Flowers & Beetles

[Exegesis Agarwal]

Laying out the thinnest leather ze had available, Exegesis checked the hide for dry-rot and marked off the spots with a marker. It wouldn't due to have the decorations powering. Cutting these unusable sections out, the next step was to section the roll into one inch tubes.



An eclectic mix of work music played off the tablet, echoing around the tiny Hollow. To one side of the worktable, the terrarium full of tiny green hedge beetles hummed with activity.


Exegesis, intent on finishing the project, ignored the buzzing bugs. The one inch tubes were then soaked in the stiffener for a few minutes before ze took the shears to them, cutting a pair of shapes like the ears of a rabbit on to each end of the tubes and removing the material between them. Twisting each tube and pressing into the center to splay the rabbit ears, each curled into a rough approximation of a flower as the cylinder tightened.


The beetles, having finished their decorations of pebbles and leaves, began a synchronized ballroom dance, standing on their back legs to bow and curtsy with timing and grace that would make their au pairs proud.


Exegesis continued to work, oblivious. Each new flower went on the drying fans as it was sculpted, the first few being dried by the time that last few were formed. Ever the protectionist, Exegesis then inspected each and clipped judiciously, improving the impression of flowerdom and making sure no two were quite a like.


Meanwhile the ballroom dance had devolved into a mosh pit, which was probably inevitable, since, as we all know, beetles really can't hold their liquor.


Grouping the flowers into clusters, Exegesis picked one of each color in the rainbow, excepting green, and sprayed each cluster its own shade before replacing it on the drying fans. Once again, by the time ze had finished that last one the first was dry and ready for the next step of the process.


Picking itself up out of a pile of other beetles in various stages between passed out and dead, one particularly inebriated little scarabaeus waddled over to the edge of the terrarium in a frustrated attempt to find its car keys. After several minutes of fruitless efforts the beetle finally recalled that it didn't, and couldn't, own a car. The beetle shrugged and decided that this was just as well, since this was a fairly clear indication that it was in no shape to drive anyway.


Adding a layer of drybrush highlights was too quick to bother replacing the flowers on the drying fans, allowing Exegesis to move right on painting on several layers of gloss varnish as a sealant. All that was left was to attach the pins, a simple act of gluing, and the flower-brooches were ready for the coronation.

Craft 4 + Intelligence 3 + Workshop 3 – Masterpiece 5 = 5 dice

(collective) Size 4 + Durability 1 = 6 successes needed

  4 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-03-20 00:36:38		[03] Exegesis Agarwal rolls 5 to Crafting Flowers: Craft 4 + Intelligence 3 + Workshop 3 – Masterpiece 5 (10 Again)		1, 8, 4, 3, 10, 10, 9		4 successes

  failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-03-20 00:36:38		[02] Exegesis Agarwal rolls 5 to Crafting Flowers: Craft 4 + Intelligence 3 + Workshop 3 – Masterpiece 5 (10 Again)		7, 6, 5, 1, 4		failure

  2 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-03-20 00:36:38		[01] Exegesis Agarwal rolls 5 to Crafting Flowers: Craft 4 + Intelligence 3 + Workshop 3 – Masterpiece 5 (10 Again)		5, 1, 8, 5, 8		2 successes

[Exegesis Agarwal]

Almost as an afterthought, Exegesis takes a plastic packet out of hir pocket, pulling four pewter thimbles free from it and placing them on the workbench. Loading the spray gun with Noir black and placing a thimble on each finger, blasting them dark takes only a moment. Replacing them on the table, Exegesis then takes out a spring loaded diabetic stylus, pulls back the trigger, and pierces a finger. A moment later and ze's dropped a tiny crimson drop into the thimble, as well as a mote of will, creating a Thimbleblack. Ze then repeats the procedure three more times.

[Exegesis Agarwal]

Book keeping wp expenditure