Editing Runes (section)

=== Privacy ===
:''Almost half of a typical ‘sun’, as a child might draw it, with the rays fanning outward, and a dot in the middle.'' - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/01/04 Excerpt] from [[Bonds 1.5]]

A rune that wards off people. Employed by Laird, drawing on his reputation with spirits of the [[Jacob's Bell]] community.<ref name=":1">He’d grabbed three little paper packets of sugar, and tore two open.  I watched as he tore them open, then emptied them.  They missed his drink entirely, forming a little dune onto the table, with grains dancing across the slick, not-quite washed surface.<br><br>He moved his cup, placing it onto the pile, and sliding it across the table.  When he lifted it, the sugar was left in a crescent shape where it had been dragged by the underside of the cup.  He emptied the remaining packet, a smaller pile in the center of the crescent, and then three lines, fanning outward, on the other side.  The edge of the paper packet helped give the three lines form.<br><br>Almost half of a typical ‘sun’, as a child might draw it, with the rays fanning outward, and a dot in the middle.<br>[...]<br>“That should provide a bit of privacy,” Laird said.  He sipped his coffee.  “We tend to learn a few tricks, because it’s expedient.  This one is a bit of shamanism.  Many of the circles here and there will look down on someone for ''dabbling''. [...] I make a meager food offering, create a sign to indicate what I want, and draw from the reputation I maintain with local community spirits.  A bonus of my position.  The spirits play along, because they know it keeps people safer and helps to keep the community safe, and because they know I’ll make a better offering later, a habit I’ve established. The end result?  They turn people away before they sit nearby, and we can talk without fear of eavesdroppers.”<br><br>“And these benign spirits can turn on you.”<br><br>“Always a concern, with any Other.  If something goes wrong, if I allow too many people to go out into the cold instead of sitting here and someone gets hurt, or if the business starts to suffer here due to a  lack of customers, my credit with these same spirits might become strained, and they might take issue.  At the very least, I’d get less free coffees.  At worst, I might find events conspiring to take my position from me, or I might even get drawn and quartered in the streets.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/01/04 Excerpt] from [[Bonds 1.5]]</ref> This rune, or something like it, was also used to prevent prying during meetings of the [[Behaim Circle]].<ref>A meeting at Laird’s house, it seemed.  I could see the spirits 
moving.  A rune was being used to ward off curious civilians, which meant I had to look otherwise occupied.<br>[...]<br>
As dessert wrapped up, I saw the spirits shift. The rune that had been drawn to keep neighbors from coming in had changed somewhat.
Adam’s wife approached him, their two kids following her.  “Can you take the kids out for a movie?  It’s going to be a big group thing.” One of the men in the group gave me a telling look.  This was it. The non-members were getting driven out, both overtly and subtly.<br>[...]<br>The small handful of people who were leaving were, with the help of the rune gently urging people to leave, starting to clear the house. - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/02/20 excerpt] from [[Breach 3.3]]</ref>