(D2, EE, Motel) House of Strangers

[Tiffani Noelle]

"If there are secrets in this town, the locals may not be all that inclined to tell us the truth. Some may turn hostile. Hell, the whole town could turn hostile if we start asking the wrong people wrong questions. I'm not saying we shouldn't try, but, I wanted to throw that warning out there just so we all understand the possible repurcussions."

Oddly enough, Tiffani was actually starting to enjoy what role she had in this affair. She was, most likely, the youngest person in the room. In some cases, she was probably the youngest by far. And people were still willing to listen to her, take her seriously. To her, it was almost intoxicating.

"What I was hoping for, in terms of researching in a library, is that a larger, neigboring town wouldn't be subject to whatever taboos the locals may be living under. Like, say, the priest and his church. It might also give us some idea if there have been some unexplained deaths in this town - I mean, for its size, there should only be an accidental death, perhaps, once every 30 or 40 years. If there are clusters of deaths, especially at regular time intervals, we'll at least know we're not dreaming up all of this craziness."

She eyed the package of Oreos rather hungrily and silently cursed a town with no 24 hour restaurants - in Milton-Keynes, Bedford, Northampton, there was at least a 24-hour McDonald's or Chinese Moon Wok Peiking place open for night meetings like this one.

"I guess the first order of business is to find out if there even is a larger town relatively close by that would cover stories in Maize. After all, a small, insignificant town like this with no media coverage would be the perfect place for some evil villain to set up shop." Tiffani winked at the gathering of Changelings and did her best evil laugh impersonation. "Muahahahaha!"

[Reina Silva]

"Forming a Motley seems like a good idea. I'm not good with libraries, though," she replied. "I can hunt pretty good, though. Maybe I'll do some exploring, follow my nose and see what I can dig up."

[Jean Wellspeak]

"Is there a library here?" Jean asked. "I didn't see one. Still, why are you guys so eager to go out there. Why do you think there is something out there?" He had an inclination why that might be, but wanted the others to speak their minds.

[Steve]

The elemental with little to add shrugged his shoulders and rolled his neck, “if you help me with my business, I’ll help you with yours.”

[Tiffani Noelle]

"Yeah ... that's the real trick," Tiffany said with a sigh. "I don't think this town has a library - or a courthouse - or anything like that. But there has to be a place where records about this town are stored. Birth and death certificates, marriages, foreclosures, sheriff sales, land deeds. I mean, I'm assuming the United States has those places, yes? If not in Maize, then somewhere else close by. Is there even a map in this town?"

Tiffany then massages her temples in a show of mild frustration; in so doing, her thick mane of curly hair is lifted to reveal her gracefully pointed ears. "If we don't do any research beforehand, we would be exploring blind, and with all of us split up all over the place, if ... and that's a big, uncertain "if" ... but if we were attacked in some way, it would be a "divided we fall" scenario. We don't even have a method of communicating with each other when we're not together - aside from unreliable ... what are those wireless phones called again? Anyway, that's it. I mean, I'll follow whatever plan we come up with - I don't want to be a Negative Nancy or a Debbie Downer. But I do want to point out some of the risks."

A peculiar expression washes over TIffany's youthful face for a moment, then she says, "Wait a minute, how did I become like a general all of the sudden? The closest to war I've ever come were snowball fights after school on Cromwell Street. You guys don't have to listen to me."

Then she heard the elemental speak ... Steve? Was that his name? "Uh ... what exactly is your business?"

[Jean Wellspeak]

Not understanding what Tiffani was talking about, Jean busied himself scratching his chin generally looking fabulous. His hair was fairer than was hair, his skin without a blemish. In other words, he stuck out like a sore thumb, a sore thumb that knew just how special he was. "We can always shout to each other? Like, stick together. Don't go running on your own. But still, how do you guys are so sure there's something out there. And what does that guy want." he pointed at Steve. It seemed that Tiffany had asked a good question.

[Marlowe Phillips]

"Steve is here looking for someone." I answered, glancing at the elemental. "The rest of us can probably help with that, but we'de want to know more about who your after."

" As for who or what may be after us, I have no idea. I know I came up here following rumors that about something strange happening in Maize." I explained. "Usually, there's nothing to it, just conspiracy theory and urban myth. But, this many of us coming here at the same time, with no local freehold, is an odd coincidence. Make no mistake. There are huntsmen and other things out there in the world who could come after any changeling, after any of us. I'm not sure that's what's happening here, but it is a concern."

[Steve]

The elemental nodded to Marlowe, "my Fetch," he spat the word on the floor like it tasted bad, "is here. I wouldn't refuse if a few of you want to join me when I pay it a visit."

[Tiffani Noelle]

Tiffani smirks a little at Jean as she folds one leg underneath the other. One might be able to discern that she's getting just a little cramped - though not so much as to make her want to leave.

"Well .... yeah .... we could shout at each other I suppose. But .... well, sure." There was no use in trying to explain to Jean what a radio is - or a simple walkie-talkie - nor was she really equipped with the knowledge necessary except to say that it's like a magic box ... She reasoned Jean's life was filled to bursting with "magic boxes" right now. No reason to add yet another. "At any rate, truth be told, we don't know if anyone is out there - or any thing."

"But, we're all here, I guess ... and I'm going to crawl out on that proverbial limb and say we're probably all here for a reason. Perhaps the first order of business is to get this motley formed before we go off half-cocked into the fields, yes?" The wings on her back beat slowly back and forth as if she were aggitated about something - but offered a nice cooling breeze to anyone sitting near her.

But the word "fetch" caught her attention. "Your fetch is here? In Maize? Are you a local? I mean, why on earth would it be here? Whatever the case ... hmm ... I'm not much of a fighter, really, but I can do a few things. I can try to help if I can." Yeah, she didn't know a thing about this person ... but anyone dealing with a fetch deserved some help. And maybe he would return the favor and help us with this ... whatever it was ... presumably lurking out in the cornfield.

[Steve]

Steve shrugged, "don't know, don't care. Spent six months looking for him, and here he is. That's enough for me."