"I'm sure we at the Association are pleased to have your approval," Maeve says with her eyes closed and a hint of something that could be sarcasm or just tiredness.

She shakes her head slightly and looks at Annabel again. "If you would like to see the old case notes that can surely be arranged. It would be a good idea for you to be familiar with them. Notice also that, having not joined the Association, we will not particularly order or forbid an action with regard to the Cut. There are of course still consequences but we have no orders. It is in fact illegal to trespass on Culpeper Cut. I also appreciate the offer of your notes. Would an Oath of the first level, that being one of my own abilities to create binding promises that the parties become aware instantly if broken, hypothetically be satisfactory for your security concerns? The first level if broken simply lets the other party know and gives the breaking party a momentary spike of pain and horror."

"My approval hardly ought to matter, I should think.

"I believe the oath would suffice.  I would have that oath that you shall not reveal, by deed or implication, who did or did not empower me, unless it is first disclosed to the public by myself or another.  Or...no.  I would have that oath that you will not reveal that the conditions of the oath I wish to ask of you involve that subject.  ...blast and botheration; this is a complex web I intend to weave.  Alright.  Your level-one oath that you will not reveal, by act or omission, that the subject of who or what empowered me is not as I make it seem, unless someone else has first disclosed the truth.  ...no, that's just the same bloody oath, worded differently...  Do...give me a moment."

"Really, the primary concern I have is that in discussing the conditions of the oath, you already know of the secret.  Which was entirely my unforced error, but still.

"The secondary concern I have is that the way your oath works does not seem to include any warning component on the subject's behalf; that is, that you could break it without knowing that you were going to break it by doing what you would do.

"That just wouldn't do, because the oath would still thusly be broken.  And that's not worth bothering to extract; I don't wish to be punitive, I wish primarily to protect the secret, unless or until such time as I choose to disclose it.

"Is there something you can do to resolve that, or something I am missing that would assuage my concerns?"

"Oaths are not toys and they are not so simple as to be gotten around with cute technicalities. Intent matters also. The primary purpose of this one would be to make you know if it is broken, not to serve as a true deterrent for myself. While I believe that your concerns on this front are perhaps overstated, that is not my decision to make. What of: I will not, in writing or speech, in implication or statement, deliberately or negligently disclose any information given by one Annabel regarding Culpeper Cut today in this office excepting specific permissions granted, expiring upon Annabel's release of the oath, her death, or ten years. While I may make recommendations informed by said information, they will be bald of context or implication. With a very general prohibition there are multiple reasons you might have asked for such a thing, ranging from trauma to embarrassment to protectionism to how you were in fact trespassing on private land. I am known to make similar oaths in order to learn secrets."

"...And what did I do to give you the impression that I thought oaths such as these were -

"No, that can wait.  Business first, interpersonal concerns later.

"There's a problem with this oath; it doesn't actually protect the secret.

"Because the secret isn't really about Culpeper Cut except as that it is my 'cover', as was.

"And I'm curious why you believe my concern to be overblown, if you would."

"Then I shall append specifically not discussing your enkindling. Magic is magic, whatever its origins, and I find a great many young bearers are overly concerned with small things at first. I am, of course, not you."

"That would be acceptable.  And, indeed, you are not me - but it is not necessarily you that I am concerned about.  There are quite certainly some who treat bearers of power from different sources...differently.  And that's not something I have enough energy to face, right now.  Not with everything else I'm going to deal with."

Maeve's expression softens a bit. "We don't expect the deliverance of the world of our newest. Even if they so often expect it of themselves. To us, your job is simply to learn, now."

"I don't really imagine that I'll be saving the world.  Just having to defend myself from it, when it decides it doesn't like the cut of my jib."

She sighs.  "But that's not really what we're here to talk about.  ...If you'd be willing to swear that oath?"

"Mm." She writes out a short contract on yellowed paper fetched from a drawer, with an old-fashioned quill scratching and echoing in the odd office.

Maeve shall not, in writing or speech, in implication or statement, deliberately or negligently disclose any information given by one Annabel regarding Culpeper Cut today in Maeve's office, nor the knowledge or suspicion of Annabel's method of enkindling, excepting specific permissions granted from Annabel, expiring upon Annabel's release of the oath, Annabel's death, or ten years.

Annabel shall have no obligations.

She turns the paper around. "Read carefully, then we both touch it and I intone the promise."

She does so read, and does so touch --

-- and they say "Whenever you're ready, then."

"Oathmaking." The word carries a hint of the otherworldly. "I, Maeve, have considered and do understand the terms written here. On my solemn honor I agree to them." A spark passes from her to the 'contract'. "Have you, Annabel, considered and understood the terms written here? Do you agree to them, on your solemn honor?"

"I have considered and understood the terms, and I do so agree."

A spark passes from her to the contract, then there's a twining of golden light between them.

"Well, that's that. I won't be insulted if you seek some verification that I am actually capable of this and it's not just a light show."

"No, I definitely - felt it, I'm pretty sure.  Though I will certainly be confirming that."

"Anyway.  I give you permission to discuss and disclose anything that is to do with Culpeper Cut, except that it did not empower me.  I do not give you permission to disclose any details of theoretical trespass I may or may not have committed by obtaining such information."

She then hands over her notes.

Maeve scans them quickly.

"...Yes, hmm. I was involved with the whole affair and pulled the reports when you made your appointment, and this is not what we experienced at all. Clearly Culpeper Cut has changed. You have a rapport?"

"I would say I might.  It's...hmm, tenuous, is how I might describe it, but it's - it doesn't want me gone.  What were previous interactions like, then?"

"Constant creepy laughter, and hyenas harassing and attacking visitors, and ranging out into the lumber town nearby harassing them as well, attacking without regard for their own safety and behaving in unnerving ways. When actual communication was attempted, images of churning acid, giant claws, bursting walls. Creeping thirst that consumed all. Spears of frost shredding strange structures. Insidious parasites that multiplied out of control. We didn't understand these at all, it was 1923 and the world was different then - education was much different. They made no sense. We did not make the connection to cellular biology - it was just... Eldritch. Strange, chaotic, horrible things happening. It struck young miss Hammer Hand with lightning once. That's the novice who died. She likely inadvertently angered it somehow, but we had no idea how at the time."

"Well, it hasn't stopped doing the laughter.  ...Harassing?  Like how?"

Digging through papers... "Digging through trash, destroying fences, chewing through tires, being spotted near schools and playgrounds, following people, breaking windows..."

"...Seems like curiosity, to me.  And the attacks, what were they like?"

"February 3, 1923, its hyenas fought a tar spitter - rare slime or amorph type monster - and a group of Goblins and after killing them all, they attacked first responders. A national guard unit. Two deaths. March 14, a hiker in the area was reported missing and search-and-rescue found his body in Culpeper Cut, having been mostly eaten. April 6, a group of boars left Culpeper Cut's area and rammed a work truck off a road, killing one - the driver. April 7, a swarm of crows pecked at electrical infrastructure and caused a short-circuit and fire which killed a housewife. April 8, novice Hammer Hand and an older bearer, Naiad Nayla, tried to come to a rapport after the fire incident. That's when Hammer Hand was killed. We started a kill-on-sight policy for its hyenas outside of the closed-off area after that. April 10, a bear attacked one of the patrolling bearers but was slain safely. The remaining three deaths all occurred on October 31, 1923. Halloween. It sent a huge collection of... Strange creatures, in all directions, there was panic and confusion and five deaths resulting from it, three from actual attacks and two accidents. Plus over a dozen injured. We widened the exclusion area and there were only minor incidents for a decade, and things have been quiet since."

"Huh.  All and only in 1923?  That's strange.  And then the absolute wave of 'strange creatures' on Halloween that correlated directly with a decrease of incidents in the aftermath...

"I wonder how related these things are, because I didn't observe hyenas at all.  This is...Something about it makes me think something funny might have been happening.  And not in a pranky way.  Does Halloween have any particular, mystical significance or what-have-you?"

"Mm, difficult. I'm still in 'cut the crap' mode so, I think so, and so do others, but not everyone agrees. The most popular counter-argument is that human belief or spirit-bearer belief makes things real, and we expect Halloween to be weird. In which case we're still right, really."

"I see!  Interesting.  ...Oh, I don't like this idea I'm having.  Well, it's competing with the 'the weird mutated creatures were some sort of Miasma infection or otherwise in the vein of the Mt. St. Marcy Killer', but, ugh, I so do not want to be responsible for 'okay if belief makes things real then how much of that aggression was caused by you expecting Culpeper Cut to be aggressive?'.  ...Also, what was the National Guard even doing there to begin with?  Seems kind of...pointless to deploy when the enemy's already taken care of."