On Artifice Armor Appearances

Log Info

• Title: On Artifice Armor Appearances
• Emitter: Nemori
• Characters: Eztli, Nemori
• Place: Northern banks of the Tornmawr
• Time: June 17th, 2022
• Summary: Nemori is set up on the edge of the river, relaxing and sketching ideas for improving Robert's armor. Eztli is walking by, and stops to chat with the dark elf. They two talk of how the armor may be improved aesthetically, and talk turns to a task Nemori has been asked to do, to seek out a villa on behalf of who she calls an unpleasant Lucht Suil. Eztli agrees to help, and after a bit more talking, Nemori departs, leaving the small sith -makar to her fishing.

Nemori is set up down by the river. Slowly she is aquring some personal effects, though it is taking some time; if not for the basicaly free room and board she was getting at Robert's, she'd have little spending money after basic necessities on her wage as an apprentice.

One of those effects is a large umbrella which she has planted into the ground, angled towards the sun, and a blanket upon which she now sits, cross legged. In her lap is a wooden lap table, of sorts, and on it a sketch pad upon which she is currently alternating between working on and staring out into the wide river.

Eztli had decided that today would be a good day to potentially save on various expenses herself. It was almost comical to see the small makari wandering the banks of the river with a fishing pole that was almost twice as tall as she was. She wasn't in any particular sort of rush, and every once in a while she tripped over her own tail, but after some time she did pass by where the mul'niessa was set up. She stops, and turns to wave.

"Good to see you out and about Nemori, I wasn't expecting to run into you today. Hope you're doing well!" She greets. "What are you drawing, if you don't mind me asking? Are you doing a landscape, or just coming out here to clear your mind as you work?"

"Hm?" Nemori looks up from her paper, blinking a little bit, then taking another little bit to focus on the makari waving at her. "Oh. Little Eztli. It is good to see you." The mul'niessa offers a slight smile, though as usual it seems to fail to reach her eyes. "The latter. I had a notion to try and design a more pleasing look for Robert's armour. I fear my lack of understanding of artifice is proving to make it impossible for me, however."

The small makari stops, and huffs just once. "I didn't know that a couple inches was enough for you to call me little." Eztli grumbles. She stops though, and returns the smile. "You want to do something like that for Robert? That's nice of you to do. But definitely a complicated thing, depending on what you do.

She wanders closer, stopping to look at the drawings for a moment, before turning her attention to the elf to see if that was alright. "You could always enhance what he already has, things that wouldn't affect the structural integrity. Acid etching, engravings, perhaps some enameled paints, those sorts of things."

Nemori's smile grows a little bit more at Eztli's reaction, the white teeth showing clearly against the dark skin... is it at the brief moment of indignation, or the friendly acceptance of it afterwards? "You are one of the few I stand above. Forgive me for taking a small amount of pleasure in it." Then her attention returns to the sketch pad, the smile turning into a frown. She shifts it so that the makari can at least get an angled look. "I would not dream of touching it myself, even if Robert allowed me to. Which he never would. It is almost like a treasured child to him, I think. No. I had merely hoped to give him some ideas. Paint and symbols may.. help. But it is its overall silhouette which is disagreeable to my senses."

"Well, if it makes you smile to lord your immeasurable height over me, I suppose that's alright." Eztli chuckles. The small makari spends some time looking back at the drawings that are shown to her, and they nod a few times. "Armor isn't supposed to be glamorous, unfortunately. Some of those chest plates have massive guts to them, but if it means that a blade isn't slicing up your actual gut, then it's doing the job."

The small makari sighs. "But I get what you mean. You want to do something for him, that you feel like you can. You can't really diminish the silhouette if it's already made and functional, but perhaps adding to it? embellishments that would not interfere with joints, or cloth additions?"

"Pheh. Perhaps." The suggested options do not seem to sit all that well with Nemori, but she nods as she accepts there is much truth to Eztli's perspective. "If I had a suit of Niessa Plate to show you, you would see how elegance can be combined with superior protection. And the elegance is not all for show; the elite guard of the Houses sacrifice very little mobility and maneuverability with their designs." She lets out a long sigh. "But I suppose then it would no longer be 'his' creation. Perhaps some small engravements, or perhaps some embossments."

"I am sure that there is wisdom in the designs of the plate armor, and a master smith can make armor that is almost a second skin." The small makari notes quietly. "Such armor is tailor made to the one wearing it, and any alterations require significant cost, as parts can be required to be remade entirely. And if someone gains or loses too much weight, then it can cease to work properly. "You may have noticed that Robert can have a bit of a stomach to him, which would cause issues if it were to be larger without enough room for adjustments."

"And that's not to mention that his armor has to hold all the kulthos tech that he makes to supplement it. I am sure he has reasons for why it looks the way it does. Just have to ask him about it, I bet the insight into his design process would be worth the time."

Nemori lets out another sigh, nodding as she makes like to crumple the paper with the various entertained and discarded ideas. But then she stops. Paper is still a luxury on her budget. Better to try and wash it out. Instead, she folds the small lap table up after putting all of her drawing and writing implements inside a small compartment. "You are correct. There are many, many reasons not to try. Truthfully, it was more of a distraction in any case. I am trying to decide if I am going to humour a nasty little lucht woman."

Jay has left.

Eztli stops, blinks once, then twice, before she is vehemently shaking her head. "No no no, please, you're getting the wrong idea from what I'm saying. I'm not saying you shouldn't try, far from it, Nemori." The small makari quickly elaborates. "I am just saying, it's like I told that other elf the other day. It's good to think of possibilities, but you need to understand the _why_ first. Figure out why things are as they are, so you might properly make the changes you want to see, or focus your research."

"I think it's a good idea you have, and I don't want to see you give up like that. I'm sorry, I'm trying to help, not stifle your ideas. I don't think that's getting across well."

"What's this about humoring a lucht woman, though?" Eztli asks, tilting her head in Nemori's direction. "Someone have a proposition for you you aren't sure on?"

Nemori gives a small, dismissive wave of her hand. "It is fine, Eztli. I know you are trying to help. And you did. And I appreciate it. I will consider talking to him about it.. but it is perhaps something best left alone. He probably likes it best the way it is, regardless." She sets the folded table aside, then leans forward so her elbows are resting upon her knees, eyes looking out to the river again.

"Nasty little lucht woman," Nemori then corrects. "Suppoesedly a Muse of Ceinara. Robert knew of her. I merely wished to ask her about her goddess. To get some sense of why.. no. To understand that moment when I heard and felt her." Nemori's expression sours, a full on scowl. "The poisonous little wretch refused, until Robert convinced her otherwise. So she offered to trade a task for the talk. I am to venture outside of the city to some manner of villa and... then I will know what I am suppoesd to do there. Retrieve something for her, perhaps."

Robert has left.

"Well, if I managed to help a bit, then I'm glad. Seems I need to work on heling people, since I have a tendency to come off as a bit dismissive, but that's just not the case." Eztli sighs. "I don't think it should be left alone. Robert may know what he wants, but that's not always the only option. I think you can provide your own unique and valid thoughts and criticisms, and collaborative efforts often prove better than the sum of their parts."

"Right, you were thinking about your role in following the gods, right, Nemori?" Eztli asks. "Well, it could be she doesn't want to help you at all, and set an impossible task. Could be a test, but you can't really know until you try, I guess. Do you know anything about the villa, at all?"

"I will think on it," Nemori says, though she doesn't glance back at her stowed illustration materials. "Yes. It is regarding that. She has given vague directions. Claimed it would be difficult to miss. I am half convinced it was simply a lie to get rid of me. But.. no. She and Robert have a history. I do not think she would lie to him. It could be she expects me to die, however. Such a tactic was common in my homeland. Still.. I think I will go. But not alone." Her gaze draws back in on the river, and her head turns towards the small makari, focussing on her. "Would you be interested in braving potentially wight infested lands merely to satisfy the perverse humour of a foul tempered, so called priest?"

"Well, when dealing with the gods, it could be some sort of spiritual journey thing. Though such pilgrimages aren't usually out to villas, who knows with Ceinara." Eztli chuckles, setting down the fishing rod beside herself. "But, people don't set up people to die like that in Alexandria, or rather, not in Charn usually. Robert wouldn't allow it, and Integrity would litigate that lucht into oblivion if he so much as caught wind of something like that."

Eztli returns the look, and smiles warmly back, though it is preceded by a long shudder at the mention of wights. "I would be willing to help someone I would like to be friends with find their way with the gods when they're feeling lost, Nemori. Even if it might be dangerous. Which would be a yess, in that case, you don't give yourself enough credit."

Might be Nemori doesn't yet belong to Alexandria, then... because if one were to guess that she was imagining ways to 'deal with' a certain lucht priest, they wouldn't be far off. But the moment of thought on that subject passes, and Nemori nods, smiling slightly in response to Eztli's reponse to her request. "When your world is turned upside down and all order turns to chaos, little Eztli... the foundations one has built their life upon for over a century have their frailty revealed. Credit must be earned. But.. enough of that. I thank you. Perhaps it will simply be a boring ride into the countryside and a few frustrated hours of trying futiley to unravel a riddle that was never meant to be solved. I would perhaps welcome that."

Eztli sighs, and the small makari leans back on the shoreline, horns digging into the ground, and letting her tail flop over her stomach. She huffs once at the name, before she pinches her snout. "Over a hundred years of culture and learned responses to get used to, and you aren't entirely sure what to hold on to, and what to let go. I understand that completely, Nemori." She offers. "I hope it will be safe. But more than that, I just hope you will gain something you're looking for from the trip. Some manner of peace or understanding, a new outlook on things that you can welcome."

Nemori lets her breath out, not quite a sigh, and nods to Eztli's words. "Perhaps it will be so. I would be a fool to not follow this thread. You speak sense. If some measure of enlightenment can be had, then it is worth the journey." That said, she rises and begins to roll up her blanket.. then stops. "It is time I returned to the smithy. If Robert is there, I should be helping him close it up for the night. If you wish to try your fishing here, I can leave you my blanket and umbrella... so long as you promise to return it to me."

"Aw, and I was just getting comfortable, and happy to get to talk to you without feeling like you wanted to run off." The small makari pouts up to Nemori. She considers the offer and shakes her head, creating a small ravine either side of her head in the sandy soil from her horns. "True, you are still working for him, and that means you have to help out at the smithy. But I think he'd appreciate your help regardless. I appreciate the offer, but I'll be fine. I've got my own umbrella if it starts to rain, and one of the nice things about scales is that they don't really get bothered by rough terrain. That and all the brown colors hide and dirt you track up lying on the ground, too." She chuckles.

Nemori makes a small hand gesture.. then scowls at herself. "My apologies. Truly, I am not running away. My free time is simply over." With her offer turned down, the mul'niessa proceeds with the task of rolling up the blanket and collapsing the umbrella. "I have honestly never had cause to wonder what it would be like to wear the scales of a makari," she notes, possibly not noticing the double meaning there. The possible darker meaning. "The advantages do sound enviable."

"No, I didn't say you were. Just remembering something Integrity said back at the forge. It's nice to get to talk to you, when you feel like talkking. But it shouldn't come at the expense of work you need to do, or if you don't feel like it." Eztli responds, chuckling again with just a tinge of something sad to it. "I don't know, I guess there are some nice things to it." She sighs. "But, I'd much rather look like you do, or something like that to be perfectly honest. Hopefully the fish will bit when I actually get to it today, though."

With her blanket rolled around her umbrella, Nemori hoists it on to one of her shoulders, while her other arm carries her lap table by a small handle on the side. This prevents her from reaching for the hidden ear-that-no-longer-exists. She still turns that side of her head away from Eztli, out of reflex. "Something like that, perhaps," Nemori agrees. "There are ways, I imagine, Eztli. But.. I suppose Robert would say.. you are fine the way you are. Perhaps examine the reasons which make you feel otherwise." Robert would say it. Whatever Nemori feels on the subject, she keeps to herself. "When you do 'get to it' I hope the fish find your hook, Eztli. Have a good night. Stay out of the shadows."

The small makari sighs, and sits up, shaking some of the sand off of her head. "Robert is a good man, I'm not surprised he would say something like that. And, thank you, even if you're just saying that because that's what you think I'd like to hear." Eztli replies with another, slightly more tired smile.

"Believe me, I've thought about it a lot. Hope I can come up with an answer I'm happy with. Something to muse on while I fish, at least. Take care Nemori, and be safe. Just give me a shout when you plan on heading out. Okay?"

She stops to pick up the fishing rod she brought with her, and a container from her robes filled with bait. Hopefully the fish would bite, because makari needed to eat an awful lot of meat.

"Yes, yes he is," Nemori agrees, her tone almost one of.. wonder. Almost. Bordering it. "And I will." And then... Nemori walks away.