We Have A Suspect, Now For A Motive

    The new monster menagerie had only recently been finished being built, it still neeed a paint job before being officially open. The building is situated right against the tower wall, using the tower wall as part of its construction, lets see those monsters break down an immortal object. The rest of the building is like that of a building one might find in the back of a zoo, with a large metal fence up around it. Each pen can be opened to give access to the large field.
5r     Setsuna sits out in the field as he lets his animals stretch out, Setsuna himself taking deep breaths as he does his best to keep a fine balance on all of them. A balance of freedom of ations and non hostility among those in the pen. Roki is trying to sleep while Demon climbs on top of him, Skull is over in the corner swinging it's ssword in practice , and soggy is plopping around the perimeter. It is the first time Setsuna could really do this and is happy to see them all getting a stretch.

Uta marches in with a look of determination. She stops, looks around, materializes a map, checks it, points into a direction with a nod, and shimmers the map away back into her inventory before heading towards the menagerie. She is squeezing her red, squishy stress ball, hard and fast, while attempting to steady her breathing.

She spots Setsuna, and she utters an undecipherable "...You." It's hard to understand what emotion lies behind it, but it is pretty obvious what it isn't: cheerful and carefree.

    Setsuna looks up , Roki looks up, Skull looks up, Soggy plops around more, Demon chews on Roki's paw. With a look around Setsuna appears a little confused for a moment, before seeing Uta, and even better Uta appears to be Uta and not strange Uta. He smiles and waves towards her, " Uta! There you are. It's so good to see you, how have you been? Doing well? How did you find this place, it's not even on a map yet?" Setsuna looks over at Demon for a moment before he gives a whistle and Demon gives Roki a moment break , which is enough for the Dire wolf to stand, pick up the puppy by the scruff and carry them over to Setsuna as if to tell him that his babysitting hour was up.

"It's easy," Uta explains, still serious and all business, "I've been consulting a map of the wrong place." She materializes the map from earlier to prove her point: it's a city plan of Fort Ouph. "Works every time."

"I am doing great, I have failed to find that book, but I seem to have accidentally written a comprehensive encyclopedia of slimes and discovered two new types of slimes in the process, not to mention I've left the Mujou and ended up not more insane than when I started. A positive outcome, based on what I've been told." She inhales deeply, and squeezes her sterss ball faster.

"I have an answer to your question. But before I pass on the answer, I have a question of my own."

She looks down at Setsuna, and frowns at seeing him sitting. She looks around, and notices a distinct lack of something. She frowns a little as if she was deprived of her dramatic moment, but she recovers immediately. She flicks her menu open, and materializes some sort of stool with a back rest. She places it on the floor, and moves to pick up Setsuna, and plop him into the stool. This will have to do.

Leaning over to him, questioningly, she asks, "Alright. What led you to inquire as to who made the Hourglasses?" Her voice falters with a hint of dread. "You've hit on something far too big for a random hunch right there."

    Setsuna seems to be rather confused as he is plopped into the stool, he was not expecting this obviously. Demon himself is now off chasing soggy around the field of the monster menagerie, it is the slime's turn to babysit the puppy. Setsuna is even more confused regarding the inquiry of the inquiry. Taking a moment Setsuna lets his mind drift back as he tries to come up with the answer behind this. Leaning back in the stool for a moment and then falls backwards with a thud and quickly sits himself up to try and pretend it never happened. " The hourglass? Something was there? I mean it wasn't random, I just didn't expect much more then maybe an inspection revealing a location or something more useful. Something that only happens when the wave is coming that seems like maybe the hourglass is some how more connected then a simple warning system. Why what did you find?"

Uta glances at Setsuna with a mixture of skepticism and confusion. "You mean you weren't /expecting/ anyone specific to have created it? You haven't worked it out already and just looking for confirmation?" She paces around. She gives Setsuna even more suspicious looks. More pacing around, more squeezing of the stress ball, more attempts at steadying breathing, which, instead, spirals out of control.

She finally stops, looks up and away from Setsuna, and inhales deeply. "Ok, let's play a game. I'll give you a hint. The name of the creator is three words." She turns towards the necormancer. "I'll give another hint. The first word is 'The.'" Another pause. "The second word is 'Burning.' And the third is 'Goddess.'"

Uta gives Setsuna a look that speaks by itself, and lets that sink in.

"Now. You get three guesses as to who created them."

    " Expecting? Uta do I look like an imp with a bad attitude?" Setsuna sys perplexed as she continues and when the guessing game begins and the mention of three words he almost says the new three word name he had learned before Uta filled in the gap. " Wait the burning goddess actually made it? Like not through some lander or some adventurer or something but it is an actual goddess created item?" Well that was interesting and as he considers the other part of which goddess other things begin to pop up in his. " Oh wait I guess the burning goddess."

Uta's uncertainty about Setsuna's attitude resolves into generic uncertainty based on the necromancer's reaction. "Well, the exact wording I was given is, and I quote, 'The system says the Hourglass belongs to The Burning Goddess.'," she mutters. "It also seems the person who tried to inspect it couldn't get an item description or anything out of it. Which is slightly unsettling. I wonder if we're too low level to see the item description..." She taps her chin. "Maybe I should urge 'em to inspect every single hourglass at every wave. I mean, I don't /alwats/ get the text description for people in strange moods, and... I wonder if /other/ goddessess create hourglasses..."

    Setsuna looks at Uta or a moment and shakes his head, " Perhaps we need someone who is in a strange mood to do it, or a master appraiser to look at it. " It was interesting as he looks around Uta and checks on the monsters for a moment before focusing back on things at the moment. " So the goddesses or at least the burning goddess is involved in the hour glasses. So thats something of interest at the very least." Taking a moment he considers this and says the words " The burning one has noticed your deeds. I wonder if it is all mixed together."

Uta moves to sit down on the ground next to Setsuna. "I don't know what to make of it myself...", she mumbles. "Oh, hey, a question. Should we keep this information to ourselves or try and spread it? You know me, I'm all for information disclosure, but /responsible/ disclosure. What do we do about this?" She scratches her head. "Having a bunch of expert appraisers in each of the churches could be useful, but would be wreaking chaos by letting this be known?"

"...which reminds me. You were in a Strange Mood about monsters, right? And now you're on your path to become a Novasphere Monster Handler?" A pause. "Did you receive a confusingly vague quest as well?"

    Setsuna looks at Uta and shrugs, " The goddesses exist, they interfere with us and notice us. The beast exists, I've seen glimpses of him in monster magic. I suppose we should perhaps spread it slowly. Scale isn't the best place to ask simply because we aren't going to get to the hourglasses in time to look unless they pop up in Alne. I think it will fall on Olympus and the NWA to really investigate it if there is something to investigate." With a sigh he leans back again and falls backward in the stool. He just lays there this time yawning a bit as he considers the next step. At the question about the quest he takes a moment to flip through his menu. " Go where only the few have gone before. Who ever wrote it was a Star Trek fan I'm guessing."

Uta mumbles, hugging her knees. "Yes... far, far too vague. The only two things I can think of at the moment that aren't /too/ far fetched are either the metaphorical interpretation of 'go handle some monster not many people have succeeded in handling', or literally, physically go to the Green Moon where it would appear that monsters are being manufactured." She sighs and tosses her head back. "Why does this have to be so vague?"

    Wake rarely heads out in this direction, so her appearance might be something of a shock. Or perhaps it is better to say her presence is. Her appearance is quite as one would expect. The Right Clothes have her dressed in white, billowy blouse and form-fitting, leather trousers.

    As to why she's here, that's not clear. Perhaps not even to her! Still, familiar faces draw her attention.

    "I hope I am not intruding," she says, sliding into her deep curtsey.

    Setsuna shrugs his shoulders as he continues to question it for a moment, " I mean I suppose my father would say that if it was easy anyone would do it. " Taking a moment he looks up at the ceiling of the tower, " I mean not many peope have been to the eleventh floor, not many people here have been to the china server." Sitting up his monsters have all had their attention pulled to the new person, someone even more unexpected then Uta. " How do people keep finding this place? Also hello there , don't often see you int he area. "

"Oh, Lady Bombast!", Uta exclaims, and darts to stand and bow politely. "I have heard about your deed! Congratulations on being ennobled!" She frowns. "Wait, has that already happened? Did the ceremony take place already?" THere is further hesitation, and sheepish, self-conscious, she asks, with a raised finger, "...was I there when it happened?"

    "Not many have. I dislike the tower. Yet in it the doom of this world lies," Wake replies to Setsuna. "And I have found places much more difficult and dangerous in this. It was a lifetime ago, but I have not forgotten all I once knew how to do."

    She directs her gaze to Uta and smiles, shaking her head ever so slightly.

    "There has been no ceremony yet, dear, no need to fear missing anything. Until many things are prepared I do not have anything to celebrate. I assure you, when that changes, you will be invited, as all my friends and allies."

    Setsuna listens and nods , "Well soon enough we ill be in all new territory . Guess that means my visit to hang out with the old man are going to slow down. I don't think he ever went above floor ten when he climbed, I don't think there was a floor ten. " He lays back in the grass and continues to look at the ceiling. " You should visit more often Ms. Baronness, the world is growing more and more and ignoring pieces of it will only lead to you missing out. " Taking a moment a thought does occur to him, "Uta what slimes did you discover?"

Uta looks quizzically at Setsuna. "Old Man?"

"I am still trying to understand the Tower," Uta mumbles, narrowing her eyes. "To be honest, I know so little about it. There's something..." She bites her lower lip. "I think there's something we're missing. But I can't put my finger on it."

She turns to Wake, "Oh, phew. Well, that's a relief." There is some silence, then she continues, "Say, you were in a Strange Mood, right? It would appear that Setsuna and I were both in a Mujou, and ended up receiving a quest to become a Novasphere Monster Handler. 'Go where only the few have gone before.' No idea what it means. Did you receive anything similar?"

Back to Setsuna's second question, "Oh, Heal Slimes and Scrubber Slimes, which can clean surfaces of dirt!" She clenches her fist and with a grin, she gets a gleam in her eyes. "Slime Roombas are going to be a thing! It's finally time for the Slime Lab to launch its first prouct and turn a profit!"

A pause. "And, well, yes, we can also help in the aftermath of disasters like the Waves by unleashing healing creatures on people. There's that too!"

    "There are only so many places a woman can be, and as my role grows in meaning my geography will shrink. Yet my world will grow ever more vast by touching lives and unleashing the potential of others," says Wake.

    She brushes her right hand through her hair, letting out a sigh. "Though I do admit I rather enjoy seeing other places. Besides the wonder in themselves, they make home even more beautiful to return to."

    The mention of slimes brings a smile to Wake's face. Uta and slimes are almost synonymous.

    "As for the mood, I recall having an intense eye and mind for wearing precisely the right things to match the moment and the scenery. I believe the term was 'sage'. It was, in retrospect, a good training for my current life. When meeting with different people I find myself changing frequently, and the Right Clothes cannot keep up."

    She pauses to consider the slimes Uta describes. "I would certainly like to order some of those slimes. I would like to keep Eas gleaming at all times! And a slime can safely ascend a tower or a dome without risk of a deadly fall."

    Setsuna listens and considers for a moment before finally sitting up and looking at Wake's foot for a moment witha head tilt, " Your chain is going to keep growing tighter and tighter if you keep this up. " It is said witha grin before he looks at Uta, " How do you possibly make a cleaning slime? Do you feed it soap? What about a healing slime? Also why does that give me images of doctors using leeches in medical processes. " Shaking his head tthere is a lot of conversation, but he is juggling. However it appears it has distracted him some of his cerberus puppy is now chewing on skulll. Soggy is trying to eat a rock and Roki , Roki is trying to dig a hole in the middle of the brand new field.

"No, not soap. Cleaning cloth," Uta explains, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "And... yes. Leeches are coming back with a vengeance!" She coughs. "I mean, uh... Light magic. You make those by feeding them a lot of healing magic."

"I will be glad to provide Eas with a sizeable supply of cleaning slimes!", Uta beams. "In fact, I'm sure my fully paid intern will be glad to take care of your order as soon as regular business hours resume- hm. I might have to hire someone else if the business really picks up- OH! The Right Clothes!", Uta exclaims, as if she suddenly realized something. Uta begins to talk into her chimlink, turning her back to Wake. She looks like she went off into one of her tangents. "Ayame! Are you close to the First Floor of the tower right now? If so, you should definitely come here!"

    "To those who love to serve in this way, the chain does not feel so tight, my friend," replies the Baroness. "There are many who go their whole lives without finding where they belong. I am fortunate indeed to not only know where it is, but to stand there so often."

    "It occurs to me that the quest I was given was to discover the legacy left behind by those who came before me." She tilts her head slightly and raises her left hand to her chin, striking a thoughtful pose. "I haven't given it much focus, honestly. Unless the work I've been doing has been related without me planning it."

    The Baroness hesitates a moment, her attention drawn away by a message. She smiles at whatever it is, then looks back to Uta and Setsuna.

    "I am dreadfully sorry, but something remarkable has just come through and I have been.. recalled for a duty most.. wondrous."

    The Baroness shoots Uta a surprisingly guilty look. Whatever is drawing her away, it's probably not work related!

    "In any case, I will see you both soon. Uta, I have a.. rather larger request for slime works on my mind. I think you may be interested in what I have to say. Drop by Eas when you have time, dear."

    She slides into curtsey again and sighs, "A woman can only be in one place at a time, indeed. Farewell for now, my friends!"

    She doesn't so much step away, as sort of.. slides into the nearest shadow and simply vanishes from sight.

    Setsuna watches Wake in her response and blinks for a moment as off she goes. " Sometimes it is better to not have that chain." Setsuna adds in regard to her being pulled away and shakes his head, "Someone protest tomuch I think." With a shake of his head he looks back to Uta. " So we just have to figure out where to go that no one else gets to go to. Wherever that is. Perhaps it will become more obvious with time?"

Uta gives a thumb up to Wake while muttering more and on her chimlink, ("Oh, there was someone I wanted you to meet, but she's gone away now. In any case, if you want to join us...", followed by instructions on how to reach the duo).

She turns to Setsuna. "The Few. Not 'no one else'. The Few. We should be careful about what little information we have."

    Setsuna nods his head as he takes a moment to check the time before he continues. " There is going to be a lot of figuring out how it is all connected. What does it even mean to be a sage or novasphere or whatever else there is. " Setsuna lets out a sigh as he just rambles a bit, " Ainz Ooal Gown, goddessses , waves, novasphere, sages, towers Whatever else there may be. I really should have read the playersguide for this game before I started playing it. "

"...Ainz Ooal Gown? Who's that?", Uta asks with a frown.

"...wait a minute, there was a Player's Guide?!" Uta yelps. "...Oh snap. I feel so terrible right now. Did... did nobody else read the players' guide?"

Uta goes somber, then continues, "Oh, which reminds me. Have you heard of that Lander who appears to be stuck in a Strange Mood? Attempts to fortify hot springs? Wears a lizardman mascot costume?"

Her shield is slung onto her back, leaving both gloved hands free, as Ayame makes her careful way towards the pair. She lifts a hand on seeing Uta, smiling to both the spriggan and her companion. She's dressed ... in a restrained fashion, a fitted skirt, a sensible shirt; high boots and leather gloves a concession to practicality. And little wings behind her, buzzing to help her balance on the floor of the Tower

    Once again the newcomer draws the attention of all of Setsuna's eyes. This time the little cerberus puppy even begins to run about barking howling and growling all at the same time. Setsuna tilts his head towards Ayame not immediately remembering her before looking back at Uta. " I saw the person you artalking about, I wouldn't call it a strange mood. I also don't know if that person was a lander or an adventurer. I did see the person in the mascot outfit though. " Setsuna will one day learn, inspect everyone, even if its a rock.

"He wasn't, I can confirm that," Uta replies to Setsuna. "Someone told me they were afraid they were the victim of a Strange Mood gone wrong. One thing I can confirm -- my tests for Strange Moods turned out negative."

Uta waves at the approaching Sylph. "Hey, Ayame! Sorry, the person I wanted you to meet has just left." She glances sideway at the necromancer. "Say, have you and Setsuna already met?"

"Uta. We have, briefly. It's good to see you again" The proper little Sylph smiles to both, offering a gloved hand as she approaches, setting down a small case, resting it against her leg "Sorry. It took a little to get here, even though I practically ran" Not in that skirt. "I hope I'm not interrupting, then. I keep seeing people in these moods, doing the -" A glance to Uta. A little grin "- most elegant things"

    Setsuna watches the Sylph for a moment before the large dire wolf approaches and begins to sniff the sylph as if to check her out for a moment. Setsuna waves his hand in greeting, " Yeah they go around when you get really caught up in something. Just remember if you are actively trying to grow and find your way in this crazy world, it will happen to you." He points at Ayame before he looks at Uta, " I mean like most people i have met have had it happen in some way shape or form, it's almost more uncommon to find someone it hasn't happened to. "

"I would hardly call people in a strange mood 'elegant'," Uta hurries to mumble. "Sleep deprived, malodorous, famished- hardly the definition of elegance. Aaaaand that's the end of that discussion," she coughs. Back to Setsuna, "It's far more common in Adventurers than Landers, that's true -- by the way, did you know that Landers can fall into Strange Moods as well? I had meant to find one to perform some research on them, but..." She mumbles. "No time. No time ever. And now that we've discovered marketable types of slimes, time might become even tighter." She rubs the bridge of her nose. "I should hire someone else to lighten the load..."

"I try to maintain a sense of proportion" Ayame smiles, bending carefully at the knee and offering her hand to the dire wolf nervously. The back, first, letting the animal study it, before twisting it around to offer the palm, as she looks up at the two "So I'm not sure I ever will. Still, there's lots of time for it to" She shrugs gently, and then looks to Uta "I can't really help with the marketing. Though given the relatively small size of the adventurer community, word of mouth will do you there, I think. I didn't know they could - can you induce them into Landers, or is it random?"

    Setsuna nods his head , " Yes we do need more help at the lab, and not another rat or tabby slime. They don't carry their load, we need someone who can do field work and office work. " He adds looking at UTa and then when Ayame mentions it not happening to her he grins, " Now it will definately happen to you." Setsuna then looks over at Roki and gives a whistle in it's direction before he rubs his head, anyone inspecting him closely will see his mana is rather low at the moment. " Maybe I should spend some time putting these guys up before I have to do it the hard way. '" Looking at the four monsters roaming about before he turns back to Ayame, " So what type of work do you do miss? "

"'It will never happen to me' is exactly what I used to think," Uta mumbles. She smirks at Setsuna, "Hey, no dissing Potpourri the Rat. He still outranks you."

Turning to Ayame again, she continues, "I cannot induce Strange Moods. All I know is that when an Adventurer is in a Strange Mood, they are Resonating with some Song, and that when they're done, their deeds are noticed by a Goddess, and they are offered a quest." She mumbles, "With a wording so vague it's hard to tell what one is supposed to do, exactly. Oh, and they get a new profession."

"I'm with the Silver Sword" Ayame says, straightening and leaving her hand turned to the dire wolf "So my work is moetly trying to help keep Landers safe. Something not made easy, these days" She gives a mild smile "Between someone throwing around six slimes at the festival lately" Not a glance at anyone in particular "Or another suggesting we try bringing up spider eggs to be studied." A little sigh "I sometimes feel we're the biggest threat to them." And she nods to Uta "I understand, but the Landers are closer to the songs than we are, I thought?"

    Setsuna grins at the mention of spider eggs, " I agree no reason to use spider eggs. Catch the full grown giant spiders, they will make more silk quicker then having to wait and grow yr own. Unforunately growth rate of monsters are about the same as the growth rate of animals in the real world. " He hesitatest for a moment at the mention of being the bigger threat but oesn't say naything else for now as he stands up and begins to escort Roki and Soggy the quacker slime to their new rooms.

Uta blushes at the slime comment. Luckily, there is an opening for changing the subject, which she jumps at. "They do seem to be closer to the songs than we are. And that is exactly why I am hoping to find a Lander in a strange mood. To see if I can somehow learn the whole song associated with the Moods, lyrics and all."

Uta turns to Setsuna, "So, wait, have you seen spider monsters actually hatch from eggs? And spider monsters laying eggs?"

"There were egg cocoons down there. Whether they hatched or not - I think that's what he wanted to find out. Personally, I'm not a fan of the idea of using those" Ayame says with a pained smile "And yes, it can be slow. Still, we appear to be here for a while, and I don't see a problem with actually looking at this. Use something simple like clucks, if you must - they're not that dangerous."

    Setsuna returns and whistles loudly and calls he cerberus puppy over to him and gives pets and belly rubs. Finally he turns to the skeleton knight and gives it a hard look for a moment as the skeleton knight stops practicing it's sword and goes to sit in the shade, for a moment it almost looks like it is sleeping. " I don't know i don't really have a problem with monsters as long as you remember every monster wants to murder you. As long as you remember that there is no problem." Looking in Uta's direction he is about to say yes but then stops, " Um well I am unsure really. I have seen baby monsters like this scamp, but I don't know about the actual birth or creation of him or any other baby monster. They do grow and age though, I know that."

"Monsters and animals are completely different beasts," Uta mumbles at Ayame. She nudges her head towards Setsuna as she gets up from the grass and picks up the stool she prepared for Setsuna earlier. "As he said -- monsters are driven by their instincts. They are not your friends. They cannot love you. they cannot be pets." She navigates her menu, and the stool shimmers out of existence. "Clucks are animals. Any result we derive from them cannot be automatically applied to monsters." She looks up and taps her chin. "Although I /did/ consider a Charles Darwin-like journey to ascertain whether or not Animals and Monsters are somehow evolutionarily related... are monsters a corrupted form of animals? Are there animal equivalent of /slimes/?" She turns to Setsuna with an inquisitive look. "...see, that is the same thing I've realized. We cannot be positive about where monsters come from, exactly."

Ayame just nods, settling back and picking up her case, listening "Well, I'll keep those in mind" She says mildly "Thank you for telling me"

    Setsuna nods his head and adds, " I would think we would have seen this in the slime cages in regard to birth of new slimes. " Looking over at Ayame he shakes his head, " It's a common thing to confuse the two especially when you have puppies like this one. " He gestures back down to the cerberus puppy. " However it is a common misunderstanding that can get you killed, and has gotten several killed. Myself included." Yep Setsuna has died learning about monsters, thats all it was really, nothing more sinister.

"I mean, occasionally a large slime does splits into two smaller ones," Uta explains, "but we usually tend to keep our slimes below a certain size at the lab- Oh, hey, Ayame. May I interest in a tour of the lab one of these days? It would really be- wait, you died?!" Uta gasps, turning to Setsuna.

"I've managed to avoid it so far" Ayame tells Setsuna with a grim smile "Come close a few times, but a solid shield, magical shields, and the ability to heal has kept me going. How was it?" With a certain interest, before she nods to Uta "I'd be delighted to see what the fuss is about"

    "Yeah yeah, Idid some stupid stuff and died. Thats how it goes right? " Setsuna says a s he looks about for a few more minutes and then stands up slowly. " Speaking of stupid things, the alliance is having a meeting later and they were looking for some volunteers to try something. I need head back to Tolbana and grab a bite before then. Would you ladies like to accompany me? My treat." It could also be whoever ends up losing the bet he was going to make in a couple hours treat depending how things worked out.

Uta blinks for a moment, gaze lost in the distance during one of her spacing-out moments. She then shakes her head. "Wait, your treat? Sure, I'm all for it!", she says with a smile.

Ayame shrugs, patting the case by her side "Nothing fancy, but I'd be pleased to. And you can tell us more about what happened" She offers spritely, moving to fall in beside the other two