undergrounds | [ OPEN ]

Date: 12th~18th of October
Plot: Lambeth Territory Claim by Daybreak
Areas: Lambeth and surrounding areas!

The fae may have taken Croydon from Daybreak, but Daybreak is out to prove it is still strong -- and one Daybreak witch in particular is hoping to prove that he is the man to turn them around from the loss. Gilbert Norrell plans to bring order to the lawless territory of Lambeth, via less than pleasant means. He intends to drive out any troublemakers, anyone who disagrees with Daybreak, or have them persuaded by members of Hillingdon. Unfortunately for him, it won't be quite as easy as all that...

[ ooc; log for the Daybreak territory claim! You can give me a ping if you want to be involved and hadn't signed up already! It runs through the entire week, starting off quietly and subtly until the disappearances begin to be noticed and the fight back intensifies. Thread as little or as much as you like, start your own thread or tag what I put up for Norrell! (And sorry it's up a little late!) ]

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Norrell is busy most of week assisting remotely -- Gilbert Norrell in a warzone, of his own creating? Perish the thought!

He sends fogs and rains, animates statues to assist, does obscure and precise pieces of magic that clearly have some power, cast from out in Westminster as they are and still strong enough to work here, but does not deign to show his face lest someone punch it.

Once most of the rabble are calmed, however, he walks through -- Childermass at his side and Hillingdon escorts quietly shadowing him too. Paying, it turns out, can buy you friends -- if temporarily. Once he spots Elizabeth, however, he pauses -- eyes wide -- and changes track to come to her side.

"Miss DeWitt!," he cries, "but you are bleeding!" and he holds out a hand to Childermass insistently -- at which point the man produces a white handkerchief to hand to him (along with a roll of his eyes at the gesture. "You have pushed yourself too far! Here, take this."

Elizabeth turns at the sound of her name. She feels almost hollow, and definitely wrung out. When she'd gotten on a plane away from the States, she'd thought she'd never see another magical battlefield again. The only difference between then and this moment is that she doesn't have Booker.

"...thank you," she says weakly, taking the handkerchief and wiping her nose. She looks back down at the handkerchief, and that seems to jump start her brain. "Yes, yes I did push myself too far because every time I turned around, someone else was hurt! I thought this was a community service, not a warzone!"

Norrell blinks at her in surprise a moment, rather taken back by her words. He supposes he should have come to expect such unseemly outbursts from an American, but still! Such attitude! Such nerve!

"I am afraid it is very much a warzone," he corrects her, "As the whole of London is while the fae are allowed to continue their rampage. That is why it is also very much a community service, Miss DeWitt. If we make this area safe it will be one less area for them to make trouble. This place will be safe to live, rather than a hive of criminal activity."

"The fae-- meaning all of them?" Elizabeth bites the inside of her lip, trying to keep herself from saying something she'd regret. She's already had one outburst, these never tend to end well for her.

"I understand trying to remove people who are causing problems for the area, but what if some of them are just trying to live here? Who says all of them are dangerous?"

"And why should they live here, when they have the other realm as their home? Why should they be allowed to take our land for themselves? No, Miss DeWitt, you know very well that Daybreak seals out the other realm when it takes territory for good reason. Fae are troublemakers, they twist words and grant wishes at terrible prices -- they are not to be trusted!"

He regards her with a mixture of concern and disappoint, for surely this lesson is one of the most important lessons of all! How could she not have realised this?

"Why should--" Why should she live here when her home was across an ocean? Elizabeth catches herself before she says it, though, and looks dourly at Mr. Norrell. He's right, she did know they sealed out the other realm, but she'd always reasoned that there were other places they could enter from. But from what she's seen today, it doesn't look like it's going to stop just at a few territories.

Yes, fae couldn't be trusted, probably. One had been the reason her mother had ended up dead, and two others... well Elizabeth still didn't know what to think of them. But the sorts of people in the world were wide and varied, she couldn't possibly color her entire attitude towards a large group based on three individuals?

This is something she has to think about when she's not hemorrhaging. For the moment, Elizabeth just nods (because what else could she do without causing more unintentional mayhem and destruction?) and removes the handkerchief from her nose. "Can I go back to my dorm and clean up?"

Norrell regards her curiously a moment, taking in her appearance and the way she had almost argued with him.

Well, it stands to reason that she is feeling a little off colour. The strain of the day has left her weak and emotional, he supposes. She can be forgiven this time.

"Of course," he says finally, "but I will expect you for class tomorrow. This will be a good example to study of fae behaviour, and I have already thought of a great many notes that we must go over."

Weak and emotional-- right, sure.

"...you're going to hold class after this?" Elizabeth looks stunned, though she shouldn't be at all surprised. Only a few days under his tutelage and Elizabeth could tell that Mr. Norrell was the kind of man who could take notes on the pidgeons in the underground. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, constant observation of life was how many great thinkers came to their careers. ...but she'd just emptied her metaphorical magical tank, and he expected her to not pass out after a day of regular classes and then a lecture rehashing what she'd just lived through?

...yes, he probably did. She sighs as quietly as she can and nods. "Yes, I'll be there. I'll try to get this clean by tomorrow too," she says, indicating the handkerchief.

[ OPEN ]

END

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