Eas Management Seminar

Yeowang is, at the moment, talking seriously to a Lander and gesturing to a stack of supplies, and they appear to be arguing. She is currently wearing what looks like a business suit with a skirt, just past the knee, with a white blouse and a jacket to match the skirt, all in well-made wool, with a heavy cloak over it because winter, and with fur-lined ankle boots on her feet. The discussion appears animated, but not hostile, and there is much gesturing to a clipboard she carries.

    The ocean is cold. Hypothermia is a real problem for divers. Undine do fine down there. They've got (or used to got) a whole civilization down under the ocean's waves. While Naniko isn't showing much skin, she also isn't wearing anything different than she wears the rest of the time.
    The undine woman's presence is betrayed first by the bulging of the water, then by the break in the water as the huge bubble rolls up the beach, but doesn't burst, despite being open on top, then the bluenette just walking on dry sand up the beach.
    As she walks past, Naniko doesn't inspect, but she's clearly interested in this argument. She stops and watches for a bit. If she had popcorn, she probably would munch on it while the lander 'discusses' things so passionately.

Yeowang blinks as Naniko emerges from the water, and the Lander seems surprised, too. But Yeowang recovers first and she does Inspect, because she prefers to know what she can, and then smiles in a self-satisfied way as she calls out to Naniko, "Good morning, miss. I wonder if you could join us for a moment?" The Lander looks worried now, but Yeowang first introduces herself to Naniko, "I am Yeowang, I am Marchioness Wake's financial advisor and I am helping to organize the expansion of Eas with which you are no doubt familiar?" Anyone in the area for more than 10 minutes will notice the many projects going on. "But the discussion which I think you may be able to enlighten us about is what happens to wood," she gestures to a stack of pilings laying flat, having been recently dropped off, "when it's underwater for years?"

    "Depends on the kind of wood," Naniko says, "if it's treated or not--just a couple dozen factors in the local wildlife. If there are things eating the wood in addition to natural decay, that won't help anything, but also macroscopic creatures that burrow into wood almost always do it when the wood is soft from soaking in water." She looks out over the water, then back at the two. "If you're wanting to do short-term construction, wood underwater might be equivalent to a tent on land. What you're really going to want is stone. I actually had this conversation before," she points out.
    Naniko beckons at the water, magic drawing it up toward her in a huge water ball. It goes from looking like an over-large water droplet that had beaded up on oiled leather to expanding into a hollow bubble. "Dome construction," she says. She pushes her hand through the outer layer to point out various blobby pseudo-buildings, many of which help support the dome. "Airy places for those who don't want to live under water ALL the time--" She points to what almost looks like leftover water from the bubble itself along the ground. "--and a system of canals that's separated from the water out here--" She waves her other hand outside the bubble. "--for both easy transport and comfort for those of us who really enjoy swimming and being underwater. Wet the gills, you know?" The bubble pops and reflows, one of the buildings getting bigger and also hollow as it 'zooms in' for whatever detail Naniko's magic can put into it. "Smooth stone, polished stone floors, water features like fountains and waterfalls." The complexity is a bit much to display all of everything, so something pops up as she's talking about each thing.
    "The last thing I want is to live in a wooden hovel underwater. That thing would have no permanence, wouldn't feel secure, and OMG, the topside aesthetics are just...ugh!"
    Naniko lets the water go. It splashes down into a puddle that runs down-hill back to the water it came from. "Hang on, did I answer your question?"

Yeowang smirks and nods gravely at Naniko's reply, and the Lander looks annoyed. Yeowang says, "Wake has promised reinforced concrete soon, that's our plan for here. I assume that will do for stone?" She smirks at the aesthetics of wood underwater, but says, "This is for the harbor, in any event. The undine city she's planned is on the lake," and she points inland. This is the actual coastal water we're on. "Yes, I think you did," she replies with a smile.

The Lander grumbles, "You didn't, because I was supposed to bring these pilings out to this beach for the projects."

Yeowang says, "Well, you've brought them. But they're not for pilings unless Wake's building planner has lost their mind. I'll sign for them, but ... put a tarp over them. It's winter.

    Naniko smirks. She looks around, drinking in the winter environment. "At least the water didn't freeze here," she says. The smirk not fading, it actually broadens into a mischievous smile as she sasses, "I suppose Ice Rain would be in poor taste just now."

Yeowang winces at the idea of Ice Rain just at the moment. "I would not enjoy it," she admits. She's human. She's dressed for winter, but not for heavy weather. Not that kind of heavy weather, anyhow.

The Lander looks worried, but with his paperwork signed, he will dash off and avoid any icy rain.

    "I've been hearing a lot about Wake's ideas," Naniko says. "What can you tell me about Wake? Undine or just friendly to us?"

Yeowang ohs, "She's human. Just friendly, I suppose. To everyone, it seems. She's taken her role as priestess to the Beautiful One seriously." Yeowang shrugs, herself. She has skipped the game's metaphysics for the most part. "But she's earnestly trying to help the refugees from the constant fighting and Waves, and from the Palace Landers' attacks. She's got some plan to re-seed the underwater areas with cities for Undines like there used to be, before the Leviathans destroyed them all. But in the lake is kind of an experiment because I imagine you'd prefer a saltwater city?"

    "Salt water DOES taste nicer on the gills," Naniko says with a nod. She looks out over the water. "Anything is better than nothing." She shrugs. "I mean, I think our gills must work similarly to a salmon, since they work in both, but again, saltwater, up to a point, is nicer, somehow."
    Naniko reaches out with a foot, placing it under Yeowang's form. Pouring magic through it, the stones beneath the other woman get quickly warmed. They both radiate heat up toward her and give heat to the air which convection currents carry over the other woman's form. It's not enough to stand out there in a swimsuit (unless one has Undine levels of deep-sea insulation against the cold), but it definitely takes a lot of the edge off of winter.

Yeowang nods slowly about saltwater being nicer. "I hadn't thought about it that way," she admits. "And I didn't know that about salmon." She smiles as Naniko warms the ground beneath her feet, and she sighs, "Ah, that's nice, thank you." She wonders, "Are you helping with any of Wake's projects, or are you just here in the area for something else?"

    "Trying to," Naniko says. "I've been doing some exploring. I was doing that before, but now I've got reasons to beyond just me uncovering mysteries and trying to find secret loot boxes." She rubs the back of her neck. "I really need to meet this Wake person so I can work with more purpose. I've just been aimlessly swimming and bubble walking around the lake."

Yeowang ahhhhs, nods about tracking down Wake. "She can give you the best look out into the planning," she agrees. "She will give you the rundown on the plan. I'm basically just helping with planning and management." She sounds like this is not her first time in this role. As far as finding loot boxes and mysteries, she seems surprised. "I suppose that saying I don't know about those just confirms that they're /secret/ loot boxes. I am new to this gaming thing, as you can no doubt guess."

    Naniko nods. "I have memories of my memory donor playing games with the beloved," she says. "It was how they connected during their long, long distance relationship." She pauses, looking wistfully out over the water. A tear forms and rolls down her cheek, though she doesn't cry.

Yeowang sighs at that and nods. "My boyfriend in Korea and I," in Japan, since she's a Yamato person, "joined the game as a way of meeting also while he finished school. We didn't know the servers would be isolated, or what would happen on the Palace Land server. He'd been Crowned, too, but I finally tracked him down and got him uncrowned. He's with Scale now," she explains.

    "'With' Scale?" Naniko asks, furrowing her brow as she looks at Yeowang, curious. "Obviously," she interruptws before the answer can be given, "it's good you uncrowned him, but...sorry, ambiguity in the language. 'With' Scale?" she repeats.

Yeowang smirks about 'with' Scale. She explains, "Most of the Palace Lands survivors appreciate Scale's attitude toward the game," she explains. "With as in that's the alliance he joined. I don't blame him. If I thought there was a way out, I'd probably have joined them also. And they're generally viewed as the most fighty alliance, I think. Which against the Palace Landers, I agree with. Olympus and NWA seem soft on the Palace Landers."

    Naniko nods. "I forget politics," she says. "I'm New World, technically, but I actually think the Palace Landers should be exterminated, if I'm honest. Just...end them for their transgression. Loss of autonomy is not something we should go ANY kind of lightly on."

Yeowang nods agreement. "You and I are not in the majority, I'm afraid. NWA is not really working on -anything- now, which is why I'm helping out Wake's projects. The leadership has ... I don't know. They seem to lack self-motivation. But Eas, though it was a target for the Palace Lands, is not focusing hard on the Palace Lands, either. But I think when it is built up and established, it will move to those projects. A shipyard is one of the projects, and -that- will help us face them."

    "I'm all for that," Naniko says with a nod. "It's either that or I do my plan of getting better at stealth and just going on a Jack the Ripper murder spree."

Yeowang smirks, nods. "I hadn't planned on picking up the stealth skill, myself, but I did, and it's proven useful. But," she says, "I should go back to my tasks." She taps her clipboards. "Projects don't manage themselves. Mostly they fall apart, left on their own." She smirks. "But it was nice meeting you. I think Wake may be available tomorrow for visitors," she suggests.

    "We've met before," Naniko reminds her. "But it was nice seeing you again," she concludes with a smile and a little wave. The fire magic ceases from her, but the stones will remain warm for a little while. "Have a great day," she says. Holding up two fingers, she concludes, "Peace."