Goodbye to Gravity, and to Death(IC)

[Ari]

GM

Where it took them turned out to be a large clearing on a ledge overlooking a short drop into a narrow valley, where the stream fed a small pond with several darting, rainbow-colored fish visible in the depths. A scattering of tents and a large wooden cage could be seen below next to a slow-moving river.

Standing on an incongruous tree stump right at the edge of the shelf was Parsinkle, shading his brow with an elegant red-gloved hand. The attendants were nowhere in sight.

Hearing their approach(his ears twitching visibly), he turned to the two humans and smiled cheerfully "Ah, there you are! And in good time, too!" waving towards the view below he continued breezily "I have sent my troops down before us, to prepare an ambush. We will show ourselves, the renegade Redcaps" his mouth twitched upwards briefly "we will feign a retreat, and lead them directly into our jaws" sitting down with a flourish on the smooth tree stump he said brightly "Your thoughts?"

[Supercape]

"My thoughts?" answered Rene.

"I would rather see exactly what is going on!" he laughed, as jovially as possible. "I do like to see things properly, you see" he explained, as he extracted out his magic paintbrush.

"So, perhaps my squire and I can go incognito first?" he explained, before painting into the air. With every stroke, Marceau's features blurred and changed.

"Perhaps another Redcap has a prisoner he would like to take?" he suggested, as he finished his work.

Before him, Marceau now appeared as a Redcap!

[Ari]

"So, perhaps my squire and I can go incognito first?"

"An excellent idea!" said Marceau cheerfully, dropping the pack as he began to fiddle with the coveralls so he could change quickly into his armored suit, unconscious of the change being wrought upon his appearance "We could scout around the camp, discern their defenses and come up with a-" he stared at his suddenly wrinkled(and much paler) hands, A moment's frantic search consoled him that they were in fact still his, and he straightened up, looking over Rene's handiwork with a whistle of appreciation. He had the gnomic face, the narrow eyes and dour demeanor of the Redcaps in great evidence.

Turning an incongruous smile on his friend he exclaimed happily "Brilliant, Rene! Even if they realize somehow I am no Redcap, I might at least be able to walk through their camp and discover the captured" he embraced the old man warmly "Now, will this suffice?" he asked Parsinkle.

[Ari]

GM

The Fey prince looked briefly displeased at the sight of Rene's talent, amber eyes narrowing for a fleeting instant, ruby lips pressing for the space of a breath. His expression cleared with all speed, though, and clapping politely at the transformation of Marceau he eyed the man's new guise with a critical eye. "It will serve" he said after walking around the Redcap-apparent "It is unlike the glamers my race use, and that should at least allay suspicions that you are of another breed trying to spy on them. However" Parsinkle warned gravely, looking to both of the humans but with his words directed at Rene "this trick will not wholly protect your friend. As you already observe, his voice is yet his own. He will not walk, hold himself or use the jargon common to the Redcaps. Thus, I would advise him to be silent when he can, and shuffle, and look downwards to lend more strength to this deception" he nodded shortly, his long cap swirling in a manner more suited to water than air "But..I trust your squire is able, and discreet enough to carry this part" a quick smile slid across his face and he picked up the heavy sword that had been left nestled against the stump, buckling it to his ornate belt.

Setting off noiselessly down the hill he said to the two humans "Proceed, I and my soldiers will await you" and so saying he vanished into the sparkling trees.

-----------------

The Redcap encampment was only lightly-guarded, a collection of tents behind scattered lines of stakes scattered around small campfires in a large clearing, with long lines of salt cross-hatching the camp. A large wooden cage was erected at the center of the camp, made of heavy trunks hacked from the glittering oaks. It was clearly visible from all ends of the clearing, and looked very imposing. The place looked quite deserted, with not a Redcap to be seen.

[Supercape]

"Not a soul to be seen" commented Rene, peering carefully at the camp.

"Which does not mean, of course, there is not a soul that should be..." he chuckled, peeking into a camp.

"And what have we here? a cage? not something I fancy spending my afternoon in. Not at all..." he said, scratching his beard.

He turned to Marceau, or rather the Redcap who was "escorting his prisoner".

"Well, my captor, I do not think I should drop the facade quite yet..." he smiled "...but tell me, what does your well honed detective mind say about this little mystery, hmmm?"

[Ari]

Scanning the tent-dotted clearing sparkling in the unnatural sunlight, the 'Redcap' narrowed his eyes and shaded them to see past the now-infuriating gentle haze and glare suffusing the glade. With a croak in his voice that the prince had instructed him to adopt he offered "Perhaps they are hidden, and watching us to see what we do? It would not surprise me if this apparent openness was a trap laid to ensnare us. They will know they are hunted," he added in a softer voice "or not. But whichever it is, they will be wary, I have heard that the Fey prize human captives. All we can do is play our part for now, and hope we do not alert them to who and what we really are."

He gave Rene a short, grim smile "I'm sure you'll do fine, my friend" and taking him by the hand led him roughly into the clearing, calling out in a gruffer voice "My brothers, another of our prey!"

[Ari]

GM

The response was immediate, as Redcaps apepared to spring full-blown from nowhere to surround the pair, harsh voices announcing joy at the sight of another of their kind. Rough hands stretched out of coarse sleeves to slap Marceau on the back or scratch at Rene, and for a few seconds it looked like pandemonium. However, as quickly as they began, they stopped, frozen in place as they bent their heads towards the looming(and however bright the idyllic land was it did loom) forests. Apparently not hearing anything to make them suspicious, they still became much less gregarious, hastily leaidng the two into the camp until they were quite close to the large and imposing cage.

On the short walk through the maze of tents, small cooking fires and pens containing snuffling and grumbling boars, Rene could easily tell that the Redcaps feared him. They never touched him except with their hard nails, never letting him out of their sight, and screwed up their wrinkled faces if his gaze happened to meet theirs, edging away with a mutter in their throat. They didn't speak to him, but they did speak to Marceau.

"A good catch, brother" grumbled one with a long scar over one closed eye "We could use another old 'un. So many of the huamns we caught are mere kids, babes more fit for playing the red games of the Courts than trucking with us. Not enough..iron in their limbs, " he said by way of expansion, shuddering at the mineral's name "all soft in heart and bone. Say, brother" he added with a sudden note of curiosity "How did you hear of our revolt? I don't remember you in the hills"

They had by now almost reached the cage, and both could see within the movements of what could only be the people inside, whispers of assurance to children, bitter remonstrations against the dull-clothed Redcaps, and speculations on why they were there clearly audible. A small wrought-copper door in one wall of the cage seemed the only entryway, and a shove from a pike against Rene's back encouraged him to move towards it.

[Supercape]

"Excellent!" said Rene, shuffling in and making the most of his age and supposed decrepitude.

Copper he noted, observing the cages construction.

"Thankyou for your hospitality. Ze cage looks lovely!" he said to the Redcap thrusting him in, and giving a wink to Marceau.

"Rebellion you say? I congratulate you! Viva Liberte!" he shouted, raising his fist and smiling in supposed comradeship to the Redcaps.

With that, he shuffled over to the shadows in the cage, to get a firmer look at who his fellow captives where.

[Ari]

Marceau was busy scanning the campsite for any obvious defensive positions when he was casually asked how he knew about the Redcap rebellion. Startled, his voice became a shade softer in his hurried answer of "Oh, ah..news travels quickly in these woods, brother! I was on my way here, guided by some of the birds, when I came upon that human" he gestured vaguely to Rene "wandering the forest. i remembered hearing that some of that breed had stumbled through the gate to our world, and seeing as another would do no harm, I took him along."

When they reached the cage he watched wretchedly as his friend went into it, quietly repeating "Viva la Liberte" as the old man went into the harsh and imposing enclosure.

To the one who had questioned him he asked midly "Speaking of which, brother: what news of the revolt? What chance do we stand against Parsinkle and the other princes?" he had the terrible feeling he was missing some key factor all this, but for the life of him he couldn't think what.

[Ari]

GM

Rene, after carrying his aged frame through the copper doorway(which upon closer proximity he saw was etched with neat glyphs and runes), found himself in a large, open single space. The cage apparently had one sole room for all the prisoners, who seemed to number around a dozen or so, in which the huddled masses clustered into small groups, looking up almost in unison as the ancient Frenchman entered the enclosure. The door shut with a violent slam just after his heel crossed the frame, and just as quickly one of the prisoners, a tall raw-boned white woman with a deeply unfashionable appearance and close-set dark eyes that matched her scowl. "Do you need any medical attention?" she asked brusquely "Name's Janice, I'm a nurse at the FMC, been there ten years" she added by way of assurance, her hard voice softening a touch as she noted the new arrival's advanced age.

A slight glint flashed in the eye of the Redcap Marceau was talking to. The strange Fey said with faint cheer "Why, brother, we stand with many thousands of fellows, all ready to strike against tyranny. We are the might of the princes, and they will discover that soon enough" his sharpened teeth flashed in a savage grin, and he clapped his hands. A much more ornate pike than usual was brought from a nearby arms stand, and he said blithely "Now, for the loyalty test and to rescind your oath of fealty", taking the weapon at the ready and signalling for the presumed rebel to be seated.

[Supercape]

"Bonjour, Janice" replied Rene. "I am as fit as a fiddle, as ze English would say..." he replied with a friendly manner.

He looked around the prisoners, displeased with their appearance and their incarceration.

"This does not seem good" he commented, tapping his finger in an irritated manner. Deprivation of liberty was something that, even after all these decades, still brought out the revolutionary young man in him.

"I am delighted to say I need no medical assistance. But you can tell me, what has happened here? has anyone else been hurt?"

[Ari]

GM

"Some of them were pretty roughly treated on the march here" Janice explained, changing a bandage(that had once been a strip of a cotton shirt) over a teenagers cut leg "Hold still, take my hand" she added to the boy, who was trembling slightly with pain, the injury looking ominously deep. "Those thing with the red caps, they didn't seem to care much about what happened to us, if you tripped they gave you a jab with a pike to make you step more carefully, some of these people will probably need to be treated for infection, those things never clean their weapons for some reason" she said, vitriol underlying every syllable "They seemed in a real hurry to get to this clearing, but when we reached it they just..lost all drive. They set up this camp quickly enough, but they've been just lazing around ever since, never even giving us a second thought" she shrugged "I have no idea what the hell they want, but this whole thing seems fishy to me"

Jnaice glanced at Rene "How did they miss you? When we came out here, they sprang on us immediately, so fast they must have been lying in wait"

[Supercape]

GM

"How did they miss you? When we came out here, they sprang on us immediately, so fast they must have been lying in wait"

"They didn't miss me..." smiled Rene, patting the nurse and sitting down to rest his weary hips.

"I only just arrived. And not without a few tricks up my sleeve either!" he said in a reassuring voice, tapping his nose.

"And on that note, I do not intend to stay long either..." he added, trailing off, studying the cage. He had no doubt that he could free himself, but he was unsure whether this was wise. He was, if nothing else, not short of patience. The unknown factor was Marceau. He had no doubt his countryman was supremely able, but it was, as they say, foreign land.

"Madam, how long have you been here? And how did ze Redcaps capture you?"

[Ari]

GM

"You mean..you came here on purpose?" Janice sounded wholly incredulous "You've got guts, I'll say that for you" she seemed relieved that Rene hadn't come here by accident, asking with sudden excitement and a hushed voice "Are there oth-no, forget it" she said quickly, glancing at the open walls around them. Checking the dressing of two long red cut across the back of another woman's arms she explained to the painter "Not much that I haven't already told you. We stumbled through for one reason or another, wandered around this place for a bit because it was such a nice change from the muggy weather in Freedom City, and then from around every tree these..people wearing blood-red caps jumped out. They run faster than you would ever believe, and I don't doubt they ain't human" she said grimly, carefully tightening a bandage before patting her patient warmly on the shoulder, moving back to Rene. "As for how long. far as I can tell we've been held captive for three days, and it's been rough, I don't mind telling you, they barely let us eat or drink for longer than about ten minutes before we were on the move again" she shrugged "Why do you ask?"

[Supercape]

"Because, madame, it has been less than three hours in our world. Time runs differently here, as in many other, more unusual places".

He tapped the copper cage with his finger, testing its strength. He was in fine shape for his age, but his age was advanced. Far from the invalid that he made himself out to be, he did not have the strength of a young man, and certainly not the strength to open the cage with his muscles alone. Of course, he could magically paint a blast of fire, or a thundering spear of rock, to rip apart the cage, but such a display of power would draw unwanted attention to himself.

He had lasted this long in the world by only using magic when required, and never drawing attention to his strength. Hubris was the enemy.

"Have you any Idea where the Redcaps are going? what there plan is?" he asked.

[Ari]

Meanwhile, outside the enclosure, Marceau had uncertainly knelt before the other Redcap, hoping nobody would notice how high his head and shoulders still were from the ground. "Proceed, brother" he said grimly "I am prepared to take my place among you, and strive for our freedom!" the words came out easily enough, as from what he figured people like Parsinkle would be fairly awful rulers.

He hoped fervently he wouldn't have to be cut by the sharp blade of the pike for a blood oath, it looked to be in questionably sanitary condition.

[Ari]

GM

The Redcap smiled broadly "I know you will do us proud, brother. We welcome you to our company" he said, bringing the pike down with sharp, painful thuds on each of the seeming-Redcap's shoulders. The others surrounding the pair briefly swarmed about him, clapping him on the back and raucously greeting him into their rebellion, offering him frothing mugs of some rust-colored liquid, and hearty shanks of steaming meat to celebrate his admission. "Now," their apparent leader said "let us prepare to meet with our allies. Sharpen the spears, heap up the fires! New brother" he said to Marceau "tell us your name, and then take your place by that pine" he pointed to a towering and lofty tree on the edge of the clearing that could not have existed with terrestrial gravity "Watch for bright manes, and gleaming horns!" The other Fey had already begun breaking into small bands, trudging through the tall grass to their work.

---------------------

"Three..hours" asked Janice with no little horror, staring aghast at Rene "B-but we..." she shook her head "I've never had any experience with this, I'll take your word for it" taking a seat on the ground she put a knee under her chin and looked closely at Rene after his question. "They don't seem to be in any hurry now" she said thoughtfully "Like I said, they seemed to just run out of energy when they got here. The cage took only a few hours to make...somehow, and they just feed and water us, they don't talk to us or jab us or anything" she frowned "Me and some of the others think they're waiting for allies to come, but who they might be, none of us have a single clue" she shrugged awkwardly "Don't know much else beyond that, mister."

[Supercape]

"Like I said, they seemed to just run out of energy when they got here. The cage took only a few hours to make...somehow, and they just feed and water us, they don't talk to us or jab us or anything. Me and some of the others think they're waiting for allies to come, but who they might be, none of us have a single clue"

"Please, call me Rene, Janice. how rude of me not to introduce myself" he answered, with a polite little bow married to a doff of his beret.

He contemplated sending a message to the King, but decided that there was not quite enough to tell yet, and, to be frank, he did not entirely trust the monarch. He never did trust monarchs....the Redcaps may indeed be fighting quite rightly for liberty.

That did not, of course, help or excuse the trapped humans. But why were they being kept prisoner?

"A mystery madam...a mystery...why would they keep us here? what possible purpose would we have for ze Redcaps, hmmm?"

He could not see any obvious answer. Perhaps the future might hold the key...

[Supercape]

It had been a long time since he had used the ritual. Peering into the future was uncomfortable, and he always felt slightly tainted when doing so. As if parting the veils of time and some black sorcerous whiff to it.

He sat down, no longer able to crouch or sit on his knees, and, in a messy but effective way, scrawled the sigil on the earth. A circle within a circle within a circle.

He placed his forehead in the centre and mumbled the old Babylonian chant. It was mechanical magic, done via ritual and rote, a sort of engineering. And it cost him.

In a flash, he saw the things that were to pass...

The King, leading the Redcaps...

Holding a torch in glorious ceremony...

Lighting the empty cage they were in...

The captured humans being lead off to a fabulous fairytale castle...

He slammed open his eyes and sat back. What did it all mean? At least they were not going to roast alive...

[Ari]

With a hoarse and rasping voice the human said "My name is Mars, in honor of the human god who has granted them victories over each other"

Nodding to the spokesman of the Redcaps, Marceau got to his feet and set off for the edge of the clearing, risking a glance between the bars of the cage to try and catch a glimpse of Rene. He was not just a little surprised at how complete the deception had been so far. I didn't expect it would be so easy to infiltrate these creatures. Could Rene's magic have some property that keeps it from being discovered by the Fey? he wondered as his disguised feet trudged across the sparkling grass. Rubbing his shoulders he wondered at something also troubling: he hadn't actually been required to swear anything. So what did those blows mean? he thought. Without much hope of untangling their meaning, he plodded over to the stately tree, and crouched down behind it, peering at the wood line only a few meters away.

[Ari]

GM

"That is a terrible name, brother! From now on, you are Hatchetteeth!" declared the spokesRedcap, saluting Marceau and flourishing the pike at his post.

When Marceau arrived at the vast tree, the noises of the forest and the camp slowly began to fade. As he watched the treeline for flickers of movement, he suddenly got the very distinct impression that someone was getting closer...

Suddenly, from behind the same tree he was crouching by, Parsinkle walked into view. Winking at Marceau he asked softly "So, what have you found? What are their numbers, and when would be best to start the attack?" he grinned widely.

Meanwhile, in the cage...

Janice looked at Rene anxiously "What'd you see? Are we gonna be turned into those things outside? Sacrificed to their gods? What?" she asked, almost desperately. Clearly being out of the loop for three days had begun to take their toll.

[Supercape]

"What'd you see? Are we gonna be turned into those things outside? Sacrificed to their gods? What?"

Rene sat down, rather tired from the ritual.

"Neither, as far as I am aware. Ze future, however, is hard to see, it is always...shifting....nothing is certain!"

He took a look at Janice, and noted her fear.

"But that is not answering ze question, as I am sure you spotted!" he chuckled "I saw something mysterious...the cage being set alight, with nobody in it, and the souls gathered here being lead by the King into a fabulous land and fabulous castle...I fear this fate is unclear but I doubt it is one we would wish on ourselves..." he finished.

"I think ze time has come to make our way out of here..." he concluded, wondering how Marceau was doing...

[Ari]

Starting backwards at the sudden appearance of the prince, Marceau/Hachetteeth blinkned in surprise, glanced around to see if anyone was watching, and answered softly "We have found that the renegades are..I would say they number at least a few dozen. I haven't been able to count them yet, there was very little time" he added by way of explanation. Peering into the forest edge as if he wasn't currently talking to the sworn enemy of the rambling monsters in the camp, he went on softly "They have the humans in that cage there," he gestured with his left hand almost imperceptibly "but they don't seem to even be guarding it. It appears they have their troops strongest around the perimeter"

Glancing back at the weird camp, at the cages of boars and stands of heavy pole-arms he frowned and said "As for when you should plan the attack..I think it ought to be done as soon as you can. I could fight most of them with a good chance of winning, but not all at once" he looked back at the red Prince hopefully "With your troops and my friend's magic, we can deal with these Redcaps and rescue the prisoners"

[Ari]

GM

Smiling elegantly at the report, prince Parsinkle nodded slowly. "I will do as you suggest, human. These..'renegades' must be swiftly dealt with, if my throne is to remain secure. Await the flare of a green brand on yonder hill" he pointed back towards the hillside where he and the two adventurers had parted ways "I will attack in force from the opposite side, while you attempt to distract them from my forces with your..talents" the Fey royal's smile quirked at the edges as he departed as suddenly as he had arrived.

Soon after, when the sun was beginning to set, the cage of prisoners was lit up with a flare of green fire! The prisoners were jerked from their slow descent into sleep, many jumping to their feet and trying to see beyond the walls of the cage. They shouted to their captors as the Redcaps rushed and snarled past them, ignoring the pleas and questions.

Janice had been busily repairing the bandages over a long gash on another woman's back. Nearly dropping the cloth at the flare, she cursed under her breath "Great, now we have a battle on our hands!" she glanced at Rene "Anything we can do to help your mystic #*%$?" she asked grimly "Because I can't think what else we c-" the roaring squeals of the war boars passing by drowned out the last of her sentence.

"Be ready, brothers! The prince approaches! We must meet him with all our strength!" came the call of the Redcap who seemed to be their leader, raising a blood-stained weapon "we shall not lose our freedom so soon after we gain it!" a chorus of shouts from the others, cries raised in throaty raucous voices all around the camp, seemed to agree.

Marceau was called over from his post by the tree to the apparent place where Parsinkle was about to attack from, with a black-bearded Redcap ordering him "Get us some brands, brother! Get us a fire going!"

[Ari]

"It shall be done, brother!" croaked the supposed Redcap, amazed he still hadn't somehow given the game away by now. Hurrying off through the throngs of Fey charging towards the signal flare, he quickly found a suitably large torch attached to a bundle of smooth white sticks set in an iron stand. Slipping it carefully out of the stand's grasp, he looked into its waving fire, watching the camp through the beckoning flame...

Well he thought grimly you did want a fire!

Without further ado he held the brand against the sun-bleached tent which almost immediately began to smolder. Galvanized, he sprang fully into action, sneaking around the side of the camp the flare had come from and hastily letting the torch's flames embrace the dry canvas of the tents, yelling after most of them were beginning to burn in earnest "Brothers! Some fiend has gotten loose! It has set the tents on fire!" he had no doubt that they would never fall for such a pathetic ruse, and he also had no doubt he could beat them all if need be.

"Whatever happens, I must give Parsinkle as much time as I can..."