The First Frost Report

General Summary

As the herald flees from Downtown, back into the Marianna Woods, the motley looks at each other, unsure of where to go. Skulde Hjörvarðr ni Aesin suggests they go and speak with Duke Draven Vasquez about the situation, and the party agrees that is perhaps the best course of action. They travel to Ashby Manor, and enter into it to speak to the duke. Hilda curtsies to the duke, who likewise acknowledges his kin with respect. She tells him of the herald of winter in the woods, which Vasquez considers carefully. He finally declares that the motley shall deal with it up until the point that it becomes too much for them to handle, trusting his fellow sidhe's leadership. Besides, he tells the children, a chimera who has become corrupted or who is acting against its nature will soon be cannibalized by its kin, so even if the motley is unable to stop the creature, the other winter chimera should be able to deal with the stag. Hilda suggests that perhaps the creature is being forced to be something it isn't, which excites Josh Bunderson quite a bit. He practically salivates at the idea of running experiments on this strange chimera, but that requires them to find the chimera first. Thankfully, each of the children knows some of the forest chimera, and introduce them each in turn as an option:

Dante Summers suggests Arachne, a wise spider chimera, but one who is quite stingy with her knowledge and will most surely ask for payment for her help.
George Callahan suggests Mama, a mountain lion chimera whom he knows through his mentor Vivian Grisham. Mama lives in a cave, and while being somewhat dangerous, could certainly give them information they seek.
Josh suggests Ricky the Radio - a sentient radio built from the dreams of survivalists that live in bunkers out in the woods and is constantly spamming AM radio broadcasts
Hilda suggests William the White Rabbit, a snow bunny chimera who is only active during the winter - in fact he hibernates all summer. But he is quite concerned with keeping the woods safe and therefore would know if there was anything strange going on. Plus, wherever he walks he leaves snow-prints behind, so he will be easy to track down. Hilda also knows that he prefers the Ellocaine River, where it's coldest.

The motley agrees that William is their best bet, and they set out to track down the rabbit. It doesn't take them long to find him, and the protector of the forest turns out to be an over-caffeinated, nervous rabbit. But he is able to tell them about the herald, and where it may be: a cave up in the woods, and he gives them directions as well. As they walk towards the cave, the children rack their brains to attempt to figure out what could be causing the herald to behave how it does. The prevailing theory is Metamorphosis, which allows the caster to change physical forms, but that doesn't sound quite right. Dante offers to call up his mentor, Archie MacKenna, and ask him, which the motley agrees to. Archie suggests that rather than Metamorphosis, that Naming could be the cause of such a change, as Naming allows the caster to manipulate not the physical makeup of the target, but its underlying nature. Josh suggests using firecrackers to trap the chimerical stag in the cave, but Hilda shuts him down. In fact, she goes so far as to "knight" him with her ruler and cast Protocol (Sovereign 1) on him with a decree: "no fire in the woods." Unfortunately, her magic fails to take hold, so who knows what Josh will end up doing. But luckily for the motley, Josh is not just a lost limb waiting to happen. He manages to find the tracks of the herald, and Dante is able to use his tracking skills to lead them the rest of the way to a cave in the side of the mountain. It's small, barely more than a closet, and as the children investigate, Josh finds a sleeping bag and a bit of food stashed out of sight inside the cave. Josh suggests that perhaps the herald is not a true chimera, but a changeling twisted into the shape of a chimera, or perhaps even a human that has been transformed. It is at this time that Josh and Hilda decide to head back to town: Hilda to see if anyone at Ashby Manor can assist her in learning more about Naming, and Josh to see if he can build a trap for the chimera. Dante stays behind and hides in the cave for anyone coming back in his cat form. Hilda is successful, finding a sweet grump boggan who gladly tells her all she knows about Naming. Specifically that while it is a powerful art, only the most powerful kith can cause the changes to be permanent - most of the manipulations will fade with time. Josh, meanwhile, completes his trap, but finds the size of it to be unwieldy and difficult for a middle schooler to move. Thankfully, he's able to call up his mentor, Chris Antiquera, to assist. Chris brings out his truck and helps them move the trap up into the woods before heading back to town, as it's beginning to get late. Hilda takes a moment to cast Creeping Shadows (Autumn 1) on George as the motley gets into position, waiting for the chimera to come back to its cave: George using the shadows to hide him, Dante still in cat form, Josh up in a nearby tree, and Hilda a good distance away to be backup. As they sit and wait, they hear voices, and see a boy and the herald climbing up the hill towards the cave....