#odyssey

"Thank you, my lord. I am Cauley, and in helping me help you, you may have saved my wardship" She says "More formal introductions needs must wait until we get out of here. You've made quite the stir."

They get to one wall, and she looks at the pooka "If you please?"

"I want a new box" the boy tells the wall, and a new portal passage opens.

"This way" the sidhe noble girl says

August seethes uncharacteristically (although the Childlings could hardly know that) and follows.

They make their way upstairs, and into a side hall quickly quickly quickly... and then come to a grand room "This place is believed to be under construction... and thus closed off. Obviously it is not. "

'May I get you tea, sir?" the sluagh boy offers

"N.... yes, thank you." tersely but politely "Please explain what is going on." August 'requests' of the young Duchess.

Tea is served all around.

"I am Duchess Cauley ap Dougal, ward of the Duke, and leader of this motley. And I am terribly sure that someone knew you were coming, for rumors have flown about one Miss Zara and how she responsible for strange carriage sightings and chimera running wild in greater strength of late. It appears to be a frame job. " A beat and a look at the sluagh "IT IS a frame job? Your'e sure"

The sluagh boy nods A LOT.

"A frame job" She adds with certainty "It is not meant to prove her guilt, but the delay of TWO Weeks before she'd be released, now that is curious. NO?"

"Your Grace." August bows, formally "I am Baron August Truthbranch, House Liam and Bannerhouse Lord. I assure you, Miss Zara is innocent of these charges and I will defend her to my last breath if given the opportunity. And yes... the purpose of her arrest on false charges is most curious. Do you know who made them? The charges?"

"The Baroness Wintershine, ap Varich has made the most noise, but I do not think she thought of it." A frown "She is biased against sluagh so her word is doubted, but it is enough to have given some a target. Folks are scared, Baron. And when they get scared..."

The nocker chimes up "They get stupid"

"I am unacquainted with the Lady; will you tell me of her?"

"HI" the boggan beams "I'm Della. SO sorry boggans have bought into this gossip about your friend. I'm a child so they tend to pat me on the head and ignore but I can tell you about her. SHe's very bitter about not having land of her own but she is not without influence. She's got pale hair, dark eyes, and while she's pretty she's not the fairest in all the land. She is often seen at court though and everyone thinks she's looking for an opening to a hold but she's been useful Rumor has it she has made alliances among some commoners of ..shady dispositon"

August nods. "I thank you. Why did you take me away from Miss Zara and the other ladies and bring me here? Why deny me the right to defend her?"

"Because you would have been overpowered, Baron, then locked away for two weeks as well... and we have omens and castings of our own. We need YOU to find where the carriages are going and more."

That little duchess seems firm on that

The black cat pooka whispers "Secret Agent Sidhe. Agent Double O Liam"

The sluagh rolls his eyes, then says "As kids we can go some places, but others are EXTRA barred from us, baron sir."

"And I must go to court, which IS such a bother when there is work to do" The Dougal sidhe hmmphs

"If there were real and present dangers, Miss Zara would have known about it; she is the foremost witch of her generation." August says with absolute certainty.

"Yeah well, folks hunt witches all the furking time" The nocker points out

"I can't believe that older eshu lady betrayed you all like that." The boggan fusses "So rude. No loyalty. The younger one is suspect now, but SHE isn't being looked at hardly at all anymore"

"Mm."

"I am Liam; it is not a revelation to you, Your Grace, that I am least likely to be welcomed to the halls of power here."

"Yes, Baron" She nods "Your house is oathbroken, most unpleasant. But that doesn't change the fact we need your help as you are an outsider and the rest of us are known.. variables. yes."

August shifts his weight, clearly unsettled and frustrated. "What is your plan?" He asks in a low, quiet voice.

"My sluagh friend will help you out" She says "As much as he can. I'm honestly not sure of WHAT Plan exactly we should try but I do know that popping up now will get you arrested and held for two weeks. My Duke is a good man, but he's very busy and worried for his folks. You won't get an audience with him, but I can. If you find evidence I can pass it on. "

"Find evidence?!"

"Find out where the carriages are going? If you can?" She sighs "I am a kid, though a preco.. pre cotius?"

"Precocious." August says with pink cheeks "I'm not an investigator, and not as good a researcher as Zara is. I came to help open doors, true, and to offer my sword to defend them... the ladies... but they have a far better understanding of the situation than I do."

"Of the four of us, you stole away the -least- likely to be of help."

"That is not what our omens say" The Duchess says stubbornly.

"Maybe you've got dumb luck" The pooka says helpfully

August sighs, a bit mournfully "My luck is usually noticeably absent."

The black cat pooka pats him kindly "Been there, bro. Been there"

"Okay enough, Baron, is there ANYTHING you know about this situation you could tell us?"

"You must know frickin SOMETHING or you'd not have tried to slip a witch in the place" The nocker nods

August wracks his brain. "I followed her here, not the other way around." He explains to the nockerling. He tells them what he can remember (which is more than the player can ....)

(Fair, been there myself)

As August shares Zara's theories that were shared with him, the childlings are horrified...

"Love lorn? Is this.. is this a kissing adventure?" The sluagh boy whispers with dread

"One shudders" The black cat pooka says.

"I'm going to skip love and to straight to marriage when I'm a wilder so I can get back to my workshop" Cauley nods "But Those ARE clues, or at least things to look for."

"A Furking NOCKER Behind this?" the boy nocker looks troubled "MAAN, I don't want to be witch hunted because of what some schlub did"

The sluagh lad ponders "sluagh stick together. I'll take what you told me and find out more, baron" the spindly boy looks at August with sincere eyes

"I fear this is the best I'll be able to do." August says with a mixture of honesty and pain. "Unless there are missives to write or research to be done. We were going to try to avail ourselves of the Duke's libraries but...."