@Derpy that was probably me

I remember relatively recently saying something snarky about someone reminding me FATAL exists anyway

@BESW Is rot13 ok or shall I just post it in the plain? I'm not sure what the netiquette is for spoilers for works this old

The NAB is much less spoiler-averse.

yeah it's fine in here

Well here goes

I believe Osmand had covered his bases by clearing silver from the area. Mr. Bristow held on to a silver coin in secret, hoping to muster the courage to use it to kill the witch. He gave it to John upon hearing him sing about killing the Ugly Bird, realizing John'd have the guts to use it.

Nobody feels obligated to be here.

Not even Smokey, anymore!

lol

well this place is always open for Smokey if we get another rash of "too much spam for main chat"

seemed to work well last time

It'd make sense that he'd cleared the area of silver, yeah.

And while a lot of people seem to be familiar with the folk stories, John's unusual because he codifies them, compares them to each other, puzzles them around in his brain.

TV Tropes the Vampire Slayer

So even if anybody'd noticed Osmand acting weird around coins, it's doubtful they'd make the intuitive leap--and even once John HAD made the leap, the Ugly Bird would've been the end of him if he hadn't had a very unusual old-fashioned habit about stringing his guitar.

That's a pretty common theme in John's stories: folk wisdom and old traditions are useful, but only through mindful consideration and not by following mindless superstition.

There's a story later where he combines folk magic with acoustic science to banish something.