Fionna gives no indication, but you will probably be wanted to play at dinner anyways...
"Well, I wouldn't know what sort of lore there is. I think Grainne has authority over the library, but certainly you are welcome for dinner at least. In fact I insist. Do you need some place to change into your dinner attire or do you plan to change magically? Oh, and when will your wife be joining us?"
Éogan followed the smell of new stories, and tagged along into the house, waving goodbye to the fox as it ran into the woods.
Hugh's eyes get big for a moment. "Thank you very much! I don't actually have a wife. Though I do have a familiar, I left him to run about the woods until I had time to request a token... May I trouble you? It will ease my wardrobe, as well."
She stops and turns "You don't have a wife? I thought all magi had wives, or husbands of course, for the women magi. You are full magus, aren't you? This isn't your Macgnimartha is it?" Fionna closes her eyes and her head drops a bit.
Hugh blushes. "I am young, but no, this is not my Macgnimartha. I was gauntleted in 1187. I suppose we have different traditions on the continent, some magi are married, but not all."
Fiona mutters "Not all magi are married in Hibernia", but the woman in blue glares at her " that is true, and for some I understand the decision. Flambeau, after all might not wish to leave a widow, and the Tremere would probably want to wait until they can return from Transylvania, though who knows, maybe they are following Transylvanian standards or something. But Merinita? Everyone at the covenant has a wife, a familiar and a talisman. Usually in that order, though I understand some find their familiar before their wives. How can they lead a full life as a Merinita without them? Without someone to introduce at the faerie court, why they would be ridiculed! And you want to approach the Aesir for a boon without a wife!"
Hugh stammers a bit, on the defensive. "Well... I... um... I'm still young! I found a familiar, but I haven't found a wife yet. I've been itinerant for a while. I didn't know it would matter to the Aesir, that's... good to know." He looks around desperately, trying to find a way to change the subject.
Fionna notices his distress "Aoife, lets see if we can find Hugh a date for dinner, we wouldn't want the gender balance of the table to be upset, would we?" and suddenly it is Aoife who looks panicked " Of course, of course. Not a grog, not an apprentice. Someone we can get here tonight. Human or faerie?"
Hugh shoots a grateful smile at Fionna for a moment, then he looks back to his hostess. "Whatever is convenient for you is fine for me, I enjoy meeting new people of all sorts."
Aoife looks at hugh and cocks an eyebrow "How do you feel about warrior women?" Fionna seems to realize who she is talking about and looks shocked.
Hugh shrugs, "Sounds exciting! I have confidence in you as hostess that you wouldn't hand me over to someone who would try to kill me."
"Perfect." she writes something on a slip of paper and hands it off to a servant who is nearly invisible simply as a social ability, then she continues almost as if in a single thought. "Now we need to see to your clothes. What sort of tartans do you use on the continent?"
Hugh looks confused. "Tartans? What's a tartan? I just wear this." He whirls flamboyantly, his deep blue silk robe twirling out a little. "Though I was recently told I was dressed like one of the three magi, which was strange. But I can change it to suit whatever fits the standard of dress at your table."
She blinks "You wear linen? Seems cold, but I guess if you have magic on it...But you need some accessories, a jacket maybe, and well, traditionally the socks...and how can you really decorate without the pin and sporran?" Fionna takes her shoulders " I think the clothes will be fine, beside with who you're inviting to be his plus one its not like anyone will be noticing him." Between the two women they get you settled in and ready for dinner, which you realize is not just extravagant but something of a formal affair, at least, as Fionna describes it, until the first drink is poured.
Your arranged date is an 8 foot tall woman who muscles are rivaled only by her bosom, and whose clothing leaves little to the imagination except for how it is that her anatomy manages to defy natural law, except that you realize that she must be a faerie drawn from stories of licentious men. She virtually picks you up with one arm and pulls you close as she introduces herself as Aife.
Hugh will try get an aegis token, if they are willing, otherwise he will allow Sionnacliste to share his senses, he knows that the fox faerie would not want to miss the banquet, even in the guise of a lapdog or a hound by the fire.
Hugh is happy to meet Aife. Having grown up with an ettin-wife as an adopted mother, he doesn't feel intimidated, and while he is certainly attracted to her, he is also respectful of and curious about her, telling her about his own adoptive mother and the story/role she fulfills. [The beautiful ogress in the forest cave, that men try to seduce, but if they spend a night with her and their heart is impure, she kills them in their sleep and eats them.] The thing that interests him the most about faeries is their differences in cognizance; and he will try to figure out how cognizant Aife is, without being rude or embarrassing her, by prompting her and giving her the opportunity to tell her story if she wants to, without putting her on the spot by asking directly.
[Silk, not linen - I assume magi can get silk more easily than is the medieval norm, in any color they can dream up, through CrAn magic; and it's desirable for shapeshifting, since it can be included in a pre-existing An req.]
Yes, and certainly magi of Normandy could, but silk is essentially unknown in Ireland, so she mistook it for linen.
Aife's story seems pretty straight forward, and her cognizance, in the faerie sense, non existant. she is a warrior woman who has another warrior woman (Scáthach) as a rival and they fight constantly, sometimes having men stand in as their champions. When a man defeats her in combat she will bear him a child. She seems reluctant to relate this as story or history though you are able to piece it together from bits of conversation, talking about her son's father, for example, and of course she is ever ready to spit vitriol about Scáthach...
Hugh doesn't press her to relate things she is reluctant to, he is polite but less interested when he realizes she is incognisant. He behaves with courtesy, trying to pick up what he can about the other diners without being rude to her.
The guests seem to include local nobility, several faeries, and a couple of wealthy merchants. And of course the entertainment, including the covenant bard and several women (and a couple of men) who appear to be entirely decorative.
Hugh will try to sound out the magi to see how they feel about long-term guests, asking about how often they have visitors, do they have a lot of space, etc. He's trying to be subtle but he expects them to realize what he's asking.
He will also try to work in a code phrase that will indicate his membership in the Seekers to any other Seekers present, if there is something pre-established they use.
They seem open to the idea of long term guests, but not hermetic hosting, until you slip the recognition phrase for the seekers into the conversation. Suddenly you can hear a pin drop. The host stands up and looks your direction, and with a certain edge in his voice exclaims "Excuse me!?"