#rivervale_lodge

"Plus, it was badass."

"...of course." Kerri is a little lost with Thistle's narrative style, but agreeable.

A brief glance to the rafters at the note not to spread the use-name around. "Certainly." she assures Gwen.

Briar says something through a mouthful of food about how SHE was bad ass and the leader but it may come out as "Ayvashthmboff!"

Gladiola actually looks proud at the little monster "Briar was leading the hunt. Thistle was the one who came up with the purification ... we all contributed. The poor Luck Dragon had been tainted, corrupted by smoke and smog and the fears of thousands"

"Well, after you've eaten, I'll show you where we've moved Edelweiss and her litter. She chose the stables for whelping, but it's gotten too hot out there since."

"Oh she might have been cranky about that. Understanding, Fae hounds are bright, but cranky about having to move"

"Well, we didn't do it right away, let her stay there for as long as it seemed safe."

Thistle has wandered off again.

( "Jo-jo-jo-jo" goes the coffee pot)

"Oh, is Dame Dagmar here? I've a gift from Baronesss Nadeen for her but I can entrust it to you to give to her later if it is no trouble?"

("Hello there..." the Nocker is now poking around there.)

"She's not here at the moment, but she takes care of the horses, so she'll likely be by later."

She pulls out something for her bag and a box, actually wrapped "No rush. It is not perishable. So where did you put the litter, please?"

She turns to look at the coffee urn...and Thistle's posterior under the table. "Miss Thistle, I can guarantee you that the Chieftain won't appreciate adjustments to Jo-jo. Please desist."

"I won't touch!" She lifts her hands away from the cover she was about to remove.

"Thistle, don't mess with a troll's coffee source. Seriously. It's like me using your tools to open a bottle cap"

Kerri finds a spot to set the gift, out of the way, and then says, "Right over here," indicating a door to one side of the common room.

"It's not a regular percolator, though."

Gladiola rises, meal only mostly done, to see to that door

She doesn't mean to be rude, but clearly she's dedicated to her duty. And she likes dogs

She opens it to reveal a smaller (by troll standards) room of clean wooden beams and benches. Edie and the pups have the run of the space, though there's a section that's specifically set up as bedding, and another with 'wee-wee pads.'

Two of the nevers start chiming in a melodic counterpoint to the 'jo-jo-jo-jo-jo." There's a second yellow one, now, and two more shades of blue.

Briar eats some of Gwen's food since Gwen's all rude and not cleaning off her plate

"This is our sauna, but we don't use it during the summer months. You can see there's another door that leads outside, but we've built up the ledge so we can open it and Edie can hop out for a leg-stretch, but the puppies stay put."

Thistle ambles over to peer around Gwen. "Oh hey, lookit them little potatoes."

"Edelweiss, you've got visitors."

Gladiola appraises it with a professional eye "Innovative, I can make some improvements to it, but good job on temperature control in here"

"Oh, I'm sure it's not as well-equipped as a formal kennel would be," Kerri allows.

Edelwiess is cautious, but she's been to Silverwolf, so knows the scents of its denizens.

Gladiola says "They're getting shape though. Gonna open eyes soon. " She first let s the mother sniff her again, then says "Eddie. You're a good mother. You bring honor to your line and honor to your lodge. I am going to look at your puppies now. But I swear to you I would fight to protect them by your side. "

Edelweiess gives a look that might resemble Brekke's own brow if someone told her what she already knew, but she appreciates the last part that Gwen will help her pups if need be

Kerri nods. "Edie, Kennelmaster Gladiola is much more skilled with helping pups grow up healthy than anybody here is. She'll be good with them."

"You have no idea."

"She's more focused on dogs than, like, breathing."

"Yes?" Kerri asks Thistle while Gwen has a chance to look at the pups. "I'm not surprised."

"Breathing is merely fuel to allow a troll to do her duty." Gladiola says and seems to mean it as she looks over each pup carefully "And my duty is to honor the sacred bond between dog and person, person and dog. " A pause at the runt "This one seems the runt? Is anyone keeping records of weight gain for each?"

"He looks plenty big to me. They're almost Muppet-sized."

"For a Great Bernese mix? " Gwen shakes her head "No. this one is undersized. He's the one we need to watch out for. If he makes progress he may catch up, or he might always be a bit smaller and possibly taken out of the program. He'll be a fine animal regardless, of course. There are no bad dogs. Just bad fits"

Ivan wisely hangs back but is ready to comeforeward from the main room if need be

"Gerd's been keeping records, I believe. Hang on...." She goes over to a bookshelf near the Mountain desk and searches for a few moments before... "Ah! Here we go." She offers the book over. "I gave her one of our kitchen scales to dedicate to puppy-weighing."

She takes it, briefly, looks at it, then loses it again "Thank you, Hearth. This is invaluble. Looks like he is gaining weight at an acceptable rate. Whew." Gladiola whispers to each puppy, surprised as one female yurfs at her in challenge "Well look at you, girlboss." A grin "Hey Thistle, this one is already girlbossing at two weeks. Can't even see"

A chuckle from Kerri at the term, then she looks back over to check on Briar. Is there any food left on the table?

None. However, the utensils are all accounted for

She rolls her eyes. "Girlboss." Snort-laugh.

At this point, Kerri might notice almost a dozen little neverlanders flitting about.

One of the males is trying to roll over one of his brothers, as if drawn to the nevers

"Oh! Are all these nevers yours? We usually don't have nearly this many."

THAT gets Gwen's attention "What's this? Hello little man. Did you notice the nevers? Do you have kenning potentional?"

"A pup with kenning? That sounds promising."