#the_ice_cave

Wednesday evening?

Wednesday evening.... sounds good

Ice told Zara to be in the room, so.. she is. Waiting. On the bed, fingers in nervous knots.

the door opens, and a figure enters... veiled, but sluagh eyes can overcome it, "Hello, young lady. Been told a lot about you."

She stands, splaying a spidery hand across her chest and offering a bow. "Ah. Sir."

The family resemblance is there, though his shoulders are broad, unlike Earl's, the old man seems to have a face with laugh lines along its blue continence. "Told that you have a good grasp of soothsay, at least a damn strong foundation. I've also been told you're interested in learning Naming. Mind if I ask why?"

Her cheeks flush and she ducks her head. "Sorry, sir. I... sorry..."

"Mind if I have a seat while you work on your answer?"

She nods, gesturing at the chair by the desk. She rakes back her hair, worrying at her lower lip. "Truth, sir - curiosity. It... are you familiar with gematria? Not in the Nocker sense, but... but in, ah.. magic. Kabbalah, in reading..."

"Words, sir. When I look at da'an, look at the tapestry... there's parts I don't understand."

"I am, big hollywood craze in the 90s, sweet some go seeking for enlightenment in ancient ways... but sadly many confuse engightment with spiritual fast food. They cheapen what they're studying with that attitude," A sigh, "At least to a serious scholar. Pardon if I sound snotty." His head tilts, "Ah, it's like looking at a map, but not sure you've been handed the key to what the symbols for geography are."

She nods. "Names have power, I know. But... but that's because to know something is power. I'm not.. I know I'm not... I understand you are being kind to Ice. And.. thank you, too, for the great help you extended to him..."

"Well, Earl asked, and more than that," He sips, "ICE was in danger of becoming a danger, to more than himself. There is a duty involved with those of our knowledge, to help protect the Dreaming , and sometimes small holes can become huge rents in all we hold dear. ICE goes unsained, turns Dauntain... could have been something I'd regret not doing, yes?"

"I was very worried about him, sir. He would not trust a sidhe, and... and I knew none, of our kind...." she frowns, studying her hands. "I thought, then, to ask Earl - to ask your kith. Even Ice can't deny that a troll can be trusted, nu?"

"Most of the time, and if we give an Oath you can count it twice over," He says, "Careful, young lady, any kith can have a rotten egg in it. that said, A DeBuke's word is as good as gold, strong as stone. I maybe biased," He adds with a chuckle.

"Any kith, good or ill.. but... Earl... " her cheeks flush again, and she shrugs. "I would think, to be what you are - you must prove yourself over many times. It's a big responsibility."

"And that's something you need to know," The old man nods, "If you walk down this path, you will find yourself burdened with a responsiblity that will be with you all your life. Power is power, but arts offer many ways to that. What you're offered with naming, eventually, is a way not to just understand the tapestry, but to change the nvery nature of individual strands in it. That scare you?"

She bites (well, gums) on her lower lip and nods. "Like soothsay, too. You have to be very careful, because it's not.. it isn't just moving tokens on a board, yes? It's lives. And if you misjudge, it can... ruin a life, or many, unjustly."

"Some would rather be dead, mortally as well as fae, than rewoven, that's how much the power scares them. And yet, it's not dark, not fell. Naming is a good thing, over all. the knowledge of what and who were are comes to light because of it,' He leans back, "No sluagh namers that any of you could find eh?"

"Of course it scares them! It changes who they -are-. Reweaving is a kind of death. Absolutely. And yes - sometimes, death is... the only choice. That kind of change is the best path... but it's..." she huffs a sigh. A shake of her head. "A sluagh Namer would have been easier."

"And that's one reason I've even considered this," He says looking at her, "Because, if I were to deny another kith a chance to have a namer among it's own, I'd be quite the hypocrite. " He looks at her carefully, the old eyes searching her soul, "So tell me, why you?"

She shakes her head, eyes dropped. "Probably shouldn't be, sir. "

"Why not?"

"I'm not... Namers should be... ah.. confident, yes? Strong. Unafraid. "

"heh, yes, but at the same time, they need to be humble, to understand what it is to be weak so they can have compassion, and they should be absolutely afraid..... you can't be brave unless you're afraid. " he sips, "Courage is overcoming fear, not the absence of it. You're born of nightmares, who do you respect more. The one whose face pales and he still stands up and tries to do what's right? Or the one who laughs not even understanding why he SHOULD be afraid and leaps ahead anyway? The latter might make a better action hero, but the former is the more whole person. How can you help others unless you know fear? How can you relate to their pains and help them find their courage if courage is automatically your default? "

"I.... yes, but..." she shakes her head. "I see that, yes."

"Do you think you have 'those' traits?"

She grimaces, eyes shut. "I'm a coward, sir."

"A coward who went to the Dreaming? A Coward who not only risked death by Hydra, but thought her way through the threat of it? Having Brains don't necessarily mean you lack spine..even if your kith can bend so much I wonder if they arent made of tofu in there." A smile, ."Fine, you think you're a coward. I have three tasks for you. IF you want, if you pass them, and still want to learn naming, I will teach it to you. But I test where you are weakest. Then, I will ask for your true name as payment, and I will teach you. interested in the tasks? they could kill you."

She looks up, curiosity sparkling in her eyes. "That is a dear cost. What are the tasks?"

"Dear, but traditional among namers," he says, "The first task.... I want a dragon's scale. A true dragon of the Dreaming. How you get it, is your business. But a big one, not some cute bit of hand held lizard with wings."

An inadvertent smile, a thought blossoming. "Ah."

"the other two tasks will be told you after the first."

"Understandable. And... pardon.. but.. but I may decide my name is too dear, in the end."

"I understand that it is the cost."

"Then I respect your wishes, and we're done. But I still end up with the fruits of the first three tasks," He pauses, "Mmm guess when it comes to naming it really iS a seller's market."

A bit of humor in the last

"Truth, that."

"Up to you if you pursue that then," He pauses, "Anything else? I imagine w'ell have time to talk when you visit the farm."

"I... yes, sir."

"Go on young lady, if there's something you want to bounce off me now, feel free. I am not in such an all fired rush as to run out on you."

"Is... is there an oath? Or... a binding? The Name alone, I know, grants a... a leash."

He frowns, "Sometimes there's an oath, but I hadn't decided to swear you too anything. The name might be more than enough. Also... folks have to be who they choose to be. Take your friend ICE? He's... whole now. But a whole what? He knows who he is. What he DOES? that's for him to decide. That said, I'd prefer you didn't teach anyone else what you learned until you

mastered the art yourself, and are sure they're up to it."

"I understand that, yes. Too powerful to be cavalier with. But if... if you know names, you understand how sluagh feel about a cage, nu?"

"I do," he nods, "But it's knowledge of you, not a cage. Mind you, knowledge far more dangerous than 'when will you be helpless next?' but knowledge nonetheless. You said trolls are honorable. You trust me with ICE's name, but not your own?"

"The Saining ritual has.. protocol. Tradition. I... I have never shared my name with another, not since my own rite."

"Pretty smart," He nods, "True names are dangerous things. But to earn trust , you have to give it. Don't you think? I gave my teacher my true name...she could have taken it. Learned it with cantrips right then and there. Instead, she asked for it as a sign that I recognized that If I abused it, I was her problem to solve."

"That... yes, I can see that, too."

"Young lady, you haven't even brought me a dragon scale, and already you're squirming about that part of things as if I threw cuffs on you. Do me a favor and try something?" He suggests