2019-05-26: At Guadosalam

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<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

The Lunies experienced hardship, personal drama with their childhood friend Jacqueline, and the realisation that the Sending can't send a soul-less person like Lunata in the wake of the events of Operation Mi'ihen... ontop of Vinsfeld's intervention as well as the threat of Odessa at large.

Then there was a filler episode where the Lunies rode the shoopuf a lot.

("I want to go back," begs Lunata. "Shoopuf is my life. I can't live without it anymore.")

But eventually, duty calls, so it's with the Maester and the rest of their Retinue that they eventually reconvene at... Guadosalam, a city shrouded with the tangled roots of trees with a particularly cozy, shaded atmosphere of quiet reverence. And here is where the Guado make their home, including Seymour Guado himself.

"... I can feel... a powerful pull," Lunata murmurs quietly. She looks down the path that would lead to the Farplane. "What is it?"

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

It's hard to keep Lunata away from the shoopuf when Shalune feels the same way - but somehow, the mechanic just about manages it, as much it breaks her heart to do so. She'd hugged as much of the creature as she could on her last trip - which isn't really saying much, given its size, but she damn well tried.

A couple of rough sketches of the Moonflow later, and she thinks she likes Guadosalam. She's not especially worried about the odd colours and textures of the place; instead, there's something about the warren-like nature of the place that's appealing, and like most places on Spira it looks quite literally out of the world.

It might be a relief to the Yevonites as a whole that Shalune has finally managed to get together a disguise, looking somewhat like a Guardian - a swordsman's robe with a white top and a sky-blue skirt, and a sword at her side that is totally real and in no way a fake stuck in a sheath. The rainbow-coloured belt of fabric has a collection of wooden charms and beads hanging from it, clicking together when she moves.

Pausing at the other Lunie's statement, she frowns and tries to concentrate - but it's not like she's magically gotten more in touch with her spiritual side just because she's stopped wearing overalls. "... is it like the Sending?" she ventures.

<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.

"That," Seymour Guado says, as he walks a little ahead of both Lunata and Shalune, "is the Farplane."

The Maester of Yevon looks tired. These last couple of weeks have been hard on him. For one thing, the failure of Operation Mi'ihen has cast a pallor over the land. For another, there are now many more uncertainties: few can say what the Guard and ARMS will do, now that their cooperation as been cut short. Seymour didn't return straight to Guadosalam; he left a portion of his retinue to attend Yo Mika in Bevelle.

But, he reunited with them -- and with the Yevonites. He turns, looking over his shoulder at them. "It is related to it, Shalune. This... is the place that souls go, when they perish." He pauses, then thinks to add: "...At least, when they perish in Spira."

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

I'm going to miss those sketches, Lunata thinks to herself as she glances towards some of Shalune's sketches. They had a way of powerfully capturing the nostalgia of their trips that Picto Boxes didn't, after all.

But Shalune makes her own guess, and Lunata has to compare it. Is it like the Sending? "It's... similar... but--"

Seymour explains.

"The Farplane..." Lunata murmurs quietly, but her eyebrows arc very gently. She sympathises with the Maester for being tired -- Mi'ihen meant a lot of them had been working overtime, and Shoopuf Break was the extent of the time off that they got afterwards.

"I would have never imagined there to be a physical... place for an afterlife, as it were. It is a place of great importance for each Summoner in their pilgrimage to visit, I imagine?"

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

As Lunata compares it to the Sending, Shalune quietly but insistently slips one hand into hers. It's not to try to pin her down, the mechanic quietly reminds herself. But she knows that Lunata came out of Operation Mi'ihen drained and tired and incomplete. If she's got to go some time soon, that's-- fine. But not shaved off in tiny slices with some of her left behind.

"It's-- here?" she echoes with wonder, her concern blown away just as quickly as it came as Shalune's curiosity rears its head, though she bites her lip cautiously. Having only just made her piece with Lunata, the thought of visiting the dead by just going to some place to say hello-- she's not sure how well it sits with her.

But Seymour continues, and--

Though she tends to work on instict more than actual knowledge, she still approaches the unknown like it's a puzzle, poking and prodding at it with ideas until something clicks. It's just that most of the time it's a tangible piece of machinery rather than a metaphysical concept.

"How does that--" she blurts out before she furrows her brow and gets immediately lost in thought. Is there a giant sorting-house for the undead, like a post office of the afterlife? This one's from Spira, so send it to the Farplane, and this one's from Filgaia, so let it go-- where? How does it tell, anyway? Are there spirit mail chutes that route the spirits around? Who's the postman??

She'll, uh, be right back.

<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.

Seymour turns his head, to look the two young women over in turn. "It is just so. Though... this is more of a single cliff, looking over a vast land that few have ever dared to set foot through," Seymour says. "But... you are correct. Many Summoners come here, before they continue their Pilgrimage. Some do not--after all, Guadosalam has no Temple."

He smiles, then; then, Seymour tips his fingers to his brow. "But many come here, to see the Farplane," he says. "The departed appear here, at times. Their presence is... a comfort."

He tilts his head, and then his smile is a little more wry. Seymour knows how ridiculous this sounds.

"The truth is," he admits, "the gate to the Farplane is a tourist attraction."

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

On Seymour's last word, Lunata immediately, /immediately/ fishing reels back the thoughts of 'Lunie, let's go see the entrance to the Farplane and sketch it' while chiding herself for being the archetypal tourist. She clears her throat.

"There is no Temple here? I wonder why...?" Lunata muses, though it doesn't exactly register to her as too bizarre. She has no idea of what exactly constitutes a Temple or not, or knows of the internal logic of where Temples deserve to be and such, after all.

A pause, as she lets out a little chuckle at that.

"... a few Ruins near our hometown experienced the same thing," she shares. "There was a time when the Ruins of Memory got so overcrowded with novice Drifters the Adlehyde Council started considering charging admission fees... ah, but then monsters emerged from lower within."

She bobs her head.

"I like this town, though... it's tranquil. What're your thoughts about it, Maester Seymour, if I may?"

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Oh, /oh/, okay, so it's not exactly a place but more of a border. That works better, Shalune's mind thinks. You just stand on the cliff and yell and hope that your dead friend isn't lost in thought or too far away to hear you, or-- something like that. Right.

... what would happen if you tried to sail around it and come in through the back, though? Can you drill down to it? What if you just tossed yourself off the Farplane's cliff? Did the Elw already manage to build a teleporter there? Shalune wouldn't put it past them, honestly, except it'd probably explode or something on the way over.

What knocks her out of her thoughts is the admission that it's a tourist attraction - and when she blinks up, it's with a remarkably thin-lipped look on her face as she tries to sort out her feelings on that front. She knows it's unfair of her, but the tenacity of Spirans in the face of death suddenly feels a little fake. "That doesn't seem..." 'right' doesn't feel like the right thing to say, so she backtracks. "... it feels like it's at odds with the Sending?"

With everything that's happened, this feels like a rough road to go down, so she gently draws in a breath and shakes her head, jumping at the change in topic as she brightens. "Is it even man-made?" she wonders of Guadosalam. "It looks more like erosion of-- coral, or something."

<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.

"Temples are built around the Fayth," Seymour says. "And Guadosalam has no Fayth. Ah... and, we did not adopt the Yevonite faith until recently. It was my father's work."

Unlike the encounter with Vinsfeld, he speaks of his father with no anger or rancor; he doesn't let his defenses down again. He has had a couple of weeks to build them back up. The Maester looks at Shalune, and then he shakes his head. "Hmm. That may be your view. For us... we have always known death is close -- and we can see what awaits us after. And while it may draw tourists..."

Seymour shakes his head. "...They are devout, and in search of peace," he adds. Then, he looks towards Lunata. "Well... I grew up here, until I left for my studies with my mother. And, I now live here."

He is omitting a few things.

"So I think my opinion quite biased," Seymour says. "It is built in caverns, though -- then expanded. The caverns were natural, but... we took care to make the expansions seem like a part of what came before."

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata remembers. When Vinsfeld struck a nerve with Seymour mentioning his father... but as he speaks, that rancor isn't there. A pause. It still didn't feel like something that should be brought up casually, though.

"... tourism is just another means of enabling those that wish to travel and learn," Lunata comments for Shalune. "Filgaia could do with the numerous waystations and other travellers' aids Spira has. Back before everything happened, I could scarce imagine leaving Adlehyde long. The opportunity and possibility just wasn't there, for a regular person."

She bobs her head one way as she steps closer, looking towards a nearby inn.

"I've never dwelled in such a place before, so it's all new to me. Spira's been an eye-opener to different ways people can live, that's for sure..."

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Were it a month ago, Shalune would probably have backed down from her comment - but she's grown since then, and decided to stand up for herself a little more. Besides, as topics go, it's one that's become a lot more personal in the last week or so.

"I definitely understand that. I suppose it's that... I lost my mom and dad pretty early, sir," she elaborates as she rubs at her hair. "If I'd known about a way to go see them after they moved on peacefully... would /I/ have moved on peacefully? I dunno. I wasn't all that strong or sure of myself back then," she admits, though at least she's smiling as she gently squeezes Lunata's hand in hers.

Even with her tone light, though, she can just imagine it; a younger Shalune bunkering down in Guadosalam, visiting the Farplane day after day. She might not have been far off that with Lunata had they not cleared the air between them. Despite herself, she shivers a little.

"It's beautiful," she adds. It's not just to take her mind off things, but genuinely meant too, and she brightens again as she warms to the topic. "I mean, it looks amazing. Where we lived in Filgaia a lot of it is desert sand or plains, so for me it's been all about the colours you have here. They're vivid."

<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.

Seymour nods at how Lunata explains it to Shalune, signifying his agreement with her. The half-Guado looks at Shalune, though, and he pauses for a moment, before he nods. "Hmm. Yes, I see what you mean... and, I think, some are attached. But... it offers a sense of peace for others."

He smiles, after a moment, though.

"It is beautiful, isn't it? I am curious about your... Filgaia," he says. "Though--I suppose Bikanel Island might be similar. It is a desert."

He turns, then starts to walk. "Come," he says. "I should show you my manor. I have a home here--I'll provide rooms, during your stay."

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata does pause for a moment as she reaches for her hand again and squeezes it when she mentions her parents. In many ways, the invisible ties that bind them have to do with parenthood -- present or lacking. And in even more ways she doesn't know yet, even further than she's aware of...

"You're here now, and I'm not going to have you second-guess your resolve," she asserts to Shalune.

She paces forward when Seymour mentions the Manor, though. She was curious whether or not he lived in a mansion or a more humble place; it really could've been either. "If I might ask... what're our next plans, Maester Seymour?" as they walk.

She bobs her head. "I've been helping spread the word of Odessa's forces to the rest of the Monks and Crusaders, but..." Well, 'what next' is a really good question after Operation Mi'ihen's failure, it felt.

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Shalune looks quietly relieved when Seymour accepts her explanation - and can definitely understand the answer not being set in black or white, but stuck in the middle. It's not like she wants to question or seem suspicious of the Yevonite faith given the help and patience that the Maester has showed them both, but at the same time that was a thread she can't help but pick at, given Lunata's impending fate.

Still, she offers the girl next to her a quiet smile of reassurance. "Yeah. As I am now-- I think I'd be okay, facing it all," she decides thoughtfully. "At least, I'd like to think so."

For Shalune, the mention of a manor makes her glance at some of the doors cut into the walls, imagining the houses that must lie behind them. The thought of them seems-- cozy, somehow, like an igloo in the snow or a lair in a secluded cave, filled with personal comforts. "Ah, I'm happy to help out a bit rather than just be a guest," she remembers to blurt. "I might not look it, but I'm pretty good at looking after a place."

She's well aware that her own plans are much more personal; stay at Lunata's side to spend the time they've got together before seeing her off, maybe try to meet the Al Bhed sometime, or just take in Spira as a whole. A thought bubbles up, based on something Seymour said. "I guess we're still following the route of the pilgrimage, roughly?"

<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.

Seymour doesn't butt into the two girls' conversation about Shalune's departed parents. It feels intrusive and inappropriate (which, really, would not necessarily stop Seymour in some circumstances). He looks between them, and then nods, before he starts walking ahead.

"Telling them about Odessa is wise," Seymour ventures. "Odessa's intervention cannot go disregarded. I have spoken with the Grand Maester, and he was alarmed. Though... I fear that Grand Maester Mika does not fully understand the danger. His eyes are drawn to other matters."

As much criticism, perhaps, as Seymour dares.

Then, he looks back at Shalune -- and he smiles at her. "Well, if you would help out, I would appreciate it. As would my steward, Trommel. But... you are correct. My intention is to assist Lady Yuna however we might."

He is quiet for a few steps. "The Summoner is the only hope we have. I think Operation Mi'ihen showed that. I think... I must be prepared to offer any assistance -- and make any sacrifice -- required to help her."

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata's lips are a bit firm at that. She can't really imagine the full plate of what the Yevon hierarchy has on their table at one point; she does get the feeling that Seymour seems to be on the forefront of foreign matters, though... and that's something she chalks one up to him for.

Shalune's smile is infectious, even in the path she's on, chuckling faintly to say, "Try to not give them heart attacks with the Little Dipper." The rest of Seymour's staff might not be as... flexible as the Maester himself is, after all.

"... if I might be so bold... is there a reason that you favour Lady Yuna over other summoners on their pilgrimage? Is it because she's the daughter of Lord Braska?" Lunata does curiously wonder. Belize is just one of other summoners she knows, after all. Though she doesn't appear to be on her own pilgrimage...

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

"Before we got taken here, Odessa managed to broadcast - uh, like a Memory Sphere except everyone could see it - a big speech," Shalune adds for Seymour's sake, even if he's likely heard the tale by now. "It was... it was pretty unpleasant, honestly. He was smiling and talking big about saving the world, but it was a smile like a Chocobo Eater. All big teeth and 'I'm gonna gobble up so many people'."

She levels a good-natured grump at Lunata's comment. "Jeez, I know better than /that/! It was an emergency!" she whines, but seems upbeat as she looks back to Seymour to nod. "Ah, well, I'd appreciate it, sir. I don't really like sitting on my hands, so it works out. Besides, I do kinda owe you a bit."

Her ears prick at Lunata's question - whatever world it happens to be on, gossip is gossip - but that begs another question. "Actually, what /is/ the norm? I mean, there's Guardians, and there's visiting the Temples along the way - is there much more you can really add to that? I guess, increase the size of her retinue, give her more of a guard..."

<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.

"From what I saw of the man... I am not surprised," Seymour says to Shalune. He frowns for a moment, and then he considers their questions about Lady Yuna. He tries to find a way to put it; a way that doesn't reveal, perhaps, feelings he would rather keep to himself.

So he addresses Shalune, first.

"I think support from within Yevon would be most critical," he says. "More Guardians could render her party unwieldy. And the Temples... her Guardians can help, but the Fayth are something Lady Yuna alone can commune with."

He glances down, thoughtfully -- and stops as he reaches the bend that leads to his home. "Lady Yuna offers Spira something, I think, that few other Summoners do. Her parentage is part of it -- but so is her bearing. There is a humility, and a dedication, that draw others to her. She offers Spira that rarest of commodities."

He pauses, for a moment. "Hope."

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata listens to Shalune talk about Vinsfeld's speech and reminisces on it for a moment, scowling. She remembers the panic attack. She remembers Franz desperately trying to reign her in. She remembers how good she has it, really, with the Yggdrasil.

That she's still wearing the Yggdrasil Alliance jacket is proof that she still feels guilty about it.

"I heard something to that effect too. That you can't just... spirit a Summoner through the pilgrimage. That there's a lot they have to accomplish."

She bobs her head one way with a soft sigh. "I see, though... yes, I can see a part of that after seeing her at Mushroom Rock Road." A furrowed brow.

"Well, I am at your service, as part of your retinue. I imagine they'll be visiting soon... I'll check in with Trommell and the others if they need any tasks around done, like Shalune said."

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

As she listens, Shalune nods slowly and solemnly. For a moment, Seymour's words make a thought or two flit through her head. There's a lot of Yevonites; there's a lot of temples and summoners. Belize doesn't seem the jealous sort, but there's got to be some out there who might decide that they could do much better than Yuna, and suddenly his suggestion of looking inwards makes a lot more sense.

Not that she can really imagine a summoner doing better than Yuna did on the Mi'ihen beaches, performing a massive Sending. That's a memory that won't go away any time soon.

It does make her think, though: "Maybe she could use a bit of cheering up herself, after all that? Everyone needs to rest up sometimes, even if they're on a pilgrimage. Maybe ask her to stay and catch her breath for a while, or something?" she wonders, warming to the idea. "I mean-- maybe the best way to help her out is just to let her talk and get her worries out, I guess. It definitely worked for me."

<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.

"Mm... yes. What she did there, I think, speaks to her character. It is rare among many Summoners," Seymour says, with a smile. Not, it seems, that he intends to comment upon his own Aeon -- and if he would call himself a summoner, too.

"Thank you, Lunata," he says. "I trust you to do that. Please--keep an ear out, as I would like to know what the otherworlders think, after Mi'ihen... and what has been heard of Lady Yuna's party." He glances at Shalune.

Seymour nods. "You may be right. When she comes, we'll offer her a chance to stay for a time -- and an ear. And, perhaps... some friendship, besides. If either of you would like to go meet with her party, that may be wise. I may try to do the same."

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