Ship to Ninetails Dominion

The sun is shining without a single cloud in sight in the sky, and a steady wind to the west cause small whitecap waves in the sea. Despite the sun the temperature is cool, enough that one may be able to see their own breath for the briefest of moments when exhaling. Regardless of the cooler weather, it was excellent weather for sailing northwestward towards the Ninetails Dominion.

As with almost all ships, this one bore the flags of the Fourland Dukedom. It was a sturdy five masted trader vessel with a single large sail attached to each mast, all of which were unfurled to catch the westward breeze. The ship rocked on the waves, and the occasional spray of saltwater would reach the edge of the deck before quickly draining off again.

The crew of the ship moved around performing various tasks and looked to be fairly relaxed. There were a mix of races among the crew, but there was a notable majority of Undine. A well built male Undine Lander was currently the helmsman, and the captain of the ship was below deck in his quarters. Adventurers and passengers lounged on the deck, chatting in groups, while a few seemed interested in talked with the crew. Some even went so far as to help work with the crew, wanting to learn more about sailing.

It seemed that news of the hourglass in Dun Loireag had reached many ears and even Lander traders and merchants were either returning to attend to matters within the Ninetails Dominion or were trying to bring new good in the hopes of making a profit as tension rose. Adventurers of all types were present from crafters to explorers to dungeon and raid seekers. Regardless of reasons though, it seemed many were anticipating their arrival in Dun Loireag, the final destination of this voyage.

Shiruba had been waiting for an oppritunity to get back to what was her character's home kingdom, and maybe finally explore something other than beginning areas around Alne. Of course, she'd have to be careful going too far, considering she's still fairly low level, but that's a matter that can't be dealt with as needed.

But for the moment she was just enjoying the experience, since this time they were on a sailing ship and not in a rush against undead monsters and corrupted lands so she actually -could- enjoy it a bit. Gotta experience that sea breeze blowing through your hair while you can.

For BlackRose, the thought of going on a cruise felt nice. Especially after all the dungeon crawling she'd been doing, it would be like a mini-vacation for her. Giving her and her sword a break from the usual grind (excuse the pun!) was exactly what she needed.

Looking out over the water, BlackRose sits in a chair on the deck relaxing with a slight smirk on her face. She sighs softly as she says, "I have to admit, I never expected this to feel so nice. Not to mention, the ship's design is really cool as well." She pretty much says this to nobody, although whoever might be nearby may hear her.

    Yuuki had heard the rumours of the the hourglasses. And that the one in Dun Loireag in particular was slowly emptying. An emptying hourglass can only mean one thing.

    A countdown!

    And a countdown can only mean one thing.

    An event! Probably an exciting one at that. Which is why Yuuki had boarded the next ship she could find to the Ninetails Dominion.

    Yuuki is, at this point, balancing on the tip of the ship's bow. Her long hair blows in the wind as she grins, looking out at the vast waters.

    Yuuki spins around, running across the thin prow before leaping and landing on the deck, "Hahaha, this is great! I love boats. Never been on one before the Apocalypse! I always used the gates." Taking an entire day to sail between ports seemed like such a waste when you could just teleport in an instant.

    There were plenty of reasons for Shiroe to have decided to tag along on this adventure. Whether it was to explore the Dominion and see what resources were exclusive to the region. There was learning more about the Dominion, the Landers, and its leadership were like, and of course...The strange hour glass that not only had appeared like in the rest of the churches, but also seemed to be counting down for some reason. It was something that definitely felt the need to be addressed. Even now on the ship he could be seen sorta glancing across the coast line that they had been sailing along as he leaned somewhere around the bow of the shit.The look in his eyes seemed a little tired, distant, and a bit deep in thought. Even more so than usual for the Enchanter. Still, even with that thought in mind...He look at his menu...

    "About six more hours or so..."

    Wynfei has been out of the loop of what's been going on as of late, though today he heard of this expedition and he figured they may need some assistance with defense, so here he is. He boards the boat and smiles as it's been a while since the last time he was on a boat. He checks around to see who all is here on this expedition, "Umm...who is leading this expedition, I kinda just heard about this and came to assist as best I can." he says.

    Some say that Undines are the race most closely tied to the sea. And that Spriggans are best off elsewhere. Looking at Miyako today, you'd swear that was backwards. From the moment she stepped foot onboard it was clear she's been to sea before, from the way she chats casually with the sailors and the ease she has joining in on their tasks. Her biggest regret is that the trip won't be even longer.

    With little enough for the crew to do now, she's at her leisure as much as the other passengers, chatting casually and watching Yuuki's acrobatic antics. "Top o' the world, huh, imp?" A quick jab at her menu pops her guitar out of inventory and she settles the strap over her shoulders, starting to play, a bouncy, cheerful instrumental piece. "Been around boats since before I could walk, m'self. Come and ask if you have any questions about it." She grins merrily and keeps on playing.

On the deck a few ordinary wood barrels reside. They are tied together and lashed to the mast in order to keep safe. A normal scene on any boat. No one seems to pay them any mind. Nearby, Shiroe is muttering to himself as he reviews his menu, just another adventurer buying passage on the ship.

Now if one looked closely at just the right time then they would have seen the lid on one of the barrels raise slightly and a pair of black eyes peer out. Then Yuuki jumps by and the eyebrows on these mysterious eyes also raise slightly.

In a sudden blur of silent motion a wild Shaskur appears! Now standing beside the now fully closed barrel she Brushes herself off casually and moves towards Shiroe, raising her hand in greeting, "Yo. Didn't know you were also on board." And then she looks over to Yuuki, "Its like the most of us that when hunting spiders are here now." She tilts her head as she considers this.

    The tall albino girl was in the tower, helped take down the kobold brothers, then she found out about the hourglasses and she has to check out the ones that are flowing. She adjusts her kimono as she settles in and pulls her katana out to start cleaning. Long trips mean equipment maitainance.

Shiruba is just watching the other people enjoy being out on the deck, but her sharp senses notice the movement from the barrels. Though by the time she actually looks Shaskur is already out on the deck, so nothing to really note as weird there. "Those are tied down, I don't think they're going anywhere!" she calls after her. Nothing suspicious to see there, nope.

Tobe on the sea? It was a nice feeling Silver Knight had been helping out the crew with a few things but finally, he's done with that and moving to join the party that seems to be forming up here. He's an old player back in SAO and even Fragment. So someone might ID him his helm he's rather well known for? Somehow survived the cursed wave or he got his hands on a new one. One way or the other his face remains covered by the silver helm.

"Humm I wonder about these strange rumours about the hourglass. I wonder what it could pertain to..."

He pauses to look at Yuuki.

"Yuuki for the Sleeping knights? I did not quite expect to see you on this voyage."

    Wisteria sighs softly and casually announces "Any of you who use swords and armor... just know that if you actually do your maintainance rather than just using the menu commands, it does give a minor durability and sharpness buff on a sword, other properly maintained tools will be similarly buffed." she continues to clean and polish her katana without actually looking up. The tall albino girl is 'hiding' in a shadow. Of course all she's hiding from is the sun.

    Yuuki ends up jumping onto the railing along the side of the deck, walking across it this time, swinging around ropes as she gets to them. She doesn't notice Sudden Shaskur, but does hear her. Which gets Yuuki to run along the edge to near Miyako, "Oh! I have a question! Do you find spiders on boats, or is it more rats?"

    Pause. Then, "Oh! I have another question. Do you know any sea shanties?"

    Yuuki gets recognised, turning to look at Silver Knight. She stares for a few moments, saying, "You look familiar..." She then snaps her fingers, "I know! Silver Man, right?"

Is that music to BlackRose's ears?

Is that a guitar being played?

BlackRose seems to take note of the music and how it seems to have a unique touch to it. She lets her ears guide her towards the sound, and comes face to face with none other than Miyako. A grin forms on her face as she says, "Can't resist a chance to play a little music, hmm?"

    While the barrels being tied together might have been a normal scene for any boat, the eyes peering out from them definitely wouldn't be! Though...Shiroe doesn't immediately catch those eyes as they peer out the first time. He was more than a little distracted at the moment. It's only in that blur does he take notice of something moving in his peripherals. He finds himself taken aback not immediately recognizing the blur, and after his last encounter in the water...It's a justifiable response to have him a bit worried.

    Thankfully as he realizes who this familiar face belongs to as they start to speak up, he breathes a sigh of relief. "I feel like I should be the one saying that? Shaskur, why are you hiding away in the barrels? You know sailors probably don't take take stowaways too kindly, right?"

    It's at that point he finds another familiar face seemingly lounging about the boat as well. Blackrose in her usual attire was...Kinda shocking to see just chilling out like this was some sort of vacation. "Oi, I know as Adventurers we can handle a lot of variations in temperature, but aren't you the least bit cold out? I'd imagine the wind chill alone is rough on the ship." As he asks this his breath is literally being seen while he exhales. It was still January, even if the sun was out and about!

Shiruba groans loudly when someone mentions rats. "I hope not! I've had enough rats for a while!" Stupid sewer rat Duty.

Wow, she wasn't expecting to see so many familiar faces. Well, figuratively speaking when it comes to certain people and their obscuring head gear. But she waves in Silver Knight's direction all the same. "Hello!" Pause. Lowers hand to rub chin. "Or since we're on a ship, is 'Ahoy!' more appropriate?"

Shaskur's eyebrows crinkle together in displeasure, "Me? Barrels? Bah, it was probably someone else. I only hide on days ending in Y." Then before she considers her own statement she hears as an adventurer woman in a pale grey kimono, Westeria, mentions you can apply buffs to your weapons by manually doing the maintenance. She turns to watch as the woman does in fact seem to be working on her sword.

Turning back to Shiroe and the newly arrived BlackRose she asks, "Is that true? Can we get new buffs on our equipment if we manually maintain it? This the first I've heard of this?" Suddenly she has a dagger in her hand, it seems to be a steel arming dagger of some kind. She glares down at it as if it should explain this further to her. She may just have to go over and talk with the woman in a moment.

    Miyako grins widely as she sits there playing her guitar, listening to Yuuki's questions, enjoying the attention. "To your first question, rats, definitely. Spiders like a more sedate habitat where they can find food more easily."

    She winks at Blackrose, next. "Of course! Music keeps me sane! What are we without music, but cold, unfeeling, savage beasts?" She chuckles lightly, then turns back to Yuuki. "Do you know what a sea chantey really is, my dear young friend? It's a -work- song. You may've noticed a few while we were hauling up the sails and the anchor. The rhythm helps keep everyone on-beat when you have ten, twenty people hauling a line. But yes, I know some."

Giving a smile and a wave to Yuuki, BlackRose says, "Good to see you again." The wink from Miyako causes BlackRose to blush a little, but she tries to shake it off as she says, "I can appreciate that. I never was too musical personally, but... well... everyone's different, right?"

A blush forms on her cheeks, and if she could she'd sweatdrop right now, before laughing it off. She then listens to what Miyako is telling Yuuki. "So that's what sea shanties really are. Huh, you really learn something new every day!"

    Yuuki ohhhhs as she learns something new, giving a wave to BlackRose before replying to Miyako, "I guess that makes sense. I know some players who would listen to music during combat, saying that the beat helped them stay in synch."

    "Unfortunately I guess it's not time for work, huh? I wonder if the Landers have the same sea shanties. Probably, right?"

    Yuuki continues to climb around the ship, apparently enjoying the unusual architechture it presents along with all the rigging. This time Yuuki drops down next to Shaskur, butting in to the conversation with, "Yup! I heard the same thing! Pretty sure you need to have the Weapon Forging skill though. Just like you need the Cooking skill to cook things."

    Yuuki then brightens, "Oh hey, I do have that skill!" Yuuki darts over to kneel next to Wisteria, her blade in her lap as she says, "Teach me, sensei!"

Shaskur's eyes widen as Yuuki jumps over and drops some additional information, and then bounds off over to Wisteria.

Turning to glare at her dagger she concludes she really has no idea what is required to manually take care of her blade, and no skill in forging at all. With a twirl of the blade in her hand it suddenly vanishes back below her cloak. She looks up to Shiroe and says, "I'm go to talk to them." She gives a slight nod to him and makes her way over to Yuuki and the woman in the shadows.

Shaskur seats herself down nearby and raises her hand in greeting, "Yo." Then there is a slight pause as she inspects the woman to see her name, "Wisteria. Can you give the buff to other peoples' weapons too?" Her eyes sparkle just the slightest amount in hope.

    Wynfei looks to the others as there are many conversations, he moves where the bulk of the group is. He stretches out a little bit and he seems a bit lost as to what's all going on. He's not been partaking in a lot of things as of late trying to just make sure he was doing alright and not wanting to bother people too much. But he's recently began reaching out to those within his friends list.

    As he sits down with them. Looking to them all, "I don't think I've met you all, maybe a few of you I know. So what's going on and if I understand, we have to enact a skill to use it like cooking and forging and such?" he asks curiously.

"Is that so? I will have to start doing that."

He notes to Wisteria and then replies to Yuuki nods once with a bit of a faint smile.

"Silver Knight, but yes."

He doesn't seem bothered by Yuuki flubbing his name at all.

"It also seems we have a bard..."

He notes at the music.

Miyako nods again. "Quite right, Yuuki-chan. As for the landers, yes, some are similar, some are new to me. I've been writing some down, picking out the tunes..." She sweeps her fingers across the strings, playing a quick chord.

    And then the imp is bounding off to something else interesting, leaving Miyako and Blackrose alone. "True, true. Some people play guitar, some people play goblinhead drum. Never get much of a tune out of a goblin, but some people like that kind of thing." She chuckles softly and waves to a nearby chair. "Take a seat, listen in, enjoy." She starts to play again, a bouncy, rolling tune, and then she sings.

         ./~ Oh, the Liza Jane, with a blue foremast
         ./~ And a load o' hay come driftin' past
         ./~ Skipper stood aft, and he says "How do?"
         ./~ "We're the Liza Jane, now who be you?"
         ./~ Stood by the wheel and he says "How do?
         ./~ "We're from Bangor, Maine, from where be you?"

Shiruba slides off her perch and decides to wander in the direction of other conversations. Her ears perk a bit, and takes her bow out for a moment. "I -think- you can do maintenance on your own... Forging is for crafting new weapons... though it probably doesn't hurt to have the extra skill.." she shrugs and stows her weapon again. "Hi Shaskur, Shiroe." She pauses and squints at the albino Shaskur is speaking to, though the name used was a good indicator. "Wow, it's almost odd see you not all... bunny."

    Sorta feels a bit...Defeated? Was that a proper term. "R-Right...Have fun." He couldn't explain it but somehow he just turned into the dad that his kids didn't wanna hang out with anymore. Man...Talk about rought seas. That was fine though for him, "Guess there's an appeal for those that have some idea about the menu and crafting systems...Can't really match that, hehe..."

    He starts heading out from the bow of the ship, taking his time to peruse it in it's entirety. Basically having a little walk around while the others mingled. Truth be told, while being able to craft your weapons did have your own appeal, it definitely wouldn't do much for him as an enchanter. Plus... He still just had a lot on his mind. Even now he couldn't help but mumble to himself, "So we make it to Floor Two, and then the hour glasses start to appear...There was definitely nothing like that prior to the update but what does it mean exactly...?"

With Yuuki going over to learn a new skill, BlackRose takes a seat next to Miyako and decides to listen to her sing and play her instrument. "I agree, a drum doesn't sound too musical." She listens intently to the lyrics that she's singing. They're rather unique and well written, even if Miyako herself didn't actually write them. The music makes BlackRose smile a little bit more as she listens.

"Very nice," BlackRose says as she taps her foot in time to the music. "Very nice indeed."

    Wisteria nods her head "We confirmed that manually taking care of your gear gives a minor temporary buff." she says "I don't know if it works on anyone else's gear but we used Apraisal to see the buff does exsit." she says as she slowly oils the blade of her katana in small swirling strokes with a silk cloth.

    "I don't always stay in were form, claws and fur get in the way of cleaning metal." she says "And this is stuff I learned how to do back home. I'm a kendoka and we had to learn how to maintain all our own gear."

Silver Knight looks to Shiroe for a moment and to Shiruba as he thinks this over.

"Do you think it may have been caused by the defeat of the floor one boss?"

He looks to Shiroe and thinks.

"In past games defeating certain enemies have caused effects upon the world itself or as a trigger for an unannounced event. It could be possible Scale Emblem may have broken some sort of a seal."

Shaskur turns to see as Shiruba greets her, and she raises her hand to return the greeting, "Shiruba. Yo." She then points to Westeria, "She knows secret weapon buff techniques."

She hears Wynfei's question and tilts her head, "I don't know.. It sounds like you don't use the menu at all and just do the work." She looks back to Wisteria with a single eyebrow raised in question.

"Mmm?" He blinks for a moment as Silver Knight ends up overhearing him, "Ah, that was just speculation..." Also just mumbling on his part, but hey, sometimes that'll happen when in deep thought. Though now that it was already part of the topic, "Still, I don't think it's unreasonable to assume. From what I here the Second Floor also had a desert theme so it'd be appropriate if the hour glasses were related to the unlocking of the second floor. All we can hope to do is see if those in the Dominion would know more about the hour glasses than we do."

    Miyako plays on, watching Blackrose with a smile on her lips, enjoying the audience as much as she does the music.

         ./~ Oh the Liza Jane left port one day
         ./~ With a fine fair tide and the day friday
         ./~ But the damned old tide sent her bow askew
         ./~ And the Liza Jane begun to slew
         ./~ Hi-diddle-di she'd'a fairly flew
         ./~ If she only could sail the other end to.

    She takes a pause for an instrumental bit, next, putting some ornamentation on a rendition of the tune as she taps her foot in time.

"Yeah, that makes sense Wisteria." Shiruba doesn't have all fur being only a Cait Sith, but the tail does have a mind of its own sometimes. Like now when it wags a bit when Shaskur returns her greeting.

"I don't think it's that much of a secret at this point, Shaskur." Seeing as everyone is talking about it now. "I.. guess I've always kind of done it to a degree. As a Spell Fletcher I enbue my arrows so I don't have to do elaborate spell casting mid-fight."

    Wisteria nods her head and tucks her white hair behind her ear. "Yes you just... do rather than use commands." she says "I'm going to bet that washing your clothes will make them last longer than using the clean command too." she says "Probably true of a lot of things from what we've been learning about the menu commands. They make doing lots of things faster or easier... but they're just the least possible quality of service."

The next part may be instrumental, but that doesn't mean BlackRose isn't enjoying it. She taps her foot in time with the music, smiling more and more. As the song ocntinues, she begins to bob her head in time with the music as well.

Shaskur looks back and forth between Shiruba and Wisteria. She then turns slightly to the side as she works at her menu a minute. Yep, she forgot to turn her chimlink gag for the public channels off when she was last focusing. Oops. Turning back she pretends she knew all along, "Uh, yeah. I guess it's just that I don't have the skill for it is all." She then nods as if to approve what she just said.

A dagger then appears in Shaskurs hand again, "I just bought these new daggers too. Green quality. But menu crafted, maybe that's why it is like they have the equivalent of debuffs on them. It's like even high rarity menu crafted stuff isn't as good as it was before." She then twirls the dagger and it disappears into her cloak.

She then taps her facemask where her lips would be in thought, "That kind of makes it sound like we should ignore the menus for a lot of things.." She then hums in thought and turns to Shiruba. "Do you make your own arrows, Shiruba?"

    Miyako grins, pleased by BlackRose's interest, her eyes sweeping quickly over the girl before she turns her gaze up to the sails, then to nothing in particular, flicking back to her one-girl audience every now and then. The jaunty instrumental gives way to another verse soon enough.

         ./~ Oh the Liza Jane left port one day
         ./~ With a hold full of squash and her deck all hay
         ./~ She put out from Bath, with all sails set
         ./~ Two years gone, she's driftin' yet
         ./~ HI-diddle-di she's a good ol' craft
         ./~ She'd'a sailed very well with her bow on aft.

"Menu is still good for being quick and efficient... but not effective if you want more quality. I mean, sometimes when you're out on patrol in the wilds and come across a river you don't have time to sit and wash every piece of clothing independantly. Or bath, o.." she mrps, cheeks turning a little red when she realizes how that sounds. "... Sometimes the menu is just more convenient is all!" she quickly flusters to cover it up.

Fortunately Shaskur provides a different topic to jump to. "No... I mean. Not the arrows themselves yet. Charging them with magic seems to have a similar effect as maintenance though, and the ones I infuse tend to perform better than the standard vendored ones."

"If only I'd brought something to snack on for this," BlackRose says as she continues to listen to the instrumental and then Miyako's beautiful voice. "This sure breaks up the monotony of a long voyage, that's for sure." She sighs and leans back. "If only I knew how to play an instrument..."

    Miyako winks at Blackrose again, finishing out the song:

         ./~ Now the Liza Jane got a new foretruck
         ./~ Good stick o' wood but it wouldn't stay stuck
         ./~ Got a breeze one day from the nor-nor-west
         ./~ Doggone thing come down with the rest
         ./~ Hi-diddle-di and a breeze from the west
         ./~ You'd'a thunk the truck woulda stuck with the rest.

    She plays a few more chords to finish it out with a quick florish, then the strings are still. "That's one reason why bards were so popular," she tells the girl. "You look around, you'll see there's probably a few musicians among the crew, here. I'll bet we get a nice little band together tonight, after dinner." She strums a quick sequence of chords before the strings go still again. "If you want lessons, I'd be happy to teach."

Silver Knight thinks about that

"Indeed that is a possiblity as well. There's only one way for us to find ouy we have to see what awaits us with this hour glass." He seem to be enjoying the music though as he is listening ot Miyako.

BlackRose blushes even more at the wink. "Is that so? I never knew that about bards. And after-dinner music does sound nice." She smiles a little more, but it freezes when Miyako offers to teach her.

"You'd... be willing to teach me?" BlackRose asks, her eyebrows raising. "I... well... I... um..." She looks down at her feet, unsure of how to answer.

Shaskur just nods along as Shiruba explains things to her. Yeah, she definitely wouldn't want to have to clean every piece of clothing. Still, if it was some really high rarity armour, maybe it would still be worth it to not risk the menu decrease unless it was really necessary.

Around that time the song the musician, Miyako, was playing finished. Shaskur turned and politely clapped. This trip was turning out to be quite nice. Music, familiar faces, learning new things. Even the chill wasn't so bad with her cloak on. It was a good day. Shaskur stretched out to relax.

Turning to look at the others she remembered something, "Oh, I wonder if that Silver Sword smith Giganpor is going to start making weapons by hand now? He was the one I bought my daggers from, but he still used the menu then. He did mention that he was starting to experiment." Shaskur then sighs, "I'm going have to go on more quests, I spent all my gold."

    Yuuki watches with interest as Wisteria explains the process. Then nods in excitement, "I'll have to try it myself next time I can grab the mats for it! Thanks!"

    Yuuki hops up from her spot, beginning to wander the ship deck again. She hears Miyako finishing off her current song and grins, giving the musician a thumbs up, "Nice!" She reaches a hand to ruffle around behind her back before producing a silver coin. She tosses it towards Miyako.

    The albino girl nods her head "Yah, you're welcome. We aren't getting home if we try to hide things like this from each other." she says and pulls out her tanto to start it's treatment.

Shiruba bobs her head. "He seems to like helping others out, so probably. EVen moreso if you help bring him the materials or gold or such. Just because he's helpful doesn't mean it's a charity after all." Then again, Giganpor seems just as likely to go on the adventure to help get the materials.

Shaskur looks as she is just about to say something more, probably to agree about Giganpor, when a simply dressed merchant looking Cait Sith Lander steps out from the cabins out onto the deck. Shaskur suddenly stiffens. She then turns to those around her and raises her hand in parting, "Good chat. Talk more later. Bye." Then without even waiting for a response she moves around to the other side of the mast.

From this point, if someone were to pay very close attention they would see as Shaskur quickly moves from one hiding place to the next. Barrels, masts, other passengers, even clinging to the outside of the ship at one point. That couldn't be safe. Finally, she ends up back near a group of barrels, and in another blur of motion suddenly seems to disappear.

Nothing to be concerned about. Just another regular day at sea.

    Miyako reaches out to snatch the tossed coin from the air, tucking it into her pocket with a little grin. "A pleasure to play for you all," she says, and picks up with another little instrumental piece, this one slow and introspective.

    "It's not all that hard," she assures Blackrose. "Well, it's as hard as the effort you're willing to put into it. If all you want is to sound good accompanying yourself when you sing? That's one thing. Professional levels... well, it took me years to get this good."

.. Huh. Shaskur ducked out pretty quick. Quick enough even Shiruba lost track of her. So she just shrugs, and turns her attention back to the others. Tilts her head a little to one side. "Were you a musician before the game, then?", she asks Miyako.

"Start small and work your way up I suppose," BlackRose says to Miyako. "Then again, that's how I felt when I first started playing Fragment. Good thing I had Kite, among others, to help me get accustomed to it." She smiles. "Maybe we could work together sometime?"

    "Since long before," Miyako answers Shiruba, still smiling, fingers still plucking out the tune. "Some people just find their talent early." She shrugs casually, as if it wasn't all that important.

    "And yeah, it's always a good help to have a friend to show you the way. Kite, huh?" The name definitely seems to ring a bell for her. "I'd be glad to work with you, lass. Feel free to call anytime."

Shiruba steeples her fingers together thoughtfully for a moment at the answer. "So having similar 'real' skills makes it easier to do so here... Though probably not a lot of people picked professions matching such things." She sure as heck didn't. What was the point in fantasy RP games if you did something you already did. Or were trying to get away from, either. Still, there could be useful things to apply, if she tried hard enough.

Calling her lass? That's a new one. But if Miyako wants to teach BlackRose, she won't turn her down. "That's a good idea, actually. I'm hoping you can teach me a few things, at least to get an idea of what I'm supposed to be doing." She smiles a little, although it's more of intrigue than nervous.

Silver Knight pauses at the name and nummms "I wonder does anyone have a Mahjon set?" If not there's a product idea that would go over pretty well with adventurers. "I am afraid my profession on Earth had little to do with anything crafted. We may have to seek out people who know our professions to teach us, or learn by doing."

    The attentive might have noticed long before now, actually, that Miyako does in fact have a slight American accent. Probably from the NorthEastern part of the country if anyone actually cared enough to check. So there might well be a bit of Irish in her. "I'd be glad to," she assures Blackrose. "Now, have you had any musical training before at all, and if so, how much do you remember of it?"

    Wisteria seems to have dozed off after cleaning her weapons. She hasn't gotten a set of armor put totgether yet so less work than she might have had otherwise.

"Well, I remember I learned the basics of the recorder in school, but that's about it." She sighs. "I wish I had learned more when I was younger..." She looks at Miyako. "I know the basics of where musical notes go, but I can't remember what they always mean."

    Miyako nods. "It's better than some people come to it with. You remember your scales and such, at least?"

"I remember those, yes." BlackRose smiles a little at that. "From there, I suppose it's just getting the feel of learning where the different notes and chords are?" She giggles nervously. "Of course, I'll have you to help me with that!"

    "Good, good. And yes, I'll be glad to help. First thing to remember is the open strings. E, A, D, G, B, E, from lowest to highest. Each fret," Miyako demonstrates with her left-hand fingers, "Is a half-step up from that." She plays a quick scale moving up from that low E to demonstrate. Then she plays 'Happy Birthday', her left-hand fingers dancing over the frets.

BlackRose follows along, nodding intently. "I get it, go on." She listens to what Miyako has to say very attentively. She can't believe that she's getting her first taste of music lessons in this virtual reality game. Could it help in the real world too? Who knows?