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Rekindle Moderators ([personal profile] rekindlemods) wrote in [community profile] rekindleme2013-07-24 10:48 pm

A Festival of Lights

Who: Everyone
Where: The stable areas of Saeng Seong - mostly in the third district
When: 24th July to 31st July
Summary: The residents of Saeng Seong are celebrating their annual summer festival, and the offworlders are invited to take part!
Warnings: Inbox death may occur. System overload at own risk. SOME NPC RESPONSES WILL BE SLOW UNTIL THE ONE WHO PLAYS THEM IS PRESENT.

It's time to celebrate, to celebrate, to celebrate...

There's been a general sense of excitement among the natives of Saeng Seong for the past week or so, now; anyone who's stopped to question them about it (or has been close enough to hear them discussing it amongst themselves) will hear mentions of "the festival." On the 24th, what they're talking about becomes clear.

Each year, the residents of the city come together to celebrate the summer. Setting the festival up is an all-day affair; taking part in the festival's events will make for an entertaining week; and tearing down the booths and decorations is another extensive process. But in the end, the residents usually agree that it's worth it, and this year they would like for their would-be saviors to take part.

July 24th
On the 24th, the characters will notice that most of the city natives are moving about with a general purpose; they will find that in the Second District, in the very plaza where they all arrived, a committee of sorts is organizing volunteers and assigning them to different tasks in different parts of the open districts.

The committee needs people to help with preparing and placing decorations all over the city; paper lanterns, twinkling strands of lights, and garlands of flowers, though they'll note that the flora is fake. They also need people to set up tables, chairs, and makeshift stages at the riverbanks in the first and second districts, as well as to help redo the outdoor marketplace to make it more accommodating for booths hosting festival foods, games, and trinkets for purchase. Physically stronger characters may be asked to assist with setting up carnival rides in the free spaces - everything from a towering Ferris wheel to a carousel to bumper cars, and many others besides.

During this time, characters can also volunteer to man the booths on certain days, if they have anything they would like to contribute or would like to assist with anything.

Characters who take part in the setup will be awarded with five vouchers, good for use during the festival. These vouchers can be used for the purchase of food, admittance to rides, or to allow them to play some of the games for free.

July 25th
The festival begins early morning on the 25th - that is, the booths are open and ready for business, selling all manner of street food - crepes, kabobs, funnel cake, shaved ice, almost anything you can imagine - along with a wide variety of other things for purchase, like one-of-a-kind clothing, hats, scarves, and the like, as well as jewelry and other trinkets. There are also booths where you can get your face painted, where you can have your fortune told, and all sorts of other activities.

There are also the games. Standard festival stuff: Knock down a milk bottle, win a prize. Throw a dart and pop the right balloon, get a prize. You can play a game to catch and take home a goldfish, if you like, or try your luck at any of the other games that are interspersed with the other booths.

These booths will be operating all throughout the festival, until the closing ceremony on the 30th.

The opening ceremony doesn't actually take place until sunset, despite the fact that the booths have been operating all day. It's a simple ceremony, set at the riverside, with a speech about how summertime begets togetherness and how everyone should be thankful for the opportunities they've been given. All in all, it may be a little boring for characters with shorter attention spans. However, at the end of it, everyone lights a candle, makes a wish, and sets it adrift on the river once the sun has gone down entirely; the flickering candles will drift around the river all throughout the festival, and they never seem to burn down.

July 26th
The rides and games are going on full-force outside from the time the sun comes up, but in the afternoon characters will find that it's not as crowded as the day before. That's because there's dancing going on in the convention center - the afternoon is full of traditional group dances, the kind that are easy to learn the steps for and join in on; the natives will be especially delighted if their visitors teach them some of the dances from their home.

In the evening, it is not quite so energetic, though the dancing doesn't end. The songs slowly fade into slower, perhaps more romantic tunes, and the final dance will end precisely at midnight.

There will be refreshments available for free in the convention center during the dances, though not anything so filling as what characters will be able to purchase from the booths outside - mostly water, lemonade, cheese, and crackers. There is also a bar where specialty drinks and foods may be purchased.

July 27th
This day's special event happens after dark, though it's easy to see the preparations for it happening in the plaza where all the characters arrived - when the sun sets, a massive bonfire is lit, and many people gather, some with benches, to bask in the firelight. Some even write down the things they'd like to accomplish during the rest of the year onto slips of paper and cast them into the flames, in the hopes that the smoke will carry their wishes into the heavens.

Others gather around to toast s'mores and chat. Still others continue the dancing from the night before - off to the side to begin with, though as the night wears on they may expand into a bigger dance that will involve large groups of people circling around the fire in spirals.

Even away from the plaza, there are blazing lanterns throughout the city, and some smaller bonfires crop up in areas where it's not likely that anything important will catch fire.

July 28th
This day's festivities begin early on. The morning and early afternoon are devoted to a cooking contest - there are categories for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert, and a winner for each - that both residents and visitors alike can take part in. Characters who cook delicacies from their own worlds may find the natives crowding them and asking for information about the dishes, and recipes to try on their own.

The late afternoon also has to do with food, and the characters are once again invited to take part in a variety of eating contests. There are your standard hot dog, watermelon, and pie-eating contests, as well as many others - the more daring may find themselves taking part in a contest where contestants are blindfolded and made to eat as much of rather... interesting concoctions as they can.

Characters who take part are given a voucher for use at any of the booths or rides in the festival; winners are given additional prizes. The winners of the cooking contest are determined ICly by character vote, so if there's a dish they especially love, make sure to mention that they'd vote for it so a tally can be kept! Winners of the eating contests are determined by RNG after all participants have been confirmed, with characters that have a canonical advantage (IE Maya Fey and her "separate stomachs") having more than one number that would lead to their win. Be sure to note such advantages while having your character take part.

July 29th
The extra activities on this day include showing off your physical prowess and your ability to cooperate with others.

On foot, there are three-legged races; pick a partner and try not to fall as you make your way to the finish line! There are also relay races - in teams of four - and you'll want to pick your teammates' positions well to ensure maximum speed. These races will take place multiple times during the day.

There are some other events to take part in as well: Thumb-wrestling tournaments, arm-wrestling tournaments, and outright wrestling tournaments.

At the end of the day, there will be a massive tug-of-war. Everyone who's mingling around and wants to take part will be sorted into one team or another, and then the two teams will face off.

Participants will receive festival vouchers; winners will receive additional prizes.

July 30th
The last day of the festival continues on like normal - the rides and booths are all operating, at least until the start of the closing ceremony that begins midafternoon and continues until the sun goes down. Winners of the various contests are once again recognized, the people who made the events a success are thanked, and the speech ends with a wish for pleasant experiences throughout the rest of the year.

The ceremony is timed such that there will be about twenty minutes for everyone to position themselves where they would like to be by the time fireworks begin being set off from a barge floating on the river between the second and third districts. There will be spaces on the riverbanks for people to watch from, though they can most certainly be seen from any other vantage point a character might like to try watching from, should they want to avoid the crowds.

July 31st
This day is a blur of activity as well, though not as fun as the past few days. The residents of the city are packing everything away and taking down the decorations, and they could use a little help if the characters are so inclined.

Characters who assist with the teardown will be rewarded with leftovers from the festival - plush prizes, food, maybe even some little trinkets characters have had their eyes on that haven't sold. No one's getting any fireworks, however.

Feel free to put up your own top-level comments, but be sure to put when and where the action is happening in the subject line!
smallskull: (:o)

open!

[personal profile] smallskull 2013-07-31 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[The sights and smells of the festival are completely new to Assassin. For once, her expression isn't quite so stoic, her eyes wide and bright with a childish sort of wonder as she turns this way and that, trying to take in everything at once. There might even be a smile on her face. It's a bit like being taken out into town for the first time all over again, except that now she's marveling at booths and games and their prizes instead of storefronts and window displays.]

[She flits between one stand and the next with no real regard for whether or not the boy who is ostensibly her guardian has been able to keep up. Small and nimble, she's easy to lose, and especially when there's a crowd for her to weave through with such ease. So, it's not uncommon to find her darting to this place and that all on her own. In the end, though, she always works her way back to Waver's side—usually when there's something in particular she wants, of course.]

[And she wants to try as much food as she can eat. ("As much as she can eat" is a surprising amount.)]

[And she wants to get her face painted. (She can be good and sit very still, if she has to.)]

[And she wants to play the games, too. (Seems like she has a natural talent for the ball-tossing ones.)]

[Apparently, the fact that she has a week to see everything isn't slowing her down.]
beforetights: (pic#5941004)

Re: open!

[personal profile] beforetights 2013-07-31 11:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Nessa!

[Cu Chulainn waves at the girl as he spots her. He's currently munching on some corn. It turns out that being cute could serve at a form of currency...]

Look at all the neat food!
smallskull: (:o)

[personal profile] smallskull 2013-08-19 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
[Assassin turns toward Cu Chulainn, and for once she seems to be in agreement with him, her eyes bright as she nods in excitement.]
beforetights: (pic#5941244)

[personal profile] beforetights 2013-08-19 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
[He waves the corn at her.]

Do you wanna try these golden beans? They're really good. They're beans but taste like candy.
smallskull: (. . .)

[personal profile] smallskull 2013-08-22 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
[She nods again, eagerly, as she steps closer. She leans down, but only partway, looking for explicit permission before going so far as to take a bite of the corn.]
beforetights: (pic#5941244)

[personal profile] beforetights 2013-08-22 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
[He holds the corn out and walks up close to her.]

Come on, you can have a bite of mine.
smallskull: (peers)

[personal profile] smallskull 2013-08-22 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
[With permission given, she leans in to take a bite. She doesn't smile, exactly, but her expression brightens in its own way, and she nods as she pulls back to say she likes it. In lieu of actual thanks, she reaches out and pats his head as she chews.]
beforetights: (pic#5941244)

[personal profile] beforetights 2013-08-22 12:54 am (UTC)(link)
[He giggles as she pets him.]

If you like it, we can go to the stand! I think I can get you to give them you some of the beans too.
upholsteredvelvet: (013 but the answer always seems)

[personal profile] upholsteredvelvet 2013-08-01 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
[Waver doesn't want to admit that the festival is as new to him as it is to her. He knows what they are, of course, but he'd never gone to one. Why bother, when he had no friends or family to go with? So it isn't uncommon for him to simply stop while following her so that he can stare at something stupidly. Inevitably he realises he's lost her within moments of her wandering off and chases after her in a panic, though she finds him again far more often than he does her.

The sheer level of excitement is enough to tire the magus out very quickly, but for once he doesn't complain; it would ruin his first experience doing a "fun" thing with someone who actually wants his company.]

...Now you want fairy floss? But you just had a crepe!

[He isn't ready to go home yet, but his poor sobbing wallet is.]
smallskull: (shy)

[personal profile] smallskull 2013-08-19 01:34 am (UTC)(link)
[She looks from him back to the cotton candy. It looks so strange and fluffy and she's no less curious about it than she was before he pointed out that she has only just eaten something else, so then she looks up to him again and tugs at the corner of his shirt another time. The puppy eyes she's giving him aren't as overt as they perhaps could be, but they're certainly there.]
upholsteredvelvet: (Default)

[personal profile] upholsteredvelvet 2013-08-21 04:07 am (UTC)(link)
[She enjoys using every last weapon against him, doesn't she? Waver sighs in a very put-upon manner as he hands over money for her fairy floss, but she'd better believe he's stealing some of it. Assuming one can steal something they've paid for.]

If you get ill later, it will be your own fault.
smallskull: (. . .)

[personal profile] smallskull 2013-08-22 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
[The nod she answers with is very solemn. She accepts responsibility.]

[...And then she's right back to paying more attention to the vendor than him, eyes wide as she watches the way the floss is collected onto its stick. She's quick to hold out her hand for it when it's done.]
upholsteredvelvet: (Default)

[personal profile] upholsteredvelvet 2013-08-22 12:13 am (UTC)(link)
...We'll get some medicine on the way home.

[Because this is his life and he will just try to be prepared and hope it isn't necessary. Also he is stealing some of that floss as soon as she gets it and popping it right into his mouth.]
smallskull: (peers)

[personal profile] smallskull 2013-08-22 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
[She doesn't attempt to stop Waver or seem otherwise peeved when he steals a bite. Instead, she just moves to pinch a bit between her own fingers, carefully putting it in her mouth. The flavor is definitely new to her, and the texture is—odd. It actually feels cottony...]
upholsteredvelvet: (115)

[personal profile] upholsteredvelvet 2013-08-22 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
Alright then, what's next?

[His wallet isn't dead yet, just screaming silently for the pain to stop. Waver mentally ways the pros and cons to licking his sticky fingers before deciding well bugger all and just doing it. His mouth is probably dirtier anyway.]