the walls of the fort, "Pardon, are you 'pipsqueek piper'? The Bridge told us you'd be coming in and you fit the description"

"Oi! Tell that brat that if he wants to start the name game, I am GAME!" She calls back, shaking a minute fist

"I will trip-tramp all OVER that Bridge!"

Stomp stomp of petite hooves

One of the guards looks a bit amused, by troll standards, "We'll open the gate" And the gates open so she can get in

Indeed, she sees her cousin waving with a smug look.

He moves to greet her. One of the guards calls down, "SHe says to tell you that if you want to start the name game, and that she will trip tramp all over that bridge..."

"I heard, I heard," Zane waves it off.

"Hmmph!" She hmmphs at the guards as she passes past.

"You come to me, asking for a favor..." Zane does an exaggerated godfather impersonation "But you do not ask it with respect"

He is trying to fight a smile and failing

Piper ROLLS her eyes

"Fine fine, what's up?" He grins

"R E S P E C T! Find out what it means to me!" She belts out, then chuckles.

THAT makes him laugh out right

"Got a place we can chat? Oh, and not near that statue. It creeps me out."

"Working as intended" he jokes "Symon would be pleased." He leads her in and into a hall then down into a nice office, HIS it turns out. Warmer and roomier than one might expect in a fortress. It has a lot of the 'local scene' info around the place, a theater poster among them, and also a lot of mystical looking stuff. There's a monkey's paw with a label on it that says 'read a book, then get back to me before you try this'

There are also some chairs that are NOT troll sized

She does a double-take, seeing his name on the door. "Daaaaaymn, Zuzu. You done gone and made something respectable out of yourself."

"So, getting down to brass tacks. Or is it brass tax? Either way..." She hops onto the desk, sitting on the edge rather than pull up a chair, and pulls a bundle from her pocket. She spreads out the handkerchief on the desktop with a broken heart locket in the midst of it.

"This is - or was - a fair powerful treasure hosting a 'Deezy cantrip. Think you can fix it?"

"Hey, watch that respectable talk... I told them I'd never wear a tie so that means something right?" He grins

He looks it over and kens for a moment. Then, he casts, a flicker of an omen?

Finally he says "Huh... Deezy has mostly left the buildling. "

A consideration "But yes, I can get it fixed up a bit by a jeweler here... then I can mend the magical side. Might not quite LOOK the same when it is done. Does that matter?"

Piper looks curious at it. "I can cast the cantrip, but I don't have any experience with treasure-making, so not sure how to, y'know, glue it to the thingo. Does that make sense?" A pause, she grins, "Or do I need to put it in magician terms?" She puts on a high-falutin' professor voice, "Adhere the enchantment to the designated vessel with utmost precision, ensuring the arcane bond is sealed in perfect alignment."

Snickering.

"And no, I don't think the looks matter, as we might be feeding it to a sea monster."

"Nothing about maximizing glamour polarity?" Brows arch, then he says "You're talking to a powerful Sorceror who has mastered Chicanery, but if it is Aphrodisia specific we can have it so your cantrip 'settles' into it and..." A pause, then "Did you say 'Sea Monster'?"

"You DO know who my fiance' is, right? Can't tell me you're surprised."

"Either of them, honestly, but Siv in this case."

"You like them high maintenance" He jokes "yeah, should have guessed Siv at the 'Sea Monster' world. Okay, why am I working on this if some sea monster is just going to eat it?"

"Well, it - er, SHE, might eat it. Which is okay, because if I guess correctly, and you can tell me, Mister Magic Man, though I don't think a sea monster can rightly WEAR a locket, if it had the locket within it's, er, person, that would have a similar effect?"

"Could... " He ponders "Depends on the digestion speed of the monster. GOOD news is you could tweak this so it only works on Chimera, making it safer for Kithain and Dreamers."

"Mmm, I guess... yeah, it wouldn't DO to have the monster fall in love with some unlucky Mer or Selkie..." A snicker at that thought.

"Okay, there are so many 'whys' to my mind right now. WHat's the goal for the Sea Monster? I mean, do you want the monster to fall in love with the first other sea monster it sees, or do you want to lure it into a trap with a vision of someone it loves, or so on?"

Piper leans on her knees, her hooves kicking against the side of the desk idly. "My end goal is that this monster gives up it's Vendetta against my love. If that means we find it another love to replace the one it lost, then all be better. Mind you, I wouldn't do this to a kithain or human - but this is a creature - an intelligent one, perhaps, but still a beast."

She relates the story to Zane as she heard it from Siv. "At least, such is my understanding."

He listens "Wow... Fiona don't go off half way do they? " The story makes him shake his head "I can't throw stones. I was rash too, not superwise like I am now" A grin "Okay. Let's see... something to cool the hate and revenge, and reward with love. We could get fancy... mix a bit of winter to chill the hate, a dash of fair fortune to find love only... AND yes, love and desire for the new couple to be."

"Anything we can do to dissuade them from killing Kithain?"

Then her eyes widen. "Oooooh. I wonder if we could make a deal with it."

"She killed her mate... the deal might be the monster gets to kill you or Jonas in return" A beat "Not that violence is nice, but have you thought of letting Siv finish this sea monster off? "

"I don't think that's the answer. Not that anyone asked me." She adds as an afterthought, with a bit of a pout. "Hate just begets more hate."

"I get it, and there's wisdom in that. Sure, to mortal views, both dead, maybe done. But the Dreaming tends to latch onto themes like hate, revenge cycles, etc and run with it if you don't give it nicer options. But there IS the other problem. Siv ddidn't hunt down the first monster for yuks, right? She hunted it down in part because it was killing kithain. We need to make sure this mate won't do that any more either, not just find love with another killing machine"

“What if you give it a taste for something else? Like…” she rubs at a horn thoughtfully. “Illegal whalers, and like, those Somali pirates.”

"That's a bit more than Aphrosisia normally... but if it can wyrd on its own, might put it to good use. Mmmm " He says

“Au contraire, mon frer.” She shakes a finger at him. “It’s OFTEN used for lust, true.., well, it’s often used by Satyrs and Mer. At least, that’s how it was back in my old hood. But it CAN instill a need for anything you desire. Desire is the ticket.”

"I sit corrected" He admits