#rivervale_lodge

Frank might find Vali putting a new lock on his shed.

Frank steps out and clears his throat.

He looks up, "Hi, Frank."

"Mmm."

"new lock up. And the egress is elsewhere." A frown "I did not see her coming."

"Vali. How many more magical items do we need to be concerned about in there?"

"Of mine? None."

"And yes, Frank, I know. I already apologized to the chief and the countess about not letting them in on the Plan B. I had done a bit of omening to make sure it wouldn't be disturbed, but Siv....she's..she's like mist. "

"Hmphm. Yes, and now the Countess is aware of that too."

A raised brow, "Why do you folks treat her like the enemy?"

"Nevermind. Vali, if you come into additional magical items, feel free to keep them in the Lodge? Or we can make an appropriate place for them, not... not in a box in the shed, ok?"

"Frank, the whole point of the Egrees was to be a place Gerd could run. That no one would suspect magic. The lodge falls. then it's going to be too latefor her to leavefrom there"

Frank watches him closely. "Vali. Have you seen this Lodge fall?"

A lookat Frank, "I have seen a chance, a slim chance, that it might. I have also seen it victorious. But I swore to protect Gerd. And Frank? In the one where I saw it fall? She wouldn't have me anymore because I would be dead buying her time"

Frank nods, face expressionless under his beard. "I will be cold before this Lodge falls."

"Yes, yes you will" Vali nods "At least in one vision. Siv...I never see. I don't know if that increases her odds or hurt them" He rubs his eyes 'Somedays I am so tired of what I know."

A soft voice pipes up from beside the shed. Is this pup a sluagh or something? He just... shows up.

"Is it going to hit anyone? When it falls?"

Frank looks around from his nine-foot height. "Conner?" a deep rumble of a voice.

Vali frowns. Nromally he's VerY perceptive, the stress maybe.

He peeps from around the corner of the shed, sticky BBQ sauce on his face and hands showing that he, too, found ribs.

"Connor. I'm sorry if my talk scared you. Everything will be fine"

"I wanted to see if there were more ventures in the shed, but it's getting all locked up. There weren't enough to go around." He scuffs a foot on the ground.

Vali smiles at something "Well, I do have one adventure for you. Not YET, but soon. You like bouncing?"

His eyes widen. "I am EXTRA good at bouncing. I would win the championship, except Gerd says she's the best and it would be rude to tell her no. I'm a SECOND best hopscotcher, though."

"Well, on our next fun holiday, yours truly has rented out a trampoline"

Indeed, he is practically bouncing on his feet now - and he actually spins in a circle a few times in his excitement. "Tomorrow??"

"The seventeenth I think"

"About a week, Conner." He adds.

"No bouncing to the moon" Vali says "I am not cleaning footprints off the moon"

"I heard a joke about Trampoline's once, you see, they just used to be called o-lines until someone's mom was on them. I don't get it though. If Ice was still around I'd ask him to 'splain it but I never see him any more." Slight droop of his ears.

"It's okay. By the time you're 16 I'll probably figure it out for you" He offers

A small wag of his tail. "I will take off my shoes first so I don't leave steps on the moon." Crossing his heart.

"See, you're a wellbehaved young gent" At the shoe talk

The tail wags fiercly at that and he nods agreement. "Thank you, ma'am." A wave, then fishing another rib out of his pocket, he wanders off to find a place to lie down and chew the meat off.

Frank chuckles despite himself, shaking his head.

"Can you tell me anything about the threat, or threats, to the Lodge, Vali?" Quietly.

He watches the boy go "He's good, quieter than some sluagh I'm going to have to keep my guard up" Vali says, then turns to Frank "Not without making the chances of bad things worse, Frank. That's part of the burden."

Frank nods. "Understood."

"I can tell you what I've told you already. That three will rise up when all is darkest and save the lodge... and you know who those three are now. Sylvi, Gerd...and Dagmar. And things shifted for the better when you brought back the treasure from the Far Dreaming, but Siv throws me off. I can't read her...and that maybe why when I checked to see if the Egress would be safe here i missed it. I am actually relieved that..well, that it turned out as well as it did. "

Frank seems to have something on his mind, but he nods. "I suppose."

"Frank, I am sorry. I never, would NEVER want to endanger anyone here. I relied more on cantrips and prophecy than sense"

Frank shakes his head. "Apologize to the Chieftess if you haven't. My concern is the items of magic and Glamour, and that they are properly secured. And I see they are."

"I apologized to the Chieftesss and to the Countess both." he nods "pretty much first words out of my mouth at New Agengard when I saw them both. Though things got tense for another reason or so Tiffany hinted. Frank, I think your wife threatened The Countess IN New Agengard. "

His face goes carefully blank. "If you are concerned about that, you should speak with the Storm."

"I try to, but folks avoid it when I ask questions like 'Why do you people treat her like the enemy' and so on" A raised brow.

Frank exhales. "History, Vali. Some of which I'm not proud of, but some of which I don't regret."

"I know she dated Hemlock. And the Chieftess didn't trust her reasons. But if you keep treating someone as if you expect the worst, you shouldn't be surprised when they don't give you their nice side. " He frowns. "I am not naive to the fact that as an Eiluned, she has ...different view on some ethical solutions. But..still, has she wronged you or the Chieftain personally?"

"You'd have to ask the Chieftess, for her part."

"I guess I need to, because it's getting so I can't trust her..and by her, I mean the Chieftain. And THAT alarms me" He rises

"You don't trust Brekke?" A warning tone, and a glower.