#rivervale_lodge

"COOL!" The boy says enthused as satyrs are like to be, "I can provide plants for you to eat off grid so the Man can't starve you out! I don't know who the man is, but I assume he's no fun." / Vali ahems "Jack, go wash your hands before you grab a brownie. Use Soap."/ Jack sighs "This is Mountain Vali, he used to be a wilder but he's full tilt grump."/ "Hurtful but true," Vali nods "Go wash." He gesture to a downstairs door way that must be a bathroom.

"Mom says dirt is good for you."

"See, Vali! Her MOM, Vali, her MOM," Firmly the boy pleads./ Vali smirks "Go wash the good dirt off your hands AND the bad. Shoot." / jack huff and runs to the bathroom to pass water over it twice

Vali looks over at Amity "Jack Flap is the only satyr we know who likes gardening like most satyrs like music."

"It is! Builds tough immunities!"

"Yeah? Arguably, though, it COULD be music. Like, string beans and trumpet lilies..."

"That's... clever," Vali admits appreciatively "I may steal those puns later."

From the bathroom that's door is part open "You can also use gourds for musical instruments if you dry them out right!"

Splash splash one or two wipes of soaps, splash splash and heads out... remembers he forgot to dry hands goes back to bathroom, dry dry... then comes out.

Jack Flap grabs a brownie and munches then say to Amity "So, have you met Connor yet?"

"Who?"

"Oh he's the leader of a certain SECRET organization which I do not name around grumps." The boy says in a stage whisper. / Vali looks amused "I think I'll leave drinks and brownies out here while I clean the kitchen then. My spying days are over."

She squints. "You're awfully tall for a spy."

"Oh, that was the brilliance of it," he nods "Also, I WAS much shorter then... younger than you," Vali says with that look of nostalgia grumps get. Exactly what Nostalgia is worth is a mystery to most childlings. You would think people would prefer YES-talgia , but nope, grumps get nuts about Nostalgia. "I told the lady of the hold I'd be her spy and she allowed me to stick around. "

Jack whispers "I can never tell how good a spy he really was."

"I'm an excellent spy." She preens.

Vali grins "Good, we could use another of those." He darts in the kitchen.

Jack Flap ponders , then asks quietly "You're not here to spy on ME are you? Because that makes me sharing secrets with you awkward."

"And I really WANT to tell you about the Shadowpaw /Shadowhoof secret organization Connor started," He adds to explain. "it's really cool."

A musical chortle. "You couldn't stop me if I wanted secrets."

She leans in and whispers. "I have secret secret magic."

"yeah?" He leans close "I don't know, I can be awful stubborn." Of course, with Boon Confidante, he's ready to spill out more than she ever wanted to know if she asks.

As she talks to Jack Flap, Amity can also notice this hold is not just oversized (Big tables, mostly big chairs etc) but that it also has some amazing wood work, hand crafted wood work everywhere of high quality. And, less formal, She might notice near the kitchen some scratching of height and dates 'Sylvi age 7' all the way to Sylvi 'Age 18'... which is quite the size change markings.

Whoever this Sylvi is, she must be a troll, or maybe an elephant pooka, or perhaps an Eshu with a glandular disorder.

"That's why it's magic." Jazz hands.

Jack Flap grins at the Jazz hands and mimics them, "Well, Okay... but only because you know our secret gestures already. Connor, sometimes called Lord Howlington, is the founder of the super duper secret Shadowpaw society! We do nice in the shadows, we help in small unseen ways, we share in the secret places few dare go. We commit random acts of Kindness clandestinizing so none can stop us from doing the Kind."

"And we have fun doing it," He adds.

She briefly bites on her lip. "Oh..."

"Well. Well. Back home we have something like that, but better!"

"It's the Playground Legion and no grown-ups are allowed."

He looks dubious at the better talk but then hears her idea "None? Are they shooed on sight?"

"We're all pooka, so the grown-ups don't even know we're having a conference. And we can fly and climb and swing to get to our secret clubhouse that's hidden in a tree." Oh, she's on a roll now.

"ooo" He looks intrigued

"Yeah! And we have secret handshakes and secret codewords and a secret knock and everything!"

"Almost makes me wish I were a pooka, our group is open to every kith, we even have a centaur, though Layne is SUCH a girl," a sigh as somethings must be endured then he says "But maybe Shadowpaw could have a team up with the Playground Legion sometime? To defeat the forces of no fun?"

"I... well, they're... we're just pooka by accident."

"The baby's a centaur, maybe he could play with Lane."

"Maybe," He says "Anyway," he snatches another brownie "It's a really nice area. You want to check out our swingset or see the horses? "

"Home has a better swingset. But I guess... for scientific purposes..."

"You got to comparison shop, the Hearth says.. well, she's Chief too now, but Kerri knows her stuff. " he says dismounting from the bench to show her where the childlings play around here . The name likely rings a bell as Amity and Les met Kerri at least once before.

"Science requires lots and lots and lots of experiments. Mom says you gotta do everything more than once, or you don't know if it's real or just a fluke."

"Like that time I flipped a coin and it wasn't heads NOR tails!"

"You got it on the edge WITHOUT a cantrip?" the boy looks intrigued

"What if that was the only coin I ever flipped, though? Then that'd just be the way coins fall."

They head out and come to an area with a huge oak tree with a swing hat can seat 2 childlings easy, maybe 3. Clearly it was meant for a troll childling as it will take a bit of work to climb up onto. There's also a rather nice garden with flowers and plants you can eat which Jack is proud of. And she sees sstables where there are fine horses / Jack ponders "If that was just how coins fell, people would have to flip something else to make touch choices or settle disagreements by luck. Flip a pancake maybe?"

"Except how do you know which side of a pancake is heads or tails?"

She pauses. "Why's it tails, anyways, do you know?"

"Well, the part that is flatter with batter might be tails there? But yeah, might not work. As for why it is called tails I think maybe it has something to do with Eagle Butts?" He does not sound sure . He is not, by nature, a philosphical satyr though he does allow deep thoughts now and then, if they don't distract from his play or gardening.

"But eagles have heads, too!"

"Right, that's the front" He nods