110. 1st & Goal

The motley interrogates a member of Broken Flight.

***"Sometimes games exclude people, and those pieces mean nothing… Playing again, are you out of your depth?"***

In the tunnel leading from the Montreal superhospital to the underground metro, Patches comes face to face with a Forgotten Kenwyn, now begging for change. She attempts to reach out to him and offer him food, but he is suspicious of her: "nobody gives things away for free". She takes on the mantle of being a member of the Canadian Special Forces, and pursues him when he runs: he admits that he's being pursued, but that he hasn't seen any of "them" in years. She manages to coax him into eating, and he is re-enchanted, ashamed of his fate and having had to accept help. She brings him back to The Spark for his own safety.

Patches encounters a passed-out Braum in the Exhaust, and assists Dr. Sayley and Talus in bringing him to the sluagh's office/operating room. The next day, when the motley is reunited, Patches and Sophia take the lead on heading down to the dungeon, where Halleah is being kept, insisting Braum not interfere with "whatever they need to do".

Halleah is despondent, having seen the frozen Claude when brought downstairs: she swore to do "everything in her power to prevent the Long Winter," she tells them, and was convinced that Broken Flight's mission was about doing the same. Now, she's not so sure. When Sophia suggests the alternate reading of the prophecy, and that the crowing of High Queen Lenore might indeed have seen the prophecy fulfilled, Halleah merely shrugs, saying that she has always carried out her order. While she respects Braum even more than herself for being so kind to Cog and for being uncorruptible, she herself is still a vassal, bound by oaths to Claude, to Broken Flight, and to follow the orders of her superior and to not betray him. The motley understands that to ask more of Halleah would make her an Oathbreaker, but they hold out hope to get more information from her about this mysterious "superior". Her mission, she tells them, was to compromise "Ignite", but after having seen Braum in action, she isn't sure that's even possible!

Halleah falls deeper into sadness, explaining that the members of Ignite are being watched, and therefore if they were to go to where she is hiding Cog's mother, it would jeopardize her. She doesn't "have the right master," she states. The motley leave her in the dungeon in order to plan their next move. Patches creates an illusory version of Lenore in the garden to test whether Broken Flight is indeed watching them, but before anything else can happen, Talus arrives with grave news: Caer Frost is under attack! The motley are in no position to defend a freehold so far away, although Sophia is beside herself, believing that she led the attackers there. There is no way to keep them safe, they decide… until Talus proposes an idea. "How long until the Matrix can be turned on again?" He offers to be Flicker Flashed to Caer Frost in order to retrieve Queen Laurel and any prophecies he can find. The motley give him all of the chimerical support they can before sending him off. Sir Xaeron is upset to be benched, but understands that he needs to continue to recover. Patches informs Duke Granville that they will be bringing more danger to the city, but hopefully can keep more people safe.

Suddenly, Talus returns, carrying several prophecies, Queen Laurel, and the thing the assailants were first hunting for….