Griffix sat on the bed tossing an orange nose in the air as Shawn approached the entrance way to Tiffany's room. It was clear it had been about an hour since they agreed to put their plan into action.

"Ay! You're back, ya' are!" He said, voice sounding relieved and eyes trailing down to Shawn's left hand where Shawn held the rubber nose that was once on Gaggles' face.

Shawn breathed in and out and in...and then gave Griffix a smile and a nod. He couldn't show weakness, not any more. "I am. Gaggles is...gone" He didn't sound cheerful so much as relieved, mirroring Griffix's tone.

Griffix stopped throwing the nose up in the air, catching in in one motion and then nodding at Shawn. "Mr. Pibbles has gone into hibernation, too he has." He noted with the same serious, conspiratorial tone.

"I don't think I'll be seein' much of their lot for the rest of the time the Circus is open. We go into sleepin' lad. And no one knows where that is. Could be down with the proprietor. Could be past the Krinner."

"Oh, I don't think it matters much." He said, pushing back the locks of curly hair to wipe his forehead in a gesture of relief.

"You went down into the belly o' the beast and you slayed the dragon. Or I guess in this case the Clown. How are ya' doin' lad? Ya'feel OK? Or maybe a better question is...

You feel as naive as ya' were before all this came into your life?"

"I feel...I know I'm not the same person as I was before I met the Circus."" Shawn hesitated as he tried to choose his words carefully. Because he wasn't the naive kid who just wanted a break from the pressure. For better or worse, he now knew what he'd do to survive. He'd lie, he'd cheat he'd manipulate his friends, he'd sell out his allies. And now he knew he would kill.

It was a hard revelation, but now that he knew how far he'd go, it made worrying about anything less than that seem hypocritical. What was any of that next to murder? What lies, or cowardice, or manipulation could be worse than that? He had to look out for himself and those he cared about. "But like you said, I went into the dragon's den and slew the dragon. I did something really important for the Order, and in all my stories, when you kill the dragon, the king gives you half his kingdom..."

"That it is lad, that it is." Griffix agreed. "The Dragon's usually sittin' on a pile o' gold. 'Tis true that what we fear the most has things that can be the most useful in our lives."

"Down in the depths o' the evil, there's useful things to learn, 'tis true. Ya' can't wander through life as a good person without knowin' how much evil ya' are capable of lad? I know it were hard on ya', doin' what ya' had ta' do. But now ya' know what you're capable of. So now ya' have some teeth ta' go along with what ya' already are."

"Maybe that's what ya' brought back?" Griffix waxed philosophically. "Maybe that's half your kingdom right there lad. The idea that ya' learned half more of what ya' are. That now ya' know ya' aren't as harmless as ya' once might have imagined. Ya' learned more about the other side o' ya': The Shadow."

"They say everyone's got one. And the Shadow can be seen here in this place." Griffix opened his arms wide in an arc, a gesture which indicated he was talking about earth or maybe just the world that Shawn inhabited.

"But the Shadow is rooted down in the Underworld. Down in the chaos. Maybe that's what ya' seen." Griffix opined.

Shawn made a show of considering Griffix's statement, even though he understood maybe a quarter of it at most. "But maybe the king is the Order, and now that we don't have to worry as much, maybe we should get a reward from them? Something more than a single card trick, you know? Not that card tricks aren't great."

"Too true lad, too true." Griffix said  "The belly of the beast is where ya' hid the things that ya' can't find..."

At this point, Griffix began to wax on and on philosophically about 'growing teeth' and 'piles of gold' that dragons keep near themselves. It felt like he wasn't talking about gold or teeth. Then again, it really wasn't clear.

Shawn could tell that the mood of the room had changed somewhat. Somehow, the two members of the Order had gotten themselves into this strange conversation that was moving quickly, but also--in a confusing manner--really wasn't going anywhere.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Wits + Empathy to see if he can gauge something about how Griffix might be reacting

OOC: 22:23, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 1 success using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 4,9,5. Wits + Empathy.

As Griffix was speaking, Shawn could tell that the diminutive member of the Order was speaking way above Shawn's own experience. Yet, there was a recognizable tone of regret associated with this philosophical monologue. Griffix was lost for a moment in his own inner thoughts. Thoughts that Shawn could tell were a kind of rumination over how things might have been different if Griffix had only perhaps acted differently in the moments before the Circus came into his life.

"Do ya' know what I mean lad?" Griffix asked, snapping Shawn back into reality with a rhetorical question.

"I get it. Though I think that maybe sometimes things that happened had to happen, so you can't regret them, you know?" Shawn wasn't sure if he actually believed that, but it sounded on-topic and vaguely reassuring.

"Too true lad, too true." Griffix agreed, nodding his head.

Then suddenly his eyes widened, as if a thought had come into his mind. He reached inside the square-cut coat and produced a small scroll. The parchment made a crisp, crackling sound as he held it out and unrolled it, eyes focused on the center.

"Well now." He began. "There's three 'tings I have ta' tell ya' about. Well, three more 'tings." He took a small black feather and began to scratch out something on the parchment.

"We got rid of Gaggles and Mr. Pibbles, so that's done lad. Those Clowns won't be gainin' any more souls for a bit, so that will slow things down until we get some more. " He concluded.

"Now. On ta' the next items on the list, it is. Let's see..."

"Alright then, I can talk ta' ya' about Feddler, the lead Carnie Hogwash, or some really, really bad news." Griffix offered. "I hope ya aren't too tired lad, we've go a lot ta' cover tonight, I know."

Shawn sighed a little as he realized his night wasn't over, but he didn't show the sadness on his face. "What's happening with Hogwash?" This sounded the most important to what he was trying to do.

"He's got a number of souls lad. A number of souls. It's all ready. It's all prepared. All we have ta' do, is set up the meetin'. Then we can make the deal."

"Souls for acorns." Griffix advised. "'Tis a simple trade lad. A trade that's been made for a long time. He uses the acorns for food. Not just for himself mind ya.' But also for the kids that he's enslaved. 'Ya see, he's kine of like a Shepard of souls if ya' will. A cruel one ta' be sure. But he's got ta' keep his flock fed."

"Why acorns? Who can say. But if he don't feed 'em, they say the kids grow savage and wild. There's a story of when he ran out 'o acorns, and how the kids then tried ta' run into the well and disturb the proprietor. That wouldn't have been good lad. Not good at all."

"But yes, we'll make a trade for souls. That might put us over the top. But who can say, it's all about how we can negotiate."

“Why would the kids run into the well?” Shawn had a hard time imagining any degree of insanity that would make him go anywhere near that well. Even thinking about it made him uncomfortable. But still, Griffix was handing him an almost suspiciously  golden opportunity here, “Umm... I may already have some acorns gathered. For Hogwash.”

"I know ya' do." Griffix said, and he gave Shawn a wink with his left eye. His right eye was covered by a lock of brown hair. "I seen ya' do what ya' did in the forest through the magic of the Fortune Teller's Ball." He said, coming clean that he had been observing Shawn's activities.

"I'm just keepin' an eye out for ya' lad. Don't tell no one. Especially not the Fortune Teller. I'm not supposed to be usin' or takin' her possessions."

"Anywho, the only 'ting keepin' those kids from jumpin' in the well is the acorns that Hogwash feeds them. Souls of the Circus--from the lowly carnie ta' the possessed Clown ta' your soul and my soul--It's all owned by the proprietor."

"So souls that he can't get to--from Hogwash and the like o' Crowley--those souls keep wantin' ta' get sucked into that well. Get sucked right in and down where they're suppos'ta' be."

"Not a good idea ta' keep souls from their owners. Unless it's part of the agreement. Unless its above and beyond the amount that suppos'ta' be dropped into the well."

"The short answer is that they're skimmin' from the top."

"So I need to...buy souls from Hogwash? Do I have enough acorns for that?" Shawn didn't want to think too hard about who owned his soul; he tried to focus on his task.

"Well I suppose that's just about barginin'. It's about strikin' a deal lad. That's what it's about. Ya' got ta' try with what ya' have. Far as I can tell ya' have a good face for the negotiations. What do ya' think?"

Shawn considered his own previous successes and failures in negotiations. "Is Hogwash smarter than Crowley?" The basic idea of a pig man didn't seem particularly gifted in the brains department, but he wasn't going to just trust his assumptions here.

"Well, it depends on what ya' mean by smart. Crowley some could argue has less at stake. He ain't responsible for nothin' but his own self. 'Tis a could way of sayin' that his negotiations have no bounds."

"So in a way, Crowley is better at negotiatin'." Griffix mused.

"But on the t'other hand, Hogwash is more cruel, so he puts that cruelty ta' use. And he can be vicious about it. He'll use his smarts ta' defend his position. And he's got kids workin' for him ta' do his dirty work. They give him all sorts o' ideas. And many heads is better than one."

Shawn nodded. This sounded dangerous, but he was already getting ideas; manipulative, arguably cruel ideas, but he'd recently realised he was willing to kill to stay alive, so this was hardly as bad in comparison. He'd just have to pitch the negotiations so the kids were on his side. "Okay, I understand. I think I'm ready."

Griffix reached into the inside of his coat once again to produce the list. Within second Shawn could see the movement and hear the scratching of the quill on the paper, Griffix eliminating another item on his 'to do' list.

"Remember. We got two more 'tings ta' do after this. Donna-forget ta' remind me. Ya' make good on this one, we'll be one step closer ta' finishin' this soul contest this time around. Stands ta' reason 'tings will be easier under the guidance of Melina than Mr. Cherrywinks, it does."

"But remind me when we get back: I got ta' tell ya' about two 'tings, OK?"

Shawn took the rabbit's foot out, and thought as hard as he could of his bucket of acorns, the various dollar store prizes he'd bought, and Hogwash...

OOC: Shawn Joins Thread

Shawn: Let the Negotiations Begin...