Young Writers Society

Ewan personally felt that more could be done--he'd seen other libraries here and in the East--but his parents were more focused on distributing knowledge than stockpiling it. Hopefully one day there could at least be a large public library here. "I'm glad you think so. Feel free to ask me or one of my parents if you want to read anything else--most of this is alright to read."

“Good to know.” Rana nodded to him. “Thanks.” She stepped towards the door, ready to continue onward.

Ewan stepped out, making space for her. "The rookery is probably another good thing to show you. And maybe the watchtowers?"

“I’d love to see whatever you’re inclined to show.” Rana nodded to him with a little smile.

"Then to the rookery we shall go!" He held the door for her.

"Thank you." She nodded to him and stepped into the hall. "Do you have birds homed to each of the Keeps in this region?"

"We do indeed! It's quite helpful. There's sort of a shared pool of birds--no one quite owns a single rook."

"How do you tell them apart?"

"Ah, well there are ribbons around their ankles. None of the rooks have tried to take them off as far as we know, so we figure they don't mind it."

"What would you do if they lost their ribbons?" Rana asked, looking at him curiously. Her inner chaos goblin wanted to go untie all the ribbons. She wouldn't, of course. But. Imagine. The complete and utter confusion that would ensue if there were dozens upon dozens of identical birds and no one knew which went where.

(Do ittttt)

"We've got a set number of birds that are homed to each place," he replied. "Usually, if one has lost a ribbon, we'll exchange letters and see which of us it belongs to. Then we'll just replace it."

(hahaha imagine if they went to visit Tarr)

"Ah." Rana nodded. "Makes sense. But it's relatively rare that happens, I take it?"

(Oh that would be miserable)

"Usually it only happens if they squabble with other birds, which does happen sometimes. A hawk or a flock of sparrows will take it into their heads to quarrel, and then the rook comes back with a ribbon lost and a few scratches--if it comes back."

(C h a o s)

Rana winced. “Poor birds.”

(trying to come up with a nickname a la Icelandic saga for Mikel. Septimus is called Hill Raiser and Gaius has the moniker Broth Guzzler.)

Ewan nodded sympathetically. "It's sad, but I expect however they die it's usually very quick. Unless it's sparrows--those little beasts are brutal. I've seen them harass a cat for killing one of their own and the poor thing took forever to bleed out."