Pigment of Your Imagination

    At some point, people are really sick of painting. And sculpting. And drawing. And getting beads and all that. They are burnt out. It is really hard to keep this up.

    That all being said, the need remains and the hour calls for every effort. Elly has not taken many breaks. She does eat, sneaks in a few hours of sleep here and there, and makes the ultimate sacrifice: menu cleaning and changing. Truly, giving up a proper bath is a lot to ask for!

    She moves tirelessly, making sure the landers supporting the effort take breaks, that children are watched, that food is delivered and Eas continues to function as a massive hub for this effort. The music is set aside for the moment for pure management of deliveries, shipments, and work.

    She speaks into a chim frequently, though it is all about the matter at hand. "Yes, they said they need more marble and ore. No, we cannot stop the sorting and melting of the materials. We have been through this. Yes." A soft laugh. "Yes, take a break, you must have a debuff on you."

    And then back to her rounds.

    ...and then there was Hyuga.

    The typically Greatshield-adorned man was walking here and there with snacks, tea, and other implements that a Cook and Herbalist could make happen. He visits each station, offering refreshments and foods where he can, and then when he runs out he has his own station for producing more. On occasion, he sends a runner either to the Market or to his farm for more materials, and gets to work again. He had plenty to do there, and was taking a break from other work, and so he kept humming an old song from about three MMOs ago.
    

Schneider does not have an artistic bone in his body, alas, so his attempts at art have fallen flat. Well, the better efforts have fallen flat. Some of them have left a divot, and in one case a trench. It's still smouldering a bit, though the fire went out a few days ago. Ironically, the Exploder Wizard does all right with decorative script, known back in the day as 'illumination'. It's basically super-fancy calligraphy. However 'Burn Baby Burn' looks like it belongs on a skateboard rather than a statue regardless of the gothicness of the font.

    Wake is far from one to judge, but the writing of Schneider does get her attention. "I would never have guessed you had such elegant handwriting! Where did you learn this?"

    Yes, the message is of debatable value, but she will note, "I imagine the Burning One may well join in blessing our efforts to exalt her fellow goddess. It is something I have been giving much thought to. While the goddesses clearly are not jealous and can all be revered together, there is not a great deal of information about their relationship. I would like to study this in great detail in the future."

    She turns her attention to Hyuga. "That tune.. it is familiar somehow. I cannot quite put my finger on it, though." A pause and she murmurs, "It is almost time for the wedding. Not done here yet, though. Just need a bit of rest and I will be fine." She is talking to herself. Probably. Or maybe chimming?

Haru has taken to the last leg of the statue effort with a sense of making a game out of it. So as Player they escaped to Elder Tales as a game and now are in Elder Tales escaping the tedium of Art supplies by making another game. Inception level shenanigans abound.

Large rocks needing to be cut are in one side and the larger boulders needing crushing are on the other. Stronk (tm) people get an opportunity to break rocks the same way midway games in carnivals do: Strength Test! Winner gets a free dance from Elly! Elly may or may not be aware of this. Cutting is similar but is judged by how level it is. On the other side there is alchemy from the left over rocks and pigmentation requiring most pots of dye per hour in a speed test. Haru? When he isn't helping coordinate the fatigued teams, he is enjoying himself in the Alchemy challenge. "Its a good thing black and red are relatively easy colors to find thanks to oxidation and charcoal."

Schneider says to Wake, "My understanding is that the Goddesses are more like historical pantheons, where worship of one does not insult or deny any of the others. Rather, you pay your respects to whichever of the Three is appropriate to the situation. So, not actually generally revered all three at once, but none is exclusive of any other." He shrugs, admits, "This is mostly educated guesswork than actual verified fact, but I have good confidence in it." He applies another flame to the words, but in his haste, it is /actual/ flame, and his illumination burns merrily.

    Hyuga happily goes about his work brewing a restorative tea for exhaustion, attempting to curtail debuffs before they happen, and he responds without looking up at Haru. "Battle music from one of the older MMOs." A runner approaches and delivers some farmed goods, and he accepts the parcel dutifully before returning to his brew.

    "That is my understand, yes. I wonder, though, if the goddesses have a relationship. For instance, might they be sisters? In time, I hope to know more."

    Elly looks thoughtful as she studies the flaming words. "That's quite lovely work, but I fear we cannot have it burning in transit. The ships are somewhat flammable."

    Battle music? That gets some reflection from the Baroness. "I did not play many games, honestly. Perhaps it is just similar to something. Or it was in a lot of commercials. I do get things stuck in my head from time to time."

    It is at this point that the Baroness is interrupted by a tugging at her skirt. A lander boy of perhaps five years old is trying to get her attention and eventually succeeds.

    "If I am the strongest we will dance, right? But you promised we would dance at the wedding. So if I win it should be two dances, not just the one."

    Elly is not sure what this is about. But she smiles and nods in swift agreement, "Yes, of course. I promised a dance for you already. If you should win another, that would certainly be two."

Schneider nods to Wake, also unsure about the Goddesses interrelationship. "If it's like the Norns in Scandanavian mythology ... that would be weird here, but I guess game designers borrow unashamedly from whichever free sources they care to for creative ideas." He shrugs, will start on a new piece of paper, new lines, soon to be a motivational saying. Or something.

Gwen is still about town helping where she can and this time she's not alone a shorter Spriggan in a white mage outfit maybe a witch is following she has far darker skin than Gwen. She's holding a green staff which appears to be some sort of tree branch behind her head as she walks along.

"So where can i lend a hand with this my dear? Or are you foisting work off on your Mother so you can have some fun with others?" She waggles her eyebrow and Gwen just looks a bit oh god why. "You wonder why I don't take you many places Morri..."

    There are some people that should be kept apart for the good of those in the general area. Or in some cases, for the social safety of the entire server. In this case, those two people just happen to be in the same general area. Elly is not yet aware that Morri is here in Eas. Not yet. But with a bit of luck, she will see her soon.

    For the moment, though, a lander child has her attention. The topic has shifted from promised dancing to something else, though. "Oh, of course you can still play here. Just stick to the northern side of the arcades and please do not hide among the carts again. One of you was nearly hurt yesterday! And no hide and seek outside. But I will-just this week-let you play inside the theater."

Schneider is, for his part, grimacing as he attempts more fancy illumination. He will pause for a snack brought previously by Hyuga but set aside, now it occupies his full attention. Because the alternative is creating art, and as Peter O'Toole said ... or, well, didn't say, 'Living is easy, art is diffocult.' Schneider certainly seems to find it so. "Maybe a better saying," he contemplates.

Morri says "Hopefully you can have some fun with your harem as I said. Just don't break them... I like them."

Gwen turns red and sputters this little tiff with her mother should more than start drwing attention here. Wake should notice them easily

    When the lander darts off to play, Elly looks up and spots Gwen. Which draws a smile. Then she realizes Gwen has brought Morri, too! Which has her eagerly moving closer.

    "I am so happy you are here, Gwen!" she begins. Then, in her trademark glide, she is in a deep curtsey, "Lady Morri! I am so delighted you are visiting my home! I hope the journey was a pleasant one! We have the best road in all the lands, but pekos and grunties can be tempermental things."

    She will never be a great rider.

Morri will dart over to Elly and grins for a moment "Its a delight to meet you and if this is art you have so much fine oppertunies for art to be doen that go unused." She start looking at every adult that's present like a shark looking for prey. Gwen is just happy to Morri off her for the moment.

"It was a good trip and we had some mother daughter bonding."

Morri seems to scale down tormnign gwen when no one else is around and now has some idea about Gwen's intersst and a few other things.

"It's good to see you Baroness."

Schneider will contemplate his canvas, then begin drawing again. The Landers wonder what sort of a priest Judas Priest is and how he reveres the Beautiful One, which is a bit odd, because they did a famous show at Budokan, and his dad went, back in the day. It was far too long ago for him. Though maybe they weren't specifically revering the Beautiful One after all. It's a heavy choice.

    "There is certainly no shortage of opportunities to reveal beauty, Lady Morri." Elly surveys her surroundings. Admittedly, it is not what it normally is, with so much of the open space taken up by artisans, carts moving to and fro, and food being served, dishes being collected, etc. "I suppose this does have a kind of war camp chic to it, though," she muses to herself.

    Dragging her attention back to Gwen, she smiles calmly. "Have you been very busy lately? With the wedding coming up so soon, things have been hectic lately."

Morri will get close to Wake and whisper "Yes a chance to do up my daughter in a wonderful display and offering to your Goddess no?"

Gwen does not hear this or she'd be running for the hills. "Yes with the project and helping to deal with the money issues and feeding people. Feeding so many people I should be going do you want fried with that."

She look over to Schneider "Good to ser you friend!"

Schneider looks up, smiles to Gwen, "Hey there. How's it going?" He has no fear of Morri, because of course matchmaking is the -easy- way to get a date. It's normally more challenging on your own, unless you're Dark Schneider had have your own harem. Well, there's no Yoko here, and Gwen's not /really/ Arshes Nei, she just cosplays on occasion. But generally, guys have no fear of matchmaking.

    Elly has a brief and slight grin at Morri's suggestion. Which should alarm Gwen, really. Morri is the best kind of influence on the baroness!

    "Hmm, yes, I do think that would be suitable. Did you have something specific in mind? I have always thought long legs look wonderful in thigh high stockings. Of course a garter belt adds a very appealing touch to the look."

    A pause. "Is she dating anyone right now?"

    Yes, just talk to Schneider, Gwen. Everything is just fine over here...

Morri think for a moment "I think there's a few candiates for dating for Gwen but she seems to be teasing them why? I don't want my daughter some mirsable cat lady or driving off her family and starving to death in her old age." She now grins like a shark. "Do you have any ideas? I'll tell you my picks after."

Gwen meanwhile talks to her friend.

"It's going well and we need someone to cosplay as Gara I think Klien might be a good pick or Curtana..."

Schneider chuckles at Curtana as Gara. "I dunno if he'd want to be a ninja master, though. Not that Gara did much ninja-y." He can only shrug. "Anyhow, the cast thing is ... I dunno. I honestly didn't plan on roleplaying as Dark Schneider and the Bastard cast. It was just a cool concept I liked. I do like zero RP." He can't quite manage the chunni.

    June has been mostly hunting and searching for supplies for the statue, her style of enchanting isn't terribly compatible with other's and really her attention span isn't exactly long... by any standard of mesurement. And that's why she's currently several mugs deep into a keg of ale, smoking her kiseru and in general just June'ing the place up. Scanty clothes, books, booze and smoke... and occasional sexual harassment of the people working. June could fill her own section of Mori's board by herself at this rate. She waves with her pipe at her gathered friends "Hello there."

    Elly is thoughtful, pondering who would be good for Gwen. "You know, I rather thought she was partnered with someone already. It is odd that she has avoided it." She files that away for later investigation. There is a matter to deal with now.

    "I do not have any picks just yet. I need time to consider it. I am very curious who you have in mind. Perhaps I will get some ideas. Oh, does she like men or women more?"

    This conversation is all about practicality. Shipping is always a critical matter worthy of attention!

Schneider smiles to June. He always appreciates barely dressed women. And seeing her reminds him of his own physical training, contemplated but never done. Not that Schneider, canonically, is a melee monster, but he -is- capable, and while Schneider, in game, isn't noodle-armed like some wizards, he's not particularly butch. And his class is wildly versatile, so maybe he ought to play it up more. "Thinking more about training, honestly," he tells Gwen.

Morri gets this terrfying look on her face as she looks to Wake. "I think men more but she did go out with a lady once since we got here. She doesn't think I knew or she didn't catch it was a date either way. There is that young lad whose an enchanter... He's a real go getter, has his own business up and going and is pushing magical resartch hard as Gwen does tailoring."

Gwen meanwhile unaware of this as she talks to Schneider "Oh need a hand with that and hey June!"

Gwen beams happy to see June as it really has been some time since they last met.

June would toss an arm around Gwen's shoulders and lean on her... but she's a fireplug of a woman and so Gwen gets got around the waist instead. June takes a large swallow of beer from her mug. "Training is important." she switches to Elvish as she does when her 'inner' monologue is going. "How else do you get abs like bronze I can just rub my face on and use for a charcuterie board?" she switches back to Japanese without missing a beat and pretends that everyone can't understand and hear all her inner thoughts. "Goddess but this statue is getting attention."

Schneider will probably need a hand, so he nods to Gwen about that. "I need to run a couple dungeons. I had planned to train my defensive skill in one of the big dungeons, and I never got around to it. I probably ought to get that done before I do anything else. But everyone's wrapped around the axle about this Palace Lands project. It's feeling less and less like we players have any agency in this plot, but I guess if the grind is fun, it doesn't matter." He nods to June, to the second part of her statement, at least, saying, "Yeah, I think everyone in Yamato is working on it. I have nothing they need, but at least I can do stuff like this," he gestures vaguely to Wake's art summit. "But I need to head off," his canvas containing a sylized Judas Priest logo, "and plan a few things." That said, he will take off. Metaphorically.

Morri will lean into wake and note "Though I think she has a multi gendered harem going." Morri is just out to cause chaos for Gwen at this point and she will watch the fun rubbing her hands together.

Gwen meanbwhile will nods to Schenider "I have a laundry list of Dungeons to get done, too I need to push my Hunter's rank more." She'll hang around she can't leave her mother unattended.

Uta walks in, carrying a stack of thin wooden boards with a hole somewhere close to a corner. "Where do the palettes go?", she asks. "As part of the Crescent Moon tutorials, I was teaching a class of newbies the Wisdom of the Forest technique, some of them were Imps with horns that tended to leave some mark on the materials, so I thought, hey, instead of throwing away the training materials, why not employ them for Art?"

Pause. "Oh, hey, people!"

    Elly listens to Morri's description of a go-getter enchanter. She can guess, "Haru?" Hm. She wonders what Haru would think of that. It occurs to her that it is easier to just be a gossip than to take responsibility for pairing people up. "Oh, and a harem? That must be exciting! It is good to be surrounded by love and affection, is it not?"

    She gives Gwen an appriasing look. "I suppose I do not know nearly enough about her to know these things. Clearly I have to be more inquisitive with her! It is something of a weakness. I focus far too much on work. Before I forget, I have to say that outfit you are wearing is amazing! Is it your own design?"

    Yes, Elly is encouraging her. But it is a pretty racy outfit! The baroness appreciates audacity and confidence.

    June squeezes Gwen around the waist and then waves to Schneider "I should do more dungeon raids too, really gotta get my act together." she nods her head and switches to elvish "You can do it Junie." she flips right back to Japanese as she walks away from the pair without a goodbye or anything, flighty June. She instead skips over to hug Wake "Hey." she says and drains her beer dropping it into her inventory and pulling out another mug before she takes a puff on her kiseri "How's organizing a giant statue treating you? We need to go kill some stuff soon, I know the goddesses are like important but I'm booooooooooored."

"See, they even have little bumps to hold watercolor if necessary," she explains, pointing at some concave indentations in the wood. "It's incredible how versatile smacking people, as the locals say, 'upside the head' with a piece of wood can be."

Noticing where the action is now, Uta wanders over to Wake and June. "Oh, hey! You're bored? We can go kill some hairy monster for raw materials to make paintbrushes." She scratches her head. "What monster do you think we could go for?"

    Elly sees Uta is here! That demands action. In this case, a hug. She does not just race in and go for it, though. She is polite.

    "Uta, I am going to greet you in my new custom." See, it is a warning to brace for impact. And then she will hug Uta.

    "How are you? Have you eaten? Do you need to be refreshed?" She might as well put her wrist to Uta's forehead and check for a fever, honestly.

    June grins and hugs Uta "It's sensei Uta!" she says not giving warning, she's uncouth unlike Wake.

No fevers! No Strange Moods! But bracing for impact does take place. This time things will certainly go more smoothly!

Or, they would have gone more smoothly if June didn't surprise-hug, but it's okay, recovery is quick and swift. "Oh, oh, hi June-sensei, Master of the Art of Holding Beer. How's life treating the both of y- Wake, I'm fine. I'm the one with Pharmacy." A pause. "I am not particularly neglecting myself, if that's what you're asking, but I suppose I could go with a properly cooked snack and a menu bath once I'm done with the work here."

    Elly laughs softly at Uta. "You may have nurse skills, but I still want to make sure you are doing well! You are pretty important to me, you know." She does not say those kind of things enough. She has to fix that.

    "So, what are you doing with all that wood? Are you making a new technique?" Or are they called spells? Wave artes? Never thought of it before, really.

    "Oh! How have things been, June?"

    June hugs Uta a bit more and then lets her go, and it isn't just so she can drink her beer and smoke her pipe, honest, she's just giving Uta her space... the woman does however take a long swallow of beer and puffs on her pipe.

"Thanks Baroness," Uta replies. "You are pretty important to me as well!" She looks down at her palettes, then up at Wake. "Oh, it's... a variation on a traditional martial arts technique. It's called 'Wisdom of the Forest'. It's a traditional Arte whereby the mystical energies of trees are channelled into the target's mind, to help them reach enlightenment. Known in the West as 'Clue by Four'." There is a short pause. "Somehow, the variation I have come up with has spread like wildfire. Everyone is learning it these days! As for you, Baroness? What are your current occupations?"

Short pause. "...Indeed, what are -you- up to these days, June? Anything new and slash or exciting?"

    "My current occupation?" Elly smiles. All around her are dozens of people working on this statue project. "I think I am mostly occupied by the statue right now. Also I am preparing to be married soon! Which of course you are attending as the maid of honor."

    She is smiling throughout this conversation. It is classic Uta, and she adores her. "Other than this big project and being in the wedding, what have you been up to? Have you found any interesting creatures lately?"

    June laughs warmly and shrugs "Mostly just hunting things down for this statue lately. It's getting boring though, I should got out and stomp a dungeon or three or find a wandering world boss or something." she nods sagely

"Not many, no," Uta replies with a shake of her head. "I had started re-opening the Slime Labs, but due to recent developments I've been focusing completely on the Statue project. I didn't even-"

Color drains from Uta's face. "....aaaaaaaahhhh....", she squeaks. "The wedding! I had completely forgotten about it!" Looks left, looks right, fists balled and shaking. "I got so caught up in the project of the statue I did not do anything about it!" She looks at wake. "...there was nothing I needed to do for it, right? No homework or preparation necessary?"

    "It is taking a lot of attention, that is true." Elly sighs softly and looks around. At least things are proceeding as planned. That is nice. She tilts her head a moment and starts to speak.

    "Hello dear. I have good news. Uta arrived!" A pause, a smile. "Yes, she definitely did show up just for the wedding which she certainly did not forget about. She needs some help, though. Can I send her to you for some guidance?"

    She listens for a while at this point, looking at Uta and nodding thoughtfully. "Thank you, my love. I will send Uta your way."

    Directing her attention back to Uta, then, she says, "Tae is at the inn right now. Please head that way and you will learn all about what you need to do."