You all eventually find your way off to bed, and the next day, the Ceremony of Cups begins just as it was explained. All along the shores of the lakes, beneath trees and vine covered trellises, different groups of people have brought out tables draped in colorful cloths. There are paints, brushes, and metal styluses for etching clay. There are also small pots of dyes and shimmering metallic and clear glazes. There are all sorts of charms as well, feathers, small lengths of silk, metal rings and threads strung with glass beads.
People have brought all these things out from their own homes, and some have been donated by wealthier families, but all are left out and open to be shared. All are welcome to spend as much or a little time on their cup as they wish, and to use any substance laid out to do so. They start whenever they wish, take a break whenever they wish, finish whenever they wish, and there are at least several thousand, mostly humans with the occasional half elf or full elf participating. The result looks something like a crafts fair, or like all the citizens from every walk of life have come out to prepare a host of decorative cups for a celebration.
You look out on this scene from a balcony in the shrine, eating a light breakfast of eggs and toasted bread with your host, Oki Lo Kin, the keeper of this shrine. He instructs you that you need not have lost someone in this battle to participate, you may take a cup and make it to honer someone who has fallen in the past. He assures you there is no need to take part, but perhaps it is a fine opportunity to lay some past grief to rest, that the spirits look down upon such a ceremony and truly grant some sense of relief to those who take part. As Oki speaks, one by one you realize Grey is standing in the doorway listening to the man intently as you are. When Oki pauses to bite into a toasty piece of buttered bread, Grey clears his throat to announce his presence and then bows to the gathering and takes a seat among you.
