THE HEDGE [main thread 12/18-2k16?]

   

The center of the Hollow contains a small hamlet circling a plaza; a few small one-room houses, a miniature diner, and the yellow brick road leading out into the Hedge proper. The houses are plainly furnished but comfortable with a single door entry, except for Cinnamon's - decorated however you like, though nothing within is of any particular value - which has a second door on the far wall visible from the inside but not the outside. The diner, though small, has an excellent selection of treats; burgers, melts, fountain drinks, milkshakes... classic diner fare. It even has an era appropriate jukebox and a game box at the end of the bar that contains classic board games such as checkers, backgammon, and chess upon request. It is tended by a woman who, upon closer inspection, has seams at all her joints and doesn't blink. She is very friendly, calls everyone 'dear', and answers to Cheryl (not the name on her nametag, incidentally... it says Debbie). The road ends at a free standing rose-covered hedge arch with a massive wrought iron gate barring the way from Hedge to Hollow. The surrounding environment is in flux, from brightly lit and colorful, to shadowy and ethereal, to a poignant gloom when the fogs roll in - the deeper you go, the thicker the trees and underbrush get and the more winding the passageways become. From inside it simply turns you back to the the hamlet eventually, but to outsiders attempting to intrude it would be thwarted by the maze-like quality of the forest.

( Congratulations! This counts as a - wait for it - NINE dot Hollow merit. The dots are divided as follows:
Hollow Size 2
Hollow Amenities 3
Hollow Security 4
So write that down. Size 2 gives you 4 rooms, one for each of you. Amenities 3 gives you food and a bit of entertainment, and Cheryl, who is a construct - she tends the diner, makes small talk, and will play as your opponent, but is very limited in her faculties, cannot leave, and has no combat abilities. Security 4 gives you the fucking maze of a changing forest around you, subtracting 4 from any roll to attempt to find your Hollow as well as to the rolls needed to break in to the Hollow.
You can buy additional dots in this Hollow, up to 20 total ( ! ), maxing each of these categories to 5 and adding a new category - Doors - which adds additional access points to the Hollow. And while we're on the subject; that door in your house, Cinnamon? It will lead to your apartment in the Real once the Hedge is done being fucked up. Technically it still does right now, but from the inside of your apartment you can't get out and no one outside in the Real can get in. BUT! Back to the dots thing, if you want to buy more dots, you buy dots related to the TOTAL value of the merit - in this case 9 - so buying new dots is expensive. )

Johann's Apocalyptic Form takes time to melt away - like fogged glass slowly clearing. "I'm cool with one of the little houses here but it does seem a shame to pass on a perfectly good romp in the garden. In a minute, though. I'm not fully back to human yet and I don't think that will go well." He goes for a cigarette as usual, but stops halfway through. "... huh. Wait a minute..." He makes a few somatic gestures - obviously the kind of motions mnemonic to occult abilities - but nothing happens. Hm. That's new."