The Stars Are Smol

Shibuya is a busy place, full of adventurers and Landers starting to bring things together. It's still a muddy, dirty thing of construction and on-going racket.

It is also where, at this moment, Jazuhanzu can be found. She arrived by a Fourlands Dukedom ship early this morning, intent on seeing to ... something before she sets out again back to wherever it is she's going on her many sojourns as of late. In any event, Estelle is notified appropriately by someone at the port that the small (and adorable but don't let her hear you say that) Undine is present and she's on her way to meet with someone in town.

     For whatever reason, Pela was following after Jazuhanzu absently, half in and half out of her almost trance-like state that her current state of Mujou was inflicting on her. In her hands she was holding a jar with several herbs and spices in it, looking into it as she hums absently under her breath, a small smile on her lips as she just seems to have... latched onto Jazuhanzu for now.

Estelle considers the starcharts in front of her, and their meanings for for the day, as she considers the rumors she's following and other matters. Her silver eyes aren't staring at anything in particular though, as she sips at her tea in a building that could use some work - though, really, being able to stare up at the stars from the sitting room isn't something she'd truly complain about. But then a Lander is poking his head in, and giving her the simple message "That lady you were looking for came into port."

That has her blinking and glancing up, offering a small smile and tip of her head. "Thank you." And then she's gathering up her charts, tucking them away, and heading off. The undine has been described as colorful, and Adventurers usually stand out a fair deal, on their own. She does, certainly.

The fox makes her way along the streets of the docks, taking at times arbitrary turns, until she spies who she's looking for. Probably. Though she doesn't know anything of the Cat Sith at hand. "Excuse me! Miss Jazuhanzu? Do you have a moment to discuss matters?"

When she hears that name, the Undine's shoulders clench up. Her face scrunches up like she just heard someone loudly let one rip in the most sacred shrine imaginable. She heaves a sigh, mutters under her breath something dire, and then, lets herself relax. The shoulders drop and the gothy Undine turns in the direcftion of the Fox that called out to her. She rolls her scroll case she's holding under one arm and turns her own almost lambently amber eyes on Estelle.

"Call me Jazz. Please," she implores. Her voice sounds like it belongs on the default Cutest Anime Character Voices top tens that some fans might put together somewhere, but hey, this is *living* an anime, after all, in so many ways. She pulls her coat around herself as a buffer against the wind.

"Who might you be?"

     The Cait Sith really had nothing to do with the situation, she was just following after Jazuhanzu, enjoying staring into that jar of slowly-decaying flora that she had, occasionally shaking it to shift what was visible. It was possibly a little bit weird to watch as she did that. She was flanked by two guards, a Spriggan Blademaster and a Gnome Acolyte that were ... just relaxed and chatting about nothing amongst each other, standing off to the side a bit.

     Pela pauses, the sound of conversation seeming to bring her back out of that trance for a moment, her gaze shifting around and away from that jar. "...When did we get to Shibuya?" She asks towards Jazz absently. "...How long have I just been following you...? Oh my gosh I'm sorry if that was creeping you out." Pela's cheeks were flushing red as she shifts around in place, clearing her throat absently. "...D...don't mind me... I'm just, uhm... researching herbs..." Great introduction, Pela. Way to make yourself sound like a druggie or something.

"Miss Jazz, then." The vixen corrects herself, even as she pulls up to a more conversible distance. Which lets her do a quick Inspect to make sure that, yes, this is who she's looking for. She doesn't make any comments on the voice, though she does meet that amber gaze evenly, though her silver eyes do flick over to Pela as she speaks. "And hlloe to you, as well." There's a soft smile for the obviously out-of-it Cait Sith, and brief considerations of her guards... But!

"I'm Estelle Mancer, Astrologian." She introduces herself warmly, offering a hand towards the undine. "A student of the stars, obviously. I heard there was someone else performing a study of the heavens, and re-developing tools to assist with navigation by their light and their charting, and I knew I had to meet such an earnest soul." Her tails flick and curl behind her, astral patterns shifting with the motions.

"... ah, yeah, actually. That's true. I've learned a number of things. Guessing you'd like to compare notes, oi?" She glances around from side to side, then at Pela. Who followed her. She shrugs her shoulders helpelssly before adressing Estelle again after a cursory inspect and once over. "Yeah, sure," she finally says, "let's go have a seat." The tentacles that hang down on either side of her head twitch a bit, but soon she's heading for some crates that will make for convenient seating.

     "Estelle Mancer... it's nice to meet you." Pela says, dipping into a curtsy towards her politely with one hand, while the other stows that jar under her arm for the curtsy. Her thin little tail absently waving behind her. "I am Pela Clarpuff, explorer." She says politely, shifting a bit in place as she smooths her maid outfit back down a bit.

     And then the conversation goes on to stars and the astrolabes that Jazz re-invented with the help of the alliance. Jazz doesn't say that Pela bothered her, and just kind of shrugs at her... so she seems to decide that this clearly meant it was fine, and Pela shifted a bit awkwardly.

     Part of her wanted to stay, but a voice in her head was screaming to move on and look at more herbs. She bites her lip a moment, seeming legitimately torn. But eventually she opts to stay closer to Jazuhanzu. At least for the moment.

That curtsy is returned by the vixen, as she briefly dips into her own. "And you as well, Miss Clarpuff." She tries another warm smile, to try and banish some of that nervousness. Even if she's several inches taller than the cat. But then Jazz is moving, and there's an agreeing nod as she follows towards ther crates - pulling out her own star charts as she does so, and briefly riffling through them to make sure everything's in order.

"Indeed! A thorough charting of the havens, throughout the seasons, is far more than one person alone can handle. Even with my enchanted spyglass, it'd be the work of a lifetime - and more. Sadly, my old charts from the days of Eastel's establishment are no longer reliable, even if they can serve as a starting point to try and calculate any drift..." She pinches part of the pile of charts in her hand - the back of their corners marked in red ink.

When she reaches the crates, Jazz turns back around and then bows towards Estelle politely, as tradition would dictate and then takes her seat. She's small, so she has to wiggle herself up onto it, adjusting hair, hat, and coat to make it eaiser on herself. A brief glance towards Pela.

She reaches into her coat, then, to produce a brass disc. She turns it over in her hands, showing its dials and plates and symbols. It's definitely an astrolabe. She offers it over for her to examine.

"Yeah, I got curious about whether or not the stars had been changed by the black wave. To really measure whether or not the star charts were still accurate from before the wave versus after. But to do accurate measurements, I needed a tool, so I thought about the ancients. The astrolabe was one of the first real celestial navigational tools. As you've no doubt noticed, the stars mirror our own earth's star field, with the glaring exception of the moons."

     Pela smiles a bit towards Estelle. She, normally, would also be awkward and such! But... she's... well. Less so right now. For unrelated reasons to anything except herbs. She absently walks over to Jazz, as she feels another trance start to come on, one hand lifting to take hold of part of Jazz's clothing and just hold onto it, as she looks back into that jar. One of the herbs that had been damaged by absent shaking beginning to break up into those red pixels of things being destroyed, as Pela watched, clearly entranced...

"It /has/ been a bit difficult to account for lunar differences in my divinations." Estelle admits, as she takes the astrolabe to gently test it. "And I didn't have the skills necessary to make this, though I've been considering the designs of some octants. But I can't quite remember how the mirrors are supposed to be configured..." Her voice trails off, fingers drumming lightly against the astrolabe's edge. "We could probably use this to configure some basic pocket watches, too, calulating for rough latitude using a sun dial. Or has someone managed that? I'll admit I've been in a bit of a... depression, since the Wave, that I've only recently managed to shake off."

Her eyes do flick to Pela, as the woman grips at Jazz's clothes, and there's a curious tilt of her head... but she shakes it off, and turns to offer the astrolabe back to the undine. Though the fox's gaze does question if the cat is alright.

"That's very nice, Pela," says Jazz as she observes the herbs breaking up, assuming the hand on her clothes is meant to draw her attention to it. She turns back to Estelle and explains, helplessly, "she has a debuff afflicting her. A sort of 'fey mood' that's making her..."

A vague, nebulous gesture in Pela's direction as if that's all the explanation that's really needed.

She takes the astrolabe back. "In time," she agrees on the matter of other projects that they could push forward. She neatly folds her hands together in her lap, fingers interlaced. A simple nod of understanding at the mention of her having been in a bit of a funk. She seems to undertand. No judgment there, really.

"Here's a couple things you probably *can't* tell just yet. While the stars may be our star field, the distances between them are ... not as great. Going by altitude and the star field, the world is roughtly half the size of our own. Which makes sense, I suppose. Moreover, there is no polar north. Instead, a compass I made *outside* of the game's internal crafting menu points west."

"... Oh. I imagine it's not the kind of thing a standard debuff-clear can handle either, then, or it would've been dealt with." There's another glance toweards Peta there, considering, before she shakes it off. It'll run its course, or be dealt with in time. And she's a stranger, so trying a bit of magic is likely out. "I wish you luck in helping her with it."

"But... West, really? That says a lot of strange things about the world's composition... Is that its true pole, or just its magnetic one? And why would that be a notable difference, if everything else is laid out roughly the same?" She fusses with her hands a little, turning that problem over in her head. "How easily can I get an astrolabe of my own? I think I need to do some precision checks of my charts, and then start monitoring precisely how they change as the seasons shift for discrepencies..."

"It's not, no," says Jazz of Pela after a momentary pause, to Estelle.

"As for 'true' or merely 'magnet', I can't tell you. I can tell you I made a water compass and the needle in the cork pointed west without fail ... which means we have due west instead of north, beyond the north star." She splays her hands out to either side of herself as she shrugs helplessly, as if to say that those answers are simply beyond her as of yet. There's ... it's not quite excitement or enthusiasm, but a certain relief visible in her expression to have someone who clearly is interested in any of this to talk to.
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"The smiths of the Zorah Clan of the Fourlands were able to make this one once I was able to provide a diagam, so it shouldn't be impossible for us to get one casted for you. Failing that, I'm sure we can get one of our locals to just copy you one from mine." She turns it over again before placing it back in her pocket.

"Hm. MAybe we should look into watches, or some manner of precision timepiece, sooner than later." She muses aloud, the vixen still fiddling with her hands. "The two ways to check the true pole would be to track the directional drift of the constellations, or to do timing calculations based on when a spread of positions saw sunrise, noon, and set." Her tail curls around one of her legs, shifting a little as her thoughts turn inward... though she shakes it off, after a moment. "A fascinating mystery to look into, all the same. A pity that even with the globe being half the size, a journey to find the magnetic pole would still be quite the trip. And I'm not sure how server disctinctions are being upheld in this new world, either."

"... But. Time to start asking around about metal-workers, then. See what can be done for copying your astrolabe, or approaching the Zorah Clan for another. They hopefully kept the diagram."

"I suspect they're making more for their ships. I sincerely doubt you'll have a problem aquiring one before long, now that we know they work like they should." Jazz seems impressed by her answer, actually, if the arch of her brow is any indication. "Were you, what, an astrologist, or amateur astronomer or what not back home?" she asks, "because, goodness, do I ever need the help. That was something I'd never have thought of." She puts a finger against her lips, tapping its sharpened nail against it for a moment.

"There's also another matter to consider of basic importance. Eclipses, solstices. It'd be good to make sure these things are the same, and know where they're not. Eclipses, especially. This is a fantasy setting. It's likely that there may be some 'events' at some point tied to them. With two moons, there could be theoretically twice as many eclipses, but they don't have any impact on the function of the oceans as far as I can see."

"I was in the middle of astronomy studies, yes. And astrology ones, too." A beat. "... That's the science and the divination." The words are aimed more towards Pela and her guards, there, as the fox expects the Undine to know the difference already.

"... and, really, it could be more than double. It all depends on their orbits, and any intersects." She pulls out a fresh piece of paper, and roughly sketches things out. "I imagine there's no actual overlap between their orbits, or else we'd have heard legends about lunar collisions in their lore. And if the Wave changed that, then I'm going to be truly afraid of its source." But there's Alba at the center, and two circles with the moon on them. In several configurations. "But based on their own orbital speeds and the distances, there are a number of ways that an eclipse could occur. We could even see a 'triple' eclipse, where both moons align with the sun, or times with one moon eclipses the other... potentially both ways." Her quill taps at the sketches representing those outcomes.

"Sadly, such things weren't generally covered by the lorebooks Before. And I don't have enough data to do any predictions now. But you're right. There are doubtlessly events based on them, or the passage of comets like Halley's." Her tails snap out for a moment, before curling back in. But the grin on her face and the perk of her ears speaks of excitement.

"You're right. It could be, and I was definitely musing at the idea that everything lining up accordingly like you're describing there *could* the trigger for something .. or nothing. But it would be good to know. There's enough weirdness to this whole world that every bit we learn about how it functions could help us down the road." She holds her hands out, spreading them, tentacle-tips twitching in Estelle's direction.

"As for the solstices, I'd presume those would be the same, but we don't know, and given the world's size, it might *not* be. If we know the date of those, ahead of time, we could do what the ancient Eratosthenes did and use it to be able to get a closer grasp on exactly how big the world is. We know about *half*, but we can get more precise than that. We should.

The vixen reaches out, briefly setting her hands atop Jazz's, fingers touching. "Yes. Knowing more about the world is important. It is, admittedly, what I spent most of my time doing in the early days of it all..." There's a fond smile, there, before she shakes it off again. Her tail are back to flicking and curling behind her, though. "And, even if it doesn't trigger an event, such a thing would be beautiful."

"... but, for the solstices at least, we can probably find them out without too much difficulty. I imagine there are new books to read, in the wake of the Wave." Estelle pulls her hands back, and then spreads them wide. "Are there almanacs? Lander calendars? Perhaps even just consulting native Scholars, now that they'll respond truely and properly. The longest and shortest days of the year are doubtless to be marked by someone, and from there we can narrow the window and obtain more accurate data."

"Landers may well have them already, I agree, it's just not something I'd had the opportunity to look in to. I've been busy with other projects as of late."

She's a little surprised by the grasp of her hands and she just sort of pauses, then nods along with her.

"Yeah, I suppose it would be. I suppose it's good to know I won't be the only one looking for answers in the skies anymore. It's so weird to see it be so much like home but ... not," a note of pain creeps into her voice.

"So much to learn, so little time to do it in, yes." She shakes her head, long hair twisting this way and that with its astral patterns. "I know the feeling. I got roped into a bit of a mystery the other day, about a kidnapped NPC..." The fox blows out a long breath, but then straightens up. "But I will always advocate looking to the Heavens for Guidance!" There's a bit of a wink there, even as she gestures along her star charts.

"Long has man gazed to the stars for answers, and sometimes they are blessed by their wisdom." Her tone is cheery, even as she leans into the chuuni /just/ a bit. "They answer my calls for blessings upon this lowly world," read; her 'Wave Artes', "and so I extoll their virtues to all who hear."

"Technically, I suppose I'm a Sea-Witch. That touches on the skies above, but also in the depths below. Either way, I have a feeling we're going to be working together. If you need some assistance, you can have my contqact details." And, indeed, Jazz offers her a friends request through the menu.

Jazuhanzu's name appears there. Japanese, of course, 'for Jazz Hands'. Poor girl, stuck with that.

The friend request is, at this point, certainly accepted! And the fox's name is exactly as she introduced herself; Estelle Mancer. 'Star-Diviner', if perhaps a little butchered. "Stellar navigation is a time-honored tradition. It's a good choice." She says, with obvious bias. "And I'll reach out to you, if I run into any problems with my studies and investigations of the heavens' glory."

Still, she takes a moment to shuffle the 'chart' of orbital potentials in amongst her star charts, and tucks them away for now. "Now I just need to see if I can badger someone into making a time piece, and bribing guildmates to handle the spread observations..."

"Please, keep me abreast of your research," says Jazz, giving a nod. "A time piece could work. In fact, I may know someone who can help give us an accurate time reading to base from. Let me know." She folds her arms across her chest now that her hands are no longer being held.

Those star-splattered ears perk at that topic, and the vixen leans in a little, arms on her knees. "Oh? Who's that?" HEr tone is obviously curious, and the motion of her tails has picked up a little. "A watch-maker of sorts, or just one of those people with a perfect sense of time?"

"Let's go with the last one for now," says Jazz, leaningn back from her. No answers will be further forthcoming on that matter, it seems. "Just let me know and I'll see if they can help." She glances towards Pela. Keeping an eye on her still.

The vixen wriggles her nose, pale lips pulling into a pout at that evasive answer. Her ears even droop a little, the very image of a kicked puppy! Or so she'd like to think. "Keep your secrets if you must, but I will find them eventually!" It's a dramatic declaration, and she eases herself back to proper posture in the wake of it. "Still, I will. If just so that they can note down the time differences between report-ins."

That glance does get Estelle thinking, though, and she gives a bit of a stretch. "But! I probably interrupted your business, as pleasant as this chat has been. I should let you get back to it, unless there's anything else you wanted to discuss in person?"

"You're having far too much fun with this," muses Jazz at Estelle's response to her evasion.

"Amongst other things, yeah. If the world is half the size, then does it need to spin faster or slower maintain a day-night cycle equivalent to our earth's? There are so many things I never though they would model, but /are/. Like the polar west, for example, in the first place." She raises a hand and pinches the bridge of her nose.

"I've got to push through, and focus on the things I love. And those things are the Stars, exploration, and mysteries." The fox points out, a finger briefly jabbing in Jazz's direction. "So, probably!"

"But, yes, it'd need to spin slower to maintain an equivalent day-night cycle, but that would reduce gravity normally... however, you've already pointed out that the twin moons aren't affecting the tides like they should, so we already have a sign that gravity isn't functioning entirely as we'd expect." Her hand tilts, gesturing towards the harbor. "Which opens up all sorts of questions about how it's being worked around..."

"... which would effect the reliability of precision time pieces, leap years..." Jazz muses, "Not like we have the ability to make a. proper atomic clock." She leans back further, a thoughtful look on her face. "Damn."

"Well, not as much for the precision time piece. If you trust your friend's sense of time that much, then we can use them as the base. A second is a second, for math. If it doesn't quite match up with the day-night cycle, then we'll just adjust our clocks to account for it. Otherwise, I think there are some basic chemistry methods that could be used? Careful timing of certain reactions..." Her tone is thoughtful, though it isn't quite as sure at the talk of chemical timing. No mix is ever perfect, after all.

"I'm not a chemist but that would make sense," agrees Jazz. "We'll cross the bridge to my friend when we get there. No, for precision, I was thinking of the earth's slowing spin being why we gain the occasional second and what the implications are of a faster spin on a smaller world are... if there are any at all for us. I like your idea on timing reactions, though. There's probably a lot of basic chemistry that would be super useful to see function or no."

"I imagine it mightb tie into alchemy, within the System." The fox admits softly, folding her hand sin her lap again. "Which means it's something I can probably experiment with. I'll have to dredge up old memories of classes, though, and try to remember my dives into Alexandra on how to process some of the materials required." She shakes it off after a moment, sighing. "But, yeah, there are a few things that, if they work, could be used to improve the situation. Like rubber."

"There's probably people better suited to chemistry. You'd need to ask around. Techically, Jazz is an alchemist by virtue of having some enchanting skills but when operating outside the system..." She spreads her hands out again, simply indicating her lack of knowledge.

"Yeah. I'll suggest a basic primer on Chemistry as a scribing project for the Alliance." One hand waves idly towards the city around them. "Maybe someone can do something with it, and we can get a few more hands on making useful chemicals and materials. A modern understanding of concrete could be an interesting thing to spread around..." Still, she shakes that tangent off like she has others, refocusing. "But."

"/If/ it works, we have to remember potential impact on the Landers. This is their world, not our's." She taps her chin with a fingernail again. "Best to start small."

"See, that's one of those things that they might have access to already? The romans had a form of concrete, amongst others. The modern understanding just gives a wider variety of mixes, and more consistent methods for creating them." She waggles a hand in a so-so gesture. "But, true. Being careful is the best bet."

"I'm aware. I'm just thinking I haven't noticed anything like that." Jazz considers a moment, then shakes her head again. "Don't get ahead of yourself. Establish basic functions."

"Oh, my primary focus will be on the stars, always." She spreads her hands wide, partially raised towards the sky. "But I'll try not to stumble too much in side projects." She gives a smile, there, and a wink. "Still, thank you for the lovely chat. I look forward to more, once we've had time to dig up more information."

"Yeah, sure," muses Jazz, absently, eyes going up towards the sky now.

"You should hunt down Uta. Talk to her about chemistry. I have a feeling she may be able to help."

"Oh? I'll keep the name in mind. Where can she be found, usually, and what does she look like?" Inspect only works so close, after all. "But, if she is as interested, it could be an interesting collaboration..."

"Like the girl in the menu. Don't tell her that, though, she'll never believe it." Jazz delivers that utterly straight faced.

"She's a bit addled seeming but she's smart, and I suspect might be able to help with some things."

"... Huh. Was that intentional, or...?" She cants her head, ears tipping in the opposite direction to remain 'straight up'. "But, I'll take your word for it." She considers things for a moment, and then nods. "Still, I should probably let you get to what you were doing... and see about getting an astrolabe, and a few other things." She turns her head, looking off towards a couple metal-workers' shops.

"Thanks again for the chat. It was nice to meet you. Both of you." There's another soft smile Pela's way.