Bergen, Norway

    The bombs detonated in quick succession, sending a cloud of smoke rolling down the mountainside. The blast appeared silent; the staccato reports took a few seconds to reach Liam from his altitude. The sound echoed across the remote countryside, though it was thankfully too far from civilization to cause alarm. Swooping down for a closer view, Liam confirmed the cavern entrance was completely sealed. The Camarilla’s most recent attempt at a European production site was no more.

    It was a short flight back to his campsite. Caleb was waiting at the mouth of the camouflaged tent. He stood and wagged his tail as Liam shifted back to his human form. He trotted forward to present his master with a mostly-eaten rabbit, but paused when Liam winced.

Pain shot through him as he put his weight on his right leg. A sharp-eyed Tremere had managed to get a lucky, and had stabbed his thigh with an enchanted blade. It would take some time to heal.

“Don’t worry, boy,” Liam said with a chuckle. “I’ll be right as rain in no time.”

Other than the injury, it had been a fairly standard mission. The facility had been heavily guarded, but Liam had managed to enter the caves without detection. He had set most of the charges by the time he was discovered.

The Tremere had interrupted him in the delicate task of setting one of the charges, and had rushed him from behind. Liam’s sharp senses gave him enough warning to spin around and spy the dagger being thrust toward his chest. He had deflected the blade into his thigh and placed his right arm through the blood mage’s ribcage in an instant. Fortunately, his attacker did not have time to cry out, and the rest of the production crew was destroyed by the blast.

He found the least uncomfortable rock to sit upon, and lit a cigarette. He drew deeply on it, and looked up at the stars. The danger was over, for now. He allowed himself a moment of silence, before he exhaled the smoke. He watched it swirl and spread as the wind carried it down into the valley. Soon, the sunrise was going to start illuminating the peaks. He decided he’d stay to watch the alpenglow before he sealed himself in his tent for the day. He’d earned it with all the horror he’d witnessed.

Liam spared a thought for the innocent victims of the blast. Hung from a wall by their wrists, naked and shaved from head to toe, with all manner of chemical burns and arcane runes carved deeply into their bodies. Organs removed, body cavities stuffed with ritual components. Kept alive with a crude form of Embrace. All manner of tubes jammed into their veins to collect the foul thaumaturgical end product. Most of them women. Most of them trafficked. Just like all the others. He hated that he was growing inured to the horror of it all.

His lamentations were interrupted by a voice, very close behind him. He hadn’t sensed anyone approaching. Caleb didn’t make a sound, he only stared over Liam’s left shoulder.

“Liam O’Farrell, as I live and breathe!” Book cried. “Imagine running into you out here. What are the odds?”

Liam smiled. Smoke gently curled away from his nostrils and slowly dissipated in the still air before the dawn. He'd tried to quit. Made it six months. Broke down in the south of France and bought a pack. Quit again. Bought his last pack. Then another. And another. This last time he'd made it two months. He flicked his cigarette to the ground and crushed it beneath his foot letting go of the last of the smoke within his lungs with a sweet sigh.

"Incalculable, I should think," he said, turning at last. "Morning, Reverend. I'm afraid I haven't been very good about coming to church, lately."

"It's okay, Caleb," he said to the shepherd. The dog dropped his head into Liam's lap, and Liam patted the rock nearest him invitingly with a nod towards the horizon. "I don't think I have long, but you're welcome to join me."

Book stared at the rock for a moment, then he shrugged and took a seat. "Cool as a cucumber, as always," he remarked. "I've got a few minutes too, I suppose."

He stared at the scenery with Liam for a moment, allowing silence to pass between them. For a being older than Liam, he seemed wholly uncomfortable with the idea of sitting still. Without taking his eyes off the scenery, he tilted his head toward Liam. "I guess you must really miss the sun, huh?"

"Every single morning," he said wistfully.

"I long ago made peace with the Beast inside. But this," he said, with a wave that dismissed and encompassed the totality of the heavens at once. "This ache doesn't go away. A hundred years later and I feel it just the same."

He smiled softly. For a gangrel of his age, Liam was more human than most humans. He kept his hair short and clean and wore only a few days stubble rather than the old-man-of-the-mountain beard that most wildlings fell into after a time.

He glanced at Book at last.

"I would have thought you had all the time in the world. What brings you across my canvas doorstep?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:03, Fri 22 May 2020.

Book chuckled. "Oh, I'm trapped hurtling through the cosmos in one direction same as you," he said. "Time is why I'm here, as a matter of fact. I'm here because, God bless you, you never remember to turn your phone back on after a stealth mission."

Liam wasn't sure what one statement had to do with the other, but he had indeed turned his satphone off prior to embarking on his clandestine deeds. And just as Book had observed, he had forgotten to power it back on. He usually got around to it by the next evening, but it wasn't as though it was ringing off the hook.

Liam fished the device out of a pocket and stared at its dull black screen. He had a tendency to forget about it for days at a time, and on those rare occasions when it rang it usually startled him. “So I have,” he confirmed with the grace to be mildly sheepish about the admonition. He powered the phone back up.

“It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Present company excluded,” he said scratching behind Caleb’s ear.

“You didn’t come all the way to Norway to scold me about calling home more often. Has something happened?”

"Oh, but I did," Book said, smiling a little wider. "I asked you before: what are the odds that we are both here? Think of the astronomical improbability of it all. That a planet forms here, on a weak point in the fabric of reality. Of all the places in the infinite universe. What are the odds that the planet was capable of supporting life. That life evolved at all. That life became sentient. That they learned to overcome death itself, and to alter the fabric of space and time. All of this - all of it - culminating towards a single event. So you could exist to take a call. So you tell me, Liam. Why am I here to make sure you get it?"

“I suppose it must be a very important phone call,” Liam said dryly. He glanced down at the phone which was doing it’s best to find a satellite signal. “The sort of phone call that comes only once, and you’d hate to miss it.”
This message was last edited by the player at 13:26, Sat 23 May 2020.

"You've been missing them all night," Book said. "But I hate to interrupt you while you're working." There was an awkward pause for a moment. "I did say I had a couple minutes."

The phone rang. It was Jack's voice on the other line. "There you are," he said. "Shit, Liam. I'm glad I caught you."

If anyone could be said to be as cool as a cucumber it was Jack. Normally all but unflappable under the most harrowing of circumstances, the Mage sounded downright worried.

"Sorry, Jack. Still forgetting to turn my phone back on when I get back to camp."

"What's the matter? Did something happen back home?"

Jack was indeed worried, or at the very least rushed. His usual slow, deliberate drawl was replaced with a rushed one. "'Fraid I can't say over the phone. I need a job done and you're my first choice. Bloody mayhem assured. Death is likely. Real fate of the planet shit. Are you in?"

Book leaned in, resting his hands on his chin in a sarcastic sign of engagement.

Liam met Books’ gaze, his brow raised questioningly. The Reverend of course knew more than he was letting on.

“Where and when would you like to meet? I’m still in Europe. It may take me a day or so to hitch a ride.”

"Just give us your coordinates and we'll pick you up at sunset tomorrow," Jack said. Fortunately for Liam, the satellite phone was a dumbphone. The GPS coordinates were displayed on the screen and easy to relay. With their plans in place, Jack breathed a sigh of relief. "You know, the reason you were my first choice is because I know you would never refuse a friend in need. You saved my ass, Liam."

"You can tell me all about how great a friend I am over a couple of beers in the Winnebago tomorrow. Suns coming up any moment so I should tuck in. I'll let Caleb know to expect you."

"Safe travels."

After the line went dead, Liam glanced at the digital clock face on the phone. Book had been correct. A couple of minutes was all the time they had left.

"Do I ask how your business coincides with his or will that take more time than we have?"

"That depends on you, really," Book said. The sunlight had started to illuminate the tips of the peaks. Wouldn't be long now. "You're a clever guy. Why would I, of all people, make sure you, of all people, got into contact with two of the last holdouts of Verdant Falls?"

"Because the Camarilla are getting close to Vamanando," Liam remarked. It was the only thing that made sense to him. Liam had amassed a vast and eclectic web of associates and contacts since first setting foot in Verdant Falls years ago. Some were fleeting. Others enduring. A few were connected, sometimes in unexpected and surprising ways. Many stood alone in their own little orbit.

But the Venn diagram that comprised Jack and Book overlapped at only one node apart from Liam, and that was Vamanando. Jack was determined to keep the eldritch horror contained, and Book had made it his life's work to release it. Only now it seemed someone else might get there first...

Book squinted. "Physically, yes, they're close," he said. "Not in any way that matters, though. They're more interested in how to kill it. Wasted effort, if you ask me. No, if I thought for a moment that those slimy old hobgoblins were capable of performing such an undertaking without fucking one another over then I'd be having this conversation in Keisinger's office. Sitting on something more comfortable. Good guess, though."

“Because Jack has had a change of heart?” Liam hazarded, his voice conveying his disbelief. Jack had seemed fairly resolute on this particular matter in the past. Out of the corner of his eye Liam watched the daylight march it’s way down the distant peaks. Distant but moving quickly. “You see an opening somewhere at any rate, even if he hasn’t connected the dots.”

"No, you'll probably need to go behind his back on this one," Book said. "I'm sure this will all make much more sense when you're in the thick of it. Still, I wish you had more faith in yourself."

Liam laughed in spite of himself. "You're not the first person to make that observation." Standing up and stretching his limbs (still favoring his wounded leg), Liam reached down and scratched Caleb's head.

"When will I see you again?" he asked, already making his way towards the tent. It was time to tuck in.

"Soon enough," Book replied. "If you want to reach me, just find yourself alone and put me in your thoughts. Have a pleasant rest, Liam."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:00, Mon 25 May 2020.

"Thank you very much," Liam replied as he climbed into the protected shelter and turned to face Book through the open door. "And thanks for stopping by with the timely reminder," he added, waggling his phone. "That's a call I would have hated to miss."

"Take care of yourself."

The sun was already spilling across the tops of the trees as he zipped the enclosure tight and fell into the deadening embrace of torpor.

Liam awoke to the sound of Caleb barking, and the sound of a vehicle coming to a halt. There was a brief pause, and then his dog's reports changed. Liam could tell from the way he was carrying on that it was someone he knew, but had not seen for a vary long time. Voices and the gentle clatter of a metal grill soon followed. His body told him that the sun wasn't quite over the mountaintop, though.

"We're a touch early, Liam," Maeve's voice said from outside his tent. "We forgot to factor in the change of latitude. Take your time and don't rush out here on our account."

By the time Liam had roused, the coals were hot and there were burgers on the grill. Maeve was perched in a folding chair under the Winnebago's awning. Caleb was curled on the ground beneath her. A most welcome sight indeed.

"Evening, Liam," Jack said warmly as he spied him emerge. Caleb trotted over to greet his master. "Got beer on ice for ya, if it's not too early. Dunno how it works for you guys."

Liam smiled as he climbed out of his shelter and stretched tall. His leg was as good as new again, though less could be said for his trousers. Reaching down he lazily scratched behind Caleb's pointed ears.

"As long as its cold its not too early. Good to see you both," he said, genuinely pleased for their company whatever the circumstances.

He made his way over to icebox and grabbed a bottle off the top, twisting off the cap and pocketing it so as to leave no trace behind. The beer tasted like nectar on his lips and ran cool down his throat after weeks of venison and the odd foray into Bergen for supplies. Liam sank down in the folding chair beside Maeve's with a contented sigh and Caleb followed close behind.

"Sorry I haven't got anything to contribute. I don't get a lot of visitors out here."

"With the favour you're gon' do us I think it puts us about square," Jack quipped.

"More than, I'd say," Maeve chimed in.

"I've got a vamp-friendly burger I've been workin' on if you wanna try it," Jack said. "But I'm not gon' lie, it's basically a big scab."

"Where would the Kindred culinary world be without you, Jack?" Liam said, grinning wide. "I'm sure Marty is chomping at the bit to put it on the menu."

"I'd be glad to have the honours of first bite."

Liam took another drink from the bottle and looked up at the stars. The glow off the grill spoiled his dark sight but overhead the sky was clear and just beginning to unfold in all its northern majesty.

"So how bad is it back home?" he asked at last.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:34, Tue 26 May 2020.

Jack quietly served the burgers (briskly chopped and tossed in sauce for Maeve, and naked for Caleb). The patty he put in front of Liam looked like ground beef dyed jet black, and tasted...well, like a cooked scab. Still it was staying down, and the first solid food Liam had swallowed in centuries. As he worked, Maeve answered Liam's question.

"Things are not going well, as I'm sure you're aware," she said. "Keisinger and the Tremere have effectively conquered the city. The Sabbat are out, the Garou are routed, and all of us have been pushed out, save for Hasan and Jacob." Liam did indeed know all this. "However, their plans have hit a snag. COVID-19 has strange effects on Kindred blood. It causes blood bonds to break, ghouls to revert into humans, and can make kine both unpalatable and unembraceable. No one knows for sure how long these effects last, or if they're permanent. This presents a major threat to Keisinger's plans - the Fugue is similarly affected. I daresay this is the last expansion project you'll have to blow up in the near future. They're focused entirely on research at the moment. The entire city is on lockdown, and unlike certain parts of the world, they're able to maintain perfect isolation. Anyone who draws breath is confined to their homes. Food and supplies are all delivered. In reality, they've managed to keep the city down to a handful of cases. On paper, they're being hard hit. They're using the tragedy to harvest test subjects by the hundreds. Jacob and Hasan have used the situation to step up their guerilla tactics, but they're only two people."

Liam chewed in silence as Maeve recounted the litany of Verdant Falls's woes, and it was lengthy at that.

"If this is what's happening in Verdant Falls I can only imagine how the Princes of Manhattan and Bergamo are handling things. The Camarilla must be in a full-blown panic."

The virus was a problem for the entire world to solve however, and Liam had only one city to worry about.

"What happens to the ghouls of age?" His thoughts went immediately to Rick. Rick was as old as Liam.

"It ain't pretty," Jack said gruffly. He stepped inside the trailer for a moment.

"The older they are, the faster they age," Maeve said. "Young ghouls are proving to be an even bigger problem, however. Many were embraced against their will, and now free from their bonds, they're rebelling.

"You're quite right. The Camarilla is in crisis. The elders have retreated to private compounds with their own vassals. Cities have been left to fend for themselves. Some are doing okay. Others, not so well. Bergamo... well, I'm not hearing much of anything coming out of there. Last I heard, Manhattan had fallen to the Fomori. Those bastards are actually spreading it around. They've been looking for a weapon like this to use against the Kindred for decades. Spreading disease is their wheelhouse."

"I don't suppose you've heard anything from Rick?" Liam asked worriedly. He had no fears that Rick would turn on Hasan, but a healthy concern that Rick would not survive forcible reversion for long.

Maeve shook her head. "He's operating his own cell. Last I heard he was in Halifax, but you know how the arrangement works. Hasan would know more."

Liam nodded. All he could do was keep his fingers crossed.

"So how can I lend a hand?" he said around mouthfuls of burger.

Jack dropped a book on the table. Some sort of vegan cookbook. Sunshine Planet: 250 Veagan [sic] Recipes For A Sunnier Tomorrow by Robyn Rowe. Liam couldn't recall if he'd ever seen it before, but cookbooks kind of all blurred together. "We're in the publishing biz," he said.

Maeve elaborated. "This book is a confused, rambling collection of recipes riddled with spelling errors, incorrect ingredients, and misrecorded measurements. Most are inedible. Some are downright foul. It is also an international bestseller now in its third printing - with all typographical errors intact. This is in large part due to the fact that Sunshine Planet is perhaps the most important thing to happen to modern hedge wizardry since Crowley's Magick in Theory and Practice. Even most Traditional mages have a copy on their shel. It hasn't been announced yet, but she's writing a sequel."

"That's where you come in," Jack said. "We have to go to Newfoundland to make sure the publisher stays off everyone's radar until the book is already shipped. We need you to make sure she stays alive to write it."

Liam's brow hiked roughly an inch North. "You want me to keep Robyn safe?" He couldn't even keep Kate safe, and no one had had good cause to harm her. Liam looked back on those years with aching regret. To bond Caleb was one thing. To bond a human... He would never make that mistake again.

Perhaps no one would, if the virus ran its course.

"I suppose its foggy as all hell on the Rock, but there are still an awful lot of daylight hours where I'm of no use to anyone. Who is it you fear might harm her?"

"All three of us have warded her house as best we can," said Jack. "I don't worry too much 'bout ghouls finding her in the daytime. But the Tremere are still a threat. If they find out what she's discovered, they'll throw everything they have at her."

"So not the Fomori or other mages," Liam replied with relief. "I can handle Tremere."

"Does Robyn know I'm coming?"

"She does," Jack said, picking up the barbecue. "I told her your name, that you're a Kindred, and that we trust you implicitly." He tossed the grill, hot coals and all, in the Winnebago's belly compartment, and shoved it loudly in with his foot. Liam had learned long ago not to question how the old wreck worked. He took a seat next to Liam, and took in the sunset for a moment.

"We cut you a key," Maeve said. "It will get you past the wards, and even unlock the front door in a pinch." Her whiskers twitched, and she glanced over at Jack. "I suppose you're wondering why a simple book of magic is worth calling in old favours."

Liam smiled. "I presume its not just a simple book," he replied. "Do I dare ask what the wizarding world can expect in the sequel to Sunshine Planet?"

"Sunshine Planet 2: 50 Clean Drinks for a Clear Mind is a short collection of healthy and terrible mocktails sure to ruin any party," Maeve said. "In reality, it's a short and concise set of magical practices centered around one theme: the detection and elimination of the Camarilla Fugue."

"She cracked it, bud," Jack added. "It took her a while, but she devised a method for producin' an antidote to the Fugue using easy-to-find reagents. One that's simple enough for even a mid-level dabbler to pull off, and powerful enough that a gallon jug of the stuff can purify a major metropolitan water supply. It's a game changer."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:24, Fri 29 May 2020.

Liam made no effort to disguise his surprise. "Do the Tremere have any idea what's coming?" He understood now why Jack was desperate to have Robyn guarded. This changed everything.

Jack shook his head. "They don't," he said. "We're waiting til the book is on the shelves, and then we'll let 'em know. We'll give'm a clear fuckin' signal."

"Lets hope it stays that way," Liam replied. "So where in Newfoundland are we headed? Somewhere remote I presume?"

"We are going to St. John," Maeve said. "Or is it St. John's?"

"Robyn is... Well, you'll see," Jack said. "She's not going anywhere until the city's released."

"St. John's," Liam confirmed. "They get very touchy about that."

Draining the last of his bottle he stood from his chair.

"Give me a few minutes to pack up and we can get underway as soon as the two of you are done eating."

"We're all good here," Jack said. "Y'all can talk more on the way there."

Several minutes later, Maeve and Liam sat in the back of the Winnebago. Caleb was up front with Jack, behind the curtain. Dogs, credulous as they are, did not seem to be a big concern with regards to Paradox.

"There are some complicating factors at play in the city," Maeve said. Because of course there were. "Long before we found her, Robyn was already working with the Black Hand. They've been providing her with reagents and protection, and they're going to expect a copy of her research. I believe you're familiar with at least one of them. Goes by the name of Nex."

“Ah, yes,” Liam replied. “I know Nex.” There were few Kindred Liam feared, and equally there were only a few he truly respected. Nex had the ignoble distinction of falling into both categories at once. He knew better than to trust the Nagaraja with anything beyond its own inscrutable interests.

“So I can expect company.”

"Ohhhhhoho yeah," Jack guffawed from behind the cabin curtain. "That creepy tin grin motherfucker's the least of your worries."

"Mm," Maeve mumbled assent. "Something very old and very powerful has been guiding her hand since the very beginning. And I'm not talking about that creeping horror that sleeps beneath the city."

“Oh?” Liam inquired. This would be Book almost assuredly. “To what end? Does Robyn know?”

"She knows," Maeve said. "She doesn't trust him, but he came bringing assistance she couldn't refuse. From what I can determine, he's an extradimensional being trapped in linear time. He calls himself Book. From what I observed, he's not even capable of direct action. He seems to interact with our timeline through the manipulation of others." She paused and met Liam's gaze.

"You've travelled through time before, correct?"

Liam smiled. "I was whisked away right under Jack's nose," he replied. "And had to endure a long sleep in the ground on a spit of land in the middle of the Atlantic to get back."

Maeve nodded. Her thrashing tail belied the interest in the topic. "Then I'm sure you were aware of how locked you were in this timeline. You weren't able to change the past so much as fulfill your role in it. To my knowledge, no magic or supernatural ability has been able to travel through time in any fashion other than forwards or backwards along a single trajectory. Simply put, one cannot move from one timeline to another. This creature, however, sees multiple timelines at a given moment, and anchors himself onto whichever outcome suits him best. He moves across the scale of probability the same way you or I walk across a room. What this means is: if you're seeing him, then whatever he's after, he's already gotten."

Maeve could see she was getting carried away with the topic, and caught herself. "The reason I'm telling you all this so you don't go trying to fight him. You can't. We've tried, and it was disastrous. Frankly, I'm not convinced he's truly corporeal. The worst you can do to him is thwart his plans, and the only indication you'll get that it worked is that you'll never see him again, because he's in the outcome where you failed. Be very careful how you deal with him."

"I told Hasan I would have been just as happy to stay awake and make my own way back to the present, but he insisted," Liam said with a grin.

"Anyway I'll keep that in mind." What did it say that Book kept popping up in his own timeline then?

"Presumably he's already gotten whatever he wants out of Robyn then, at least if we stay the course?"

Maeve studied his face for a moment as he spoke about time travel. Her vulpine features made her inscrutable. "I think Hasan made the right choice. Knowing the tragedies that befell the world, and being powerless to stop them. I do believe that'd break someone."

"As for the Old One, I don't think it's that simple," she said. "He may in fact be counting on you straying from a path. I don't know for certain what his ultimate goal is, but it doesn't take a genius to make a pretty good guess."

Liam thought long and hard about what to say next, but he could tell from Maeve’s probing gaze that she already had an inkling. To say nothing was to erect a barrier, and Jack and Maeve had come to him out of trust.

“Book used to haunt the Old Verdant Falls as well,” he said, turning back the years in his mind’s eye. “He may be able to cross timelines but I guarantee you he doesn’t stray far from Verdant Falls in any one of them. It was a smaller community back then. Hard to miss.”

“I didn’t know what he was back then but he knew what we were, and he let us be. Don’t worry, Maeve. I’ll be careful.”

"I had my suspicions," Maeve replied. "Thank you for your honesty, Liam."

"We're about fifteen minutes out," Jack replied. "Local time is about 4:45 am."

"You should have enough time to get yourself underground," Maeve said. "Or we can drop you off in a box if you'd prefer. We've remained in the city since you left, so if there's any other information you need, I'll be glad to help you out."

"Do you know where I can find Pockets?" If there was anyone who could get him plugged back into Verdant Falls in a hurry, it was her.

"Oh, she's around," Maeve said. "From what I understand she's cracked the code that the Camarilla is using to text its orders to the city. Jacob and Hasan have her running surveillance."

Jack cleared his throat from the cabin.

"There's... one more thing we need to talk to you about. How well do you trust Jacob Holloway, Liam?"

Liam paused to reflect on the question before answering.

"I've always trusted Jacob to do what was right for the city. Unquestioningly. Even if that put him at odds with an ally."

"Now that the city does not belong to him any longer... I don't know. It's been years since we met face to face. I can't imagine they've been kind to him."

"He's in rough shape," Maeve said. "Keisinger has been wearing him down. Pointedly. He may be nigh invincible, but his heart breaks just like yours and mine. Watch your back around him. Hasan, too. Where one goes, the other follows."

Liam nodded. He still kept the messenger stone close by, but he relied on it less and less and even then Hasan often did not answer.

"I'll keep my distance," he assured. "Will the two of you be reachable in St. John's? Or should I assume you're off the grid for now?"

"Keeping the book quiet will keep us busy," Maeve said. "But you have our number if you need it."

The Winnebago rolled to a stop. Caleb slipped his way past the cabin curtains, followed closely by Jack.

"We're here," Jack said. Then, after a short pause, he added. "Outta curiosity, what did Book have you doin'?"

"Way back when?" Liam asked, pausing for some indication from Jack. "He wasn't called Book back then. At least, not until I found the Book hidden in the altar of the old church quite by accident. Presumably that's what he needed me for - can't influence the timeline directly and all that - although ostensibly we were hunting game. The colony struggled to feed itself. I brought in meat and they let us live out in the woods."

"Pockets didn't take well to colonial North America, you can imagine. And Cyrus - he just snapped. Tried to kill Pockets one night. I had to put him down with a stake through the heart."

This is my best recollection of events. If I'm mistaken I'll amend.

"That tracks," Maeve said cryptically.

"Cyrus got what he deserved," Jack added. "He was like a child with a gun." He opened the door to the Winnebago, and stepped out into the night.

The RV was parked by the side of a gravel logging road. Liam wasn't sure where exactly it was, but there wasn't a streetlight as far as he could see. There was a mailbox by the side of the road, with no apparent driveway to accompany it. Beside it was a small square of wooden decking, with a hand-painted sign that said 'DELIVERIES HERE'.

Jack held out a key attached to a small leather fob. "The keychain ain't special in case you're wondering," he said. "Just don't lose that key."

Liam shouldered his pack and reached for the key, casting a questioning glance towards Jack. Stepping down from the wagon he patted his thigh for Caleb to follow.

"Am I the delivery then?" he asked wryly, wondering what sort of box Jack proposed to drop him in.

"Your call," Jack said. As soon as Liam had taken the key, he spied a driveway in the trees. Funny, he could have sworn it hadn't been there before. "You can plant yourself in a plywood box, and she'll wheel you in during the day, or you can hide under the ground and introduce yourself in the evening. I suppose you can make it to the house tonight, but she's uhh... Celebratin'."

He popped open the belly compartment and slid out a large wooden shipping crate. 'FRAGILE' was stencilled on the side.

Liam nodded after a moment and beckoned Jack forth. "Lets have it," he said.

"And you, Caleb. The nice lady is bringing us inside. I want to hear you were on your best behaviour, understood?"

Caleb grumbled a little as he sized up the crate's interior. It was roomier than it looked, but not by much. Hooded vents in the top would allow air to circulate without letting the light inside. After a moment's hesitation, he stepped inside.

"Guess you're all set then," Jack said, and sniffed. He nearly moved in for a hug, but settled for slapping Liam on his shoulder. "Take care, bud. Good to see you again."

“That’s frightfully kind of you, Caleb, but you can have a seat next to the box and look handsome,” Liam said with a smile. “No need for both of us to be sealed up all day.”

At Jack’s farewell Liam turned and hugged the Texan whether he was expecting it or not. “It was good to see you too. Take care of yourself, Jack. You too Maeve,” he added as he pulled back. Stepping into the box with one leg and then the other he laid down and allowed himself to be sealed in. In a few hours he would be meeting Robyn.

Jack returned the hug when offered. Maeve, lacking the arms to do so, merely leaned against Liam's leg for a moment. When the three parted, Jack cleared his throat, and went back for the crate's lid. Caleb, feeling left out, went and snuffled Maeve goodbye.

"Oh, and Liam," Jack said as he affixed the door of the crate. "Don't forget to check the fridge in the garage."

Once the crate was nailed and secured, they said a final goodbye and the next sound Liam heard was the crunching of gravel as they drove away.

[ 2 XP for the scene. For Char sheet purposes, consider your willpower refilled and your BP at -1. Don't forget you have a level of aggro to heal, too.]