"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."

Maeve searches reports for a bit.

"...Doing a navigation exercise in the area, and responded to radio calls about the monsters, apparently. If belief makes things real, all the attempts thus far to believe in better things have more or less failed. It's not supposed to be an all-powerful effect. If anything a gestalt of all the cumulative belief of thousands and thousands of years - not something easily shifted by a viral video. More has changed in the last century than the previous three, and more then than the ten before that."

"Huh.  Well, that'd do it."

"...Also, aren't there a lot more people than there have ever been, these days?  Unless it's a function of time..."

"Yes, but there isn't math for this. I think we're getting off-topic. Culpeper Cut is no longer violent - though we had minor incidents for several years before the major ones, and for up to a decade after, they weren't deadly. I'm going to recommend to Relations that we hire you to discuss things with it and possibly introduce some other girls. The logistics of that is not my department, though. I'm an advisor."

"I see.

"...An advisor on anything in particular?"

"How spirits usually act. What they tend to be capable of. And I do wards, and oaths." She rolls her eyes. "Not that I'm just an oath-machine, like some people seem to think. Ahem. Was there anything else?"

"I can't think of anything, which means that with my luck I will immediately think of something right now or so because that's just how my brain works.  Annnnnd there it is:

"What advice do you think I'd most need to know, that you think nobody else would tell me?  Given how long you say you've been around, I figure you have some ideas.

"...And I do think we should probably talk about how this conversation went so readily to shit."

Maeve shakes her head and starts putting away the various documents in a manila folder.

"Not everyone is going to like you. Not everyone is going to think they ought to listen to you, especially if your first impression is an insulting disrespectful rant. If they're at all professional, they'll be willing to work with you to achieve good things anyway. Oh, you can keep all these copies of the archival reports on Culpeper Cut. If you like." She slides the folder forward.

She will in fact take those copies.

"Well.  That is certainly advice.  Probably useful advice.

"It is advice I would encourage you to reflect upon in turn, because what you did when I walked into this office was immensely disrespectful of the gravity I have been treating this situation with; I shall now give you the space with which to do so.  Fare thee well, Spiritwatcher Maeve."

And she exits.

It's 5:20 and an intern is there ready to show her out! Does she need a snack? Train tickets? Anything?

She wouldn't mind either of those but does not need those; is the building closing?  She was thinking she might do a bit more reading or practice.

Only the officey portions are closing. She can get back into the gym or library today, sure, closing at ten and seven respectively.