Hey everyone! Between arcs two and three, I needed a bit longer than expected to gather my thoughts and finalize my pns. So, to keep things moving, I asked my patrons to throw questions at me... but not for me, no. These questions were for the cast of TDoC! I picked out a few that seemed interesting and not likely to spoil anything. So, with no further rambling, the Q&A!

  Q: Ivy Crawford: How long is a march?

  A: A march is... a march long?

  Hah. That probably doesn’t help at all, does it.

  I am nearly two marches tall, and most adult humans are somewhere between one and a half marches and two.

  Q: Ivy Crawford: Did you try out any other fighting styles before settling on augmenting yourself with magic and punching things?

  A: Hah. Gods, yes, I can't even begin to make a list. Couldn’t really be a brawler of my current sort when I was, what, half a head shorter? And scrawny to boot. I used a mace for a while, then tried being a ranged fighter with enchanted arrows— bah, that was miserable and mostly useless.

  Worst style I tried was greatswords. Just too much work to get good at, when most monsters don't care much when stabbed or sliced. I'd have to learn how to infuse the bde, and at that point, I'd already started to realize I'm much better at doing that to my body.

  Also, you can't rip monsters in half with your hands full. Missing out on that would be awful.

  Q: Ivy Crawford: Do you have a favorite kind of snack to keep on hand when you travel?

  A: Now that's a good question. My answer?

  No, but yes if you like making assumptions.

  Why would I limit myself to one? I buy whatever the locals have that keeps well and tastes good. Bags of dried oats and equally dried fruits are nice, jerky is fine, candy sounds like a great idea but it absolutely isn't...

  Oh, and of course, dried soup. Yes, dried soup, usually with onions and turnips. Add to hot water and it turns into normal soup, or eat directly if you enjoy feeling miserable. That's what the fruit is for.

  As for why I could say yes, but only squinting?

  Potato hardtack. Gods, potato hardtack. It's dried like dried soup but they grind it up, soak it in fat, and mix it with berries. Tastes like... something... and so many towns seem to love it. I hate it, but if that's all they have for trail foods, I'm putting up with it.

  Q: Helena Harkness: How long have you wanted to try and become a mage?

  A: Oh, gosh. Um. A while! Years, definitely. Magic is just so fascinating to me! And what better what to learn about it, explore it, and use it to help people than becoming, um, a Mage?

  Q: Helena Harkness: Do you have a favorite book? It can be one book on magic and one other, if there’s a difference.

  A: Um...

  Cssical Magecraft volume 6, for magic. Did you know it’s banned in more than half of Caliburn, as well as the Isles? Well, banned for distribution, I mean. Infusion of weaponry with magic isn’t that controversial a topic, if you ask me, and there’s so much to learn from how materials change when exposed to rge amounts of Archetypal magic! In a way distinct from enchantments!

  Fascinating if you, um, ask me. That’s the precursor to modern alchemy! Maybe a few buildings got blown up, that’s awful, but you can’t hide knowledge like that once it’s out there. Ivy still won’t let me take it out of her library.

  For “other”, that’s a really big subject. Everything, even! Ah... that would have to be Records of a Falling Sun. It’s a fictionalized record of the Colpse detailing the equally fictional Nile Corvus’ flight from the Ontosian Empire all the way through the establishment of the Kingdom of Ard Judicia.

  Ah, I mostly like it because of the stories about her falling in love with her wife, but most of the historical events are entirely accurate to existing records.

  Q: Elizabeth Tousavon: Do you keep notes on the other nobles in Craumont to use to stir up drama when you're bored?

  A: Oh, darling, I would never keep notes on the nobility in Craumont— there’s only Winnie and Ivy, and they stir up trouble well enough without me. Now that Ivy has returned and pns to stay (not that she realizes this, the poor dear), there’ll never be a dull month.

  For my home city of Tousavon, with its useless limpet of an uncle and Lord? Or perhaps the grand city of Aylton and its court? I’ve got reams of gossip for stirring the pot and perhaps letting it bubble over. It’s alphabetized, even.

  Q: Winston Craumont: Do your horns ever get caught in things?

  A: Not on doorframes, much to my chagrin. I’m far too short for that.

  But, no, not anymore. I have learned how to avoid getting caught in such things as curtains, tapestries, my husband’s hair, sharp turns...

  Ahem.

  I would not trade them for anything, but dear Elluvial, the points are a nuisance. I’ve gotten them stuck in a wall before, you know, and Elizabeth has used them to open wine bottles.

  Q: Ruby Gelson: Do you actually like sweeteners that much, or were you just messing with Ivy?

  A: Sweet is the ideal characteristic of food, and a ratio of two parts water to one part honey is optimal in tea. I will have it when it is avaible.

  Further, it is my understanding that Ivy possesses funds such that I may indulge to my liking. Why would this “mess” with her?

  Q: Ruby Gelson: How did you hone your skills at detecting lies and truths?

  A: People are, after sufficient observation, predictable. Studying behavioral patterns was necessary as a child for me to ascertain what was actually said, behind the various yers of subtext people insist upon utilizing.

  My first subject of practice was the inimitable Detective Tracer. His personality lends itself to simir theatrics as Ivy, albeit on a much more frequent basis, and with a low likelihood of expnation.

  Further, most “detecting of truths” can be put down to simply documenting what everyone says. I recommend keeping an indexed record of all statements, including date, cimed time, actual time (if provable), known retionships, ect. This can then be referenced against memories of previous behaviors... I shall provide an example booklet, which should only be one hundred pages long.

  Q: Benny: Goofiest thing you’ve seen Ivy do?

  A: At a young age, Madam Ivy had all of her headstrong behavior and none of the tempering she now possesses. To name a “goofiest thing” would be to do her penchant for self-injury a disservice.

  My personal favorite of her... youthful escapades... was breaking out of the Estate in what she assumed were “commoner clothes” in order to buy dinner for herself. The ruffles were quite a sight.

  Q: The Manor: How old are you?

  A: A groaning of wood floors, a sigh of wind through aged curtains. A foundation of ancient stones, carved far away under the eye of an old Sun.

  Two house-swarms gathered along a carved stream, becoming one. Blood, ash, and hatred, a crumbling of power after many masters.

  Q: Adamantine, Goddess of Justice, Regent of the Sun: Hi!

  A: Hello!

  Origami_Narwhal