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Buidhe's cabin sits far back, near the wall of trees-to-thorns which encircles the Autumn Hollow, surrounded by oak-like trees straight out of Sleepy Hollow. The door's closed and fixed with a heavy lock like something out of a Disney cartoon jail, the sort of thing unlocked by the ring of jingling keys on a jailer's convenient keyring.
No convenient keyring here, though. Just two small windows, one locked door. The rest of the hollow is quiet, possibly cleared out by the new-minted Queen for everyone's work.
Annie eyes the lock. "Anyone good with picks, or should we try spinning that away? I do not fancy having to try and climb in the window."
"There's also the possibility of asking nicely for the cottage to let us in. I would prefer not to damage his home if we don't have a choice." Ros smiled faintly, though the expression was full of grim determination.
Polly, translucent glimmering color-blob that she is, eyes the lock her own self. "I think I can manage this," Polly remarks cheerfully. "Give me a moment. Whoever really wants in there, come over here and touch me for a second or seven." As she says that, she releases some glamour into the air which swirls about her in a spectrum of light, the light itself forming a rather archaic seeming and esoteric workshop all about her. "And do be quick, as these tools will not last indefinitely."
Mel makes a thinking noise deep in their throat. "If it was a more modern lock I'd say I could get in through the window in cat-form and unlock from the inside, but..." They stop when Polly makes her suggestion. "Or that. That sounds more plan-like"
Ros immediately stepped over to touch her shoulder and Agate came and rubbed up against Polly's hip too, like a cat rubbing against an ankle.
Annie shrugs one shoulder, moving to lean against Polly's other shoulder. Not so much as to distract the other woman, but still definitely in contact with her.
When she's got a conduit to the desires of the others, she draws those desires out, congeals the light of her tools and ersatz workshop, and produces-- in rather short order --a single glimmering rainbow colored key which she holds up and out, offering it to Annie and Rosalyn both. "If your desires are true, this should open the lock. Or some other thing you wish opened more, in any case." Polly's smile broadens, "Happy to help!" The workshop fades out, growing first pale and then invisible.
The key is as cartoonishly large as the lock, shaped as if made perfectly to fit. Which, of course, it is. Faerie magic works like that.
"Thank you," Annie says, dropping a kiss on Polly's cheek as she takes the key, then moving to insert it into the lock and turning it.
"Well," Mel says with a short laugh. "Sometimes I forget exactly how picture book our magic can get." They take a deep breath. "Lets see what we can find."
click
The heavy old padlock falls open easily, and is easily removed. The door swings open with a slow creak of wood and metal appropriate to the entryway of the cabin of a former King of Autumn.
creaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak
And beyond? A mess. Owls make messy nests, and this is no different. Piles of books, papers, a tiny bed in the corner. There were rumors that Robin's cabin was a whole lot of books and papers to go through, but those at least were organized. This is like Hoarders, Changeling Edition.
Rosalyn grimaced at the mess, then stood just inside the doorway. "We are here with the permission and authority of Autumn's Crown," she declared, waiting a moment to listen for any sign of movement or sense any acknowledgement from the cottage itself. You never know what kind of enchantments might have been placed in a mess like this. "Well, time to get started. Let's see if we can find the... spaces that he actually lived in and search the detritus that is closest at hand there first."
"This isn't going to be so bad, everyone! Sure, it looks like an unruly pile of scattered books and papers, but Buidhe had to have had a system. Once we figure out what system he used, finding what we're looking for will be that much easier! We'll just have to take a little time and put our heads together. We can do this." Polly offers this upbeat assurance from the back of the group. Musicians are not crime scene investigators, but they're good morale officers, at least!
Taking apart the ... nest... is slow and dirty work. There's so much dust and cruft that all of them are going to want serious showers after this: it gets in their eyes, stuffs up their noses, makes their hair and skin feel grimy and nasty.
The room itself is just... piles upon piles of papers, and the scribbling in them covers so many years of the Freehold's history, but there's also an incredible amount of information on people's activities that makes it hard to sort through.
A lot of it reads like garbage, and may be some sort of code, but it's clear that Buidhe watches so much, like some sort of Autumn version of The Question, going through people's metaphorical garbage more and more as the years go on.
But in the most recent papers, Rosalyn hits on a repeating comment in his daily diary: could not settle, which repeats in reference over and over:
At AP, could not settle.
At PRFM, could not settle.
Tried Charm, could not settle.
Rosalyn waved the diary from where she sat on the edge of a pile of books. "Hey guys? Does anyone know what 'AP', 'PRFM', or 'Charm' could mean? It looks like he was trying to settle something or else trying to find a place to settle down and live himself, maybe?"
"Asbury Park, and the Punk Rock Flea Market. Two Goblin markets, if I recall correctly, in addition to two New Jersey cultural staples," Polly suggests from the back once more, peeking over Rosalyn's shoulders while standing on her tippy-toes. "Charm, I imagine, will be much the same. Settle could refer to settlement. Sale. Finding a price. Maybe. Just guessing!" She's staying as close to the doorway as possible, where there's light. In fact, she's started fishing in her backpack for a flashlight.
By this point Mel isn't even really aware that they're compulsively combing through their head feathers trying to get the dust and grime out. But they are, even as they turn over yet more papers, trying to make a general sense of anything. "Maybe settle on a deal? I mean, that's usually what the markets are for, right? To make deals?"
"I think Charm is more likely to be an object of some sort than a location," Annie counters, frowning.
Ros nodded slowly and scoured over the section of pages again for any more hints. "Has anyone found similar references in the junk piles?"
"He was in debt," Ros said slowly. "Those cursed goblin contracts, but none of the markets he went to could or would settle the debt with him. What happens when your debt grows too much?"
"You become a Goblin King?" Polly muses aloud, "I think I remember that bit." Polly flicks on her flash light, then pulls out a flash light visor which she puts on her head, shedding yet more light. Then a similarly lit pair of wrist bands which she slides on before venturing closer to the group. "Admittedly, picturing Buidhe singing Magic Dance in lavender tights is breaking my brain."
Annie mock-glares at Polly. "Thanks so much for sharing that image, babe."
"What babe?" Polly rejoins lyrically, and with a big smile.
Mel's eyes go wide as they suddenly go very still. "Oh, shit. That's it! He's become a Goblin King, and 'cause Goblin monarchs aren't changelings, he lost his Mantle." Their feathers fluff, giving off a puff of dust. "The question then becomes... what do we do about it?"
"That may be up to our Queen," Rosalyn said, looking disturbed. She hadn't been free for very long and clearly hadn't ever heard of this phenomena- or seen Labyrinth. "Is there a way to undo it, the way fae lost in a clarity coma can be brought out of it? Or if he's irrevocably changed, it may be a matter for the Ghuls."
"The babe with the power," Annie retorts to Polly, before sobering at Mel's realisation. "I think so, but it is unlikely to be easy. And will likely need his cooperation, which we may be unable to get."
"Fight our way to the center of the labyrinth and find the castle beyond the goblin city to take back the child that he has stolen?" Polly once more muses, because she's a pop culture nerd and David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly were formative in her nascent bisexuality. She looks between the others and clears her throat, "Well. First off, we need to find him. And quite possibly we should visit the markets and see if we can sell our goblin debt. Assuming anyone around here has any. If we can, then it's safe to assume the lockout was intentional and the markets-- or someone paying the markets --wanted him this way."
"You think he's stolen a baby?!" Rosalyn was completely aghast.
"...No, Ros, that was a reference to a film," Annie reassures the other Fairest, because she's at least seen Labyrinth.
"Besides, if he'd stolen a human baby, he could get out of being the Goblin King," Mel says, somewhat distractedly. "I think that's one of the ways they can abdicate - if there's a mortal child to take their place. Don't quote me on that or anything"
Ros exhaled. "We'll have to find him before then. No one is taking a child into the Hedge just to get out of debt while I'm here."
"Alright," Ros said, making her way out of the clutter and mess to stand in the autumn air again. "Next steps. Polly, your idea to see if someone at the market is willing to help our people pay off their debt is a good one. This could have been a deliberate sabotage on their part. A visit to the local market is in order. I don't have any goblin contracts so perhaps someone who does could take the lead on that front. I'm going to hit the library and learn that tracking contract, and go out to find him. We'll need a plan for how to proceed to bring him back to us... or not before we actually go."
Mel shakes their head. "I've tried to avoid debt of any kind, Goblin or otherwise, so I'm no help there." They chew on the end on one of their fingers as they think. "It is possible that he might not be a full Goblin King yet, which would make it easier to get him back, but..." They sigh, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "What if he doesn't want to? Like, what if he likes... being that way?"
"He knows so much. About everyone and everything in this freehold," Rosalyn said quietly. "Leaving him as a goblin would be an enormous security risk."
"I do not have any goblin contracts, but I know a few people who definitely do, so I can talk to them if need be," Annie says. "Do any of you know if it is possible to take someone else's debt onto yourself? That might make it easier to restore him."
The room is almost oppressively still around them, stacked high with papers still.
Polly's smile renews when her idea is praised. She's not really helpful in investigations. Or in occult research. Or, you know. Anything not tangentially related to singing, playing music, and dancing. But occasionally she has good ideas, and that seems to suit her well enough in this situation. "I think I know some people, yeah. I'm not one of them, myself. If I'm right, though, we'll want to be circumspect about it. Not advertise our freehold, why we're asking. If my hunch is right, and someone paid off the markets not to take Buidhe's debt, they might have paid to know if others come asking, too. We don't want to tip them off, or they'll go to ground and we'll never find them."
"Is this something you'd be able to take point on?" Rosalyn asked.
"I... am not the best at being circumspect," Polly admits after a bit of consideration, "but I'm pretty good at it. I could even probably find a Goblin contract or two I'd want to have to wrack up some debt of my own. And when it comes to wearing down people to figure out who might have ensured Buidhe wasn't able to sell? That, I'll be great at. Part and parcel of the whole Joyeux shtick," Polly replies with a small shrug of her shoulders. "I might need some help from someone who knows the markets better than me, though. I don't really do the hedge."
Mel has the decency to look chagrined. "I didn't think about the security issue. Which was really dumb of me, sorry. Still we might also want to see if we can figure more about if he's a full King yet or just like getting there, 'cause the solutions are probably different."
"I can probably help you with that, Polly," Annie offers. "I am not the most experienced with the markets, but I at least know my way around."
She nodded to Polly. "Get a team together to help. I am not ideal for that sort of thing. I've never even been to a market to be honest. Mel, would you be able to look into the differences between a King and... whatever? A list of solutions for whatever we find would be helpful. We'll take it to the Queen for review before taking any, ah, permanent measures."
"I can try," Polly states once more, "I don't know how many people are going to want to follow a singing rainbow into something like this. But I can try. And if nothing else, I can find someone better suited to do it than me." Polly nods across to Annie with a reassuring smile, "Thanks."
"That I could do. It'll be good information to have anyway, for the Freehold as a whole." They give a short laugh. "Gah, and to think I just thought I'd attend a Crowning and party. Now we're all knee deep in serious investigate-y stuff"
"You're a singing rainbow and I'm a pretty pretty fucking princess. We all have our burdens and if anyone gives you shit over it, please let me know and I'll feed them to Elio. Since he's just a lovely unicorn."
Annie shrugs one shoulder. "I mean, I would follow you lots of places, but I am biased."
"Yeah. But you're also a badass horse archer and stuff. I am just a singing rainbow. But, sure. Like I said. I'll give it a try, or I'll hand it off to someone better equipped to get the job done. I'm a facilitator. I'll facilitate, don't worry." Polly gives Annie a wry grin at that, "You just like the view."
"Nothing wrong with being a singer. I mean come on, there's tons of stories where beautiful voices or the right song is what everything hinges on, right?" Beaks make smiling difficult, but Mel's gotten good at giving the same impression mostly with their eyes. "And if the Hedge or anything fae-y is going to be involved in all this, things important in stories are probably going to end up more important than we think."
"Shooting up the market and trampling the stalls won't get an investigation very far... Your charm and charisma will go much further." Ros tried to wipe her hands off in the grass. "Besides, for all the Powers and Talents that various freeholders have... You are here and helping right now and they are not. That counts for a lot and I believe in you."
"And what a lovely view it is, too," Annie grins, clearly not embarrassed in the slightest by having her motives for following Polly called out. There's a pause as she glances between the others present. "Is there anything else we need to discuss right now, or should we break off and go clean ourselves up?"
"We should probably get some of the summers to post some guards here 'round the clock. They tend to be an incurious bunch, and shouldn't pry in these papers too awful much. I'd hate seeing all of this information just walk out the door for want of security," Polly suggests with a smile for the others. "I'm good, though. I can head out and start asking around presently. I'll let you all know what I hear back. Okay?"
"Let's get cleaned up. I'll put a message up on the board to drum up help for you Polly. Is there anything I can do to support your research, Mel?" Then she let out a sharp whistle and Elio trotted in from the Hedge at her call. "I'll ask for a guards too, and Elio can keep an eye on things until that's properly established. The Queen will probably need much of what's in there. If it can be organized."
"Elio, stand guard here while I clean up and run a few errands, ok? You have my permission to bite anyone who tries to get in the cottage."
"If you know of anyone in the freehold who's dealt with a Goblin Monarch or anything, I'd love to talk to them. Other than that, it'll probably just be hitting books and stuff. Probably more, but it's hard to think when I feel this gross." They give themself a little shake as if to emphasize the point.
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