"Absolutely! Look at me. Do I have the demeanor of Winter? Have I painted myself blue with their colors? Nay!" Oz thumps his chest. "Not I. I am not Winter! I spit in Winter's face!" And he indeed spits in what he thinks the general direction of Winter's lands are. "I am no one's man but my own. No man, beast, fey, or even god holds my loyalty." His voice rings with pride.

Naomi drags herself up off the ground, using a nearby boulder to support her weight. "They took my Gateway Dagger," Naomi staggers a step toward Oz, gasping a furtive whisper at him. "I can't open a way back to our world without it! We've got to get it back..."

The figures off in the distance seem to debate with themselves for a moment before replying. "If you speak words of truth, than you will have no reason to deny confirming it with our lord! Come with us to our camp and and we will confirm whether or not your words ring true!"

"We have no objection," says Charles, "on the condition that should we satisfy your leader, that that which you have taken already will be immediately returned."

Very quietly, Oz gives Naomi a long look, then asks, "Any Winter-related affiliations I should need to be aware of? Where, precisely, did you get this dagger?"

"No promises," the one in charges shouts out, quickly rebuffing the request put forth by Charles. "First we confirm your right of passage with our leader!"

"No, no Winter affiliations," Naomi laughs meekly. The motion causes her visible pain, so she quickly stops. "A friend of mine on the Council made the dagger for me. That way I could return to our home country at any time without his help."

"Right." Oz looks at the rest of his compatriots. "Well, shall we?" He motions toward the beings.

"Let's." nods Charles. Holding his hands out to show that they're empty, he cautiously steps forward towards the beings.

Brecon finishes patting out the smoldering bits of his robe as soon as it becomes apparent that he won't have to thump some heads, if only for now. As soon as he is completely extinguished, he heads over to Naomi.

"You ok?"

Naomi rolls Endurance +4 vs Pain +3. Success.
"Yeah, I'm... I'm fine," Naomi replies, wobbling on her feet as she starts moving, but otherwise managing to stay upright and moving of her own accord. She'll need medical attention at some point, but for the time being she seems fine.

The creatures lower their bows and walk out to meet the group. As they get closer, the group is able to take notice of more features. The archers are approximately three feet tall with long pointy ears and fair skin. They'd almost look like children, were it not for the fact that they have the body proportions of full grown adults. They're wearing leather armor that somehow gives off the impression it isn't actually leather, but plant fiber instead. The apparent leader of the squad of archers is an attractive (they're faeries, so of course) looking female who stands several inches taller than the two men with her. Her armor is of noticeably higher standing, having odd-looking silvery metals of faerie make overlaid onto the standard leathers the other two wear.

"You may call me Mariana," the Elven woman states, nodding her head towards Oz. "Follow us, and we will take you to our camp where will we verify your right of passage with our leader."

The group proceeds down the mountainside towards the valley. It's a steep climb down, but everyone manages to make it without much in the way of problems. Finally making it to the bottom, the group reaches a clearing that marks the beginning of the valley. Instead of going into the valley, where the exit to the Way lies, the Elven archers make a right turn and lead everyone onto a path into the woodland that borders the valley. After a few minutes of walking, a patch of light kindles to life in the trees ahead. Then another, and another. Closer inspection reveals them to be small signal fires being lit by sentries. Following the trail of signal fires, the group happens upon a makeshift camp at the base of an ancient willow tree. A small group of tent-like cabins, surrounded on all sides by a wooden palisade that seems to grow out of the ground, has been built at the base of the tree.

"My lord!" Mariana, having lead the group to the base of the willow tree, bends down on one knee and addresses some unknown figure sitting high on a branch above them. "I have brought these people who have trespassed upon the lands we patrol. They claimed to have rightful passage through our land, so I brought them here before you that they might verify their claim."

Everything goes dead still. A quick look around shows the presence of at least a couple dozen archers, most of whom have their eyes on this odd group of fellows brought to their camp. The figure in the tree leans forward, as if anticipating whatever it is these intruders have to say. One can sense something akin to wry amusement in the gesture. Ozymandius and Brecon both spot a glint of metal on the figure's hip. Closer inspection proves it to be the knife that Naomi used to open the Way.

"We are travellers." states Charles, stepping up at once. His glamoured beard bristles with anger, but he very clearly makes no hostile move, holding out empty hands. "We owe no allegience to any of the Fae Courts, neither Winter nor Summer, and have no interest in the contention between these forces. You may call me Albert. By what name are you commonly known, and by what right do you waylay travellers through your lands?"

"I have been known by the name of Talia. That is the name you may address me by, if that is truly what you desire," the figure responds, her voice tinged with the echo of a smile. "I have been tasked by my Queen to guard the borders of Summer. It is my duty to protect our lands from the fiends of Winter and I am well within my right to waylay those that enter my territory, should they be spies seeking to sneak past my guards."

"Then it is indeed within your rights to stop and interrogate travellers." admits Charles. "Even to deal harshly with those who bear loyalty to the Winter Court. But to set upon those, like us, who bear loyalty to neither Court, and to rob us; those would be the actions of a brigand, not of an authorised agent of the Summer Queen. Yet before you return to us that which your pixies stole, you will require proof of our words, proof that we are not spies of Winter, presuming to sneak into the lands of Summer. For this proof, I offer to you the circumstances in which we were found; one of our number opened a Way from the mortal realm into the Nevernever, and we stepped through. This will be easy for you to verify; your people were likely there to witness it themselves, and if not, you can send a tracker to find that there are no tracks of ours in the Nevernever entering the clearing."

"Given, then, that our number includes one who can open such a path, if we were spies of Winter attempting to sneak ourselves into the lands of Summer, then we would not enter the Nevernever here, near the border, where a patrol like yours would be expected. Rather, were we spies, we would have opened the gateway deeper within the lands of Summer, where there would be less chance of meeting border guards."

Charles finishes with a firm nod of his head, as if to punctuated his argument. As he speaks, he keeps a close eye on Talia, noting her body language, her reaction or lack thereof.

Oz remains silent for a moment, then cocks his head to the side. "If I might ask... who told you that we would be here? That we might have an item of interest to you? You had to have advance warning from somewhere. The ambush was too prepared for anything else."

Talia leans her head back and lets out a mirthful laugh that causes the branches of the old willow to shake and dance with pure mirthful energy. "Young man, you need not try so hard. I knew the moment I laid eyes upon you that neither you nor your friends were of Winterborne or Bound. Now that I have seen you, you are free to go as you wish." The two Pixies seen earlier appear from higher up in the willow, carrying the backpack they took earlier. Flying down, they drop the backpack at Naomi's feet.

"You seek my knowledge?" Talia asks, shifting her gaze to Oz. "Knowledge is power. If you wish an answer, you must give me something I deem to be of equal value." She grins, and Oz can see a glint of moonlight reflecting off of delicately pointed canines. "What would you be willing to offer?"

"Thank you, Lady Talia." says Charles, with a slight tilt of his head, when the backpack is returned. To Oz, he adds "If they knew that we were coming, and we didn't step into a trap prepared for someone else, then I have a pretty good idea who might be behind it. I'll tell you about it when we get to Chicago."