Template:Featured Articles/46-2025
With a final look back at Paige, Meggan moved to the bars. She waved her hands in an effort to gain attention. “Excuse me, guards? Guards! I shouldn’t be in with...with these regular people,” she called. And she really didn’t like to make a snooty tone like that, but it was the only way to sound convincing. She banged her hand against the bars, to make certain that they would pay attention to her. “I’m a changeling,” she called out in a kinder tone. “There’s been a very terrible mix-up, but I can understand the confusion! Truly! I was going out for camouflage and a drink at the worst time. Just look over here, it’s really very obvious what I am!” She gestured at her face. And oh, her fingernails were slightly sharper now, too, but she could notice every little detail of her changed body later! She heaved the most put upon of sighs, hands on her hips. “See? Look at me. If you could please get me out of here, and set me free to be my changeling self outside of a cell, that’d be great! I would be eternally in your debt.” "What now?" rumbled a troll as it stumped towards the clamor. The guards weren't accustomed to commotion in their cells. It was true that newcomers often complained, but it was relatively short-lived; a few turns of hard labor quickly sapped the spirit. These things tended to resolve themselves after the first few days. Consequently, they were not recruited for their problem-solving skills. The craggy creature came to a halt in front of the cell and gave Meggan a blank stare. “Hello there,” Meggan beamed at the tall guard, even as she sought to hide any nervousness that a delay might potentially mean. “It’s really very nice to meet you, and I wish it was under better conditions. But, well--I’m not a human being, I am a changeling, and I need to leave the premises. You grabbed the wrong person,” she reiterated carefully, when the guard didn’t seem to be making any further movements. Another 'what?' formed on the troll's lips before a short, stout elf with a pike and disconcertingly prominent teeth came bustling up with one hand clamped against its blood-red cap. "What's this you say, a mistake?" it barked. It locked its bulbous eyes with Meggan's gold-pupiled black, then took in the pointed ears and gleaming golden hair. Its wrinkled face folded in confusion. Angry confusion. "What are you doing in there?" the redcap demanded, as if Meggan's presence in the cell was a personal affront. “Well, it wasn’t my choice, was it?” Meggan retorted in a softer tone, even as she leaned against the bars. “I don’t think I’d walk into a cell on my own and then draw attention to it, so there’s no need to blame me for it. I was caught when I happened to be near others being captured.” She shrugged. “I was unconscious before I could shout what I really was, and I woke up in here!” she added. Her dark eyes widened in what she hoped conveyed a suitably plaintive enough look. “It’s a big mix-up, as you can see, sir. Someone scooped up the wrong one, and didn’t think to look at what they had!” The redcap glared at her for another moment, then swung its pikestaff against the back of the troll's knees hard enough to clang. This failed to have any effect whatsoever. "Dolt! You want us more of a laughing stock than we are? Those hunters" it snarled as it began to fumble the keyright from its belt, "too dim to know they'd ensnared one of their own, but the Lady's favorites will never be blamed, will they? It'll be us who'll be held to account, though we be the ones to correct the error." The redcap shoved a brass key into the lock and flung open the cell door. "Get out, then. You understand it was no fault of ours, yes?" “Oh, yes, I totally understand,” Meggan assured him, even as she pointedly glanced back into the cell and gave a quick nod. She looked back at him and continued. “I can’t hold it against you. Never you. You’re amazing at your post,” she gushed with delight. “You’re certainly not to blame for fixing any and all errors as soon as they were brought to your attention, sir.” Perhaps she was laying it on a bit too thick there at the end, but she wanted to be a good distraction. "I appreciate your cooperation," the redcap said in a tone that might have been squeezed through a lemon. As it stepped aside to let her pass its eyes fell on a peculiar heap near the bars. Cautiously, it extended its pike and hooked it to the edge of the heap. "Here, what's this?" it muttered as it raised the pike. Something thin and pale hung from its tip. In a shadowy back corner of the cell, Paige had been sitting, waiting for her moment. She was too small to overtake the guards as she was, and as she thought over her options for what form to take, Jono’s voice came through. Apparently, she had listened to more of his stories than she thought, because she could hear him talking about the superstitions around iron and its “magical properties.” Iron was a good sturdy metal, so it was a good practical option as well. Giving in to Jono’s advice, Paige ripped her skin off, transforming to iron, and hid herself away as best she could until the door opened. When the red cap entered the cell to poke at her scraps, she took her opening. Paige rushed the small red cap, attempting to kick him out of the way, aiming for the opposite corner of the cell. Squaring up with the troll, Paige tried to wave Meggan out of the cell. Meggan immediately vacated the cell as directed, even as she watched in blatant awe. It was one thing to plan this sort of thing, and another to see it playing out in motion! She was impressed that iron was seemingly actually working in their favor, just like all the stories had proclaimed. She looked back into the corner of the cell, then, not wanting to just walk away entirely, and leave the man that had given them helpful warnings about everything he could. "Please come with us," she urged from across the threshold. Before the thrall could respond there was a roar. The troll's reaction time might not have been the keenest, but the sight of its fellow guard in a shrieking heap at the base of the opposite wall proved to be very motivating. Meggan barely avoided being trampled as it charged into the cell and made a grab for Paige with hands the size of pizza pans. Paige ducked and tried to maneuver herself between the troll and her exit. It was probably smarter to run from the hulking creature, but after the third time getting kidnapped this year, she has some frustration to work out. With a swing that would make Sam (and Doug who had taught her) proud, Paige struck against the troll’s giant arm. The force of the troll's bellow shook bits of ancient mortar from the ceiling. The troll fell to its knees, crumpled around the blow as if she'd shattered bones. The redcap, still curled in an agonized ball, began to shriek hysterically. "Iron! Iron! The witchbreed is iron!"
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