Miriam gathered friends and acquaintances of Stephania's at the Keg and Anchor in Trinsic to help her track down the source of the book--and possibly a rainbow dasher for her granddaughter.
They traveled to the Minoc gypsy camp and met Jeffy the gypsy, who revealed that he had gotten the original book from his pal Sal and was reprinting them.
He sold or traded a few copies to the group, and those who could read were treated with the following:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Legend of the Rainbow Dasher
by Lord Blackthorn
Despite the undeniable breadth and depth of Britannian fauna, there obstinately persist anecdotal tales of peculiar creatures, the likes of which are nary to be found in the realm today. Perhaps one of the most splendid and fantastical of these is that of the harlequin unicorn, curiously nicknamed the “rainbow dasher” by some of the nomadic people I’ve met in my travels who have heard of the beast.
While zoology is scarcely my specialty, I found myself intrigued at the notion of so unlikely a creature. Precise descriptions vary, but most accounts portray a muscular white horse with a single horn protruding from its forehead.
Surprisingly, that is not its most notable characteristic. This horned steed also bears a striking multicolored mane and tail composed of all the colors of the rainbow. The more eccentric of tales assert that these are actually captured prismatic light, caught in the creatures’ tresses as they run freely over rainbows themselves.
One might find this quite unlikely, dismissing such rumors as children’s fairy stories or the mutterings of half-mad clairvoyants. However, I find a compelling and paradoxical optimism to the concept. Magic exists in our world, and none among us knows all its secrets and surprises.
I can only surmise that, if indeed such creatures ever existed, they may have been hunted to extinction; surely so impressive a beast would long have passed from myth to mainstream in our modern society if any survived. Should that be the case, one can only mourn the loss--and condemn the human arrogance that precipitated it.
Then too, should such creatures ever be rediscovered, one can only hope that they would be prized, valued, and preserved for the doubtless unique and majestic beasts they would be.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
They learned that Sal was running out of the Urali camp in Eodon. They met a Urali there who directed them out to the desert to the southwest, where they found Sal himself.
As it turned out, Sal had a novel method of creating the creatures...
Miriam accepted one of the "rainbow dashers" in exchange for her silence on how they were created. (Notably, no one else present made any such promise.) She took the creature back to her delighted granddaughter, and they all lived colorfully ever after.