A Free Shibuya

Haru cannot remember the last time he set foot in the NWA mansion. Months? Half a year? More? The building was not burned down, so Haru counts his blessings there. It raises other questions to him. Paper and quill are in front of where he sits as he scribbles up notices to be put on boards. The monthly Alliance report was not posted while they were on the move and he wants to ensure December's gets out. Several other papers include patrols and search parties, rebuilding efforts, and restoring trade relations. He looks tired. Not 'Strange Mood' tired, but he probably has not slept much since the battle. It is crunch time.

Yeowang has joined the others in the HQ building. She hasn't been here any more recently than the others, perhaps less so than some because of the focus on the Palace Lands. Well, they are expelled from here, at least. She shares Haru's suspicions about hidden traps and surprises, but doesn't have the other's skill for finding hidden things. She /can/, and does, pour over the records and archives, organizational things, that she can do. She only looks a bit tired. She's been working as hard as the others, no one can doubt, but she doesn't show it as much.

Shiruba has been getting her office back in order. For as little time as she actually spent in it. But it helped having a place to keep important things organized, like all the information on the Demon Gnoll Cult. She'd have to retrieve her other things from Gwen's later, and her Peko from Ouph. Windburn was here though, perched on a rafter preening herself as birds do.

"Shiruba," Haru says as he finishes penning an order to perform search and patrol functions, "I need your Silver Sword representative signatures on these." He slides the order to the side along with the fliers for public messaging. It is not enough to find the Palace Lander influence. People have to see and have the option to get involved. To feel like they can contribute, even if they do or do not get involved. "Also I will need yourself and Yeowang to lead the town wide search. We have enough power within the three guilds to do it, but this will be an ample opportunity to recruit more members riding the wave of victory." An interview that people don't know they are attending. Talent scouting.

Haru places a small wolf figurine made of wood on the order needing signing. It lacks the refinement of having Artisanry or Woodworking, being a basic Accessory forged item. Blocky. Polygonal.

    Miyako had spent the final battle sneaking about and making a nuisance of herself behind the Palace Lander lines. The frontal clash of sword and spell is no place for a squishy spriggan. Still... it -is- so good to be -home-. To be back in the place they'd made for themselves.

    She stretches out, smiling lightly, as she walks in to the guild offices and sees people hard at work. "Ahhhh. So good to be home." She waves at the group cheerfully. "Someone asking about a town search? See what prezzies our not so friendly neighbours left behind?"

The NWA headquarters has always been a place of interest, but not one Curtana really visited in the past. Sure, he's certainly a member of Moon Tree and is a decent sort when it comes to sorting information from forms, but the self-styled knight prefered being out in the field and aiding those in need. Even if he has no praticial talent for searching, Curtana has used that as a chance to explore the headquarters in search of traps.

Stepping into the room with the others, Curtana shakes his head as he takes in the sight of the others. His armor has certainly seen better days and has a few noticable cracks, but it's not yet to the point the knight would have to go without his plate mail. "Well, seeing how I can't exactly convince you all to take a break..." He knew better than to try to convince the others to do that, there's just too much work to be done. Curtana insteads searches through his inventory for a few moments before plucking out several small vials containing a dull gray liquid. Placing the vials near Yeowang, Haru and Shiruba in turn, he stretches his arms. "It's certainly no tea and tastes vile, but this is a decent pick-me-up. Possibly. Oh, and no noticable traps that I found, but i'm certainly no expert."

Haru was absent during the assault past the initial push, being separated quickly to pull Shirin off from harassing the detachment force that went through the woods. "That'd be me, Miyako. Two objectives. One is to find any artifacts left by the Palace Lands. Traps or Sabo. Information and Equiment Caches. Spies that linger after the chaos of a military engagement." He runs his hand through his silver hair. "The second is to be seen doing the work by people that live here. Plant seeds early on that Shibuya is free and /secure/. The negative and pessamistic can all too easily sway opinion that we lost Shibuya once and we haven't taken measures to secure it again. It is not enough to do good, but to be seen doing good."

A deep breath as he goes for his cup of coffee. Empty. Haru gets Curtana's vial in time. "Thank you," he says, uncorking and downing it with a pause for the taste. Bleh. "Curt, I had something else in mind for you. Side effect of superpowers is super damage. I will need you to run an assessment on damages, material needs, and repairs. For labor and materials," he motions to Yeowang, "run through our financier. The search party may also uncover ungoing damage that needs repairs, so factor that into estimates." A sheaf of paper is slid over as he works on /that/ work order.

Shiruba steps out to the main area when she hears her name. "Of course Haru, thank you." She takes the papers to sign as necessary. "And yes, giving the town a thorough inspection both for traps and repairs should be a top priority before we let more of the population back ."

Yeowang drifts over as Haru presents a document to Shiruba, scanning it quite thoroughly, making sure it's entirely correct before nodding her approval of the document to Shiruba. She nods to Haru about the town-wide search, and says, "Certainly. It is important to show the flag and let the Landers be quite sure they are safe again with us. Though from what I can tell, the Palace Landers were not awful."

She will smile and decline Curtana's pick-me-up. She'd rather be tired, it seems. "They did not continue our record keeping, but they do not appear to have done anything with ours beyond move it aside. Perhaps they had planned to go over it in detail when we were finally put down?" she speculates. "Overall, this bodes well for Seeker's Landing. Perhaps they have not demolished that."

Shiruba then glances in Curt's direction. "let me know if you need any help with woodwork."

A hand raises up to cup Curtana's chin as he recalls what he saw during the fighting yesterday. "That was something I was going to bring up when I had the chance. Even in the middle of a war zone, I saw a few buildings that shows obvious structual damage, and that's just from what I recall."

Taking Yeowang's vial back, Curtana pops the cork and quickly swallows the contents down himself. Judging from the full body shudder that rattles the plate mail, she may have dodged a caffine bullet there. "We'll need some people who can aid in the surveying to cut time down, even if they can just spot obvious cracks. Hmmm...need to add a 20% buffer on additional repairs the search team finds, just to play it safe."

Shiruba's support does draw a smile from Curtana, and he nods his head in appreciation. "It'll likely be needed, just as a heads up. I'll need to get started on the surveying soon, so expect some orders coming in shortly."

    "Or they expected us to explain it all when they finished us off, yeah," Miyako muses, nodding to Yeowang. "A bit of overconfidence one way or the other. Maybe we should send someone to check Landing?" She shrugs. "Gods, there's probably a bazillion more goblins down in the catacombs since I cleaned down there last." She sighs and shakes her head. "I guess that's where I'll be, the next day or so. Seen Ko-chan about?"

Shiruba nods. "While I was taking lessons from Kita we helped build shelter for the refugees in Tolbana. So while not direct construction I know the basics of cutting, carving and preparing wood for use."

Haru considers as he begins to write up the order. "Silver Swords is more a combat guild than Grandeur or Moon Tree, but if it is just spotters then Shiruba and I can dispatch a small group under your orders to help with the effort, Curt." He looks to Shiruba, giving a nod of the head. "Woodworking will be helpful, as well as gathering for raw materials on anything we can't self finance. A few requests out to start gathering Quests to establish a local supply chain again." World of ETOCraft, ho! The notion of representation gives him a pause, "Shiruba, can you wrangle the other leaders here? Gig and Riz? If ever is there a time to be seen, its now. Or appoint a delegated authority to authorize on their behalf." Which is what William likely does for Shiruba and Haru.

"They seemed all too overconfident," Haru tells Yeowang, "as if they did not expect to lose Shibuya. Even Shirin seemed to believe we were lower on the 'evolutionary chart' here and our future was to end up as they did. It gives me initial faith for Mac Anu and Seeker's Landing, but." He stops writing for a bit, "our victory here may change that mindset. Scouts, if we have them, are in order. Also any local rebellion forces in Palace Lands will galvanize for the same reasons as we have given hope to that cause."

Haru looks to Miyako, "I haven't seen Ko, no. We do need to reach out to Li Gan and that arrangement is in the works. Im sure monster clearing will be part of the arrangement."

Then to Shiruba, "The Crown Removal thing is public knowledge now, by the way. We don't have to put it under classified intel. Shirin's Crown was removed. Either he returns to the Queen with a message or he stays Uncrowned and the Palace Lands lose one of their powerful allies. It was the right time to play the card."

Yeowang watches Curtana drink his potion and decides she made a good decision. She nods to Miyako, agreeing, "I'm sure they would have found out the purpose with us all Crowned." She nods to Haru about overconfidence. "Yes, that's the case. They've split their forces between here and Mac Anu, which left them a bit weaker. But Mac Anu should be our next priority," she agrees. "But we must infiltrate and unCrown their Kunie."

"Anyone who doesn't mind helping would be a help, even if they don't know how to build a wall. Anyone who can just find obvious stress points like cracked flooring or missing shingles can really help to narrow down what buildings need to be more carefully inspected." A thoughful look forms on Curtana's face. "Maybe with some excess materials, I could show a few basic lessons for quick fixes."

That thoughtful look turns into a more bashful look for Curt. "Certainly more than I can do, Shiruba. A plank wall is no problem, but making those planks is a different matter."

Curtana does blink in surprise upon hearing that bit of news. "Wait, the rumors about a method to unCrown someone is real?...that's wonderful news! Might have to see on if we can capture any Crowned Adventurers in the future then."

"Someone should send word to Baroness Wake. With the loss of Shibuya they may make another strike at Eas." Shiruba stops, blinks. "You got his crown off?! But then why didn't he--" Then stops as she remembered who they were talking about. "--Probably too loveblind to turn, that one. But maybe knowing their ultimate control can be undone will demoralize them some."

    "Or make them panic and double-down their efforts to break us before we can take the fight to them," Miyako suggests. "Keep a sharp eye out, nobody go anywhere alone. I don't want to be hearing about any of us getting captured by those idiots."

    She sighs and paces around the office for a minute before adding, "I'll go down and check in with Li Gan, see how things went for him. Should be simple enough to clear things out."

Haru motions a hand as he unpacks the strategy, "Shirin has two likely outcomes. If he choses to return to the Queen out of love and loyalty, he will desire to tell her everything. That will send dissent through the ranks with this news, both of Shibuya and neutralizing their strongest weapon. It will pressure the Queen to talks, politically if nothing else. Wake has been made aware of this as well as Shibuya having being reclaimed." Haru reclines in his chair, "Like a battle, it is not oft won in a single strike. This works in our favor by gaining an advantage in the engagements to come. However, if Shirin decides to not go? One less person on her chess board. One more individual free to make their own choices but," he looks to Shiruba and the others, "it is a choice they get to make, not made for them."

The Artificer straightens back up as he looks at the parchment in front of him. "Shirin was hoping more people would be pulled away by his bravado. He underestimated me and I defeated him in single combat, then removed his Crown." A finger runs along the side of his monocle. "We all had our role to play in the conflict, that was mine. Seeing as we sit back in our Alliance hall? No regrets." A head turns to Curtana with a small nod, "I discovered the method months ago. We kept who and how a secret until we could best use it against the Palace Landers. Hestiger. Middray. Shirin. Daiyu. Shiyang. The Mac Anu Kunie. The Queen herself. A large target." A turn to Yeowang, "So Mac Anu would be our next target to mobilize against, yes. Panic will lead to poor decisions. Poor decisions will lead to weaknesses. Weaknesses get exploited. Their resources are finite and have to cross an ocean to support. We can check the history books on how well that works out at this level of technological advancement."

Yeowang nods about sending word to Wake. "She will be glad to hear they have been thrown off, here, in any event," she replies to Shiruba, but then it seems Haru is a step ahead, there. She won't be able to help Curtana, her entire talent for engineering lies in project planning, not in execution. "I can help if things need to be organized," she offers. She nods vehemently to Miyako about not going anywhere alone. "We should stick with the buddy system," she agrees.

As far as how well historical empires have fared across a sea, she says, "The English ruled 3/4 of the known world from a small island. We would do well not to underestimate their resources. They have that giant ship, for one thing."

Shiruba nods as Haru explains. "All valid points. One way or another, it's hopefully an advantage we can take advantage of later."

With the surprise passed and the matter handled she backs up in the conversation a bit. "I don't think we have to worry about presence. Riza will be about once he recovers from dealing with the fox woman, and Giganpor is likely already working on getting his shop in order to support our other operations."

Haru asks, "Am I granted full authority to direct Moon Tree and Grandeur resources without their consultation?" It isn't really a time to be waiting around for approvals. The Guilds have many junior Adventurers in them and it will be a need of manpower in the upcoming days.

Curtana shakes his head. "Honestly can't promise you anything there. I'm sure there would be no issues with Moon Tree...and I guess I can vouch for it, as a member of Moon Tree myself. Shibuya is important to everyone in the NWA, after all."

Shiruba holds her hands up and frowns a little. "I don't have that much o kind of authority moderator or no. I know this is important to get done but let's not overrun their authority to do so. Keep them alert on how things are going so we can keep everyone on the same track and informed."

Haru looks to Shiruba, "Leadership means accountability. It means responsibility." He has not slept and he realizes that is making him /cranky/. A hand goes up as he stops the lecture before he starts getting down that rabbit hole. "Alright. I need you to get them on board with doing their jobs, if thats acceptable. In the meantime I'll pull from the Silver Swords and individual contributors." He looks over to Curtana, "Like yourself, Curt. I feel as if Grandeur and Moon Tree are better suited for civic issues over a Raiding guild." The pen goes back to the paper.

Yeowang suggests, "It may be convenient, in the name of exigency, to give the orders and send a note to the leaders who are absent asking them to confirm or countermand. I think most will be confirmed. But if they are not available at this critical juncture, then that is on them."

Haru taps his nose to Yeowang. He isn't outright saying he will work around them and cause issues, but he isn't sitting on his damn hands either.

Thankfully Shiruba is being the voice of reason. Getting support and resources from the major guilds are important, but not when they overstep boundries. That can lead to infighting which is the last thing they need right now. Curtana nods his head once, though he does eyes Haru for a moment just to make sure he's fine after that small outburst. "That sort of thing is what Moon Tree does best. Besides, with my armor on it's last legs as it is, I should hold back and look after my gear. Guess i'm staying in Shibuya for a while." He gingerly taps on his breastplate, as if he's afraid he would break it by doing so. "We always like helping out wherever we can."

Yeowang smirks as Haru reveals that he's thinking the same as her. She nods. "In warfare, as in commerce, speed is essential. Speed to market, or speed to make a decision inside the enemy's decision circle. In World War 2, in the Soviet Union, the Germans were able to perform well because the Soviets reserved even the most basic decisions for their limited pool of trusted officers, while Germans were able to make the same decisions in the field, on the spot. Many problems came when the Germans pulled back from that local autonomy." To Curtana, she says, "We have a number of expert armorsmiths. If none are here in Shibuya, Miho's shop is in Dun Loireag, and has been unmolested."

Curt sighs but he does agree that Yeowang has a point. With how busy he's likely going to be for a while, it's best to outsource the repairs. "Have to make sure the smithies are good to go before I ask for some repair work. After being used as a flail and blocking a meteor shard, it could use some expert care."

"We need to be expedient, but not to the point we possibly undermine our own allies," Shiruba says after collecting her thoughts. "And I am thankful to have you all here to help and not do it by myself. Even if we do not see everything from the same viewpoint. I'd rather here your opinions than have people agree with me just because I am one of said authority figures."

Yeowang nods to Curtana about the smithies. "That is your area of expertise, I will leave that to you." She nods to Shiruba about being expedient. "No one wants to take anyone's autonomy. But this alliance has a bad habit of allowing ourselves to become paralyzed while waiting for consensus. Often from those who don't care enough to weigh in. This is a matter of sufficient import that I think that if decisions cannot be made by chimming the proper people, than Haru, who's been central to all our recent efforts, ought to be justified in acting until the proper people can weigh in."

Shiruba says "I only ask that if and when he does he continues to keep us in the loop... because Yeowang is entirely right."

    Miyako wanders back from wherever she'd wandered off to, with a sandwhich in one hand and a jar of something liquid in the other. "Mmmf, isn't that why we have leadership?" she asks. "If we're going to ahve a guildmaster we ought to let them do their job, unless we have reason not to."

Yeowang smiles to Shiruba, and agrees, "Status updates are essential, of course, and Haru /has been/ giving us regular status updates." To Miyako, she says, "Our /official/ leadership is .... working on higher matters, I suppose." She's not going to say they're absent, but what could be more important than this? Unless they have an angle on a way out? "Our lower level leadership is ... well, much of it -is- standing here."

Haru offers with a simple and short, "The representatives will be informed and consulted. They will have an opportunity to weigh in and direct or lead as much or as little as they decide to. However, that will not halt the act of getting things done." He finishes penning an order, sliding to the side with the Shiruba figurine on top of it. "It is just paperwork and communique so we are not undermining authority or political feelings. Neither of those should get in the way of a larger vision or strategy so the day to day tactical is not holding on that. It is up to us leaders to establish enough of a horizon to work within without stopping. And when the horizon ends, then we have to make tough calls to tell them what the vision is while they figure it out." He nods to Yeowang, "I believe we can all agree what our priorities are, we can nitpick the methods but so long as we get where we are going, a good plan now is better than a great plan later or no plan until comfortable."

Yeowang nods as Haru explains his plan, and says, "That seems entirely reasonable." She nods emphatically about a good plan today being better than a great plan later. "Very true. The Landers are the ones with the twitchy feelings. I think players are mature enough to understand the need for expediency and not stand on ceremony. Not all of the Landers are so flexible, sad to say, but most of what we do does not depend on them." She looks around to the others, and says, "For now, I must take care of a few things. I will return."

Shiruba nods in understanding. "Thank you Haru, for handling these things. And for explaining your outlook on the matter of doing so."