07.08b: Skin Deep

[Wyvern]

"But not Priscilla's children, and we offered to help her with that. And yes, and yes, respectively - at a minimum, its power can be brought to mind as a defense against other powers; what it can do beyond that... I can guess, but I would be surprised if even Dworkin knows its limits yet."

[Draylen]

"Right, but we're not going to go there unless Priscilla asks us to," he says, blinking. "I wouldn't even know where to begin to look, and you know as well as I do that the shadows are nigh-infinite." He frowns, shrugging a little. "Although Father Bonepicker's school will probably be open, if you wanted to play with some children."

[Wyvern]

Alys smiles. "And that, from what I understand, is the most obvious power of Pattern: to find things. Places. People. Perhaps even abstract concepts like 'peace of mind' or 'enough time to heal'. Travel in shadow without a destination is all but meaningless."

"Of course," she adds after a few bites of bread, "It still fares poorly at breaching the metaphorical moat around Amber; we will need the cards for that. I was thinking we would ask Morgana for help with the trip out; while Darnell or Ossian might have home shadows that are closer to Priscilla's, Morgana seems much less likely to set a price on her assistance."

[Draylen]

Aibne just shrugs. "Okay, but all of this is a moot point, seeing as we're not going to find them until Priscilla asks for help about it," he says, frowning. "There's a right way to do these things." He shakes his head a little, smiling softly. "You really want to kill him, don't you?"

[Wyvern]

Alys blinks. "Who? Oh, Priscilla's former 'husband'? Not particularly, no; he doesn't seem worth the bother. Besides, I have quite enough blood on my claws; I'll make sure she has a chance to talk to her children, and that they have a choice to come here, but no more than that."

[Draylen]

"Okay. As long as we're on the same page then," he says, nodding a little. "Still, we did say we'd wait until she was ready." He finishes eating, scarfing down a half-loaf of bread stuffed with meat and cheese, before picking up an apple. "So! Where would you like to go first?"

[Wyvern]

"Somewhere within Ht'gon would be best; where, though... you know the place far better than I, so I will defer to your judgement."

[Draylen]

Aibne nods, smiling a little. "The school, then. I think you'll like it. There's a wee firedrake in the class, unless it was a dragonet. Or a wyvern. Or..." he frowns a little, thinking. "I'm not actually sure. He's one of the more recent arrivals." He grabs a thin cloak from off of the hook, and a leather case with a strap on it, putting both on. "shall we be off?"

[Wyvern]

"Mm. Words are... unpredictable, here. So many different definitions in play. Like Daq Nott's definition of a 'kobold'..." She shakes her head, and takes a moment to remove the pair of goggles she'd been wearing around her neck and stuff them into a pocket instead. "Lead the way, then."

[Draylen]

"What about it?" he asks, starting to head out of his rooms. He gets a little lost, but manages to find his way out without too much difficulty. "They're a shapeshifter, of a kind. Fairly limited, usually - just small things. Fires, animals, children. Gnomes. If you see a gnome and he's not wearing a sprocket, he's probably a kobold. I've heard of a few that'll take a little lizard-shape, too."