The Storm That Begets the Calm

    The time of day isn't terribly important. There's enough light in the sky to read and write, which is what Elly has been up to for a time. Chims are alive and actions lurching into motion. Mac Anu has been retaken, the enemy is on the run, etc.

    It should be a happy time, and yet the priestess demonstrates little of that emotion as she sends off letters. By fortune, they are short. Or perhaps that is not fortune, but rather simply an end of conversations and hopes. This is, after all, the close of a major period of this conflict. It removes threats, creates possibilities, but it inevitably determines what hopes much perish.

A Musical Kung Fu Nurse is around. She is a Spriggan, so she is most silent in her approach. She kind of shows up, and begins to walk towards the aforementioned priestess. "Lady Bombast," she greets, simply.

Hands behind her back, wings folded against her back, she looks around with a sort of nonchalant detachment. "It is a pleasure to encounter you here this fine day."

    Elly is quite pleased to push this all aside. Her taste for battles and grand, sweeping political maneuvers isn't what it used to be. She wants her damn home back, honestly, and would like to achieve at least one goal she had in this war. It is fast slipping through her fingers.

    She rises and turns to first curtsey. Or, well, she starts to. She pauses, then rises and walks up to Uta, looking dreadfully serious.

    "I would like to change protocol in my land," she says suddenly. "A curtsey is fine and all, for those I am not close to. I would like to replace it with something western for those I care for." A pause, her posture conveying openness, curiousity, and warmth. "Can we hug hello and goodbye instead?"

Uta takes some time to think. She rubs her lips, looks away, and engages in cogitating Spriggan noises.

Whether she's been thinking for real, or just stalling for time, she eventually finishes with, "An interesting proposal. As you point out, it is a very western approach to socialization. I suppose it all depends on how the largely Japanese playerbase of Yamato would feel about socially mandated close physical contact..."

"But if you are speaking specifically as opposed to in general, well," She spreads her arms in a bit of an awkward manner. "I suppose something can be arranged."

    Elly laughs softly at Uta's very careful measurement of the issue. "It is quite true that it would take some doing to win over a doubtful population. But maybe in time even an embrace can be.. embraced?"

    The priestess doubts that is a pun, but it makes her laugh in any case. Of course, with Uta's permission, hugs are given! It seems that this, too, is something she is naturally pretty good at. With the gesture she conveys a deeper level of affection for her friend than she could otherwise.

    "I am happy we have been able to meet and get close, Uta. You are a great friend."

Uta is probaly not the most smooth hugger, it shows she is not quite used to it, but nobody can deny she is making a honest effort!

"It might be a tight squeeze, but if there is no way to get around it..." Uta follows through with Wake's comment.

"I wish we could have done so in different circumstances," she says after a short pause. "But still, yes, I am happy we have been able to meet and get close as well. You also are a great friend." More silence follows, and then she gives a nervous chuckle. "We sound like two people who are about to face something terrible from which at least one of us will not return, don't we?"

    "Well, I suppose we do, at that. And who is to say? Every day may be our last, after all."

    Elly sighs quietly and turns her gaze in a practiced line, facing Mac Anu. "Much is set in motion now. It had to happen eventually. I just wonder what hopes it will offer and which it shall undo forever. I think for the most part, it will be a blessing. But there is more war to be done, more sadness lies in store. No doubt we must not only drive them off, but conquer them in turn."

"Or neutralize," Uta comments, with studied absent-mindedness. "What actually happened over there is intricate, a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. It is pitch dark, and I am not likely to be eaten by a clue." She turns to Wake, while still holding her hands behind her back. "It would -seem-, at least on the surface, that this is an overreaction to Adventurers pulling shenanigans on the Landers. They probably felt cornered. If we start a cycle of oppression and annihilation, we might actually make things worse. What we want is some sort of equilibrium." Hands removed from behind her back, she draws some sort of horizon by placing both hands in front of herself and slowly pulling them apart, level.

    "What shall be remains to be seen. But by taking a root city and threatening others, the Palace Lands have brought the wrath of the Lords of the Realm upon themselves. No doubt most adventurers shall eagerly participate as well. This is, after all, a very real war of liberation that must be carried-out."

    Elly gestures to a place to sit, "We need not stand all day, of course." She will sit, provided Uta appears likely to join her.

    "But yes, there will be further war. How horrible it becomes truly depends on many things that are likely to be far beyond my control. Our peers are unlikely to swiftly forgive what has been done. None of us can simply sit by, either. All crowns must be taken away from our enemy. Even if some are willing to put them on again, I would argue this can never be an option again. Or war shall rage on to the last."

"Why would people willingly subject themselves to -that-?!", Uta exclaims with a frown, an arm shooting out in indignation in the general direction of Mac Anu. "It makes no sense. You're already a lackey, what's the point of a crown at that point? Does it give them something else? Strength? Power? Gifts? Or is it the cherry on top of an utter lack of cake?"

Realizing her outburst, Uta tugs at the hem of her uniform and sighs. "I apologize," she says. "I got carried away." She will, indeed, join Wake in sitting. "No crown should remain, I agree. I am not sure how quickly and cheaply they can make them, but hopefully, removing them will make it harder for them to rebuild their army." She looks up and away and taps her chin. "...which brings another interesting quesiton. How could they make so many, so quickly?"

"I can't wait until there is Peace again," she concludes. "Before this war, my main concern with Mac Anu was how to convince high church officials at the Temple of Law to stop ignoring me and grant me audience to discuss the Strange Mood Songs, and now..." Once again, she gestures. "People die. Lots of them."

    "People are strange. They make bad decisions. They make bad decisions repeatedly. It is why things have to be limited and kept out of their hands. As for the crowns, we will have to see them all destroyed. If someone continues to make them, well.. it is obvious that such a thing cannot be allowed to continue."

    Elly laughs softly at the apology. "I like it when you get carried away. It makes me feel less guilty about my own outbursts. Whenever this war is away from our shores, I will do what I can to help you in learning more from the Temple of Law. I am not sure how far my status will take you, but hopefully you can get a conversation."

"To be fair, at the time I wasn't a Sage of Song, either," Uta replies, half-mumbled. "Maybe mentioning that, together with your status and political weight, might help things. Or maybe not. Still, it's something worth trying, I believe."

Uta just turns, and stares into the clouds. "Still, whether this world is real or not... gotta give it full marks for the sky."