Zorg's Lost Souls III

     When G'ReG mentions creating a villain, Mulligan "thinks aloud" in the Group Chat.

     Maybe they would like a pirate?  Big hat, hook for a hand, maybe an eyepatch.  They could have a pat wind-up alligator that tries to be sneaky but is always revealed by the ticking of their wind-up gears.

     Mulligan pays attention as the kid draws the map and explains their typical raid.  It sounds like it would be a very good distraction for the group while they snuck in and perhaps tried to settle things on a more permanent basis. 

     Does he know when she sleeps?  Where she keeps her Rocking Horse?  Where this Cradlefall Dragon is?

Will smiles and shakes his head at Barria's words... is it in embarrassment at her praise? Or is it because despite her kind words, he thinks she is short of the truth? Whatever the reason, he answers the group's questions as they are raised:

Cradefall? Nah, no way! He didn't make those tracks. That's the jabberwock. It's hunting for something... or someone. No, Cradefall is just a little green baby dragon. It lives in a box in Loomlurch... well in three of them. You never really know which one until you turn the handle on the side, and then he pops out.

Will doesn't know exactly when Granny sleeps... and that's not surprising seeing as it is perpetually dusk. However, he does say that you know when she is sleeping, because she places a jar of moths in the window of her bedroom before she sleeps, and takes it down again when she wakes. He says it has something to do with her wanting the moths to be the first creatures she sees when she wakes up... but he can't explain why.

Finally he points to a spot just above the pumpkin patch and says: Granny's rocking horse is usually parked just outside here, by the door at the base of the middle tree.

Greg lets out a breath, not realising he was holding some tension at the mention of the dragon, but is nonetheless relieved when it is described as a baby which fits into a box. At this new information he looks to Mulligan, "you thinking that we sabotage her transport like you did the last one?" Back to Will, the gnome asks, "tell me of Mugan, you seemed... Worried for them, should we pay them a visit and make sure they're ok? Would they be helpful to our cause?"

Barria listens and is somewhat sad that Will doesn't accept her praise.  But she moves on from it and whispers the words, "Jabberwock" until she lets them sink in and asks, "Is the Jabberwock something we need to worry about?  It seems well, large."

Will shakes his heads at Barria's question. 

Probably not. The Jabberwock is a very focused hunter. It cares only about its prey.

Will's expression turns sober again at the mention of the ogre.

No... No, he would not be helpful. Mugan is a ruthless, bloodthirsty, wicked monster. I hope we never see him again. 

"you have history with Mugan? If granny as you call her is after him then do you think she wants to use him against others?" Greg muses

Yeah definitely, Will nods eagerly, then adds: But if she's looking for him, then she doesn't know where he is, and that's good for us, and good for everybody...

     Mulligan turns to look at g'Reg when he's asked about sabotaging the rocking horse.  Mulligan mulls this over a moment and then shakes his head.

     Throwing a wrench into something with cogs and gears is one thing.  How exactly does one sabotage a rocking horse though?  Steal or destroy, perhaps but I would have no idea how to disable something that, I presume, is purely magical.

     The moth bit did spark a thought though.  Or maybe a memory.  Wasn't there something we heard about the first thing she saw upon waking before this?  It sounds familiar but I can't quite place it.

     Anyway, just putting a spy on the window to know when she is awake or not will be useful to try to catch her at her most unaware.

Mulligan recalls the words of the painted wooden unicorns from the Witchlight Carnival, and that Rowan was told something about each of the hags having a weakness...

...As does Greg.

He begins muttering but becomes louder as he is certain he is recalling the right bit of information "Once upon a time in the land of Prismeer, Queen Zybilna was locked away, inside her Palace of Heart's Desire, by three troublesome hags known as the Hourglass Coven. They split the realm like a cake into three slices, each gobbling up a piece for themselves. But each has a secret weakness: one fears the sight of the eclipse, one forgets the first creature she sees when she wakes, and one sneezes herself silly if she beholds someone run widdershins.... Who is the most beneficial person or thing for her to forget? One of us is out of the question because then she'd just see us as new strangers ripe for corruption. But it could be useful if those under her power wanted to escape."

The elf girl wiggles excitedly at Greg's story, and tugs on Will's sleeve:

Oh, oh! Hey Will! This one time... this one time I got out of bed early to start breakfast duty... and I couldn't find the flint for the fire so I went in to Granny's room to ask where the flint was cos I couldn't find it... and I didn't think she was in there, and I called out and suddenly she was just, like, there... and she saw me and... and she didn't say anything, and I thought she'd be angry for sure but then she just ignored me all day, even when I bumped into her... and it was like she couldn't even see me... and she didn't assign me any chores, and o'course Pud dobbed on me, but she just ignored him too, and... maybe... maybe she was asleep in the room somewhere and I woke her up and... and then she forgot me all day!

Will slaps his knee and laughs:

Ha! Good one, Sloane! You always were the smart one! That must be it!

     If forget does indeed mean the person just doesn't register in her mind at all for that day, even if they are right in front of her, then that is indeed a flaw we must take advantage of.  But should it be the person most dangerous to her or someone we want able to move around her unnoticed to do other things.  I suppose it'll depend on what plan we formulate.

     Mulligan's first thought is indeed to try to use it for the person who could kill her the quickest if unseen in that way but he's reluctant to use "kill" even in Group Chat unless it gets repeated and spooks Will's Found Boys, or whatever the group is called. 

     Do they know if she is vulnerable to anything in particular?  Like cuts or stabs or fire or lightning?  Or more importantly maybe, immune to any particular dangers?  

     And what of this Jabberwocky thing?  It's a very focused hunter who only cares about it's prey, but what is it's prey?  A particular type of creature it feeds on or does it choose different targets?  Is there a way to get it to choose a particular target?