Waltzing with the Stars

[Jilitse]

Timestamp: 3rd of Winter, 512 AV
Location: Streets of Alvadas


As winter chill slowly blanketed Alvadas, thin sparkling ice began falling from the skies. Morwen's breath has arrived, spreading the frost everywhere. Jilitse would need to procure for herself a good coat or two, for even while the frigid weather would preserve and tardy her bodies' decay she would need protection from the freeze.

Jil's raven black hair scattered in chaos. She was always short of pretty, mostly coming across as frail and sickly. Her body was past its healthy point, her skin grayish and dull. Her movements were languid and lithe, making it appear that she was just lazily walking about. Jil no longer concealed Luminance, it shone against her back of her hand like a faint lamp. It made her myterious, most people doing a double take whether to opine against her or not. Aren't undead mages evil? They'd think. Why would the goddess of light be friends with such a person? They'd think again. Well, most Alvads were curious, and Jilitse was fitting into that criteria, wasn't she?

She sauntered gently, dainty steps searching for nothing. It was good to be outside once in a while. The city was tantalizing to say at the very least, its everchanging alleys and phantasmic buildings covered with white sheets of fresh snow. The pristine ice, she bemused, was slithering on surfaces, like honey gently moving, falling off the edge of the table. Other Alvads probably made the same observation, there were a number of people admiring the view, walking the streets searching for entertainment.

Most interesting were the festive trees that appear without warning. They stand teasing, bearing fruit that glowed in various colors. The city looked extra-ethereal because of them, and Jilitse stood in awe. There were people chasing the shining orbs, catching them as if they would pluck an apple from a branch.

"Ho." A voice from behind her said, "You should join in the fun."
The nuit turned her head and looked over her shoulder, before twisting and turning to face the stranger. "Thank you for the invitation,"came her laconic reply. "But I am not even sure..."

"Ah, not an Alvad then, haven't been here around long enough?"The woman was a comely matron, wearing half a colorful mask and an oversized red tunic. She wore tights, and had no shoes.

Jilitse replied a coy smile.

The other person introduced herself, "The name is Terla. That's short of Terlaine, but I figured it sounded too... feminine." She gave out a hearty laugh, almost maniacal. "I noticed, what's your name again, you have been taking in the surroundings like you have all the time in the world. You just look so... weirded out so I had to talk to you. You know, the city isn't always about illusions that petch up with your senses. It gets chirpy here, too."She added, "I highly encourage a bit of involvement."

Jil offered her name as well, "Jilitse. It is pleasant to come across you Terla. I devoted plenty of time sulking the past year, so I didn't really get the chance to walk around."

"Is it cause of the djed storm? That was one petching crazy turd wasn't it... Good thing the Womiyu made a dastardly great clean-up of the place."

The Nuit opined, "The city kind of just healed itself."

Terla laughed again, "That it did. Anyway, try to catch one of those pretty little things. They turn into wild things. Free entertainment, if that's what your looking for. I have to get going, as I'm catching some for myself."

"Oh?" Jil halted Terla, "I hope this is not asking too much but can I keep you company while you catch pretty lights? I kind of told myself I will rest today, but I don't reallly have anything better to do."

The woman paused, puzzled at the Nuit's request. "Eh? I won't really mind. You should catch one or two for yourself, put them into your pockets or string them on your window. It's a good cure for boredom."

[Jilitse]

"And just a little bit more..." Terla tiptoed as she struggled to grab a handful of the tiny lights. They seem to behave oddly, not wanting to be caught, playfully dancing among branches. Jilitse watched in silent amusement.

"There we go! A handful of pretty stuff." Terla announced once she filled her grasp. She opened her hand for Jilise to see, "Look at those colors."

Jil was partially mesmerized at the harvested beads that seem to shine and glow. "Those are really pretty."

Terla winked at the Nuit. "It holds a good price in the market, especially for travelers. It should be cheap around this time of the year, so if you're a lazy retard just head to the bazaar. Me? I like the process of collecting them for my own use. It gives the items sentimental value. If I get any in excess, I reserve and sell later on. Everyone wants sparkly stuff. You can turn them into anything, and that's the most convenient part of it." The woman kept her harvest in a jar, and proceeded to reach low hanging fruits. She talked as she gathered the dull but colorful orbs. "They aren't really easy to get. Sometimes it takes you forever to get the colors you want, or the shine that you need. The prettier colors are difficult to obtain. You always get random stuff. You'll see what I mean if you try it for yourself."

The human was now jumping gaily, hands stretched out above her head. Her mask bounced in its place, her loose tunic flapping. Terla's bare feet did not seem to mind the cold.

Jil spoke, "I think there should be an easier way to do things."

In between jumps, Terla laughed. She was a pretty excitable fellow, so she replied, "Better spit it out then because I could use some help."

Jil wondered for a bit and offered, "I can probably make something that could help." Already a design for an extendable arm with a catcher was forming in her mind, the lines drawn out and meeting to form a rough sketch. "To help reach the higher ones." The two of them looked up, and stared at the sparkly orbs floating way above their heads.

"Ha, you mean to sell me something that you haven't even made?" Terla stopped, turned to the Nuit, and smiled, "Are you a peddler?"

"I have a good gadget in mind. I could easily design and make it for you. I'm actually a gadgeteer. But yes, I peddle my wares."

"Let me see... no." Terla resumed gathering and added, "It would be too much of a bother. Besides, I can manage to do this on my own. And I should be done in a matter of days."

"If I make you a catcher you can speed up the rate of your collection. More of those shiny things for you."

"You know, for a random person, the last thing on my mind was to pick up a peddler. And these are not plain shiny things, these are called Ionu's Stars." Terla held up a finger and waved it, as if to tell Jil to pay respect to the deity of the city. "Supposing you could actually make this thing that could speed up catching time. What would it cost me?"

"A mechanical device? It depends on the materials, I guess." Jil imagined, what if she animated the device? She could leave it outside overnight and retrieve the harvest the next day. It would be awfully convenient!

"You sound unsure" Terla had filled nearly half of her jar. "As far as I know you're just a cordial stranger who may or not be insane."

"But, I'm the owner of Mekaniks and Golams!" Jilitse tried to persuaded Terla to believe she knew what she was talking about. "It's a gadget and golem store."

"Uh hu." Terla was scratching behind her ear. "Sorry, I've never heard of it."

Well, ouch. That kind of stung a bit? But then again, Jilitse wasn't even a permanent resident. She should change that. Her existence wasn't known among the Alvads. She should change that too.

[Jilitse]

Trading shouldn't be so hard as this, Jilitse wondered. In her Nuit mind she was calculating how to profit from this meeting. If it is as Terla said, then she should get her own stock of these colorful beads, because thinking ahead, things made from Ionu's Stars might attract customers. But she would also like to extend assistance to Terla, kind as she is... so she wondered for a bit how to find a mutual benefit.

"If you teach me more about these stars, then I'll get you the device for free. How does that sound?" Jil bargained, "I know I'm taking your time, and I do apologize if I've become a burden rather than just a spectator." She added, "However, I feel like we could help each other this way."

Terla nodded, as if swayed temporarily. "That doesn't sound free, as it still involves some kind of exchange. You are getting a little pushy, suggesting that I get greedy."

"Although in a way," the woman continued, "I do want more of these, I could hand out some to my mother and she'll make various crafts, far better than what I can make. Let's see..." Terla made a show of thinking, "In the interest of kindness to strangers, alright. I'll take your offer. Now where is this shop you're telling me about?"

"It's in the Bizaare Bazaar," Jilitse smoothed her hair as she answered.

"Hah!" Again, the maniacal laughter. "Your shop has a name, even though it's just in the Bazaar? No wonder. That place is like a gumbo pot, everything's there, so there isn't really a distinction between one shop and another, no matter what your wares are. Random people, random sale, that sort of thing." She brought a jar to her face, checking the number of beads she had in possession.

"You lead the way, where ever that is. Make it worth my while Nuit."

Jil gave a curt nod and a polite smile. She gestured for Terla to follow, and the barefoot human fell behind. The duo set on a mini adventure to reach the Bizarre Bazaar, which didn't really take a long time. Roads were not very keen on shape shifting today, maybe owing to the cold, and that helped them reach Jilitse's little hole of a store within a few chimes.

"Here we are," Jil introduced Mekaniks and Golams, "my humble store."

"Humble's not cutting it. It's really very," Terla sought an ample description, "quaint."

"This is where I live and where I do my work. You can look around while I prepare stuff for the gadget." Jilitse went behind the counter and took out her tools. Her materials were neatly segregated, so she didn't take long in getting what she needed. As she took out paper and pencil, she asked, "Mind if I make a sketch or two and get your opinion which one would suit you better?"

"Go ahead." Terla was bent and examining a trinket that was for sale.

Jil made lines on paper with ease, straight and uncrooked. Her hand's weight was light, good enough to have the pencil leave faint marks. The silhouette of a hand gripping on what appeared to be a basket handle was drawn out, and she moved her hand deftly to extend the device and come together into a trunk. The long shaft, meant to be a long reach device, was connected to the handle, and bent towards the end into a Y. The device was more defined towards the end, with visible nuts and bolts setting up what appears to be a clamp. "Terla," Jil called out, "Here's a draft of what I plan to do."

"Let me see." Terla peeked at the paper and pulled it away from Jilitse's hands. She lifted it up, as if she could scrutinize the draft, even without labels and explanation. "It looks like an extended shovel. But smart. You noticed me jumping up a lot, didn't you." She pointed a finger to the shaft, "Longer reach, higher height."

"It would also have you exert less effort. That is supposed to be a clamp," Jil explained, snatching the sketch back, she used her pencil tip to point, "This would be tinkered to swing, open and close. I can do that much. All you have to do is to hold the device towards the glowing orb."

"Haha. You make it sound pretty easy, like it will catch orbs on its own."

"Oh," It was Jil's time to smile proudly, "It just might."

"Oooohhh. Intriguing. Tell me more, Jil. Is it alright to call you Jil? Jilitse is long and doesn't suit my tongue." Terla unclasped her mask, and met the Nuit's gaze. The woman's face had mirth and simplicity, arched brows and crow's feet framed brown eyes.

"That would be suit me alright, Terla. Terlaine is long and doesn't suit you." They smiled at each other mischievously before the Nuit continued, "What you see here are mostly hand tools. And gadgets. I do make special versions of them. Common utility mechanisms like paint rollers or floor sweepers." And for the magic words, "that move on their own."

"Really?"

"Really." The Nuit showed a little affection by rolling her eyes. "I happen to be a golem maker."

"You mean, you can create automatons?" A whistle, Terla finally realizing what's special about Jilitse's shop. "That is so marvelous! You should have clarified it earlier. I am guessing you'll need time to make this thing? How about if I come back before noon tomorrow?" Terla was overjoyed, suddenly the prospect of catching more stars than she could sounded tempting and interesting. "No, wait I'm busy that day. How about the day after next? Let's meet on the 6th, noon."

[Jilitse]

Before Terla left, she handed over what she knew about Ionu's Stars to Jilitse. "They come in all sorts of colors. I find red, blue, and yellow easily enough. And their respective combinations. Green, Orange, Purple. But you can turn a red and blue bead into a purple bead. Yellow and blue turns into green, and yellow and red can be crafted into orange. What the hell Nuit, why do you look so dumb?" Terla has a displeased look on her face, "This is elementary. You should know this."

The cockiness stung, but Jil really had no idea regards color combinations. "Rather, I find them unimportant." She excuse her Nuit self, "This isn't something I think consciously about. You don't give much thought to colors when you work with wood and metal."

"Well shyke, sorry Jil." Terla looked somewhat aghast at the thought of a person thinking, seeing, and living in monotones. "You should change that. You shop is too bland to look at. Take this season as an opportunity to liven things up a bit. Alvads aren't ones for monotony. Hang a string of colorful lights here, there." And she waved to a corner and a wall, imagining what Jil's store would look like if it was a bit more presentable.

"You can think of it as a pie." Terla paused, pulling at her loose tunic before laughing out loudly. "My bad. You're a Nuit, what do you know about pies? You can think of it as a..." she sought a better example, "plate."

"I can envision that."

"No, draw it. Put it on paper so you don't forget."

Jilitse took out a clean paper and searched Terla's face for further instructions.

"Now, you can divide the circle into three parts." Terla said, moving closer to Jilitse, "You're doing it right. Nice circle!" Jil bragged, "I draw lots of circles." Animation circles, she added in her mind. The human was pleased. "Well then, cut that circle into three equal parts." She pointed to each third, and said, "You have three basic colors, from where all colors stem from. I already said it, but let me repeat. You have red, blue and yellow. Now cut up each third into four equal parts, and I'll teach you a world better than the ugly and dull colors of wood brown and metal gray."

Jil measured the circle using her fingers, slowly and steadily marking the circle where the lines should be drawn. She took out a ruler from her toolkit, and drew lines to divide the color plate. "This looks a lot like a caravan's wheel," she commented.

"That is because it is called a color wheel." Terla stared at Jilitse like the Nuit was a dumb kid. "Tilt the paper, like so." Terla did it herself and asked for the pencil by holding out her hand. In a barely readable script the human marked the slices that meet into a Y as red, blue and yellow. "Now, like I said, Ionu's stars could be combined. Red and Yellow..."

"is Orange." Jilitse finished the sentence.

"Right." Terla marked the slice in between red and yellow as orange. She skipped a slice on each side, so Jilitse asked, "But what about this and that," the Nuit pointed to the unfilled triangles between red and orange and orange and yellow.

"Smartypants, I was just getting there." Terla snapped, "When you combine stars that are red and orange, you come up with something that's... guess what? Red-Orange. And this one. It's Yellow-Orange." She sighed, "Isn't that easy, Jil? Now you do the rest. And I'll jot them down."

"Well then, Yellow and Blue. That should be green. Mixing green and yellow should yield yellow green, while blue and green will become blue green." In Jilitse's head, instead of a color wheel, formulas were being formed.

(Red + Yellow = Orange) + Red = Red Orange.
(Red + Yellow = Orange) + Yellow = Yellow Orange.
(Blue + Yellow = Green) + Blue = Blue Green.
(Blue + Yellow = Green) + Yellow = Yellow Green.
(Red + Blue = Purple) + Red = Red Purple.
(Red + Blue = Purple) + Blue = Blue Purple.

Jil said the last two formulas out loud, "And on that side, Blue and Red would become Purple, and combining Purple with the basic colors would create Red-Purple and Blue-Purple."

Terla was scribbling the color names on the wheel. Jil noticed that a title had been added to the diagram. "TERLAINE'S GUIDE TO IONU'S STARS"

"You're quick to learn, Nuit." Terla smiled at her,and showed the completed color wheel. "Now there's a secret I'm going to tell you. Not a lot of people observe this, they just think some beads are easier to find than others. And there are people who collect whatever comes their way, but not me. Nu-uh. The basic colors are easy to spot, like I said. The first mixes," she said, referring to the secondary colors, "are a little bit harder to spot. You need to have a good eye and be a few feet above the ground. The second mixes are rare. And are very tough to catch. They give chase, unlike the ones that just seem to evade your grasp these kind actually run away from you. I'd like to believe they are sentient. Also, you see how this slice look like an inverted tree?" Jil nodded and the woman continued, shading the base of the tree with the pencil, "The stars that are located near the base of the tree are typically dull and slow moving, while the ones up the higher branches are brighter and fast moving. The higher they are, the brighter they shine."

"Not a lot of people know this, but the color black exists. It can be made by taking one of each color, and then melding them together. But what I am excited about, and the reason why I'm riding on your insane idea of a star catcher, is because I have heard of people talk about a white star. The prettiest and brightest star of them all. I myself haven't seen any, but with you help... maybe I can catch one."

The expectation in the human's voice made Jil feel like Terla was more than just a random stranger. A friend. "If I catch a white one. If I catch any," Jil promised, "I'll make sure to give it to you."

[Jilitse]

Jilitse spent a number of centuries holed up within Sahova, doing repairs on golems. When she starts working there is already a mechanical method to it, no nonsense actions.She knew how to plan a project out from start to end, and that aided her in creating her own golems here in Alvadas.

With no one else to pattern her golems to, the then apprentice now had free reign over her pieces. She resumed the draft she created earlier, completing the drawing on another sheet of paper. The lines met and intersect, forming a criss cross, joined by screws and hinges. The first image formed was collapsed, looked more like an array of metal rods than anything. The image beside it was drawn more carefully, lines exposing the design. The hinges allow expansion and form a ladder of diamonds, extending the height up to four times its stationary length. For leisure she even bothered to add in a few lines, thick along the edges to make the outline jump out, deliberate shading with multiple parallel lines striking from the upper right direction.

The end of it appeared to be a modified shovel. On the lower half of the paper she had begun sketching her own hand, drawing lines to mimic the thumb meeting the other four fingers. Like the mouth of a dog, opening and closing to grab at that slab of meat. The container should be wide enough to house a number of stars, with the teeth closing seamlessly when clamped down to ensure that the caught stars would never get away.

A simple thought crossed her mind. She should make another one and sell it to other people. After all, if Terla could find use for such a device, then maybe other Alvads would profit from it.

With the mechanics in her head, she slided her pencil on the paper and drew the shovel head, slightly cubical and ovoid at the same time, with the seams lined up with extra metal. Or should she use wood, which wood be lighter material? If one were to use her device all day, it might be tiring to carry something too heavy. Wood then, less taxing.

Jilitse smiled a little, she might need to talk to Ruskit about getting materials. He was a dependable supplier, and some things Jilitse just couldn't do on her own.