Lendren: Inquisitiveness, Aesthetics, Expression

The sweet fragrance of lavender wafts by, filling your nostrils with its mild scent.

"My Lendren." Maylea's golden eyes flicker over you. "You wish to show Me the fruits of your walk?"

You have emoted: Lendren turns from the willow tree, smiling. "Yes, my Lady. I have thoughts on the next three studies, and have done a creative work on each as well. I've been keeping busy. Actually I slowed myself down, I felt like I was getting a little too far ahead." She slowly turns.

Maylea looks upon the a weeping willow tree tree for a moment as She leans against one of the columns of the dome here. Dipping Her head, Maylea murmurs, "Show Me, little one."

Lendren takes a deep breath, then flips open a notepad of pressed wildflowers. "Well, the next one is Inquisitiveness. I had been taken by a particular performance of Lief's on the stage, a small recital. A song. I spent some time speaking with her about it, about what led to it, particularly because I felt that we had in common some of the things in the song. How we had felt love was something that would not touch us, and then it just came in, ignoring any reluctance or resistance. We spoke at some length about it, and I also spoke a bit with Zitto, while we were discussing the next study, but I get ahead of myself."

Bending forward slightly, Maylea, Bloom of Serenity says, "What is it that you were curious about, and what did you learn?"

While plucking a particular letter from her purse, Lendren smiles shyly. "In part, I was curious about how love had found her, had breezed past her reluctance, and how similar and how different it was from the same happening to me. And it was similar in some ways, and different in others. Similar, in that whatever reasons we had marshaled against it were not defeated, not overwhelmed, but simply ignored. Love simply stepped past them and made itself at home. Different in that, for her, she simply felt she had no room in her heart, in her life, for it, but for me, I had intended to harden against it, after my many hurts, that I would not allow room for it." She holds the letter close to her chest. "But also I was simply fascinated by the song, the performance. Lief has a talent for verse that I admire, and to be honest, envy. This song felt so natural. As if the words just budded in her mind already rhyming, already in scansion. The performance itself is similarly natural, enchanting without trying to be. Effortless."

Maylea's golden eyes gaze at you, gazing into you. The corners of Her lips lifting slightly, the Goddess waits and listens. Beneath Her feet, a profusion of lavender blooms.

Lendren has flipped to a page in her notepad but doesn't look at it. "I was surprised that she had resisted, perhaps. She hinted at hurts in her past. We all seem to have some, don't we? But I was even more surprised that she describes herself as private, almost asocial. She seems such a natural at gathering people about her, drawing them to her, making them all feel like they have a place. She's so charming in gatherings large or small. I did not expect her to feel private, that some of her connections were tenuous and only on the surface." She turns slowly side to side as she speaks. "I was not surprised how kind and considerate she is, but it is a subject worth more study how she can be simultaneously so gentle, and so tough, so enduring. She can embody dedicated survival strength without being at all hard."

Lendren concludes, "There are things I hope to learn from her in time in much of this. Though there are some that I think will be her and not me. For one, I don't think I will ever learn her felicity with verse. I thought to make my act of creativity a song. This whole thing of tasking myself with some artistic work on each study was meant to brush the rust off my creative faculties. Two months I struggled and the song that resulted makes me cringe. At Taemira's suggestion, I wrote a love letter instead." She taps the letter against her chest. "It is a creative act, and I am satisfied with it as such, and Llani liked it. I have no hesitation sharing it with You, but I can imagine it might be something You prefer not to read, though nothing secret is in it. I leave that to Your better discretion." She smiles warmly, though a bit nervously.

You say, "It does treat on the subjects of this study, of course. How love came and staked its own place regardless of my, or Lief's hesitations."

Maylea reaches out and holds Her hand before you, palm up, fingers slightly curled. "I am, as always, curious. If you wish for Me to read it, My Lendren, I will." Her posture is one of relaxation, Her hand lingering, but not demanding.

You give a sheet of Starfall family stationery to Maylea, Bloom of Serenity.

Lendren smiles warmly, but there's a shyness to her smile, and a rosy flush to her cheeks. "Llani asked me to copy it onto a scroll that she could ensure would not fade, so that's a spare copy."

Maylea holds a sheet of Starfall family stationery in Her hand loosely. As Her fingers touch the paper, the colours of the rainbow grow vivid wherever Her fingertips linger. She gazes upon the page for a moment, and in that moment, Her eyes appear rapt upon the letter. Then the moment passes, and Maylea breaks into a smile.

Maylea gives a sheet of Starfall family stationery to you.

Lendren tucks the letter carefully into the back of her notepad, even though it's only a spare copy.

Softly, the leaves of the plants about Her shifting with Her every word, Maylea asks, "Do you feel your curiosity of Lief has led to this letter that you write so passionately to your love?"

Lendren nods, sucking her lower lip. "I had wanted to write something to her, to convey my feelings. Not that I don't also convey them in other ways, but I wanted to do it in words, in art, as well. My study of Lief, the things I felt we had in common and the ways our experiences were dissimilar, helped me find the heart of the letter, the nub of what I wanted to say and how to say it. Once I set aside the sense of obligation to make it in the form of a song, at least! I fear that what meager talent I had for verse in my youth has left me."

You say, "But while Lief is known for her talent at songs, apparently she is also known for writing love letters, or so Taemira tells me."

Maylea's eyes sparkle with amusement.

Maylea, Bloom of Serenity says, "You are yourself, Lendren, and none other. Sometimes, song comes unbidden, when the time is right. Until then, be true to what colours rise in the moment." She tilts Her head to one side, "And what else do you show Me, little one?"

Lendren tilts her head a little. "I hope song may come upon me, but if it turns that it does not, I am content with other talents. Prose, I am still happy with and I have learned much of painting during my retirement. But I get ahead of myself." She flips the page in her notepad, and fishes through scrolls, blushing a bit sheepishly as she tries to sort them out. "For the study of Aesthetics, I wanted to compare Hallifaxian ideas of beauty. As it happens, we have a convenient Hallifaxian to hand, so I convinced Zitto to speak with me at some length about it. Later I visited Hallifax on several occasions, particularly the Transcendental Aviary, which he had suggested as a point of relevant interest. I also read several of his books, and one by Llesvelt he referred to. As my work of art resulting, I penned a short short story which will be published in the Serenwilde library soon."

At mention of Zitto, Maylea breaks into a small smile. "What did you learn of beauty in speaking with Zitto, in visiting that garden of crystalline flowers in the city that floats in the air?"

You say, "Hallifax's ideas of beauty have much to recommend them, but they seem mired in a circular definition. In particular, in the idea that beauty can be measured solely from the reaction it evokes in onlookers. An object unseen can have no beauty, and this is supported by a definition of beauty that defines it by its reaction. I cannot offer a better definition of beauty within the rigorous and scientific approach they use, but I cannot but be convinced this is wrong, that beauty is immanent, inherent, even if unseen. I feel that they have mistaken a consequence for a cause, an end for a means. They do not, pardon the phrase, see the forest for the trees. This attitude may provide for an efficient means of manufacturing beauty, and I cannot deny their abilities, their industry. I do not take the easy criticism to suggest that if they produce a lot of art efficiently it must perforce be without spirit. Some of it is quite remarkable. But I feel that they make it without really appreciating what it's for, why it matters."

Maylea nods once. "Zitto showed Me some of his works that you mention." She strides forward, placing fingertips upon the willow tree. "How Hallifax speaks of Truth in perfection. And we spoke together, of the Truths and their experience. Not of perfection: but the journey itself." She turns, Her golden eyes piercing into your being, and your heart skips a beat. "And you, My Lendren, you say beauty does not exist in of itself. What do you say beauty is?"

Lendren gulps and shakes her head. "Oh, no, I believe it does exist in itself, it seems to me they think it exists only in its effect on observers. They see the ripple only, not the thrown pebble." She squirms a little under that gaze. "I am sorry if I spoke unclearly. To me beauty is an innate.. a capacity as well as the effect of that capacity, all wrapped up in one. Both the pebble and the ripple. It is made of harmonies, all harmonies. Between what a thing is and what it seems, between what it was and what it can be and what it will be. Harmonies do not have to be equivalences. As the harmony of two instruments whose individual melodies interweave, they can be different, but in accord. Or as the harmony of dancers who each do their own moves, but whose moves each make grander the other dancer's movements."

As you speak, you see the outlines of string instruments thrumming in the air, the ripples of their songs colliding with one another, reinforcing and cancelling each other, and then they collapse into a pair of dancers who twirl and leap about one another, neither the same, but complementing and interweaving in beauty.

Maylea's eyes reflect this vision, and after a moment, She nods, asking, "And this is what you painted upon your scroll, My Lendren?"

Smiling brightly as she watches the visions, Lendren murmurs, "I hope so. Well," she looks away and rummages through the scrolls in her hands, "I set out to make a very brief story that explored and expressed these ideas, but which was also amusing and entertaining to read. With a bit of humor." She picks out the scroll and offers it. "It is a bit of fiction, a story, in which the questions are raised and explored. Perhaps not answered. Left for the reader to mull over."

You give a scroll of creamy parchment to Maylea, Bloom of Serenity.

With a smile upon Her lips, Maylea gives a scroll of creamy parchment to you.

Maylea, Bloom of Serenity says, "A question indeed."

Maylea looks thoughtful, resting Herself against the willow tree, which bends towards Her, the many flowers that had been painted upon it reaching for the Goddess.

Lendren nods. "I hope if people read it it prompts them to more thoughts of the questions of Aesthetics. Well, at least one or two of those questions."

Maylea's eyes sparkle with amusement.

Maylea, Bloom of Serenity says, "Perhaps that is chance for a discussion of Perspective."

The corners of your mouth turn up as you grin mischievously.

Softly, bending forward, Maylea, Bloom of Serenity says, "And the third Truth you wish to speak of, My little one?"

Lendren taps her lip, grinning. "They do all flow one into the other, of course. But that would be too easy! I want to challenge myself more than that. My study of Perspective will be focused more on my soon-to-be mother-in-law Coraline, for a bit of Gaudiguch's approaches to truth and... well, other things. But that's for another day. For Expression, I thought about my own works, past and present, and the way I make them, and how that differs from others. I wanted to speak to Lief about her creative process, but not only had I already interviewed her, she's also away. I hope on her honey-moon. I spoke to a few others, notably Jolanthe, my other soon-to-be mother-in-law, and Sapphira, a noted writer of Magnagora. I also reviewed some of my own works." She waves the other scroll in her hands. "This play, Rossinon, stood out for me because it is the one work, of all my many writings, which was written as most others write."

Lendren flips to another page of her notepad and this time she actually quickly skims it. "It seems that most other writers of note write their works from passion and inspiration. The work comes to them mostly formed, and the work of writing is mostly polishing. Rossinon is one short play i wrote, little-regarded, that came to me that way. But otherwise, my works were pretty much all created in a more brick-by-brick, workmanlike way. Passion, certainly, but inspiration came during, not before. There was much research, planning, working and reworking, plotting, refining. I wonder what it says about me and my body of work that my form of Expression differs so much from those I spoke to."

Maylea reaches out again, Her fingers curling. Motes of colour and light drift from Her hand towards yours, alighting upon the surface of the scroll. "If you will that I see it, My Lendren?" The lavender, which had flourished underfoot where She stood by the dome's column, now rises by the willow tree where She stands.

You give a vellum scroll imprinted with sprouting seeds to Maylea, Bloom of Serenity.

You say, "It was a somewhat experimental play. I am still happy with it, though looking back on it, the pacing seems a bit slow. Would that I could show You the actual stage performance, but I am sure You can envision it from the published script."

Maylea's golden eyes fall upon a vellum scroll imprinted with sprouting seeds, unfurling it with both hands.

Softly, Her golden gaze returning to you, Maylea, Bloom of Serenity says, "Eventru wished Me to paint the flowers." Her lips twitch, hinting at the emotion underneath. "I did not wish to, so full of sorrow I was, for so long. And yet..."

Maylea lifts a hand to touch the bluebell tucked within Her tresses. "I put My hand upon the flowers, I saw their colours. And I found solace."

Gently, Maylea gives a vellum scroll imprinted with sprouting seeds to you.

Maylea, Bloom of Serenity smiles and says, "Sometimes, one must act before knowing what colours one bears. And what colours might rise in others."

Lendren widens her eyes, and is deep in thought for a few moments, before she speaks timidly. "Do You think my art might be better, or more meaningful, if it were more spontaneous?"

Maylea, Bloom of Serenity says to you, "I think, little one, that you know how you express yourself." Her golden eyes sweep over you once more. "And you also might find new ways to express yourself that surprise you."

Lendren purses her lips, taps them with a finger, and considers for a long few moments. "Now I think about it," she says, "I also greatly enjoy what comes of improvisation, though it is -so- hard to get people to open up to it. People can be so timid." She smiles wryly. "For... for an artistic expression for this, I sought to recapture what came when I wrote that play, but this time as a painting of the same subject matter." She turns a painting of a hatching algontherine full of possibilities and offers it. "I did most of it with charcoal, quickly, in swift strokes both of charcoal and of cotton to smear it, then a final application of some colored paint, to capture the sense of energy and unformed possibilities of the algontherine as yet un-imprinted."

You give a painting of a hatching algontherine full of possibilities to Maylea, Bloom of Serenity.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/609776416686342216/757353786539900938/Rossinon.png

A smile flickers across Maylea's face. "A fitting companion to the play." Her fingers rest lightly on the edge of the painting, and you almost see a gentle glow upon the Goddess's face, the echo of a crack.

Maylea gives a painting of a hatching algontherine full of possibilities to you.

Lendren smiles, and a little frisson of anxiety melts mostly away. "I was happy with how it came out. Paint is still something I am learning, have much more still to learn. Swift painting in particular is daunting. I am happy to say that was my first try, too." She taps her lips. "Now I need to pester Faythe about whether to hang it in the Lyceum. I gave her the painting I did of the seasons already. I hope she hasn't lost it!"

Maylea laughs softly. With a mischievous glint in Her eyes, She says, "She did not place it in the Font of Creativity, at the least." Her golden eyes looking into the distance, as if gazing at the woman in question.

You giggle happily.

Cunning Nazli collapses upon his side, the nimble tail going limp and his mossy green eyes rolling back in his head, obviously too bored to live.

You say, "I believe there are discussions about a painting contest and she may be saving the displays until that is decided."

Maylea leans down and scratches Cunning Nazli upon the scalp. The creature whines, but does not move.

You say, "I have been giving myself a little rest after that, so other than my initial notes I haven't really started on the remaining studies. Well, I did do one interview."

Softly, Maylea, Bloom of Serenity says, "You have done much, My Lendren. The Truths are yours to experience, not in perfection, but in yourself..."

Maylea, Bloom of Serenity leans forward and presses Her lips to your forehead, touching upon the bindi. A thrill of coolness runs through your body, and you seem to shimmer with colour. The colour is brightest about your purse, which glows with its own, unique light.

Lendren shivers a little bit at the touch. After a moment she reaches into her purse, slowly, a little dreamily. "I am so frightened of accidentally losing it, or having it fall into a cook-pot and get cooked into something, but that just makes me take it out to study and put it away so often I feel a bit silly," she says as she draws out the box and carefully opens it. "I had opportunity to show it to the Flower Parade's attendees, and Lord Crumkane, last month. They had us take turns showing something floral we'd brought, and I like to imagine mine was one of the most unique." She grins at this, but also blushes.

You take a rainbow-shaped box from a parafilament purse.

You open a rainbow-shaped box.

You take a shimmering flower from a rainbow-shaped box.

Looking ready to burst into full bloom at any moment, this flower bud is rounded, bulging, its bound petals a soft, radiant white. Tinges of many colours tint the tips of each petal and peek out from their edges, giving the bud a distinctly layered appearance, as if the unfurling of each petal might reveal a new story and splash a new shade upon the world. The outlined hues grant a gentle light to the bloom, such that when viewed from afar, the bud shimmers with a prismatic halo as it nestles in its bed of tender leaves. Five petals have unfurled from the rest of the bud, one now bearing a comforting blue hue, another the joyous yellow of morning, the third being deep rose like passion, the fourth the clear green of glass, and lastly, a petal of tumultuous violet, swirling with precision and spontaneity as it flutters against its fellows.
It weighs 11 ounce(s).
It bears the distinctive mark of Lendren Starfall.
It has the following aliases: flower, plant, bud.

Lendren holds a shimmering flower gingerly, gently, but protectively, as she turns it over in her hands and holds it up as if to show it to the whole world.

Maylea breaks into a smile as you hold the now blooming flower within your hands. As She smiles, She draws away, fading from view.

Lendren calls out into the now quiet temple, "Thank you, my Lady!" seemingly full to bursting with joy. She lingers studying the flower a bit longer before tucking it carefully away.