#darkgatefortress

The votes are made papers passed, much chatter.

"Not entirely sure why that's 'dangerous'..."

"Oh, you should get your vote in," she nudges him.

Colton smikles 'Would LOVE to tell you but I have to talk to the other judges" and vanishes to chat with them

She nods and grins as they speak the same thought, then watches as he goes to confer.

The declaration comes up and Sully says "In a supreme display of wimping out..." This gets him a look from the judges "I mean, because all of these are SO wonderful; and because one never knows when even a master piece might get broken by forces fell and frankly very rude, there are TWO arms that will be claimed and rewarded , one as the main arm, the other as an honorable reserve! "

Colton looks sheepish but adds "Let's face it, my track record is chancy"

That gets some good natured laughs and yet support

Sylvi smiles at that, curious about the outcome.

Sully stage whispers to Colton "Stop stealing my laughter with your sweet earnestness kid. That's hard to fake" Then he speaks louder "The Honorable Reserve goes to.... " he mimes opening an envelope "Sigourney Weaver, and it's about time she won an Oscar..." Ahem "I mean, to the Bluestar Special! by Bertrand!"

Bertrand whoops "Furkin yes..."

Others applaud and cheer, some quieter than others

Sylvi beams and applauds. She's definitely pleased by the outcome.

"And the winner, the Main Arm, the first prize, the one that beat out all these other wonderful additions..." Sully says "Well well, The Dark Gate Gauntlet by Acme!" He catches him self "I mean Darkgate!"

Cheers break out. the Darkgaters Do out number all others

Hewit steps forward, but waits for folks to get their cheers out

Colton is having his new Gauntlet arm fasitone onto him, and he raises it

Sylvi applauds and cheers along with the rest, watching him with the new arm.

It looks good on him, very knightly. Very heroic

He could make any of those look heroic, she thinks.

Finally the Chief speaks as the cheers die down "It should be noted that each finalist will receive some payment for the loan of their good work for purpose of this contest. Further more, if you folks will stick around, it was earlier requested by the craftsman who entered, and others who did not that they be allowed to sell and show case their wares! A Pavilion has been set up for just that purpose, and if you liked what you saw today, you will find booths with more miracles of art and craft awaiting you in an impromptu crafts fair not just for our fine storm, but for every man and woman here. Consider it their practice for Pennons. " This gets cheers "Further, the funding was so succefful, we must give thanks to Holder Sylvi Davidson for Goldfinch getting things rolling ! As such, a percentage goes to that small but feisty new hold. May the flames of every hold respresented here, in any capacity, burn bright, burn strong, and burn long! Dreaming bless ye each and every.'n" His accent getting a bit out as he declares it

Sylvi's jaw drops and she shakes her head at the Chief, but he's already made the declaration.

She joins in on the applause after his blessing to the crowd, then works her way towards the front to be able to speak with him.

Hewitt sees her come up, and indeed, He is not the star of the moment as Colton and the Crafters get swamped. Hewitt looks at her, his one eye amused "Out with it, young lady. Never known a Davidson to naught speak their mind"

"No, Chieftain Hewitt. I'm grateful for what you said, but the money is DarkGate's. I never meant for Goldfinch to take a cut. You don't have to do that."

"Did you forget I'm scottish? " A grin "I've already taken Dark Gate's share, and you may recall your hold gets a 'small percentage'. Who do you think else might be getting a cut eh? We've got folks who weren't expecting to buy all excited and caught off guard with loose pockets and their interests perked! maybe they will be getting a steam powered tea kettle that makes bird songs instead of an arm, but they will be buying. There's a pretty penny to be made for Darkgate and Goldfinch both. "

"Even so..." She bites her lip and looks at the crowd that's eagerly filtering out to where the crafters are showing their wares. After a moment, she turns to look at him again. "Then...thank you, Chieftain, on behalf of Goldfinch. That's generous and unexpected, and not at all out of character for you." A bit of a grin at the end there.

"Generous and unexpected, aye. But if I might lass? I often take suggestions from My Storm. Just saying"

She rolls her eyes upwards. "Oh, that man!" She might unwittingly sound a bit like her mother, but Hewitt might not realize that.

"Aye, and a good example of one" A nod even if he misses the full effect

"Still, I'm going to have to scold him, now, too."

"If you must you must. I can't help it if you picked up any subtle clues left laying about here"

"Subtle. Right. Noted." She taps her nose, and Hewitt can be assured that he won't be implicated in said scolding.

And Hewit smiles and says "You'll pardon me. I miust be off to the Dark Gate tent, which by pure chance, is pretty much in the best spot in the pavilion"

And off he goes.

And she redirects to where Colton stands, surrounded by the crafters who are giving him final tips about the arm.

She has to wait, and she can almost guess how this will work out. He'll learn what he needs, indulge them a bit, then use HER as an excuse to escape

That does seem likely!

Like a grasshopper leaping onto a venus fly trap for safety

Soon enough "So sorry, gents,lady, but I'd be a cad to leave the woman I love waiting. " And he retreats t oher, takes her arm and says "Whew."

She pats his hand. "There there, did the mean old crafters scare you?" she teases.

"They confused me with their technobabble.." He nods playing along with a false sniff " I got all frightened and felt rather dim"

"Poor thing. At least they gave you a nice, new toy!"

At that he perks "They did." Then smirking "Sorry I never got to test ALL the Glitterbang"

"Well..." she says, blushing again. "I mean, not like you need it...."

"Oh that's a nice shot to my ego, thank you" He gives her a squeeze "Oh well, should we get shopping or at least browsing? I'll buy you something"

"Oh, you don't have to do that. The Chieftain giving Goldfinch a cut of the take is more than I ever expected."

"Real nice of him, but you earned it" He says so casually. The leanhaun training means he can lie pretty smoothly when he has to still.

Well 'has to' is relative