#bergen_county

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At the Wayburton house, a satyr wilder is plugged into his play list of 101 songs for wretched moods

Well, at least Sylvi had warning prior to knocking on the Wayburton door. Big Satyr Mood won't come as a surprise.

Basil opens the door, "Hello?" Basil looks over his shoulder shakes his head at the music, then looks back at Sylvi

"Oh!" Sylvi blinks. "Sorry, not who I was expecting. I'm looking for Zane....?" Then belatedly, "Sorry, I'm Sylvi."

He looks her over, "Wow, I mean, yeah? I'm Basil. Dagmar and Dirk saved my ass. I had a dream dance, and now I'm hanging here with my Uncle Aunt and cousins. Nice to meet you, Sylvi." He moves out of the way a bit "I got to warn you, Zane is listening to some depressing music. Ain't even good depressing music. He may not be much fun to be around but if you can shake him out of it, more power to you"

"Oh, you're Basil. Hey." She nods. "And yeah, I got the heads up that he's in a mood. I might be able to distract him, I think." She heads towards the source of the emo music.

🎼 "The hero of my days is walking away
So you say
I'm all alone
And I can't make it on my own." Zane has a nice voice, not stellar like Piper's... but gah that song cannot be saved

She makes his way to Zane's door and hears "The magic will never be enough
My final breath is gone
I never mattered
Am I dreaming everything you said lives on" 🎼

Sylvi tries to control her dubious expression before knocking on his door.

Basil at the door watches her go, he admires, but also shudders at that music

The music stops "Not hungry, mom" Zane says. THe music starts to resume

"So very much not your mom," she replies. "Can I come in?"

"Sylvi?" Yep. Music mercifully dies and the door opens. Zane opens the door. He wears a t shirt with a T rex with the words 'If you're happy and you know it clap your...' then below that T Rex with tiny little arms and a sad expression "oh". Also shorts

"Hey." She offers a grin that she hopes is sympathetic. "How's the struggle?"

"Meh" He says "I think Basil wants to drop me off the roof and Dad just wants me to go get laid already"

"Not just your father" Mrs Wayburton sing songs in the distance

"Wow." Sylvi blushes a bit. "I thought my folks were pretty sex-positive. Well, I was about to say, 'anything I can do to help' but given the conversation I'm going to add 'within limits.'"

Zane actually chuckles at that, "hey, i'll take it as a compliment. It'll pass. " A sigh "Just bummed"

"Yeah. Your best buddy moving away to a Fiona hold. A Fiona hold that you'll now have a good excuse to visit because your buddy lives there. A Fiona hold where you can take massage lessons and...who knows what else." Innocent look.

A brow "You'd think so, wouldn't you?" If she was hoping to shake him into a positive mood, it failed it seems

"You don't?"

"Let's see. Symon doesn't even want to be a Pillar of the Mountain half the time. My lessons at the farm help me be a better wizard. Adam won't be patrolling around here anymore so someone will need to take up the slack so my family is sheltered. And Adam is going to be busy learning all sorts of lessons and may not be available when I DO get there sooo.. kind of losing a friend here, Sylvi, except for video calls and once a months"

"Well...maybe you can go visit and soak up the Fiona vibes while he's doing his duties? I don't know." She looks a bit distressed. "Now I feel kind of bad for the reason I came over."

"Why did you come over?" He asks then looks back at his room "If you don't mind a minor mess around you, I've got a clean chair"

She waves off the mess. "Don't worry about it." Claiming the chair, she lowers her voice, "I was actually coming to see you for your help. I need to find out some information, and I figure your Dad might know...but I kind of want to keep the info to the wilder crew, y'know?"

"Yeah?" He perks abit and closes the door to muffle more sound outside "Dad's the political expert but I know a little . What's up?"

"I think this is more of a lore thing than a political thing, so it might be Pillar-style work. You remember the cookies? The ones that change your kith for 24 hours? Well...I've been asked to find them and bring them to a particular location, but I don't know where to start looking."

"Oh! " He says "You want the three namers in the deep dreaming, most specifically the Baker"

She blinks. "You just happen to know the info I need? Do you have any idea how much I appreciate you right now?!"

"Wait...namers in the deep dreaming." A long exhale.

"That sounds riskier than I'd thought. I'm trying to get a team together, but I don't want to endanger my friends too much...." Weighing factors.

"The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestickmaker... yeah I know right? I don't know if they inspired the poem, or decided it was a form they can fit in. They are the three most powerful namers. Some say the first namers. The baker makes those cookies" He pauses "But just because she's the source doesn't mean she's the only place to get it."

"Don't suppose she takes mail-order requests," she quips doubtfully.

"No, but there are markets, places that sell her goods if you know where to find them" He scratches his chin

Then he smiles "You're really impressed?"

"Dude, totally." She grins. "I thought you were going to have to hunt around your dad's library for days before you could give me anything on it. So...okay, so markets. Probably dreaming markets? Or...um...even goblin markets?"

"Exactly," He nods "This is where your dad could lead you to a dozen places , markets in the near and far dreaming that sell anything and everything. But..." He pauses "We want this wilder only"

A sigh. "Well, I did...but you're the second person to say my dad could help, and I know he could. Just not sure he would." She humphs. "Well...if I explain the why of it to him, he probably would. I think."

"Let's do it without him. I mean.. it's like, if we wanted to tackle a bad guy. We COULD just whistle up the Chieftain , say 'sic em' and if she agreed, tehy're toast, but this is..." A breathe "It's our turn. Is that weird?"

"It's not weird. I totally get what you're saying. Somehow it feels like it doesn't quite count if we get my dad to do it, y'know?"

"Then, we don't do that" He says seemingly having invested. "You can trick your dad, which you might not be okay with I get it. You can ask other rovers. or we can find other sources. He's not the only guy around who knows things, and even if he weere, well, nothing stopping us from discovering things on our own." Zane says "I can see this important to you. So.. I'm in. Besides, it fits my studies so I'll get a break from my tutors"

"It does? How does it fit? I don't even know who your tutors are, I think."

A mysterious look, which does not nearly as cool on him as it does Symon

She manages to avoid snickering...but only just.

"Okay...I'll try to find out from my dad's sources...or maybe one of the other Rovers...and you try to find out from your sources?"

"Done. I think I know one place to try. A market hold..." He ponders "yeah, it could work"

"Okay. Listen, though...probably ask where we might find any products from the Baker, don't say we're looking for the cookies specifically?"

"Why not ask for products from the Candlestick maker or Butcher? Anyone who knows those probably tries to get the cookies too?"

"Oh! Good, yes. That makes sense. And...of those two, the Candlestickmaker sounds safer. That's probably naive of me."