Ednyss reminisces for a moment as the woman asks about the core. Thinking about his past and his family now seems like it was ages ago. Bringing himself back to the real world, he replies, "Sorry ma'am, I haven't been back home in years either. I don't know of the construction that has been happening there." Ednyss looks as if he is about to move on, but his curiosity gets the better of him and he asks, "It has been some time since I have heard any news of the Core of Onyx. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of construction was happening when you last visited?"

Auger

Py returns. ‘I...lost it,’ it messages. ‘I followed it down the path for a bit, then it seemed to just disappear behind a large juniper tree. I circled around for a little while, and thought I saw it again, but I could not find it.’

The smith’s assistant was speaking to Auger when Py returned, and she now looks at him impatiently, as she hurries along in her work. “Didja hear what I said, Mister? You can look in that cabinet there. Just tell me if anything strikes your fancy.” She doesn’t respond to Auger’s question about Kotashin, to which Auger thinks she wasn’t really listening. She goes into the house for a moment, leaving the smith at work, who, with tongs and knives, seems to be busy pulling the armor apart -- which Auger now realizes is the breastplate Varielky has been wearing, or something very like it. Varielky is nowhere to be seen.

In the cabinet, Auger finds a short, curved knife which will work for his needs, and a set of small chisels of graduated sizes. If he asks the thick-forearmed assistant for prices when she comes back out, munching on a hunk of bread and throwing one to the smith, she tells him the implements he wants will cost 8sp.

Varielky

The chimp overseeing the grinder regards Varielky with some surprise, then shakes his head slowly. He shouts very forcefully, “ETONIME! Someun’s here!,” then stands up for a minute, then sits back down, then stands up again. “Ummm. You need some grain?,” he asks in a quiet voice and Varielky realizes he’s young, a teenager, and shy.

A few moments later, a door hidden behind the grinder opens, and from around the low wall, another chimp appears, wiping his hands on an apron. Varielky relays the request for him to come to the smithy, and he makes a face, looks at the younger chimp, then calls over his shoulder, “ANNACASS!” then smiles at Varielky, and goes into the grinder and begins to unharness the mule.

A moment later, a chimp woman, also wearing an apron, wearing a veil and a kerchief, comes out from the same door the man had earlier. They engage in a quick conversation, then the man goes inside again. Annacass, the woman chimp, regards Varielky quietly for a moment. “Need any wheat flour?,” she asks, “Or...an’thing?”

A moment later, the man comes out, with a bundle tied in a kerchief tied to a stick which he holds over one shoulder. “ ‘R you comin’?,” he asks Varielky, as he makes to set off in the direction she came.

Ednyss

“Ah,” says the woman chimp, looking Ednyss directly in the eye. “It’s just...your livery. I had assumed you were here, on your way from Core of Onyx. Aren’t you one of the Greybeard Clan traveling here together? You must pardon my curiosity,” she adds, “I suppose my office requires that I take an interest not only in the outside world, but also those who pass through our little domain, although such curiosity is in my nature and not a chore in the least.” Her eyes sparkle behind light blue eyeshadow, and adorned with delicate golden-thread earrings and dark velvet garments, she is radiant. “May I introduce myself? I am Anafora lenna Volubelle, Mhyrr Hyewush na. Mayor of Hyewush. I had not seen the new construction in Core of Onyx, but in my correspondence, I have heard that there are some interesting projects under way. Perhaps only of interest to a mayor?,” she smiles.

Varielky's armor is being worked on. Not being an expert in such things he had noticed the fit of her armor seemed different from most other soldiers he had seen. Tasking an armorer to work on it made sense to him, even if he did not fully understand what benefits would come from the adjustment. Perhaps Varielky was nearby.

8sp Auger thinks... his thoughts trailing away as he considers what Py said. Absent-mindedly he decides to pay the assistant in full, without negotiating. 

As he counts out the coins to hand over to the assistant, he again queries about Kotashin. Attempting to hold the assistant's attention Auger says, "I met a small... creature about so big, on the path to the smithy here," while holding his hand down at the proper height. "A curious fellow of a sort I have not seen before. He was carrying a small sword and dressed in some elvish garb and had grey skin and a trunk like an... elephant. His manner was close to that of a child. He called himself Kotashin. Is he known to you?"

Auger stands holding the coins, not quite extending them over, as he waits for a reply.

Py, do you still think they might have summoned the spirit? They seem focused on their task. Perhaps we are wasting our time, the... spirit was friendly. Py might catch a bit of wistfulness in Auger's sending about the smiths. People at their work making things for a purpose. A life Auger is still not sure he will be able to return to.

Varielky refuses politely whenever offered grain or flour. She didn't have much experience with that. When the man is ready, she begins to walk back as well. On the way, she'll ask the Chimp: "So, what is your relationship with the smiths? Do they just call you every time they need help?"

Varielky & Auger

Etonime strides with a very long step -- for a chimp -- down the path, his head tilted back, almost seeming to be looking straight up rather than where he is stepping, and his arms swing energetically, elbows out, creating almost a caricature of walking as he goes. Whatever the appearance, he makes good time and wears a half-smile and an insouciant expression. Varielky must walk quickly to keep up with him, despite her much greater height.

To her question he looks at her sidelong, a bit mockingly. “Why, weze neighbors, hmmmmm? Take care one t’other, yoooowwwww.” In a few minutes, they near the smithy, where, Varielky sees, Auger is speaking with the smith’s assistant as she bustles about energetically.

Py has no answer to Auger’s question. ‘They do not seem to be Fey folk to me, or users of magic.’

The smith’s assistant doesn’t pause, and replies to the warlock, “Just leave the silver there on the stool.” She turns away, then stops for a moment, and adds, in a manner which Auger finds hard to read, “Yes, I’ve seen that one around.” Her mouth moves wordlessly for a moment, then continues, “ ‘Scuse me. Very busy right now. We’ve gotta get the furnace up and start with this tonight and just got it, all right Mister? Be good and be well, hmmm? Etonime! Heyyoooo! Thanks yow? Can you feed em and get th' night set?," she yells to someone behind Auger, who, turning, sees Varielky arriving with another chimp from the creek path in the other direction, who responds to the smith's assistant with a nod, puts his little kerchief-stick inside the house and then ambles over to the barn, yelling hellos to the animals.

The smith's assistant nods to Varielky, then returns to her work and doesn’t notice whether or not Auger leaves the coins until later.

When Varielky comes closer, Auger can clearly see she looks thinner than normal. Or rather, that her wide armour is not on her. Perhaps now he can make the connection and understand that the armour she was wearing was never meant for her. Now, her width looks normal for a short Human woman, rather than what would be normal for a male Dwarf, as the armour was. "Ah, Sharp-Eyed!" Varielky calls when she notices him. When she gets closer and the Chimps go away, she says: "I apologise if you wanted the smiths to do any work for you, but I highly doubt they'll have the time. Wearing an unfitting armour is not a pleasant experience, especially in the two dimensions in which it is smaller than me. It is also very hampering, which is not good for my kind of lifestyle. Harder to avoid an attack when your armour doesn't feel like another part of yourself." As she says that, she moves her shoulders a little to the front and back, which also moves her breast a little, as if the body is celebrating the freedom of movement it was aching for. She then turns away towards the way back to the plaza.

She stood there for a moment, trying to remember the way back, before heading in the direction she thought is right. "I wonder if the Knight-Defender is still there..." she talks to herself, though Auger might also hear her. She was still interested in seeing how a self-taught Knight-Defender fights.

Even though he had recognized her armor, Auger still was slightly surprised at Varielky's appearance. And then he was startled again at the appearance of the human and another Chimp. Nonetheless he greets her kindly. "Ho there Varielky! Err, oh the smiths being busy. Yes it turns out they already had what I was after, so they will be able to concentrate on fitting your armor to you." Sharp-eyed? Oh, yes he had called her Dreyen upon that first meeting, which had somehow been startling. Being from the south just about all northern humans were casually referred to as Dreyens but no need to say so to her.

Being unable to hold the assistant's attention was slightly disconcerting, but they clearly were busy with the work for the Shield Maiden, as Py called her. Well he had his tools, perhaps off to the mill next? 

Hearing Varielky speak and mention Kotashin he decides to follow along with her. Auger sets the payment on the stool, and quickly gathers the tools up and places them about his person as best he can. This will not do, he thinks, he will need to find a small organizing pack for these items, or at least a bag of some sort. That completed, he calls out a thank you to the Assistant and moves to quickly follow Varielky.

Once he catches up to her he verifies that she had mentioned the Knight-Defender, he shares a description to ensure they were speaking about the same thing and then adds on what little more he knows. "... and while its appearance was curious Py told me that it was likely a fey spirit of some sort. Uhmm, like Py. We thought it might have a summoner nearby but could find no evidence. If you seek to interact with Kotashin again I would like to accompany you to learn more of him." At this point Varielky might notice that Auger is quite tense when discussing Kotashin.

Py, can you fly ahead and see if it reappears ahead of us?

Resting on Auger's shoulder a moment, Py pauses in the act of cleaning itself and looks up at Auger before responding. Yes, let's see if there is more to learn of Kotashin. Making himself invisible, Py flies up and ahead. Varielky might notice the familiar buzzing noise moving up and away from where they are walking.

Ednyss nods politely, "My name is Ednyss Graybeard, and you are correct in your assumption that I am with the others of my clan. We greatly appreciate your hospitality and hopefully, we will not need to be staying too long." Ednyss specifically avoids indulging her curiosity as to their purpose in this town and instead shifts the focus of the conversation back to the construction, "I am no mayor, but construction in the Core is likely something to be grand, and I am always eager to hear of news from home. Did you hear anything of the purpose of those constructions?"

Auger & Varielky

The two humans walk for a few minutes, back down the creek path toward the plaza, with no sign of Kotashin. But shortly, Py messages Auger, ‘I see it over here, across the creek, in a meadow.’ You cross over, stepping on dry stones, and push through some undergrowth to get to the meadow, but when you arrive, it is empty, save for a pair of deer who stand still with heads facing you for a moment, then turn and bolt through the next treeline away from you. Py messages Auger again, ‘It was just here.’ The invisible dragonfly flits upwards again, and in a minute messages, ‘Ah, I see it on the other side of the treeline.’ You follow the deer there, break through quietly, and see only a small grove of fig trees, with footpaths crisscrossing through it. Again, no Kotashin. A minute later, Py messages again, ‘It’s back in the meadow we were just in. We must have crossed paths.’ When you arrive, it is no longer there. Eventually, either through boredom, or frustration, you give up the pursuit and once again return to the creek path in the lowering sunlight of late afternoon, quiet save for the trickling creek and buzzing insects.

Suddenly, from behind you and above, you hear this sudden announcement in a rounded but growly little tenor. “Beware the Knight-Defender of Hyewush!!” Whirling around, you both see, on a juniper tree branch which overhangs the creek path, the little aqua-hided elephant-person who called himself Kotashin. Its short sword is drawn, and it holds a vine in its other three-fingered mitten-hand. It leaps off of the branch, clutching the vine, swings down towards you, its blade chopping through the air.  Then, with a gasp, its hand slips from the vine, and Kotashin tumbles head over heels, losing its sword, which flops at Varielky’s feet once again, and the creature ends up face-down in the dirt, silently shuddering. Then, it sits up and you both see it is noiselessly laughing with tears in its eyes, followed by a flatulent wheezing sound as it sucks in air.

“Hullo Valkraky. Did you find the Lost Cord yet?,” it asks, drying its big innocent eyes of tears of laughter.

 Ednyss

Anafora lenna Volubelle answers Ednyss, “Grand, indeed. One could hardly miss it, one would imagine, the new port expansion.” She smiles knowingly at Ednyss, “But while away from home, it is hard to keep up. Sometimes very hard indeed. When I was away in The Kingdoms, how I pined for news of my own Hyewush. Of course I was younger then and things were...more difficult in those days.” Smiling at Ednyss again, she changes the subject to the dancers. “Don’t you love the spring rites? Calling Ritha Demsha awake after her long winter sleep? Of course our little celebration here pales to what you might see in Ishi Ammah. But we will celebrate the first planting come the 21st of Beauty. And we have some very fine dancers this year, don’t we?” She walks with Ednyss into the plaza, inhaling deeply as the afternoon sun moves beyond the edge of the plaza walls.

"It's Varielky," though, to be fair, she was often even worse when it comes to names, "and no. I have not even left this town yet." She picks up the Knight-Defender's sword once again but doesn't return it just yet. Instead, she spins it in her hands, still wondering about the strange imbalance. "And you, have you considered my suggestion? It still stands. If enemies were to attack this place at some point, that shouldn't be the first time you face another opponent. I can vow to stop short so you won't get hurt. First to land three hits, perhaps? Sharp-Eyed here could be the judge, determine whether an attack truly hit or not." A slight pain reminds her that she is still wounded from the fight with the Orcs. She'll also need to be careful not to re-open those wounds when they're so fresh. Also, unarmoured now, she hoped the Knight-Defender is either inexperienced enough that she can easily avoid his attacks, or experienced enough to be able to stop short. Well, at least she had her shield to defend her vital parts, just in case.

Auger & Varielky

Kotashin turns to look at Auger. "Ummm...I forgot your name already...what is it again?"

To Varielky it responds. "YEAH!" And it jumps up, trying ineffectually to grab its sword from her hand. Each time it bounces up, it says, "Ko." "Ko. KoKoKoKo. Can I have my sword now?" When she gives it to the little creature, it stands opposite her and says, "Ready!." But it's actually only one inch in front of her and its trunk snakes forward, seemingly of its own volition, tickling her ribs. When she instructs it to stand at a distance, it does so, with its sword hanging loosely in one mitten-hand, its little pot-belly hanging forward. Its cap then slips and falls to the ground, so Kotashin bends forward to pick it up, and when the little pachyderm-person puts the cap back on its head, you notice that an extra brown leaf is now sticking to it at an angle. Then the leaf drops off onto the creature's trunk. Kotashin puckers and blows straight up and the leaf flutters but stays where it is. It sighs, cheerfully.

"Did I win?," its little round-rough voice asks, as its big black eyes blink quietly behind the brown leaf.

When asked his name, "Ah yes, I go by Auger among friends. Varielky calls me Sharp-Eyes though I doubt I see more clearly than she."

Viewing the movements and behavior of Kotashin, Auger cannot help but smile at the cute spirit. To Py he sends, Perhaps I have misjudged the possibility of a threat. Still it is a strange being. And... perhaps it was turning invisible like you? Or has its own resting place among the Sea of Stars? Like you? 

Auger agrees to judge the match, still smiling at the absurdity of it. He had seen Varielky in combat and doubted this was going to be a challenge for a fierce warrior, willing to face a band of orcs alone. Seeing Kotashin go through his motions and then ask if he is the winner leaves Auger quite concerned for the spirit. Varielky had to know to hold back, correct? Her honor code probably would punish her more for hurting an opponent of limited capabilities. "Ah. Did you win, Kotashin? Ahmm. I'm afraid a duel does not even start until your swords have met. Varielky can extend her sword and then you signal the matches beginning by tapping her sword with yours and then both step back." Looking at the spirit doubtfully he adds, "Uhmm it is customary to strike with the flat part of the sword and neither edge nor point during a duel like this. Isn't that correct Varielky?" Auger honestly looks to Varielky for guidance. Sparring of this form is not something he knows, but he is a father and this creature seemed a child in need of protection, both physically and in ego if it can understand the rules.

(Well, shit. Did it again. Fight with Kotashin, take 2.)
Varielky was in the middle of donning her shield when the Knight-Defender surprised her with his question. Was it only a show, trying to mask his real expertise, or was he actually that inexperienced?
"Well, uh..." Varielky begins to answer Auger. No was the answer. The broad side of the sword is its weakest side, and fighting like that might get a sword broken. Not that she feared for her blessed sword, but the Knight-Defender's even had a hole in the middle of it, making it even weaker. "Usually, one would simply stop short and never aim for any vital part of the enemy. For more intense duels, one might keep their scabbard on so that they could strike ferociously, without risking to harm the other beyond a few bruises. It can also be done your way, though." His way of starting the duel was also strange, but that mattered less.
For a moment, Varielky wonders whether to call the duel off. What if the Knight-Defender is merely an overblown title? Such a sharp sword doesn't seem like a toy, but it doesn't mean it wasn't made for someone else. But, Varielky decides to push on. If it was just a show, the Knight-Defender must be a great fighter.
Varielky pulls out her sword with her free hand. Pointing the blade up for a moment, the red-steel almost shines in the afternoon (evening?) light, and the mark appears on her forehead. She then points the sword forward, flat abobe the ground. "Go on, I'll let you take the initiative and make the first strike. Show me that this town has a great Knight-Defender who could strike down any threat!"

Out loud, he just absently murmurs, "It truly is beautiful."

(OOC: What is the date today? i.e. Is there any chance we will be here for the celebration?)

Varielky & Auger

Kotashin finally settles, and the sun is nearing the horizon as Auger calls the start of the match. Varielky allows Kotashin the first move, and she, and Auger, see the little aqua-hided elephant-person raise its sword in a fencing stance, its toes pointing awkwardly inward, and its brow furrows as it seems to be focusing its energies. Deep from its belly, its growly, rounded voice rumbles out. “Ko--TAAAYYYYY…,” and you see the open space in its sword start to fill with yellow iridescence. 

At that moment, you hear, as does Kotashin, a cry for help, and Kotashin returns to the way he was before, his sword dropping to the ground, and he stoops to pick it up and sheathe it. Turning to the far end of the little grassy meadow beside the path, you see a young girl chimp in dirt-covered pants and a clean shirt tied at the waist running toward you, breathlessly. “Can you help!,” she says, anxiously. “The bull’s chasin’ pa and the young’ns ‘r up in the barn and th’ barn’s on fire an mama sent me run t’ the smith fer help but I saw you! We just over there!,” she pleads, pointing to the nearest tree line.

Kotashin nods its little head and says, “Okay!,” takes the girl’s hand, and lets her lead it toward the tree line at a run. It seems like it’s going to fall over backwards at any moment.

Py messages to Auger, ‘I see smoke in that direction.’

Varielky quickly sheathes her sword and doffs her shield, stowing it back. She then begins to run after the two. When she catches up, she just says: "Another time then. I'll help you if I can, though."
Running without the ill-fitting armour is really great, but her thoughts are busy with something else. What was that yellow glow? That sword is definitely not a normal one, and Varielky is fascinated. She must see it in action before they leave this place, she knows.
She can't do much about fire, but she can probably subdue a crazed bull if she's careful not to get hit. Meanwhile, running next to the smaller two slows her down. "Is your barn straight ahead? I'll be faster if I run ahead of you, but much slower if I can't find the place." If the Chimp girl replies that it is straight ahead, Varielky will dash forward, enjoying the agility of armourless running, trying to reach as soon as possible to help those who are in trouble. If the girl replies that it is not, Varielky will keep following her until they reach the barn.

Auger calls for the match to start and seeing the glow start to come from the tiny sword, Auger tries to identify what it could be. Arcana 23.

Startled at the cry for help Auger freezes for a moment as the young chimp appears and then hearing Py's confirmation of seeing smoke he begins to move. Knowing how dangerous any fire can be, much less one that also somehow involves a bull charging around, summoning his confusing mist (and wondering if the mists will protect him from a fire or not), Auger runs after Kotashin and the young chimp to see if he can help.

Still though, the timing of things leaves him wondering. Py, we will try to help as we can. This Kotashin is probably not up to the task all by himself. Do you know what the glow was?