#earthrunes

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Earl enters the practice yard, "Let's see if this works"

He touches the odd belt buckle at his waist, and paint bursts out all over his body and clothes, blues, yellows and light purples. they fall splatter and settle , then grow solid- into scales.

And there it is, scale armor that still glimmerrs like wet paint. Nervously, he taps it, "It's.. dry"

"Let's test it" he walks up to the popping jay used for lancing, and gives it a swing to whirl and hit him in the shoulder as hard as he can

A light grunt

"mm felt it, but no worse than some of my cousins giving me a frog in the arm... less so"

And testing goes on "Wait till Zara sees hers"

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August or Vince might see Earl walkinng around in armor that seems painted on

August glances up from a book (an old habit that is almost reflex; helps to keep one from walking into wall and other people) and then does a double take.

Earl gets use to the movement, the scales seem surprisingly fluid, shifting at times, the golds blue and yellow sometimes creeping into each other as he walks, but when he stops they are back "Oh, ,hey August"

"That.... is a new look for you, isn't it?"

Vince, strolling down the way, sees August and Earl and turns his path to intersect theirs. "A marvelous new look, Sir Knight. Was the blue finally starting to bore?"

"Ah.. it's a reward from the Count of Alabaster Hollow. I was allowed to help in the armor making process with paints.. it's supposed to be easy to take off and put on " Then he blushes as Vince will take that wrong "For speed in case of combat. I didn't help much. It has some quirks but so far it holds well"

He gives a DELIGHTED grin. "So, one completely without cover, may at a tap be fully armored? My, my. What applications I see amidst a Fiona hold!"

"Yes it's a new look and... the only application is to protect my hide really" He assures them both blushing light purple

He reaches out and lightly runs a finger along the armor on Earl's shoulder, then flicks a scale with a finger. "Delightful!"

"And such a hide to protect." A purr.

The scale feels dry enough, but there is a slight ripple on the colors

"Mostly I wanted to get Zara some protection. I have some but I don't know if she'll accept"

"Oooo!" He says with delight. "Well, our Librarian DOES exalt in colors and bright hues."

Meanwhile, reaching out and tapping Earl here, and there, and watching the colors tremble and ripple.

"It's an excellent idea, though. What she went through....."

Earl sighs as Vince treats his new armor's scales like button on a Simon says toy

"The best protection is abstinence." He remarks sagely.

"Yeah well, it's really not much protection. She wants something that doesn't slow her down, that doesn't shine too much or draw attention.. so it's really limited in the protection it offers"

And another blush, and Earl looks to August with a please talk to him look

August pinks around the ears.

No eye contact with Earl; he's on his own.

"That is, why tempt danger with ways to mitigate, when it is so much safer to avoid?" Complete innocence.

"Zara, ah, does tend to avoid combat. Rightly so."

"As loathe as I would be to see less of her, perhaps one might enhance her unseen qualities. Ahh, absence WOULD make the heart grow fonder, impossible as that seems,"

"Right, and wisely so." Earl nods

"Already ahead of you there, Vince" At this he actually smiles

Vince beams in delight at the smile.

"Again, it's really only good for one shot, but it might help her survive it"

"I have to say, the Hollow really does have some amazing craftsmen" Earl says and taps one of his own scales

He hums "I'm not throwing away my shot"...

"It does."August says with perhaps odd loyalty. "Some of the best in Concordia."

Earl looks at August "August. I don't know if the Count is going to be able to recover from this"

"I mean.. the fall out"

Vince lets his tune drift away. "Nature abhors a vacuum."

"Yeah... " Earl looks thoughtful "Gruzella might yet win to some degree. "

A frown. "Count VonDornklippe always seemed resilient; have you heard something amiss?"

"The commoners there are angry at how the sidhe were acting, even if it was influenced, the knights bullied folks and so on. Not the Count's fault but it is his problem. Further, due to the knights bad behavior, there's a drain on the treasurey to pay other lands rather than the local projects. I think Ratchet is keeping some of the younnger nockers in line about doing more with less and dealing with it, but man if he wasn't, there might be a demand from the locals tor more commoner power.. might still happen actually"

This clearly troubles the Baron. "I imagine the Duke is aware....."

"That's over my head, but probably" He considers "But then, the Duke is a Troll Fiona who was voted in himself .. he might actually suggest a vote to decide to keep the count in power. I don't THINK he'd push it that far. Coudl backfire on him"

A deeper frown.

"Sorry August. I didn't mean to alarm you, though I'm acutally surprised you are that concerned about him losing his spot. His hold was...well, it wasn't fair to you"