Eseme's Den

I survived the heat and hoards of mosquitos!

AKA, I went to a LARP this weekend. I played an elven archeologist and got to use my abilities to learn the history of a number of items. I was also able to use my knowledge of archeology to identify a newer, weaker wall in the catacombs.

I had a great time, and had a vacation from reality.

Hope everyone else's weekend was good, and that the heat wave finally ended where you live.

Why is it that every time I need to go somewhere, it snows?

I WILL make it to SimCon. There will be fun and LARP and Panther and stuff.

I WILL have my lunch with lissa_dora.

There will be FUN, damnit!

I blame Jill and Steve. I'm waiting for dishes to dry, and instead of packing soemthing else I am forced to get this idea out of my head and into words.

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"Hi there, I'm Wendy." Cheerful, but not too cheerful. Let's see who this is.

"Yes, I've heard every Neverland joke there is. And I know you meant it as a joke, don't look so offended." That was the worst one yet. I'll have to remember to tell Rinaldo, he'll get a kick out of it.

"But that's not how you remember that I'm Wendy. I'm also the Welcome Wagon for these little meetings. Wendy, Welcome Wagon... Anyway, I'm here to get you up to speed on the organization." Oh, a spark of interest there. Hmmmm, let's see...

"We fight the fae, but you knew that. We all have our reasons. Me, I never even knew my parents. It took me a while to get strong enough to fight my way out, but once I did you can bet I wasn't going back to working in the fields again. How about you?"

Ahhhh, laying it on a little thick there... Now, what really happened? ... Well, that's predicatble.

"I can certainly see why you're here. Who recommended you? I can make sure you sit near them if you like. It helps to have a friendly face." Interesting. So that's who sent you.

"Oh, the meeting's about to start. The early stuff isn't going to make a lot of sense at first, so why don't we go over here and I'll fill you in." That's right, this way. You know you want to.

"Now then, as I was saying... Oh, don't look so scared. That's just Rinaldo. He's sort of security here. And yes, that is a gun at your back. I've got one too. And Jaques over there" Come on Jaques, a little faster... there, he's got the sword out, "with the sword. And there are plenty of other folks here who don't need weapons to make your life interesting. Like me, for instance. Now, we're going to go have a little chat. ... And I heard that! You won't be burning this place down, let me tell you. No Fire. There, that's better. Come along now..."

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Wendy, no last name yet, was taken somewhat later in life. She was thirteen, trying to earn a bit of extra spending money babysitting. The next morning, the Pearson's found their two year old girl safe in her crib, but no sign of her sitter. Wendy's face was on milk cartons a decade before computer aging programs, and by now she's a statistic.

What does she do? She reads minds, surface thoughts mostly. But those thoughts tell enough about someone's motivations. That and some degree of empathy.

And what do you do in the fae realms to get such skills? Why, what Wendy was doing the night she was taken: Babysitting. Fae take babies and children, for their beauty or for amusement... but those children still have diapers to be changed, make messes when they eat, and need to be watched over. Few fae have the temperament, or the desire to put up with human bodily fluids. The obvious solution is to take humans to watch over the children when they aren't in court. Wendy slaved over a steady stream of infants and toddlers. Once they got old enough to have control of their bodily functions the fae whisked them off for whatever strange destinies awaited them, while Wendy watched in dismay and then went to clean up this morning's vomit or was handed a new little bundle of joy.

She learned quickly not to get too attached, and that the security was absurd and punishments were worse. She was given a little talent- extra empathy so she could sense the moods of her charges. Reading emotions allowed her to determine the difference between hunger, other discomfort, and tiredness. Gradually, this evolved, and Wendy realized after what felt like years that she could read the thoughts of the babies under her care. Sometimes, she could even change those thoughts, make a crying baby all smiles and laughs. She became known for her "magic" touch with children.

This eventually lead to her fight through the thorns. She was able to overhear the thoughts of the fae, and hiding near a door got her the password. She has vague memories of clutching an infant to her chest and running for days... a tall figure before her... her voice shouting "We were never here!"... more running... And Wendy eventually found herself in a world that was very definitely not 1982 (more like 2003).

The baby made it to a hospital (left on the steps like orphans of old), as a now seemingly twenty year old Wendy had no idea how to care for herself in this strange world, let alone another.

She found others, and the terrorist organization Never Again. So many children. So very, very many children are taken, and Wendy has a better idea than most of the sheer numbers.

She works (after receiving the training needed in this world) at a daycare, and is very watchful for changes in any of her charges.

She also works for Never Again, as the first defense against spies, betrayers to the fae, and investigative reporters. She reads minds, influences thoughts, and can gauge emotions. She had had some combat training, as all cell members have, but is most often used in interference raids as a soothing presence for the children who are rescued, and a numbing balm on their troubled thoughts.

Colleen and I finally met up Friday with the rest of her Powerpuff Posse from work. We went to Friendly's and had food and fun. Colleen decided she wanted me around for the weekend- I take a really long time to do anything, and me taking my time would slow her down and get her to relax. So I stayed on the couch Friday night, and spent most of the day Saturday watching Colleen in pre-trip mode.

We had breakfast with Wade at Perkin's, a resteraunt I remember as a treat when visiting my grandmother in Iowa. I didn't realize they were this far east. Yummy trippleberry syrup. Mmmmmmmmm. Then we went to the mall to froof. I had my hair trimmed a bit and braided in a crown around my head. Colleen had hers trimmed and washed and came out looking lovely. Then we had out nails done. My fingernails are shiny and opal-like, while my toenails are purple!!!! PURPLE!!!! I love having very purple toenails. Yay!

We stopped and got a few other travel essentials for Colleen, then tried to have ice cream with Aaron. This didn't work out so we grabbed Kevin and Berardi instead. Colleen's favorite ice cream place turns out to be Berardi's favorite too, and I must agree that they had some wonderful flavors and were exceedingly generous with the servings. Brain got a large- 5 scoops, and we sang him Happy Birthday while he tried to finish it. He probably would have if Colleen hadn't needed to pack and the cone hadn't fallen apart under the weight of the ice cream.

Then Brian and I went to Sabbat while Colleen packed. There was a big battle with what was left of the Inquisition, and they lost. It took AGES for the battle to start, and once it did Di ended up shooting people rather then hitting them because she was not in the first wave of people through the door and could not really get close to anyone. I left once it was over.

We got up ass-early to get Colleen to the airport. She's going to be the prettiest woman getting off the plane in Georgia, and I hope she has a wonderful vacation. She really deserves one.

I wanted to see Sinbad today, but there are no shows after 5:00. So I'll probably see Tomb Raider. I doubt it will matter that I haven't seen the first one.

The only sad note of the weekend was coming in to work on AI and finding a dead bird on the stairs of Building 70. Finding dead animals is a disturbing trend that has to stop.

Got up, had breakfast, was reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix again at noon. Am now on 502 out of 870 pages.

I like a world where people sing "God Rest You, Merrye Hippogriffs" at Christmas. I bet they even sing the real words to "Greensleves".

Must get ready for game while I am still capable of stopping. I am bringing the book to game though, Lilly is 18 and she woud certainly be reading the latest Harry Potter book. She's even dressing for the occasion- something suitably witchy of course. Now as for jewlery... Hmmm, there are the blue glass spiral earrings and matching necklace of course, but the green glass frog earrings are more fun, and I could even dig out my elf necklace to go with them, I haven't worn that one in ages...

Decisions, decisions.