Tyrant's Grasp

"You're the three who've been running around town like you've got some sort of mission, aren't you?" she asks in a soft tone. The young woman wears simple scholarly robes of brown, holding a book tight to her chest, while a cat curls around her ankles. "You know things. About where we are, and the monsters that have appeared on the edge of town... oh, but where are my manners? I am Rosamund, Rosamund Blecher."

”We’ve met, actually,” Holden replies, walking closer. He holds out his hand. ”It was when we were both kids though, so I wouldn’t exactly blame you for forgetting me. I’m Holden. My dad runs... ran a hunting shop in town.”

"You're not dead," Titia remarks out of the blue, eyes narrowed in confusion. "Where did you wake up this morning?"

"My dad was a tinker," Rosamund answers with a sad smile as she clasps his hand. "You were just starting to help out at your father's shop, yes? I remember how nervous you were." To Titia, she turns and answers, "I woke up in bed, and my fiance, Willis," she says with a downward glance at the cat. "Woke up like this."

The cat looks up at everyone, a knowing look in his eyes. "Mrow."

Holden looks down at the cat. ”I empathize more than you would think,” he says before looking back to Rosamund. ”We do know things. Like the fact that we’re in the boneyard.”

Rosamund nods. "Yes, the moon certainly helped to make that fact clear, though it would seem you all and the mayor are the only one's who believe it so far."

"Arbella Tharmethion and the council believe now too, though that was no easy task," Victor says. "Mayor Grive felt she might be able to convince the others."

"I can't imagine this will be easy either," Rosamund notes, casting a glance towards the children playing in the field. "I spoke with the mayor, and she told me what we must do here," she explains.

”Someone else should take the lead on this. I have one approach, and I don’t think me just telling them they’re fucking dead’ll be the right approach,” Titia adds with a grimace.

As the group approaches, one of the children notices them and shouts to the others. All of them recognize at least one of you, and they rush over, giggling and laughing over one another.

Rosamund crouches down and readily agrees to the children's requests that she perform magic for them, using a minor spell to change colors of shirts, to make hair bounce up and down, and to create small, crude toys which she gives to the children.

The children ooh, ahh and giggle appropriately, and soon all of them are crowded around Rosamund, begging for more.

With all the children's attention all gathered on her, Rosamund nervously swallows, and attempts to use her little magic tricks to make a puppet show to tell a story about in order to break the news to the children. However, as the story progresses, Rosamund ends up fixating more on droll, arcane details of it, which send many of the children's attention back to the others, leaving things back where they started.

Willis weaves around Rosamund's ankles, purring in a manner that she can feel is affectionate laughter.

Rosamund glances down at the touch with a half smile, with a small shrug to say "Oh well, I tried my best."

When some of the kids return their attention to her, Titia sighs and crouches down to their level, unholstering her crossbow too and holding it out for them to check out, showing off the loading mechanism, though she keeps any curious hands away from the trigger. Once she has more of their attention, she lowers her voice to a stage whisper, "Alright everyone, I have an important secret to tell you all, something that even your parents don't know yet. It's a bit scary, but you're all big, tough kids, right?"

The children gather around Titia, eyes wide with excitement and only a minimal amount of shoving to try and be in front.

"Alright. So something really terrible happened last night, the entire town was hit by something... and almost everyone didn't survive. We aren't actually in Roslar's Coffer right now, we're in the Boneyard. It's not your fault, and everyone's really upset about it, but it's really important that you all be strong for your families. They're having trouble understanding it, so right now I need all of you to be as big and grown up as you can, okay?" Titia softens her tone more than she ever has in her life, looking at each of those small faces and realizing that at some point she saw each of them in a cradle.

There's a long moment of silence, before...

"Ugggggh." The children all groan in annoyance and disperse in a huff. One girl, looking particularly annoyed, says "We already knew that!"

Victor sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose with the hand that wasn't balancing Nailhewer's blade away from the children. "Should've known. If anyone would be open to these circumstances it would be the kids," He mutters.

"Well yeah," the girl huffs. "The lady told us already."

"What lady?" Titia immediately asks, eyes narrowing.

The girl points at the crow sitting atop the tree, which flaps its wings in great, sweeping motions to depart its perch. It swoops down in a spiral around the oak before landing on the girl's head and opening its beak widely. A lyrical voice ushers forth, with a curious, lilting accent. “Ah, newcomers, you must be the curiosities I heard tell of. I am Mictena, and I cordially welcome you to the Boneyard and eternity. Do not fret about your unusual condition; I shall be with you shortly to correct this horrible error and help you on your way to your final rest!”

"Unusual condition? You mean us still being alive?" Rosamund says taking a wary, ready stance. "I'd very much like to stay this way, thank you very much. No need for any help from you." At her feet, Willis begins to pull his teeth back in a snarl.