#debukefarmhold

"Maybe you shouldn't tell him about the bait thing...?"

"Yeah, maybe. grumps get squirrely about the weirdest little things' She knocks on the door

"mmm" the door does not open, "Kelby, Sylvi. come on in."

Sylvi grins at that as they enter the cabin. "That's cheating, Mountain Emmitt."

"Oh ho, is it now? " The Mountain 's smile comes into view aas they enter. he has put out his pipe as they have come into an encclosed space. It smells pleasant actually "I prefer to think of it as a part of my duty as the local shaman , maintaining my mystique' a wink

"Okay, that's cool, I guess. How are you?" Sylvi asks politely, not wanting to jump into demands for information right off the bat.

"Of late, a bit busy. not that i mind. Keeps me from lounging about while the youngsters work. Right now though, I have time. Been scrying for dangerous chimera, so I suspect this has something to do with that?"

"Well...yes." Sylvi glances at Kelby, then goes ahead. "We were down by the stream, and this serpent thing came out of the water and almost got me, but Kelby clobbered it so I had a fighting chance. But when it looked at me, I mean before she hit it, it was like kind of being hypnotized? Like...I wanted it to bite me. But when we killed it, it turned into all these crystals...and I was wondering if maybe these are what's left of fae that it did bite."

The warmth from the Mountains' face goes away as he becomes all business indeed, "Hand the crystals to me. if this is what I think it is, you maybe right on the money but it would be even worse than you think"

Sylvi frowns with concern and hands over her crystals, glancing to Kelby.

Kelby hands her own over without comment

"Son of ... thirteen" He eyes through then.. "Here..let me show you" A brief surge of magicc over the crystals

She leans in to watch.

Now she cans see images in each tear. One looks to be a ugly white spider with red eyes, a predator beast itself. Another is a lovely bird of prey (A Eurasian Sparrowhawk though she might not know that), yet another is an imp of some sort almost devlish, A two headed bear, and there's a...wow, there's a unicorn in there!

It is the last one that catches her eye, he taps it, she recoginzies that. An Eshu

"So...so all these are...chimera? Except the Eshu?"

"Oh they were, but here's the thing. that creature fed on them, and their essence, the core of their dreams? Were trapped in its gullet. They would never be reborn, not even the Eshu's fae side. No more runs on the wheel, not with the souls trapped" The mountain frowns "Nasty nasty bit of work"

Kelby looks spooked "No way"

"Yes way" the mountain assures

Sylvi looks horrified. "But that's...can we free them somehow? Is that possible?"

"Sure is " He nods "Sec I think you two will enjoy this" /"we?" Kelby says eyes curious "We can help you free them?"

"Exactly what I was getting at " he hands out a silver mallet, and a silver knife "the touch of silver will break the crystals and set the souls free"

And offers them up to the girls

Sylvi blinks and reaches to take the silver knife. "Um...you want us to go outside to do this, or do you want a unicorn galloping around inside your cabin?"

"Oh, no, they won't come back as they were... unnless you put glamoour into it maybe. they'll just be freed to be redreamt. If you want to break it AND put glamoour in, do so..but uhm.. they may not all be friendly and the eshu lady will go onto her next life regardless"

"Oh...then...yeah, better to let the Dreaming figure it out, instead of messing with it, I think." She carefully holds the blade over one of the crystals and touches the tip to a sparkling facet.

it shatters and vanishes and glamour streaks by and there's a sense of gratitude and a high pitched cry of freedom

"NEAT" Kelby says and frees another

She watches and smiles as the glamour sings out. "Wow...."

A skittering scary sense of otherness, and yet also of ties to the world and fate... as the spider chimera is released by Kelby and sends a farewell o thanks

"Told you you might enjoy this part" the Mountain smiles .

A shiver as the spider goes. "I want to let the bear go." And she taps it with the blade.

Fury and guardianship and ... yes, rage at being caught, used! And pride in its purpose as a forest warder and ... thanks, yes. The sense of something larg and fury brushing buy and thanking her

"Oh!" A startled sound, then a smile. "You're welcome." And with Kelby, they take turns releasing one after another until only the unicorn and the eshu remain.

Sensations and impressions about until those last two "This was neat, uhm..which one of the last two do you want to free?"

Sylvi thinks about it a moment. "Do you mind if I free the eshu? I was at another eshu's death bed, and...I don't know, it just seems kind of appropriate, somehow. Like, patterns, y'know?"

"Don't mind at all" Kelby says and takes the unicorn and sets it free.

A sense of wonder and magic flows strong at that one

"Oh, nice..." Sylvi says appreciatively. Then she takes a breath and holds the blade above the crystal. "Sorry you've been stuck here so long. I hope you have a good return." The silver touches the gem.

A brief image of an eshu soul like ou might see in the dreaming, a woman's voice "Ah, new roads again at last! Little one... a gift for you. Seek out a scepter fallen not far from your very home..upon it are words to the power that sidhe would keep only to themselves. Give it to your mother, it will help"

And then the soul is gone, for she cannot endure here long, the wheel calls

Sylvi blinks a few times, then looks at the others. "You...you heard that?"

"I did" Kelby says impressed

An apologetic look. "I didn't mean to cheat you out of a boon, Kels."

"FFftt" KElby snorts "Don't get big for your britches, Town Girl. For all you know that Unicorn will be redreamed right on the farm! And I will be allowed to ride it..Then you'll be wishing you got that one instead"

A smile follows though

"Entirely possible"The Mountain says

Sylvi gets a wicked smile for a second and seems about to reply, but edits herself when Emmitt speaks. "Hmph. Well...good luck with that." A wink to Kelby. "But I guess I should go search for this scepter thing before somebody else stumbles on it. Weird that she wants it to go to my mom and not the Chieftain, huh?"

"Does sound like a grand quest waiting to happen" Kelby says "You going it alone?"

"Don't have to. You want to come with?"