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Bright Journey	In between dire discussions of war and technical, magical conversations on the building of portals, the Great Forks crew (is that a thing now?) have to find their own free time when they can. For all the concern about the situation and how everyone is going to survive, there have to be a few ways to blow off steam. In a place like Elderloch, there's still a few things to do. It's still a bustling city, the weird and the wet aside, and Bright Journey has been spending most of the day off doing...well, the -other- thing she does best. Shopping! Granted, things aren't exactly the same, but some things are close enough! With a little creativity and a little athleticism, Bright slips into the airy portion of Amethyst's laboratory, in the same complex as the rooms they're staying in. She's got a waterproof sack firmly lashed to one wrist, and as she sets foot on the threshold, she holds the sack out. It quickly drains of water as she gives it a petulant little moue. "A lot of good the 'watertight weave' does me if the thing won't cinch right," she mutters as she watches it drain. She herself is dripping wet as well, and brushes her drenched, face-plastered hair out of her eyes. "Anyone home?"
Silk Moon Lotus	There are only so many underwater drills you can do before you start to feel the chill of the deep. Silk has opted to hang out in Amethyst's airy workshop reading up on magical theory so she isn't completely lost when the others start talking about the portal. She must have been studying too hard as the sound of someone surfacing in the pool room rouses her from an accidental nap. She hear grumbling and then the crystal clear sound of Bright's voice. She wipes the sleep from her eyes and calls out "In here Bright." She stands up and dusts some of her cheese crumbs off her tunic.
Bright Journey	"Oh! Sorry to wake you, Silk. I know all about beauty sleep." She giggles a bit. "One moment while I...-drip-...and I'll be there shortly." Sure enough, a few moments later and Bright appears in the next room. She stes down her mostly not entirely sopping wet sack on the table and starts to open it, looking at Silk as she does so. "Ah. Right. I'm not sure if I said this before, but I'm -very- glad Amethyst had a few of those books here already. All this salt water. I shudder to think of what it would do to some of the books we have at the mansion, not counting the fact that the really good ones can't leave. The ones she has, at least, seem designed to take this damp air." Bright pulls out a few small boxes of some nice, lacquered material as she gives Silk a judicious look. "How are you holding up, my dear? It looks like the militia has you running ragged."
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk smiles warmly for her friend "They really don't understand how I slip in and out of here so effortlessly. I keep explaining about different ways to distract people and to find the secret routes in and out. They ae getting better though." "Yes, they books I think are bound with sharkskin, very interesting construction. No clue on the paper though. Not sure I want to know." Silk closes the book and sets it back in it's place. "I feel like I'm starting to wrap my head around the magic but it's so alien at times." Silk looks down at Bright's boxes and smiles. "Enough work talk, what did you find in the bazaar?"
Bright Journey	Bright gives Silk a knowing grin as she describes the sneaky-sneaky. "Hehe. They saw what Princess Meena's assassins did, and they see what you can do, and they're so terrified they look at it as something mystical, something they can't beat. Once they learn to think of it as just another skill to learn, they'll get it." Bright smiles knowingly on the mention of magic. "I kind of wonder about the paper too, but I can safely say bookbinding is not a skill I care about learning. As for the magic itself...well, you are past the hard part. Past the 'it's just a skill you can learn' phase, right? What's so weird about learning it is that it's different for everyone. I have a way of looking at it, and I can't describe it because your way will be completely different. No one can sit down and write out what the rules are. But just think of it this way: There -are- still rules. They're just ones you have to suss out on your own. You'll get there when you've learned everything you can from our books, then go out and try to put it into practice. One day it'll just -click- and you'll wonder how you couldn't see it before." She offers a bright smile. "You're closer than you think, I bet." As Silk changes the subject, Bright happily goes along with it, pushing down more of the 'waterproof' sack and pulling out more boxes, alongside several small but nice looking glass bottles and a sharkskin leather bag. "Well, shopping in the bazaar is definitely a different experience." She chuckles and opens one of the small boxes for Silk to inspect. Inside is a small, neat brush and a dish of what looks like eyeliner. "Normally...well, you know me. I look for clothes more than anything else, but...well, you know." In her driest voice, she continues. "Women's clothing stalls...are -not- a thing there. I'm sure you can imagine." As she speaks, she opens up another small lacquered box, with a nice pale blush of some kind. "If they'd had some nice waterproof clothing they'd have made a talent of jade off me today. On the other hand, the waterproof makeup? Stunning. These shades would wash right off if I'd been using my stock from home. And the jewelry is exquisite as well, though there's only so much of that I can afford yet. I need you to teach me how to handle money, I am terrible at it." She chuckles. "Mainly because I get more from talking it out of people than actually holding much money."
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk grins knowingly at her friend and the topic of money and Bright not being able to keep it for too long. "To think you can convince a tree sprite to buy a tree house but you cannot keep track of money." Silk shakes her head. "If you want waterproof clothing, you will probably need to work some magic on them to prevent the water from being absorbed. The problem then is can you move through the water and you only have one outfit. Unless you can make clothing that changes shape and size." Looking at the makeup Silk examines it "Interesting, I wonder if there is any alchemy to it? I mean, it would almost have to be to be resistant to seawater. You could look for a hairbrush or some combs made from pearl or other deep sea materials."
Bright Journey	Bright looks thoughtful as she weighs one of the small crystal bottles. "I'm sure you're right, of course. Salt water especially is so destructive otherwise. I have some perfume, too, and that -has- to be alchemical. I'm sure the technique could be extended to clothing--Amethyst may already know how to do it--but alchemy is not my wheelhouse, I'm afraid. And I'll get no help here, where their idea of clothing is..." She breaks off, chuckling. "...well, you know. But with all the swimming we've been doing, that would be helpful." Bright looks thoughtful at the mention of combs. "You know what? That's something to consider. Once we have a working portal, maybe we can -do- something with it besides make ourselves their Exalted-in-Residence any time some shark wants to take a bite out of them. I mean, I'm not saying open up a clothing store down here, but what if we...I don't know. Sold some of the Great Forks jewelry down here, since the jewelry here is nice but they only have so many materials to make it out of. Or, well, you can't judge from my hair because I have this Collar, but all of -their- hair looks great too despite the salt water. Find out how they do it, sell that in Great Forks...their combs, jewelry and whatnot." She scratches the back of her neck. "Eh. I don't know, maybe that's a bad idea. Not sure."
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk chuckles "And that my pink haired friend, is why I make money. It's a wonderful idea. Treasures of the Dreaming Sea for sale is Great Forks. We just cannot sell in volume or we destroy the market. We also bring wears from Great Forks here. They will be happy to buy exotic goods and I can get all kinds of interesting toys." If I invest some of myself into my armor I can having it change forms, that's why I have a wonderful sharkskin outfit right now. I'm not a...brazen as the residents here. I like to keeps a few secrets." Silk smiles at her own joke. "Would you care to join me for dinner? I want to try some of the wilder local cuisine. I heard you can get a whole squid from one place on one of the upper spires."
Bright Journey	Bright Journey beams at the thought that it was a good idea. Of course, she has a hell of a lot to learn about the business, but...well. She and Silk have plenty of years ahead of them to learn, if they can manage to live that long. "I...yeah. Thank you! I...don't really have a good idea yet how to go about it, but if you're willing to show me a few things I'm in your debt." She chuckles. "Just like usual, you find out their secrets and I'll convince them. It's worked so far." Bright listens to Silk describe her armor. "I...heh. Well, you know me all too well. I'm by no means a prude but I do have my limits, and frankly I would need a bit more of a reason than 'local custom' to go that direction. If that's what it took to, say, get a faction of the Lunars to join us against Thorns or something, then perhaps I would misplace my panties. Not before." She laughs quietly. "Dinner sounds lovely, actually. I'm open to whatever cuisine tickles your fancy, so feel free to take the lead. Shall we?"