"First of all, that glue sniffing episode was a long time ago and I only tried it again a few times since then. But I ain't on it now and I had nothin' to do with the current situation." Oscar replied to Flea, his eyes still rolled upwards in an effort to somehow see her up there. "And I agree, the whole thing with her here in a place that is supposed to be safe for us to be who we are...it's messed the eff up."

He chewed on the unlit stogie as he continued. "Someone needs to clue her in as to what's going on so things can get back to normal. I hope her being here ain't related to this mess with people forgetting exactly who they are."

Edna Birnbaum was the "wise elder" of the Library staff. She is a well dressed conservative looking gray haired person, certainly not looking at all like the kind of person who believes in fairies.  The kind of person who dismiss it with a bitter glare and a grumbled "nonsense."

Those that know her, know better.

She looks a little surprised today at the number of New York's faerie folk who are currently assembled in the library.  Other than for scheduled get togethers, this hasn't happened in quite a while.  It means something.

"Something's happened, hasn't it?" she asks.  "Dennis has saying that for a few days now.  He says there was a flicker in the Veil.  But.. that's not the whole of it, is it?  Some kind of trouble has come up, hasn't it?"

Gremian cleared his throat. He moved to the edge of his seat. "I don't know if it is trouble, but it is definitively troublesome... Thrice! Now, thrice times, I've eaten cooked fishes with Proge. Cooked, like well done. Not because it could be fun or fancy or whatever. No, because Proge thinks of himself only as his human persona, Mr Jiminez! Won't eat raw fishes. Even disgusted by me doing it. Don't recognize other goblins. Don't see my green skin. Nothing Fae goes through his skull anymore. And the only reason I believe he hadn't been kidnapped and replaced is because he still looks like the goblin I know!" Gremian nervously looked at the people.

 Felix frowned, thinking on the matter. "Sometimes in the mountains one of ours would infiltrate a town and have trouble returning. The veil clouds their eyes and minds sometimes when away too long but you said you see him regularly?"

"Maybe he's under a curse or something?" Oscar offered. "He coulda pissed off someone powerful and got Whammied. BaM, he doesn't remember who he really is."

Gremian shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. "Well, I've skipped a week or two here or there... But the others Gobs at the Sanitation... Well, Proge wasn't alone in a human settlement. And after the second time, well, I've checked for thing like a human lover, child or even an adoptive parent, but nothing like that. Not even a new employee card."

Gremian looked at Oscard with a raised eyebrow. "Hum... I don't know curses enough, but that would be the worse case of bad luck I would I have seen in forever. I mean, Sanitation isn't on the path of most non-gobs... And there is a few other Gobs that would probably been more prone to be curse than Proge. A good Gob that Proge... Hum, do fish kings curse people for fishing?" He asked afraid to hear a confirmation. "And that would make no sense anyway, because Proge is still fishing. "

"If it is a curse it's probably best that we all learn who cursed him and why. If it is some feud between Fey... the spillover from that would not be pretty. But Dennis said the veil flickered... a curse might be the simplest explanation, maybe it's what we should hope for.  Gremian, this needs investigating, your way, as well as.. some more scholarly work.  I'd like your help... and those who would offer to help you.  Volunteers are welcome."

"There is also another matter.   Alisa is new with us.  She still isn't... aware.. of herself.  But I don't think this is the same as poor Proge.  I believe she is a true changeling, and therefore, has a reason to be in the circumstances she is in.  But she may prove useful.  Whether she knows it or not she is naturally sensitive to magic, all of her kith are.  And... she is a native Spanish speaker.  Since our trail begins in the Bronx, this can be very useful."

Once matters are in Gremian's hands, Edna decides she has to ease Alisa into this, carefully.  This is a delicate matter, but Edna knows the faerie world well enough to know that seeming coincidences often aren't.  Alisa is new, here, but just in time to help deal with this odd turn of events, and that might mean something.

She fills Alisa in on what she'd like her to do.
"Something peculiar happened to one of Mr. Gremian's friends, and it may be related to something we've studied here.  I told him you might be able to help, as it occurred in the Bronx, which is largely Spanish speaking and you are a native speaker.  I must point out, though, that Bronx Spanish tends to be of the Dominican-Puerto Rican variety, and the vocabulary can differ.  Though there is a small Mexican community centered on East 138th street... that's not the point, any language talent can be very helpful here... although...
You will here some strange things being discussed.  Don't be alarmed.  I suspect, that on some level, you'll understand that you shouldn't be alarmed.  It will make sense, when it supposed to make sense.  Does that make sense?"

When Edna approached, Alisa took a break from the jokingly sending back-and-forth of various expletives to her roommate for hitting her carrier a moment ago, and put her phone away again. Fun was fun and all, but she did keep an eye out at all times to check whether there was anything that needed doing job-wise first. When Edna spoke, it took her a small moment to register this wasn't about the phone, but something else.

- "Umm... Not really?"

She gave her what she hoped would pass for an apologetic look, before elaborating.

- "Look, i'm happy to help, but the Bronx doesn't exactly have the best... reputation? Now, don't get me wrong, i'm not saying Mr. Gremian looks like a gangster or something, but it'd be helpful to know what the problem is about, at least, so i can have some context for when i need to start translating. That, and confirm i'm not ending up, say, negotiating with a gang for the release of his cousin or something crazy like that."

Botach listened in uncomfortable silence and spoke up when a chance presented itself to the other fae.

"I have seen the results of a great many curses, even cast a great many myself in different times yet i have heard of none so potent or precise that a fae would forget themselves but remember everything that transpired within their human persona. Even if it was a curse, i cannot imagine what wrong Poge would have had to have done to warrant such cruelty. I would like to join Gremmian with his investigation if he is agreeable? I know very little of the city but i have other talents that may be of use. Rarely met a human that couldn't be bought with money either and i have plenty of that if nothing else."

Amongst those with knowledge of fae he had slipped into his true form through the veil, the clothes being real remained however and made for an odd contrast with his nearly featureless body. he stood immobile and unreadable as he waited for some affirmation or denial of his request.

Flea listened for a while, then piped up. "Okay, I know how important this is. I'll fly down to the places the forgetful spends most of his time. I'll ask the local animals what they have seen or heard. Someone might have turned up to do this. They'll remember. And they're far more honest than humans! It is impossible to do anything unobserved these days. Bird, bug, or fish - someone saw something!"

Gremian looked in front of him as Edna left the room. "Wasn't expecting to be in charge" he said under his breath. He nodded as the other Faes suggested how they could help.

Me neither, I don't know what Proge could have done for such punishment. He responded to Botach with a shiver. "You are more than welcome on my team, it's not like I have the luxury to refuse someone", he added with a forced smile.

He turned toward Flea. "I don't know his favorite bar, but I know his home, his workplace and his favorite fishing spot. Should not be to hard to show you on a map, I guess. You think that the fish would want to help me or him, considering that... that we fished?"

Gremian then looked at Felix. "How do you bring back someone with clouded eyes to the mountain?" he asked. "Maybe we could use something similar for Proge."

Finally, Gremian looked around, unsure. "Hum, well, the curse thing, I don't know how to look for that, nor I know how to spot magic users. In my spare time, I break machinery and build clockwork dolls. So I definitively need help for that..."

He sat back in his chair, tensed.

Viran had remained silent as she thought running things her parents had talked about before finally speaking up.

"I know from stories my parents have told that there have been Kitsune who have played pranks similar to this on both fey and mortal alike, making them forget one life if they have been leading multiple ones. But I'm almost more worried that this could be something more powerfull, as in those stories the fey would still see other fey as they truly where, to me this almost seems like it is where someone pulled that kitsune prank but also was somehow powerful and skilled enough to alter the veil to make the veil see him as a mortal and keep him from being able to see fey in their true forms. I think we need to find someone who knows the veil, and I can help with some of the canines in the areas we look at and provide some transport, but the vehicle will most likely stick out."

"You all are thinking about this all wrong." Oscar chimed in, chewing furiously on his stubby cigar. "You gotta focus on the victim. Who would want to mess with him? Who are his enemies? Who did he piss off recently? Did he owe someone powerful something big?"

He rolled his eyes up again to try and look at Flea. "I'll go hit the bars and talk to the humans if you want. I mean he thinks he's human now, maybe he's been spending more time with them recently."

Botach considered Virana's offer of the use of her vehicle and shrugged. " I do not imagine it matters much if the vehicle is noticeable, we need only hide our true selves from the hapless mortals wandering around. Any fae would likely know us for what we are anyway. Is there anyone in the city that specialises in potent curses?"

Flea hops off Oscar's head and onto the table, where she sits cross legged. "The fish tend not to be aware of people catching them. They are very stupid like that. Suddenly, they are there and then BAM! One vanishes, and they can't figure out why. But some of them might still have seen something. It can't hurt to ask!"

By the reception desk, Edna is still talking to Alisa.

"I would not ask anything you aren't comfortable with," she says.  "If you have no desire to go to the Bronx... well, there are other ways to help.  Although in defense of the Bronx... its old reputation is more Hollywood than reality now.  This is New York, not Baltimore.  Things are not what they used to be.  I like to think we had a hand in that."

They did, of course, but very few people know that.  Those that do prefer to let the Police Department and modern, scientific policing take the credit.

Edna looks at her watch.

"Dennis isn't as timely as he used to be," she says.  "There are some things we will have to discuss.  Alisa... just a librarian's question, here... what kind of things do you like to read?"

*** *** *** ***

Dennis Flattery does appear, shortly thereafter.  The tall, gray haired librarian uses a cane these days, having had knee surgery.

"There's something going on with... our friends?"  He asks Edna.

She nods. "Gathering in the research department."

He nods back.  "Let me see what's up, and what's amok."  Leaving Edna at Reception, he walks into the Research Department, the back rooms where the public is never permitted, where dedicated researchers track down rare old books.  Or at least, that's what the public believes.  With the collective lore of the city's Fey available, old rare books are not hard to come by.

"So this is quite a collection," Dennis says as he enters.  "No coincidences, they say.  So.. can someone fill me in on today's issue, and what it may have to do with a lost memory?"

Alisa gave a somewhat embarrassed sounding chuckle, scratching the back of her neck.

- "Ehh... Yeah, likely. I haven't been here long, so the only version i'm familiar with is the Hollywood version, and i haven't been adventurous enough to see for myself for fear of it being proven right. So yeah, i'll go along."

In response to Edna's question, she tilted her head slightly.

- "Books? Umm... Historical fantasy i think it's called. There's also epic fantasy such as Robert Jordan of course, but generally speaking, i suppose you could say 'Historical out of interest, fantasy for fun'."

'Well, when we bring one back.. usually ti is... by force." he trailed off a bit at the thought."After a lot of kicking, screaming and exposure they usually snap out of it but, I don't think that will work here. I won't lie, the idea of a curse seems likely, as you say , you see him regularly so the sudden change seems odd."

Virana looks at Dennis as he comes in and speaks up.

"It seems we have a goblin that believes he's human and can't see fey for what they really are."

Virana then turns back to the others.


"There might be a possibility that this is a random event, essentially he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and not intentionally targeted. My parents have stories of mean spirited Kitsune that would randomly target others, both human and fey alike just for their own pleasure, my hope is that that's all this is. Someones bad random prank, and before you say it can't be that, as a punishment years back my father cursed a fey and made them believe they where a fish, they drowned themselves because they refused to breath air, every time anyone tried to pull them out of the lake they acted like they where suffocating before they jumped back into the water, but there are others that would do something like that just for their own twisted enjoyment."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:06, Sun 24 May 2020.

In the research department.

Dennis looks suddenly surprised and concerned... very surprised, very concerned.. both.  The concern is only natural for someone who has embraced his role as advisor and caretaker for the city's Fey residents for decades.  The surprise, on the other hand... might be a little out of place considering he had mentioned a lost memory before any of the Fey in the room filled him in.

"A goblin..." he muses with the lines on his face seeming to deepen.  "A goblin, no one would ever confuse Thale with a goblin.  Not at all.  And yet Breeze* said almost the same thing as you just said to me, Virana.  But about Thale, the Elf."

He takes a seat, still looking worried, trying to put things together.  "If it is two, there must be a third.  This is magic, and magic seeks certain things, and one of those things is the number three.  We must help these two, but we must also find the third."

Meanwhile, out at the reception desk...

"Fantasy for fun," Edna repeats Alisa's words.  "You know, it's always interested me that all over the world, there are fantasy stories.  The specifics change, and the themes change.  In your homeland the fantasy stories feature a lot of death and ghosts but not in the frightening horror way they show up here... not so many things like our literature seems to focus on, Elves and fairies and such... although... there was a gentleman from Mexico, Pedro Linares, who claimed to have visited a magical forest in a dream, and started to make artwork showing the strange creatures he saw there.**   A lot of people all over the world seem to think there are places like that, magical things.  Mexico or Ireland or Korea, they all have their stories of magical creatures.  Have you ever thought about that?"

She adds: "It's good that you have this interest.  A lot of people are... well they have an interest in legends and magic and such.  At least you won't think they're all crazy when they talk about it."




***** ***** ****

*Many of the Fey in the city have at least heard of Breeze the Sylph, because she has done something relatively daring.  Not only is the Sylph established in Human society, she is popular, successful, and a borderline celebrity, as she often appears on a local television channel.  She is a meteorologist, and being a Sylph, a Fey being of Elemental Air, she has a natural gift there.  Breeze seems to enjoy telling Humans about her world, although she has to use their language, "fronts" "air masses"  "precipitation".

**I did not make that up.

"Only if the Fay deserved it," Oscar replied to Virana. "Come to think about it, I have met more than a few Fae that deserved a curse like that." He looked about the research room and frowned as he caught a number of disapproving looks. "What? I'm just calling it like I see it. At least I don't go around lying to your face and then stabbing you in the back like some of you all like to do."

He continued chewing on his cigar, "I'm all in for some detective work and in distributing some old school Fae vengeance when we find the scum bag responsible for this problem."

Gremian nodded approvingly to both Flea and Felix explications.

"It's Proge the Goblin. My friend", Gremian added with gravity.

Gremian played with his goatee absentmindedly. He didn't react much to Oscar's response. Frontstabbing was frequent in the goblin ranks. As well as backstabbing when the human pilots were concerned.

"Hum, that's complicated everything, that. I would be surprised if someone on Breeze's radar would fly in the same circles as Proge. Unless is something on the other side of the veil. Do humans have sorcerers and cursers?" he was more thinking aloud than asking the question. "And for the third, I don't know where we could begin searching for them. I mean, it's not like a cluewould fall in our laps just like that."

The name of Breeze meant nothing to Botach but then he had been in the city for such a short amount of time that most of the fae he knew of off were currently standing in the room with him. Oscars comments about cursing other fae did not bother him much in essence but he strongly yet silently disagreed that plenty of fae deserved this particular brand of curse. His form shifted slightly with small thorn like shapes forming on the periphery of his shadowy flesh.

Gremains comment about clues falling in their laps made the old Puca smile and the thorns vanished as quickly as they formed. His eyes seemed to glow a little brighter. "Perhaps a clue will come to us with the right nudge from fate. I cannot guarantee it will work but if we were fated to discover this third fae then we might get very lucky."

Botach drew an ancient copper coin from his pocket, one side was smooth and plain but the other bore a faint triskele. He flipped the coin high into the air and concentrated his power on the others in the room, urging fate to lead them down the most fortunate path to find something regarding this third fae. He felt the shift in the world like a gentle whisper and deftly plucked the coin from the air and returned it to his pocket.

"Well if it doesn't bring us closer to the fae then at the very least you will have some happy circumstance occur in the very near future. The choice with what you do with this is out of my hands however."

[ Players: Alisa                        NPCs: Edna      ]
[    Area: Reception                Location: Library   ]

Alisa nodded in response.

- "Yeah, it's an old theme. Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream' for example."

She chuckled for a moment.

- "Personally, when people dismiss fiction for being crazy, that's usually a failing of their own imagination."

His eyes widened for a moment.'Thale..? What's happened with Thale?" He asked, suddenly sounding a bit more concerned.

 Felix's fists clenched, and the cold around him grew quickly, frost beginning to form , spreading from his feet on the floor. He noticed and closed his eyes tightly, silently willing himself to calm down. "...We.. we should look into this, meet with them, see if we can find anything in common.."