Of Border Walls and Slimes

With the tournament more than halfway over, some of the support staff of Scale Emblem have returned back to the Isle of Beginnings and their various projects there. With her partner already out of the tournament, having been defeated in the first round, and most of the paperwork managed, Kita was one of the first to return to the island to begin work on the next of the Alliance's projects.

That is what has her back in Tolbana. The town had become somewhat of a focus for her, after having contributed to its refurbishment and development as a proper place for people to live and work.

Kita can be found near the edge of the town, working with a group of Spriggan Landers and Scale Emblem volunteers, who seem to be focusing on repairing, re-building, and reinforcing the outer walls against the monsters that frequent the first floor. A pair of guards are just finishing off a couple of monsters who had come too close, while some of the Lander workers look on with wide-eyes.

"It's fine. The guards can handle the monsters here. Focus on your work." The witch isn't wearing her usual black mage's dress, and is instead in work clothing, a dark pair of slacks and a men's shirt which lays open over a tunic-top that shows a bit too much of her chest. "We need to get this section repaired before nightfall!"

Vertina likewise was eliminated in the first round, mostly due to her lacking a solid defensive measure against a pure spellcaster type. But had stuck around to support her other friends still in the tournament, and to maybe learn a few things. Then there was getting the new training area in the alliance HQ situated, which she had helped prepare some practice weapons for.

With those matters out of the way she has made her way up to Tolbana to investigate a little more closely than her previous visits, having a few actual things on her mind. The clinic had been finished for the Doctor, but if this was going to be their waylay for proceeding up the tower, it was going to need other things.

Like defenses, which she finds the group already working on. "Looks like you people have already gotten down and busy out here."

There is a brief look of surprise given from the blue-haired Imp as she turns towards Vertina's voice. It's a slight break in her character, but it's replaced soon enough with a smirk and a soft laugh. "If I don't keep myself busy, I think too much. In a place like this, that isn't a good thing."

It's far too easy to jump down the bun-bun hole of thoughts and questions when it comes to the game. "Zorin and Wisteria have things handled with the Tournament, so I thought I'd focus here. Try to make some progress before people get back and want to push further up the tower." She isn't particularly strong, so it looks as if part of Kita's role here is to keep people organized. Though she does have a few smears of what looks to be a simple form of concrete on her clothing.

"If you want to help, grab one of those bags over there, and then mix in some water. Just enough that it becomes a paste." Kita seems to be just finishing up a batch, hefting a bucket up onto her shoulder and then walking it over towards the workers.

"Yeah... yeah, that's something you don't need to do. Better to focus on things you can do." Vertina has been down those dark corners of the mind enough in the past, when she had little else to occupy herself, she doesn't need to waste time on them now. "They've only got a few more matches left before it's over. Probably a smart idea."

She turns to look at the bags. "They have concrete here? Or is this something an alchemist whipped together?", she muses, even as she moves over to grab one of the bags. Being a physical combat oriented type she has little issue with hefting the bag onto a shoulder. It's not hard to pour into one of the barrels of water for mixing.

"Some days, I don't even think about it." Kita admits, "How long we've been here." She shakes her head, lifting one hand to draw white strands of her bangs out of her eyes. "And then some days I wake up and realize March is almost over." Three months. They had been trapped here... three months. "So, fuck it. I'm going to at least make myself useful, right?" She smiles then, showing Impish fanged teeth.

Dropping off the bucket with one of the workers, Kita gives the Spriggan male a pat on the shoulder. "Try to even that out. You want to make a good base for the next layer of rocks." The male nods, though he looks uncertain in his task. Likely, these are Ezzo refugees, returning the favor of their new home by working.

"Not sure it's quite concrete, but it's something similar. We've been using it to fill in the gaps." With a laugh, she admits, "I don't really know much about construction, so I mostly keep track of the progress we've made, what supplies we need, and do whatever it is that doesn't take a more skilled hand."

"Fair enough." Vertina tosses aside the empty bag, and picks up a stick to stir the mix into a proper paste. "Maybe a little of both, then. As long as it gets the job done."

She pauses a moment to lift the stick out and observe the mix dripping off of it, then shakes her head and resumes stirring. Not quite the proper consistency yet. "Better to be useful with what you can do, then fret over what you can't... Sometimes just being able to do something at all means something."

She pulls the stick out again, shakes off as much of the mix as she can, and after setting the stick aside again picks the tub up and carries it over to the repair work. "Good to see they're putting up stone walls. I doubt wood would hold back some of the tower monsters for very long."

"I'm an artist, or at least, I was before all of this." Kita speaks softly as she walks over to a table where plans have been laid out. There is an outline of where the walls are supposed to encircle the settlement, her fingers lightly tracing it as she checks that they are on the right path. "Jurou was the strong one. The fighter. The one who loved competition." Her lip quirks, with some display of fondness.

That name may or may not be familiar. Jurou was a female Salamander who competed in the tournament. "Now, I feel like I'm the one fighting. I think we all have to be. Not just to scale the tower, but to make a life here. The game isn't exactly going to roll over and give us anything for free."

Her eyes shift over to Vertina, giving a nod of appreciation for the help. "You should see the stone walls around Zumfit up on the third floor. For a bunch of hunter/gatherer Landers, I'm surprised they managed to build something like that." Her hand motions towards the cobblestone wall that is being built. "Better than we can manage. We don't exactly have ample stone quarries here on the Isle of Beginnings."

"There is more fights than physical combat," Vertina agrees as she sets the bucket of mixture down. "But as long as we have perseverence, everything else we can work into place."

She pauses a moment to stretch. "Mmm. I recall the name in the ceremony, but I don't believe I saw the actual fight. I spent most of my time between watching my friends out in the desert training, to work on overcoming why I lost my own match."

Leaving the paste application to the workers of less physical inclinations, Vertina picks up one of the stones to be placed in the wall with relative easy. This would be intense work, even with her strength... but for her just being able to do so was still, in itself, an adventure of sorts. "Makes you wonder were they got the materials from. Maybe there's a source on that floor we can find and take advantage of as well."

"Mmm." Kita makes a soft sound of affirmation, "Sometimes all you need is an extra set of hands. Though I'm sure things will shift again when the tournament is over. People will push to find the next floor boss and we'll be back into the real fighting."

Just then, a group of Spriggans arrive with a cartfull of stones, being pulled by a pair of pekos. This seems to distract Kita momentarily as she flags them towards a part of the wall that hasn't seen attention yet. "Go ahead and offload down there. We've got enough to finish reinforcing this stretch."

Then, walking around the table, Kita watches Vertina, as if appraising her strength. "So, why do you think you lost?" She asks, pushing her glasses up on her nose. "Jurou fought that Cait Sith alchemist from New World Alliance. Seems he has some pretty good ways of plink-damaging tanks."

Vertina's comment has her thoughtful, though, "Maybe we can find someone with the mining skill to scout the floor. Not sure most of us would know what we're looking at, otherwise. To me, rocks just look like rocks."

"Other than a few trick projectile techniques I'm mainly a close-quarters, in your face sort of fighter." Vertina hefted the stone into place and braced it there for a few Spriggans to apply their paste. "A pure spellcaster was able to keep me out of my prime striking range, and off-step enough I couldn't land more than a few solid blows before I was overwhelmed. I need to work out better options for dealing with those sort of combatants, and be able to adjust my defensive strategy."

The corner of Kita's mouth quirks up in a sly sort of smile, "Well, as a pure spellcaster, myself, we have to have a few tricks of our own." The Imp's tail twitches behind her, obviously amused at the comparison. "I just tend to avoid PVP, myself. Though I've seen both of the floor boss rooms and come out alive, so hopefully that means something."

She shrugs, the motion causing the overshirt to slip down slightly, and she tugs it back up. "Sometimes, it seems like the best defense is a good offense, at least when it comes to other players. Though against bosses..." Kita shakes her head, "Well, I've been lucky since most don't respect tank-aggro and will flat out target back-line fighters."

"Probably designed that way," Vertina muses as she steps back from the wall. "If the tanks can taunt -everything- at themselves, it'd be too easy." She walks back to pick up another of the stones. This was practically a weight lifting workout for herself, so she certainly didn't mind helping out. "The sandworm had those swarms of beetles to keep people from sitting and camping its size. I imagine most bosses will have similar counter-measures."

"Sandworm?" Kita ask, and then it seems to click in her mind and she snaps her fingers, "Oh right, the Calamity in Holy Empire." The Imp shakes her head, her white and blue hair moving slightly in the process, moving around her horns. "We were still in Alne, finalizing the last arrangements before the tournament, so we only heard about that."

She reaches to grab a rock, which is significantly smaller than those that Vertina is carrying. It seems as if she doesn't have very high physical strength stats. "Most of the bosses have changed, at least from what I've heard from the older tower-climbers. I know Xander is worried that if we're not more careful, there could be wipe." She gives a sound of effort before dropping the rock into place.

"I didn't really play very actively before all of this started. I thought the expansion was going to allow us to play cross-server, so I got into it in early Winter and Jurou joined in over the holiday break. Normally, they're over in the US at school, so we don't see each other very often."

"I see." Vertina set the stone in place, wiggling it a few times to get it set in good, and lined up against the stone next to it as best as possible. The smaller the gaps the less that needed to be filled in to hold them, and they'd have more material to go around. "Xander is probably right. Even the experiened climbers don't know what we're up against if things have changed."

She takes a few steps back to let the others work on what's already in place before adding more rocks. "I have bad legs after an accident, so this allowed me to do activity like I couldn't in my real body any more."

    Among the crowd of Spriggans there is a familiar face, one which might be recognised as belonging to an adventurer instead of a lander.

    "I got eliminated from the tournament..." Uta drones as she staggers into view, staring ahead in shock, alienated. "I got... eliminated... from the tournament..."

    Her voice has no emotion, as if the world had stopped making sense, as if there was not an appropriate amount of pain, rage, or weeping which could match what she is going through, not even in combination with the others, and the only sensible reaction was being dead inside instead.

    "...how," she mumbles, uncomprehending. "I wasn't even taking part. I was just part of the audience. How does one get eliminated from the audience?"

    Seems like someone's been trolled again.

"It's not as if I don't agree with him. A wipe is bound to happen sooner or later." Kita admits, nodding her head as she puts the smaller stone into place. Luckily, gray mixture they are sealing between it manages to keep it mostly in place. "He's just worried that the leaders in the Alliance don't put as much emphasis on research and planning and put too much on brute force." She smirks, stretching her arms over her head, "And he's not wrong."

There is a momentary look of surprise at Vertina's revelation, perhaps because most people in such a case don't admit that much. "It's one of the definite benefits of this place." Somehow, one revelation is enough that Kita adds, "I have to admit, the fact that this place doesn't really care who you love is a benefit. It's still not legal to marry for some of us, in Japan."

That, of course, is when Uta stumbles in. Kita just blinks, "You what?" She stops mid-way to picking up another rock, and just eyes the Spriggan uncertainly. "Who told you that?"

Vertina nods. Kita doesn't need to explain farther than that, she gets the meaning just fine. "Yeah. Things like that don't matter here." She squats down to pick up another larger stone. "And... well... they might not get it until they run into the wall themselves. Some people can be like that. They need to meet resistance before realize if they're not seeing the entir--"

Her train of thought is cut off by the rambling of the approaching Uta. She furrows her brow a little. "... Unless you did something to disrupt the matches, I wouldn't think you could be." Followed by a grunt as she hoists the stone onto her shoulders.

    Uta blinks and snaps out of her thoughts as she is addressed. "What? Huh? What was I saying again? I think I lost track- Oh, hi Kita! Hi... Vertina it is, right? I remember you from the Peko race." She removes her nurse cap and holds it to her heart as she looks down. "Alas, poor Haggis. May he rest in peace or respawn with a different name. Let us hope 'asset recycling', as some people described it to me, is a thing." She frwons, going pensive. "Sounds a lot like the Buddhist concept of reincarnation, if you ask me."

    She looks left and right, and seems to notice the construction work for the first time. "...You need help with that?", she asks, pointing a limp finger at the section of the wall currently being built.

"Mmm." Kita makes another one of those thoughtful sounds. "True enough. I just hope not to be counted among the dead when they figure out that lesson." The Imp's tail curls almost protectively around her own ankle. "Luckily, the Tournament has made them have to slow down the pressure. Give us more time to get some levels before we dive in against the next boss."

Then, Uta has her attention and she pushes her glasses up on her nose. "Well, I don't have any notification from Tournament staff about you being banned or anything. I would imagine they'd at least let me know if that were the case." Since she is one of those responsible for the paperwork side of things.

The Imp raises a hand in greeting, "Haggis?" Once again, Kita looks confused, as if she is missing out on something. "Who would name a peko, Haggis?"

At the offer of help, Kita extends an arm towards the wall. "Feel free to help if you'd like. We're just repairing and reinforcing the walls around Tolbana."

"Griefers with a sick sense of humor, using it to get people off guard and steal from them," Vertina replies dryly. "But it had bad timing, plucked something from Uta while a bunch of us were standing around her." Pigtails bob as she shakes her head. "And that were fang gibbed the bird before I even had a chance to throw a fireball at it. It was kind of spetacular in its own right." Another stone is hefted into place and the Salamander quickly steps back out of the way of others. "Jerks thinking they have a right to harass people like that."

    Uta rambles on, "It's apparently a reference to the Wild Haggis of Scotland, some sort of cryptid whose legs on one side are longer than the legs on the other. Very fitting for that Peko." As she heads for the closest pile of rocks, she says, "Oh, sorry if I've interrupted your discussion. Please go on, I will join my Spriggan brethern in building a safe haven."

    She grabs one rock, and with the appropriate grunting and amount of effort, she carries it towards the wall under construction.

Kita looks between Salamander and Spriggan, her blue eyebrows lifted as she seems genuinely surprised by the story they are describing. "You get into some of the strangest adventures, Uta." Her gloved hand reaches up and brushes hair back behind her ear, shaking her head. "The only interesting thing I had happen was being handed the microphone for Jurou's match."

The Imp raises a hand, dismissing Uta's concerns. "It's fine. Not as if anything was private conversation." Otherwise, she wouldn't be admitting it in front of the workers and other Adventurers present. "Then again, with the tournament almost over, you're probably better off here. So long as you aren't going too deep into the wilds, it's a fair bit safer here than in the deserts."

"Temperatures aren't quite so extreme, either," Vertina chimes in. Another large stone is put in place and again she moves back so the other workers have room to get smaller stones propped in and apply more of the adhesive mix. "And there will be plenty to do once people are focused on the tower again. All the more reason to make sure our waypoint is secured first."

She rests her hands on her hips while admiring the work, then turns a bit to glance back towards the rest of the settlement. "For a lot of these ex-Ezzo people this is home now. They'll appreciate the business to get themselves established, if nothing else."

    Uta looks confused at Kita. "...I do? I mean, I have heard of people shooting giant mecha skeletons in the head and people liberating floors of the Tower, their names etched forever in the annals of this world's history! People got to see the misty ruins before I did... people get to take part in tournaments for top-tier fighers, and... well, there's even you. You, who went through an odyssey to be rejoined with The One You Lost when the apocalypse hit. Don't be shy Kita, the legend of Kita and Jurou is already being passed around by word-of-mouth as we speak, and, believe it or not, it's even sung by the occasional bard in the cheapest third-grade inns on slow nights! You made it to the spotlight! I love the part where the popcorn golem gets fireballed. What I do is... well, is trifelties by comparison. Maybe I'm just accidentally good at selling them," she states matter-of-factly, and finishes with a shrug.

    "I like this place.", says Uta in response to Vertina. "Rylen said I'm getting a slime lab in the Peko farm, but we have never established if I will also be getting some living quarters. I suspect setting up a cot in the lab will be no problem, but even if not, I will have to find some place to live that's close to the lab..." She looks around. "If that does not work out for any reason, this would be an excellent plan B. It's full of Spriggans like me here, I've... I've never seen anything like this."

"Just be glad we visited during the early spring. I don't even want to imagine the temperatures in that desert once it hits summer." Kita, who always seems to be wearing long-sleeves, just shakes her head at that idea. She twitches her nose, then pushes her glasses up, blinking behind the lenses.

Uta's rambling is met with another of those long stares from Kita as the Imp's tail uncurls, and then twitches behind her. "You know, I wouldn't mind there being a proper ballad about us, but I somehow doubt that it would be about /that/." She laughs then, bemused as she crunches down to grab another rock from the pile. "Though, I'd probably have to be the one to write a proper song."

She looks curious at the prospect of slime laboratories, but focuses on carrying the stone over to the wall. "What do you plan on doing with the slimes? I mean, I'm no alchemist, so I have no idea what they could even be used for."

That is a long-winded ramble if ever Vertina heard one. All she really has to offer on the matter is "... We seem to have quite a few Bards around, so there's probably some manner of singing of exploits going on." Then shrugs a bit to Kita. "I think she just likes slimes," Vertina remarks. "Yeah. There's a lot of Spriggans here it seems. I guess because of the bad blood in their backstory? Us Adventurers don't care, but some Landers seem to really hold grudges over the matter."

With her usual penchant for avoiding notice, Baroness Wake approaches. She hasn't been seen since the Apocalypse, at which time her reputation was well known. But the world has changed, and she is changing with it. Provided no one notices her, she will keep moving closer, until she stands no more than half a dozen steps away, watching the work take place. Her expression betrays no emotion, but her attention is quite focused on the construction of the wall.

    Uta, her back turned to the Baroness (so, unless Uta has eyes on her back, which she hasn't, she can't see her), replies to Vertina, "...that's why this is my plan B. Landers are pretty much universally Spriggans. Here, one wouldn't get any of the attitude one can get from local elsewhere..." She trails off, gaze lost in the distance.

    "You not only draw, you also write songs, Kita?" Again, abrupt change of subject, but this time after shaking her head to clear it, at least. "A well-rounded artist, I see! I'd love to hear what you come up with. Will the part about firaballing the popcorn golem be in?"

    A pause.

    "...That part /did/ happen, didn't it?", not really sounding certain about it.

    "Research!" There we go, another abrupt change of subject, this time after straightening the hem of her gi/uniform's jacket to look more professional. "As a nurse, I'm more of a pharmacist than an alchemist, so I pretty much deal with substances as they relate to curing aliments. It is established that slime secretions can be used in poisons. Will have to look into disinfectants. But I'm surprised they can't be used for more. I mean, they are so versatile! You feed them cat hair? Bam. Cat slime. You feed them a cactus spine? Bam. Cactus slime. Which I have not seen, /yet/, but..." Suddenly ominous, tips of her fingers of one hand tapping against the corresponding tips of the other, "...soooon..." Snap back to a normal tone, without skipping a beat, "You've got magic slimes, rock slimes, ice slimes, dark slimes... how come we can't harness this versaitlity to produce more ingredients? What if, I don't know, one kept a bunch of unprimed slimes, and then one needs a ridiculous amount of ingredients for healing potions due to some health disaster which probably involved a boss and a whole bunch of players who thought they tanks but weren't... BAM! Feed your slimes some basic ingredients for a health potion, multiply your resources!"

    "...or maybe something else. I don't know. I haven't thought that far. I just like slimes."

"There is no popcorn golem." Kita replies with a roll of her eyes, offering Uta a smile. "But yes, I play guitar and sing a little." She leaves it at that, not wanting to go into that bit of her own history.

She glances towards Vertina, and then back at Uta, just in time to hear her go on and on about Slimes. "Well, it would be something interesting to look into. Though with the effects of that cactus juice, I'd be afraid of what a cactus slime would actually do." Its effects are a bit notorious.

As she looks past the Spriggan, her eyes dance right over where Baroness Wake is, the woman blending in to their surroundings. The wall seems to be being built by SEA Adventurer volunteers as well as Spriggans from Tolbana. There is a desk with plans for where the wall will be set, which are visible from nearby.

Vertina fails to notice anyone approaching. Maybe because she's gawking at Uta's ability to go on such a long and lengthy foray into the aspects of slimes. "Well, I can't delve too much into specifics like that, but as a novice alchemist I can confirm slimes'.. slime is a good regent for certain types of potion work. Antivenoms and antitoxins are usually made out of the things they're meant to counteract, after all. Would probably make a good adhesive too, depending on the type of blob."

Idly she picks up one of the larger stones again and carries it over to be placed in the wall construction.

Wake is satisfied to remain where she is for a time. She maintains her strange hiding-in-plain-sight posture long enough to be certain of what is being done, who is doing it, and to review the plans for details such as the apparent scope of the work and (if they exist) estimates on labor and time. She is no architect, but there's no telling when a bit of information might prove useful.

The time for lurking being quite over, Wake alters her posture slightly, suddenly standing much taller than she had been. She takes a single step, then another, each motion careful, measured, patient. Her voice has something of a pur to it and a small smile curves her lips. "Thank you all for doing this most important work," she calls out. "Though I must admit I'm not certain how slimes fit into it." She waits for the others to look her way. When they do, she will dip into an elegant curtsey, "I do apologize for my abrupt greeting. I am called Baroness Wake."

    "I am certain that one can always find a way to fit slimes into things. They are very malleable."

    The sudden greeting has Uta turn with a startle, her tense posture relaxing immediately as Baroness Wake segues into an apology.

    Transfixed by the vision of this woman of exquisite countenance, in a mixture of awe and admiration, she eventually regains enough attention to the world around her to remember to bow herself. Dignified and proper for addressing a noble, but nowhere as fancy as Wake's courtsey, but, hey, what can one expect from peasants. "Your Grace.", she greets back. "Uta Furore", pronounced the Japanese way, fu-ro-re, " Musical Kung Fu Nurse at your service!"

    Lost in thought for another few seconds, all she manages to say afterwards is, "...you need to meet Rylen. I have a hunch you two would get along swimmingly."

"Well, you all know a fair bit more about slimes than I do. That's for certain." Kita takes a break from moving rocks for a moment to wander back towards the table, checking on the plans once more. She talks to a few of the workers, "We need a couple more of the larger ones over here. That should give us enough to finish this section. See if you can get those over here from the cart?" A pair of Spriggan workers nod their agreement.

But Wake's sudden arrival has her looking up from the plans, one hand resting on them. What she would have seen is a crude drawing with the scope of the city and the plans for the wall, but not much in the way of specifics. Only the path the wall is meant to take in the future. "Oh, slimes don't have anything to do with it, just idle conversation."

Vertina Takes a few steps back from the wall and dusts her hands off. "Huh?" Then turns to look at the new arrival that's finally made themselves noticable. "Oh. Hello there. My name's Vertina. Vertina Ketobasu." She eyes Wake over for a moment, but turns her attention back to the others workers as Kita gives out new points to work on. "Seems like you've got most of this covered now." Then looks back to Kita again. "How are the patrols doing, keeping monsters away from the work areas?"

Baroness Wake nods smiles at Uta, "Musical Kung-Fu Nurse? I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Nurse Furore! While I have certainly seen many things in my travels, that is a new title."

Wake turns her attention to Kita, her head nodding in understanding, "I see. It is interesting how something as simple as a slime can do so much in the right hands."

A moment later and she directs her attention to Vertina. "A pleasure to meet you. It is always pleasing to see people dedicate themselves to making cities safer. Considering matters, it is critical we focus on building safe havens. At whose direction is this work taking place?"

Uta smiles at Baroness Wake. "Thanks. Glad you like my title. I made it up myself. In fact, I'm not even sure that what I practice is even proper Kung-fu. I'm pretty sure there's some Karate mixed in. But, you know, sounds catchy, so..." She offers a shrug.

    "Maybe I'll upgrade to Symphonic Ninja Physician when high level enough, but for now..." She trails off. And looks down. "Oh, I've been carrying a rock around all this time. /That/'s why my arms were so tired!" She hefts up her payload, and, cheeks puffed, she heads to the wall where other fellow spriggans are busying themselves, to deposit it in its proper place.

With the others offering introductions, Kita adds in her own, "Kita Blackthorne. Black mage and general all-around paperpusher for Scale Emblem." That seems to be a good enough description of her life, these days.

As Vertina asks about the patrols, Kita motions at a pair of guards who can be just barely seen walking the distance of the perimeter. "We could always use a few more, if you want to kill some monsters instead of carrying rocks?" She suggests, raising her eyebrows, "Maybe get in some combat practice?" The Salamander had talked about wanting to improve her fighting skills.

Then, her storm-blue gaze turns back to the Baroness, "Right now, Scale Emblem is spear-heading the reinforcing of defenses here. Tolbana has been a bit a project of ours, making a new home for those who were refugees from Ezzo."

Then, she seems to squint upward, realizing something. The Imp cups her hands over her mouth and calls out to the workers. "Alright guys, half hour break for lunch."

Vertina grabs an arm with the opposite hand and pulls it across her front in a stretch. Does the same after switching arms. "That doesn't mean we won't be happy to take help from others. These people need a safe place to stay." Followed by lacing fingers together and reversing her hands to push out and palms forward.

Then finger-points at Kita. "Exactly what I was thinking. Not that I mind helping out, but this is basically a weightlifting excersize for me. I need more actual combat to work on some technique after the warm up."

"I would rather like to hear a proper symphony again," Baroness Wake says to Uta. Her lips curl into a self-deprecating smile and she sighs softly, "But there are of course greater matters to see to. And yet that is when we need the arts most of all."

The Baroness' thoughts on this topic are cut off as she turns her words to Kita, "Ah, the Scale Emblem, is it? It is excellent to have an Alliance promoting this action. Are there many refugees still wandering in this land, or have most moved on to other places already?"

    Uta drops the stone in place with a grunt. "Oh, I haven't composed any symphony yet. Or played one. Or sung it. I just... you know, hit the notes needed to activate my artes. Apparently mine work like that."

    And then, all of a sudden, the announcement that it's break time.

    Uta cheers, "Lunch! I like lunch! It's my favourite meal, up there with dinner and breakfast!", and after taking proper leave from everyone with a bow, she darts in the direction that smells the most like food.

    Not long after that, Baroness wake will receive a friend request from Uta.

"A good amount of the Spriggan population of Landers have settled between Tolbana, Alne, and the Carmina Gadelica." Kita explains, "Adventurers are a bit more brave in heading out to other lands." She raises a hand to touch her own chest, "Having lived through the chaos in Ezzo, I have a some investment in making sure that those who've settled here in Tolbana are safe."

As the work crew all start to take their break, Kita motions to them, "And that's my call for lunch. If I'm late, my date won't be happy with me." She makes a few hand motions, sending out a friend invitation to Wake, "If you want to lend more aid to the Ezzo refugees, let me know. We're always looking for help."

"Sure they appreciate the help, too." Vertina pauses in her stretchs to flick through the motions of bringing up and sending friend requests as well. "I ate before I wandered out here, so I'll probably go check on the patrols. Maybe get to kick something's butt for myself."

The Baroness takes her time surveying the work, her eyes flicking down at the plan. She shows no sign of judgment, but she is interested. "I will look for ways in which more aid might be gathered. I sense there is a strong good will among those working here, and that in time, ever greater things might be achieved."

Wake slips once more into her curtsey, her head bowing politely, "I hope you enjoy your rest. No doubt you have earned it. I will take my leave. I have much to catch up on. Your good work inspires me to greater efforts on my own plans. One day, I am certain, much good will come of this meeting."