Several weeks passed. Blizzard had moved out of the flat and another changeling called Reed had moved in. Kyte wanted to visit a goblin market so Blizzard made the arrangements. The goblin market was held at Bayside Marketplace weekly from witching hour until dawn. I purchased a cold forged iron dagger for some life experiences, and got a cheese geegaw thrown in. I have no idea what one of those is but the trader said it would not go mouldy until it was eaten. Blizzard traded knowledge of Victorian science for modern science. Scarecrow bought a book and some spiders.

Two weeks passed. I started practicing Aikido. Grandfather thunder summoned Blizzard and myself and asked us to investigate a story in the Miami herald about suicides. Scarecrow agreed to help, but Kyte was busy.

We drove to the scene of the suicide and talked to some of the people nearby. Four teenagers had committed suicide, two were Robert and Sandra. Some cult paraphernalia was also found. Loud distorted music had been heard and a brown out of electricity had occurred. The policeman outside said they had slit their wrists and they had been friends. They had attended the local high school Hedgemont. We Drove to the school. As we got out a car drove off. It had a Miami Dade county plates and 3 occupants. At least one could have been a changeling. We got back in the car and followed them. They drove to a carpark by some warehouses and got out. They were all changelings. They started unloading a rental van which was parked outside.

Scarecrow spoke to the foreman and found the warehouse was rented by a Ms E Scott.

We then drove back to the school. We told the receptionist we were looking to enroll our children and wanted a tour of the school. She was reluctant at first but finally agreed. Blizzard steered the conversation to the suicides and she said the children had been involved with Ouija boards and named one of them as Karen. They had all been goths.

We talked to one of the school counsellors who did not seem worried about the need to have metal detectors at the school entrance to detect weapons. She admitted one of the kids who committed suicide had been into witchcraft. She said witchcraft was legal and did not think anything was wrong with it. I pointed out in England we used to burn witches. Blizzard helpfully added that we also used to burn catholics.

In the evening we went back to the warehouse and waited for the changelings to leave. At 2:30am two of them drove off leaving one inside. We crept up to the back door and I opened the lock. Scarecrow crept in and had a look. He reported there was actually two changelings inside, one upstairs and one downstairs.

Scarecrow crept to the crates. There were some opened crates in which he saw ammunition, grenades and some form of handheld cannon. Blizzard phoned Grandfather thunder who knew nothing about the warehouse and told him to find out. I crept up the stairs but the changeling turned and drew a weapon. We exchanged fire before Blizzard started shouting about surrender and they dropped their weapons.

We tied them up and searched them. They had sellfons and some fake identity cards. We then put them in the car and took them away for interrogation. The police were phoned and told the terrorists that set off a bomb a few weeks ago were operating out of the warehouse. We drove to a place called Andytown which was just outside Miami. Kyte joined us. I got some sleep while Blizzard shouted constantly at the changeling I shot for three hours until she broke down and started talking. Her name was Amethyst Dream. The wizened was called Edwina Scott, the ogre was called Eddie Spade, and the beast was called Faithful Tom. They were members of the spring court on a mission for their 'true leader' Rose Thorn. Blizzard then decided to let them go.

The following evening we went back to the scene of the suicides to have a look around. Scarecrow went up to the front door to pick the lock. After five minutes he gave up and went round the back to try the back door. I then unlocked the front door and went inside to let the others in through the back door. Gouges had been made in the wood floor and they led upstairs.

Kyte started sniffing the carpet on the stairs. He said it smelt of something bad. Not surprising really. I expect all old carpets smell bad. There was also mould and creepers growing on the wall which were probably adding to the smell. Upstairs one of the doorways had been smashed open. Scarecrow said there was a doorway to a trode nearby. I cast solstice revelation and by the power of its light I saw a tunnel into the hedge in the centre of the floor downstairs, where the gouges started.

In the room upstairs were chalk outlines, an Ouija board and a small electronic device called a 'note book' which belonged to someone called Dell. It was obvious the witches had summoned something which had appeared downstairs then came up the stairs and ripped them to pieces. Clearly the policeman who said they had cut their wrists was lying.

While the others were searching the room I heard a noise downstairs in the kitchen and crept down to investigate. In the hallway I saw a small figure which ran into the kitchen. I followed and spotted it was hiding in the fridge. When I tried to look it tried to stab me with a small dagger. I trapped its arm in the fridge door then started questioning it. It said it was Hob called Jim Hayes and had found the tunnel and came through looking for shiny things to collect. It had a bag containing cutlery, broken plates and goblin fruit.

He said if we went through the tunnel we would be easy to find by the fay and we should hide our auras. He explained it could only bee done in the hedge and involved concentrating and using glamour. He also said the tunnel led to many tunnels and that he could show us to a library in the hedge where we could find answers to our questions.

We went into the tunnel which went into the hedge but underneath it. After a while we climbed up out of the tunnel into the hedge itself. We were in a clearing. There were seven other Hobs sitting round a camp fire. We all practiced hiding our auras before heading out further into the hedge. The Hob said the library was in a mountain and moved round. We kept walking until we came to the bank of a river. The Hob said we would have to pay a ferryman to get across.

The ferryman agreed to take us across in exchange for goblin fruits. We went and found some nearby and paid him. He took us across. On the way he warned us not to take any books out of the library as the hobgoblins would be upset. On the far side I spotted a swath of crushed vegetation. The Hob said it must be caused by the mountain moving. We followed its trail and finally found what looked like a hunched over owl moving ahead. The Hob said the mountain was called owlsback because of its shape. We caught up with it and jumped on. At least Scarecrow and myself did. Blizzard and Kyte fell off. Kyte made it on his second attempt but Blizzard had to try twice more before finally getting a grip.

The entrance to the library was higher up. We all climbed up except Blizzard who decided to wait outside. Inside it was pitch black. The entrance was blocked with books. Kyte pushed through. I picked one up and the words started moving up my arm. As I brushed them off a voice from nowhere spoke the words as I touched them. Inside was a hobgoblin putting books back. He welcomed us and asked if we were members. Scarecrow said he wished to join and was directed to another hobgoblin who asked if he wanted a permanent or temporary membership. To be a permanent member he should bring them back a mortal to eat, preferably a young one, though a kitten would do. For a temporary membership he would need to bring something for them to read. Scarecrow agreed to a permanent membership and was given a library card. He had to bring 6 kittens within a week which would pay for his first years membership.

Scarecrow then spent hours looking through the library, though he did not find much of use. We left just before nightfall, when the library closed, and found our way to our hollow where we could rest for the night.

The following day Scarecrow went to a pet shop to buy some kittens then went with Blizzard back to the library to finish Scarecrows research. He took the kittens with him but did not have them when he returned. I lounged round the hollow and Kyte started making furniture.

Scarecrow found out about a creature called Argemone which had been a pet of a gentry but had escaped when the gentry was killed 10 years ago and believed it had been the creature which attacked the witches. It is resilient to damage but vulnerable to extreme heat and cold.

Blizzard started looking at Mr Dells notebook. Although it did not have pages he was somehow able to get text to appear which read like it was a diary belonging to Karen Hall. It told of buying a Ouija board from Clements genuine antiques and curios in North bay village near island park. It then told of their attempts to use the Ouija board. There references to words the Ouija board spelled out including Argemone, keeper, faerie garden, hungry and Carol.

The local paper had reports of cattle mutilations in Carol city and the head of the red badge was the sheriff there. Blizzard spoke to Grandfather Thunder who did not want to antagonise the red badge.

Kyte and Scarecrow spent some time doing stuff for their courts. Whatever it was resulted in some argument between them and accusations that Scarecrow betrayed Kyte. Something about Spying and Scarecrow knowing things he shouldn't.

We drove to the shop in North bay. When we went inside Kyte sensed five supernatural sources, some concealed, some just nearby objects. He then dragged us out of the shop. While we were outside I saw the shop assistant looking out the window at us so we went back inside. Kyte spoke with the shopkeeper who made comments suggesting he knew about changelings and invited him to see special items in the back of the shop.

We started questioning him. He would not answer our questions and made threats about us not wanting to meet his boss. He all but admitted working for a fae. Scarecrow set off the fire alarm and I grappled the shopkeeper as he tried to run to the rear of the shop. As I held him I felt he was covered in slimy feathers and smelt terrible. Kyte shot and killed the shop assistant. I summoned the power of the sun, striking him with its raw power, then I stabbed him with my knife. Kyte then shot and killed him. I then summoned the power of the sun to reveal all. The light revealed three items of power which Blizzard grabbed. The shopkeeper was revealed as a disgusting birdlike creature but the assistant was human. And there was a trode in the back of the shop.

I was covered in black slime so started cleaning it off. Blizzard took the till to make it look like a robbery, and Scarecrow opened a gateway into the hedge. We fled into the hedge, dragging the bodies with us. I knew how the police operated having watched CSI Miami with Reed and wanted to remove as much evidence as possible. I dumped the birdman in the thorns and we fled to our hollow. Kyte tried to carry the assistants body but dropped behind so he dumped the body.

We got back to our hollow and rested overnight. The items we got from the antiques shop were a gas lamp, a trunk and some Victorian coins in a case. The following morning we returned to Miami. Blizzard phoned Ember and got him to drive us to Kyte's homeless shelter as he had promised Scarecrow we would help him find someone called Bloody Mary. Charming was there and Scarecrow asked him about Bloody Mary. He said the Miami herald had written something about her and we might find out more from homeless shelters in downtown Miami as there had been some recent murders.

Kyte wanted to see Sister Abigail to apologise for something he had done, so we had to go buy flowers and take them to her. Blizzard looked on the Internet and found a newspaper article about a murder in Saint James town. The victim was called Shawn Wilson and the skin on his face had been ripped off. The body was found by a Marla Bates. There was a homeless shelter in Saint James town so Blizzard decided we should pay it a visit.

Ember would not go into Saint James town as he was scared of the gangs, so he dropped us off in the outskirts. There was a small group of gang members who tried to intimidate us, but when we stood up to them they ran off. Kyte then started chatting to some prostitutes. They said the murders were being committed by a new gang called the face boys. Trevon, the leader of the crips gang was scared. Apparently crip stands for 'cowards run in packs'.

Finally we got to the homeless shelter and met father Gonzalez. He said Shawn had been a member of the crips and if we wanted to know more a Detective Braund was handling the case. He described Marla Bates and Blizzard recognised the description as being one of the prostitutes Kyte spoke to earlier. Kyte asked round the shelter and found someone who claimed to have seen who attacked Shawn. It was in the North East side. The woman had dark hair and pale skin. It looked like there was blood seeping from her eyes and she was wearing a rotting blue dress.

We went back to where the prostitutes were to speak to Marla. She told us where she had seen the body. We went to the area to investigate. There was no entrance to the hedge nearby. While we were investigating Kyte spotted some flashes of light from the roof of a nearby building. We rushed over. Kyte and Blizzard climbed the fire escape while I went inside. There were two reporter from the Miami herald taking pictures in a flat.

Kyte decided to try to summon Bloody Mary. He found a candle and mirror in the flat, lit the candle and said 'Bloody Mary' thirteen times. Nothing happened. The reporter and cameraman left. We headed back towards the murder scene. There was a kid which Blizzard spoke to. He knew about Bloody Mary and said it was a girl at the school called Anna and a boy called Mark that summoned Bloody Mary. She wanted to get rid of bad men and summoned her in Marks bathroom. The kid told us where Anna and Mark lived. He had heard there was a gate to hell in the Colony hotel and the devil had paid the owner to be able to lair there. The kid was Marla's son. He claimed to be able to see ghosts and also seemed to be able to see past our masks. He said we should not look at Mary or let her touch us.

We went to Anna's house. She was playing outside with some other kids. She was rude and played up to the other kids but Blizzard started shouting at her. She admitted being able to summon Mary. She believed Mary was a fallen angel and had to collect faces of bad people to be able to get back into heaven. She said Mary only came at night and she met Mary by the water. We arranged to meet Anna the following evening so she could show us where she met Mary.

Scarecrow went to the university library to research Bloody Mary. He found out how to summon her. There was a long list of requirements like not wearing masks and standing in front of a mirror in a dark room. To be honest I got bored listening as he rambled on about her.

Kyte and myself went to investigate the Colony hotel. We had a drink at the bar, and when no one was looking we snuck into the basement. There was two sub levels and the stairs continued down until they stopped at a brick wall. Kyte tried to open a gateway to the hedge but instead a strange sign appeared briefly on the wall.

As we started back up the stairs some guy stopped us and accused us of snooping around. He said he would call the police. When we pushed past he grabbed us and turned into a pillar of flame, and his mere tough burned. We tried to flee but he kept up with us as we fled up the stairs, drawing an axe and attacking us. The mortals in the hotel did not seem to notice his blazing form. When we got outside we split up. The figure followed Kyte, who jumped off the sea wall and glided out to sea.

I got a bus back home. Later I saw a news report about a flying man seen earlier at the beach. Sister Abigail was not happy with him revealing his powers to mortals and threw him out of the safe harbour society. All his privileges were revoked and he was thrown out of the homeless shelter where he lived. He as then summoned before Maria Thorn to explain his actions to his court. Scarecrow tried to defend him. Her decision was that he should fight her champion in a hedge duel. If he lost he would be thrown out of the court in disgrace.

On his way home Scarecrow was abducted my a Mr Fairweather. He wanted the Colony hotel and offered to explain rituals to close the gateway and defeat the creature. He also said he did not want grandfather thunder to know. The following morning Kyte showed up at my flat asking to be healed. I spent the day tending too him.

In the evening I had to do some cage fighting as funds were getting low. Scarecrow, Kyte and Blizzard went to sort out Bloody Mary. Apparently (according to Blizzard) Anna summoned Mary who was only interested in her children. Kyte diplomatically pointed out she had killed her children and was attacked for his trouble. Blizzard had to use one of his contracts to calm her down and agreed to look after the children so her work here was done.

Some time later after he had recovered, Kyte had his hedge duel. It was a rather embarrassing affair, and needless to say Kyte is now courtless. There was also a meeting with Mr Fairweather which I did not attend as I had another fight to attend. Mr Fairweather offered help to close the hell gate, which was some kind of trode, in return for the hotel itself. His only condition was that the hotel should not be damaged. Blizzard said he did not think Fairweather was a mortal and that they had come up with some plan involving firemen to gain access to the hotel. It all made little sense to me and I am not so sure it is a good idea to be trusting this Fairweather guy.

A couple of days later Fairweather supplied a fire engine and a couple of goons. We drove to the hotel and burst in shouting that there was a fire. I triggered one of the fire alarms. We burst into the general office where Blizzard claimed the avatar would be. There was an individual sitting behind a desk and four more standing in the corners of the room. The figure behind the desk said "kill them" then stepped through the window behind him into the hedge. I stabbed one a couple of times and killed him. Kyte shot two others but got shot in return. One of the goons killed the last after he surrendered.

We then followed the avatar through the window and found ourselves in a cave. I used a contract to summon light. There were several briar wolves and the avatar standing in a ring of mushrooms. The wolves attacked. I killed the one that went for me and Kyte killed the one attacking him. A 3rd impaled itself on Blizzards spikes. The avatar had turned into a fiery form and was advancing on us. When the 4th wolf was killed he stopped advancing towards us and started talking.

He said he would let us go and said his brother had deceived us. Kyte shouted get him, at which point he attacked Blizzard. We stabbed him a few times. I landed the killing blow which caused him to explode, blowing me backwards and knocking me unconscious. Kyte brought me back round.

We found that the gateway had closed and we were nowhere near the mortal realm. Scarecrow started navigating us back to our hollow. After an hour we reached the surface and a while later found a sign saying 'to the mortal realm'. I tried turning it round and an eye appeared and it said what were we doing? Blizzard told it we were fixing the signs as the mortal realm had moved.

We continued on and finally found our way to our hollow.

I spent the day healing Blizzard and the following caring for myself.

In the evening Scarecrow went off to meet someone he had dreamed about and Kyte went with him.. He said it was someone he used to know, but he could not remember him. Very strange if you ask me. A day later I had finished healing myself and Blizzard. The other two had not returned. We went to inform the Autumn court of Scarecrows disappearance. We figured no one cared about Kyte.

A couple of days later I got a phone call from Scarecrow. He said he needed medical help. He said he was coming to my flat but when I then spoke to Blizzard he said we should meet him at the university as it was the Autumn court headquarters. I borrowed a 20 from Reed and took a taxi there to meet Blizzard. He arranged to meet the queen Namaah who suggested seeing Scarecrows and Kytes true form would reveal whether they were fetches or not. She offered a room where I could use a contract on them to reveal their true forms.

When they arrived they were led to the room where I used a contract to call forth the power of the sun to reveal their true forms. They were still changelings. They had a story about having being captured by a hobgoblin group called Grubs legionnaires. Scarecrow said the Hobgoblins held them a few days before beating them up then letting them go. He also claimed Fairweather had contacted him and offered to fix him up. Queen Namaah said she believed him.

We rested for a week an I healed Kyte and Scarecrow of their many wounds. Then in the evening I got a call from Scarecrow saying Mr Fairweather wanted to see us. He was pleased with us and wanted us to do other jobs for him. Blizzard and myself turned him down but the others seemed more keen.

On the way back Blizzard and myself got a call from Grandfather thunder. He asked us to go to the university of Miami immediately to investigate a supernatural incident. We diverted to the scene. We found a house with a broken window. Closer inspection revealed the frame was broken and had been smashed outwards. Inside was half a blackened body in a chair and a computer monitor which looked like it had exploded.

We searched the room and found an id tag for someone called Larry James who worked for Graves software. Kyte found something called an ibook which he used as a screen to see what was on the broken computer. He found something called "Crystal compendium vol 1" It had options called Horoscope generator, byorythm tracker and new age encyclopedia. We took the stuff and left when we heard police sirens.

We went to the university where Scarecrows court resided. Scarecrow started examining the computer stuff we had. Kyte wandered off to a bar opposite the university. Kyte sent a message to Scarecrow saying he thought he was being watched. Scarecrow asked me to go and find out what the problem was, so I started walking over to the bar. As I approached I heard the sounds of gunfire and then saw Kyte being chased from the bar by someone that looked like Larry James but who had several holes which were radiating a blue glow. I intercepted and attacked the figure. Kyte carried on running in front of a car which ran him over.

I got several good blows on the figure with my cold forged iron dagger but it did not seem to slow it at all. It bit me several times causing grievous wounds and because Kyte did nothing to help I was forced to run. It followed me into the university but I managed to loose it briefly. I found Blizzard and suggested that because it seemed immune to physical weapons and had electricity inside we could try using water to short it out.

We confronted it. Blizzard drained anger from it and it stopped and looked confused. The water had no effect on it so we opened a gateway and fled to the hedge. On the other side were a group of other changelings including the autumn court queen hiding from the creature. The queen took us all to her hollow.

From there we made our way back to the freedom tower. Grandfather thunder questioned us as to what happened then asked us to investigate further with some urgency. I spent some time healing myself then we looked up Graves software. I got Reed to look them up on the interweb. They sold stuff which made computers work apparently. The company owner was an Arthur Graves and got the address of the company. We then went to Graves software. They refused to talk to us and asked us to leave.

We then went with Scarecrow to the Owlsback library so he could research the creature further. He read about a demon called a doppelganger which could take the shape of other things. They could only be summoned by a practitioner of magic. They needed to devour sentient beings constantly and were driven mad by being in the mortal realm. They would return if they consumed enough sentient beings or if their summoner was killed. Scarecrow also looked up Graves on the interweb and found he had been a suspect in four murders seven years ago but released without charge. The victims had been killed, their hearts removed then buried in a shallow grave outside the city.

We decided to rest overnight and then stake out Graves software in the morning. I borrowed a rifle from the summer court. We waited all day but Arthur did not arrive. In the evening after most people had left Kyte and Scarecrow decided to pretend to deliver pizza. Blizzard and myself stayed in our vantage point on the opposite roof to provide cover. Kyte was let in. I saw him draw his guns and there was an exchange of fire with the security guard. Blizzard then fired his rifle and shot the guard in the head. I scanned the building and saw a figure in a room on the 2nd floor. He was reaching for his phone, so I shot it. He dived under his desk and cowered there.

Blizzard went down to help the other two. I stayed on the roof to keep watch. I saw a pedestrian who had a cellfon, so I shot it out of his hand. He cowered on the floor. The others started exploring the building. I saw police cars in the distance heading our way. I warned Blizzard and then made my getaway. In my rush to climb down I slipped and fell, but was able to slow my fall somewhat. Ember was waiting at the bottom of the ladder and I instructed him to take us away. The others would flee into the hedge.

I met up with the others in our hollow. The others said they had killed Graves and a dog. They had found another CD, a laptop and a book about demons in his office.

ENTRY ELEVEN: February 15th, 2010

How my life has changed in the course of a few weeks! This entry sees me sat at a desk in my rather impressive new apartment actually typing these words into a 21st Century computer! I would have never expected that in my wildest dreams! At long last I do not feel lost in the depths of 21st Century technology, and this is all thanks to the wonders of the Goblin Market. As soon as I heard that they traded in memories (among other things) it occurred to me that I might be able to trade my memories of redundant 19th Century technology for those of the current century. And lo, here I am! I am by no means an expert on any of the devices of this century, but I am at least competent. I may not be able to do everything that is possible with this computer in front of me, but I am at least aware of its potential rather than just being utterly bewildered by it. My phone is no longer a source of anxiety to me but is now a valuable communication tool that I can use with considerable ease. I cannot begin to describe how much of a relief this is to me!

And my life in the Summer Court has changed drastically. I am now John St. Elmo's superior, and have claimed his apartment and perks in the Court after defeating him in a Hedge Duel. I was disappointed that he ignored my advice in our plan to blow up the Mortal Mages that led to the deaths of several innocent bystanders. I have this on my conscience as if I had been more forceful in my attempts to persuade him to listen to my advice. After all being persuasive is one of my strengths. But for me the biggest shock and disappointment was the he did not take responsibility for his mistake - as a good commander should - and instead lied to Grandfather Thunder and tried to blame the mismanagement of the operation on our motley. That was a step too far, and I had to do something about it, regardless of what the consequences might have been. I was even prepared to risk my banishment from the Summer Court. This was a matter of the highest principal. And in some ways losing the Hedge Duel was good for John St. Elmo. Hopefully he will never again countenance lying to Grandfather Thunder, and with the matter resolved according to the rules of the Court, he can continue to serve without the shame of his mistake hanging over him. We can all move on for the betterment of the Court and our kind. I do hope that he does not bear me a personal grudge - that will only become clear with time - and I shall be extremely disappointed if he does as the situation has been resolved by the rules of the Court he serves. Certainly I bear him no ill-will. He made a mistake and has been provided a salutary lesson that will hopefully teach him the error of his ways.

ENTRY TWELVE: February 17th, 2010

Now that we are on official Summer Court business investigating the four Mortal suicides I find Tweeny's new behaviour childishly unexpected. He refuses to even move unless I give him an order to do so. I had hoped that he might welcome my promotion in the Court as it would mean that he would have more slack; I would be more tolerant of his rather lax commitment to the Summer Court than John St. Elmo was. However, he seems to hold a childlike envy of my new position, and will now do nothing unless ordered directly. Clearly he is waiting for me to make a mistake so that he can lay the blame squarely on the orders he received. In some ways his childlike approach to the intricacies of the politics of the Courts is laughable. For as long as he plays his silly little game I shall continue to place all responsibility back on him. Sooner or later he is going to grow tired, or, more likely, let down our motley and incur the displeasure of Kyte and Scarecrow.

It concerns me that none of the Courts know of the weapon cache we stumbled across in the warehouse. In some ways I hope it belongs to the Red Badge because at least they are determined to fight the Gentry. I fear, however, that we may again have encountered some rogue Changelings helping the Gentry with their nefarious deeds. It still staggers me to think that there can so many deranged Lost around who would make such evil pacts with the very creatures who are responsible for our plight! I only hope we find ourselves in a position to actually help them rather than having no choice but to kill them, as happened with the group we encountered in the Everglades.

ENTRY THIRTEEN: February 18th, 2010

I was immensely relieved to discover that the Lost we encountered who were stock piling weapons are not rogue Changelings working for the Gentry. It is alarming for the Summer Court that they are agents of Rose Thorn looking to expedite her return from exile, but that the threat is more manageable than insane Lost. It will take more than a warehouse of firepower to bring down the Summer Court! I hoped that by decision to release the two captives will hopefully influence some Rose's followers who have swallowed her propaganda about Grandfather Thunder without any question. Based on expectations set by Rose Thorn the captives clearly thought that they would be executed. The fact that I completely surprised them by releasing them might get them questioning her stories. I wish I knew more about the situation leading to her exile, but that all took place before we escaped through the Hedge.

It was curious, if frightening, to a large amount of time in the Hedge. It is truly an unusual and hazardous place, but not without uses to us. The bizarre moving Library is a fine example. Accessing its tomes is problematic and not without risk, but has the potential to be extremely useful. I think that this is how I need to start thinking about the Hedge. Previously, I had only wanted to avoid it at all costs, based on my own vague memories and the all too present warnings of others. I need to try to come to terms with the fact that it can be useful to use Lost if used carefully and with prudence. The fact that we have stumbled across a Hollow they we can now use as a base for our trips into the Hedge is a source of great calm to me. However, while acknowledging that the Hedge can offer some use to us I have an instinctive feeling that we must never let our guard down while we are in its environs.

ENTRY FOURTEEN: February 19th, 2010

Just when I was feeling relieved that the Lost we encountered hoarding weapons were not insane and working for the Gentry, we then stumble across an insane Lost working for the Gentry! While I am not overly concerned about the creature burrowing tunnels through Hedge into the Mortal realm, neither am I particularly concerned about the loss of four Mortal lives, how the four Mortals acquired a Goblin Token that led to them attracting the creature, and thus their demise, was a concern to me. I was pleased to see that my priorities were echoed by Grandfather Thunder; yet more justification, if I needed it, that I have made the right choice by joining the Summer Court.

It was our investigation of the Goblin Token that led us to the Antique shop where we discovered the insane Lost. Most worryingly of all, he appeared to have no qualms about revealing to us that he was selling Tokens to Mortals at the behest of a Gentry. This indicates the level of his madness: he wasn't even aware that he was doing something wrong! I think this what disturbed me the most. Once he had told us who his master was we had no choice but to execute him. It is a shame that his beguiled Mortal assistant was killed by Kyte, but our war against the Gentry will always incur some collateral damage. It was a genuine mistake by Kyte as the insane Lost's mein was masked to us so we had no way of knowing if his assistant was Mortal or Lost. Given that she was about to attack us, as far as I am concerned Kyte made the right call.

ENTRY FIFTEEN: February 20th, 2010

We have now embarked on a mission to assist Scarecrow with some Autumn Court business to do with a myth about a lady called Bloody Mary. After all the assistance he has provided the Summer Court, for better or worse, it only seems fair, lacking any directives from my Court, to take the time to assist him. Our investigations, though only preliminary at this point, are intriguing as we have yet to find any connection to the Gentry. The activities of whatever creature lies behind the Mortal myth so far have been confined to the death on one Mortal gang member. I have yet to fathom the Autumn Court's interested in this episode. Not only do the activities of Bloody Mary seem confined to Mortals, and thus of minimal interested to myself, or indeed to any other Lost, but the Autumn Court's typical attitude of burying their collective heads in the sand belies their interest. Either Scarecrow is not telling us something - all too possible given his many and varied delusions - or our investigations have not proceeded to a point where all is clear to us.

What does fascinate me about this mission is the children we have encountered who can come very close to seeing through the Mask to our true miens. They also claim to be able to talk to dead people, a fact I find no reason to doubt given the open nature of the children and their perception of us. My experience with the Mages taught me that there is more to Mortals than I had originally thought since escaping through the Hedge. I do not understand the abilities of these children but they do bear closer inspection. While these children may not pose any threat to us I fear that adults with such powers could. Which begs the question: what steps would we take to protect ourselves from those who can see us as we really are?

ENTRY SIXTEEN: February 21st, 2010

It was interesting to discover from the Summer Court that the behaviour exhibited by these children was not an unknown phenomenon. It appears to have something to do with traumatic effects on young open minds. It was obvious to me that these children were not threat to the Lost: even if they could entirely see our true natures no adult would believe their "stories". I was glad that the Court felt that same way as it avoided any potentially difficult moral decisions. Would I kill a child if it were in the interest of my Court? I believe I would, but I must confess that I was relieved not to find my self having to face such a decision. Our efforts to deal with Bloody Mary were successful, if not necessarily permanent. As is frequently the case Kyte was more of a hindrance than a help, but Scarecrow and myself were able to make her see reason after Kyte had angered her. I only hope that our efforts were sufficient for Scarecrow to report to his Court that the mission was a success.

I fear that our dealings with Mr. Fairweather, stemming as they do from our investigations into Bloody Mary's background, are not going to be quite as clear cut as our dealings with Bloody Mary herself. I am immediately wary that we know nothing of him and our Courts know nothing of him, yet he knows so much about us and our kind. That makes me uncomfortable. While he is giving all appearances of doing everything possible to help us, his claims that he wants the hotel where the trod is located purely for financial purposes do not ring true. There is much more to this man, if indeed he is a "man", that meets the eye, and there is much more at stake here than the mere closing of Hedge Gate. We are going to have to be very careful with Mr. Fairweather...

ENTRY SEVENTEEN: February 22nd, 2010

Confound these accursed Gentry and their trickery! Our confrontation with the avatar was thrown into some confusion when the Gentry's avatar claimed that Mr. Fairweather was his brother. The appearances of the two did appear to be extremely similar. I was loathe to trust Mr. Fairweather, but similarly I am loathe to trust the claims made by an avatar in an attempt to save its existence. Nevertheless, the physical similarity between the two warrants further investigation. Not that we were ever going to make a deal with the avatar to strike at Mr. Fairweather and spare the avatar. It just means that we will have to strike at Mr. Fairweather as well as the avatar. However, if the avatar's claims are true then Mr. Fairweather must have been aware that it would reveal this information to us. In which case why did he provide us with cold-forged daggers - the one weapon to which he himself is vulnerable? The avatar claims that Mr. Fairweather is blinded by the acquisition of wealth, which concurs with our observations. Perhaps he considers himself no threat to us thus has not even considered that we may end up using the weapons he provided us against him? The iterations are many, and I can only hope that we are able to close this unpleasant escapade with some intimation of the truth.

ENTRY EIGHTEEN: February 25th, 2010

Kyte and Scarecrow continue to be source of frustration for our motley. The dream that Scarecrow had was clearly a trap. Any fool could see that. Yet the fools that they are they still insisted on blundering into the trap, their foolishness further compounded by the fact that Kyte was still badly injured after our confrontation with the avatar. This episode made me appreciate just how fragile the trust is between our kind. The trickery of the Gentry is so devious and far-reaching that it only takes the tiniest of cracks to crumble the trust that we Lost try to build up. When Kyte and Scarecrow returned after a few days it was for the good of our kind we had to assume the worst: that they may be fetches; that they may have struck a deal with the Gentry; that they may have betrayed our kind. That is all it took to collapse the trust in our motley: an obvious trap and a few days absence. I hope that we can rebuild our trust, but I fear that if this is not possible then it will as a result of failings in me. We have established that they are not fetches, but we can only take their word that they were released without explanation. Kyte cares for nothing but his own desires, and Scarecrow is cowardly enough to be unable to sacrifice himself for the good of his kind. So in my mind either of them have the potential to betray us. They need to be watched careful; but I do find myself wondering whether I will be able to ever fully trust them again.

ENTRY NINTEEN: February 26th, 2010

Our confrontation with Mr. Fairweather proved less violent than I expected. I still do not trust him at all, and his insistence on us accepting gifts from him (which I obviously declined) only made me more wary. His reluctance to deal with the Courts and preference for dealing with our motley suggests to me that he considers us either corruptible, or expendable, or both. He is not interested in working with the Courts as the interests of the Lost do not correspond to his interests. I have the impression he seeks to try and use us because of our positions with the Lost Courts. I shall resist at all costs. Perhaps the one comfort in all of our dealings with Mr. Fairweather is that he genuinely does appear only interested in acquiring wealth. It seems almost like a sickness within him. If this is the case then at least it makes him less of a threat to our kind.

The creature we tried to fight at the University, is a different kind of threat, and a more immediate one. Where Mr. Fairweather is subtle and devious, this creature is blunt and coarse. Never before have I sensed such anger in a being; it was almost like it was formed from emotions of pure wrath. Our biggest concern is that it appears indestructible. With bullets and cold-forged weapons proving ineffective we suddenly found our options limited. It is the first time that we have been forced to flee a fight, and considerable confusion and destruction was wrought on the Mortal realm as a result. The creature's rampage through the University will attract much Mortal attention, whatever mundane explanation they devise to explain events, and this will make our investigations harder. I can only hope that we are able to discover its vulnerability, if indeed it has any.

ENTRY TWENTY: February 27th, 2010

Our most recent investigation into this powerful creature which rampaged through the University have revealed yet another strange facet of Mortal existing. First we encountered the Mortals who referred to themselves as "Mages" and had powers that normal Mortals can only dream about. I was initially confused by this was they were neither Lost nor Gentry yet had abilities that I would associate with our kind or the Fey. Fortunately there is plenty of experience and knowledge within Summer Court to help me understand the forces that some Mortals are able to draw from. Our most recent investigation revealed a Mortal who referred to himself as a "Sorcerer" and who was able to use occult powers to summon forth a demon. I must confess that do still struggle with this concept as I have recollections within me of associating demons with theological concepts rather than tangible beings capable of great destruction. Nevertheless, this is what we encountered. Fortunately dismissing the demon was a simple task of killing its summoner, Mr. Graves, although it is regrettable that a Mortal security guard died in the process.

It is still unclear to us why the creature Mr. Graves summoned was targeting Lost: whether that was a result of an edict from Mr Graves or whether he lost control of the creature and it was drawn to our kind because of our Glamour. Hopefully the computer we retrieved from Mr. Graves' office will reveal more. However, what this episode has taught me is that our kind face more threats than just the formidable threats posed by the Gentry. There are other forces at work in the world that are drawn, consciously or not, to prey on our kind. We must never let our vigilance slip.