[video]

[smilingarmor]

[Emberto pops up on the network with a big smile on his face.]

Isn't it exciting? A party at a palace! Whatever else might be going on, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I for one don't plan to miss it.

[The excitement ebbs a bit though as he gets on with the real purpose of his post.]

On a somewhat more serious note though, given the information that's come to light, I'm beginning to think that it may be in our best interests for no one to have too many duplicates of those little tear shaped stones. I've been lucky thus far, and all of mine have been different, but for those who aren't so fortunate, I thought I might set up this little post. If anyone wants to trade or give away their duplicate stones to others, you can make arrangements to do so right here.

It may do nothing, but given what we've all likely seen by now? We're likely better safe than sorry.

Comments

[bearshermark]

True, we might not want to create imbalance..

But the deities have two sides. I wonder if having two of each would be okay?

[smilingarmor]

[He considers]

Hmmm... It's possible. Though given that we can only get one per day, collecting that many would take time, unless two people wanted to combine their collections.

[bearshermark]

Yeah, true! I only just managed to get a full set, but maybe I should keep collecting them to trade if someone else doesn't.

[smilingarmor]

It probably couldn't hurt, darling, as long as you don't get three or four of one of them.

[bearshermark]

Yeah, don't want to risk the blessings somehow getting out of balance. I'll let you know if I get a third stone of anything.

[smilingarmor]

[Emberto nods.]

And I'll let you know if I start getting duplicates, along with keeping an ear to the ground for any information that may help us.

[bearshermark]

Great! Teamwork. We got this.

[smilingarmor]

Indeed we do!

And hopefully once the more serious issues are taken care of, we'll both be able to have a night to remember at the party.

[traceofeffort]

[Somewhat uncharacteristically for her, Lisa looks like a mess. Her concealer isn't doing enough to help her eyes from drawing the wrong kind of attention; they're bloodshot and sunken, and the bags are mostly hidden but not completely. But she... largely sounds excited? And tired, but she's been running around a lot lately, sue her.]

I'm super excited, it sounds like a good time! I need to figure out a dress that'd be appropriate. As soon as I'm not so totally wiped out.

[She blinks, very slowly, before the smile just slides off her face and there's just blank lack of understanding there.] Wait. What? I've got, like, ten or twelve. I haven't been keeping track, I don't know if I have a complete set. Is that important?

[smilingarmor]

[Well she looks like she's had a rough time of it. He hopes that that's all it is, and not the mess going on in the other world.]

If you need something new, I know of a few chic little shops with reasonable prices that I could point you to.

As for the stones, it may well be important, yes. I'll admit, I didn't put to much stock in the whole business at first, and just thought that they were something like good luck charms, but now I'm thinking their may be something actually magical about them. I may be wrong of course, but better safe than sorry.

[traceofeffort]

Before I do that, I wanna look through the market over there some more. If we're going to a local party, we should look the part, right? If the materials aren't quite right then I'll probably check on our side, but for now it's something I want to try. Besides, everything over there is super cheap relative to what we can barter with.

[The other conversation is largely forgotten, though, as she realizes she's missing something big.]

Seriously? I've got a full set, but I don't know how to do anything with them. They're pretty, and they're supposed to give blessings or something, but as far as I can tell they're just rocks. [She reaches offscreen before pulling a rose quartz into frame, looking at it for a moment before returning her attention to Emberto.] It'd be really cool if there was something special about them, though.

[smilingarmor]

True, true. If you're getting anything custom made though, darling, do yourself a favor and don't go with the lowest bidder for tailoring right off the bat. There's often a reason their services are cheap, and paying a little extra for quality work is well worth it; I learned that lesson the hard way.

[But anyway, moving on from clothes to more serious matters...]

I don't think they do too much on their own, at least not anything that would be visible. Given the little we know, it seems likely they'd be more defensive than anything else. Perhaps protecting someone from becoming like one of those unstable people you've likely heard of on the other side of the portal.

[traceofeffort]

[She does internalize the thing about tailoring with a small murmur of understanding; she'd found that out with her Roselia costume, and it was good to know it tended to be consistent advice.]

I hope so? I have a set of them by now, I just don't know how they work. Or if they work. And I know I can always use more help being a functional human being, ahaha... I don't wanna run into trouble, at any rate.

[smilingarmor]

[Emberto chuckles.]

We all could from time to time, darling. But for now, just hang onto that set. You may want to see about giving away any duplicates you may have though.

[traceofeffort]

Mm, I'll see if I can hand out the others. Between us all, we'll probably need them sooner or later, yeah? And there's a finite number of days for us to collect them.

[smilingarmor]

Yes, the festival only lasts a few weeks, as I understand it. So no matter what, one person will only end up with so many stones.

But yes, we will likely need them sooner or later.

[traceofeffort]

So we'll have to pool them or we'll probably be in trouble later... Yeah, I'll hand in my spares if anyone needs them, I think. Let me know if anyone's having a hard time finding them? I'll keep an ear out until then, too.

[smilingarmor]

I'll do that. And I'll let you know if I find out anything else interesting, though I somehow suspect that our dear Elliott may beat me to that.