[May 20th-30th] Another Cause for Me to Fight (Richmond Territory Claim)

[dirtyredneck]

He'd been sucking it up for months. Holding back waiting to see if Daybreak would get off their ass and do something about the shit that had gone down in their territory since Raymond's rise (which ended promptly with his fall, a thing Daybreak had no hand in). But all they'd done in Richmond was decide to build that eye sore of an insult to all non-witches. 'Center for Magical Innovation'. Bullshit. Center for slavery of non-witches was more accurate. Starting with the fae.

When Faolan had spoken against it, Daryl had hopes that maybe what little loose leadership the clan had might be ready to get up off their ass and do something. But that didn't happen and a month passed while the Center sat there, getting used. It's visitors abusing folks in ways it was hard to get any proof of. Just rumor and small confessions of a few fae who'd been able to slip away. Some of the stray cats in the area talked about it, too. Didn't like how it 'felt'.

Another month had almost passed and Daryl was done with waiting. He'd set up small patrols with others he'd trusted among Hillingdon months ago. Stuff to help protect the residents in the ways that Daybreak had been neglecting to. It wouldn't take much to turn those patrols toward doing something more.

Richmond was basically his territory already. It was time to make it Hillingdon's too.

(Specific prompts in the comments)

Comments

Center For Magical Innovation Investigation

[dirtyredneck]

(If you're taking a look around after the fighting's done, post in here with what you're doing and I'll talk to our lovely mod about what might be found so it's all nice and organized. o7)

[freelife]

Evie had been here the night this place opened, attempting to look around. Iron doors made things incredibly hard, along with the tight security they'd had. Idly, she wishes Kieran were here, or that she'd gotten some of his information, so that he could be here to investigate. He'd seemed an interesting person and a good ally.

But, here she was herself, preparing to pick locks that needed picking, breaking things that needed breaking, and seeing exactly what sort of horrors Samantha had cooked up.

Oh, and you can bet she's got her iphone fully charged so she can document this. This way, there will be no denial of the truth.

To start, she's found her way to the very door she and Kieran had managed to open last time, before they were stopped by a busybody witch.

[falsify]

Eames doesn't wait for things to be secured; for a perimeter guard, for teams to form. The second the witches have been expelled he makes a move to go downstairs. Back to the basement where he and Finnick had found Lillian, seen just a hint of what it was Samantha was up to down here.

His first priority is making sure there are no more fae left caged or stuck in circles down there. There's more he wants to see, but that can all wait.

[threadspun]

Of course she's tagging along.

After what she and the others have been through, it was only right she returned. See if there was anything they could still use or anyone they could still save. She isn't holding her breath for the latter however.

"… I don't think there's anyone left." Alive or free that is. She's quiet for a few seconds, recalling what happened down there. "I was informed that if I'd survived their experiments and tests, they would force me into a contract. More or less."

She rubs her arm self-consciously, trying to tame the goosebumps that come when she recalls how close of a call this all was.

[falsify]

"It's worth taking a look anyway." Partially for his own peace of mind, or whatever approximation of it he's feeling these days, and he's not one to scoff at additional information. "Never know what you might find."

If there's some kind of evidence of what they've been doing to fae, that'd be brilliant, but Eames isn't holding his breath.

[roddy_reinigen]

Roddy was too curious to not look and hey, everything that could potentially be dangerous was gone now, right? He took a few of his rats with him and started sniffing around, searching any random halls and rooms he came across. He, of course, couldn't pick locks or anything, and would mostly gravitate towards any interesting smells he might pick up on, but part of him was wondering if he'd learn a bit about the fae from what he saw here. Maybe find something that would help Mako understand them better so she could get them to help her in a far more consensual way than what the witches had intended.

[redshoerevenge]

Roddy and Mako pretty much had the same idea, which meant Mako was stealthily snooping around, too. And she could pick locks if only because it had come in handy when she was on the road. She'd definitely found the particular way witches went about 'helping' not ideal to her situation.

"You find anything, Roddy?" she hissed softly, neatly unlocking a door to peer around. He'd hear her even if he wasn't right there.

[roddy_reinigen]

Roddy looked over at her. "Not yet." He moved closer to peer around the doorway as well. "But then, I can't pick locks. That definitely gives you an edge."

Not that Roddy didn't have his own tools to work with, like his enhanced senses and ability to turn into a rat to get through an opening if it was needed.

[redshoerevenge]

"Just for the doors," Mako said with a light smile. "You have a good shape to shift into. It is compact, small, good for hiding, good for listening. Good for running, too. Did we get all the fae out?"

She edged into the room, carefully, and started to poke around at the books and papers. There had to be something in here worth finding.

[roddy_reinigen]

"Thanks. And yeah, as far as I've seen and smelled, they're all out."

Roddy himself began poking around, reading bits of paper that were left out, although anything that looked like it might be a spellbook he avoided as if though he thought he'd be cursed just by touching it.

[redshoerevenge]

"That is good. That is really good. I am sure they feel much better after getting out of there." Mako doesn't mind the spellbooks and actively looks over them with a delicate hand but chooses to keep them as they are. They're nothing she can use, anyway, and really, she's just after information.

"The Circle won't like it but I suppose we will just have to deal with that fall out. Have you met the cat fae, Mogget? The one who likes fish?" She digs around in the small bag she has and holds up a can of sardines with a label that says Mogget.

"I know we're not on the same side as him but I thought I'd leave him a kind of...peace offering. It's not much, though, but it's the thought that counts."

[roddy_reinigen]

The cat fae? Well...yes, he had. Although he hadn't really gotten along with Mogget. Mogget insulted him, Roddy said something back that was not exactly friendly, and then he ran away because while Mogget looked like a house cat, he was still a fae and likely powerful.

"Uh, yeah, I did meet him." He shrugged. "I mean, I don't see any reason not to leave him sardines."

It wasn't like he'd unlock some secret dangerous power from having more fish to eat, after all.

"Something about him makes me nervous. Might just be the form, though."

Roddy was okay with cat shifters, but he wasn't much of a cat person in general for obvious reasons.

[redshoerevenge]

"He is a cat and I am sure he is fond of eating rodents. That is not very good for a rat shifter. But, I will be a cat, too," Mako says with the softest laugh. "I would not eat you, you know that, right?" She says that with a side-glance.

She reaches out to squeeze his shoulder fondly.

"It isn't good to eat your friends and besides - I like fish much better."

[roddy_reinigen]

"I know. That's why I'm not afraid of you or Daryl, but I am afraid of him."

He was certain that Hillingdon's shifters wouldn't go after him unless they'd lost control of their instincts, but he knew they certainly wouldn't harm him intentionally. Mogget, on the other hand...definitely would. And Roddy already knew he was fond of hunting rodents.

[redshoerevenge]

"No friend of mine's getting eaten by some fae cat, Mogget or not," Mako says firmly. "That's just not decent behaviour, even if he's a cat shape. I mean, it's one thing to hunt for food and it's another to be hunting you."

She gives Roddy a long, sombre look, the kind that means business.

"I'll have a word with him."

[roddy_reinigen]

"Well...he hasn't. I just mean I don't trust him not to. If he saw me in my rat form, I mean. He's kind of scary."

To Roddy. Most people would not be instantly intimidated by that form.

"But he pointed out that I was breaking the law I'm pretty sure he was about to do something about it, and considering he had blood on his mouth, and I could tell from the scent he'd eaten at least one rat, I sort of...ran away before I could find out what he was actually about to do."

After a moment, he added.

"I mean, I was in human form, but fae are pretty powerful, so I didn't want to find out."

[redshoerevenge]

"Mmmn," Mako says, frowning. "I can imagine he would be. I just..." She lets out a soft sigh and lets a few papers fall back into the notebook they'd been sitting in.

"I worry. You are a good person, a good friend and fae or no fae, I stand beside you."

[roddy_reinigen]

Roddy smiled. "Thanks. I'm really glad to hear that, but I'm sure I'll be fine. Rats are great survivors."

Look at how much time and energy humans put into eradicating rats, and their population only grew. Of course, Roddy worried about his well being with things like this, too, but he didn't want Mako to worry too much.

[redshoerevenge]

"Good, I am glad they are and I am glad you are as well," Mako said quietly. If she worried, it meant she cared. She poked through a few more things, not particularly finding anything worth much. Mostly finances with a few spells here and there that didn't help much.

"I am not finding much, here, are you?"

[roddy_reinigen]

Roddy shook his head. "No. Can you think of anywhere else that might be worth looking?"

Even as he said it, he looked around the area, hoping to see some small hole or opening that might be hiding something worth seeing.

[redshoerevenge]

Her eyes swept the room, looking for anything that seemed weird or out of place. It seemed so routine, so business as usual. The pencil cup, the computer workstation, but one thing did seem odd.

"Does this office seem a little small to you, Roddy?" Mako gestured to the walls. "The dimensions seem kinda off."