Mulberry translates the symbols above the door and above the hole to the general store.
 
““Need - Big - Person - Big - Protection”
 
…Is this what Antoine was talking about when he referred to protection? The mare tries to think of the symbols she saw at the McClank’s. She thinks the runes were two “Big”s, a “Knowledge”, and a “Call” rune. What could those be used for?
 
Looking back at the pages she read, Mulberry sees Antoine refer to the pictographs as “Birdsong Runes”. She takes out her map and flattens it on the table. The College in the northeast part of town is called “Birdsong” as well. Are they related…?
 
She decides to search the desk more. The books seem to be in some kind of code unfortunately. If she wants to try to read them she’ll need to sit down and try to decrypt the code. Instead she reads more of the other writings.
 

 
Haphazardly using the runes is not recommended. Some of the research notes from the castle indicate they had no idea what they were doing. There was even an anecdote of a wizard attempting to use the “Time” and “Travel” runes, only to end up aging quickly into bones, and then dust.
 

 
Next, she reads a page of the diary from some months ago, around the time he first came to Mournthread.
 

 
I had heard that the headmaster of Birdsong had burned a lot of the texts after he committed those grisly murders, but what I had not expected was how thoroughly the government searched and seized the rest. Add on top of that the robbers that took everything of value. Nearly all that’s left is rotted furniture and old, tattered tapestries and drapes.
 
Luck was on my side however. The mayor let slip that the college had some hidden chambers below the main floors. He claimed it wouldn’t be likely I’d find anything else down there, but it’s worth a shot.
 
After all, if there is one hidden room there may be others there.
 

 

 

 
icFic’s Patreon:  
https://www.patreon.com/ficficponyfic?ty=h
 
FicFic’s Tumblr:  
http://ficficponyfic.tumblr.com
 
FicFic’s Picarto:  
https://picarto.tv/Ficficponyfic
 
——
 
Feel Free to discuss this post in the comments.
 
or
 
At the discord chat server here:  
https://discord.gg/ncB2svz
 
 
——
 
You can also check out this archive here:
 
https://www.anonpone.com/mournthread/
 
——
 
Next page:  
>>page 37  
Previous Page:  
>>page 35