"I AM THE HOBO KING!!!"

Thanks to some intelligence gathering on the part of Professor, we've discovered that the incident at the Winter Carnival/Festival/Ball was supposedly a prank on the part of the Spring Court. For his troubles, Sigmatic Jack got a pie in the face.

Gertrude and I have come to an agreement. She is assisting the Hobo Nation by teaching its king the Contracts of Dream. In return, I'll most likely be instructing her on the Contracts of Reflection. Ms. Wetherbe also knitted me a dreamcatcher for when I officially "sign on" to my new contract.

I opened a gateway to the Hedge from a hedge maze on Gertrude's property (no, the irony has not escaped me), and I crossed into the Brambles to try my skills at the first clause of the Contracts of Dream, Pathfinder. I didn't have any issues during my one and a half hour jaunt, though I wish I could say the same for my second trip into the Hedge.

Later on, we encountered hundreds of stray changelings wandering the streets. Apparently, there's been a sizeable influx of new refugees from Arcadia. It does my old hobo heart some good to see that so many have made it out of the clutches of the Gentry, though I'm also left suspicious. How is it that such a large number of captives have extricated themselves from the shackles of servitude in Faerie? Could it be a True Fae trap? And will the True Fae be coming to collect these recent escapees? I can't imagine they'd accept this lying down. Such considerations both worry and excite the Hobo King.

I helped these lost souls till assistance from the freehold arrived. I was then persuaded by Dan Carlin to journey with him in his vehicle to Great Falls Park. He said he needed to go there. I should've known it would be a bad idea. Trouble follows Dan Carlin like flies follow shit.

Upon entering the gates of the park, we found that we'd crossed into the Hedge. We were smack dab in the middle of one of the largest trods I'd ever seen; presumably the one used by the changeling refugees to escape. This meant that it led straight back to Arcadia. Of course, Sigmatic Jack decided to start walking aimlessly down the trod. I followed him, with Dan Carlin in tow, to convince him otherwise. But before you know it, it's nighttime, ten hours have passed, and we all hear something approaching us on the trod. Sigmatic Jack snaps out of his dazed state, and we all rush into the Brambles.


Briarwolves - A mean piece of business



At this point, we faced off against the meanest hedge beast you've ever seen, a Briarwolf. The battle that followed was epic; one that'll go down in the chronicles of hobo history. The details are unimportant. Let's just say that the beast did us great hurt, but the three of us fought back with all we could muster. It was a blood-drenched dance of sorts; I lunged, parried, dodged, pirouetted, lunged again... I wielded my shopping cart like a fencer wields a fine blade. I was King Arthur and my chariot was Excalibur, crushing and rending all before me. If only my subjects could've seen their king in action! 



Not surprisingly, victory fell to us that night. Thanks to a martial arts assist from Sigmatic Jack, I was able to deliver the final killing blow - severing the Briarwolf's head with one clean slice of my shopping cart's wheel. My battle cry echoed across every corner of the Hedge, perhaps even reaching the frightened ears of the Gentry themselves. I'm embarrassed to say that I purported myself in a slightly undignified manner afterwards, reveling in the creature's destruction and mounting its head upon the prow of my chariot. But this sometimes happens with hobos. Not unlike vampires, we hobos are known to experience blood frenzies when in the heat of battle. It's a scientific fact.

We returned to the mortal world in one piece, only to find that Eric Pendrake had taken off with Dan Carlin's car. I have a feeling that someone will be challenging someone else to a Hedge duel very soon...