Rest In Pieces, Cadir

Smokey and the Bandit were victorious.

Yours truly, in the company of Gnizzle, Poincaré, and Tawen, have saved Great Falls. We closed all of the portals into the Hedge and defeated the True Fae. However, the price was high. Gnizzle is dead, the Hobo Nation hath fallen, and the Great Falls Freehold is no more. Still, we can at least say that the Miami Freehold, and the rest of the world, remains safe... for now.

It wasn't an easy journey. At each portal, resistance from our enemies became fiercer. We faced Border Reavers, magical fae illusions, and even the Gentry themselves. We found Leigh still alive at a portal, only to later discover that she, like Sigmatic Jack, was actually one of the True Fae in disguise - the elusive Orlaith. We fought and defeated her (but didn't kill her), trapping her in a magic mirror. On his own, Gnizzle managed to close many of the portals, while Tawen, Poincaré, and myself closed the rest.

Our final showdown with Cadir came at the last portal, located at the Spring Court. To deal with the incorporeal Gnizzle, Cadir unleashed the ghost of my former comrade Barry from inside a box (I guess now I know what became of him). Ghost Barry chased around Gnizzle and kept him busy, while the remainder of the gang tackled Cadir and his Border Reavers.

I'm going to admit this now, but despite my legendary battle prowess in hobo circles, the fight was going pretty badly. Even though I had the squall knife, Cadir was giving me a good licking. Tawen was jumping around in lightning form, and Poincaré was late for the party. Things weren't looking too good, and I feared that I'd be paying The Pale Brother a third visit this month.

Thankfully, Nicholas (a.k.a. Father) spontaneously arrived from the Hedge, followed by an army of mutant bees. The man definitely knows how to make an entrance. While his bees swarmed the Border Reavers, Father grappled with Cadir and gave me an opportunity to get a few good stabs in. Tawen was the one who delivered the killing blow, but just as Cadir disintegrated, I caught a lock of his hair. Plan to preserve this keepsake for some crazy magical application in the future. How often does a changeling get access to a piece of the True Fae? Looks like this changeling did... like a boss.

I don't know for certain if the True Fae can actually die or not. We may have simply destroyed an avatar of Cadir, and not the real Cadir himself. I understand enough about the Gentry to know that they are capable of almost anything. Still, for the moment, two Gentry have been neutralized. The pledge that I made with Tawen has been honored, and I've kept my word to the Wyrd.

Now I'm off with my faithful companion Poincaré to find us a way into the Underworld...