Edna Birnbaum was in the library early, clutching a notebook and pen in one hand, with a date circled.

November 25th.

Every year the Library hosted a dinner on this day, for the Fey folk who wished to attend.  Fey generally didn't have families, and many felt alone and apart when that day rolled around and Humans celebrated their families.  So, some years ago, the Library staff began organizing dinners.

Every year for the past seven years, someone new had organized it.  For some reason, no one wanted to organize it twice.

Last year, it had been Breeze, the Sylph.  Breeze was here, and Edna was making her pitch, trying to get the Sylph to do it again.  But Breeze was not giving in.

Tiatha walked into the library early that morning to report for janitor duty. She was told to arrive early, since the library needed to be extra clean for an event of some sort. I wonder what Edna was talking about when she said an event, she thought as she hauled out her janitor's cart from its closet.

"I know I did it last year, but that doesn't mean I have to this year. My boss wants me to do a piece on the approaching high stratus clouds and whether they might turn nimbostratus for Christmas. I told you last week I couldn't do it, and now there's almost no time at all! Can't we just... oh." Breeze noticed the entrance of a fey she hadn't met before and a look of cunning came over her face.

Breeze was fairly well known in the mortal world as a meteorologist (weather girl) on one of the local news networks, but for those who could see through the veil there was no doubt of what she was. She was almost see through. Breeze was very happy to help out at the library most of the time, she knew she wouldn't be able to maintain a glamour strong enough for TV without the veil, but she'd done her troll wrangling and pixie herding last year, once was enough.

"Hi, my name is Breeze, I don't suppose you have a little free time today? I know a brownie who owes me a favour who can do the cleaning in no time but I'm sure you know they're not great at being outside, and I've got a piece for work, and Edna has to run the front desk so... if you're available it would really be a help." She asked with a slightly pleading tone.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:46, Wed 18 May 2016.

Tiatha looked up when she realized that someone was speaking to her. "Um, yes?" she said. As the Slyph talked, Tiatha tried to digure out what was going on. "What... help did you have in mind?" she asked hesitantly, slowly setting down her wastebasket. "I'm not here for anything besides janitor work."

"The janitor's work description in our employee guidebook specifies 'minor fixing and straightening things out' as well," Edna says while adjusting her glasses, which had slipped to the base of her nose.  "I do believe this may count as that.  Yes. Fixing and straightening out.  It's quite an important task, what's more, it's an excellent way to learn who's who.  But... I should leave Breeze to explain things.  There are things I have to.. umm... fix and straighten out."

Edna smiles and slowly walks away.

"Well, as you may have noticed it's Thanksgiving or something for the humans, and some fey can feel a little left out as we don't always have families and so forth. It's always good to celebrate things we can be thankful for though, so the library likes to throw a party, only I told Edna I'm too busy this year and she still didn't find someone else." Breeze shook her head in frustration, why Breeze had to be the one to sort out someone to do it she didn't know, she'd done her time last year. "It would be a great way to get to know people and get involved in the library and everything, and it's a pot luck so you don't have to cook everything, just make sure everyone is bringing different things so there doesn't end up a food fight over who made the best mashed potatoes. There's a list of contact details in the computer, most of them are fine with phone calls but one or two you'll have to see in person as they don't do mortal communication styles, their addresses are in there though. There's a library credit card for when you go shopping for supplies, as some of the smaller fey are completely hidden by the veil so they can't go shopping..." She rummaged under the desk and pulled it out with an 'aha' face before handing it over. "If you can't get Turkey this short notice, or enough Turkey, people don't really mind if there's a roast pig or sheep. Any questions?"

Somewhere in the fast talking and instructions Breeze seemed to have just skimmed over the part where Tiatha hadn't actually agreed to do the job yet...

Tiatha stood in puzzled silence as the Slyph seemed to be rattling off instructions to her. "Wait... Thanksgiving? Dinner? Me?" she said. "I thought you wanted janitor help..."

Then she got to thinking. She had always loved the holiday of Thanksgiving, for it opened up the winter season. If whatever she was doing involved Thanksgiving, maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

"So, um, could you put exactly what you want me to do in one sentence or so?" she asked. "I knew there was an event of some sort today, is that what you are talking about?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:03, Mon 23 May 2016.

One sentence... well Breeze was not known for being taciturn but she'd give it a try.

"You need to organise inviting everyone and who is bringing what food, drink or other items so that everyone brings something and nobody brings the same things."

There, that was as simple as she could put it.

"Wait, so... you're asking ME to ORGANIZE Thanksgiving this year?" Tiatha was purely shocked. "Why ME, of all people? I mean, I am good at that sort of thing, but... I'm just a janitor!"

Breeze sighed... like she hadn't already told the girl? Maybe she should try and find someone else to do the job? Clearly the girl was a little slow on the uptake. But then there wasn't a lot of time and almost everyone else would know better than to agree anyway so she'd have to do. This was going to be a disaster, but it wasn't going to be HER disaster.

"I am busy." She spoke slowly and clearly. "Edna is busy. You are busy but I can get someone to do your job, there isn't someone to do ours. So you're the one who has the time to do it." This was getting tedious and fey did not do well with tedious so it was making Breeze frustrated. "Look, the list of fey is in the computer, you can google ideas for what people need to bring. Now I need to go make a phone call and then get down to the office. Like I said, I'm busy. Here."

She handed Tiatha her business card and with that Breeze began to walk off. The girl would do it or she wouldn't, it wasn't really her problem, Edna should have gotten someone to do the job last week.

Tiatha shrugged. "Well, I guess if there is no one else to do it, I will," she said as she took the card that the slyph handed to her. "I'll do my best!" she called as she walked away. "Now, she said something about organizing who brings what..." She walked over to the computer and sat down. "I need to ask Edna how to prioritize this."

On the computer desktop there was a small file icon labelled "Thanksgiving", inside were a few documents, 'Food suggestion list', 'seating plan notes', 'invitation list'. It seems Breeze had been fairly organised last year but there was no sign it had been updated to include the new arrivals in the city since then.

There are several thousand known Fey in the New York City metropolitan area, and the Librarians believe that's most of them.

Fortunately, most would not be interested in attending Thanksgiving Dinner.  It's really just a small minority.

The "Domestic" Fey, Brownies, Domovoi and other House Spirits, are very attached to their Human families.  Even though they keep themselves secret, no Brownie would abandon his or her Humans to share a meal with a gaggle of strange Fey Folk.

Others see no need to engage in this curious Human custom.  Why would you have a party on one specific day of the year?  To celebrate what, eating?  For some, it's disrespectful to their own identity to do something so... Human.  On the opposite end, a few have managed to infiltrate Human culture so deeply that they have invitations to Thanksgiving dinners already.
Some have other reasons- Codgery Tom always keeps the pub open on holidays.

And of course, there are those Fey who don't like to move, or can't- there are several known Dryads in the region, and though they enjoy Fey company they do not travel far from their trees.

So the List only has a relative few names on the invite list- including some who will pass invitations on to others.  And some of them are already associated with the library- the easiest ones to find.

The others... well, a few of them may present challenges.

Edna wanders back in after a while.  She smiles at the two Fey.

"Oh, I see you're getting to the list," she says.  "That's really the first step, ask around, assemble a guest list.  You can't know What until you know Who.  When and Where are kind of obvious, so you have to work on Who, What, and How, in order.  We can't have that many guests, I'd say fifty at the most.  So it's important to get those who really need this the most.  Ah, but you're new in the city, you don't know many of our resident Fey yet.  Have you been down to Codgery Tom's place?  It's like.. the closest thing your folk have to a social club, I think.  He's been here about two hundred years, and he knows just about everyone."

"No, I have not," Tiatha replied. She turned to the screen and gestured at the guest list. "Will this be sufficient or do I need to add to this?"

"You might have to add, or subtract," Edna says.  "It's a matter of contacting them.  The Fey you talk to might have recommendations.  After all, this is a service we do for the lost and lonely out there, and we don't really know them all.  We try to, but Fey, you know, they come, they go, organizing them is like herding ferrets."

"Well, I have no idea where to start, since i have never done anything like this before," Tiatha replied. "But I will do my best. Thank you for your help!"

Tiatha then turned to the computer. "Okay, let's see..." She then began making notes on what she knew of the Fey of NYC, and began adding a few new invitations to the list of Fey that she knew.

"I would suggest.. less computer, more instinct.  It's a Fey thing," Edna says.  "At least, as far as I know.  Going over to the Emerald Door, Codgery Tom's place, is a good start.  Ask him who might want an invitation.  There aren't many who know the local Fey like he does."

The computer, though, has other ideas.

First on the list is Zoonabelle, the Nature Fairy who lives in the coastal marsh near John F Kennedy Airport, alone in a boat stuck in the sand and abandoned.  Very much a loner, by Fey standards.

She's first because Edna accidentally double clicked the name column, and sorted by reverse alphabetical order.

Tiatha found the invitation template, and began filling them out with the information in the files. She got through the first 20 names or so when she realized that she didn't have the addresses of any of these Fey. "I forgot to ask for those from Edna," she said as she searched through the files for a contact list. "There's got to be one here somewhere."

We are going to transfer here to the new thread: The Library, New House Guests