#stellarchart

[vigilantyxksha]

[SNEAK AWAY]

Layla had wanted to take a breather from the festivities alone, so she ran off to the nearest secluded place she could find. It wasn't that she hated the festivities; she just wanted to take some time away from everything...

"Oh!" Layoa saw someone else sitting where she was planning to take a breather. "Are you... taking a break from the festivities too?"

At this point, it should not have come as a surprise to him that more people had become willing to approach him without any reservations—but Xiao was still unused to it. Then again, this mortal girl seemed to be merely seeking respite from the festival, and he happened to be doing exactly that; logically, a conversation would naturally follow. Perhaps it would have been stranger to have wordlessly taken a seat next to him. 

This was fine enough, he supposed. Xiao would humor her.

“I prefer to observe from afar,” he said. “This place has a nice view of Liyue Harbor. ...You may join me if you wish.”

[peerlessgem]

[TOUR] / Layla listened intently as Herta led the tour in the museum. She knew quite little about Belobog and Jarilo-VI as a whole, and she enjoyed learning more. Thus, she liked the tour very much, even moreso because she didn't have to write an essay afterwards.

"Miss tour guide," Layla said, raising her hand. She didn't know if it'd be mlre polite to call her Herta or tour guide, so she opted to play it safe. Layla gestured to an artifact on display, a strange mug with an overly long handle. "May I ask what you think this mug was made for?"

Upon the girl's question, the puppet pauses its reading of the procedurally-generated tour script, blinking at the aforementioned artifact as Herta's full consciousness returns to the robot in the exhibit. How's she supposed to know? Belobog was isolated from the cosmos for over a millennia. Herta doubts if even the Intelligentsia Guild has records on such a trivial matter.

Still, Herta's not one to let curiosity go unrewarded. "Ancient Belobogians had extremely long fingers, like the arachnids of the Asdana star system," she explains, nodding at the girl approvingly. "This type of handle is designed to accommodate that biology. Unfortunately, the long fingers all fell off with the advent of the Eternal Freeze, so the citizens of today all use short-handled mugs like the rest of the universe."

Makes sense, doesn't it? Herta smiles in satisfaction---she's not a genius for nothing.

[advenanivalis]

Layla tried not to scream in fear when she felt the harbinger pat her back. He didn't seem to be trying to kill her at least! She hadn't even been paying attention to the race, until it was announced that Guthred won. She looked up at Capitano, trying not to faint.

"Congratulations on winning." She just barely manages to squeak out the words.

THE YOUNG SCHOLAR LOOKS ALMOST DISTRAUGHT, so Capitano invokes the age-old rule that has served him well these past five centuries. An aged hand, clad in unmoving armor reaches to the wicker basket to pull out a carefully wrapped cheese sandwich before holding in infront of the person clearly terrified by his stature.

"Come, eat, your mind will feel all the better for it with some food inside your stomach." A calm, measured nod, waiting ever patiently for the hand to reach for the sandwich, uncaring for the passage of time as his gaze turns to the trotters moving slowly out of sight. "Winning is easy, but I have long found that the real honour is found in those that are able to be gracious in defeat."

"Hold your head high, Layla of Sumeru, you are truly commendable, even now." There is pride in his breast for the way she continues to come out of her shell, a career to be watched with great interest as he stands tall beside her.

[advenanivalis]

[RING] - Layla was starting to regret her life choices as she realized what she was doing. The poor woman was about to fight someone, and she had only now processed it in the ring. She looked nervously at Il Capitano.

"...I don't want to die."

A SCHOLAR FROM SUMERU, how intriguing that the Akademia seems to have finally undergone some drastic changes if the lack of an Akasha terminal is anything to go by. It would seem his time spent investigating in the wilderness has left him rather unaware of the internal politics of several nations, a course that would undoubtedly need to be corrected when he returned to the world hidden from view.

Yet he does not summon his blade, instead content to draw a metal rapier from his waist, blackened blade gleaming in the light cast down by haphazardly strung spotlights as he contemplates her words. He remembers seeing her vision when she entered the ring, the cryo gemstone vibrant against the unremarkable casing, and now it all seems to fit into place.

"Cryo, resilience, a desire to survive against the harshness of the world..." The serpent style should be enough, he believes, refusing to call upon the power that courses through his veins as he takes up the low stance, letting the tip of the blade barely touch the earth. "Steady yourself, death is not a part of this spectacle, you need only to focus on your opponent, nothing more." The last has no desire to teach another, yet neither did he desire to take the life of an innocent over something as silly as a stamp, such was the code he abided by.

[oflunarflame]

Happy birthday, from Layla. Though she is often too busy to wish others a happy birthday in person, she made sure to send a letter wishing Jingliu another good year.

Receiving letters is a rather uncommon occurrence- primarily because Jingliu was never in one place for very long to establish a residency. However, it seems Lan THEMSELF made sure the swordswoman obtained the embellishment on this specific day. She hadn't the slightest idea who it could be from, and is only further confused when she reads the simple well wishes with a name the snow haired woman isn't familiar with. A Cloud Knight in training? A passing merchant? A historian, aware of her plight and downfall?

It isn't out of the realm of possibility, but an answer Jingliu won't receive- for now.

Still... Happy Birthday. Right- those existed.. how long has it been since she actually celebrated the occasion, her own or a companion's? How many amber eras has she crawled through? A puzzling question, and one she won't ponder over- Jingliu has better things to do.

However-

The note sits folded into squares in her pocket, a subtle warmth that sooths her joints as she continues about her day as if nothing had happened. Jingliu obviously can't hold onto the letter, as it is best to travel light and only carry necessities- but for now... it can stay where it is.. until she's ready to part with it.