Work in progress-er-er of a belated birthday present for Saetia showing her foxthing Astrid as an Avon-style salesgirl making a call on Ingrid's mansion the same day she returned home. Still needs a lot of work, but I think it's looking nice enough to post a WIP.

Astrid is there because one of Ingrid's wives made an appointment to speak with someone from the company she works for, then totally forgot what with all the excitement at having Ingrid turn up. She's currently trying to find Miss sen Sola, which is a little hard since there seem to be quite a few of them here. Still, she has a happymoth and a (looks at card) "Friendly spirit that embodies our organisation."

(Aludrans, since their society is built around the idea they are all unique and wonderful people, will completely ignore any advertisement that is not personally directed at them and that they have not chosen to look at, and so there are streets with cafes where you can chat to people about things you want to find out about. She's there to follow up on such a chat)

The moth on her shoulder is a Ruby Maple Moth, a species that live on Aludra's hardwood Ruby Maples, which Ingrid has a stand of in her grounds. They are friendly, stupid and fluffy Hawkins Moths which Ingrid certainly does not pet or feed and all evidence to the contrary is to be discarded as being of Enemy Origin. The one on the coat of arms on her bag is an Aludran Ash Moth, another Hawkins Moth species which is dull brown-black with cream fluff, and known for spending a lot of time preening. Aludrans use the Ash Moth as a symbol of being proud of what you are.

As is pretty typical for Aludran nobility in charge of vehicles with relatively small crews, the three other crew of Ingrid's Black Swan (driver and two gunners) are also part of her Household, the driver (here) is her chauffeur, one gunner is her groundskeeper and the other is her head butler.

The driver, Michelle, is 6'6, which meant she was always going to end up in either a Black Swan or the even larger Tarantula (a 370-ton self-propelled 18-inch Anti-Air Destroyer Gun named for its eight retractable stabilising arms). She shares the family name (she's Specialist Michelle sen Sola) because she's made a vow of loyalty to the Household.

Ingrid's tank is named after her first wife. Claudia has never quite decided if she finds this flattering or not.

Astrid is © Saetia

The moth's grasp of this situation is virtually identical.