rix_scaedu

That's an interesting curse. I have to wonder what, exactly, the slimes are. The rose petals as a visual (and probably olfactory) reward for good behavior is a lovely touch. I am still curious where she got the knowledge of how, and got all the various components built into it.

Those gaming tokens may certainly raise some eyebrows, with no maker's mark or gaming house mark. That said, if they can sell for even a good fraction of that crown per dozen, that's going to be a nontrivial amount of money. (Assumptions, so far: a shield is a sub-unit of a crown, ten crowns said to be getting toward expensive, and the licensing fees for a year are a crown, which is presumably nontrivial.)

Also, Liavan's mother seems to have gotten the point rather quickly. I can only hope that it'll be an actual improvement, instead of a superficial improvement with an increasing resentment underneath. However, given the potential money involved from the tokens, there may be an incentive built in there for her to keep being awful, just to get more of the black tokens.

Liavan is doing everything I hoped she would do. I'm glad that Withemistress Penden had good advice and was willing to take Liavan around to the appropriate offices. I like to think that it was from good fellowship as well as because she had supporting evidence, but either way (or both), her experience and reputation certainly helped.

I like the side bit of magic demonstration with the teacup. Only have two? Make a third. Did she need another, or was it just convenience, or showing off? And are the other two made the same way?

The duke's clerk has remarkable authority in the situation, but presumably he — and several other people in other towns — as the representatives of the duke have been suitably deputized for precisely that. I wonder what it would take to get them past their authority and have to refer something to the duke, rather than write a report about it.