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>>2845618
Erin slides aside the moment the RV is parked to let you out first, an opportunity you take with indecent haste. You're somewhere down the coast a bit, at a parking lot right up on a beach. The Autumn ocean is an almost metallic color, reflecting the iron-gray clouds in the sky that threaten rain.

The others file out while you hold yourself up against the side of the RV and try to stop shaking. Forum goes out last, and locks up behind himself.

"Colors -" Fancy starts, only to stop when the Rook touches her elbow with a fingertip. Your Wizened friend shakes his head.

"She needs time with her fear," the Rook rasps. "We all do, at times. We are in no rush."

Deep breaths, Colors.

In. And out. Iiiiin. And out.

Okay.

"Where are we going?" you ask. "From here, that is, what are we looking for?"

Forum clears his throat and gestures down the beach. "There's a little shack, down that way, that sells ice cream. It was made from a wrecked ship's wood, some tallship that ate it in a November storm."

"Which means I can use it to get to the Hoard," Erin finishes. "If you're ready."

"I'm ready," you agree, and you Set Off That-a-way.

The shack is closed for the season, and padlocked. Vickie scoffs at it and produces a small roll from her many pockets, made of cloth, which reveals a selection of tools once she unrolls it. The Darkling selects two and gets the lock open without much fuss, and then she puts her tools away.

"Vickie, Fancy, and Fido will stay out here," Erin says. "Aside from the fact that none of you are being paid right now, someone has to keep the door open while we're busy."

Fancy frowns, but when she sees Vickie nodding the Southern belle decides to let it go.

"Aren't you turning the rest of this over to the Courts?" you ask. "How are we doing that?"

Forum puts one hand on the top of the shack. "We're going to steal the door."

Oh. That works!

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>>2845642
Erin lays her hand on the doorway and starts singing in a loud, clear voice, like a sailing song:

"You shoulda turned back sooner, 'cause the Reach she owns this bay, and you can't outrun 'er and you can't outgun 'er and you know you're gonna pay..."

The door rattles, and then the latch turns on its own, swinging inward to admit you into Erin's Hollow, the Hidden Hoard.

It's a ship.

Someone, presumably Erin and her Motley, dragged the wreck of a galleon into the Hedge and ringed with with a fortress of Thorns. Cannon guard the twisting paths that lead out of the ship's clearing, and as you step in (after Erin, with the Rook, Forum, and Sally close behind) you can see dozens of hobgoblin and Lost corpses staked along those paths, still tangled in the fatal nooses of razor wire that took their lives and ripped them up against the Thorns.

The ship itself is beached on its side, keel facing you, cracked open near her aft and spilling gold, gems, and steel-banded chests like guts from a wound. A ramp leads up towards a pair of double doors, which Erin ascends without sparing a glance (well, head turn) to her defenses.

"Wealth is power," Erin murmurs, and the doors swing open in front of her.

The ship has been gutted and rebuilt on the inside. Comfortable couches and chairs litter the room, clustered around small tables, arranged near a small kitchen, or simply thrust into the overflowing pile of wealth that overflows into the main room from the stern the same way it does onto the ground outside.

Hanging lanterns of cut crystal light themselves as Erin walks inside without slowing; a phonograph loads a record and starts playing. After a moment, you recognize Tim Curry's voice as he sells the idea of being a professional pirate.

"Erin?" you ask. Your friend (lover?) stops next to one of the small tables; a chess board rests on it, with 32 pieces awaiting someone to play a game. Each piece is different from all of the others.

"Armory," Erin says, pointing at a set of stairs that goes up. "Bedrooms are downstairs. Some of the chests in the gold have things too. Head towards the bow and you'll find our garden, help yourselves to it. There's plenty to harvest and once the Courts are done I'm just going to burn this place down."

"Are you sure -" Forum starts.

"To the fucking ground!" Erin screams; she grabs and hurls the chessboard in a sudden motion, sending it clear through one of the ship's portholes. Pieces go flying across the floor, bouncing and rolling as they go. "It's mine," she whispers. "And I will do what I damn well please with it. This is not a discussion."

"Alright," Forum says, hands spread in that universal 'please calm down' gesture. "We'll just...look around, yeah?"

> Go to Erin
> Check out the armory
> What's in the bedrooms?
> Open some chests
> Write-in?

>>2845688
>> Check out the armory

>>2845688
>> Check out the armory

>>2845688
>> Open some chests

>>2845688
>> What's in the bedrooms?

>>2845688
> Go to Erin

>>2845688
>> Check out the armory
>see if there are some weapon upgrades for our Motley and Sally, if any

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>>2845688
> Open some chests

Get Erin to tell us some stories about the place and what's in it while doing so. Figure out WHY she wants to burn it so badly.

Erin best girl

>>2845688
>> Check out the armory
Vox I thought you were gone, damn that was awkward I haven't noticed any of these several threads you've had since your hiatus.

>>2847054
> Figure out WHY she wants to burn it so badly.

I thought that was pretty obvious—it's all the product of her time as Liz Malloy, privateer, a life she wants to put behind her.

Also, if you want that to be part of your vote, you should greentext it...

>>2847385
WHY she wants to burn it so badly ?
Spring, new beginnings, and the very sane thing of not letting enemies take this base over. The Hedge doesnt burn anyway (it doesn't, right ?

>>2847385
>>2845688
> Get Erin to tell us stories about the things in here and why she decided to change, and why that means needing to burn everything.

Gonna call and write in approximately 1 hour.

>>2848073
Aight; called, tallying, writing.

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>>2848247
>Power solo riffffff.

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"I'll check out the armory," you tell the others. "...Is it trapped?"

"Not for guests," Erin murmurs. Shipmate Sally goes to comfort her, but stops at a soft "don't" from the ex-pirate. Forum spares her a look before he heads downstairs; the Rook simply heads for the bow.

You go upstairs and leave Erin to try and sort through her emotions. It seems like she might need some time with them, like, like you did earlier? Hopefully.

A porthole you pass laughs at you in a ringing voice.

The armory is a dizzying mix of displays, more like a trophy room than what you had imagined when you heard its name. Gleaming knives hang on the walls in an array of styles and colors; class cases display flintlocks, Glocks, and a pump-action shotgun whose barrel is a mess of tally marks, all with ammunition arranged on the cushions around the weapons. Hedgespun coats and cloaks are displayed on mannequins that pose slowly, showing off how they move, ranging from a piratical greatcoat to a half-cape that would not be out of place on a dueling ground. Footlockers, padlocked firmly, line the walls, just beneath mounted axes, swords, and a hanging shield.

You hear footsteps coming up the stairs, and turn your head in time to see Erin coming up.

"Not surprised that you came here," she tells you. "You do have a certain professional interest."

"Why so many?" you ask, looking around again.

"Weapons break, or have to get ditched. They get lost or stolen. Most of these aren't magic, Colors. Blooded...but not magic." The Fairest takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "What are you after up here?"

"Is...is that actually what you came up to talk about?" you ask, hesitating.

Erin turns her head at you, an odd expression below her blindfold. "Is it?"

> It's high time I learned how to handle a gun.
> Something defensive might actually be nice? Or stealthy?
> You don't seem okay, Erin.
> Write-in?

>>2849373
>> It's high time I learned how to handle a gun.
> You don't seem okay, Erin.

>>2849373
>It's high time I learned how to handle a gun.
>Or just, like, a crossbow.
>Knights used crossbows. Totally.
>Also, You don't seem okay, Erin.

>>2849373
>> You don't seem okay, Erin.

>>2849373
> Something defensive might actually be nice? Or stealthy? (Keep your tone as pleasant as a Elemental can)
I'm aware of her emotions, but just doing stuff together might ease it.

>>2849373
> Something defensive might actually be nice? Or stealthy? Definitely stealthy.

> What would Erin recommend?

>>2849373
>> You don't seem okay, Erin.

>>2849421
I like the idea of crossbow, it's stealthy and ranged simultaneously. Maybe a one handed variant if she's got one?

>>2849667
>Maybe a one handed variant if she's got one?
I dunno, which has more accuracy, a one-or two handed one ? and can we get cold iron bolts ?

>>2849421
>>2849373
Seconding the Crossbow idea.

I think we should avoid pushing Erin for now though. Get her talking about the things here, not herself.

>>2849373
Do privateers also round up mundane mortals when requested by the Fae ?

>>2849834
Very much so, and sometimes at the request of non-Fae since, y'know, you get paid twice. In the sample story that opens up Goblin Markets, the protagonist is looking for Liz Malloy because he paid her to make someone love him, and she kidnapped that person and created a Fetch for her that would love him.

>>2849846
I read it and...yeesh. Erin's very fortunate she has Ramona's and Arthur's protection.

>>2849898
That story was where I rooted a lot of her characterization in King of New Avalon. It's the only one where she plays a speaking role, and one of two where she appears at all (the other being her entry in Night Horrors: Grim Fears).

>>2849373
>> You don't seem okay, Erin.

>>2849373
>Write-in
> I'm sorry I had you pay this way Erin. I didn't realize what it would really cost you.

And called, tallying, writing.

Okay, so:

We have two combined votes >>2849421 & >>2849728, which I counted for both 'crossbow/gun' and 'you don't seem okay'. Even if I counted one or both of them for just the ranged option we've got a 2-vote lead for the latter, so I'ma write accordingly.

>>2852491
Well we can always resolve it with sex.

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>>2849373
What does she mean by asking that? Is it a warning to not ask? An invitation, like when she was leading you on to the eyeball thing? Erin warned Sally off earlier, but, but -

You take a deep breath and let it out slowly, and settle on just being yourself about it.

"I don't think it is. You don't...you don't seem okay, Erin. Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

The ex-pirate steps further into the room; her fingertips brush glass cases, knives, and other weapons. She comes to rest with her hand on the shield, not looking at you when she talks.

"I thought I was gonna be okay," she murmurs. "Thinking about this place I was mostly just...angry. Angry about Him, angry about me. And then I got back in here and I'm not...just...angry."

"It's worse like that," you say in a soft voice.

Erin nods. "We had some good moments here. Some genuine moments, just...just being people. Horrible people but people, people who were...friends. Or I thought we were. I already told you they accepted death rather than face me down. What kind of friend did that make me?"

"That was Liz."

"Liz wasn't made from nothing, Colors. Burying your past is the hardest part of Spring precisely because it's not as easy as forgetting it. You need closure. And how do you close this? How do you bury Liz Malloy? I rejected her, out in the Hedge, out there with...with you and..."

You cross the room and take Erin's hand. She stiffens, but doesn't force you away.

After a moment, she laces her fingers with yours.

"You said my Spring was still coming," Erin whispers. "But what grows out of earth this sour? My life is a wasteland."

"What can you lose by trying?" you ask. "...Maybe you can't be redeemed, but that's not the right question to ask yourself. It isn't about whether you can find redemption or forgiveness, or even whether you deserve it."

Now Erin turns; her breathing is shaky, on the edge of the tears she can no longer shed since someone ripped the living eyes from her skull. "Then what is it about?"

"Is the world where you die for your crimes a better world than the one where you attempt to atone?" you say simply. "Everyone dies, Erin. We're pretty good at it. Not everyone tries to make the world a better place, and...you've been doing that. In little ways, sure, because you're not, like, practiced at it, but you have been. Even here, you're giving to the Freehold so we can try to make New Avalon better. Would you have done that if you weren't here seeking your Spring? Would we have ever known?"

The Fairest trembles. A choked sob escapes her throat, and then she pulls you into a tight, desperate hug. You wrap your arms around her and hum softly; distantly, you hear someone come up the stairs, and then very quietly go right the fuck back down.

"I'm sorry I brought you here," you murmur.

Erin snorts and takes a ragged breath in. "I brought me here, remember? This was my idea."

...Right. It was.

"Elementals," Erin chides.

>>2852747
Just kiss her already while saying "Coming here with you was my idea". Or something to that effect.

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>>2852747
"That's racist," you whisper, and the two of you laugh together, in voices as fragile and beautiful as glass roses.

Erin pulls out of the hug but keeps a hand on your shoulder; she smiles in that rueful post-crying smile you know too well from friends and the mirror. "What brought you up here? For real. I can at least help you sort through this thing."

"The others need help too," you point out.

"You're the one in this room."

She's got a point. You bite your lip and look around. "I've been thinking about learning to shoot properly," you admit. "Ever since Trevor and..."

"Susan," Erin finishes. You nod, remember she's blind, and say "yes" out loud. "Are you sure about that?"

You look around again and frown. "I mean, maybe. I'm still the Warlock Knight. I have a job I'm expected to do."

"You can buy a decent crossbow," Erin points out. "Why not something to help with your Spring? I've got some books on Contracts around here, somewhere. Or what about my Hedgespun wardrobe?"

"An entire wardrobe?" you ask. "How many -"

"Infinite," Erin answers. "But they melt at sunrise, so, y'know, watch for that."

> Pursue a ranged weapon option
> Contracts would dovetail well with Misery's lessons
> Speaking of fashion, what's with these coats and cloaks?
> Write-in?

>>2852777
Calm yaself anon.

>>2852784
> Contracts would dovetail well with Misery's lessons
MORE MAGICS

>>2852784
> Pursue a ranged weapon option

We'll value it more if there's a personal connection. Also seems to be important magical bullshit wise.

>>2852784

> Contracts would dovetail well with Misery's lessons

>>2852784
>> Pursue a ranged weapon option

>>2852784
>> Contracts would dovetail well with Misery's lessons

>>2852784
>Contracts!

>>2852784
> Write-in?

Fashion show with the wardrobe. Contracts are useless, style is God.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRivqBxbHRs#

>>2852784
> Contracts would dovetail well with Misery's lessons

>>2852784
>> Contracts would dovetail well with Misery's lessons

>>2852784
>"Infinite," Erin answers. "But they melt at sunrise, so, y'know, watch for that."
Sounds exciting~

> Contracts would dovetail well with Misery's lessons

Called, writing.

>>2855921

Vox, are you kill?

>>2859833
No but I woke up full of good intentions to update immediately only to be unexpectedly dragged into FAMILY TIME for a good solid seven hours.

>>2859962
This is why most mammals devour their children in times of stress.

>>2861021
In my case it'd be my grandparents but sentiment understood.

Aight, so: after THAT happening yesterday, I now find myself on the eve of going out of state for a week to spend time with my gal. This was somewhat unexpected, but I think you'll understand when I say that y'all definitely come second in this particular set of choices. I'll update today IF I CAN, but I'm gonna archive the thread here and get back to things once I return to my home and native land.

>>2861753
Have good gal time, bruh.