Build it Up

The air upon the mountainside is clear and blue, the sun bright. Despite the sunshine (and due to the lack of clouds), the air is quite cold. Nor does the light breeze help dispel this.

On this day, Verna has completed her duties at the temple and awaits Auranar at the roadside just past the last basalt steps from the structure. An invitation was previously given and meeting arranged with the sylvanori. The only premise given was that Verna had found a strong possible solution to their housing search.

Auranar arrives nearly exactly on time, coming up the road with excitement in her steps. Finding a home in Alexandria has proven thus far to be more difficult than originally anticipated, but Verna's message has her hopeful this morning. Her dress today is a summer yellow color, but is mostly hidden under her red coat to stave off the breeze which carries more than a little chill upon it. She has a small basket tucked close to her side in the crook of her elbow. It seems that she is rarely without something or another in her hands.

She waves warmly to Verna as the other woman enters sight, and quickens her step slightly until she and Verna are in a more comfortable range. "Afternoon to you! Have you had anything to eat yet?"

Verna is more conspicuous amongst any of her peers as her hood is doffed. Whether she did so for just that reason, it does make the smile at Auranar's appearance all the more apparent. A gloved hand lifts to return the wave and she steps to meet her. "Good afternoon." The basket is noted, and it, or a similar bag, rather expected. The question is ... not entirely surprising, yet her lips purse a moment in thought.

"I dined this morning, but I could eat. Moreso of anything that you prepared or selected." She is not biased, she is simply well-acquainted with Auranar's culinary talents and instincts. Also, she may be biased.

"I would be delighted to dine with you, but I would not keep you out here in the cold overlong. I wished to show you the possibility I discovered, and gain your opinion." She then offers the formerly-waving hand to Auranar in invitation.

Auranar takes the offered hand without hesitation, slipping close to the other woman comfortably. "I just have a little light luncheon in case you had not had any lunch yet." Some sandwiches and some fruit was all, but enough to provide them a repast if Verna had not had a chance to eat. As well as being something that could hold over until later if she had. "We can eat in a bit though. I'm excited to hear about this idea you had!"

Verna gives the other woman's hand a light squeeze before settling into a casual grip. She welcomes the nearness and turns alongside to face, with her, the northward road. Her other hand gestures out before them as she begins to walk. "As I am excited to offer it."

Her pace is similar to her hold on Auranar's hand: casual, comfortable, yet with some tension of anxious energy behind it. The walk is quite brief, as she leads them obliquely across the road as they move north. Perhaps a hundred yards or so, to a spot on the cliffside edge of the road that lies between the steps to the temple and the wide, oft-busy path further up the slope to the air station.

She comes to a stop off of the road proper, yet not so close to the edge of the cut to risk falling down the rather sheer mountainside. Again she gestures, now out to the city beyond and below. To the north, the spire and woodlands beyond can readily be viewed over the walls. To the south, the seawalls, port, and the sea beyond.

"First, what is your opinion of the view?"

From the moment that Verna pauses Auranar herself can't help but look out at the view. It's rather spectacular. There's a sheer drop from the mountainside, but that's what gives it such a beautiful view. The wild elf steps out slightly, letting the wind catch her breath and her hair in a great swift pull. She smiles over at the woman and leans against her shoulder slightly. "It's beautiful. You can see everything from here." She looks into Verna's eyes and then flushes enough that the color almost shows on her darkly colored cheeks. "Why do you ask?"

Verna is quiet following her inquiry to let Auranar evaluate and opine to answer that inquiry. In the interim, her face and eyes are upon the sylvanori and her reaction, rather than the view. Afterall, Verna already performed her own analysis of the vista. Thus it is easy for Aura to find her eyes when her own seek them, as they are already upon her. "Yes, the view is wondrous and beautiful," she concurs with certainty, and a soft smile.

"I ask because it is of paramount importance. With unoccupied land within the city so scarce, I came upon a possibility that we had not considered..." She releases Auranar's hand, with a mix of excitement and reluctance. All so that she can crouch and place that hand upon the mountain stone at their feet.

"We can create a parcel of our own..."

Her remaining hand clutches the scales at her neck. "By the strength of Her own Halls, may we be sheltered..."

There is a slight vibration beneath her palm on the stone and their feet as new stone forms: a horizontal slab grows from the cliff face before them, even with the road cut. As it extends, portions form from below and extend from the slab to reinforce and buttress the span with additional mass and anchoring. Rather quickly, there is a cantilevered platform several dozen feet on a side extending above the temple and magic districts below.

Of all the things that Auranar is expecting looking at the little scrap of land too small to hold anything but the pair of them looking out at the city, is for Verna to... create land. She watches in staunch amazement as the other woman creates something from practically nothing and is speechless. It seems silly in retrospect, that she herself did not think of magic as an answer to their mundane problem. Yet it had been a very mundane problem and now...

Auranar clutches Verna's hand, waiting breathlessly for the spell to be worked so that she doesn't disturb Verna's concentration and then she recklessly embraces the other woman. "It's amazing. It's perfect! Do you think the city will let us build here? Can we do this?" There's so many questions now and her mind is abuzz with the possibilities.

Verna was hopeful for a positive response following her demonstration. That she believed she had found a solution did not make it so. It is a joint effort, afterall. The sudden embrace is a rather (very) pleasant positive result. She is wholly distracted from the questions for a moment by it. But only for a moment.

She emphatically returns the embrace before creating just enough space to meet her eyes again. Again, a smile, though now it is wide. Perhaps far more Auranar-class than Verna's norm. "Yes, we can do this, if we wish. I took the liberty of acquiring approval from the city beforehand, in the event that you were favorable to the idea."

Auranar glances at the created land and her eyes wrinkle around the edges with the strength of her amusement. "Yes I can see where that would be necessary. We wouldn't want to make something and then have them tell us that it is in violation of some city code or create the space only for them to build something else on it." Auranar is obviously already considering the possibilities. "Oh Verna! We'll be able to have anything we want like this! It'll take time to build it yes but...!" She's obviously terribly excited as well.

Oh no. Auranar's surge of excitement may have, possibly, increased Verna's smile to the vicinity of 'grinning like an idiot.' For a moment, it also appears that the effect might be permanent. Yet, there is more to this that requires note and explanation.

Her expression returns to something nearer Verna's norm than it was. "Yes, it will take time, and effort, from the both of us." She reaches into her robes and satchel to produce a pair of leather gloves. They are markedly different from the gift Aura previously gave her: they are coarse, and appear stained with clay or mud.

"We have a blank canvas, an empty pot. I can conjure the stone for walls, floors, even roof, as we wish. With these, you can shape and embellish it however is desired." There is a pause before she continues.

"If you would make a home, here, with me... I would be delighted that we might truly build a home, for us, together."

Auranar takes the gloves without hesiatation, reaching into a pocket to find a hair tie and binding her hair back from her face with an excited glow to her dark eyes. "Food first, because we'll need the energy for building but when we're done I want to get started right away! This is so exciting! I can't wait to make a home with you Verna!" Another impromtu hug is given and Auranar pulls Verna toward the side where they can eat their food before getting started. There's no shortage of work waiting for them, but Auranar is no stranger to that. And to have something that theirs in every way? She couldn't have dreamed of having so much.

-End