Duty Session 632: Welcome to the Ballroom

Richly decorated walls, with artistic stuccos and paintings, chandeliers, glossy marble floors. Massive tables loaded with food whose portions are the kind of too small meant to establish dominance, butlers and maid scurrying off with studied aplomb that makes it seem like they're actually trudging along. This ballroom is decked to impress, and it is clear that the purpose of this formal dance party is to show off the noble organizer's status.

There is the subdued hustle and bustle of people judging each other behind smiles so atificial it makes one question then notion that plastic has not been invented yet. Nobles mingle and chatter aimably while gauging each other's signifiers of status, while staff carries out its duties with professional care.

Uta is off in a corner. It will likely hard for people to recognize her at first -- it is not often that one sees her done up the way she is now. And in a ballgown, to boot: velvet, with a sweetheart neckline, its color a shade of blue which straddles the linguistic terminator between the 'light' and 'dark' variants of the color. 'Ornate' is not quite the correct way to describe it, more like, elegant in its simplicity. The rose motif it has going on makes the connection of the wearer with the recently established Arcadia patent, a detail which, alone, already makes her the subject of some gossip, as it is obvious from the hushed tones and fans raising to the mouth off in a corner.

She is not hiding, though, more like, lurking: studying the situation, observing what is going on, trying to read the room, and, subconsciously, tapping her foot slightly and mouthing silently along with the orchestra. Getting in tune with the music.

Goldenblade has spent time at Gwen's shop prior to coming here, and it was hopefully not wasted. She's got the right sort of dress on, it flows from a high collar down to her ankles and is shiny black silk and lined with ruffles and bits sewn on, and whatever that ornamental stitching is called. Embroidery? Make up has been applied to her face, and that was definitely not by her as it's well done, and her hair has been coiffed by people that actually know what they're doing, so again, not Goldenblade.

She had to be coached in how to wear it, as she's never worn a dress ever in her life, and it was basically constructed around her like a skyscraper. She's got some borrowed finery that hopefully won't be inspected -too- closely as it's mostly glass. Her wife would have known about that; women tend to, in her experience, even when they've never worn it themselves.

But she has borrowed the body, and it's not like Landers understand cross-playing. So, there was no hope in getting away with wearing the local equivalent of a tux. She feels wildly weird doing this, but it's for a good cause, right? She's sure there was some good cause mentioned in getting her to attend this.

As she approaches the venue, she spots Uta, who she had known would be coming also, but she's not quite ready to make her entrance, and hangs back just out of the limelight.

Gwen had been mostly crafting, farming for materials, hiding from her mother and making ready for this time of year. She has plans and what could go wrong mixing some of her newer materials with Uta's slimes. That is for later its's time to get all dressed up an ready for a formal power. Gwen's wearing black dress which hugs her frame and may have had Morri involved in it's making. She was happy to help anyone else who would have needed it there's no judgment or anything else. She would arrive and catch sight of the others.

"Well we're entering dangerous waters in good company at least!"

Daiyu is present despite a few personal misgivings. Mostly personal concerns about someone finding out she was more than just a refugee from the Palace Lands. But social connections had to be maintained so such concerns had to be bit back and she was doing it for the sake of keeping support towards freeing her homeland.

That said she can do without the extra scrutiny. It helps that being an enchanter her adornments have a certain appeal. But Daiyu doesn't so much sneak through the venue as she just blends in, taking advantage of her training in social decorum from Wake to quite literally hide in plain sight, looking like she belongs.

"My analysis of the situation and my carefully honed deductive skills inform me that-"

Uta falls silent, in shock. "....Iiiiiiii somehow am not supposed to be here, that there is no possible way I could have made it here, and yet- wait." She looks around, confused. "How did I even get here in the first place? I was supposed to go through the lobby first!"

A quick gesture of her hand, and somehow, the corner of the room she's in flickers into shadow in a crackle of dark purple wiggling magical bolts.

As far as people around are concerned, a patch of shadow, pitch blakck and utterly uninteresting, slides along the wall, and eventually steps out of her personal Stain of Darkness just after the part which required close scrutiny.

Now, this is where one marginally familiar with Uta would expect her hand to just shoot up and call out to her friends with a big smile and friendly wave.

But she does not. "Gwen. Goldenblade. And Dayu, too. What a pleasure to see you here as well," she states, politely, with a curtsy. Her smile is still genuine, but more restrained than one would expect.

It does not come up often, but those who have been hanging around Uta fora very long time will be aware that, when circumstances demand, she is perfectly capable of leaning into the remarkable level of Etiquette skill the Doctor profession grants her.

The formal affair begins with cocktails in the Drawing Room, with drinks served by uniformed servants who slip in and out skillfully. Idle conversation is made at this point, but nothing of consequence is discussed. The weather is often a topic, but no other sorts of current events. How people have been doing since the last time they met is the main line of conversation. Discussion of the cocktails is sufficiently inconsequential, but shows a level of knowledge that is respectable. There are several other topics that might break the ice, provided the players can find some common ground with the Landers.

Goldenblade's choice of black silk is a useful one, it seems, as she is not spotted approaching the venue. People are looking a bit too closely at what people are wearing and the clothes and jewelry for her comfort. Too much is unfamiliar to her, and she's sure she won't carry it off with sufficient skill to not embarass herself.

Therefore, Goldenblade opts for Plan B, and slips in when noone important is looking, passing her gold-edged invite to the fellow at the door, who does a double-take, sighs, and reads off her -full- name.

"Paula Diena Josephina Francisca de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Goldenblade, General of The Holy Empire of Westeland."

Goldenblade winces, the name was a copy-paste goofup in chargen, she was new to the internet, and this was her first time on a computer. She's learned her lesson, clearly. Computers bad. The title /is/ hers, and she wears the fancy brooch to prove it among her finery.

So, having snuck into the gala event, Goldenblade finds herself plied with cocktails and snobby conversation. She looks relieved to have Uta to chat with, and she breathes a sigh of relief. "Uta, hey!" She looks all around. "It's good to see you, too. This place is beyond classy. I'm definitely outside my station."

But then some noble who wants to look important and talk to a player pushes a drink into her hand, and walks her off, with some sort of conversation going. Cocktails, she is fine with, she knows how to drink, and even how to not drink too much, but the conversation thing is hard. She winds up joining a circle of folks talking, and then politely zipping away with blazing speed before her turn to contribute to the conversation come up. Finally, though, she winds up in a circle where some noble is talking about a subject she actually knows! It's amazing. It's unlikely! But she has a couple fishing stories of her own, she doesn't need to tell anyone they happened on a company fishing trip in the Pacific ocean in 1994, and sharing them seems to earn her polite acknowledgement. She is not a boor. She had been worried about that.

Gwen is doing her best to help out the 9one who invited them so far thing are going good. She looks to Goldenblade, Dayu and Uta with a grin. She seems to be in good spirits at the worst there will be amazing food and some friends. The good news is as she start to cut the ice she recalls from what happened the last time she went somewhere like this. She will retell hunting stories of her an Uther hunting Feral Pigs back on Earth but leave out just where she did the hunting.

Daiyu spots some familiar faces... And truth be told is somewhat surprised by who those faces belong to. Particularly Uta.... who promptly proves her concerns unnecessary when the Spriggan actually keeps her reserve. Well, stranger things have happened. Daiyu bows formally in return. "It is good to see familiar companions amongst the growing gathering."

Once she has a cocktail in hand she feels a little more assured of herself, even though it's probably not that strong of a drink, yet. Vulpine ears take in the various social venues, and hone in on the discussion of weather amongst a few upper class Cait Sith from Ninetales. It's one she can easily seque into, and talk of the weather and analyzing it for the impact on crop yield gets her into how local almanacs and similar public literature is used to collect and share such information across the region.

"...A wild pig?!", Uta boggles. "So... wait. Wait, you were like that on Ear-".

Uta hesitates. The audience is full of Landers, and, let's face it, the whole point of this party is to impress them, not to alienate them.

"In the World We Adventurers come from?", Uta amends her sentence.

"Don't worry, Paula, I have trained for this!", Uta states, level, with quiet and an air of confidence. "We're going to have some drinks to loosen up, chat a bit, and then I expect the actual dancing start to begin. Try to pace your alcohol. Carefully maneuver the discussion towards inconsequential topics, preferably inconsequential topics where you can show control. You are a General, right? Think of this as picking your battlefield for preparatory skirmishes. The key is to never lose track of your interlocutor, engaging in the correct amount of eye contact- wait, where'd you go?"

Uta looks around and blinks. "Uh... I suppose she's been whisked away somewhere between..." She looks up and away, while her fingers skip back and ahead to mime the flow of her speech. "...'loosen' and 'up'."

"Agreeable company is indeed the highest of pleasures. Whenever someone brings up 'Hell is Other People,' I cannot help but wonder if Sartre had been hanging out with the wrong crowd-"

"Sartre? Who's that?", asks a noble Lander right next to Uta. "Uuuuuuuuhhhhhh....", she begins. She'll have to explain, at this point, but she is also well aware of how Landers tend to simply fail to comprehend when Adventurer things are discussed, especially the Way Things Were on Earth. So, she does her best to try and explain the basics of Sartre and his works in terms that a Lander would unerstand. It's a gross simplification, it's not easy, but it appears to be just enough to get the job done.

Once everyone's had a bit of liquor to loosen up, the event goes into full swing, and it looks like a formal dance has been planned as the guests are all invited into an ornate ballroom. A small ten-piece band is already assembled in one corner, and they play familiar tunes. The Landers seem to know all the basic steps, and the dancers whirl around the ballroom counterclockwise in pairs. The players can join the dancers, the steps are fairly simple, and the agile can pick them up by looking. Those skilled in Song are certainly familiar with the tunes, and are not surprised by any of the rhythms. A few of the older guests, not physically up to dancing, chat around the periphery, but these are quite senior nobles by the look of things.

Goldenblade, having escaped with a fish story in the nick of time, finds herself in the ballroom, now, as the gala gets into full swing, unable to repspond to Uta. Literally in full swing, in this case, with actual dancing and a band. This is actually interesting, because it's not dancing like the kids today dance, but actual holding onto your partner and spinning around dancing, which is what Goldenblade is familiar with, if she hasn't done it much since the sixties. But of course that means you can't dance by yourself: Billy Idol would not be welcome here.

But it's not that hard to pick up the basic steps, and she only has to find a partner and start whirling around. Now it'd be kind of weird for the Landers if she were dancing with a woman, but it's super weird for her to dance with a guy, so there's that conundrum. Finally, she steels herself and finds a short, skinny fellow, takes him by the hand, and whirls him onto the dance floor.

The other part of dancing she doesn't know about is how to follow a man's lead, but the fellow she's chosen isn't making an issue and is trying to follow as /she/ leads and they whirl around the dancefloor looking not too terribly out of place, as long as you don't look -too- closely and see the expression on her face, and as long as you don't watch his feet trying to keep up with Goldenblade leading a waltz or a quickstep instead of whatever the local dance is, and trying not to get run over.

Gwen says "Some pigs got free from some farmer and mated with wil boars they had to be hanled before they got out of control." She winks and nods to Uta.

"Aye it is so." It's about as close as Texas got to actual monsters running around. Then again they were as dangerous as many low level monster so maybe it i work she would look to Uta as she gets a drink but does not offer Uta one. She does not want to see poor innocent Uta drunk. so she wont' help with that.

Gwen ends u p in the ball room now and it seems she has some memory of how to dance or at least follow the dance lead of the young Lander Noble who had the courage to ask her to dance. Unknown to Gwen, Morri is watching the whole affair hands folded like she's Gendo Ikari until Uther drags her off to the food table.

Polite conversation is made, cocktails are had, and the party as a whole moves onto the main portion of the evening.

Fortunately this is the part that Daiyu very specifically planned for.

A bit of that vulpine mischeviousness does show too though, as she claims one of the Cait Sith she'd been chatting with as a dance partner and with a fanciful whirl takes them onto the floor. The young man she's partaken is a raccoon or tanuki or such, so between the two of them there is five fluffy tails being spun around in time to the music, as it takes a certain extra touch of grace and poise to dance with such elegance despite the extra appendages. It's creating a small open space around them as other dancers stay clear of being literally swept off their feet. But that means there are also more eyes on them to see as Daiyu at first leads him through the steps she was taught, then the two are dancing as a pair once he's caught up in familiarity.

    In the midst of the party, there is something of a bit of murmur as another guest arrives. Late, of course. They would be offended if she arrived prior to anyone of lower rank. Considering there are no Dukes in attendance, that leaves only one option for the Marchioness. She must arrive last.

    Thus Wake has come, and she mingles with ease, a word here, a smile there, and the Landers she meets are all quite delighted. The curtsey is out in all its splendor, but do the social ranking, its full depth is never approached.

    "Oh, I do care to dance, of course, but my wife was unable to join me this evening, and I would be reluctant to take many steps without her. Perhaps later I might be persuaded." It's true enough, and the reputation of the the young man to whom she speaks is that of a remarkable foot trampler and toe stubber. He does not have two left feet. He has two clubs for feet!

    As for Tae, she wanted nothing at all to do with a noble's party, if truth be told. She's at home, playing with some of the children (it's story night!) Wake rather envies her, to be honest!

"Oh, really?", Uta asks Gwen with sudden interest in her hunting story. She sinks into thought for a moment, finger crooked under her chin, then, raising her hand, she starts, "Since you do that... You know Tae? Because, see, there's this Peko Farmer..." Also thanks to Gwen's explicit restraint, the Spriggan's can engage in careful pacing.

She takes the chalice to her lips, tilts it just enough to sip a bit of wine and-

A flashback, to when Uta was training June in song, and- well, June being June, this likely involved a lot of taverns and drinking songs. There are of course plenty of shots of Uta ending up drunken under the table, managing to sound good even when singing off-key, but as time progresses, her status at the end of a drinking (and singing drinking songs) looks less and less pitiful, until she seems to no longer end up drunk at all.

"Thanks, June..." Uta whispers, as she tilts the chalice back into a vertical position and sets it down into the table.

And then, the dance proper begins. Being one of the main attractions of the event, there is no shortage of aspiring dance partners lining up to experience the thrill of dancing with an Adventurer. And Uta, with a smile and a curtsy, makes sure to oblige.

As the music bbegins, and she eases into the arms of her first partner, her minds wanders back into another flashback.

Back when Elly, known to most as Marchioness Wake, would gift her with the very gown she's wearing now. Back when she helped her mover her first dance steps, carefully watching over her. A first invite to dance. An invite to dance which was, after some extra steps and side quests, accepted. Embraced. Sustained.

"Where did you learn to dance like this?" Asks the Lander Uta is currently dancing with, impressed with her technique. It is only now that Uta realizes that she's been performing the dance technique she developed with Wake. "It runs in the family," Uta replies, with a melancholic smile as she thinks back to the special moments that saw the birth of those steps. "I wonder where she is now...", Uta wonders aloud, as she waltzes right under Wake's nose (or as close to that as circumstances allow).

Goldenblade's attempt at dodging as much of the conundrum as possible pays off -- and in any case, the mere novelty of getting to dance with an -Adventurer- is enough to distract from any oddness that might have been going on, oddness that, in any case, is expected from Adventurers.

And well, if Goldenblade early heard the music go in full swing, we can safely say that Daiyu has been rocking it.

After the dancing is concluded, with perhaps an hour and a half of dancing to build an appetite, dinner is served. It comes in several courses, and knowing which fork to use with which dish is as important as knowing which wine goes with the fowl and which goes with the grunty. Conversation here is mainly about the food, and of course the food and wine both flow freely. Players familiar with cooking will find the courses come in a logical order, which will make conversation easier. Those with a deft hand or a bit of cunning artes, use will be able to snag the dishes they like more easily. This is important, as quite a lot of the food is, well, an acquired taste. Smiling about it, that's the important thing.

Goldenblade spots Wake as she's whirling her unlucky partner around the floor, and she will make her excuses and slip over to chat with her friend. Hopefully Wake recognizes her in her dress and finery. She's not used to it, and it sort of shows. Not glaringly, but for those who know how to look. "Hello, and good evening!" she calls, but then we're called in for supper, and there's more-or-less assigned seating. It was done so all the Lander nobles would have a chance to chat with the various players, and Goldenblade makes idle chatter about the band and the dancing, all while trying to figure out which food is good and which are delicacies, which is to say, gross.

There is much ado about the servants going around with trays to serve everyone, and not much chance to purloin extra bits of the stuff she does like, but she has a deft hand with a fork, and if you weren't fast enough and subtle enough to snag something off your brother's plate while he was distracted, you wound up a bit hungry. This was back in the forties, when she was growing up, but she puts the skill to good use here.

Gwen says "Yes, Uther had made up his mind to teach me everything he knew. I could have done without the surival weekens when I was that young." She's dancing away telling the young noble more about hunting also a bit more about clothing, and to his plesent suprise fdind out Gwen was the one behind the creation of Denim. Gwen would also start infoming him about swimsuits. As thing go on and it come to food time Gwen would help by using her magic to pass the food and other meal related things around. She after all one of the best air mages in Yamato!

Wake also gets a passby from a familiar foxwoman and her dance partner. Daiyu doesn't have much to say because she's focused on leading the dance, but she does wink at Wake and mouths a silent appreciation for all those lessons in social formalities before twirling elegantly away with her companion once more.

The dance winds down just as the dinner is about to begin. Daiyu maintains the formal presentation, allowing a chair to be drawn out for her by a servent before sitting all proper and lady-like.

It doesn't entirely last though. Her previous dance partner has sat down across the table from her. The young raccoon cait winks at her and mouths 'watch this', then leans over to tickle the leg of one of the passing servants with his tail, and when she stops to leand down to scruff at her leg and adjust her skirt she's still holding her serving tray, allowing him to pluck two of the higher value drinks from it. He turns back in his seat to set one next to his plate, then lean over to set one next to Daiyu's across from him...

...And his jaw nearly drops at her already having some of the best cuts of fowl on her plate, cutting it with the fine silverware she had deftly swapped from the seating next to her while no one was looking. She smirks with vulpine coyness, even as she forks part of her cut and passes it over to him as thanks for providing the drink.

Aw look, she's actually making friends instead of being a complete book nerd recluse.

    The Marchioness nods and waves to her friends. She spots them quickly enough, of course. Part of her skillset is to notice people. It is a lot easier when they are people she genuinely likes to see.

    She allows herself to be guided her place, at the head of some table or other. Likely far from her friends. But with her ease, Wake is never far from friends. The food, though, is unlikely up to her usual standards. She gets fed well, after all, and she's generally been spoiled by Tae or Gwen or another of her cooking friends.

    Whatever she thinks of the meal, though, she maintains a pleasant demeanor. It helps that she got to see Uta dance. Wearing that dress. And the mention of family, too. Yes, she heard that! Wake hears darn near everything. If she does not, someone she hired likely heard on her behalf.

    Idle chit-chat is maintained throughout the feast. It is a skill, to say so much with so little or, in this case, so little while never seeming to be quiet or brooding. And all the while Wake just wants to go home. But not before stopping at the nearest Links school to spend time with the little ones.

They say you shouldn't play with your food, and then they set up acrobatic sushi chefs corners where you can sit and watch your order being brought into existence in the form of a live circus show.

People are confusing.

Instead of questioning it, Uta uses it to her advantage. She lacks the Cooking skill, but the way she, with the permission of the local butlers and maids, demonstrates acrobatic techniques one can use to serve food, which involves martial arts, and plenty of juggling dishes without hand contact, but just by blasting them with gusts of hair from her hands (and, when stepping up the difficulty, using her wings after spinning in place)

"That's amazing!" Landers commment with an applause. "Where did you learn to do that?" "Juggling? Oh, I-" "No, no, -serving food-", chimes in a lower-ranking noble in a mood for social stings. Clearly, someone is not happy of the positive attention the host is getting. "...Oh, that was my job in the World we Adventurers originally come from," begins Uta. And then, after a short of silence, she continues, "That's the great thing about this world. I could learn so much since... have I ever mentioned-"

And back she goes to tell about adventures over adventures she's had.

They involve a worrying amount of slimes.

A quick glance towards Daiyu. Yes, she is learning so much, too. And Gwen. And Goldenblade. And Wake.

Wait, Wake is here? How long has she been?

Uta makes a mental note to get in touch with her as soon as she can.

After the banquet is concluded, the guests all retire to the veranda to enjoy some after-dinner drinks and the meatier conversation. This is where the nobles generally discuss matters of serious business, but with adventurers present, talk often turns to the War with the Palace Landers. What have you done about it? What will you be doing about it? What can you do about it? The nobility are concerned, after what happened to Mac Anu, and are looking for assurances that it won't happen to them. Stories of adventures and successes, particularly against the Palace Landers, will be looked upon positively, much more so than the usual platitudes. Some players, though, are sufficiently publicly known, particularly by Landers, and their words carry great weight. A demonstration of power over the element of the Fourland Dukedom is also likely to prove persuasive.

Goldenblade has, as unlikely as it seems, been fairly successful in passing herself off as someone a noble might find good to have around. Not bad for a bricklayer from rural Pennsylvania. Her manners aren't perfect by any means, but she's avoided any serious faux pas. Faux pases? Goofups. She is a bricklayer from rural Pennsylvania.

But that's not a topic for conversation, now. What the Landers what to hear is news about the war, and about what she's doing to help out Yamato. Luckily enough, Goldenblade's Legendary status is known far and wide in Yamato, and those who don't know her know about her unique weapons, the golden blades, about how they cut down Yamato's enemies like so much wheat before a scythe. It's a bit of exaggeration, but the brooch she wears as a General in Westelande also seems to carry a fair amount of weight. She's clearly aligned her interests with Yamato's, and the Landers are glad to hear about the details. Some of them are a bit harrowing, but she's been in a lot of places in doing right by Yamato, and she will see that they understand what she's about.

This is the part of the night that Daiyu has been anticipating and dreading in equal measure. The conversation turns towards the War with the Palace Lands, and her main purpose of even making her way into the party was to help garner the continued support in the efforts to liberate her home from those that have taken control of it.

The dread comes into play when they start asking more personal questions, of deeds done and possible ventures. No one directly questions her refugee status, but if word got out that she had been a former enemy, it would ruin all the effort she's made.

The best course of action is to help steer the conversation away from her personally a bit. Instead she talks of the efforts to make a foothold in Lumina Cloth's economy to use as eventual leverage in liberating that nation, because that is what they hold their high standards and social statures in. Which she has helped with by virtue of being a native to the region, knowing many of the ins and outs needed to do so.

While at the same time she engages in a bit of misdirection that her former partner would be proud of. A small orb of water she's conjured is swirled about, rolled in her hand, flitted about her fingers. Occasionally flicked into the air so she can gesture to make some point, then caught again. Daiyu is really using it more like a figit toy for herself, but the elemental handiwork draws enough attention and admiration that people are not listening more deeply into her conversation than necessary.

    The talk of war may be what the people around Wake want to talk about. However, they run into a major roadblock. She's the Marchioness and they are not. And she has no interest in war talk. With a deft comment here, a compliment there, and a gentle request, "You simply must tell me where you found these flowers! They must be rare, indeed. I have never seen their like!" Certainly this is not what the host meant to bend her ear about, but when higher station flattery is in the air, it is a chance to do something that the nobles love even more than prying: boasting!

    It is an elegant dance of words, expressions, and gestures, but Wake deflects even the most direct attempts to steer the conversation elsewhere back to where her interests lie: in the Dukedom itself. "We shall all do our part when the time comes, but let us not forget that our greatest priority is to see to the state of our own lands. Much have I and others done on far shores and much we shall do yet. The Palace Landers will set no great force upon your lands while we draw breath. Oh, certainly they may do some small, cruel thing, but the price of it shall be far more than they can afford."

    There is no puffing of the chest or anything of the sort. To Wake this is boring, but necessary. Then she can move the conversation over to something she does care about: her children and religion. What? They started with politics, she might as well touch on all the taboo matters she can think of!

Gwen has been doing pretty well this time it seem poor Gwen has learned some high soceity lessons since the last time she was at something like this. Even more so Morri has picked up Wake is here and Uther gets this look of horror on his face over that. He however looks for food ads he knows there is no stopping this. Meanwhile as Wake is sought out by Morri Gwen is just going back to enjoying herself at the party and Gwen thinks she has some matters to talk to Wake upon but it woul be best to wait till after the party.

Uta wasn't lying: she had been training for this moment, under Wake's watchful wing -- wait, does that imply that wings have eyes? I mean, the wing of a building is made of walls, and walls have ears, and where there are ears, there are going to be eyes not far away, so it checks out. Anyway. Uta has been training under Wake's watchful wing, and throughout the whole evening, the Spriggan delivered exactly what the host was expecting: an agreaable conversationalist who knows her way around the bon ton, to be the centerpiece of conversation like a sort of magically respawning pineapple.

And now, the final challenge: what about the War?

"Uhm... er... oh..." Uta hesitates at first, trying to remember what War they were talking about. Yes, she does remember there was a War going on, but she spent the whole day focusing and preparing mentally for something like this she trained for, but wasn't really -used- to! So she had to shuffle things around in her brain, much like she shuffled Wake's furniture around for training her Physical skill! And the fact and figures about which war Uta is currently fighting may or may not have been accidentally been pushed off a balcony much like that divan which went mysteriously missing. Note to self, check for divan slimes in Lake Eas.

"So. Okay. Please hear me out..." she begins, as she swipes her menu open and materializes something from her inventory.

She intones a song, an enthralling melody which-- wait, is that the song of the -Sirens-?!

It is, and Heartsong, her staff, uses the crystallized heart of a Siren as its focus gem, which means that it will resonate particularly strongly. Attuned to the element of Water for obvious reason, it replicates the effect of the alluring mosters, holding the audience close to Uta spellbound, the same way sailors are to a Siren.

"...And that was it," Uta says, when the song is over, ready to depart in the direction of Wake. "Any questions?"

That is when Uta sees Morri. The Spriggan just freezes. "Uh-oh...", she whispers, quietly.

Daiyu endures, and in the end it works out well in the end. Not the most stunning of conversations, but mixed with a bit of appreciation for the Element the Fourlands prefer and it has gotten the job done.

Eventually she parts from the conversation group... Only to be met again by her previous dance partner, who has brought her one last drink for the night. Which she accepts, and gives a cheery farwell to before they go the seperate ways. He has other nobles to talk up yet to ensure trade between Ninetails and Fourlands remains strong. While Daiyu can finally wander over to join her friends.

Goldenblade winds up having her ear talked off by lots of nobles. Some of them have things to say, and some of them just want to be seen having a conversation with her. But she manages to drift toward Wake, and Wake's a master of directing conversation in the ways she wants. Not that Goldenblade has any interest in VR children or the in-game religion. But with Wake dominating the conversation, she finds fewer demands on her time and psyche. She might even get in a couple comments about the status of her ongoing plans for reinforced concrete (stalled) and a serious buildup of homestead structures near Eas (waiting on the concrete). Wake might be interested in those, it's hard to tell. She's interested in whatever she's interested in at that moment.

    Wake does direct the flow of conversation. She also gets to direct the flow of people in and out of such conversation. She is directing herself (and any friends who wish to join her) right out of it.

    "I truly appreciate your kindness, and it has been wonderful! As I said earlier," this is a dire thing, as it implies she has been ignored, "I have children to visit and a home to return to. There are many things waiting, as I am sure you can understand. I do hope you might come visit soon!" She sounds rather sincere. Perhaps she is?

    But she is also not being dissuaded. In her passing, she makes eye contact with friends here and there. Not just Goldenblade, Daiyu, and Uta, but also Morri, and Gwen. Oh, and is that Uther? He gets a smile, though he may just try to avoid the whole Morri and Wake combination. It is a notorious force of nature when they are together. But there is also a sense that Wake is not terribly playful tonight. The scene likely brings out her professional aura to its extreme. Warm smile or not, there is never a moment's doubt that this evening she shall put up with no nonsense from anyone.

Gwen is grinng back at Wake she doe swant ot talk to her but Morri is now moving in and oddly she's less playful than normal and sems intend in backing up Wake against some of the more snooty nobles. Though she will leave a slip of paper in Wake's hand with a note that reads. We need to talk summer fashion. Before she'll head off and Gwen finally will make for Wake.

"Good evening it's been far too long and I'd bee hoping to talk business with you if you have a moment?"