Observational Humor

The creaking Zorah Clan ship has weathered the storms of outrageous fortune! Truth be told, the weather around Tsushima is really lousy right now, and when Jazuhanzu invited Estelle 'on a little trip with her', she was still rather circumspact about the details, instead allowing the direction and journey to speak for itself. Of course, she did speak of the 'bad weather'.

She disembarks down the gangplank, allowing the Foxstronomer...foxstrologist...?(better than a fauxstrologist in this case) to disembark with her. She's been characteristically quiet.

"You know where this is, of course."

Of course, given the location and direction, it would have to be Tsushima.

There had been a few soft invocations of Byakko to protect them from stormwinds, and the Argo Navis to steady the ship itself, to make up for Jazz's silence. Estelle isn't quite certain if they helped, of course, or if it was just the skill of their navigator and the ship's crew... but here they are, stepping down onto a shore. It is, admittedly, her first time here in either life. Her silvered eyes skim this way and that, taking it all in.

But she does know her geography of the isles, at least, so she nods at that statement. "Tsushima, I think." She murmurs back, folding her arms behind her back. "An auspicious locale, from all accounts. Any local monsters worth worrying about, or is it relatively safe?"

She keeps close to her Polaris for the night, even as her tails dance energetically behind her. There has to have been a reason to take her all the way out here, after all...

Of course, the astrolabe *definitely* helped, and one was used en route to help with the navigation! Jazz, at least, didn't comment on that, but one can't imagine she isn't satisfied by it.

There's a curt nod as Estelle answers her initial question. "That's right. That Shrine," she points, "is protected by one of the Machina, I guess, they're called. A powerful guardian who pushed back the Leivathins. The crates you're seeing are a result of the fight against them and their minions, as best as I understand it. Everywhere beanth us are tunnels infested with vermine.. and slimes," the laset one is said in a tone that indicates she just *knows8 that Uta is somewhere, cackling over it. Or in there now.

"All of that is nice, but it isn't the reason I brought you here. In time, I'm hoping we can gain permission to have a foothold on the island and maybe seek a way to the Palace Lands and establish contact with the players in Korea but, given the history that may not go as well as we'd hope. No, the real reason I brought you here is because the real Tsushima was home to the Tsushima observatory. Seems to me, if that's the case, then there might be a suitable locale on the island for your work."

"Did they, now?" Her tone is musing, as she looks out over the nearest crater. Taking in its depth and breadth. "That must have been a terrifying battle." Estelle steps over to the edge of one, kneeling down to run her fingers along its edge. "Are the tunnels manmade, natural, or dug by the vermine? I'd imagine the former two would've collapsed, though, at least in part from the battle - judging by the ruined structures, for the former." Her ears flick, turning this way and that as she considers the problem.

Though, no, she isn't ignoring the rest of it. She rises back to a stand after a few long moments, dusting her hands off. "I'll have to consult the Stars, and then see about befriending the Machina. There's... a lot of potential, for what could be learned here, even aside from making an observatory. Leviathans. Machina. Alvs..."

"But! Yes. Suitable location." She pulls out her Spyglass, looking off to the distance. "The observatory was somewhere in the national park. Somewhere in the... North Eastern side, of the southern half?" Her tone is less sure, there. "We could start off in that direction, but your words of 'gain permission' are an ill omen."

The vixen turns back to the undine, giving her her full attention once more.

"I'm no expert but they seemed manmade by the previous inhabitants. Storage tunnels, probably from the days that the trading outpost was in operation. The Zohran clan wants to set up a new one, but yes, the guardian." Her eyes turns back towards the shrine. "Her name was long and complicated. I called her Spatjahr, a german phrase for 'Autumn'." She folds her armsa cross her chest, tentacles twitching. "She speaks German, see. We're ... already making friends with her. I had a chess set made to earn 'friend level 'ein'." She seems somewhat amused by this.

"...reputation grinding, you know." She studies the spyglass for a moment, giving a nod. "We'll need to explore that part of the island and see if a suitable locale is modeled."

"... 'Ein' is 'one'?" The fox is a bit hesitant there. Obviously, her grasp of the language is spotty. "She does speak Japanese too, right?" Her tone is hopeful, there, because she does want to ask questions - so many questions - but it's tempered by the good chance the answer's 'no'. She turns her own gaze to the shrine, now, taking it in in more detail. The spyglass comes up once more.

"We might need to bring in a tracker or two, who can watch for more natural dangers while we investigate and map. Maybe someone with builder experience, to judge the potential foundations...?" Her tone turns thoughtful, as she considers everything they'd need to find the best spot for the place.

"... or I could cast some runes, and study the Stars, and see what they say. The observatory will be a place dedicated to them, after all."

"I think you should start with figuring out if you even want one to be here. We both know that the stars indicate some grievous things down the line, if the fantasy traditions hold true, we should make sure we're accordingly prepared. Interestingly... the German she spoke didn't always translate properly. Made me wonder why that was." She rubs her hands together, thoughtful, tentacle-tips twitching still.

"I'll leave it to you to get started, but once the route here is a bit safer and thes storms clear up, we're going to bring the new leg we made for the machina to replace her damaged one alongside the chess set. See if we can get her to tell us more. You're welcome to come along."

"A Machina nearby, to court and beseech? That's a resource I would be happy to have, Jazz." She lowers her spyglass, and reaches out to place a hand slowly, carefully, on the undine's shoulder. "I do believe I told you I like to hunt secrets. What treasures are left in the tunnel beneath us? What watchposts and castles remain, scattered across the island? I could spend weeks here, just exploring and digging."

She tucks the spyglass away, briefly glancing towards the heavens and the clouds hiding the stars. But she still seems to find something, there, before looking back down. "It's a fine place for an observatory, and to base expeditions from - for the island itself, and elsewhere. I'll look around, see what the options are, and at least consider them strongly."

"... as for that meeting, certainly. I will offer what omens I may when it comes, and happily provide whatever insights I may."

"We've hardly had a chance to tap them all but the ones we've located seem like they were used for food storage. These days, all that seems to be in them is a ridiculous number of rats and," with a sigh, "slimes."

"Uta was thrilled. She may be in one even now." She looks down in thought, offering no real response to the physical contact Estelle has laid on her.

"I'm aware. Your help will be warranted. The only thing I've done so far is try to make sure we don't get 'scooped' by events beyonmd our control. Other adventurers looking for secrets and what not before we get the chance to investigate them. I have every intention to ferret out whatever secerets are here." She turns towards the shrine. "Apparently, that shrine can be powered by a crystal called the 'rite of waystone' that has anti-leviathin properties. Once we can secure that, we can work with the Zorah clan to get a trading outpost running here, maybe work towards trying to find the palace lands in time... if we can move between server 'regions'. That's a big question, and I want to know the answer."

The comment about Uta just gets a brief smile out of her. "There had to have been more than food that they stored, either in the tunnels or old ruins. A pity that time is hard on writing, but maybe there will be some tablets or the like; hints of what was..." Estelle's tone is thoughtful, even as she starts rattling around her bag of runes, bits, and bobs in her free hand. The one on Jazz's shoulder gives a brief squeeze, and then pulls away.

"... Still. 'Rite of waystone' sounds like it's a translation artifact, something bounced back and forth between multiple languages. Waystone makes me think, though, about whether or not it has any powers related to travel. Or if it's a more Lighthouse-like way-marker..." She only rattles the bag more, there, considering if and what to ask the stars about it.

She forces herself to still after a moment, blushing softly. "... Anyway! The Region-lock is a good question, but I can't see it being answered in any way but trial and error. We'll need to see if the kamikaze rises up and drives us back, as it once drove away invaders."

"Just sounds like a pun about safe travels, to me," remarks Jazuhanzu eyes turn down to the ground. "It should provide some anti-Leviathin protections, is all I understand, but we have to get it first and *that* ... that is going to be a hard thing to do. It's heavily guarded by the minions of the Leviathin. Wondering why they didn't simply destroy it or if it will have some use to them down the road. Or it could just be that way because the game needs to keep us busy." Her lips press together thinly. "We'll probably learn more when we talked to Spatjahr, but what she did share was interesting, if confusing."

"Hm... it's underwater, then? Or just a seaside cave?" She hasn't done much ocean exploration; she's not the best swimmer, and her tails would get utterly soaked. "I might need to invest in some things, if it's the former. Or even the later, admittedly." And call upon stellar blessings just to make sure.

"But, yes, I'll have to draw up a list of questions, maybe do some preliminary research into things..." She tucks away her pouch before she can do more than a light rattle, folding her arms behind herself. It doesn't make her tails flit about any less, but. "I doubt I'll find much, though, unless someone thought it important."

"... Oh! Right. Thank you for trusting me with this, Jazz. And for showing me the way."

"Some of it will be," agrees Jazz. "Most of us don't have gils."

She raises the hand to absently touch the closed ones, their slits visible in her neck, that she bears.

"I don't much like going underwater. Usually, under water levels in video games are lousy as hell, unless you're playing Echo the Dolphin." She pinches the bridge of her nose. "God damn it, Benji. And hm? Oh. Right. Yeah, you're welcome. Why don't we go for a walk and see what we can see while you're here?" She gestures expansively northwards.

"No, most of us don't." She agrees after a moment, gaze lingering upon the gils that her friend touched. "It never really felt like our domain, like a place we belonged, to me." But, then, she isn't an Undine. The changes in form might alter that, make it all feel more natural and welcoming.

She hadn't expected how easy she'd adjust to her tails, after all, one of which brushes against the Sea Witch's leg as the vixen turns in the direction of that expansive gesture. "But we can certainly take a look around while we're both here, yes! Who knows what we'll find. Any other news you think worth sharing, besides this place...?" She clasps her hands behind herself, eyes on swivel. "I'm still gathering the necessary data for my inquiries, yet."

"No. I just wanted to share the locale. I thought you'd appreciate the chance to see it for yourself before it gets more crowded."

Jazuhanzu lets out a brief sigh. Solitude beckons.

"I'm ... going to take a walk." And with that, she aims to amble away to do that. It's more explanation than she offers most.

"You've a point, there. A chance to see it all, and look around before too many come by with the plans of setting up a base camp..." Her tails flick behind her, as she shakes her head. "Though we'll see just how many do want to follow, out here. I'm not sure how many will want to risk a conflict with the Leviathans."

But then the Undine is splitting off, her desire for solitude sudden clear, and the vixen gives a soft sigh. "Alright, Jazz. The stars watch over you this night, and guide you to what you seek."