2019-04-02: As Subtle As A Sledgehammer

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  • Log: As Subtle As A Sledgehammer
  • Cast: Amaterasu, Margaret, Lydia Seren, Ida Everstead-Rey
  • Where: Luca - Port District
  • Date: April 02, 2019
  • Summary: Amaterasu arrives in Luca, in search for her younger sister since arriving on Lunar. She runs into a few others. Mild shenanigans ensue.

DG: A party led by Amaterasu is now entering The Luca Markets.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=============================<* The Luca Markets *>=============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Capitalism, Ho! *>========================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Welcome to the Luca Markets!

 Whether you have found yourself here by a wrong turn, a wrong dimensional
 transfer, or quite deliberately, you have found yourself in just the right
 place to buy anything you want. When you round the next bend, you find
 yourself face-to-face with the bustle at the core of the markets. Tightly
 packed stalls, crammed streets, and crowds that threaten to push and shove
 you aside block your path.

 But, what is that ahead? Is that discounted weapons? Or fresh fish? Is the
 discount expiring!? How will you get through the market quickly -- whether
 to get through or to get the deal!?
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Treasure=======================================
<Pose Tracker> Amaterasu has posed.

    It had taken just the blink of an eye. One moment the commando had been surveying the massed human army from a distance, the next there had been a speech so well projected she had the feeling they could see it in the Locus Solus, and then...

    And then there had been light, and when she had blinked away the brilliance, she had looked to the sky to see a familiar shape.

    She had seen it once before, though Filgaia had looked far less blue then.

    So she was also now on the moon. The lapse in contact with the network also supported this transition.
    Other people might have considered it a setback. She would hardly be able to report in, for instance.
    But Amaterasu prefers to consider it an opportunity. There are others to do the work of intelligence, after all. And so she had set out in search of what might pass for civilization.

    She had been shouted at soon after arriving in this town, near the harbor.

    "Heretic! Get out of here, you scum!"

    She glances down now at the man in her path, as if regarding a rather curious insect.

    "The Maesters will have your-- wh-- whoa--"

    The shouting turns to a yelp as Amaterasu hoists him up by his shirt, lets him thus dangle for a moment, before pitching him off the dock into the sea.

    "I'm uninterested," she states simply, striding off towards the array of stalls without so much as a blink.

    Hmm. Is this what a 'market' looks like in this place?

DG: Amaterasu has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Capitalism, Ho!.
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

From the direction of a ferry terminal comes...

Two perfectly observant women.

They are wearing linen wimples and cotton robes of a pair of holy women, even if they are kind of weirdly sans identifying characteristic. Nonetheless, they are comfortable, they are austere, and they do not really match their faces.

The shorter of these women has a sort of goggle-eyed wonder and a mouth in need of significant dental assistance. She looks around at everything in that goggle-eyed wonder.

The taller one has about 40 gil worth of eye and cheek makeup on, and that's before we price the lip rouge.

"Where do we even begin?!" says SILF, the shorter one. "... In the name of the faith," she adds, more nebulously.

YOUR HEROINE, MARGARET, looks around. "I have no idea." She then gestures forwards. "Stand in front of me and lean over."

Silf does so obligingly enough, spreading out her arms a little bit. Margaret produces a small deck of - something; cards? - shuffles them expertly and lays out three of them on the resulting flat surface. She squints at them. "-- Hm," she says. "We should look for books and food."

"I knew it," Silf says, genially, as Margaret secures the cards again. "Which should we do first?"

Margaret sidles forwards past a fishmonger stall. "Hm," she says. Then she pauses, glances at Amaterasu, nudges Silf, tilts her head--

DG: Margaret has used her Tool Travelers Cards toward her party's challenge, Capitalism, Ho!.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia Seren is wearing a poncho to hide the fact that she's basically a machina even if outside town she doesn't really bother. She has two metallic stripes across her face but, well, she can just go ahead and pretend that's armor or something. Regardless, despite Amaterasu clearly being Veruni AND causing a ruckus, that's not who Lydia first ends up running into. And that's because she has a cat. And that cat remembers someone in this little crew it hasn't seen in a while. And that person is OUR HEROINE, MARGARET.

OUR HEROIN MARGARET might notice something strange. She might notice, all of a sudden, that a cat has appeared on her head. A CAT THAT SHE KNOWS. A cat named: Schrodinger.

Lydia Seren, of course, is chasing after her cat. "Schrooodiinnger!!" She ends up nearly crashing into Margaret but pauses just before doing so.

Schrodinger paws MArgaret's face, looking towards the fishmonger. "Meow."

Lydia says, "m..muhh...Marrgarrreeettt!"

She intends to give Margaret a big hug right then and there.

Because she is the heroine.

DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Schrodinger the Cat toward her party's challenge, Capitalism, Ho!.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Spira is full of monsters. Fiends follow in Sin's wake, either shed from its vast bulk, or created from the unquiet souls of its victims. Even near Luca--which is a major hub of trade and culture--they remain a threat, harrying merchants. The Crusaders do their best, but they can't be everywhere. In this dangerous new place, Ida has put her considerable martial skill to work. It's paid off.

    Ida strides into the market, humming a merry little tune and twirling a small piece of metal with a corkscrew-end. The tune is something she picked up from some dockworkers a day ago. She's dressed much like the locals, and is about a foot shorter than Amaterasu, who--needless to say--has quite the presence. Ida catches sight of her, and, unlike the vast majority of the crowd, approaches her. She does not look like she belongs here. She doesn't look quite like the other Al Bhed Ida's seen, though the hair color looks about right. And oh, look at that, just beyond her is a stand selling fresh fruit. How lovely!

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Multitool toward her party's challenge, Capitalism, Ho!.
=============================<* The Luca Markets *>=============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Capitalism, Ho! *>========================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Welcome to the Luca Markets!

 Whether you have found yourself here by a wrong turn, a wrong dimensional
 transfer, or quite deliberately, you have found yourself in just the right
 place to buy anything you want. When you round the next bend, you find
 yourself face-to-face with the bustle at the core of the markets. Tightly
 packed stalls, crammed streets, and crowds that threaten to push and shove
 you aside block your path.

 But, what is that ahead? Is that discounted weapons? Or fresh fish? Is the
 discount expiring!? How will you get through the market quickly -- whether
 to get through or to get the deal!?
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Treasure=======================================
========================<* The Luca Markets - Round 1 *>========================
=========================< Results - Capitalism, Ho! >==========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amaterasu                           0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margaret                            0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Travelers Cards                     2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ida Everstead-Rey                   0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Multitool                           2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Schrodinger the Cat                 2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Amaterasu                   0 --(25)--> 25                 Pass
Conditions: Reckless(2)|Treasure(1)
Effects: Enlighten(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Amaterasu has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Amaterasu has posed.

    The man Amaterasu just pitched into the drink may, in fact, be gaining an understanding that the giant of a woman is not actually the dreaded Al Bhed...

    But something else entirely.
    Perhaps... even as dreaded????

    A shout goes up from the harbor, but dismissive of the issue as she is with anything else that doesn't warrant her immediate concern, Amaterasu pays it no heed.

    Her heels click out a staccatto as she approaches the most likely-looking person here and, staring down at Ida, asked.

    "You there. Have you seen a woman named 'Kaguya'?"

    She adds, a mere moment later, "I would also know the name of this village."

    This is a village...?

    Green eyes flick sidelong as a younger girl (Lydia) has an emotional reunion with a woman of the Elvish persuasion. Earlier furor aside, though...

    The market is largely being navigated with some success.
    For now.

DG: Margaret has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Luca Markets *>============================
=<* CHALLENGE - How did the Legendary Guardian Auron Defeat Twelve Al Bhed Bandits at Once? *>=
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 As you make your way through the markets of Luca, you stumble into a pack of
 children. Wearing the loose-fitting garb of Spira, they approach you --
 likely outlanders -- with wide eyes. There is an assumption here. One that,
 perhaps, becomes clear when a child in the lead speaks up:

 "Praise Yevon! You must have been out on the ocean, where there's more Al
 Bhed! I bet you know all sorts of stories!" The child clasps their hands
 together, eyes bright with excitement. "Is it true, is it true? Did Auron
 once defeat twelve Al Bhed bandits singlehandedly?!"
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Injure===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

"Ma'am, do you wanna know why tonight is like lacrosse night back in Neo Vane?" Silf says to Margaret as she examines the fish for signs of freshness.

"Hm?"

"Because you're a lodestone for p" Silf begins, before Schrodinger bats at Margaret's face.

She looks upwards, grimacing for a moment, and reaches up. She does not immediately recognize Satan's sweetums, and instead her wimple falls off, causing her long flowing glossy black locks to fall loose. (Nobody really cares, except the fish monger, who says, "If it touches the fish, you bought it, lady.")

And then S L A M comes Lydia, making Margaret grimace at the power of the impact, before she looks down. "............ LYDIA??" Margaret says, finally. "What - how - I thought you were devoured by -"

"Kayfabe," Silf reminds helpfully.

Margaret lowers her voice. "I thought you and all your colleagues were eaten-ay in Zadoa-ay. Have you been here long?? I see things were more widespread than we thought."

Then she glances at Ida even as the towering woman approaches her. "Hm," Margaret says.

"Hm," Silf says.

"Hey, lady!" says a CHILD.
"Ladies!" says another CHILD.
Other CHILDREN cluster around Margaret, who seems consternated at this. They clamor and they shout and they beg for sweets ("ha!" Silf laughs at this request) but then even as Margaret, Silf, and probably also Lydia ooch away from the fish stall, one of them asks a question, "Is it true!? Did Auron once defeat twelve Al Bhed bandits singlehandledly?!"

"Heck if I know," Silf says with a shrug. "I wasn't there."

Margaret purses her lips... and then smiles, slowly, with effort. "Why - yes, she did! Indeed, Oran HAS to defeat her enemies one handed, because she only has a SINGLE HAND! So when those twelve bandits came sweeping in after the enormously comfortable and fluffy bed which Oran had worked so hard to acquire -"

("lydia am I getting this right")

DG: Margaret has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, How did the Legendary Guardian Auron
Defeat Twelve Al Bhed Bandits at Once?.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia seems just thrilled to see Margaret. But then she says, "Did someone just say Kaguya? Man, I must miss her if I keep hearing things...! But I don't see why she'd ever come here when she can live a cozy life in Glenwood getting people murdered or whatever it is nobles do over there that's not that. I'm sure there's something that isn't murders. Anyway."

She pulls back a bit and adds, "I wasn't devoured by any mysterious entity that may or may not be a giant whale. Though it was a close thing! I was pretty terrified, real talk, okay? I mean, it's not embarrassing to miss that when they make the 'Guardians' afraid, so I don't think it's a big deal that I'm afraid to. I'm just a mere mortal after all!" Pause. "Oh I have to show you the new look." Pause. "Later. Away from the luddites."

And then she shakes her head. "Not long. Not even a month or nothing. Couple weeks, maybe?"

THEN CHILDREN.

She looks towards them and then looks to Margaret, and then she says, "I dunno."

She looks back to the kids. "But this sounds like soooome kind of racism!!" Wait didn't Prissa tell her to keep cool on this? Uhh well woops.

"The only crime they commit with any regularity is sass! And the world could use more sass, I say!!"

Yeah maybe someone should rescue this. "Also I don't know who Oran is. Is she hot?"

DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, How did the Legendary Guardian Auron
Defeat Twelve Al Bhed Bandits at Once?.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida blinks, once. "...You're in Luca, ma'am." Her accent is different from the locals', but if Amaterasu hasn't been paying attention, she might not notice. "I... Kaguya, hm?" She puts a hand to her chin, her eyes flicking away from Amaterasu's face. Her brain assembles pieces, furiously. When was the last time she saw Kaguya? In Glenwood, which was well east of here, and that woman looks like someone thought Lady Harken was just so delightfully intimidating they needed their own version. Wait. Kaguya had the same hair color, right?

    'Hey, lady!'

    Ida smiles down at the approaching children. While not nearly as intimidating as Amaterasu, she is pretty clearly an adventurer of some stripe. Her patterned sleeveless shirt exposes midriff, collar, and arms, revealing quite the collection of scars, including one that starts at her breastbone and ends at her waist. Her rugged adventuring boots are covered with their share of road dust, and while the pants are still new, they've already seen one patch-job.

    The situation develops. Ida shoots a glance at Lydia, pleading with her eyes. Desperate to give the kids something that doesn't involve asking questions about something she doesn't know about and should, she fishes through her pockets. She comes up, after a moment, with the remains of one of the last flare grenades she had on her--a shard of metal coated with bits of magnesium and various oxides. "Look at this," she says, and she hopes to God and Granas she does not look as desperate as she feels. She snaps her fingers, a spark leaping from them to ignite the coating on the inside of the shard. It sparkles. It shoots off bits of glowing flame, that land in the ground, harmlessly.

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Flare Grenade toward her party's challenge, How did the Legendary Guardian Auron
Defeat Twelve Al Bhed Bandits at Once?.
<Pose Tracker> Amaterasu has posed.

    One blonde eyebrow lifts. "Luca. I see. I shall bear that in mind."

    This, she follows with a nod that does not... precisely suggest friendliness or similar qualities. "Yes. Kaguya. Have you seen her?"

    A murmuring from nearby catches the woman's ear, and she turns Lydia's way. "Glenwood. Is that near here, or--"

    SUDDEN SMALL CHILD INTERRUPT
    LYDIA: SPARED?!

    "'Oran', is it..."

    How did 'Oran' defeat a shocking twelve 'Al Bhed' bandits singlehandedly?

    "Quite easily," affirms the enormous Veruni, punctuating that statement with a single nod. "Even if you find yourself surrounded, a group of human bandits should pose no difficulties if they are unarmored. I recommend finding and setting upon the apparent leader to start. A blow to the solar plexus should be sufficient."

    She folds her arms over her chest, closing her eyes as if envisioning the scene before her. "Next, assuming they do not surrender, our Oran would want to take advantage of the confusion..."

    She may go on this way for a while.

    "...Meanwhile, if they are armored, the tactics involved will..."

    For. A. While.

DG: Amaterasu has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, How did the Legendary Guardian Auron
Defeat Twelve Al Bhed Bandits at Once?.
============================<* The Luca Markets *>============================
=<* CHALLENGE - How did the Legendary Guardian Auron Defeat Twelve Al Bhed Bandits at Once? *>=
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 As you make your way through the markets of Luca, you stumble into a pack of
 children. Wearing the loose-fitting garb of Spira, they approach you --
 likely outlanders -- with wide eyes. There is an assumption here. One that,
 perhaps, becomes clear when a child in the lead speaks up:

 "Praise Yevon! You must have been out on the ocean, where there's more Al
 Bhed! I bet you know all sorts of stories!" The child clasps their hands
 together, eyes bright with excitement. "Is it true, is it true? Did Auron
 once defeat twelve Al Bhed bandits singlehandedly?!"
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Injure===========================================
=======================<* The Luca Markets - Round 2 *>=======================
=< Results - How did the Legendary Guardian Auron Defeat Twelve Al Bhed Bandits at Once? >=
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amaterasu                           5 --(10)--> 15                 Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margaret                            0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ida Everstead-Rey                   0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Flare Grenade                       2   Combat  Effects: Embolden
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         0 --(10)--> 10                 Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Amaterasu                   25 --(20)--> 45                Pass
Conditions: Fright(2)|Injure(2)|Reckless(1)
Effects: Embolden(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Amaterasu has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

Margaret and Silf simultaneously suck on their teeth as Lydia mentions Kaguya. It makes a kind of stereophonic effect.

The presentation continues. "No," Margaret says.

"Goddess no," Silf echoes. "Mustache like a walrus! But what an axe arm!"

The children seem to accept this.

Lydia talks about her sass and takes a nuanced pro-Al Bhed position.

The children look at her with skepticism. Perhaps if she had a beat backing her and an educational rap... but there was no time to workshop a flow! This was a crisis!

Then Amaterasu approaches. She gives them some quick suggestions on how to disable the leader with a blow to the solar plexus, to which Margaret listens with some interest.

The children are briefly enthused because Amaterasu is talking about VIOLENCE, the favorite of children, but nothing is being blown up, nor is there any blitzball, giant chocobo attacks, or loud toilet noises, and so their interest visibly lowers. One child seems to be getting out some kind of a cheap tin horn, perhaps to rat the strangers out, WHEN

IDA PULLS OUT A FIREWORK AND IT GOES OFF!

The children are abruptly and comprehensively satisfied by the storyline concluding with a big flashy explosion. "Awesome!" "let's go play street blitz!" "k"

Silf passes her wimple around, collecting 4 gil from the children.

Margaret turns her attention towards Ida, blinks, and says, "-- Ida! By the Goddess! You too? You look wonderful, did you -"

"Have a baby?" Silf suggests.

Margaret kicks her in the ankle.

Then, looking finally to Amaterasu, Margaret says with a thoughtful care, "This name you're saying... I might have heard it. May I ask how you know this... Kaguya?" (To Ida, Margaret says sidewise, "Don't mind Silf, she's either silent or babbling, and this weather makes it the latter.")

Silf asks Lydia, "You want a skewer?" She is already buying roast vegetable and some-kind-of-meat skewers with the four gil she made from entertaining children.

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* The Luca Markets *>=============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Luca Goers Try-outs *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The Luca Goers are Spira's premier Blitzball team. They hold try-outs in the
 market sometimes. Once in a blue Gaia, they find someone worthwhile, but
 most of the time this is a way to get meet fans and condescend to people.

 "Hey, it's okay," one of the Goers says to someone walking away after
 failing today's contest. "You can't always be as good as us, you know?"

 The contest is simple: hit a Blitzball down a long, open-air track, as far
 as you possibly can. If it hits the empty goal, you win... and get the
 satisfaction of making a jock look bad!
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust, Injure, Stupify=================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida, unlike the children, listens to Amaterasu's entire speech. She takes slow, measured breaths, and reminds herself that she doesn't have to fight this woman now--and if she does start something, Lydia is here to help. Margaret, too, though it takes a moment for Ida to recognize her. "O--oh!" she says. "Yes. I, ah, had a... condition." She glances at Silf a moment, her cheeks flushing. "I'm being treated for it. Thank you."

    "Hey! You!" A man's voice carries over the din of the crowd. Lydia would recognize it--it's one of the Luca Goers, who apparently did not bother to remember her name. As luck would have it, they're back again. "Horns lady! You think you can try to go 2 for 2? And what's with these weirdos?"

    Ida gives the Blitzballer a flat look, and glances back at her friend. "I suppose," she says, "I could condescend to entertain the possibility." She remembers primary-school cricket. She remembers hating it. She remembers playing the positions no one watched because then she could sit and daydream about dragons. Ida steps forwards. She takes the ball, balancing it in the palm of her left hand. Her other hand curls into a fist.

    Ida punches the ball with all the strength she dares muster. It's heavy, but it goes flying off with considerable velocity. Is it flying in the right direction, though??

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Luca Goers Try-outs.
<Pose Tracker> Amaterasu has posed.

    The youth these days are, apparently, not particularly impressed.
    There are admittedly insufficient tellings of gore and glory in Amaterasu's rather clinical approach to the defeat and possibly death of twelve theoretical and rather quantumly armored bandits.

    "Simple minds, simple pleasures," she remarks, once the children scatter. Her gaze settles on Lydia once again. "As you had been: what was that about 'Glenwood', girl?"

    ...Perhaps this is another incidence of saved by the bell -- or the Blitzball, as the case may be.

    Amaterasu's gaze lingers on Lydia. Then tilts towards Ida. Then glides past Margaret and Silf to the Blitzballer.

    "So this is for a game, then," she says, gazing at the ball. "I see."

    Briefly, the armoring about her forearm and wrist begins to glow.

    "When I was young, I had to content myself with simulations," she muses aloud. "Well then."

    Without further ado, she slams her fist into the ball.

DG: Amaterasu has used her Tool Shielding Module toward her party's challenge, Luca Goers Try-outs.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Good Luck Bat toward her party's challenge, Luca Goers Try-outs.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia looks towards Ida. She gives a hapless shrug. Sorry Ida, Lydia doesn't really know what to do here herself. Children don't usually run towards Lydia Seren barring a couple particular back on Filgaia and she spent more of her youth listening to stories than telling them. She wonders how Gwen is doing absently, just thinking about it. She'd probably know how to tell one if she were here--but honestly she is kind of angry about hearing a request for such a story. She KNOWS an Al Bhed. Actually, an Al Bhed isn't just someone she knows, but an Al Bhed is, basically, her best friend! She isn't interested in that kind of tale, not even for kids. And she doesn't have a rap either. Oh well.

She kicks Silf lightly in the ankle but with no real rancor behind it.

"Sure," She says to offer of the skewer. "Who wants to know?" Lydia asks unwisely of Amaterasu with a quick glance. "I'm not gonna spill any deets on Kaguya that she doesn't okay, not even to Veruni, or uh--'specially to Veruni come t'think of it."

Then blitzball tryouts!

Lydia seems hesitant to answer questions about Kaguya. It's not JUST to be obstinate, though that's part of it, it's also because uh... Kaguya thought highly of her people sure? But she didn't seem to be, uh, interested in like...being found by them. She is not assuming Amaterasu is related because Amaterasu is like the size of two Kaguyas stacked up on top of each other.

She looks over towards the man asking about a two for two and she says, "Oh, uh. Sure! I can join in...! though I'm gonna go a little light today if that's alright! Kind of sore after my, uh," don't talk about engineering. "Wooork yesterday."

This doesn't stop her from engaging in headbutts to bounce the ball around and make it difficult to steal while occassionally actually kicking towards the goal.

<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

"That's wonderful," Margaret tells Ida. "I had a bit like that. I remember when I was stabbed in the abdomen. Goddess, what a horrible time. My, my!"

Then someone challenges them. Horns lady. Margaret looks at people in a complex pattern, then her attention returns to Amaterasu. Who prepares her arm...

"Silf," Margaret says, "you take the shot, I don't want to reveal my secret prowess."

"Kay," Silf says, marching forwards. Margaret, in the mean time, reaches into her robe and pulls out a small silver case, which she pops open. She leans in to examine herself in a magic mirror - no, is she divining a truth? - no, she's picking up a little sable brush and...

... Smoothing out the tiny cat paw print on her left eye's lining.

Silf, meanwhile, marches up for her turn with the ball. "You here with your ma, kid?" says the Goer.

Silf accepts the ball and tells him, "I'm fifty," and immediately twists back and WHIPS the ball towards the goal with a full body thrashing. She is not big, but yet, the elven strength is not absent in her. At least she didn't pull out her knives!

"... Fifteen?" says the Goer.

DG: Margaret has used her Tool Gratuitous Post-Labor Grooming Supplies toward her party's challenge, Luca Goers Try-
outs.
=============================<* The Luca Markets *>=============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Luca Goers Try-outs *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The Luca Goers are Spira's premier Blitzball team. They hold try-outs in the
 market sometimes. Once in a blue Gaia, they find someone worthwhile, but
 most of the time this is a way to get meet fans and condescend to people.

 "Hey, it's okay," one of the Goers says to someone walking away after
 failing today's contest. "You can't always be as good as us, you know?"

 The contest is simple: hit a Blitzball down a long, open-air track, as far
 as you possibly can. If it hits the empty goal, you win... and get the
 satisfaction of making a jock look bad!
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust, Injure, Stupify=================================
========================<* The Luca Markets - Round 3 *>========================
=======================< Results - Luca Goers Try-outs >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amaterasu                           15 --(0)--> 15                 Pass
Shielding Module                    1   Brute   Effects: Rally and Resilient
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margaret                            0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Gratuitous Post-Labor Grooming Supp 1   Brute   Effects: Cleanse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ida Everstead-Rey                   0 --(15)--> 15                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         10 --(15)--> 25                Fail
Good Luck Bat                       2   Brute   Effects: Strengthen
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Amaterasu                   45 --(20)--> 65                Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Fright(1)|Injure(2)|Stupify(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1)|Strengthen(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Amaterasu has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida's shot flies through the air with great speed, but she put more of a spin on the ball than she wanted. It arcs to the side, slams into the padding next to the goal marker, and bounces off. Lydia picks it up and headbutts it for a while, giving it a few kicks of her own--but like any good athlete, she knows when she just can't put her best into it. Today is one of those days. "I'm sorry," Ida says, to the Beastwoman cyborg. "Honestly it disturbs me that children feel it's all right to--"

    Silf slams a second blitzball home, with crushing force. It whizzes over Ida's head, and hits the goal dead-center. One of the Goers gives her a grudging look of approval. Then, it's Amaterasu's turn.

    "What the--?!"

    "Hey you! Is that machina!?!"

    The blitzball goes flying like it's running from the hounds of hell (not Silf or Margaret). Padding and wood give way with a tremendous crack. A roughly blitzball-sized hole materializes in the backboard in a spray of splinters. The ball still flies. Passers-by gape, openly. One of the Goers opens his mouth to shout something, and he looks furious at Amaterasu. But then--!

DG: Amaterasu has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* The Luca Markets *>=============================
===============<* CHALLENGE - Runaway Cart, Never Coming Home *>================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The amount of activity in the markets means that, sometimes, something just
 goes wrong. Today, that is a cart being pulled by one of the terrifying,
 golden yellow horsebirds of Spira: the venerable chocobo. The cart's
 fastenings break loose -- and there is a shout from the crowd, as the cart
 comes free... and rolls straight towards you!
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

"Oh, yeah, boo. Machina." Lydia says. "Science is awful. Making lives easier suuucks."

She thinks they're buying it. She asides a quick, "Kids can be awful. I was one once, I should know." to Ida.

<Pose Tracker> Amaterasu has posed.

    Green eyes rest on Lydia for a long, long moment, in those instants leading up to her own attempt -- once a jock always a jock perhaps? -- at proper physical non-martial-arts sports.

    "So you know what I am." She pauses. "I see."

    Her gaze tilts away, towards the far horizon of the Luca market (in other words, not all that far, technically...).

    "Kaguya is my younger sister. I am well aware that she is somewhere on the moon, so there is no need to lie to me. So I will ask you again."
    Her tone remains even, controlled. If she is angry or frustrated, she shows no sign of it and instead only repeats the question. ...In a manner of speaking.

    "Where is my sister?"

    She does not immediately await an answer, instead driving a fist for the heavy Blitzball.
    Her lips tilt ever-so-slightly upwards, as if in some silent satisfaction at the damage.
    Even if she incurs some wrath from athlete present, that is. "No, this is not 'machina'. It is my armor," she replies with an answer simple enough that it might be intended as a goad. But before anything else can happen--

    "No! The cart!"

    The street here is on a slight incline. The cart, loosed from its birdy steed, barrels down it as the crowd scatters about in an attempt to not be taken out with it.

    Amaterasu stomps one heeled boot against the street and whirling about, scoops Lydia up into her arms before catapulting towards the wall of a nearby house.
    Wheresoever she lands, she should there stick. Even if this puts her at an odd angle indeed. Lydia may end up dangling from one arm while Amaterasu hangs on with another. She seems unconcerned by this.

DG: Amaterasu has used her Tool All-Surface Boots toward her party's challenge, Runaway Cart, Never Coming Home.
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

Margaret turns her freshly re-smoked eyes towards Lydia as she speaks. Margaret's blessing of Althena gives her a powerful ability to detect sarcasm, but in this case it's like a photonegative image and it teaches her, in fact, what is the real heart of the matter. "It's her forbidden technique," Margaret says, tilting her head at Amaterasu.

Silf nods smartly. "I should know! I'm her mother!"

Margaret nods in approval. "Indeed. This bloodline art has been sealed for aeons but the rising season of" (what is it called?) "Blitz is awakening things. It will surely make a huge impact on the state of play of the field of the game."

"Yeah!" Silf says, punching her own fist like a real W*rrior of L*ght.

'Where is my sister?'

Margaret turns her attention towards Amaterasu. Her lips thin as she snaps her vanity kit shut. She seems to be about to say something when --

THE CART!

Margaret and Silf both look towards it.

Margaret seems to just kind of vanish from view. What?

Silf runs forwards, ducking low and then leaping up into a tumble to clear over the runaway cart and land behind it in a three point stance, turning over once and whirling round to face the cart. "Hey!" she calls ahead. "Look out!"

MARGARET, FORTY FEET IN THE AIR, considers that perhaps she Jumped the gun a little here. She frowns, and considers how best to stick this landing.

DG: Margaret has used her Tool The Hounds of Hell! toward her party's challenge, Runaway Cart, Never Coming Home.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida turns to the Goer, who is now red-faced and probably on the verge of spewing hate speech all over the place. She wonders if she could throw him out of the way of Amaterasu's fist, if she strikes a Blitzball that hard. She wonders if she should bother.

    The cart! "Again?!" Ida squawks, her tone incredulous. She throws herself aside, tucking and rolling. She raises her right arm to shield herself. And if any of that seems a bit more fluid than a human should move, well, she's probably just got magic. Right?

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Line Launcher toward her party's challenge, Runaway Cart, Never Coming Home.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

"Well I mean, you're a giant and scary, and about as subtle as a sledgehammer so--" Lydia begins.

Her words falter upon hearing Amaterasu is Kaguya's sister. "Oh...her sister, huh...?" She is quiet for a moment, no doubt evaluating this new piece of information. "Okay, I mean... I haven't seen her in months, but unless she's come all the way to Spira for some reason, I'd have to say--"

She cuts herself off. "Like, you're not going to go and take her back to Filgaia are you? She's sick. I mean, you probably know that? But she feels better on Lunar. When I was traveling with her on Filgaia, she could barely walk places. Here she's a fucking god of war so, like... please let her live here, okay?" Her cheeks silver faintly. "She's one of the first friends I've ever made and--"

She trails off again. the fact that Kaguya accepted Riesenlied as family makes her uncertain upon her feelings about Amaterasu. On the other hand, this person will absolutely murder her if she keeps quiet. On the other hand, well, it's not like she can get to Glenwood from here right?

Her thoughtsare interrupted by cart. And more by Amaterasu literally lifting her up into the air. "Wah--"

Amaterasu leaps for the wall. "Wahhh!" She may be a killer cyborg but that doesn't mean she thinks like one. Skates pop out of her feet reflexively but she wills them back into her feet to avoid, you know, MORE ACCUSATIONS OF MACHINA.

"Wahh.....nnmmm..."

She hangs off Amaterasu. She looks up at Amaterasu's other arm. She blinks at it a few times.

"Holy shit." she says. "Okay, uh, I think I see what she meant by you teaching her how to fight."

She exhales a fair bit. "Anyway, she was working with some nobles in Glenwood. I didn't see her in Azado when the giant death whale attacked, so for all I know she's still there. An ocean away. Unless she came to Spira for some dumb reason but I really have no idea why she would ever want to come to this dump."

Pause. "With respect."

They really need to watch their chocobos here.

DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Radical Skates toward her party's challenge, Runaway Cart, Never Coming Home.
=============================<* The Luca Markets *>=============================
===============<* CHALLENGE - Runaway Cart, Never Coming Home *>================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The amount of activity in the markets means that, sometimes, something just
 goes wrong. Today, that is a cart being pulled by one of the terrifying,
 golden yellow horsebirds of Spira: the venerable chocobo. The cart's
 fastenings break loose -- and there is a shout from the crowd, as the cart
 comes free... and rolls straight towards you!
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================
========================<* The Luca Markets - Round 4 *>========================
=================< Results - Runaway Cart, Never Coming Home >==================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amaterasu                           15 --(0)--> 15                 Pass
All-Surface Boots                   2   Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margaret                            0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
The Hounds of Hell!                 2   Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ida Everstead-Rey                   15 --(0)--> 15                 Pass
Line Launcher                       2   Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         25 --(0)--> 25                 Pass
Radical Skates                      3   Agility Effects: Fanfare
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Amaterasu                   65 --(20)--> 85                Pass
Conditions: Injure(2)|Slow(2)
Effects: Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Amaterasu has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Amaterasu has posed.

    "'As subtle as a sledgehammer, am I? Hmm, hmm." Amaterasu actually... smiles. "Well, then I am doing my job as instructed if that is the case."

    Whereupon Lydia launches into a bit of an impassioned plea, one that prompts Amaterasu to lift an eyebrow. "So you are her friend, then. Hm. She never was good at making friends when she was younger. I suppose it is only fitting," she surmises, punctuating the statement with a shake of her head.

    "...So I understand."

    She is quiet a moment, before she strikes the ball. Before the cart is freed, and before she leaps into action.

    "And yet, she is my sister and she is far from home and her family. This is not yours to decide."

    And then all hell breaks loose. Amaterasu springs for a nearby home and half-sticks, half-hangs from the eaves, Lydia dangling from her one free hand.

    Silf and Margaret execute a perfect evasion of the cart as it continues on undeterred, rattling down the streets. It may be a good distance for her to land yet, of course, in Margaret's case.

    Ida ducks into a low roll, narrowly evading the cart as it speeds along down the avenue, her movements oddly more fluid than most humans might normally demonstrate.

    The cart finally reaches the harbor, bounces off a stack of crates, and in a sudden acrobatic display, flips over said crates and flies right into the sea with a splash.
    Somewhere, small children cheer. It's the best thing they've seen since the 'cool firecracker' just moments before.

DG: Margaret has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Luca Markets *>============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - And the Fans Rush In *>====================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 As you make your way towards the exit, a cry echoes throughout the streets
 near the gate. The cry from the crowd is joined by numerous voices; the
 young, the old, and the faithful. It may be a case of mistaken identity, or
 perhaps she is nearby.

 "Lady Summoner!" "Lady Yuna!"

 This results in the crowd surging forward to see the alleged Summoner. This
 makes getting out of the market -- and not getting pushed aside or underfoot
 -- rather difficult, /especially/ if there is a final trinket or bauble you
 wanted to buy first!
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

As she's in the air, Margaret sees her opening, air dashes to the left, and --

-- emerges from the nearby building's front door, tossing her hair with one hand. She's gotten out her pipe and even lit it along the way, perhaps so that she can be maximally insolent to Amaterasu.

"Your sister," Margaret says, "has done very well for herself, and you should be proud of her. If you're interested I'll pass along that you're looking for her - Silf, take her message down." She tilts her head back, eyes closing.

Silf has gotten out a sheaf of looseleaf paper and a pencil, as if awaiting dictation. She asks Ida, "Do the birds get loose a lot?"

'Lady Summoner! Lady Yuna! She's there!' The crowd pushes -

And Margaret turns to look at them, eyes widening. They're coming down the sidewalk and she beams at them, a soft look crossing her eyes as she says, "Oh, I'm terribly afraid that I must disappoint you if you think I am one of your summoners, though the mistake is -"

The crowd surges past.

"under..."

Towards someone an intersection down.

"standable," Margaret says flatly. She tilts her head forwards.

A block down, there is a woman with a gentle expression, light brown hair, and some patterned robes who looks towards them. She then seems to be miming panic. This makes Silf narrow her eyes, especially as several individuals twist forwards and slide into the crowd. Silf leans forwards because -

"It's a hustle," she muses. "Ma'am, they're getting that pouch, on the guy who looks like the General."

Margaret says, "what?" as she struggles with her ego injury.

Silf cranes her head back and scans the rooftops and -- she points!

On one particular rooftop there is a woman with mid-length blonde hair and some sort of a classical tessen, which she had been tapping on her shoulder. Her attention turns to the two Hounds for a moment and there is a

                            >>> SUDDEN SHOCK! <<<

of tension. The woman on the roof immediately moves back and out of the line of sight.

Margaret's free hand tightens into a white-knuckled fist.

DG: Margaret has used her Tool The Hounds of Hell! toward her party's challenge, And the Fans Rush In.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    "Someone must be selling faulty ironworks," Ida says, her lips twisting in a scowl. "That's the second one I've personally seen." And then, she hears something that chills her blood. The sound of a crowd forming. "We should leave," she says, "now, before it--" Silf points out some very interesting coincidences. Ida scowls. "I'll admit, that's quite clever of them. Very professional. Far more attention-grabbing than a child pretending to be hurt, to the well-heeled." Of course, the crowd is still milling around 'Yuna' and 'other Yuna', and Ida does not want to be caught in the press.

    "Swift Wind's Grasp," she says, gesturing up--and hoping to God that the banners strung from the roof above block sight of the thin cord that deploys from the flesh just behind her wrist.

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Line Launcher toward her party's challenge, And the Fans Rush In.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Why does Kaguya's sister have to be so cool?? UGHHH.

"Yeah, I mean, it's not for me to decide." Lydia says. "It's her choice." She bites back any comments about how she sees Kaguya as family, largely because it's not too helpful to get into that right now. "If you want to convince her, be my guest, but if you try to make her... then...uh...well,"

She imagines Amaterasu throwing her so high up into the air she literally escapes the moon's gravity field.

"Well then I guess we've gotta fight??? Ugghhh. You seem cool so I don't wanna, but nggghhhh----"

She continues to dangle. She might even be dangling when Yuna shows up and creates more problems. "Who the fuck is Yuna and why is she moving everywhere causing a disturbance every time I'm in the market??" She complains. "If she's so famous maybe she should take the backroads and let me buy some food without being trampled on!"

If Amaterasu sets her down she's going to start skating to get through the crowd expertly. But if she holds on, well, it seems apparent that Amaterasu is, like cannon travel, a valid if unorthodox method of travel.

She kicks her little feet if she's still being held up.

"Let's just agree to leave it up to Kaguya and call it a day." Lydia says as if she held an entire negotiation with herself.

<Pose Tracker> Amaterasu has posed.

    "We shall see. At present, I do not see a means for departing from the moon in any case," Amaterasu answers, her expression for the moment distant, as if in thought. "It does not seem they build those with care," the commando comments, in time with Ida's own statement, from her perch alongside the building, as she watches the cart sail off into the sea with aloof interest.

    "Proud of her, hm?"

    Amaterasu releases her grip on the side of the building, touching ground with a 'tak' from her heels. With some care she deposits Lydia back on solid ground. "I will be the judge of that," she says to Margaret, yet still couples that statement with a nod, however brief. "But please do. Tell her that Amaterasu would like to see her." She pauses, then adds: "At her earliest convenience, of course."

    It is naturally the sort of salt that only a sibling can muster.

    Glenwood. How far is 'Glenwood' from 'Spira', she wonders.

    But it appears they have alighted on solid earth in the middle of a bit of a press from the crowd. "Tch," Amaterasu utters, once again tapping heels to stone. "I suppose we will have to go around."

    It's arguable that she may mean 'we' in the royal sense since, unless Lydia opts here to hitch a ride before the Veruni commando once again makes for an unorthodox sort of ascent to the rooftops, she is...
    Well, the opportunity may become quickly lost!

    She never does answer on 'leaving the matter up to Kaguya', though.

DG: Amaterasu has used her Tool All-Surface Boots toward her party's challenge, And the Fans Rush In.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Radical Skates toward her party's challenge, And the Fans Rush In.
============================<* The Luca Markets *>============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - And the Fans Rush In *>====================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 As you make your way towards the exit, a cry echoes throughout the streets
 near the gate. The cry from the crowd is joined by numerous voices; the
 young, the old, and the faithful. It may be a case of mistaken identity, or
 perhaps she is nearby.

 "Lady Summoner!" "Lady Yuna!"

 This results in the crowd surging forward to see the alleged Summoner. This
 makes getting out of the market -- and not getting pushed aside or underfoot
 -- rather difficult, /especially/ if there is a final trinket or bauble you
 wanted to buy first!
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
=======================<* The Luca Markets - Round 5 *>=======================
======================< Results - And the Fans Rush In >======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amaterasu                           15 --(0)--> 15                 Pass
All-Surface Boots                   2   Agility Effects: Quicken
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margaret                            0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
The Hounds of Hell!                 2   Agility Effects: Quicken
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ida Everstead-Rey                   15 --(0)--> 15                 Pass
Line Launcher                       2   Agility Effects: Quicken
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         25 --(0)--> 25                 Pass
Radical Skates                      3   Agility Effects: Fanfare
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Amaterasu                   85 --(35)--> 120               Pass
Conditions: Injure(1)|Slow(2)
Effects: Quicken(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Amaterasu has successfully explored The Luca Markets!
============================<* The Luca Markets *>============================
=============<* CHALLENGE - The Life and Times of Lord Mi'ihen *>=============
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 One of the market stands near the exit is a bookseller. Books are sometimes
 rare on Spira, as few cities are large enough to maintain a printing press
 for long. However, you have found one -- and this book stall had several
 copies of a well-decorated and well-illustrated tome titled The Life and
 Times of Lord Mi'ihen. This book details the life of the founder of the
 Crusaders, Mi'ihen, and includes his speech to the Maesters of Yevon to win
 his trust.
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

"fine," Margaret answers Amaterasu, flatly. Then she looks at Ida -- or rather the conspicuous lack of Ida. She looks upwards.

Silf is noting down some kind of scrawl which is probably in some way relevant to what Amaterasu is laying down.

The street is deserted for the moment. Everyone went to go look at the lady Summoner.

Except for...

A guy stands up from behind his bookstall. The sign over it is fluttering slightly, and as he sets down his curiously identical books, it falls off. Laying in the road, it reads, in local script:

        ROCK BOTTOM REMAINDERS

Margaret steps on it. "What is this book?" she says to the man.

"Why, it's the Life and Times of Lord Mi'ihen, the founder of the Crusaders, and it includes a full length copy of his speech in handy detachable format and a range of,"

"I'll take six," Margaret says, snapping her fingers at Silf.

Silf waddles up and plunks down a small but rather full bag of gil.

"Lydia - may I ask you to do me a small favor?" Margaret says. "Ask Ida where she get all these WONderful toys."

<Pose Tracker> Amaterasu has posed.

    Flipping up onto the roof like she's some kind of god damn ninja (this is in fact a correct description of her immediate superior, but who's counting) Amaterasu crouches low, before making good with the most direct and likely least-approved shortcut across this part of Luca.
    She does not wait for or look out for the others, heading off in a direction that only she seems to comprehend.

    ...This is all going to end badly in a few days, isn't it.

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia skates up to Margaret when all is said and done.

"Six? That's a lot of books." She looks to Ida for a moment, shrugs haplessl,y then looks back to Margaret. She does ... not offer to get a book. She has one and that's more than the number she wants.

She looks after Amaterasu for a moment and then looks back to Margaret. "She, uh, she didn't come to Spira did she? Because that would be awkward. I mean, that's impossible right ?She said she wanted to live so..."

She trails off. "...Thanks for speaking up for her though." She smiles. "I'm really glad you and your crew are alright."

Margaret asks a favor. "Of course."

Pause. That's a strange favor. Does Ida not talk to Margarets?

She looks to Ida. "Hey, uh, Ida...?"

THIS IS SO AWKWARD.

"Where do you get all these... WONderful toys?" She does her best to mimic Margaret's inflection.

<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

"hehehe," says Silf.

She gets kicked again.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    "I, ah, made them?" Ida says. At some point, after the crowd dispersed, she descended to ground level. She turns back to look at Margaret, a faint blush rising in her cheeks.

<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

"I just didn't want to - I mean, I thought she was leaving! Ida, I'm sorry, I am just off my footing from when they all went past me like that," Margaret explains with some haste even as her books are wrapped up.