Artur was letting the grown-ups talk.
"Well, Mama's very busy, so you don't have to bother her with that."
"I can take them back. I know where they go."
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Simon looks to Artur for his social cues.
I trust the nephew. Besides, I thought you wanted to look at them, not take them. I need these for the project. My brother Maurice is coming by in a few days to look at them. He is a really good reader. Artur can read better than me, but Maurice knows what all the big words mean and he knows something about magic.
He promised to help me if I took the shapechanging lessons from dad. He is the one that came up with the idea to use the mists. He wants to look at the notes for creating owlbears first. Make sure about something something or whatever.
Artur nods and moves closer to Simon.
Roger grabs some burnt ram and tries to find edible bits to go with the cheese.
Burnt to a crisp. Just âow I like it. âEre be no reason to bother âer mum wit nothin, Artur. âave any salt?
Artur shakes his head. "No, he doesn't."
Simon forgets himself and eats his plate.
Actually, I do have salt. Your uncle Maurice, he manages the salt mine for the covenant. Up in Las Salines. Something about that location. It attracts dragon-kind if it is vacant. There was that elder salt wyrm the magi zapped with lightning. Then another salt wyrm cane and took control, and there was another expedition that fought and killed it. So Maurice took the job as manager and keeps the dragons away. In human form, he is just one of the people and works as a manager type guy. When needed, mainlly because of llocal tradition, he takes dragon form and accepts their offerings. He put an end to the human sacrifice. He instead takes payment in magic salt.
Vis! In the form of salt! It is the best ever!
Maurice, do you like vis in your food? I love the taste of vis. I used to favor the hot stuff and the meaty stuff, but I am really into the salty and metallic stuff now. And that waxy stuff that tastes like..., i don't know what to compare it to but it is tasty!
Simon gets up and finds the salt grinder. Loaded with what Simon claims to be Vis infused salt. Probably Terram.
Sooooo,
Whar are you gonna do now? You did ask for salt. It would be rude to not accept it. But you are unsure what the effects of eating vis may be.
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Marcellus hesitates for a moment and his saved from too much awkwardness by Roger's timely intervention.
For, he answers Simon's comment about the lab texts. "Oh, certainly I can look at them here. It would certainly be a good start and I would be happy to help. But to understand them fully, I will need to run a few experiments in a laboratory. Instructions like these can be sooo delicate. We would not want to make a mistake and hurt the owlbears by accident, now would we?" He looks around, as if searching, "Do you have a laboratory here? Or a place where I can look at the texts?"
To Artur, he says, smiling, "Of course you know where they go. And I know your mother is busy, but a mother always likes to hear that her son is behaving well and not getting into trouble. No mother likes to hear her son is doing things he should not be doing. And they so love it when someone tells them he is behaving well."
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There is a lab! Maurice said it is a shambles and has been picked clean. But it works for me! I already built my first experiment. Artur helped me.
His mother is of House Flambeau, so, being proper and well behaved is certainly at the top of the list 
But for a child that can breath fire, the kid is a saint!
OOC
Marcellus is not trying to get Artur in trouble. In fact, he's trying to help the boy. If he can convince him to return the texts and the rod of teleportation, without his mother finding out about the incident, that's all good. But, on the other hand, if he doesn't cooperate then Marcellus will have no choice but to report his activities to the covenant, including Vibria.
Marcellus' interest in the owlbears is genuine. They're the reson he came on this mission. If they can be controlled enough not to cause danger to people, he's all for letting them be and studying them. He certainly doesn't want them wiped out if it can be helped. He's not so sure about them getting stronger, because that makes them harder to control. He'd certainly be interested in finding out if they can be trained. Perhaps one could even become a familiar. He thinks that Simon may not be the best one to lead such experiments, however, because the dragon doesn't seem to have a balanced idea of the risks involved in these. Perhaps he can be guided so that the results are not too dangerous.
/OOC
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Oh I wouldnât want to trouble you, Simon.
Having low self esteem and a desire to stay connected to humanity Roger hasnât given much contemplation as to himself being a magical being. Sure he knows he is, it just rarely comes up and rarely needs to be addressed.
It seems a bit valuable to... He mumbles.
Now that he thinks about it, he may need to consume vis like any other magical being. Itâs just, not now really. Not here. In front of others. Conflicted, he wonât say no if Simon insists.
Well, when in Rome.
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After lunch, during which Roger eats vis salt, Simon shows off the lab. If it can be cauled that. What was once a Mermetic laboratory is now a shambles picked over many times. But there is still a cauldron and some tools.
This is my experiment!
The "experiment" consists of three large eggs in a heap of dung, with a weather vane atop the mound.
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Marcellus looks at the lab without touching anything, and leans a bit towards the eggs. "Most unusual," he says finally. "I can certainly see several potential ways to improve upon your lab, if you allow me to say so. As for your experiment, what is your reasoning about the various elements? Again, I must say that reading the lab texts may very well reveal additional insights."
Then, as if suddenly thinking of something, he turns to Roger. "Roger, while we do that, would you mind going to the others to reassure them that everything is fine here? I would not want them to worry."
OOC: I remember when I was about 4 or 5, I tried to build a robot. My materials were a mop, an old soda shop mixer, and some yarn. Simon's "experiment" is something like that.
I am sure Artur will accompany you to the lab. It is just as much his experiment as it is Simon's.
These are the last three eggs that Featherbottom created. I am trying to get them to hatch. The dung is keeping hem preserved and warm. The weather vane is my monitor.
OOC Understood about the "experiment". That was my reading of it as well. Marcellus is trying to remain positive and not hurt Simon's feeling about the crudeness of all this.
"A monitor for what?"
"Would you mind if I cast a spell to gather information?"
(Assuming the answer is positive, Marcellus will cast a simple spontaneous spell to check if the eggs are still viable, touching each in turn. Base 3 + 1 Touch + 1 Conc = Level 5. Casting total is Sta 1 + Intellego 1 + Animal 8 + focus 1 + die 3 = 14.)
Um, well, I was told that magic works on symbols. The vane is a detection device of some kind. I figured that, when the eggs are ready, it will start spinning.But it is taking so long!
Go ahead!
Here I am unsure of the results. Suspend disbelief as I discuss what I am thinking, and feel free to give me feedback.
AFAIK, as they are magical creations, owlbears cannot reproduce by natural means. Each was created with a ritual spell. My thoughts are that these eggs are either A) the products of said ritual, awaiting the final key to trigger them, or B) they are constructs enchanted with Hermetic Empowerment to cast said ritual when conditions are right.
To keep things moving along, I will say your spell detects something. Not sure which way to go with the metaphysics here, so input is appreciated.
The question is how they are magically created. If the magus started with owls and warped them and maybe forced them to reproduce with bears, well in theory the natural ability of owls (and bears) to reproduce could have been maintained.
If he just used a creo Animal ritual- well technically nothing says magically created animals can't reproduce either, since there is no soul involved.
of course these also have might, but some things with might can reproduce while others cannot...
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I am going to go with "Tricorder detects faint life signs"
Marcellus reports back his findings to Simon and Artur, "The eggs appear to be still alive, although their life force is weak. How long do you intend to keep them there? Do you know how long it took the other eggs to hatch? The lab notes should contain that information." He looks at the boy when he says that, not having yet received an answer about consulting the notes.
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My brother suggested soaking them in the spring of those Terregin Mists I mentioned. Let them soak up some magic energy or something like that he said.
"Did the original researcher do that? What does the lab notes say? If not," Marcellus shakes his head, "I would avoid doing that. It might kill the eggs."