032. Mille Bornes

The motley arrives in Seattle, and meet new friends… and rivals.

***"Some games have a beginning and an end; sometimes you jump ahead, and sometimes you lag behind."***

The motley walks on along the Silver Path, and as the orchard begins to frost over, with a light layer of ice on the trees, they spy an encampment on the path. The camp seems welcoming, with four cozy tents around a campfire, burning merrily; while the motley is suspicious of whose camp it could be, they decide to rest the night. Hirgo promises to stand guard, and the three sleep, with Braum entering an even deeper sleep than the others, his wounds having got the better of him.

During the night they are awoken by a ruckus: Hirgo is being dragged off by three creatures. The three chimera seem almost feline in form, but with limbs that are just a bit too long, and they hiss and growl warnings at the motley. When Patches uses her lightning gun's grappling hook to snatch Hirgo back onto the path, the creatures take it as a aggression and rush her, the Silver Path no longer providing protection. Braum uses a lit branch to try to fend off the creatures, but only manages to entangle himself with one. Sophia, thinking quickly, imbues Patches with the essence of water, allowing her to escape the creatures' clutches. She fires a lightning bolt at the chimera attacking Braum, and while she injures them both, she uses her quicksilver speed to drive the three away.

Hirgo, grateful to have been saved by Patches, leads them onwards to a hot spring, where they meet a willowy sidhe from Washington state. Allowing themselves to rest for an hour, they venture onwards to the foot of the large mountain they saw at the beginning of their journey. Realizing that they have reached their destination, they ponder how exactly to open the portal to the Sapphire Eye. Without knowledge of opening portals, they best they can hope to do is unleash Wayfare in the Dreaming, but Patches' glamour stores have been depleted in their fight with Talus and the chimerical creatures. Hirgo begs for "sweet release" from life, knowing that consuming him will restore Glamour in the Kithain, but none of the motley can bring themselves to do it. As he sets off into the wild blue yonder, the portal from the Sapphire Eye suddenly opens, and they rush through it, counting their lucky stars.

The other side of the portal puts them in the cellar of a pretentious pub in Seattle, the Oak & Dagger. Sophia remembers the freehold to be upstairs, but Braum quickly checks with an old Selkie sitting at the bar. He is delighted to see Sophia, asking if she will be playing another concert, and noting his surprise that she is "not yet the Queen of Pacifica"! Braum tries to ask her about her history at the freehold, but the sidhe brushes him off as they head upstairs.

The manor freehold's entryway is a cozy living room with large leather chairs and a roaring fire, and a light blue hue coming in through the skylight. Braum immediately falls asleep in one of the easy chairs as Sophia takes Patches off to the find the freeholder. They are intercepted by a small boggan with a fire-red beard, Reggie, the freehold's steward. It becomes immediately clear that Reggie and Sophia have some history: he refers to her title of "lady" with incredible disdain. His condescending attitude doesn't go unnoticed by Patches, who tries to cut to the chase. Reggie promises to announce "the *lady* Sophia" and "Patches, Steward of the Spark" to the freeholder.

Braum is awoken by a childling sluagh (Feeney) flaking off bits of his skin. He refers to Braum as "the subject", and is on the verge of digging into his wound with a chisel when Braum brushes him off. As the childling races away, Braum realizes that Whisper is gone, and charges after him. Bursting in a small indoor hockey rink, he meets a crotchety eshu grump, Dener, who is supervising the group of childlings currently brawling on the ice. Learning that the freehold offers space and activities to many childlings in the community, Braum is no closer to finding Feeney, and heads back out.

Lady Sophia and Patches are shown in to meet the freeholder, a grand and dramatic sidhe, Count Spencer ap Liam. He is overjoyed to see Sophia again, hoping that she will grace the freehold with her incredible talent again. They take off to find Braum, and, learning that the troll sustained a grievous wound, insists on treating him himself in their sick bay. Braum persuades Count Spencer to let him be treated by a physician, and inquires as to the whereabouts of Feeney. Reggie brings the childling in, but admits to having taken Whisper away, seeing as how Braum entered the freehold with an "unbound weapon". Reggie asks Patches to step out with him, and drops his "steward" facade as he starts insulting the nobility. He assumes that Patches, a commoner, also holds his same disdain for all nobles, but she quickly schools him, noting that the actions of a Kithain dictate her respect for them… or lack thereof.

Despite Reggie's threat to "make Sophia's life very difficult" if she were to breathe a word of their conversation to anyone, Patches warns the sidhe about his plans. Braum is worried about making an enemy so quickly after arriving at a new safe haven, but they all decide that their position at this new freehold needs to be established before taking any drastic actions.