Lansdegown keys

A key on the keyring featuring a blue crown.

The ****L******ansdegown keys**, known to Milo Pine as **Negret's keys**, were a set of keys made for Greenglass House, for the Bluecrowne family. Lucy and Liao intended them to be a present for Xiaoming, but she never received them. They were later found by Milo in the attic of Greenglass House before being given to Owen.

## History

### *Bluecrowne*

Lucy and Liao decided on a name for their house: "blue crown" in Chinese. Lucy gave a parcel to Xiaoming with directions to give it to the armorer, and not look. After Xiaoming's death, Garvett gave Lucy a new ditty bag with a depiction of the house on it. The house's name was on the door, and Garvett said that he had gotten the symbols from the key, which the armorer had said to give to her. He handed her the parcel and she took it. They went back to the house, and Lucy showed the keys to Liao. He was pleased to see that the symbols on the fob were right, and on the other side there was a blue crown. Liao put the key back in the parcel and slid it under the door, so, he said, Xiaoming could have it when she returned.

### *Greenglass House*

Milo Pine discovered a ring of keys in the attic. There were five keys on a leather loop, and on the leather loop was a small hammered disk, with Chinese characters on one side, and a crown with blue enamel on the other. Milo pretended that the keys had been given to his Odd Trails character, Negret, by Negret's father. Milo put the keys in his pocket, deciding to try them on the attic door, and left the attic. When Meddy informed Milo that he could make up a backstory for his Odd Trails character, Milo touched the keys.

Milo later took the keys out of his rucksack again, and examined them. When he needed to turn into Negret to entice the guests to tell stories, Milo touched his keys again. In the morning, Milo took them from his bedside table and pocketed them before going downstairs. When Milo needed to talk to Georgie, he touched Negret's keys, 'for luck', then again when he needed bravery.

Milo used the keys to help him get open a cake of soap containing Mr. Vinge's watch, wedging the hammered disc into the seam and wrenching the soap cake in half. When Milo found Mrs. Hereward's bag, he saw symbols sewn onto the door on the bag, and taking out the keys, discovered they matched the Chinese characters perfectly. Milo later took out the keyring and copied the symbols onto his spiral pad with clues. When he learned the secret of Owen's name Lansdegown, Milo insisted that Mrs. Hereward tell Owen, clutching the keys in his pocket and thinking of Negret's father. When Milo heard a noise in the night, he pocketed the keys from his bedside table before going to investigate, then put them back into his pocket in the morning. Milo later, thinking of Negret's past, thought of the keys.

Mrs. Hereward told Owen about his name Lansdegown, and how it meant Bluecrowne and the original owners of Greenglass House. Milo took the keys out of his pocket, ran his fingers over the characters on the disk, turned it over, and looked at the image of a blue crown, realizing how quickly he'd begun to treasure the keys and the pretend history that went with them. Milo asked his parents if he could give Owen the keys, knowing it was the right thing to do, and they agreed. Milo told Owen that he'd found the keys and kept them because he'd thought them 'neat', but thought Owen should have them. Owen ran his fingers over the keys, and Milo confirmed that Owen could have them, Owen saying he would treasure the keys. Owen thanked Milo. Milo and Negret made peace with the departure of the keys. Owen told Milo how happy he was to have something connected to his history that he could carry with him, and presented Milo with an ivory dragon he still had from his childhood.

Meddy noted that the Lansdegown keys were probably there when she had been alive, but still seemed new to her. She noted that Milo had found the Lansdegown keys, listing them among many other things he'd discovered.

### *Ghosts of Greenglass House*

Milo and Meddy created a new Odd Trails character for Milo the following year, called Téngfēi. Meddy said that he needed a locus for his character, and Milo expressed skepticism that one could be found in the attic. Meddy reminded him of the locus he'd found the previous year, and Milo recalled the Lansdegown keys. When creating Téngfēi's backstory, Milo recalled the set of keys that Negret's father had given him, in Negret's history.

## Physical characteristics

When Milo found them, there were five keys on a knotted leather loop. Also on the leather loop was a small hammered disk that was misshapen and convex, and had an uneven hole punched for the leather loop. On one side of the disk were four Chinese characters, and on the other side a crown with blue enamel still clinging to it.