182nd page

[curseshit]

You broke the curse! Or well, the weird spanish guy doing magic is on that right now, finishing it up, but the group should be fine. Or fine and fine.

The townsfolk is as confused as you are. Some of them have been under the spell for years. The guards are giving up their weapons as they realize they don't want to fight for this guy. It was all for the money. He used them. If you want to question him while he's still alive you better keep him safe inside the church.

[ mission: deal with the post-traumatic stress. ]

Comments

[sawedoff]

[clears a space on the floor, shoving a pile of fishing tackle?? out of the way to dump the drawer out and go through pieces, occasionally holding up a ring that sounds like she described for the yay or nay]

So you close with your mom? [slants a look at her as he tosses another nay] You talked about her before, but- [different memories, i guess. who knows.]

[recurred]

[nays to all of them. she seems to have an easier time looking through everything because she knows exactly what she's looking for, but her expression stays at something rather frigid. its literally a needle in a haystack]

Yeah, me and her would just drive my dad mad. Going off on adventures causing a ruckus. She's a wily enabler. [small lip twitch before it dies off] She died when I was sixteen.

[sawedoff]

[pauses reaching for another drawer to look at her, eyes downcast before nodding in understanding and pulling the drawer free to add to the pile]

...Sorry to hear that.

[spreads mishmash of jewelry out and picks through for the non-ring ones to separate into another pile so it's easier for her to just go through the rings instead. besides they can sell the other junk. hey. be practical.]

If it means anything, she must have been a hell of a woman. Did somethin right if the way you turned out's any indication. [dead parents are a touchy subject. he can relate but it's because of that he's not generally one to bust out the trite, so that's probably the most he'll go into it]

[recurred]

[busies herself with sorting so she doesn't have to emotion eyes at him because it's coming. mum feels are upfront and all around. smiles a little at the comment, responding first with an amused noise]

She was. [briefly looks over to snag the little bowl of rings he's started filling] God knows what she'd think of this place.

[or that i lost her ring in a hoarder house. though she'd know she'd be told it doesn't matter, that it was just a ring, but it's not enough to stop her except for maybe not finding it.]

[sawedoff]

[glances up with a terse kind of fleeting smile for a long moment, doesn't know what to say. rubs at his chin before emptying the last drawer and sifting through the contents. no rings.]

No luck?

[well. it's here somewhere.]

[crotchbite]

[ hel went to a shody...ier part of the klepto haven after they arrived whatever. killed a raccoon that tried to hump her leg, crushed its little skull under her boot. sorry raccoon (she's not sorry)

holds up the compass ]

Got it. [ watches them look for... whatever and tilts head to dean ] I'll get the map. [ she's pretty sure hook has it and let's be real she's probably the best person to get it back ]

[recurred]

[opens mouth to answer but clearly its a big resounding 'nope' but hel is there so she holds up and looks over her shoulder]

Right. Good luck. [she probably is best qualified but don't hesitate to shout gurl if he's being problematic]

[sawedoff]

[looks up surprised she actually managed to find the compass in this dump. bitches get stuff done i guess. but yeah no argument about her playing hook ambassador. nods at her in agreement]

Yeah. Punch him for me.

[for being a little shit. works himself up to his feet without using anything to hang onto to avoid a mystery goo repeat and starts kicking the reject pile of the jewelry into an open bag]

[recurred]

[turns to look at their pile of junk jewelry once Hel's gone on her one woman mission. Trying not to panic, like a person wants to do when they feel like they've exhausted all reasonable options, and turning to dump the rings into the bag with the rest of the scrap.]

Okay. [that's all she's got before she resorts to bending over to look beneath the vanity, lifting up every little thing like 'yeah it totally could be under this flimsy scrap of paper plastered to the floor, totally' then then around and under the bed and lifting the gross blankets that make a velcro noise when she lifts them. ew no drops them]

Maybe...maybe she's wearing it. Or or it's in a pickle jar or a cigarette holder. Sewing box. Floor vents. Junk drawer. [overwhelmed hands]

[sawedoff]

[ties bag off and stores it inside jacket since its mostly just tiny jewelry pieces]

[steps over more junk to lay hands on her shoulders. calm your tits. shh. shh]

You know Marge's not the only klepto this side of Mordor. Hook's practically a hoarder too, he'll lift anything shiny. Maybe it wasn't in the records because he didn't sell it.

[recurred]

[dont you tell me to calm my tits]

[about to go on a round two of ransack before he stops her. nodding, considering, hoping because going through this place is just no. its just no.]

Right...okay. Yeah [looks up at him] That's possible. [ill kill him]

[sawedoff]

[you have that psycho look in your eyes. holds hands up and away once she's stopped ransacking everything in a 20 ft radius like a tiny tea drinking tasmanian devil]

You can still catch up with Hel if you move fast.

[recurred]

[enabler]

[pauses a moment before pulling the bag off her shoulders full of the junk she's collected for them and hands it to him]

Kind of hope you'll be wrong. [just saying. she has an idea with how this might go down. it'd be easier picking it out of a box of dead rats]

Mobile's in there. Keep an eye out.

[turns back to wade through the labyrinth]

[sawedoff]

Yeah.

[bag-holder. watches her trudge through river of junk. i'll just wait here]

[aldebaranshit]

[boy howdy you look bored]

[among the junk you're standing on, a particularly shiny flyer seems to be sticking out from an old parcel between your bowlegs]

[sawedoff]

[hey video game clues. why can't important stuff always shine in a strangely attention-getting manner]

[sets bag on her beanie baby collection and leans down to yoink flyer, mumbling the words to himself as he reads over it]

[aldebaranshit]

[one of those like zany freakshow fliers, except it's talking about multiverses and compression machines with some grainy picture and some cute showgirl posing in front of it. At the bottom it reads 'Brought to you by the Arunafeltz Board of Collectors']

[the rest of the parcel is full of longwinded letters from an Esme Griswald]

[sawedoff]

Huh.

[flips it over to look at the back like it's going to explain itself before going through the parcel. thanks esme. you're like an angel answering his prayers. i hope clara found a regular ass map in this bag somewhere]

[aldebaranshit]

[if not, blind marge probably has like 20 maps beneath that bowl of cat food in the kitchen]

[letters seem to be an exchange between esme and her sister, discussing the fascinating developments of the 'compression' machine, promising experiments including a trip to some fandangled place called 'Neuyork', national politics, scandal, etc. inviting her to come to the grand opening so they can go off on adventures.]

[sawedoff]

[wait what are the dates on these letters is esme's ass even still kicking]

[stuffs box full of letters in bag and goes to appropriate himself a map]

[fuck your item quest i'm goin home]

[aldebaranshit]

[damn right you are]

[they seem to be a few decades past, might want to ask around some of the locals about the place before they split off for good. no im not going to npc for you but its an option]