They played a game of Swords and Spells, his invention. A Centaur friend of Selen was trying to introduce his bemused girlfriend to the hobby. Vonn ran the session, making up something about evil masked priests with spear-flinging magic. They were sitting around in Selen's early workshop, where the tubs and alchemical tubes had mostly been packed up for transport to the new place.

"You mentioned cards," said the Centaur girl. "How hard is it to make cards with that printing press of yours?"

Vonn said, "I'm not closely involved with that but some people back home are trying it. Needs stiffer paper, and it's hard to get multiple colors. You have to use differently shaped stamps in the same place."

"Newroot here has been getting ink on his hooves already; maybe he could try it."

Selen explained, "We tried printing designs on cloth. Looks too amateurish though, compared to the tie-dye we've been selling."

Vonn tapped the underside of his muzzle. "I don't have an easy solution. You might try a wooden frame that holds a sheet in place while you stamp it by hand. Wouldn't be too labor intensive to make a dozen decks that way. You could also hire low-level Artists to each paint one little design over and over, though that's still tricky." Aside to Selen he said, "A company called Nintendo got its start that way."

Selen feather-smiled. "It's a low priority, but we might try cards or even a press of our own."

The red Aves had just come back from a late errand, and he looked shaken. He clutched a one-page news sheet that Vonn recognized from the printer kids in Shieldpoint. Headline: "Necro Earthquake at Mine Dungeon!"

Vonn smacked his muzzle. "Journalism!"

The bird read aloud, looking incredulous. The sensational article talked about the late-night standoff at Shieldpoint and military action against monsters and possibly the Bonefire Guild, the local Necromancers.

Vonn said, "That's maybe half true. Damn."

Selen stood up. "We need to fix this right now." She definitively pushed her gaming dice away and took out fresh paper. She had her self-made fountain pen along.

The Centaur boy said, "So what really happened?"

She said, "We got told by the Duke himself not to spread rumors. Sorry, but we need to shut up about this." She scribbled, crossed things out, and wrote while reading aloud. "We, Selen Moonlit of Grandbridge and -- Vonn, are you going by Chandler as a formal name or what?"

"Just do 'Vonn of Shieldpoint' for now."

"We hereby reject the recent reports coming from Shieldpoint about unusual magical activity. These are inaccurate rumors, based on our own information. We recommend looking to the Duke for the latest reliable facts."

"Do you really want to trust the Duke as the media source?"

"How do you feel about spikes?"

"I'll sign."

The red Aves chirped. "Well, it's not the first time we've seen a rumor panic. Remember that time two years ago, Selen?"

"Uh... not offhand. So should I drop this off at the palace? It's late."

"We'll go together."

Selen left with him, looking spooked. Vonn leaned back in his chair and looked at the abandoned game. "So, we're learning about the effects of widespread printing presses. That report is probably going downstream too. I need to have a word with the printers."

The Centaur guy settled himself again atop his cushion, next to his date. "Heading home, then?"

"Yeah, we ought to get going. I was hoping to visit Whispering Glen's dungeon, but this isn't a pleasure trip."

The mare said, "You and Selen really are busy folk, aren't you?"

"I'll probably slow down after another five levels or so."

#

Vonn ended up spending one more day in the city anyway. Word reached him in the morning that "the Duke appreciates your efforts and hopes you will speak with the printers". Vonn gulped.

The good news was that Selen convinced him to stay one more day to give a presentation about the airplane, to the Knowledge Society. He couldn't explain exactly what he'd been doing on that last flight, but he could talk about the design and testing.

Which gave him an excuse to spend hours in the Society library. Selen had gifted him a fountain pen of his own -- "in return for an airplane ticket sometime" she said -- and he made good use of it. Geomancy was his focus today.

This group of scholars was cagey about the higher secrets of the Mage class due to guild rules, but had at least basic information about the idea of terrain-based spellcraft. Instead of flinging elemental blasts or raw force from his body he could work enchantments on the ground itself or objects attached to it. He'd seen examples of it back home, including blessed poles stuck in the ground around the temple, a monster snare set by the local expert, some earth-stabilizing work done at a construction site, and most recently an alarm ward set up by the evil Baron. Vonn was a second-level Mage with no particular skill at this subject, so he hadn't even seen the ward. Tazo, at third level, had been able to see a vague shimmer. For comparison, Vonn could create a little ice dart or a light, while Tazo could chuck a pouch of sawdust and make a small explosion with it. So neither of them were amazing. But the town's best specialist Geomancer was only fourth level.

When it was time for the lecture, Selen fetched him. "Too bad you don't have a model to show off like the engine builder."

She'd told him about watching a presentation of a steam engine, by a Centaur living to the south. He said, "I want to meet that guy. And sell him some safety valves."

"Learn anything useful today?"

Vonn hugged the tome he'd been reading last. "I at least have a vague idea about what our Geomancer is probably doing around the dungeon site. Also, we could try making an airstrip with an ongoing wind enchantment."

"Remember not to get into the 'rumors' tonight."