"She wants a breakfast per individual name but I did get one, Jafee Khalar."

"Huh. I guess we can keep playing along with that until one of the scries works."

"Yeah, I figured it was good enough since you can also retry on the people you already know."

"Exactly. We'll get a lead sooner or later."

"Most of these people don't have antiscrying. Even the ones you'd assume could afford it. I'd say it's kind of stupid of them but I don't cast the spell every day and I don't have an item for it."

"I have an item."

" - when'd you pick it up?"

"Desna gave it to me personally the last time I talked you into casting Mending on the telescope at one of her observatories."

"Can you get another one?"

"If I see her I'll introduce you."

"Thanks. She might be vaguely acceptable, see."

"I think so! The observatories are neat."

"I've never been!"

"I'll show you sometime. - guess we could go today, there's one north of here."

"Ooh. I guess you and this carpet aren't busy till a scry hits paydirt."

"We're really not."

"I wanted to do some reading," grumbles Mahdi, but he turns the carpet around to go north instead.

"Do you get motion sick if you read on the carpet?"

"The books get a little bit of sand in them. Not too noticeable for something like this but we did a trip out to Mekshir once and when I got back they wouldn't close quite right anymore."

"It won't shake out? Or prestidigitate?"

"You can do it page by page."

"I guess that'd be annoying. Whatcha reading, anything good?"

He brightens. "Kareteret's Spell Alteration."

"Ooh, what kindsa spell alterations -"

"Extending range and extending effect duration. They're conceptually kind of similar." He gesticulates as he begins to explain this and Hagan, annoyed, switches laps to Fazil's instead.