#dreaming

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At the haven, Zara can see many subtle additions, some not so much.

Field, Flame and River main domains still prosper.... owls and cats still can be found in abundance, but of late there area also newts near old shadowy tree roots, and a few bats hide in anything even remotely resembling a belfry. The wild life seems to getting more varied, yet still witchy, with every young witch that finds her way here

Zara smiles as she takes in the recent changes. "And this, Miss Lily, is Witch Haven. Welcome."

As she is introduced, a HAT begins to manifest!

A gasp, as the hat forms over her little head, "Miss Zara, it's beautiful... look, trees that look like grabby hands" she must whisper, but if she could she would exult with delight just a bit louder. She's a child, and joy can come to her strongly

"Go. See." A shooing motion.

Clutching her hat tight to her, she races off, delighted, a whispering giggle.

Someone else is trying to be quiet near her, not a bad effort by any but sluagh standards. Zara hears it, of course, it is Autumn, HER time, and even here, fallen leaves crunch like little tattle tales for all but the softest of steps

Zara continues at a slower pace - she will let the childling explore on her own, and have her own secrets.

She pretends not to notice, but she LOOKS and SMELLS and LISTENS.

One cannot coddle childlings too much. They must be free to get themselves lost in crawlspaces or on midnight rooftops times to time. Mind you, her own mother often distressed at such, but Zara knows her own kith

Yes, someone is trying not to give herself away, elegant steps still crunch leaves, elegantly of course. The smell of a very light lavender perfume, and to top it offf, cats, seeing someone who does not wish to be bothered, immediately swarm the new stranger

"shoo, now now, okay yes you'r sweet... " A whisper "I have a cat of my own at Earthrunes" the voice says, unable to shoo the felines away.

"Hello, Minerva."

It is gratifying, a bit, that the lovely young sidhe nearly jumps out of her skin as the whisper comes up RIGHT behind her

A little grey smile.

"I truly wish you wouldn't do that, Miss Zara" Minerva says as she composes herself. Downside of sidhe, they compose far too quickly. "Before you ask, yes, I got curious. Yes I followed the magic in play. I am still Eiluned even if I'm of no title. This place is amazing. It boils with eldritch energies of a feminine twist"

"This is Witch Haven, and it is for those worthy.'

She lifts her chin, as if braced, "Am I worthy, Miss Zara? Many of my fellow nobles would think something is.. wrong with me. But I am smart, I am quick witted, and I can be very determined. "

"Do you think title matters, here?"

"Not.. the titles of nobility, no," She looks about "This is a place for witches. Titles are , I suspect, bestowed by deed, or by audacity that sticks. Three main houses... a differing in terrain, again by three. This haven has some very old rules. Perhaps even older than than the rule of the sidhe" SHe actually appears fascinated. She wants to look, touch and see. Eiluned are like that at times

"There's a difference, aye, between a title and a name. What else do you see?"

"Cats, many of them, some ravens, a lot of owls, classic familiars. "

Zara strikes out walking in a seemingly random direction. Minerva may easily follow. "Aye, so."

She does, following "I see a great fire where one can gather a coven"

"What, think you, makes a soul welcome here?"

"A love of magic, a thirst to seek what's hidden in shadows and moonbeams, very Eiluned in that but.. no, this is no place for queens or the like. " She licks her lips, as if tasting the air, then says "I'm not sure what makes a soul accepted her. I only know I would like to see more if I may. To learn what it is trying to teach me, even if I didn't realize what that was. "

Ahead is a house... Well, a hut. Cottage?

She raises a brow, "mmm is that yours?"

"In a sense."

"Who r.. " She almost said rules, "Who's in charge here?"

"Now, that IS an interesting question, isn't it?"

"No titles, but it was partly built..." She stops and picks up soil. Concentrating... oh how clever, she's seeking to gain an omen on the land itself

AH, too hasty, and the land has fun with her... not answering, not a rejection of HER, but a denial of the short cut

Minerva gasps as the soil falls thorugh her fingers looking dizzy "Too much.. wait.. I can't.. it's showing me it so fast I can't see it's going right by damn it!"

Elsewhere, a spider has popped up on the DeBuke farm. Clever girl.

"Sorry," Minerva smoothers her peasant style dress. Lately her wardrobe just seems to lean that way. Mind you, it's a lovely one

"You seem much concerned with your 'peasant' status. Your image reflect in your voile - how you perceive yourself shapes yourself."

"yes, the seer suggested much the same, but it's easier to say it's in my head than to get it OUT of my head" she admits "I don't mean insult to other commoners by it"

"One needn't mean a thing for it to be so."

"I apologize," She says "But I'm not able to will myself to stop it. I have hexed myself, in a sense, putting so much import on what my title would be that now it occupies my subconscious thoughts. Baron August has tried to help me. He's a good man, pointing out the power of virtues for their own sake, and, surprisingly, his own title means little to him. It shook me a bit to learn that. Possibly for my betterment. I hope so"

"Now, this is a place for the worthy. But worth, here, is not in title."

"I can be worthy" she says, a bit of the pride of her kith lighting her, "You know me. I'm not without merit all on my own. I have grasped soothsay quickly, beyond the basics, through hard work and study."

"You have."

"But not every spellcaster belongs here."

"I think I do, I think I could," She says "I can keep a secret. HAVE Kept them. "

And that's when a hawk lands on a branch nearby. Zara can tell it's one of Clem's many forms.

"Aye. So - keeping the sacred secret is one thing. But... how do you prove yourself? Can you be worthy if you are preoccupied with what you are not?"

"Perhaps not," She admits with a frown "But it's a bit of a catch 22, is it not? I Need to be something else, something to be proud of in order to be free of what I cannot be, but if I am expected to be free of what I cannot be to even have a chance, I am ..trapped"