2017-03-14: Holy Mole-y

• Log: Holy Mole-y
• Cast: Catenna, Jacqueline Barber, Josephine Lovelace, Sue
• Where: Adelhyde Fairgrounds
• Date: March 14th 2017
• Summary: The moles (from the mole-catching festival game, of course) have escaped and the crowd is in a panic!

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

Ah, the Ancient Culture Festival -- it's been quite the boon to Adlehyde's local economy, that's assured. The crowds at the festival have been only growing over the last few weeks thanks to the mix of typical fair attractions and the culture festival's more /unique/ offerings, ancient excavations and the like among them. And then there's the festival food, too -- in short, there's something for everyone!

Leaning against a wooden and less-populated stall off towards one side of the fair, Josephine Lovelace -- obviously one of the Drifters brought into town by the coming festival -- lazily tosses and catches a red apple in her left hand. An unusual black-and-white pigeon perches on a stretch of barriers not to Josie's left.

Very suddenly, a cry goes up.

"The moles have broken loose!"

wait, what?

There is, in fact, a... is it proper to call a large number of moles a stampede? There's a stampede of small rodents, and the crowd is suddenly very eager to get out of their way.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Catenna tends to keep her head down on most of the occasions she goes into the city; she doesn't like it very much.

She likes it even less when people let out massive numbers of rodents. Especially when they're moles. Catenna's in tune with the moon and the sky, not underground.

Wrapped up in her hooded cloak, the woman is left widening her eyes with mild surprise, stepping aside with a ripple of heavy garment and boosting herself up onto a small pile of crates, putting her a few feet up from the crowd. She's high enough up that one could get a pretty good look at her boots and still have them be at about eye level.

Beneath her cloak, the hooded woman grips something - a cool stone object that fits neatly into her palm.

She thinks better of it. Exhaling, Catenna forces herself to not just start casting, instead lowering her hand and reaching up to push her hood back, giving her more of a view of the mole stampede going on below her box. Her brows knit in mild consternation. How could anyone even /get/ this many moles into the city?

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

What a time to be in Adlehyde. The Exhibition attracted people from all over and, where there were people, there was a chance to make some coin. All over there were people advertising their wares to the unexpecting fairgoer. Jacqueline paced through the stall, covertly observing the prices of the products on display for future reference. If she wanted to remain competitive she would have to know what she was up against, after all.

It was looking to be a normal day when it happened. Moles. Countless numbers of them. It raised many questions. The most greatest of which being 'why are there moles in the city in the first place?' It was baffling.

And that was how Jacqueline "Jay" Barber found herself where she was presently - standing on top of a stone pillar she had conjured with a Crest while a horde of rodents raged onward on the ground below.

"Disgusting." She mutters to herself, shaking her head, then begins to rummage through her bags Eventually, she pulls out a bottle of black liquid. Monster repellent. She normally kept some on hand to keep monsters away during travel or during expeditions underground, but this seemed like a good time for it.

Assuming it even affected normal critters like these moles, that was. Did it? Suddenly unsure of herself, Jacqueline removed the cork and poured a small amount on the ground below herself, then observed the results with interest. The worst that could happen was that it did not. Or accidentally transform them into horrifying abominations, but what were the chances of that happening?

<Pose Tracker> Sue has posed.

Today should have been a great day.

Sue wanders amidst the heavy throngs of the massive crowd that has come to see what has been touted as one of the most significant historical displays in the entire kingdom. Moving forward through the sheer mass is somewhat troublesome, largely in part due to her size, though she would never admit that out loud as such a thing would by its very nature insinuate that her age stands in the way of her ability. Instead, she's simply rolled up her metaphorical sleeves and dived head-first into the teeming mass of tourists in an attempt to seek out that which has brought her so far from home.

"Justiiiiiin!"

Sue cups her hands to her mouth, amplifying her already surprisingly loud voice as she calls out a name. It's a slim hope that she clings to now, but if her adventure-crazed friend is to be found anywhere in this huge place, it would be here. However, there is a great deal of doubt lingering in her mind that such an effort will produce results as only a few hours ago she received news that she is still reeling to recover from - namely, that she got on the wrong boat when she stowed away to follow after him.

"Justiiii-hey!"

Sue winces as someone collides into her in their hurry to shuffle past, barely even seeming to notice the small girl underfoot. She scowls in the general direction of the person but even in that short time they have vanished into the blob of figures surrounding her on all sides. She sighs, slumping her shoulders.

"I don't think this is going to work, Puffy. I can hardly see anything with all these people around."

There is a stirring of motion from the girl's hair as what had appeared to be a massive fluffy bow suddenly becomes animated, wiggling its ears as it shuffles up from a nesting perch in her thick lockes to rest on top of her head. Puffy's mouth opens in the center of the giant marshmellow-like blob of its body as it gives a yawn before twisting its self back and forth to peer around.

"Puff-puff-puuuff!"

The creature flaps its massive ears and takes to the air, swirling around in a slow lazy circle as it gains altitude until it hovers a dozen or so feet above the heads of the crowd and once more surveils the area with a lazy stare.

"Good thinking, Puffy! If we get a higher view, we can see better!" Suddenly filled with a fresh burst of enthusiasm, Sue moves forward once more, trying to worm her way past the clumps of people. "Excuse me, coming through... hey watch it! Um, could you let me past ple-yeow!"

Several minutes of this careful dance to avoid being trampled underfoot results Sue finally escaping from the crowd to one of the nearby walls. She takes a moment to catch her breath, fanning herself from the sheer heat of so many people in one place as well as the exertion required. Puffy swirls back down to plop gently onto her head, seemingly somewhat tucked out himself. Then, out of the blue, the crowd seems to simply open up as if pushed apart by a great invisible pair of hands.

"Awww, comon! /Now/ you move?"

Ofcourse, it quickly becomes apparent why everyone is in a sudden hurry to create an opening. Countless tiny furry creatures come trundling into a view, a tiny stampede that even with their size advantage no one seems to want to stand in the way of. Sue's eyes widen as she realizes that, while the sudden shift in the crowd would have been very helpful a few minutes before, now it has created a tunnel that leads directly in her direction and the moles are quite happy to take the path of least resistance.

"Eeek! P-Puffy, they're coming right for us! What should we do?!"

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

Josie /had/ been enjoying the small moment to herself, just watching the crowd and finding that section of not-too-loud-but-not-completely-quiet to think about things. While at least she has some cash, money's tight, and she needs to make sure she's ready for the upcoming excavation. There's impulsive and sure she's the former, but then there's also /dumb/. Dumb Drifters tend not to live long lives.

And then, moles. Lots and lots of moles.

"Wha--"

The apple Josie was tossing absently goes wide as her previously empty-ish space is invaded by a crowd of people fleeing the incoming rodent horde. A little forcefully actually -- the crowd is becoming a bit of a crush. Penelope, as loyal as ever, takes to the skies as Josie does an appreciable immitation of a felled tree.

People taking to higher ground probably have the right idea -- while no one's likely to get badly hurt, there are a few other people taking a tumble in a mad scramble away from the mole tide. Somewhere, far behind the moles lagging behind, is a panicked-looking fellow, as Catenna will easily see. Must have been the mole game stall-keeper. There has to be some way they were keeping them fenced in to begin with.

On the bright side, no one trampled her, Josie thinks, as she grabs for the nearby fencing to haul herself up. Still, she might as well try to get out of the way before things have a chance to get any worse. Rising to her feet, she elbows her way through the crowd, attempting to force her way out of the pseudo-crush. Right here is a break though and--

Luckily for Jacqueline, there are no horrifying abominations -- this time. Monster repellent seems to be pretty effective against the animals -- who knew? -- and the moles keep a wide berth from her and her pillar as they surge forth across the fairgrounds.

--And there, in the middle of the break in the crowd and in the path of the moles, is Sue.

To Josie's eyes, there's a little girl, and oddly, a horde of apparently maddened moles head right her way. She doesn't even think twice about it as she rushes in, to try to haul the little girl to safety. "Look out!"

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Someone with a poofy pink familiar shows up. Catenna's eyelids lower and she lets out a short breath through her nose, shoulders tensing and pulling inward ever so slightly as she watches Sue and Puffy move.

Hand coming up to her forehead, Catenna peers down the laneway, hopefully well away from any reminders of her own inferiority. The sight of the panicked molekeeper leaves her to bite pensively down to the inside of her cheek. Folding her arms, the dusky-skinned woman mulls the situation over -

Her eyes settle in on Josie and her pigeon.

Again Catenna lowers her eyelids and breathes out heavily.

She squares her shoulders before reaching into her cloak again - but she once again thinks better of it, sliding her hands out into plain view. Instead she sinks to one knee, resting a hand atop the crate she's perched on, eyes darting through the mole horde as she tries to spot anything she can use to pacify the moles.

Finally she just grimaces, waiting for a moment, then boosting herself up with a long leap. Her legs come up over her head as she flips in the air, spinning, then descending to touch down with a graceful click of heels just to the right of the molekeeper.

"Is there some way to rein them in," she asks, her voice low, reserved and heavily accented.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Oh good, it worked. Science wins again. Jacqueline allows herself a victorious smirk, though she reminds herself that they're not out of the woods yet. She scans the area, soon spotting what appears to be a young girl - Sue - standing, frozen in the path of the rodent rampage. There appeared to be another woman heading to help her get out of the way, but Jacqueline wasn't willing to leave it to chance.

Deciding that she was safe for now, herself, she re-corked the bottle of repellent and hurled it towards the ground in front of Josephine and Sue, attempting to scatter enough repellent to give the former a safe pathway to get the girl away.

<Pose Tracker> Sue has posed.

It is sheer surprise rather than fear that caused Sue's initial freeze up upon finding herself in the path of a herd of rampaging moles. This would hardly be the first time that such things have occurred but it is the first time in a very long time that she's been left to fend entirely for herself. The obvious lack of the gung-ho presence of her childhood friend has left her more distracted than she thought.

Fortunately, the quick action of a few strangers is enough to snap her back to her old self. Sue's gaze shifts to the woman now hurdling in her general direction, taking note of others also moving quickly to act on her behalf. Her startled gape swiftly shifts into a determined stare and she prepares to take her own stand against the oncoming tide.

"Alright, Puffy, let's show the-eeee?!"

However, it would seem that the stranger has other ideas. Sue lets out another surprised squeak as Josie snatches hold of her and makes a break for it. The tiny girl isn't particularly heavy and puts up no struggle as she's yanked clear of danger, instead instinctively clinging to her rescuer's arm with one hand lest she get dropped by accident. The other she lifts up to hold Puffy tightly against her hair.

"Woah! Hold on tight, Puffy!"

"Puff puff!"

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

The obviously distressed molekeeper turns to look at Catenna, then just about jumps out of his boots. "Wh--where didja--" he stammers, looking her up and down in the short sequence of seconds before the shouts from the crowd drag his attention back to the immediate problem at hand. "I jus' looked away for second, honest, and they all jus'-- I dunno what's gotten inta 'em! I can't get 'em back by myself...!" he babbles, turning back to Catenna. He looks desperate, it's written on his face plain as day.

And slowly, he blinks at Catenna, as if finally parsing what she said. "Er... You're gonna help? Stay right here a sec, missy!" He runs off, back towards the abandoned stall.

It's a good thing Sue holds on -- Josie keeps her right arm free as she grabs the girl with her left. She raises her arm, grimacing pre-emptively. Here come the moles...! "Hold on--" she shouts, even as the black flask flung expertly by Jay impacts the pavement near her feet with an impressive splash. The tide of moles veer away as if driven back by a forcefield.

"--Thanks!" Josie's not entirely sure what's happened just now but that's never stopped her yet. She's going to book it for the nearest bit of high land so to speak and get the kid out of harm's way. This probably happens to be the nearest pile of crates.

Meanwhile, the moles are in a frenzy. The crowd's behind them, but the way ahead of them is obviously... repellant.

The molekeeper comes racing back with two... disturbingly wiggling bags. "Here! Lure 'em back with this!" he says, tossing the bag at Catenna. "They'll come on back for their fav'rite lot of worms and larvae, or my name ain't "Mole Master" Maddox!"

It's, yes, a bag full of worms. At least the molekeeper's helping with this, too?

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

It may shock you, but Catenna is wildly out of place in silly situations, and even moreso in silly urban situations. She's dealing with this one by just buckling down and getting businesslike en route to a solution.

She rests a hand at her hip and waits for the moleminder, eyebrows coming up as she declares her 'Missy.' She allows it because she doesn't want to cause more of a stink than has already been caused.

A bag is then thrust into her hand. Catenna opens it up.

She doesn't even blink as she realizes what's in there. She doesn't show so much as a single sign of distress, actually. "Very well," she says with a crisp nod, whirling away and holding the bag partially open in her right hand. A glance reminds her, quickly enough, where the mole cage is.

With another strong, long leap, Catenna bounds towards the back of the mole pack. She touches down and takes a few sprinting steps to catch up with the rest of the group.

And then, one leg poised behind her to allow her to backpedal right away, she clicks her tongue a couple of times. She lets out a few soft whistles. "'ey. 'ey ey. 'ey ey," she urges them, even chittering a bit - and then she gives the bag a shake, letting a few worms and grubs drop from it and onto the ground, before she takes a step back and drops another couple of grubs.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"No problem!" Jacqueline shouts back to Josephine with a nod and a wave. It seems like a potential tragedy has been averted, but they still have moles to deal with. After some rummaging she produces another potion and is about to hurl it when she notices Catenna literally leaping into action.

She was confused at first, but after observing her actions Jay nods in understanding. That was smart. She doesn't know if Catenna's plan will work, but at the moment she seems to be the only one who has one. Might as well try to help her out with it.

A few more bottles are thrown, these ones aimed towards the front of any groups of moles that are still trying to escape. Hopefully that would be enough to drive them back towards Catenna so that she could continue leading them to...wherever it was she was leading them. That was one part Jay hadn't noticed, she just had to trust Catenna knew what she was doing.

<Pose Tracker> Sue has posed.

Sue squirms a little in Josie's arms but only to get a better view of what's going on, her arm still wrapped tightly around the older woman's for stability. The little girl leans out, peering around her self-imposed human shield to stare at the mole-pocalypse bearing down on them with a look of anticipation typically reserved for the incredibly brave or terribly foolish. Years of growing up with someone who is decidely the latter has sort of rubbed off on her. The fluffy creature on her head apparently shares her curiosity, its baggy ears fluttering in excitement.

However, before any of the three can taste the wrath of the furry stampede, the bottle of repellant cuts them off in the tracks. The liquid concotion splashes everywhere raising a foul stink that might as well be a physical barrier. Sue takes an experimental sniff as the strange new sensation hits her senses but immediately recoils, her nose scruntching up.

"Blegh! Gross! It smells like Justin's sock drawer! No wonder they stopped."

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

A few well-chosen tosses close off the way out of the fairgrounds... for the moles, anyway.

For the people still stuck on one side of the mole horde, things have gotten worse. Not because the moles are hurting people -- have you ever seen mole claws -- but because of the sheer size of the group of moles and people panicking about that, people panicking about stepping on moles, and people panicking because other people are panicking (and shoving). No one's likely seriously hurt yet, but judging from a few yelps as people push and shove...

Catenna takes a flying leap, leaving "Mole Master" Maddox somewhat nonplussed. "Gosh," the man says, to no one in particular.

With nowhere to go ahead, the moles have started to stream to the sides... and back. It's in short order that one them -- sniffing the air wildly -- stumbles across the grubs and worms strewn on the ground by Catenna. The chittering sound appears to have an effect too -- for the moles, something welcoming-sounding (and a tasty snack) are much more appealing than the foul stuff blocking their way. They're slowly but surely coming towards Catenna.

Normally, Josie would TOTALLY thumbs-up Jay, but she's a little preoccupied at the moment. Guardians, that gunk /stinks/.

Exhaling a long, weary sigh as she ascends the short crate mountain (hill, more accurately) that was thankfully close by and not smashed by the crowd. "Hey, kiddo, you okay?" Josie asks, finally setting Sue down on the crates. Twisting, she glances off at the action in the distance before glancing again at the kid. "...Hey, is that a bug?" she asks, indicating Puffy.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"'Ey. 'Ey 'ey. 'Ey 'ey," Catenna clucks at the mole horde, dropping a few more grubs out of the bag as she backs towards the mole pen. She's spreading them around a little, ensuring that the horde of rotten rodentia can all smell the delicious wriggling bait. Foot by foot, she creeps backwards, plotting out a course towards the mole cage and leading the moles along with her.

Upon reaching the pen, she eases the bait bag into it, trailing a few bugs out in its wake - and then she pushes the bag further in and lets it tip, spilling out worms and grubs across the cage floor.

With that, she waits. She steps to one side, letting the bait lure the moles in - and standing with her hand on the door to the cage, ready to slam it shut once the moles wiggle their way in!

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

It looked like Catenna's plan was really working. With the flood of moles starting to work their way back, Jacqueline eased herself into a sitting position atop her pillar of stone and cast another glance around the Fairgrounds.

She had...made quite a bit of a mess, hadn't she? She sighed and shook her head. That was probably going to take some explaining. And cleaning up. People probably wouldn't be too thrilled about the broken bottles and pungent fluid she'd scattered about the place once they started to come back in. Oh boy. She considered the possibility of shoving the responsibility off to whoever was responsible for the horde, but she wasn't sure anyone else here knew how to neutralize the repellent so that it wouldn't stink up the place any more than it already had.

For now, the only thing she could do was hope there was a broom nearby. Sometimes she hated having morals.

<Pose Tracker> Sue has posed.

Sue continues to watch the saga of the great mole uprising unfold, peering at the dark skinned woman as she creates a trail of wriggling worms back along the still open path towards the empty cage, fascinated. Moles eat worms? That's so weird!

It isn't until she's suddenly sat down onto the top-most crate atop the small pile and spoke to directly that the girl's attention shifts away. Sue blinks up at her rescuer for a moment then offers a bright smile, her eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, I'm fine! Thanks for the help, miss! That was really cool how you swept in like that."

There is a pause and Sue's expression falters, slowly becoming something more defiant. She crosses her arms over her chest and frowns sternly up at Josie.

"Hey, I'm not a kid! I'm an adventurer! And he's not a bug, he's Puffy!"

Her hand, which had been previously holding the mooshy ball of fluff with eyes firmly onto her head, pulls away to poke a thumb in its direction. Puffy, as he is apparently known, turns his big alien red eyes up at Josie and stares blankly at her for a few seconds before letting out a soft series of cooing noises in agreement.

"Puff-puff-puff!"

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

"Well, I'll be damned, you're a natural, missy!" Maddox the molekeeper comments, jogging up between Catenna as she begins the careful process of luring the moles back from whence they came. He joins in -- at least as far as tossing the bugs and grubs go. The grey tide of moles is beginning to slowly recede back from whence they came -- the promise of good food more than overcoming the panic and excitement the tiny creatures had managed.

The crowd does continue to push and shove a bit, but as the moles return and the sense of order returns -- not to mention a gap opening, if a bit of a smelly one in the form of Jay's repellent barrier the far end of the pathway -- does a lot to tame the mood. Eventually, this will probably just be another item making the rounds in the tavern.

The moles follow Catenna all the way back to the cage they'd been living in before and pour back in, eager to chow down on what must be some kind of mole delicacy.

It'll be easy to close the door once they're in, and any stragglers can probably be easily scooped up.

Now, Josie has a moment to properly acknowledge Jay. She waves from her safe island on the box hill, giving the woman a thumbs-up. "Thanks for the assist! Need a hand?" Perched where she is in relative safety up on the boxes, Josie then grins down at Sue. "Hey, no problem! I'm just glad you're okay! Looks like everything's calming down now and--"

She pauses for a moment, looking at Sue carefully, as if evaluating her. Then, "Oh, I seeeee," Josie draws out. "Well, you've come to the right place if you want adventure! You can call me Josie." She extends her left hand to Sue, before regarding the definitely-not-a-bug. "And, hi there, Puffy!" A beat. She looks at Sue again, obviously puzzled. "Um, what is he?"

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Catenna doesn't feel like a natural. She actually blushes a little as she tosses the grubs into the cage, then easing to the side to man the door. "You are kind," she offers Maddox, ducking her head slightly, before turning to watch the mole horde squirm and wobble their way into their designated pen.

She eases the door closed, and flips the latch back into place. Looking back up to the moleman, she smiles faintly. "I think that is all of them. Unless some of the others in the square have any stragglers."

Quieting, the woman straightens up again and adjusts her cloak, hand resting at a hip as she turns to give quiet glances over to the others in the thick of what used to be a rampant mole horde - Jacqueline, then Sue. The perched Josie gets the last look from her, eyes travelling from toe all the way to the tip.

She nods, simply and silently, as if that's all she needs to do in this situation.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline returns the thumbs-up with a smile. "I'm good, thanks." She says with a nod. With another invocation of her Crest the pillar is pulled back into the earth from which it came, carrying her back to safe ground. She stumbles slightly, as she was sitting down, but there seems to be no risk of her falling over.

With a quick glance back at Catenna to make sure she's doing alright, she makes her way over to where Josephine and Sue. "What about you? Either of you ladies need a hand down?" She asks. While there's cleaning to be done, the most important thing right now is to ensure that everyone's taken care of.

<Pose Tracker> Sue has posed.

Apparently mollified, Sue's smile returns and she reaches out to accept the offered hand with her own tiny one, giving it a good shake. "I'm Sue! It's nice to meet you, Miss Josie." Puffy returns the greeting as well, lifting one of his big floppy...ears? Wings? Arms?... in her direction and giving another round of happy 'puffs'.

Sue regards the question as to Puffy's nature with a moment of hesitation, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. Eventually, she just shrugs and smiles sheepishly.

"Actually, I'm not really sure. Justin's dad brought him back from one of his adventures when I was really young." Sue's enthusiasm returns quickly and she bounces in place a few times. "He said he found Puffy at the End of the World! Isn't that cool?!"

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

"Kind? Aw, shucks," the older man says, shaking his head. "You saved my bacon there, y'did. Is that all of 'em?" He peers into the cage once it's closed up tight, as if doing some evaluating, a callused hand moving to doublecheck that the lock is secure. "Don't worry 'bout that, I'll do a look-see once the crowd thins out some. Thank you again miss--?" He turns, stretching out a hand as if to shake her hand.

"Good!" Josie calls back, her gaze lingering a moment on the two figures off apparently... near the mole tent? Hadn't there been some weird festival game there? She can't remember, she hadn't looked at it too closely. "I'm doing alright -- hey, if I hand her down to you, can you take her? Looks like the crowd's calmed down so we should be fine down there," Josie calls down. "I can take care of myself!"

More closely at hand, there's Sue. "--Whoa there, uh, you can just call me Josie, okay?" she says, shifting her tone to something more friendly rather than the mock-scolding she's dropped on other people who have dared use the 'miss' around her. "We're all friends, right? I don't need to be called 'Miss'!" She grins, brightly. "But, it's good to meet you too, Sue."

Puffy, meanwhile, is... not something Josie is familiar with. Maybe... not a bug? "End of the World? Huh..." She creases her brow, as if thinking for a moment. "Yeah, that is pretty cool!" she opts for, injecting a little extra enthusiasm into her voice. "That means he's pretty special, right? He's come from a long ways away!"

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"I think that is all of them," Catenna says with a polite tilt of her head towards the old shopkeeper. Then she blinks as she realizes what he said. "I thought those were moles, not pigs," she murmurs.

Nevertheless she slides a long-fingered hand into the molesmith's, giving it a slow, easy shake. "Catenna," she introduces herself, keeping her voice quiet. Her accent seems less pronounced that way, at least in her own mind.

She glances towards Josie, Jacqueline and Sue again before giving the merchant a mellow sort of smile. "...I won't keep you," she offers to the molehop, taking a single, neat step back before reaching up to draw her hood over her head again. The smile lingers for a moment as she begins to turn.

She hasn't even asked for a reward. What a weirdo.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"Shouldn't be a problem." Jacqueline replies with a nod, then looks towards Sue. "You alright with that, little lady?" She asks. Sue didn't look too heavy, so Jacqueline doubted there'd be any risk of dropping her unless she was particularly squirmy.

As she waits for a response, she looks over the two of them and her eyes are drawn to the...strange creature that seems to be accompanying Sue, that they were currently in the midst of discussing. She hadn't seen its kind before, but whatever it was it didn't seem to be affected by the repellent. Or, perhaps it was simply too well-trained. Either way, Jacqueline was glad she didn't accidentally scare off some child's pet.

After taking a second to brace herself so she wouldn't end up just dropping the girl, she extends her arms to accept Sue from Josephine.

<Pose Tracker> Sue has posed.

"Oh. Okay then, Josie!"

Sue smiles again and gives the older woman a thumbs up, which is mirrored a moment later by Puffy, his amorphous limb bending into the approximation of a fist with an outstretched thumb near the end. He lets out another of his signature puffing noises in approval.

"Yeah, that's right! Puffy is really special."r The girl's enthusiasm dims as Josie insinuates that she cannot find her own way down from the crates, her chin jutting out stubbornly. She pushes to her feet and stands atop the crate pile, arms crossing over her chest again.

"I already told you, I'm not a child! I can get down myself, thank you!"

And just to prove it, she turns and begins to leapfrog down from the crates, dropping down to the next lowest one with agile hops as if taking a set of giant stairs down to the ground. She reaches the bottom without incident and dusts her hands off as if to say, 'See? I can handle myself.'

"I'm from pretty far off too myself, you know. I live back on the Old Continent, in Parm. Me and Justin came here to find the lost civilization of Alent!"

She trails off, suddenly seeming to lose some energy. Puffy deflates as well as if in response to her emotional state, laying low atop her head.

"Well, that was the plan anyways. But, we got seperated when I got on the wrong boat." An idea suddenly occurs to her and Sue perks back up, curiosity etched into her face. "Say, could you tell me how to get to the Adventurer's Guild? That's where Justin was heading. I've been looking all around here but no one seems to know where it is."

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

Furry eyebrows twist in no small confusion. "Pigs? When'd I say somethin' 'bout pigs?" he asks, before shaking it off. "Eh, nevermind it. Nice to meet ya, Catenna! You've got my thanks," he says, shaking her hand, which luckily he wiped off first. He nods upon letting go. "Same, same. I gotta clean up 'round here..." He waves her off, before turning to the cage filled with the teeming mass of moles as Catenna heads off.

"...Strange girl," Maddox remarks to absolutely no-one in particular as he starts about cleaning up around the molepen.

Well, that's interesting. "Definitely not a bug," Josie remarks aloud, tilting her head to the right as she regards the Mystery that is Puffy. Not that she's some kind of bug-expert, just...

Josie nods towards Jacqueline, pairing it with a quick smile before glancing down at the small girl. She stoops, the crate rattling a little under her feet. "Hey, Sue, when you're ready--"

Or maybe Sue will find her own way down. So much for that, it seems. Much like Sephilia, Sue is headstrong. Josie makes no move to scold or ask that Sue stop, as Sue quite expertly finds her way down the crate pile. "--Hey, that's great! You're pretty good at that! Now, let me... uh." One crate cracks audibly under a booted foot as Josie attempts to head on down herself.

What follows is both parts 'wood avalanche' and 'extremely hurried descent' but Josie manages to arrive on terra firma unscathed... though the crates sure aren't. "Well, at least no one is hurt!" she declares to the world at large, before turning to regard Sue.

"...All by yourself, huh? Hey, you've done pretty well. You know, I was nineteen when I first left home, so you've sure got me beat. And..." Josie glances down, then, at Jacqueline, and promptly offers a hand. "Josie! Josephine Lovelace, actually, but just Josie is fine. And as for the Adventurer's Guild... there's an office near the town center. I can show you where later."

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Catenna takes one last look over her shoulder, watching the molewright quietly for a moment. Then, patiently, she smiles and slips off into the crowd, leaving the others to their chatter.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline steps back as Sue insists that she can make her own way down. She lowers her arms but still keeps an eye on her, ready to catch her should she slip. Fortunately, however, it never happens. She nods approvingly. "Well, well. Looks like the little lady has some good moves." She comments, then takes another step back.

"Well, I think I oughta go thank our mole whisperer." She turns around and starts to walk towards where she had last seen Catenna, but the crashing of wood causes her to turn around quickly.

Suddenly, where there was once a pile of crates was now a pile of wood and one unharmed Josephine. When she glances back Catenna is gone, vanished into the crowd.

It wasn't the first time someone who helped her out of a bind had disappeared before she could thank them. For now she decided to just add her to the list of mysterious heroes to thank in the future.

When she faced forward once more, she found an outstretched hand waiting for her. With a smile, she accepts it and shakes. "Name's Jay. Pleasure to meet you two." She says with a nod.

<Pose Tracker> Sue has posed.

"Heh heh, this is nothing!"

Sue puts her hands on her cheeks as if slightly embarassed but gives a wink towards Josie and the as of yet unintroduced second woman that has now joined them. She spins around in a pirouette and thrusts a fist into the air, which is shadowed by her floppy companion.

"Me and Justin go on all sorts of adventures! A few boxes aren't enough to-eee?!"

The sudden crate-valance cuts Sue's boast short and she scampers forward on instinct, putting several feet between herself and the tumbling tower of boxes in the span of a couple heartbeats, proving that her reflexes are atleast pretty good. The girl peers wide-eyed at the mess and then winces, rubbing the back of her head.

"Um... was that my fault?"

No one seems to be particularly mad, however, so she quickly shifts the focus of conversation back to the question of the Adventurer's Guild, looking excited.

"Yeah, you will?! Thanks, Josie!"

To the other person, she also offers a smile. "Nice to meet you, Jay! I'm Sue and this is Puffy!"

"Puff-puff!"

A sudden deep rumbling growl interrupts the round of introduction, eminating from somewhere in the vicinity of the little girl's stomach. She freezes, her face turning red for several seconds, before turning her face away and letting out a polite cough.

"U-um well, I guess I haven't eaten since I got off the boat this morning, ehehe..."

Puffy opens his mouth wide, the apparently uniform sphere of his body splitting apart to reveal a caverous maw that might well be a tunnel into an eternal void. He lets out a series of higher-pitched coos letting his own desire for food be known.

"Y-yeah, sorry Puffy! Let's go get something. Do, uh, either of you know a good place around here?"

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

At least nothing of value was lost. Well, nothing of value that Josephine will admit to causing to become lost.

"I bet they were rotten or something, don't worry about it," she says, waving her left hand through the air with all the casual air of someone who hadn't just practically surfed a (admittedly small) pile of splintered wood to the ground. "I'm fine~ And sure! I know where it is, so it shouldn't take us long. If you want to go now, I can take you."

Plus, with the thinning crowds and the fact that she's pretty positive someone will be coming around, it's probably best to clear out in case blame is pushed around. Or someone makes her pay for the crates, which she definitely can't afford.

But for right now, things are fine and she shakes the hand of the other savior of the hour. "Jay. Nice to meet you, too," Josie says after shaking Jacqueline's hand firmly. "Maybe I'll see you around sometime soon. I think right now, though, I'm going to show the little lady to the Adventurer's Guild. Unless you want to come along?"

A low growl, echoing that of a beast, rolls forth. Josie glances down at Sue. Josie looks at Puffy. Josie looks into Puffy's endless maw.

A second ticks out, slowly. "......Or, maybe we'll go somewhere to eat, first? I know a few places. In Adlehyde proper."

This may be wisest, all considering.

(And as for Penelope, she only comes back once Josie's well away from the repellent still offgassing into the fairgrounds. Apparently it works on fair-weather pigeons, too...?)

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline chuckles at Josephine's casual dismissal of the situation. She brings her hand back to her sides and nods. "I might as well. I was going to help clean up, but...well, it looks like people are already taking care of that." She says. She didn't have much of a reason to stick around anymore anyway, with most of the other merchants chased off. If she tried to set something up in their absence, people might start pointing fingers at her.

It was then that a noise interrupted her train of thought. She joined Josie in staring at the creature known as Puffy. It was not a rather large creature. How in the world was it so large? Shelving that thought for now, she glanced between Josie and Sue as the consensus was reached on getting a bite to eat.

"Well, I know a fantastic tavern just off main street. Wouldn't be much of a walk to the Guild after that. What d'you think?" She replies with a nod of agreement. She'd been there a few times since she had gotten into town, and judging from her past visits they did serve children. It sounded like it would work out.

<Pose Tracker> Sue has posed.

"Great!"

Sue's smile returns and Puffy deflates to his usual adorable self, letting out a triumphant noise of approval. Fortunately, unlike Justin, she'd been wise enough to save up a fair bit of money for some time now, always ready for those rainy days. It isn't a staggering amount but it should last her for atleast a little while; enough for food and lodgings atleast, assuming the prices here aren't much different from those in Parm.

"Sounds good to me, Jay! Lead the way!"