names
Otia (“leisure”), C113, a Picardian, played by Kim;
15th Anticipation (cont’d)
Nil catches one of the Perdices by the sleeve and asks to see one of them, alone, in his room, when it’s next convenient. Perdix, who’d thought they’d been asleep, sourly asks if they have to be awake, and if Nil would kindly stop being so cryptic, and finally agrees to take Ilba back to the castle while going up to his room. He shows Perdix on the map that Perdix and Ilba are identical in terms of arcane connection. Perdix does not take the news well.
Calvus and Tully discuss inducting new members; the twins, coming to be trained.
Gi talks to Jerry about Calvus’ plan to start exporting metal products. He’s got plans for Jerry’s wife, too. What? says Jerry. To teach, says Gi. In the school. Oh, says Jerry. Gi talks about the connections between smiths and millers. Hawashko interrupts, to ask Jerry for a new pan, since he’s going to get married; this gives Jerry some ideas as to what the valley might need by way of metal goods. They discuss the upcoming pageant for the Day of Knowledge. And marzipan.
Perdix plucks a bit of Ilba’s hair and confirms Nil’s findings. They spend the afternoon staring past each other, muttering, scribbling down an abstruse metamagical description of their arcane connection. They then order Ilba to stand in the middle of the room and not move. Why? says Ilba. Don’t move, says Perdix. They circle her, making more abstruse notes. Asking her questions about her origin whose answers they know. They confront her with the fact that she’s them, magically speaking. She posits that perhaps it’s Monkey’s doing. Monkey’s clumsy, says Perdix. Do you understand how unusual this is? You are unusual! says Ilba. Yes! Which is why this is very, very bad! snaps Perdix. They tell her not to cheat on her fast and take the tablets to Nil. How nice to have confirmation in different handwriting, he says. Nil wants to know if he can have a connection to Ilba now. No, says Perdix. Come to my labs. I can’t, says Nil, pointing to his spectacles. Perdix chides him for his lack of faith. He chides them for not understanding his concern. Perdix agrees to meet Nil in his rooms on the next day. Good, snaps Nil. Can you understand why this concerns me? says Perdix. Yes, says Nil. So why are you taking it out on me for taking it out on you?
Bloody-back meets with Palpebrum to discuss his security concerns. He’s very interested in the flying machines.
Woochi goes to see Tishkilla. He asks if she’s aware that a new mage has arrived. She is. Aren’t we getting a few too many mages around here? says Woochi. We don’t get a say in that, she points out. Some discussion of the tax base, and what size army Palpebrum’s brought with him, and whether he’s staying. Woochi’s concerned that they haven’t been meeting with the Mayor, and the whole liaison with the covenant thing hasn’t gone as well as they’d hoped. What’s with your picklers all running around the walls naked? says Tishkilla. They converted to Love and Reason? Nah, says Woochi. They just like running around the walls naked. —Honey bursts in, looking for sage. She’s a unique one, says Woochi. Yes, says Tishkilla. Hopefully fertile, says Woochi. Yes, says Tishkilla. —They decide to gather the priests to talk to Jerry about being out of the loop.
Calvus and Illuminata discuss wealth and oeconomium, and the new Finger, and future income.
Jerry tells the priests he’s only just found out himself, the night before, at the party. They go to speak with the new magus. The meeting between the priests and Palpebra goes well enough. They’re impressed with his flying machine. He apologises for being early. The priests head off to talk to Illuminata. She lets them in, and tells them how uncertain they’d all been about whether he was showing up or not, and how she’d been going to bring it up at the next meeting only he showed up a month early. This mollifies (some of) the priests. One of the porcelain dolls sitting on the shelf starts to say Sweetie. Sweetie. Honey’s creeped. Don’t marry him. Don’t marry him. Sweetie. Sweetie. Marzipan. Illuminata gets on the ring and tells Tully to come fetch Marzipan. That’s weird, says Tully. I thought he was right here. Hmpf. He zips in through the window; his leather-thing snatches Marzipan and lifts it up to Tully’s labs. Tully bitches about how this new mage showed up and nobody told him.
Once she’s shown the priests out, Illuminata discovers one of her dolls’ heads has been crushed to powder. Nil shows up. They speak about Nil’s spectacles, and what they tend to do, and what Illuminata might be able to do with something similar. She calls Nishoba up to look at the spectacles; he’s down in the basement, setting up his journeyman labs. She tasks him with following Nil around and noting what the glasses do, and how, during the day. Illuminata mentions Woochi’s child, whose vision is impaired; Nil wants someone with mentem and imaginem to pass his sight on to someone with normal vision so that his infirmities can be described by someone with a closer frame of reference. Perhaps Gi? —Nishoba and Nil will meet the next day after dinner.
Gi talks to Calvus about smithing, and Nil, whom Gi likes well enough. Also, Calvus’ school, and whether Gi’s willing to work with it. How Plenilunial of me, I know, says Calvus.
Nil determines that the broken doll came from one of the kitchen staff, recently dumped, who’d been banging their head against the wall. Illuminata goes to talk to the staffmember in question, in an attempt to assuage them.
Calvus and Nil talk as Nil’s breaking his fast with wafers. Calvus brings up the political niceties of bringing him into the covenant. Also, some discussion of the Custodire, and running away therefrom. Some discussion of the purpose of this covenant, as a social experiment (or a safety valve, or as the front of a possible war).
Honey wakes up to the sound of sweeping. Marzipan’s outside, sweeping her doorstep. Sweetie. Sweetie. Don’t marry. No pig. Sweetie. Honey heads to Tishkilla’s house, followed by Marzipan. Sweetie. No pig. Heshe yells at her; Tishkilla hits Marzipan with a rolling pin, snapping its arms. Gieron carries Marzipan to Illuminata’s tower. Heshe and Tishkilla convince Honey that her proposed marriage is cursed. She can’t marry who she’s thinking of marrying. She has to at least re-interview everyone, and drop one of her original choices, and add someone new.
Illuminata thinks maybe Marzipan’s haunted by a Gætani man who wants to be in the running to marry the Corn Maiden. Sweetie! Sweetie! says Marzipan. Nishoba goes to fetch the arms. Tishkilla and Heshe are appalled at the idea of Honey interviewing the doll. You should let it down easy is all I’m saying, says Nishoba.
meta
“Ah, he gets vis cookies.” “Have you ever really looked at your hands?”
“I am viewed with arched brows as a technical wonk.”
