\

Gavin has a tendenacy to avoid the fountain in the square unless something is occuring or...or Amethyst drags him into the middle of it. Far removed from the days of him visiting it to relax. At this moment, though other things have drawn the man to the square and he walking along the vendor stalls taking note of what's for sale at the various booths.

Danielle's interest in the fountain has gone up considerably since the visitation from the sandy locale in addition to the ice. She has not the most adept of pattern scholars yet knows the pattern to connect the various locales and allow trave and begun to complete a possible pattern connection for the fountain as it does something similar. she is lookimg at the fountain intensely as if awareness of the rest her surroundingd don't exist

The booths are full of the sorts of things that are for sale down-town; heavy on food and second-hand clothes and junk. One has newly-forged antiques. One has a rather irritable red-headed woman - Colonel Tanya - haggling over the price of a set of red paints.

The fountain itself has only a drift of sand by it to say that the sandy locale came calling. It looks like most of it has blown away. None has gathered on the red lines and sigils that Tanya drew. It's all a bit messy and natural and not dangerous at all.

Amy comes up from the hospital, pausing to look at the fountain for a long moment. She hears a familiar voice and waves to Colonel Garin, slipping over to see what she's doing.

Dirk walks in and stands away from the sand. He's not totally sober but not too uncover.

The colonel turns away from the haggling to salute Amethyst with her crippled left hand. "Mm." With her right, she puts money down on the table beside her.

Difficulty has been set to 15 in this area.

\

Seeing first the grumpy Colonel and then the beautiful Blonde, Gavin actually find something of intrest in the market. He though had been quite intrested in that ancient family antique that was well quite shiny and a state of a unicorn but that will have to wait for nother time. He moves to stand next to Amy. "Colonel. My love."

Dirk cheers up. "Amy? You life saving cutest thing since ever, I owe you." He wanders to see if he can find a leather worker to make something for him.

The Colonel nods to Gavin. "You. You sent people to check on me, right?" Eyes narrow, and everything.

Danielle rolls with advantage -1 at difficulty 15, using no talents or gifts.
The result is a success.

Amy grins at Dirk. "You're welcome, Dirk. Any time - though I'd prefer it if I don't have to save lives, if you know what I mean."

Dirk is definitely delusional. "Nothing hurts me. I am just fine "

Amy reaches a hand to Gavin, and then flashes a grin at Tanya. "of course we did, we wanted to make sure you were okay." The healer's expression is sunny and her voice light.

\ GAvin holds his hands up as the Colonel glowers at him giving her his best, I'm the cutest thing ever. "I don't know..." Then Amy says they did, "We did." He says reaching down to take Amethys hand in his non sword hand.

Nothing explodes in the market-place. Nothing attacks the group without warning. The day's weather is foggy but not terrible - it is all... alright.

"It was good timing," Tanya admits. "I was out of coffee." She glances up at the window where she last appeared. "Thanks."

Danielle looks at the fountain curiously and moves to the market facing side. her sense now being in a more external mode, she also notes the presence of her companions and ponders,giving a wave and a holler "One of you mind coming over her a minute?"

Tanya sighs. "Is that the sound of me being on duty?" she asks, glancing towards the fountain. Her body language says 'yes damnit'.

Dirk heads over. "What's up buttercup?"

Amy arches a brow at Danielle, and then she grins at Tanya. "More coffee needed?" she asks with a bit of amusement. "Come on, let's all go see." She tugs on Gavin's hand, bringing him along with her.

"What's up, Danielle?" Amy asks, echoing Dirk.

Tanya picks up what could be a walking stick from where it leans against the stall, tells the stallholder, "Keep the change, look after the pigment for me," and limps towards the fountain. As she walks, her staff does not quite touch the ground.

\

See It's always Amy that drags Gavin to to the fountain, like this time. "Sure anytime. Can't do with you geing out of coffee."

Danielle hpose smils "the fountain is reacting to us or one of us at any rate. It sensed something it reacts to in the market and started glowing on that side. it got brighter as you got closer

The Colonel snorts amusement, a little behind the others. She is, however, concentrating pretty hard on the fountain now. "Huh. I didn't write it to do that." For those with magical know-how, that's a bit like a bomb disposal officer going, 'that's funny...' and looking at a device that they thought was defused.

Dirk walks right over to the fountain. "Hey, you took my hand you fucker so quit it."

"You didn't? You mean someone changed it? Or it rewrote itself?" Amy asks, curiously. She eyes the fountain, now trying to use her own pattern senses, curiously. "Can we tell which of us it's deciding it's got a crush on?"

Filinia flips a coin. The result is: Tails

"Good, big, interesting, important questions," Tanya replies. "I have no idea."

When Dirk moves, the glowing lights change quickly - the glyphs light up not far from him. Tanya might have no idea, but it seems the fountain does.

Gavin stands there for a moment, "Wait the complicated magic spell you wrote is doing things you didn't plan on it doing." He says reaching for his shield. "That's never good." He looks at Dirk and shrugs but still brings his shield up for proection.

Danielle likewise moves in closer to the fountain but purposely not the same location as dirk for comparison

Amy nods to Gavin's words, and watches as Danielle also approaches the fountain, curiously.

"I am very good at simplifying magic," Tanya says. "But magic is wrong here. It's only half a dozen layers of spell." As if that is simple.

Dirk says, "Maybe this is a dimensional vortex and I am the once and future King Of Amber.""

The lights respond a little to Danielle. Tanya glares at them as if personally offended they are doing so. It is not nearly as much as with Dirk. "I'm going to say that people littering swords in stones are not my favourite people." Tanya probably doesn't have many favourite people at allo.

Dirk puts his right hand in the water and extends his middle finger. He removes his hand and glowers at it.

Dirk's hand is now wet. So is his cuff. It's just water, not blood.

Tanya eyeballs Gavin as if wondering how much room there is behind him and the shield.

Dirk puts his left stump on the water.

Gavin says, "Strange women lying in ponds is distributing swords is no basis for a system of Government." Gavin says in response of Tanya's not like of littering sword in the stone. "Amy perhaps standing back would be a wise course?" He's ignoring Tanya sizing him up as a hiding place."

Amy on the contrary steps forward curiously. She's watching the fountain and the lighting up glyphs. "It seems to react more to Dirk than to Danielle. What about me?" she offers.

Danielle lets out a breath as if she may have been expecting something more dire from dirk's contact with the fountain. "Is it responding stronger to dirk's words and actions i wonder or his bloodline. no way to test that one wedon't have another of caine's line" She nods to Amy "come see"

Tanya gives Gavin a sharp, inquisitive look, like she recognises that quote. She relaxes rather, a moment later.

The pattern of magic and light hardly changes when Amethyst moves either.

\

Gavin raises an eyebrow, "It was a line in a play, preformed by an acting troop from my child hood. They were lampooning one of the kings of legends in my home shadow and how he came to be. I found it quite amusing. Grandfather did not." Gavin shakes his head as Amethyst goes diving head first into the magical danger zone. He should have known THAT was going to happen. He approaches cautiously.

As Gavin approaches, the warning glyphs glow brighter too. There is only Tanya left to test, and she is not moving - she is staring at the red scribbling, very thoughtfully.

Dirk says "I need someone to poke my finger with a knife."

"It seems to like the gentlemen," Amy observes. And then she eyes Dirk thoughtfully. She does step back though, out of what she thinks is the danger zone, test done.

Danielle looks at Dirk "If you're dong that in attempt to adress my question about bloodlines. I don't think it will. If that's not the reason I'm compelled to ask why?

"Because he wants to bleed into the fountain, and doesn't have a spare hand for the lancet," Tanya suggests. "We can try that later."

Dirk says "What the she said."

Amy nods to Tanya, at her comment. "Though bleeding into the town's drinking water is really not a nice thing, so maybe hold that as a last effort?" she says softly. She frowns a bit, thoughtfully. "I think the same magics are here, as when the scorpions and sand were attacking. Though I don't think the same ones are as strong - and there is still that hint of something so old it's older than dirt."

"Blood's lossy and leaky," Tanya says. "But it can power things. Uh... Gavin - that quote - one of the people I taught magic to used to say it. Are you ... did you ever hear it anywhere else?"

Gavin frowns as the fountain glows, "Great... There better be no moist maidens handing out cutlery. Unless it's very good cutlery." He holds his shield up, "Are you sure it's just the men or could it be the blood of Oberon?"

Tanya finally walks closer. Then, as the lights glow at her as well, she drops several words in ancient and austere languages, none of which are suitable for writing. "I'm not male OR related to your damned King," she says. "But that's me setting off my own lesser warding."

Dirk pulls out his dagger and holds it in his mouth. He picks his finger and moves to put a few drops of blood in t he water.

Amy frowns at Gavin. "Well, you know Danielle and I also are related to that king, right?" she murmurs. Maybe he didn't know? Ahem. "So, does that mean someone else is controlling it?" she asks, thoughtfully.

Danielle hms "amy and both have the blood of oberon and our reactions were decidely more tepi.."she's the midst of address ing givin when dirk bleeds into the water

* Amy and I

"I don't think so," Tanya says. "But hear me out. If the underlying magic's shifted a bit, it would be testing for different things. Like when you're cutting out shapes and you grab a different colour of paper. I think things have changed in a way I don't recognise. Like... that older than dirt feeling you're talking about."

The blood drips into the water... and dissipates just like blood should. The lights do not change, the wards do not erupt.

Dirk nods. "ok see it's not the blood."

Gavin looks at Dirk, "Not all blood magic actually requires spilling of blood." He looks at Amethyst and Daninelle. "I know but I was hoping it was getting more excited the more of us there were around it. So if we left then it would calm down."

Tanya compresses a smile at what Gavin says to Dirk.

The fountain does not explode. The frame that keeps it dry fails to go up in flames. The market continues to buy and sell.

Dirk yawns a little.

Danielle nods to Gavin "both could possibly be true. It could react to more of oberon's blood being present and still recognize dirk as dinct from the rest of us but each of us backing from the fountain in turn seems a solid way to test your theord "sir gavin" and step back she does

A little experimentation demonstrates that the greatest reaction by far is to Dirk, then to Gavin and Tanya. The lights change a little, but not much, for Danielle.

And apparently they don't like Amy at all. Which is really not much of a surprise. Poor Amy. Or in this case, lucky Amy. "I wonder why it doesn't like me. now I begin to wonder what's different about me."

"We're a small sample," Tanya says. "And I've been told it's unethical to experiment on passers-by."

Dirk cups his hand and drinks the water.

Danielle hms "Perhaps it has something to do with the line of successions for our respective relatives, which i can never remember. i just know random was last

Even drinking fails to destroy the world, or any part of it. It just tastes like water.

"Yes, but I mentioned at the start of the wild conjectures that I'm not a member of your family," Tanya says. Red-headed, highly magical Tanya.

Amy glances at Tanya, and shrugs. "You sure?" she asks, with a little amusement. "I mean, your hair might match some."

The colonel shrugs. "I'm a distant cousin of Princess Fiona," she says, "But not on the King's side."

Tanya looks at Gavin thoughtfully, for some reason.

Dirk says, "I am Caine spawn the last of his kids to care about him."

Gavin steps back a moment as instructed. "I am Gerard's son." He then looks to Amethyst, "It has no taste then if it doesn't like you."

The lights fade a little as Gavin moves away. "Just maybe we could take the big violent guy's advice, and not be around it," Tanya says, and steps away too.

Amy shrugs to Danielle. "Maybe so. I don't even think I know what it is." She also doesn't appear to care that she and Gavin are cousins of some sort. "Random's daughter - but I am not sure what it matters. Dad's not even here anywhere that i've seen." She has already stepped back. Gavin's words get a quick smile from Amy and then a murmured, "Thank you."

Danielle hms "will just have to keep gathering data and observing but for now no one has new injuries and i need food

After staring at the wardings for a moment longer, Tanya nods, and says, "Leaving. Nice to have a problem that isn't already on fire." She gives Gavin a tip of the hand, albeit a stiff and slightly uncomfortable one, and turns to stalk away.

Dirk says maybe it's all of us together?"

Tanya pauses, sighs, says, "You know what, you might be right, but it's not on fire and I'm going to go not use magic today, because days without magic are important. But we should check that."

"Maybe," Amy replies, just as her stomach growls. She grins at Tanya, and then she says, "All in all, a lovely idea. I'm going to the inn for lunch. Anyone care to join me?"

"Coffee," Tanya says. "Alone." Off she goes.

Gavin looks at Amy, "Of course."

Dirk growls "I used to be a cat."