World Tree MUSH

    Claire had gone offworld to sell a cartload of blueberries, and picked up some good, affordable hay to take back home. She went and parked the cart next to a tall tower while she went and grabbed lunch, and then moved on through the vine and to the Getaway Farm. Entering the farm shows initially an orchard with various fruit trees, the oranges and peaches seem to be nearing ripeness.

    The path swiftly leads past the orchard, splitting the farm in two parts. On the north side is a grassy field with various animals. Chickens, ducks, goats, cows, pigs and dinosaurs mingling freely. A few barns and coops at the far edge of the field, with silos right behind these buildings.

    On the south side is a massive cornfield, further away is a similar field full of blueberries, and smaller fields with other crops can be seen. In the distance a grove of giant mushrooms. Walking further along the path reveals a couple more buildings, including the main farmhouse, a greenhouse growing a variety of crops and several sheds.

    Claire parks the cart next to one of the silos, and grabs for the pitchfork, getting ready to move the hay out of the cart and into the silos.

    Farms with fruit trees, oranges and peaches (neither particularly well-acquainted with her homeland), chickens, ducks, goats cows pigs and -- dinosaurs? *Dinosaurs*? 

    Evie Frye had taken shelter from a pursuer in a cart of hay, and unlike the usual pursuant they had decided to stick around, looking for the woman, and as one does in warmth while wearing an awful lot of armored leather, Evie had fallen asleep in the hay after not having rested. 

    So, when she wakes up, peering through the hay at the strange place she had found herself in after being absconded with quite accidentally, she gives a soft grunt, and raises a hand up and out of the hay. 

    "I do apologize, madam, but it appears I've accidentally stowed away in your cart."

    It was a long way to travel, following the cart and its owner. The persuer was easy enough to dispatch, but then the haycart went missing. Luckily Claire is rather easy to spot and the white-clad woman follows at a distance until the cart is parked up and the farmer is preparing to unload the cart.

    A new gargoyle is set atop one of the nearby barns as Evie makes herself known... the crouched figure of Piera just watching silently for the time being.

    Claire puts aside the pitchfork. She's about to say something, then notices something look off in the corner of her eye and reaches for the slingshot on her belt and a red orb with a button on the seam. She gently pulls the orb back into the slingshot, and aims for the strange gargoyle that shouldn't be there. "One second, miss. It seems my barn has grown a new ornament." She tells Evie, before yelling, "Come down here and tell me what you're doing on my farm, or I will use force."

    Evie pulls her hood back up, and she stands, hopping off the haycart as she looks up. Her eyes narrow a moment. "That's not a gargoyle --" she ventures, and she calls out: "Piera, yes? I don't think you're in any danger, ma'am. She's..." Evie trails off a moment. "... a sister-in-arms."

    Having been spotted, Piera drops from the edge of the barn, lands with a roll and then stands. She holds her arms out, hands with palm facing toward Claire and Evie. "I came looking for..." and then Evie shows herself. ".. her, actually. I took care of the one chasing you. They will not find the body quickly so you should be safe for now." she directs toward Evie, then turns her eyes back toward Claire. "Piera Forta da Forli, Un discepolo della Confraternita degli Assassini. (A Disciple of the Assassin Brotherhood.) I mean you no harm."

    Claire lowers the weapon. She still looks a smidge suspicious, "And how do I know you're not working for the Gotoro Empire?" She asks, but there's no bite in it. She's not gonna challenge the self-proclaimed assassin on disposing bodies. "I'm Claire, this is my farm, and guests are supposed to take the road not pretend to be rooftop ornaments." She turns to Piera, "Nor be sleeping in my cart."

    "Well... what is a Gotoro Empire?" Evie questions, and she draws back her hood, looking a fair bit more friendly now that her braided hair is showing how much Hood Hair she's developed, and also has hay sticking out of it at odd angles. 

    She does *not* comment on 'no one will find the body', though she stiffly looks around. 

    "I see. A pleasure to meet you in person without being shot at, Piera." she greets the other Assassin, and then looks to Claire and tries for as charming a smile as she can manage. 

    "My apologies, ma'am. I didn't intend on staying in the cart nor the unsurprising amount of time I fell asleep in it. Yesterday was somewhat of an ordeal." she explains, retreiving a cane from the cart, and she looks around the farm again, her eyes going to the dinosaurs. 

    "There's some animals I'm not familiar with, though, and I have... I have some questions."

    With the threat of the slingshot and bomb capsule removed, Piera's arms move to doff her own hood. This also seems to signal Aquila to emerge from the hood, the little Shinki standing on the human's shoulder with her jetpack and breastplate summoned. "Ah yes, the... HYDRA base I think they called it. They reminded me of Templars." the itallian assassin steps closer. She does respond to Claire's assertion. "I did use the road... then I needed a better vantage point and the barn was the best perch in the area."

    Piera has a darker than average complexion, short brown hair and deep brown eyes that seem to shimmer with a gold reflection occasionally. "My partner, Aquila." she adds, almost an afterthought, gesturing to the Shinki on her shoulder.

    Claire follows Evie's gaze, "Oh those are the dinosaurs. Dinosaur Mayonnaise is one of the more popular products for export these days, so I've more of them than I used to." She explains, and begins putting hay into the silo. "The Ferngill Republic, where we are, is at war with the Gotoro Empire." She explains, "And they strike me as the type to employ assassins, though if anyone ordered a hit on me I'd bet it's Joja. I doubt the Empire even knows I exist."

    "Dinosaurs --" Evie repeats. "They were just discvoered, well. Re-discovered. I think their remains are behind some of the more fantastic elements and implausable creatures of my world. Our world." she pauses, looking to Piera... "though we're from very different years." she smiles, and she looks up to Aquila. 

    "How do you do, Aquila. -- and I'm so sorry, Claire -- did you say..." 

    Evie gives a dubious look... 

    "Dinosaur /mayonaise/?"

    Piera nods to Evie. Completely lost on the discussion about Dinosaurs. They've not really been found yet in her timeperiod so she just lets the others speak.

    Aquila bows to Evie, "Safety and Peace to you, sister." the little robot replies, performing the traditional bow of the Brotherhood. She /is/ sporting Brotherhood colour-scheming, after all.

    "Yeah, mayonnaise is a condiment made with eggs. Usually chicken eggs, but dinosaur eggs give it a different flavor and some people seem to like that more. It's not for me, but I don't to like it I just need to sell it." Claire smiles as she explains it, "Not a lot of farms have dinosaurs, so there's always more demand than supply."

    She finishes offloading the hay, and begins to walk. "I don't mind talking to you but I do have more work to do. We can talk while I work, though." It seems she's headed for the grove of giant mushrooms, grabbing an axe made out of purple metal on the way. "If you want to apologize for sleeping in my cart, you could help me carry this mushroom over? I hear there's some chefs in other worlds who pay good money for mushrooms like these." On the way, they pass a melon patch, with a couple melons big enough one could carve a full-size horse-drawn carriage out of one of those.

    "Huh." Evie reflects a moment, looking at the dinosaurs. 

    "... Jacob would entirely try to get one for the Rooks." she murmurs, mostly to herself, but she turns back to Claire and gives a smile as she follows behind. "Certainly, we don't mind giving a hand -- do we, Piera?" she asks the older-ordered Assassin, and giving a slight wince, hand going to her side a moment, she begins to walk after Claire, pausing to look at the melons. 

    Don't say it. Don't say it. 

    "... those are some fantastically sized melons -- how do you get them to grow so large? Most that I've seen are smaller than one's head."

    "Jacob?" asks Piera as she falls into step with the others. "Of course, I would be glad to help." she replies, her pace easily keeping up with the latter-day assassin and the farmer. "Tell me, Miss Claire. Does this Gotoro Empire employ secretive societies that seek and hoard ancient relics for their own ends?"

    "It's a bit of a secret, but I can tell you that the valley is full of magic and this is connected." Claire walks up to a mushroom with a stalk a foot in diameter, and three stories tall, with the cap easily six feet in diameter, and she begins to chop like she's felling a tree. "I don't think so?" She tells Piera, "But I don't know very much, really. The Empire is overseas and I've never been. I do know someone robbed the museum of all its artifacts some time ago, but I don't know who did or why."

    "Mm." Evie replies back to Piera, looking to her with curiosity and more than a little concern, but her attention returns back to Claire. 

    "Magic, you say?" she inquires, looking up at the mushrooms, and she tilts her head a moment. 

    "Curiouser and curiouser." she murmurs and then replies: "If the museum artifacts were precious, it could be any reason, Ransom, private collections --" she reflects "... magic, though... not something our world has much of. To see it in such a state, here, with foodstuff..."