Everless nods seriously. "That is consistent with the available evidence. The Resistance has made no headway in the past decade."

She moves from the floor to the back of Hatter's chair, so as to be closer to Audrey's eye level.

"What would you suggest? You mentioned changing the game - finding a different metaphor in which she does not have the high ground. Does that still appear to be the best solution, or should we first attempt to relieve her of one or more of her Hearts?"

"I think Lionel is key, as her Ace and the former Red King... but claiming him would hardly be simple. We'll need to gather more cards of our own before we can..." 

She considers her words for a moment, then smiles. "... take a trick from the Queen of Hearts."

The Hatter seems to have mostly recovered, although Audrey's latest words send him into another brief giggling fit.

"I can contact the King and Queen of Diamonds, although they may not be able to respond immediately. We could also try our luck finding the Wandering Seer, as the Bishop is now known."

"A Hermit is just the thing to add to our hand, especially given that this is apparently a... never mind, that's not important. In any case, we should try and find the Wandering Seer."

"That sounds like an excellent plan!" the Hatter says with mock enthusiasm.

"Slight problem, though: we have no idea how to find him."

Everless elaborates.

"Not only does the Seer wander unpredictably, but the geography of Wonderland itself is not stable or predictable, which renders any attempt at a systematic search nonsensical."

She sighs, clearly frustrated by this. "Our best hope of finding him is to first stumble upon the Cheshire Cat, who is equally unpredictable but far more sociable, and hope that he is in an altruistic enough mood that he will guide us to the Seer."

"Mmm. Nonetheless, I think it's worth a try."

The Hatter nods, and hauls himself to his feet.

"One of us should go with you, and the other should contact the rest of the Resistance and inform them of recent developments. Any preferences?"

"You said the topography changes? In that case, Everless is less likely to be separated from me, provided they don't mind perching on my shoulder."

"It...doesn't tend to change on that scale, but it's not unheard of," Hatter concedes. "I will write to the King and Queen of Diamonds, and attempt to contact a few others as well."

He shows Audrey to the front door, the raven swooping ahead of them to wait for her on the porch.

"Everless knows how to find the way back to this house. Good luck!"

She smiles and waves. "See you!" 

... then she looks outside.

There are no other buildings in sight; Hatter's house stands alone in the clearing, with trees on every side. 

From the front of the house, a path edged with flowers leads away into the green woods.

It is a bright, sunny day, and the sky above is a clear deep violet across which drift fluffy turquoise clouds. 

... That seems a much more proper color of sky. 

She steps out onto the front porch, and offers Everless an arm. 

Everless perches on it. She's quite heavy, but not so much that Audrey can't carry her.

"You might as well choose which direction to walk in," she says, "since it does not especially matter. I will warn you if we are headed somewhere dangerous, but as long as you avoid the palace that should not be a problem."

Audrey smiles. "If you pick directions at random, no wonder you don't get anywhere. For the moment though, there is only one obvious path..."

She heads off into the woods.

"It is more that, since we do not know where we are going, I do not have any more information than you on how we should get there," Everless clarifies.

"And yes, for now we follow the path."

And so they do.

The woods are light and open, with flowers scattered about beneath the trees. Nearly everything in sight is one of thousands of shades of green. 

They come to a fork in the path, one branch going off to either side. Down one, the trees seem to have a blue tinge, and down the other, they look more yellow and orange. There is no other apparent difference between the two paths.

... Blue. More cool, reserved, subdued. More hermity.

They walk down the blue path. 

The way starts to slope upwards, the trees thinning out and the breeze picking up until they are walking along the side of a grassy, windswept ridge. Before them stretches a wide, open moor covered in blue grass and plants with small purple flowers. The occasional standing stone, or fallen one, is dotted about the hilly landscape.

Everless says something, but the wind rushes in Audrey's ears and drowns her out.

Standing stones. 

Slow down, careful. This road - this woad? - this place has danger and power to it. Transfer Everless to her shoulder so she can speak into her ear? Yes. Slowly, so the wind won't catch her. She's light, especially compared to someone like Audrey.

"This seems like the right kind of place," Everless says into her ear.

"I have never seen this exact location before, so I cannot help you navigate it. But I believe we may be on the borders of Wonderland."

"It... Fits the pattern. Careful of the stones, and the spaces." 

Audrey steps off the path towards the closest of the fallen stones, watching the alignments, careful not to wander between any two of the monoliths.

Is that the faint sound of someone humming, or is it just the wind?

It's hard to tell directions or distances, but it seems to be coming from somewhere in front of her. 

Careful of the alignments still, but let's go towards the humming.

As she comes around a hill, the source of the humming becomes visible.

An old man with a long white beard, dressed in ragged clothing of which the original colour cannot be guessed, is stumping around with the aid of a gnarled walking-stick. His humming, now more clearly audible, is ragged and only occasionally tuneful. He seems to find it sufficient to dance to, though, or perhaps he is imagining musical accompaniment which Audrey cannot hear.

He does not appear to have noticed their presence.