[Will] You make a saving throw of 1 (required 10). Critical failure.

You tell Lexicon Anathema that you have many questions — some related, others not —, and that another demon, Quin Ataraxis, suggested you come here to speak with her.

The filly joins you at the table, and takes a moment to pour everyone a cup of tea — including a miniature shimmering cup for Tsu-Ko. The sprite seems mildly disturbed by this, but accepts it with a grateful nod nonetheless.

Lexicon Anathema: "... I do have many answers. What do you want to know?"

Feeling as though you are in the presence of an impossibly knowledgeable being, you attempt to determine how to make the most of it... when suddenly, an intrusive thought manifests in your mind.

Before you can stop yourself, the words fly straight out of your mouth: you ask Lexicon Anathema why it is that hay dog buns are sold in bags of six, while the hay tubes come in bundles of eight. Honourshine facehoofs.

Honourshine: "Blaze..."

You open your mouth to backpedal immediately, but to your horror, the demon filly decides to match your silliness with a straight face.

Lexicon Anathema: "To pressure you into buying more. You purchase a bag of six buns and a bundle of eight tubes. After eating six hay dogs, you have two tubes left over. You likely don't want them to go to waste.

So you buy another bag of six buns to use up the two tubes, but now you have four buns too many. You buy another bundle of eight tubes to make four more hay dogs, this time leaving you with four extra tubes.

This means you need another bag of six buns, of which you'll eat four. The other two will need yet another bundle of eight tubes to get rid of. This leaves you with six tubes, which you can finally match with one last bag of six buns.

By this point, you've made twenty-four hay dogs; that's three times the hay tubes, and four times the buns you originally intended to buy."

Moonflower: "Whoa, that's a lotta numbers!"

Honourshine: "I thought it was because hay is sold by weight...?"

Lexicon Anathema: "To whose convenience? If that were the reason, then it would be the same everywhere. It is not."

Honourshine: "... Hm."

You admit that you did not expect a serious answer to that question, and apologize for the distraction. To make up for it, you figure that you should start with Honourshine's mission first: you ask Lexicon Anathema what she knows about the Elves.

Lexicon Anathema: "Ah. And why would you want to learn about them?"

Your foalhood friend rummages through her sidereal bag, then pulls out the strange bell. She places it on the table, and its pure white light is reflected in the demon's eyes.

Honourshine: "When we were foals, we found this bell buried in a cave. I thought I could study it — learn about its origin — but even after all these years, I am just as clueless as I was when I started. A Dwarf mentioned that it belonged to these Elves, but... I didn't press any further."

Lexicon Anathema: "A Dwarf. Yes, I can imagine why."

The filly glances at you briefly. For just an instant, you feel her gaze burning through you, and a shiver runs down your spine.

Lexicon Anathema: "... A shame. A small sacrifice could've saved you much of what precious little time you mortals have. But, you're here now."

Lexicon Anathema takes the bell in her hooves, and looks at the glowing runes engraved on the front. Or rather, she reads them.

Lexicon Anathema: "To all: gather and partake of nourishment. This is a dinner bell."

Honourshine: "A... dinner bell?"

Lexicon Anathema: "The Elves were notoriously fond of their endless schedules. Their culinarians would ring these at specific times of the day to direct commoners to the refectories. It must've fallen off the Yggdrasil tree when the whole thing burned to the ground.

I'd keep it somewhere safe if I were you. Pure Light magic is beyond a rare find these days — there's no one left in this world who can create something like this. Not even the Kirin."

Honourshine: "I see. So the Elves lived in the old Yggdrasil tree, and wielded pure Light magic... interesting. Thank you."