The glaze is almost right.
I hold the test piece up to the light coming through the workshop window and turn it slowly. The texture is close. But something in the finish is slightly off, a dullness where there should be depth.
The color is different, a warm amber-brown. I couldn't match the deep blue from the original but this color looks right for the pot in my opinion.
I set it back on the bench and make a note. Third attempt. Getting closer.
The Nabe pot Wright gave me sits on the shelf where I've kept it since he left. I've taken it down a dozen times to measure, to study the clay body, the weight distribution, the thickness of the walls. Whoever made it knew what they were doing. Different technique, different materials, but the craft is there. I'll figure it out.
The light shifts. I glance at the window.
Late.
I pull off my apron, check that the kiln is properly banked, and head out.
The Crimson Vintner sits in the previously barracks area. Two stories of stone and dark wood, arched windows, decorative stonework, the name carved above the entrance in flowing script. For a building that went up as fast as it did, the quality held.
But today there's something new beside it.
A stone structure is going up in the area. It seems like the vampires and angels have started construction on their own residence. I stop walking.
Two pillars already standing, each one twice my height at minimum, fitted stone with ironwork brackets running up the sides. I look at the scale of it for a long moment. Whatever is going in behind those pillars, it isn't small.
I keep walking. I'll ask Lyra later.
When I push through the Crimson Vintner's main doors and head into the tasting room, everyone is already seated. Nym is at the end of the table with her arms crossed, steel-gray eyes already doing their usual work of making everyone feel slightly accountable. Lyra, dark hair pinned, deep red coat fitted precisely at the shoulder, has a glass in hand and is running her thumb along the edge of Solen's sleeve with a faintly critical look. Solen, gold-white hair cropped short above her armor, has noticed and is choosing to ignore it. Cael sits beside Lyra, lean and pale, light grey eyes drifting toward the window. Dort has turned his broad-shouldered frame to examine the shelving along the wall.
[Solen] "We were about to start."
[Kara] "I know. Sorry."
I take the empty seat.
[Nym] "Before we get into it, I got a message from Liora. Wright and Eldrin met with the Demon Lord today. They're going to be gone a bit longer than expected. Apparently they're working on establishing trade agreements."
[Dort] "How much longer?"
[Nym] "She wasn't specific. A few more days at least."
[Lyra] "Still no word on when exactly?"
[Nym] "No. But the festival isn't for a while. It won't affect our timeline."
[Kara] "Then let's use the time."
Solen gently removes her sleeve from Lyra's assessment and opens her journal.
[Lyra] "That weave is wasted on field work, by the way."
[Solen] "It's armor."
[Lyra] "It's a stunning white. Far too immaculate for the grime of the field."
[Nym] "Festival. Let's go."
[Nym] "Here's what's already confirmed. The game board tournaments for Go, Shogi, and Othello. Then a BBQ at night. Vesper's artifact presentation sometime during the day."
[Lyra] "That's already a full day."
[Kara] "It is."
[Lyra] "Which is exactly why Cael and I would like to sort out where the vampires' contribution fits."
[Nym] "Go ahead."
[Lyra] "We were thinking of putting on a theatrical performance. We've been developing it for quite some time."
[Cael] "Decades actually, it's become a ritual for us at some point."
[Lyra] "We'd like to propose scheduling it between the morning tournament rounds and the evening BBQ. A natural break in the day."
[Nym] "There's no such break. The board game tournaments rotate. When one round ends, another begins."
[Lyra] "What if we host the play during a lull in the tournaments?"
[Kara] "Everyone in the village plays the board game regularly. You'd be competing with them."
Lyra looks at me. She doesn't argue it, which means she knows I'm right and doesn't like it.
[Dort] "Solen and I had something in mind as well. An excavation demonstration. Hands-on, people move through in groups, we show them how us angels identify and handle historical finds."
[Nym] "Also a scheduled event competing with the tournaments for attention."
[Dort] "It's educational."
[Nym] "Dort."
[Dort] "It's the same problem."
[Dort] "But we worked very hard on it."
[Nym] "I'm sure you did."
Solen puts a small mark in her journal. Dort watches her do it like he's trying to read what it means.
[Lyra] "So we contribute nothing."
[Nym] "I didn't say that."
[Lyra] "You said the day is full."
[Nym] "The scheduled portions of the day are full. That's different."
[Lyra] "Then where exactly do we fit?"
The table goes quiet for a moment. I've been thinking about this since before I sat down.
[Kara] "Food stalls."
Everyone looks at me.
[Kara] "The BBQ is at night. Between the tournament rounds and the evening there's nothing to eat. If your groups run stalls throughout the day you're not competing with anything. You're filling a gap that actually exists."
[Lyra] "You're suggesting we run a food stall."
[Kara] "You'd be excellent at it."
[Lyra] "We do have centuries of culinary tradition."
[Kara] "Exactly."
[Lyra] "A stall."
[Cael] "It's a reasonable idea."
Lyra turns to look at him.
[Lyra] "Whose side are you on."
[Cael] "The side that believes a performance deserves undivided attention."
[Dort] "We could share historical recipes. Things we've uncovered through excavation. People eat something and they're holding a piece of history without realizing it."
[Solen] "I suggested that yesterday."
[Dort] "And it was a good idea then."
[Solen] "It was my idea then."
[Dort] "It was our idea."
[Lyra] "I'm not giving up on the performances."
[Nym] "Nobody said that."
[Lyra] "You implied it."
[Nym] "I said the day is full. That's a scheduling problem, not a permanent one. If the festival runs longer than one day—"
[Lyra] "Is that something we're considering?"
[Nym] "I'm not sure. We'll have to decide once everyone's back."
Lyra picks up her glass. Takes a slow sip. Sets it down.
[Lyra] "The performances are still happening."
[Nym] "Noted."
[Lyra] "Fine. Stalls."
[Dort] "Excellent. I have some thoughts on presentation."
[Solen] "I'll write it down. You can tell me later."
Cael has gone back to watching the window. I catch him tilting his head slightly, tracking something across the sky.
[Kara] "Cael. You're going to miss the meeting."
[Cael] "I'm listening. There's a conjunction forming this week. You get a cleaner read on the position before full dark."
[Nym] "Why before full dark?"
[Cael] "The light contrast helps. You'd understand if you'd ever looked."
[Nym] "I'll pass."
---
Another day, another meeting. We've met every other day since the first session, which is more meetings than I've sat through in years. But things are moving.
Solen reads from her document at the start of each session. Nym clearly finds it unnecessary. Dort clearly loves it.
[Solen] "Current proposal: all three tournaments run simultaneously throughout the day. Go, Shogi, and Othello, open entry to all."
[Nym] "That's a problem."
[Solen] "I know. I'm presenting it so we can fix it."
[Kara] "How many serious Go players are we talking about?"
[Cael] "A lot. The brackets alone would take a full day."
[Nym] "Many of the children enjoy othello. Let's limit it to kids only to keep the tournament fair."
[Kara] "That helps. But with Shogi and Go open to everyone, they'll run all day."
[Lyra] "This is basically a tournament, not a festival."
[Solen] "That's exactly the problem."
[Nym] "Which reminds me."
She glances at Cael.
[Nym] "Who do you think actually wins? Between Yuki and anyone else here."
[Cael] "Yuki. Unless someone surprises her."
[Nym] "Liora mentioned the kids have decided to stay at Rathen's academy. They might not be back in time."
[Kara] "They'll be back. It'd take more than an academy to keep those kids away from the festival."
[Cael] "Then it'll be a proper match."
[Lyra] "I'll be watching. I want to see if she's as good as everyone says."
The Go talk picks up from there. Nym leans into it more than I expected. I'm a Shogi person myself and mostly let it run. Eventually I've heard enough.
[Kara] "Let's get back on topic. Three tournaments. A schedule already stretched thin."
[Dort] "There's no way to fit all of this into one day. The tournaments alone would run from morning until night."
[Nym] "We know that. That's the problem we're trying to solve."
[Dort] "Two days solves it. Day one, Othello for the children, preliminary rounds for Shogi and Go. Day two, semifinals and finals. Then this leaves room open for anything additional which can get spread out across both days. Presentations, stalls, performances. Nobody has to choose."
[Nym] "The logistics double."
[Dort] "So does the time for everything else."
[Lyra] "The theatrical performance gets a proper slot."
[Nym] "I suppose."
[Lyra] "Then I'm in favor."
[Cael] "As am I."
[Nym] "And the BBQ?"
[Dort] "Night of day two. Day one closes with the food stalls and open casual games."
[Solen] "Night games?"
[Dort] "Open play, no brackets. More relaxed."
[Solen] "That actually works. People who finish their matches early have somewhere to go."
[Nym] "Come back next time with a full two-day proposal. What goes where, timing, food coverage. Everything mapped out."
[Dort] "I can draft a layout for the excavation site tonight if Kara gives me the stall measurements."
[Kara] "Talk to me after."
Dort immediately reaches for a corner of Solen's document and starts sketching. She moves it back without looking up.
[Dort] "I just need a small section."
[Solen] "Use your own paper."
[Dort] "I don't have any."
[Solen] "Then remember it."
---
Lyra has started providing wine for the sessions. The meetings go smoother for it. Nym has notified the village that Wright and everyone are returning tomorrow, which means whatever we haven't finalized needs to be finalized tonight.
Solen reads from her document.
[Solen] "Day one. Othello tournament, children only. Preliminary rounds for Shogi and Go in parallel. Vesper's magical artifact showcase in the late morning. Dort and I have the excavation demonstration in the afternoon."
[Nym] "Vesper won't do a morning showcase."
[Solen] "She confirmed—"
[Nym] "She confirmed she'd do it. She didn't agree to before noon. She won't."
[Kara] "Getting Vesper functional before midday is its own separate project. Don't count on it."
[Solen] "Then we swap them. Excavation demonstration in the late morning, Vesper's showcase in the afternoon."
[Dort] "The morning light is actually better for the site work. This is an improvement."
[Solen] "Noted. Revised."
[Dort] "We've structured the walkthrough so people move through in groups. We show them how to identify and handle finds. Accessible for everyone, not just people with a background in it."
[Lyra] "Will there be things to actually find or is it staged?"
[Dort] "A bit of both. We'll seed some replica pieces but actual finds will depend on luck with the area."
[Lyra] "That's clever."
[Dort] "Thank you. Solen came up with it."
[Solen] "You came up with it. I said it was viable."
[Dort] "She came up with it."
[Nym] "Day two?"
[Solen] "Shogi and Go semifinals and finals. The vampires' theatrical performance in the afternoon."
[Lyra] "The content is a surprise."
[Cael] "As it should be."
[Kara] "I need to know what kind of stage setup you need. I can't build around a surprise."
[Lyra] "A raised platform. Good sightlines from at least three sides. Somewhere the cast can prepare out of view beforehand."
[Kara] "How many in the cast?"
[Lyra] "Eight. Possibly ten."
[Kara] "I'll build for twelve."
[Solen] "BBQ at night. And something from the high elves to close the evening. That part is still open."
[Nym] "Liora needs to be back before we can finalize it."
[Kara] "She will be. What else are we missing?"
[Nym] "Prizes."
[Kara] "Right. Prizes."
[Solen] "I assumed we'd decide on those."
[Kara] "We've been deciding for eight days and nobody brought it up until now."
Silence.
[Dort] "Something crafted? Kara could—"
[Kara] "I'm already building half the festival infrastructure. I'm not making prizes."
[Lyra] "Something from the winery for the adult categories?"
[Cael] "Wine as a tournament prize."
[Lyra] "People like wine."
[Cael] "People like trophies more."
[Lyra] "We're not making trophies."
[Cael] "Then we're not giving adequate prizes."
[Lyra] "Cael."
[Cael] "A bottle of wine says well done. A trophy says you won. Those are different things."
[Lyra] "Where exactly do you propose we get trophies."
[Cael] "We commission them."
[Lyra] "From who?"
[Cael] "Kara."
[Kara] "I'm not making prizes."
[Cael] "You said that already."
[Kara] "It's still true. Let's ask Wright. He'll have something."
Agreement around the table. Too quick, which tells me everyone was just as stuck as I was.
[Nym] "One more thing. Wright invited the country leaders to the festival."
[Dort] "Which ones?"
[Nym] "All of them, apparently."
[Dort] "That's — how many people?"
[Nym] "With their families and retinues? A lot."
[Solen] "We don't have lodging for that."
[Kara] "No. We don't."
[Dort] "This is wonderful news."
[Lyra] "Is it."
[Dort] "More attendees. More visibility. More—"
[Lyra] "More logistics."
[Dort] "Exciting logistics."
[Lyra] "If we're hosting country delegations the presentation has to be right. What people are wearing, how the stalls look, the stage."
[Nym] "You're not dressing the village."
[Lyra] "I'm not suggesting I dress everyone. I'm suggesting that if a delegation arrives and we look like we threw this together—"
[Kara] "We did throw this together."
[Lyra] "They don't need to know that."
[Cael] "She has a point."
[Nym] "Two days was the right call. A one-day event with everything crammed together would have been a disaster."
[Solen] "I'll start a separate document for lodging requirements."
Dort is already sketching again. Cael is looking at the ceiling. Lyra refills her glass.
I lean back and look at everything piling up in my head. Lodging for multiple delegations. Stalls. A stage built for twelve. Tournament setup. The excavation site. All of it before the festival.
[Kara] "I'm going to have a lot of work to do."