#earthrunes

"I find Sir Magnus charming" Velvet whispers "But, well, if he beats you to the truth, well, he maybe become intolerable"

"Oh dear" the Countess observes, "Miss Zara, I do believe tea maybe at end"

"I believe we have our work cut out for us. A Fiona beating the sluagh to the truth? Feh!"

"Sir Magnus is potent, could be a true challenge" Gluminnsky observes "Eiluned trained, Fiona fearless.. he may throw himself into the teeth of it and get to the guts of the situation with great speed."

"So - we spy on him, too!"

"Quinta?" A lady descends. "Thou knowest what to do."

Quinta nods, and goes off to see if she can hitch a ride

"You could actually work with him" the Countess points out

"Ah..."

"That.. is an option, I suppose."

Velvet whispers "Where's the fun in that?" then blushes. She is a wilder, but is a YOUNG one

_Thank you, Miss Velvet."

Ruxandra chuckles at that "Ah, perhaps I should not quell any 'fun'"

A soft rapping at the door, and Symon returns. He has managed to divest himself of his lady's hairstyle and is back to normal, though without the snake that earlier accompanied him. A bit surprised to see that the rest of the sluagh remain - he had thought they'd all left when the nobility swept in.

"Anyone know a good place to find a proper rat? Short of finding a Redwall enclave in the near dreaming, and please don't suggest that, they're altogether far too wholesome."

This last word said with distaste!

Jaccob has a rat, but he'd nnot part with it

"My little brother has a fae rat - Frisby likely has siblings and knows from whence she came. I received her from Grandmother, who.. one does not approach lightly."

"I remember my first rat, " Gluminsky smiles wistfully, then sighs "Alas, I depressed him so much he fled"

Symon raises a brow perhaps thinking of the woman who this nice young librarian might call 'Bubbe'.

"Though thinking of Grandmother - is this Lily?"

He nods. "She needs a companion, someone who can send messages for her. The school she is in may be superb, but I still don't like her dad's opinion on what constitutes proper attendance priority."

"Feh." Zara nods.

A scoff, "needs education... What does he think we intend?"

"I have an idea, though it will require a visit from myself."

"Trolls can be so narrow-minded, a'times."

"If she is at Rivervale, I can promise that your visit would be properly welcomed. Elsewhere?" A shrug.

"Her family may lack in manners. And that's coming from me."

"Oh dear, if you have need of resources for this, I am still ruling till samhain and am not above dipping in the treasure" the Countess says

"They have never understood her." A huff.

"I somewhat regret them being fae, makes it harder to properly abduct her."

Velvet sighs "They do mean well"

"Perhaps we could buy the girl?" Gluminsky ponders "Not as slave, of course, that would be wrong"

A deep frown. "How does one set the worth of a childling? Whatever they would accept would not be enough. Besides... I think she's fond of them."

"Ah, well nevermind then" He shrugs "And..to annswer question, depending on the time period, two goats, two goats and a chicken if she seems very bright"

He looks utterly deadpan

"Perhaps if the chicken is dead, and her future tossed and shown by the bones." He considers.

"Maybe she can learn Legerdemain and leave a proper simulacrum in her place."

"We could help her with that"

"Well, first - the rat."

"Yes, they're intelligent adn useful"

"Agreed. Perhaps I could scry off of Frisby."

Gluminksi ponders "An omen with a drop of Frisbys blood might serve better?

Ruxandra says "Hair or spit would do I am sure"

"That's what I was thinking, aye."

A whisperred debate begins on what coloration on rats looks best

“Black for the plague,” is Symon’s vote. “Or the shadows of a shroud…?”

"Temperment matters most. And intelligence. Alright, Symon, if you would give me details on finding her?"

(Finding… the rat?)

He looks puzzled for just a moment, but then fills in the Librarian about the details of the boarding school where he found Lily. The minutia of how he got in and anyone he may have dragged with is left off, but he shares Lily’s new placement and what he picked up about the school.