#earthrunes

TXT: will need a pick-up from home, +1 baby bird

He looks up realizing where she is. He smiles, not that she can see it, and texts TXT: You have it. You also have a mystery box waiting for you. It was behind a brick in my room. Shall I go there now?

There are times the cantrip is not instant, so going 'now' could still be an hour away, or ten minutes or .. now

TXT: Mama has fresh cookies

TXT: NOW it is! ❤️ !

And he flashes away

-----

There is a flash of energy and Earl, Tziporah, Zara, and a small sluagh girl arrives

Melia looks about at this new place, the little girl still wrapped in many layers, half hidden there, and clutching the toy spider.

Above her, other spiders sway from the corners, towers of books loom, and shadows dance along the library floor

And a voice says "Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places.-H. P. Lovecraft "

"Yes, Bronte. We have a guest."

Melia Furchtengarb sways and her trembling increases....she sees the mighty bookwyrm, and faints

"...Oh."

"O God! I screamed, and "O God! Again and again; for there before my eyes - pale and shaken, and half fainting, and groping before him with his hands, like a man restored from death - there stood Henry Jekyll."
Robert Louis Stevenson " Bronte flies down a bit concerned

Earl picks the girl up "Hey, Melia? It's okay. She's a bookwyrm... are you.."

"Okay?" He finishes as the girl revives

"That was wonderful, " Melia whispers "So delightfully surprising. I fainted properly yes? It wasn't accidentally a swoon? Swooning is for wilders"

"Nay, that was a proper faint."

"I was worried" Earl says and means it

"Brava" Tziporah nods

The girl looks satisfied with her evaluation, then says "you have a bookwyrm, I only read about them " She agogs at Bronte

"I suspect Velvet will appear soon. Quatra is such a gossip."

"Well, some may argue that Bronte has me."

A quick, officious rapping at the door as Coradel steps into the library. "Oh, Zara, there you are, good. I need you to find me... oh, hello." She pauses, noting the new arrival.

“There is nothing better than a friend, unless it’s a friend with chocolate.” —Linda Grayson" Bronte says as Zara mentions their relationship

This time, the girl looks over and goes a bit pale at the sight of the noble woman, and she gives a curtsey "Begging your pardon, lady. were you about to use this room? I can g.. g go"

Tziporah speaks up "Baroness, this is Melia Furchtengarb. Could she have haven for a bit?"

"Hello Coradel." A smile for her friend - no title. She positions herself between the fledge and the sidhe, just a bit.

The little girl seems to take comfort in that and perks up juuust a bit more bravely

"My, this is quite a grouping." She nods to all, and then looks again to Melia. "Of course she may, " she says, answering Tzipora. "Is she in danger, or merely in need of a place to be?"

A smile back to Zara.

"A place to be. And Earth Runes is kindly to sluagh. A hospitality which is recognized and respected."

"I won't be much trouble, Baroness" Melia assures

Earl ponders "We just got here from Scardale. Hence the boxes of left overs. Would you like one of Hannah's cookies? Coradel? They're fantastic"

"Well, Melia, your manners are excellent, and I think I will very much enjoy having you around." That lovely sidhe smile that feels like a gift bestowed. Then another smile for Zara, this one of pleasure at her comment about EarthRunes' hospitality.

"Oh, Earl, of course I'd love one. But first...Zara, I do need to ask you to find a book for me."

Melia has clearly met some unpleasant sidhe, but it's hard not to like Coradel when she turns on the charm so the little girl seems less worried as the Fiona talks

"Aye? I am happy to do so. If we do not have it, I can acquire it."

"Oh, I'm fairly sure it's somewhere in here. I want to brush up on my Gwydion history, and I might as well do a quick overview of all the houses. I know there was something like that here during my fostering."

Indeed, the old baron had a rather thick tome on the older houses, and an addendum book for the 'newer' ones returned

And Zara has likely expanded the collection further

"Ah, The Book of Houses - Second edition, aye? Not the Twentieth Anniversary, which included the more newly returned...."

"And I have recently acquired a book which covers Danaan."

"Oh! Well, if there is additional lore in the more recent texts, then I should likely look at those."

A glance over to Melia. "I swear, she can find any text, given half a chance."

"The Second Edition is a classic, but I can pull all three for you. A moment?"

"Of course," Coradel says graciously.

Meila says "I didn't get many books at St. Josephs. This is more books than I've ever seen at once"

"And St. Josephs was a...?"