#baronyofthesilverwolf

There is a pause before the book responds, it's whispered voice now sounding old and tired as the cantrip winds to the end.

"I am not a book OF healing, though within me lies the wisdom for those who seek it. The Moonflower Belt, Wíȟaŋbla Owíŋža, is a gift of the earth and sky, a thread of Medicine woven with care. My pages hold its tale, but the journey is yours to walk - should you set upon the right path."

Gwen whispers hastily, "What is the right path, Teacher?" but... it is likely too late for another answer

Thistle has a look of fierce concentration on her face.

Art is watching, eyes wide with curiosity and interest. “A recipe book!” Amused. “Well, maybe she- or whoever sold it to her- wasn’t wrong. What is a recipe but steps towards a solution?”

He is also looking around to see if any other cookies were ‘forgotten’.

"Recipes are kind of like formulae? See, I was thinking maybe you could translate it..."

"Brace won't work for Marigold, not for her hands..."

"Exactly like formulae!" He grins! "I have been working on that translation cantrip. Some say it's a lazy work around to learning the actual language... but if I learned all the languages I want to read, why, I'd be doing nothing else!"

"Which, while entertaining and fulfilling, is also a barrier to other things you want to do. Only so many hours."

He nods. "I wish Chronos could actually put more hours in the day, rather than jsut peer back into the past." A moiurnful sigh.

"Maybe there's a time turner treasure out there."

A Big grin! "What would you spend your extra time on?"

"Oh, I dunno. More studio time. Seeing Frankie before he gets too big. Messing around in the garage. Hanging out in the library."

"You could always use Chronos to view an earlier version of Frankie, and maybe even trap a moving memory of him in a crystal you could view when you wanted to remember." A grin, proud of his idea.

"Thats... oh, that might be one hell of a gift for Janice."

"It would take a lot of research - imbuing cantrips into items is as much it's own art as learning the cantrip to begin with!" His eyes spark with interest.

"True enough. It's a line between useful chimera and treasure."

"But... Nockers make treasures."

"It's really incredible."

"I don't really understand it, but it's amazing none the less. I know it's not the same thing as adding a cantrip to an object - or it can be, but that it's not constrained to what a known cantrip can do? I tried asking Madern's friend Grimwald about it, but I got lost after a couple minutes."

"It..." She considers. "Dreamstuff is... it's like clay?"

"So much of it is how it feels."

"I admire you." He says, softly. "I can learn, and study, and maybe someday teach, but you - you're a doer."

"I appreciate any help I can get for my mom"

Elbow-nudge. "You do."

"Ok, so - we translate this. We learn about that Moonflower Belt."

"Oh!" He gives Gwen a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck. It seems he may have forgotten the others were there when talking to Thistle. "Of course. She may be your mother, but she's our Marigold."

"And we are gonna help Marigold."

A weak grateful smile "She's the best, and she deserves to be without pain if we can help it"

"Well, let's get going! Do you want me to read the book from the beginning, or look at a certain section? I could do a full transliteration, but that would take time as I would have to copy it down as I went, and probably a few recastings. It might take any images or runework... whatever those little circles are - out of context." He considers, bouncing a bit eagerly like a childling.

"Can we search for... uh.. Moonflower, it was.. um.. Wee-han-jibla?"

"Find that, and translate that section first?"

Art reaches for the book, then pauses, looking to Gwen "It's your call, Dame."

"Wíȟaŋbla Owíŋža," SHe says slowly, committing it to memory "LEt's trannslate that part first as Thistle Suggested, but be ready to expand for more context. Maybe I can find some more details online on Lakota sites"

"And hey, you wanted to quest? Materials, right there. Sympathetic magic is, like, 90 percent of crafting Dreamstuff, I swear..."

Gladiola nods, but her eyes are distant.

"Gwen, a brace won't... I've been watching. That won't help her hands."

"It's worse than I thought. How did I miss how bad off she was?" A guilty look crosses her face, "I live here. I see her every day. How did I miss how bad it was getting? My own mother"

Thistle shakes her head. "She hides it."

"It's like that story of the frog in the kettle. The water heats up slowly, and it doesn't realize that it's getting hot until it's cooked. And it's not like she's always hurting. This storm was pretty sudden." Looking out the window at the drifts that had accumulated practically overnight.

"She hides it from me to spare me. SHE is trying to protect ME" Shame fills her face

"Which is what moms do."

"I'm not a child, nor a childling" A frown "And I AM a troll. I can handle this. She shouldn't have to endure htis alone"

Art carefully has taken the book and is paging through it, his fingers delicate as he turns each page. "I'm not sure if this is paper. It might be vellum, or some sort of... hm." Rubbing fingers on the edge of a page curiously.

He is clearly distracted. "I'm going to take this to the book binding annex, is that okay?"

She pats Gwen's arm. "And she's not."

He slips away with the treasure without barely waiting for confirmation.

"Humm sure..." She says as he walks off "Be careful with it, please"

And then she looks at Thistle, and at the pat says "I know . I ..thanks. "

"Art will handle it like gold. Don't worry."

"He's the smartest boy I know"