[Continued from "Dustin For Clues".] [So, main room is about how Katherine left it.] * Katherine looks around. Any girls sort of alone? [Crystal's still alone. Another girl or two you don't recognize are also alone.] [Not too many students from other houses, but that doesn't seem too surprising as it is getting later.] * Katherine heads on over to Crystal. "Excuse me?" * Crystal looks up with initially a "Leave me!" look to be directed at whatever student is pestering her, but she sees an adult, with cashflow, so it switches to a smile. "Yes?" (Does Crystal sound familiar, Greg?) (She does) (Book merchant in fact) (Knew it! Thanks.) * Katherine smiles back. "Kitty Ward." She holds out a hand to Crystal. "My husband and I are having a look around school, and I was wondering if you could show me the girls' rooms and answer any questions I might have. If you're too busy, I understand." * Crystal shakes her hand. "Crystal Moonbeam. Certainly." * Katherine blinks. "That's an unusual name." * Crystal closes the book she was reading [The Wealth of Covens] and stands. In some circles. In others, it's quite ordinary. Really? I'm afraid I haven't been in any of those. * Crystal smiles slightly. "Both my parents were in a big Wiccan community. One that really went for the new-age stuff. There were two other Crystals in my elementary school. I feel blessed they didn't think of something clever involving love." * Katherine laughs. "Yeah, I guess you're lucky there." * Crystal leads you down to her room. Her bed is by the window, the other three are triple stacked. There are the desks and chests and such; Crystal's, surprisingly enough, looks completely ordinary. [There's actually a few nice adornments, candles, curtains that seem to have been glamored to give a feel of being under trees.] * Katherine peeks through, then steps in and looks around. (Triple stacked? Crazy. How high's the ceiling?) [Pretty tall. There's three feet of room left below the ceiling above the top one.] It's very nice. I love the curtains. This is your room? * Crystal nods, and takes a seat by her desk. "It is, and thank you. I'm quite proud of them." Emma was a great help with the fabrics, though. I couldn't have done it without her. Emma? One of my roommates. * Katherine looks around, then has a seat on the single bed, folding her hands on her lap. "Ah." Another glance, then she smiles at Crystal. "So, how do you like it here? I hear you're a popular one when it comes to toys." * Crystal smiles and gets out her wand, briefly tapping the desk. [The room gets a slight grayish tint.] I am, and I do like. What in particular are you interested in? Or just want my general impressions? * Katherine starts, looking around. "What did you just do?" She doesn't sound afraid, just curious. Just a step to make sure we can speak privately. Thought you might appreciate straight answers, and makes things simpler if you want to buy anything for your child. Ah. * Katherine smiles. "I do appreciate it." General impressions work for now. I think I have some other questions, but they can wait. So, it's a rather expensive school, but you know that. What you're getting for your money is the ambiance, the high number of students for your child to interact with, and the benefit of the wands. If you don't care about those things, you could find a tutor or a private Wiccan or other mystical school. * Katherine nods and waits for her to go on. Drake is good if you want your child to be successful, Unicorn for academia, Lion, well... adventure in their soul or something. They'll probably make a lot of friends at least. * Katherine chuckles. "With other Lions, I hear." They're actually pretty social; they cut across house lines some. But yeah, mostly internal. * Katherine nods. "Do you find there's much house mingling here?" It's the exception, but it's not an uncommon exception. Tends to be more older students, as they get to know each other as individuals. * Katherine smiles. "That makes sense." She pauses a moment. "I've asked others about this, but since you're willing to be honest, I guess I'll repeat myself. It's true that, without natural talent, magic won't stay with Penny after she leaves this school, isn't it?" She'll accrue talent in small quantities, particularly if she really works at it. But it's a long and slow process. * Katherine nods. "I was afraid of that." Do you think a student would be inclined to try a, um, shortcut to that? * Crystal snickers. "Without a doubt. There are books on the subject. The trouble, I'm told, is that shortcuts involve some combination of ridiculous risk or powerful magic. The second is beyond the scope of my wares, the first I don't touch." * Katherine blinks. "Wares?" I can get more than just toys, if Penny desires. However, I'm afraid most magical items, even of the sort that I can deal in, are quite costly. Oh, I see. You don't get anything that'll put you or the others in serious trouble, I assume? * Crystal chuckles. "I don't get anything that's beyond Hurst or Dennis' ability to handle. And if a student misuses what I get them, then they typically are taught a valuable lesson on the matter." * Katherine nods. "How about other students? Do they try to get these items, too?" I'm not following, which items? The dangerous ones. Oh, probably a few do. But if anything exceptionally dangerous or even quite powerful were brought on the grounds, Hurst would probably find out about it quickly enough. And it's rather hard to get them without proper connections anyways. Connections? Yeah, with suppliers, the occasional sketchy adventurer, and the like. ::She chuckles to herself.:: Like Rica used to be. Anyways, mostly my connections just get lower prices than you could get on E-bay, other online sources, and most stores. Rica? We were talking to her earlier, actually; I think you heard her come in with us. She didn't seem so bad. She's not really, although I will admit to some house rivalry. Just mentioned as you were curious about connections. It was once her line of work. It's "used to", though, right? She wouldn't encourage that sort of thing from the students? Well, she does teach a bit faster than some of the other teachers approve of, and I think if a student wanted a career in *adventuring* she'd help them down the path. But, like, to steal for her? I doubt it. This place rakes in money. It'd have to have a *serious* return beyond basic benefit to be worth the risk. Yeah, but... If she likes adventuring, maybe if a student convinced her she's a hard luck case, or something like that? I'm just worried that Penny might get caught up in the magic thing, and she's pretty good at convincing adults to help her out. * Crystal snickers. "Rica's not Hurst, but she's no sap. She'd have an angle. Although she'd try to help the kid if she could, but not some major crime or anything." * Katherine nods, then blinks. "You keep mentioning Hurst. Who's he?" The sponsor of Drake house. ::She grins.:: Terror to those breaking the rules, true friend to a Drake. He teaches defense against arcane, and anti- arcane, techniques. Oh. Good teacher? Yes and no. He knows the material, but not so great with kids he thinks get out of line. But he's demanding as anything. It's important with his subject. Even the kids he doesn't get along with will learn what they need to know. * Katherine nods. "That's good." She blinks. "I think I lost track of what I was originally going to ask." * Crystal smiles. "Well, I'll let you think about it. And think if you want anything for Penny or yourself." * Katherine thinks for a bit, then blinks. "Oh yes. Dark magic. That was mentioned as something in the Drake house. Is it really that common here?" * Crystal shakes her head. "Not seriously, no. Probably the occasional summoning of incubbi when people are home." * Katherine nods. "Figures. I hope Penny doesn't end up in a crowd like that, but kids will be kids." What do you do for fun around here? You can go into town, right? * Crystal nods. "Flying, hanging around, playing around with magic, sneaking off to the woods, normal teenage stuff. * Katherine laughs. "Right, the woods. That sounds popular." * Crystal chuckles. "And for a reasonable price I can keep the unicorns away." There's more than one? Maris mentioned they're pretty big on purity. Well, I sometimes look after her plushie when she doesn't want to leave him in the chest too long. * Katherine doesn't seem to follow. "Why would a stuffed animal need to be watched?" They're semi-sentient, like pets. Oh. * Katherine considers that, then shrugs to herself. Magic. Go figure. "You could get one of those for Penny, maybe?" * Crystal nods. "They don't come cheap, I'm afraid. But on the upside, they don't leave droppings or get cancer." But if you do want one now, I have a good selection in stock, so long as she's responsible enough to care for it. I'll need to discuss it with Benji and her, but we'll consider that. * Crystal nods, but looks slightly disappointed. * Katherine bites her lip at the disappointment. "Well..." She gives up. "All right. Let's see what you have." ( Hey Tim, I brought a preasant for you." ...) (Why, how did you know!) * Crystal grins widely and then goes to open her chest. She taps on the lid and mutters words in a language Katherine doesn't recognize and seems made up. She then opens the chest... [The top layer has a wide selection of apparently sleeping plushies. Most classical mythological creatures are covered, as well as favorites among standard animal types. Nothing too human though, centaurs or the like.] * Katherine looks at them, and she brightens. "They're adorable!" [There's one Cthulu; it is cute, but in a kinda creepy way.] * Crystal smiles. "The flyers are most expensive at ten grand. Talking runs two, just normal awakened is one. Lifetime guarantee, so long as they aren't mistreated or abused, colored to your choice, can function outside of magical auras, and work as a familiar for spell casting purposes! Ten grand? You mean pounds, then? * Crystal nods. "But I can accept most any currency a bank will."{ Good. * Katherine looks over the plushies. "So, you know Maris? She seems like a sensible sort." * Crystal nods. Quite the caster as well. Fortunately she isn't interested in business. * Katherine laughs. "Yeah? You'd have some competition, then?" * Crystal nods. "I could take her, but it'd mean extra effort." I can tune them to whatever color scheme you like, and adjust specifics a bit if it's small. Small changes can still be made until they reach maturity, but they can only bond once. What do you mean by bond? They'll be strongly attuned only to a single person. Passing down to a child or a lover may be alright, but in most cases, once the person no longer plays, they need to be freed, can't be transferred. * Katherine frowns. "That sounds almost cruel." * Katherine seems to be seriously considering the birds, but she tries with the small talk again. "So Maris isn't interested in business. What does she spend all her time with, then? Magic?" * Crystal smiles faintly. "It would be, if freeing them was a euphemism. It's not. There's wild magic tied to them. When they are released, it retains experience but can then be part of some other spell." Yeah, studying, practicing, reading the latest tomes. She does find a few other uses for her time, but by and large, learning to be an even better witch. * Katherine blinks. "But won't she lose almost all of that when she leaves?" ( She intends to sign on for post-graduate work and then teach.) (... beat me to it.) * Crystal shakes her head. "She'll keep the knowledge, and all her work means she'll take a greater share of power with her. It'll still be minor, but you can do a lot with a little power if you're good at it." Yeah, but it has to be disappointing. (Like playing a wizard with 13 int. ) (Or a fighter with five con!) * Katherine is looking at the hummingbirds. Certainly is. I think she'll do her best to find achieve high power before she's well into her middle age, but she should be smart enough to avoid the nasty short cuts. Yeah. How about the less nasty ones? She may well try one if she thinks it's worth the cost. But that's always the question, I guess. How much do you want, and what are you willing to pay for it? * Crystal smiles broadly. * Katherine looks at Crystal and smiles. "You'd know something about that, being the up and coming businesswoman you are, and all." Back to the hummingbirds, she points one out. "I think Penny will like that one. With the blue and shimmery green." * Crystal nods and then runs the incantation, changing the look of it exactly to match Katherine's request. (... I predict many more "A little bird told me" moments in Tim's future.) (o/~) It's a talking one, right? * Crystal nods. "It is." What can they say? It will build as it is talked to, the more attention and care, the greater the vocabulary. Although probably topping off at the level of a fairly dumb child. * Katherine nods. So, do we have a deal? * Katherine looks a bit torn, but then she nods. She opens her purse and pulls out her checkbook, writing out ten thousand pounds to one Crystal Moonbeam. * Crystal takes it, taps it with her wand and makes a quick pattern. Anyways, does Maris seek anything now? I wouldn't know, but she's done a great deal of research and spends time potentially off campus. She does have the opportunity, but I do *value* my relationship with her highly, so should leave it at that. * Crystal also hands Katherine a booklet on the care of her plushie. * Katherine laughs. "Um... I don't think so." And then she looks from the bird to Crystal. "She does? Is that normal?" Not so much, but we all have our eccentricities. * Katherine takes the booklet and flips through it. "How about the other students?" I mean, it just sounds odd. She looked like she'd want to spend as much time with magic as she could. * Crystal nods and watches Katherine with a bemused look. "Well, she does spend a good chunk of that time away from her studies, but then she does have company for a lot of it." Crystal chuckles. "And not always just the one guy." * Katherine grins. "Really? And here I thought she just left for that one guy." She seems satisfied and removes the check, handing it over. * Crystal takes it. "Oh, I think she only has room in her heart for the one." She then frowns. "And I think she'd have better taste if she wanted a second along." A second? Isaac. Although there's normally precautions taken. Heck, I know I would. ::She grins.:: Although I'm really unfairly impugning poor Maris here. * Katherine laughs. "I bet she could pay you to keep quiet." She winks. I'd better get going. Thank you very much for your time, Crystal. And the bird. * Cystal smiles. "You're welcome. May you walk a blessed path." She then gets a good deal more even expression. "And do use what you've learned well. We do protect our own." She then smiles brightly again and lowers the privacy field. [Back to "Dustin For Clues".]