The Tristine Treasury

Meg's morning is its usual bustle. Ordering her house, family, grandkids, greeting neighbours and friends about the town. But before many hours have passed since dawn, she is sitting opposite Sister Courage in the small office of the treasury of St Trista's Orphanage.

She engages in cheerful pleasantries, before cutting to the chase.

"I want to look up an old donation. The family who made it may be persuaded to make another donation, and it would never do to appear as though we'd forgotten their earlier generosity. Any details would help," explains Meg. She has the date range she's interested in ready. And yes, it does include both the purchase of Ossian, and the bracelet given in her own name.

"Of course," Sister Courage says, and takes Meg back into the records room. The financial records of the orphanage are in much better array than the admissions records, and Sister Courage quickly hands her several large account books. "Here you are. You can read them, and file them back when you're done. I know you'll keep them in order, Mistress Carper." She beams at Meg.

Meg laughs. "I know you'll be after me if I don't!" Meg picks up the books and holds them respectfully.

For a moment she thinks back to her promise to Jaimsey. It would be so tempting to take herself out of Sister Courage's way while she perused the account books so Sister Courage could get on with her work in peace. And the archives are rarely in use, so she wouldn't be in anyone's way. But Jaimsey would not be convinced.

"Will I be in your way here?" Meg asks. But she's sure enough of Sister Courage's denial that she seats herself on the step stool and opens the first ledger as she smiles at the Sister.

"Of course not," Sister Courage says. "I'll be out front if you need me." And she goes about her business.

When [Meg] settles down to perusing the accounts she gives a quick prayer of thanks that Peter taught her how to read accounts and see not just what's there, but what isn't mentioned. She starts flipping through the book looking for Ossian's entry, getting an idea of the hands used, and any patterns in the level of detail recorded.

These records are in much better condition than the ones Meg was looking at yesterday. Sister Courage and her predecessors were better with the finances than they were with admissions. Meg finds entries in two or three different hands. They're reasonably detailed when it comes to fees paid in. Moneys paid out are denominated in Abford coin values; only occasionally does Meg see a note that a debt was repaid with an item from the treasury.

After some time looking at the books, Meg finds an entry for Ossian, which is when his uncle, Master Rand, took him away. The fee paid for his keeping was extremely generous. It was in foreign coin, which unfortunately isn't described, but the quantity was large and the quality was good.

The rumbling of her stomach reminds Meg that it would be a good time to think of lunch.

Without looking from the book Meg reaches down into her basket to pull out a loaf of bread baked this morning. From the basket also emerges a hunk of cheese, spicy greens from the garden, half a dozen small, crisp apples, each streaked with red on the side that caught the sun, and a small wax-covered pot of jam. A substantial lunch, but her brain has been working hard and she has no trouble eating up the lot.

There is also a kitchen knife in the basket, and Meg absentmindedly cuts lengths of bread and dips them in the jam. She is careful not to get any on the books.

[So much for my cunning plan to let Marius see her in the courtyard! Oh, well, maybe he'll argue with Father Aimery until she leaves.]

As she eats, she reads, and thinks of coin. The way it feels in the hand, the way it moves between people, the way folk try to hold onto it but can't really. They try so hard, though. Strongboxes, treasuries, banks. Even the coins themselves, struck with the king or town that makes them, all saying 'this is mine, you who spend me, you are mine.'

She flips slowly through the pages taking in the details as background to her own thoughts, until a date strikes a cord with recent memories. She's reached the records around the time she arrived at the orphanage.

Soon enough she finds the record of her own foundling-gift: the golden bracelet with dark pearls mentioned in her admission records. The gift is described in more detail in the financial records: there's a sketch of the the bracelet and some of the sea-oriented designs.

Stuck into the binding of the book here is an assessment from Master Oldford of the Goldsmith's Guild, who is now long dead and whose son is nearing the age when he'll retire from public life. When Meg reads it, she finds that the strange dark pearls in the bracelet are utterly unknown to the goldsmiths of Abford, or in any of the surrounding kingdoms. In all his travels, Master Oldford had never seen anything like them. So the bracelet was, in some way, priceless.

It's probably still sitting in the treasury of St. Trista's, since it would be difficult to sell. Meg doesn't recall seeing any record of its use in what she's read.

She shuts her eyes and thinks of it. So tempting. It is less than 50 meters away and with a little effort she could hold it in her hands. What a pretty-sounding bauble to build dreams on. Dreams of family. Dreams of wealthy parents, rich enough to afford pearls beyond price from a far off land. Family who cared enough for her to provide for her future, who loved beauty and culture enough to gift it to her. Such a bracelet as this sounds would be a fine foundation for castles in the air, and she grew up with many children who had little more than a ribbon or lock of hair on which to base their dreams.

Dreams of dust. More like it was stolen and only given because no fence would take it and it was too hard to sell. More like it was battle spoil plucked from the corpse of a dead noble, given as a pretty gift to some local girl by one of the mercenaries paid by Abford over the years, and given up, with the child who lasted longer than the man's affections. Given away along with dreams of hope and love.

Meg opens her eyes. It should be sold. She has no need of it herself, and the money would be useful for St Trista's. And Humility can have fun with her fine Renady connections finding a buyer. She resolves that she'll mention it to the new Mother when next she has a strong need to put her off balance.

And yet... It can't hurt to take one look at it. It's only a little foolish.

Meg packs up her basket and stacks the account books neatly before she heads out to Sister Courage.

"Thank-you, Sister, I found what I needed," says Meg. "I wonder if I could see one of the items in the treasury? A bracelet of gold and pearls."

Sister Courage is all smiles when Meg comes back in, but she looks at Meg a little oddly when she asks to see the bracelet: an unusual request. "Of course, Mistress Carper." Her expression clears after a moment, as if she's thought of a reason why Meg might ask for such a thing.

There's a ring of great iron keys on Sister Courage's belt. As they go into the connecting chamber that leads to the treasury, she chooses the correct key. The massive lock opens with some effort on Sister Courage's part, and then she pulls open the stout iron-bound wooden door. The treasury is the safest room in the building, Meg thinks: it would be hard for a thief to break in even if he were very determined.

There are a number of chests, most of which probably contain coin purses. Sister Courage goes to a smaller one that's sitting on top of a trunk and unlocks it with a smaller key. Meg sees the flash of gold as she pulls out an item of jewelry, which she turns and shows to Meg. It is the bracelet described in the account books.

It sits on Sister Courage's open hand, which she has extended to Meg, as the nun asks, "Is this the one you mean?"

"I think so," Meg reaches out her hand to take the bracelet but doesn't touch it. "May I?" she asks.

"Of course."

"The records say it was donated," Meg's voice catches as she carefully takes the bracelet from Sister Courage's hand, "when I first came here. With the building works coming, I thought Mother Humility might prefer to sell it and use the money for the new buildings rather than keep it, so I wanted to see it just once."

Meg turns the bracelet over in her hands and ignores the tears that rise in her eyes at that admission.

[And I'm half expecting Meg to be magically transported somewhere the instant she touches it. Which she'd think would only serve her right for indulging in ridiculous sentimentalism.]

[Nope.]

Sister Courage politely looks away to give Meg time to recover her dignity.

The bracelet is cool in Meg's hand, barely warmed by Sister Courage's touch. The craft is exquisite, with shell motifs carved in relief on the cuff and the dark pearls, like nothing Meg has ever seen before.

It was designed to clasp around a narrow wrist: the wrist of a lady who had never known hard labor. If the owner of that bracelet was her mother, she must have been very wealthy, beyond what Peter Carper had and maybe beyond what Mother Humility's wealthy friends in Renady enjoy.

Meg has no idea what price it would command if she wanted to purchase it.

Wealth that cannot be measured in money, but only in power.

Meg swallows and turns the bracelet over so she can see how the light hits it from different angles. She traces the patterns.

She takes out her handkerchief and firmly dries her eyes. She looks up at Sister Courage.

"It is so pretty," Meg says with a wobbly smile. "I did not know St Trista's had such treasures."

She holds the bracelet out to Sister Courage. "I don't think it should be sold just yet. We should not get a fraction of its worth. But now I know it's there, I can keep an ear out, and if I hear of anyone who might have the funds to buy it, we may be lucky."

Sister Courage turns back from whatever minor chore she had busied herself with while Meg examined the bracelet. "I have no idea how much we could get for it, but I know the goldsmiths think it's quite valuable. With your connections, Mistress Carper, I'm sure we'll find someone who can buy it. And what a boon that will be for St. Trista's." She smiles at Meg.

Conspicuously, she hasn't mentioned Meg's admission.

"It could take a while to find the right person, but I'll give it some thought," says Meg.

"Now," Meg continues. She smooths down her skirt briskly. "The other thing I wanted to know about was a cash donation many years ago. Is any of the coin likely to still be here, or would it all have gone?"

Sister Courage replaces the bracelet in the chest and closes it. "Probably it's all gone now. Unless it was foreign coin, in which case we'd have to melt it down or change it. That's trouble and costs us to do, so we'd rather use good Abford coin if we can."

"It was foreign, though I don't know where it came from," Meg replies. She gives the amount and the date it was donated. "How would I find out if we still have it?"

"There's no way to know about a specific donation of foreign coin other than looking, but we keep the foreign coin in here with the Abford monies," Sister Courage explains. "It will be in one of these chests." She gestures at several boxes on shelves on one side of the room. "Since it will all have to be weighed and examined anyway, we don't keep it separate. We can look together if you'd like. I have a little while before I have to be back in my office."

"Thank-you," Meg accepts the offer straight away. "Shall I help you get one down?"

"Please. I'll have to unlock them all myself, though," Sister Courage says wryly, holding up the key ring that's chained to her girdle.

Meg takes down the first chest carefully. She puts it down squarely, dusts the top with her hands and then dusts her hands together.

"Whew! I'm always surprised by how heavy these money chests can be. Solid."

Meg turns back to the shelf and fetches the others down in turn.

Meg's looking for the money paid for Ossian. She wants to see it, get a hold of it and feel the weight in her hand. She wants to see the design and where it was minted, and if it has IT WOZ ME WOT DUN IT as the motto, all to the good.

[OOC: They'll be able to look through most if not all of the foreign coin here. What is Meg looking for? I have an idea, but I don't want to over or underguess]

[You're assuming I can remember myself. :-)]

[heh.]

Meg and Sister Courage find the coins in the third chest they pull down. They are strange coins, with writing unlike any Meg has seen before. The reverse is full of writing in some sort of frame with curlicues around it. The obverse is a man's face in profile, which unfortunately emphasizes his weak chin. There is more writing around the edges of the coins.

The coins appear to have been hand-stamped rather than milled like good Abford money. There are still backward places that do that; Meg has seen the boys and their father before them come back from journeys with stamped coin. But this money is from no place Meg has ever seen before.

Meg rubs them between finger and thumb before putting them back in their bag, and then back in their box.

"I don't recognise the writing," she says to Sister Courage. "Perhaps the vanity of some smaller lord? It's a pity, I don't think it will help Mother Humility."

She helps Sister Courage pack up and put the boxes away.

The next day Ossian gets up unusually late (which is; not very late at all) If Reid is up and about, Ossian will ask if he wants to accompany Ossian to the orphanage. Otherwise Ossian will go there himself. He wants to talk both to Mother Humility and Sister Prudence. (Starting with the Mother, I imagine)

Reid is up fairly early, himself and keeps himself busy on upkeep and maintenance on his traveling gear. When Ossian catches up with him, Reid lets Papillion know that she's free to explore the town while they're out, "But try not to get yourself kidnapped."

Papillon swears she'll stay out of trouble, which should worry Reid.

Reid will accompany Ossian to the orphanage.

After a brief wait, Ossian and Reid are ushered in to see Mother Humility. Ossian saw her at the service, but Reid hasn't met her yet. She's a tall woman with a very long face and a prominent chin who dresses in the severe garb of the Abford nuns. The wimple hides her hair.

[Casting: Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance. Image on her wiki page.]

The office of the Mother Superior is more luxurious than Ossian remembers it being. There are chairs and a couch, as well as the desk, and Mother Humility offers her visitors a seat.

Mother Humility says to Ossian and Reid, "You must be Ossian Rand. Mistress Carper mentioned you to me. I'm afraid I don't know your friend. Are you one of our former students, sir, or one of Master Rand's kinsmen?" she asks Reid.

Reid appraises the Mother Superior searchingly. "For an orphan of unknown parentage, the folk who might hold claim to being a blood relative to Ossian could populate a whole village. But to answer your question, yes, it is believed that our ancestry interesects at at least one point in the not too distant past."

Reid and Ossian can tell that Mother Humility has noted that Reid didn't give his name and decided not to press the matter. "Then it's our pleasure to help you and your kinsman."

Ossian smiles. "Did mistress Carper tell you why we are here?"

Mother Humility shakes her head in the negative, not so hard as to disturb her wimple. "She and I talked briefly about you, but she didn't convey the details of your interest. How exactly may St. Trista's help you, Master Rand?"

"Well, I'm here to possibly make a donation to the orphanage. Also I'm investigating a bit what my uncle really did here. The uncle who took me from here, I mean. You see, while he treated me well, he was really a villain. He had all sorts of...revolutionary plans. We want to see that none of the plans survived him. I also want to find out more about my parents.

"So I hope you will allow me to look at my entries in your records. Mistress Carper has already promised to help me with that.

"Also, I'd like to talk to some of the elder nuns, specifically sister Prudence, who were here when I left the place, to see what they remember."

Reid and Ossian have the sense that the revelations about Ossian's uncle disturb Mother Humility. "I see," she says, pausing to give herself time to think. "Shall I call Sister Prudence and ask her to speak with you, and to assist you with the records?"

"I would appreciate that greatly." Ossian says with a smile.

"While you're waiting on Sister Prudence, I would like to see the church, if I may." Reid excuses himself. "I'll find you when you've got the records. I'm interested in what they might reveal, myself."

Ossian nods. "Do so."

Mother Humility summons Sister Prudence and she and Ossian head off into the records. She also calls a lad to walk Reid over to the church.

After instructing Ce'e that he will be going, and that he is to listen to Ossian and follow instructions that do not go counter to Marius' rules, Marius will...

...oh no he won't.

Alright, alright, he says he'd like to go a little ways into Shadow to find some flowers that "match Mistress Carper's colouring," thus raising the possibility of her being terribly allergic to them, or his finding a shadow of the firelilies...but, look, he calls the shots. It's his virtual life, after all.

He does want to do his best to keep track of time, so he is not gone too long.

(Most people, Marius, could just track down a florist.
"Certainly, but most people wouldn't make the same impression."
True, true. Admittedly, it might also help make your case, what with that strange and unusual plant.
"She did not strike me as a botanist."
She didn't strike you at all, yet.
"Point taken, dear player."
sigh.)

He is willing to let this search go into the afternoon, but then he will start at the chapel they originally wandered upon in order to ask directions to Mistress Carper.

[player presses face to hand, closing eyes and shaking head]

Flowers in hand, Marius enters the church. An older priest is present, supervising things and keeping an eye on the visitors. There are several men and women praying and lighting candles to burn at the altars.

[Does Marius approach the priest, one of the men, or one of the women? Or do something else altogether?]

As the older priest seems to be in charge, he will approach with the kind of slowness that indicates reverence. He will wait to be acknowledged, and if that takes more than a minute and the priest is not otherwise busy, he'll speak up anyway.

"Greetings, sir," he says, flashing one of his second-best smiles. (He does tend to save the best for the ladies.) "I am looking," very subtle wave of the flowers here, "for the whereabouts of a Mistress Carper. This is where I met her before, and I was hoping that I might be directed to her location." He tries to sound sincere and sweet but slightly simple.

The priest looks askance at him. "Pardon, sir, but I don't recall you in regular attendance here. Are you a newcomer to Abford?"

"Terribly new," Marius admits, "and I may need to apologize in advance for any missteps I have or may make in that regard." His glance is slightly more shrewd as he takes a moment to look about for someone he may recognize from the previous time spent. He turns back to the priest, pulling the flowers to him as if to suggest, "I would hate to have them wilt while waiting."

A quick look at the flowers and an assessment of Marius leaves the good father no more enlightened than before. "It's not customary in Abford, good sir, for a gentleman to approach a widow. Perhaps you should apply to her son if you wish to speak with her. Master Peter Carper can be generally be found at the wool guild."

Well, Marius isn't intending on enlightening the good father, exactly. That would take philosophical conversations and lots of beer. He resists the urge to suggest he's not a gentleman, instead bowing his head. "I must do what is proper," he says. "Could you find it in your heart to direct me to the ... wool guild?" Please? With sugar on top?

"Of course, sir." The priest gives him directions based on local landmarks.

"Thank you for your time and your kind consideration," Marius says his farewell and exits with the kind of panache that devotees of Lucas strive for, but Marius only gets when he's distracted on one level or another.

While Ossian & Mother Humility await the adoption records for review, Reid makes quick tour of the church, looking in particular for any similarities to the Abbey in Paris, memories of his childhood in Clervaux, or any references to his mother or grandmother (or any other amberite). He'll also take in any prevailing symbology or artistic visual styles (ornamental or architectural) of the church.

Reid has travelled enough in both the old Amber trade shadows that preceded the Golden Circle, the remnants of the Golden Circle, and other shadows enough to have some idea of a variety of religious iconography.

This is a similar tradition to what he saw in Clervaux and in Paris, and some of the iconography is related to the illustrations he saw among the Paresh. He would hesitate to guess which precedes the others or whether they're parallel developments from a common source. In Notre Dame, of course, the central icon is the Unicorn, which holds the place that the Goddess does in Abford and that the prophets do in the iconography of the Paresh. In Clervaux, the prophets also held the place of honor.

[OOC: for reference, Notre Dame de Paris is Notre Dame; Abford is St. Bartholomeus in Meerssen in the Netherlands; and Clervaux is Romanesque.]

Reid doesn't find any obvious references to Cymnea, Pastoral, or any other Amberite that he recognizes as such, unless this Goddess is a veiled reference to one of his aunts.

There is an older priest who seems to be in charge of the place. If Reid has any questions, he could probably get answers from the priest.

Reid approaches the priest in a roundabout way. Clearly, striking up a conversation isn't the highest of priorities, so it almost seems casual when Reid finally speaks, "Excuse me, have you ever heard of Ninian of Clervaux?"

The priest looks at Reid thoughtfully. "The name rings a bell, good sir, but I'm afraid I cannot place it. The perils of old age and a dim memory. In what context should I know it?"

"I have recently become acquainted with an order who comes from an area known as Beveland. They followed the teachings of one they called St. Ninian of Clervaux. While pursing my research into their origins, I found myself here and was trying to determine if I was still on the right track or if I'd lost scent of their history." Reid replies in a scholarly tone.

"Beveland I don't know, and I don't know a Ninian, but I remember the name Clervaux from somewhere, I'm sure of it. I'm Father Aimery, and I serve here at St. Trista's. Before I came to Abford, I served the Goddess in Renady. Perhaps it was there in my student days that I heard of Clervaux ..." he trails off, trying to remember.

After a moment, he says, "Ah, yes. St. Lothair. He was from Clervaux. We don't follow his rule here, preferring the rule of St. Gerbald, but many other monasteries follow it. St. Lothair came to what's now Renady after the heathens burned the Goddess' House at Clervaux, if I recall my history."

"Fascinating," Reid replies. "In my recent travels, I think I may have found the charred remains of Clervaux, so that would be in line with the history you were taught. At least, insomuch as the end result goes. I try to make it a policy to never attempt to guess at the motivations of those who made history, nor those who documented it, without doing more research on my own." He smiles at the priest.

"My name is Reid Arsviator. I thank you for your time."

[[Reid hesitates to see if the priest is willing to volunteer any more information, before heading back to check in on Ossian.]]

"You're welcome, Master Arsviator. If I think of anything more that would be of use to you, I can send you a message wherever you're staying. Or perhaps I will see you at services?" Father Aimery asks. It's not exactly hopeful or pushy, but Reid can tell Father Aimery would like that.

"I am staying at The Redfingered Man. I'm not sure how much longer I will be in town, but I may be able to make services depending on when they are next held." Reid smiles, letting the priest know that he would not be adverse to such a visit and would go willingly without further pressure, if he were properly supplied with the time and place of such services.

Father Aimery describes the service schedule. There is at least some service every day for those who need it, Reid learns, but the major services attended by most of the community are twice a week. The next of those will be tomorrow evening.

"Then barring unforeseen impediment I shall see you tomorrow evening at mass." Reid thanks the priest and goes off in search of Ossian and the records.

Sister Prudence leads Ossian out of Mother Humility's office and into the archives. It's a room filled with boxes and papers. Sister Prudence explains that the records are supposed to be sorted using the scheme in the books in one particular box, but some of them are out of order because they're being packed to be moved for some work on this building as part of the addition to the orphanage.

[Does Ossian want to question Sister Prudence first or does he want to look through the records first?]

[Questions first, I think. BTW, sorry I missed a posting round. I'm really very busy these weeks before I go to the U.S. (So I think it's good both Reid and Marius are in other threads.]

"Sister...my uncle, when he came here and fetched me, do you know if that was the first time he was in Abford?"

"I'm sorry, Ossian. I don't know. I'd never heard of him, and I don't think any of the other sisters had. I remember that he left a very fine gift for your care, one of the finest I've ever seen of, and there was a lot of, well, the Sisters did wonder," Sister Prudence confesses.

As she answers Ossian's question, she's looking through the books. "Hmm, someone seems to have straightened these records up recently. They were quite out of order, but now they're all where they should be. That will make things much easier."

Ossian laughs "Oh, good. Although, first, let's get finished with my uncle. You said he left a fine gift? Did it only consist of money or was there something else too?"

"I don't remember all the details any more, only that it was a very generous gift. The perils of old age, I'm afraid." Sister Prudence looks a tad embarrassed. She continues, "The records here will have some details, and there will be more in the account books. Sister Courage keeps those. We'll go and see her when we're done here if we need more information."

"That sounds good." Ossian smiles "So let's have a look at the records. Unless you know where to start, we'll have to pinpoint the exact date of my departure. Let's start 30 years back and go further back from there."

[Ossian will specifically be looking for the date, but also how/when his name was decided; if he was named already when he came to the orphanage. (Both the name "Ossian" and the surname "Rand".)]

Sister Prudence allows that the dates have gotten away from her. Ossian has seen people like her before: she has clear memory for small things from long ago, but many things have begun to elude her. It's probably why she was replaced as Mother of St. Trista's.

Ossian quickly decides that thirty years is too recent. He barely recognizes any of the names. Thirty-five or forty years would be closer to right, he feels.

While he is reviewing the records, Reid returns from the church and is shown in to see the records.

"Any thing of interest?" Reid asks. "Or is that still yet to be determined?" he smiles.

"Still to be determined. We haven't found the right records yet.

"Sister, meet my cousin Reid. Reid, this is sister Prudence."

Sister Prudence is an elderly woman in the habit of the order that staffs St. Trista's. She smiles warmly at Reid, although as a sister of the order, she doesn't extend her hand in greeting. Some of the rule-bound at Clervaux observed a similar custom.

"Welcome to St. Trista's, Reid."

Ossian starts looking further back. He will work bakwards in three year leaps until he finds names he recognizes. (When he finds the records he looks for the same things as stated before.)

It's on his third push back that Ossian finds the records he's seeking. It was about 40 years ago that Master Rand came to St. Trista's seeking his nephew and rescued him. There was a generous donation in coin, about which he suspects there are more details in the orphanage's financial records.

[What is Reid doing?]

[Running around in circles making whooping noises? Madly proclaiming, "You're the man now, dog!" to Ossian? Nah...]

Reid is looking over Ossian's shoulder at the books... Not actively pursuing any particular lead. But once the Rand entry is found, Reid will pick up the more recent books that had already been dismissed and skims them looking for similar notations of foreign coin in large amounts.

Reid finds a number of donations in foreign coin. Most are not large, based on the other donations he's seeing in the books, and most of them have the coin source identified: Renady or another city with which Abford trades, he'd guess. Not unidentified the way the coins in the Rand donation seem to have been.

"Brand seems to have paid in foreign coin" Ossian remarks

Ossian carefully looks at the record from before Brand fetched him, looking for the next record containing something about himself (or Meg, if he happens to find one). Things he is specifically interested in are: what were the circumstances of his arrival, when and how was his first and family name decided specifically.

Ossian was left at the orphanage as an infant foundling with a very small gift of local money. The name Ossian was given him by the nuns. He had no surname until his uncle took him away, at which time he apparently took his uncle's surname of Rand.

Reid, meanwhile, decides to play with probabilities... randomly selecting a volume of the records, flipping to an unspecified page, and letting his finger land where it might before reading the results. If they're boring, he might do this any number of times.

Reid finds himself reviewing the exit records of Meg Carper, who left as a servant to Peter Carper Senior. She was a senior orphan, a trustee over the other children, and well-valued by the nuns.

Reid smiles at the results, putting the name with the discussions from the night before. He closes the books when Ossian looks ready to leave.

Ossian looks at Sister Prudence. "I think this was all we can find here. You said that we could go to the treasury, and have a look at the records there?"

"I'll have to get Sister Courage to help me, but we can certainly do that," Sister Prudence says.

"Down and right, and past the four crow-marked stakes..." [Marius] mumbles it to himself, thinking instead of what he might be saying to Meg. He nods at the four stakes, obviously remnants of an old fence, and he smiles as a black bird caws, its silhouette taking on the gold of the sunshine as it crosses the sky, startled by his approach.

He sniffs. "Sheep," he says aloud, although anyone with a Water score would hear, "Mutton." He shakes his head and sighs, which is all that anyone with any familiarity with sheep need do, unless they've had that particular intimacy that folks in Colorado insist those from Wyoming have with the beasts. (Renfaire folks might make Scottish jokes, too.) He prefer the llamas, presuming their young tasted as good with a pistachio sauce or perhaps mint jam--

Marius reflects that he may be hungry, and that he should pick up the pace so as to reach this shadow of the Arte della Lana. He occasionally brings up the flowers to sniff at them, as if the smell could remind him of his purpose.

It is a goodly walk, but it doesn't cross the line from "jaunt" to "travelling." The actual final piece is downhill.

His travels bring Marius to a reasonably busy street in the main part of Abford,where he's able to find his way to the Wool Guild's place of business: a warehouse full of wool bales.

[player represses urge to sneeze from mental envisioning]

"Greetings," he hails the first person he sees. "Could you point me to Master Peter Carper, perhaps?" The flowers are much less conspicuous at this point. A sleight of hand that can only be performed with the body, if you know what I mean.

The fellow at the door of the warehouse eyes Marius a bit suspiciously, even if he can't see the flowers. "May I ask your business, sir, and tell him who asks?"

Social fleepin' niceties. Marius' grin has a little baring of the teeth in it. "I fear I am a stranger to him, but it is in regard to his mother." Because, you know, that's gotta get him rustled. "My name is Marius Deirdreson." He doesn't even blink at offering a last name. He only kicks himself mentally for not being witty about it...but some wit is more likely to lead you into trouble.

"Very well," the fellow says. After a few minutes, he returns and leads Marius through the warehouse to an office in the rear. A soberly-dressed, rugged-looking fellow rises to greet Marius from a desk strewn with paperwork.

"Master Deirdreson," the man says, "I'm Peter Carper. Please, come in." Once they are alone, Master Carper closes the office door. "Hugh says there is something about my mother?" He looks a little worried.

[OOC: in the wiki, it's this Peter Carper.]

Marius smiles his most disarming smile. Heck, it's got a +3 in that regard. He composes himself to look puzzled but harmless, and then allows the dawning of comprehension to express itself dramatically. "Oh dear. I gave the wrong impression entirely. My mistake," he says, basically apologetic. He allows the smile to turn friendly. "I have been run ragged," because he's allowed to exaggerate, "attempting to find her. I am on a mission of repaying kindness," he says, showing the flowers with a flourish, with that sense of camaraderie of, "I'm just trying to do a good deed, why does the universe make it difficult?" unspoken, but there in his shrug. He continues aloud, "I also have some news of importance to bring her, but apparently, it is terribly unseemly to approach her directly, or so I have been told." He laughs. "I did not mean to worry you in the slightest, or disturb you for even more than a moment."

Relief passes across Carper's face. "My mother has always been kind to strangers and newcomers to Abford, Master Deirdreson. But what business--"

Before he can finish the question, there's another knock on the door, this one perfunctory, and another fellow, one that Marius doesn't recognize from before, steps in. He hesitates on seeing Marius there, then says to Carper, "I have a message. Important."

"If you'll excuse me for a moment, Master Deirdreson, and then we can continue."

[Assuming Marius agrees.]

An easy assumption to make. Marius is the agreeable sort, and it's not like he's going to suddenly brace himself against the door and force the issue.

Well, maybe not this time.

The newcomer comes behind Carper's desk and speaks quietly to him. Even without him trying to listen, Marius' keen hearing picks up a few words here and there: "... Renady ... captured ... burned ... council ... king ... horn ... Jacob and Garth ... no ransom demand ..."

Whatever the news being whispered in his ear is, Carper doesn't like it.

[Is Marius trying to pick up more information? What's he doing?]

Marius is very much trying to pick up more information without being obviously intrusive. If he were our puppy, his ears would be strained to the utmost, but, again, like our puppy, he'd be laying on the ground and his eyes'd be closed so he didn't LOOK like he was eavesdropping. He will, however, switch to a more sympathetic slouch.

Marius is able to pick up that something has happened to Master Carper's brothers. They were visiting someplace called Renady, and it's been invaded and fallen to the enemy. The city itself has been fired. The Carper brothers are feared taken, but there is no ransom demand yet. There is some concern that Abford will be attacked next.

The sign of the invaders is a horn, and the guard has already been warned to look for it. There will be a Council meeting tomorrow to discuss everything.

Master Carper isn't paying attention, but his flunky is eyeing Marius with obvious suspicion.

Mmm-hmmm. Marius decides fairly quickly. He lays the flowers on Master Carper's desk, interrupting as necessary. "I can see that this is not the best of times," he says. He makes it sound like one of the kinds of apologies gentlemen (and some ladies) make when they are suddenly privy to disturbed circumstances, where condolences are appropriate. "If you could make sure Mistress Carper receives these, as a gift," he adds quickly, "for her kindness, I can be on my way." He smiles a distracted smile.

"Thank you," Master Carper says distractedly. "I'll be sure she gets them." Marius feels that Master Carper means it, but he's not likely to remember it in the crunch.

From here he will be headed to Ossian in a hurry. In a Trump-from-a-secluded-location kind of hurry.

Marius is able to spot an alley where he could trump Ossian without it being blatantly obvious when he disappeared. It would be just as easy for him to walk back up to the church and orphanage, though, and if there were records to look through, Ossian and Reid are likely to still be there.

No, he's in a panic...a hurry, at the very least. Trumping will also increase the feeling of urgency on Ossian's end. (And knowing him, he'd probably throw open the door to the Sisters' Lingerie Lounge and Embarrassment City instead of the Records Room.)

He's not going to give Ossian any preamble, should Ossian choose to accept the call. He's also going to push if Ossian tries to ignore it.

Ossian answers "Yes?" He stands in a small room, examining a coin.

Stop playing with money, you fractious savant, and pull me through.

Erm.

Marius does not say that aloud.

Nevertheless, Ossian hears it through the contact.

"It's Marius. I've found the Enemy." And, for once, it isn't really us. "Pull me through, if you would. It sounds like time for plan B." There's perhaps an anxious tone, and it isn't, "I sure hope we've got a plan B," because Marius _always_ has a plan B. (It's his .5 point power?) He will definitely sound concerned.

"It is a rather disturbing that you should turn up in the treasury of this orphanage." Ossian's voice continues inside Marius' head: //If you are in immediate danger I can pull you through. Otherwise, go find Ce'e and the butterfly, if you can find her, then call back.//

"Orphanage," Marius repeats. He frowns, a thought suddenly rising to the top. "By any chance is the illustrious Ms. Carper with you?"

//Yes. I will try to get her out.// Ossian is sure going to try, even if he's not 100% confident that he is going to succeed. He feels more intense now, ready to leap.

Marius' expression turns fierce. "Her home is under attack. I recommend not telling her, because she will resist in the best of cases." He sighs. He'll have to leave it for Ossian and/or Reid. They can manage it. They're devious/pragmatic enough.

Ossian is quiet, but looks like he at least will consider Marius' advise.

[Marius] looks around. "The danger to us, specifically, is high, and we want to be out of here _quickly_," he emphasizes the word. "I'll run," he suggests.

//Got it.// Ossian seems prepared to close the Trump contact.

Marius gives the mental equivalent of a nod, and lets Ossian go.