acatalepsy_logs | the night of wonders.

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the night of wonders.

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the night of wonders.

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COMMENT SECTION:	MOD QUESTIONS \| EXPLORATION \| WORK SUBMISSIONS
WORLD INFO:	WHEN YOU WAKE UP \| LOCALITIES \| JUMP SUMMARY
EVENT INFO:	NIGHT OF WONDERS \| FESTIVAL EVENTS \| THE FIRES \| FOURTH WALL INFO
AU INFO:	AU QUESTIONS, CLASSES, RACES, STEP BY STEP CHARACTER BUILD GUIDE

Seemingly overnight, the Guild Hall owned and operated by the Silver Blade is decked to the nines Long streamers and banners are draped and a massive banner has been unfurled across the front of the building. It hails the events of the coming two weeks:

The Night of Wonders

Murmurs abound through the city; a thrill of excitement is in the air, and the locals are delighted to finally have cause to celebrate. The theme of The Night of Wonders is one of rebirth. The people of Mirabar are celebrating the continued survival of their home, the success of taming the Giant Rebellions across Faerun, and their resident adventurers! You are all thanked, profusely, for helping reinvigorate Mirabar with your hard work, and the people of Mirabar want to celebrate with you!

Booths have sprung up everywhere, full of food, music, laughter, and joy. Take a trip around the city over the next few weeks or so, and see what you find: there is no shortage of things to do in the riverside city of Mirabar.

Especially, it seems, because there are a plethora of new people. Not members of the Circle, but others? It seems that Astoria's grip on the Rift has slipped and other Travelers have found their way to Mirabar, just in time for the festival in question. You have no idea how they got here, but hey -- they're here, right? We may as well enjoy the party.

YOU'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT.

Like any good festival, there are a ton of street games and vendors to choose from! Try your hand at an archery contest, where a bullseye nets you 1 GP, but playing at all gets you a weird-looking stuffed rabbit. There are also your classic "throw a ball at a bottle" games where they seem awfully rigged. Are those bottles glued down? What a rip-off!

There is also a jousting tournament, which really means sticking a broom between your legs and running at someone with a padded sword. Whoever gets hit first loses! It's mostly meant for children, but the local children will definitely encourage adult Travelers to give it a shot.

Finally, there's no shortage of food to buy -- turkey legs, meat pies, popcorn, sweet cakes, and cotton candy are abound throughout the festival. And of course, plenty of mead. Explore, have fun, and have a blast!

ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT;
PUNCH, PUNCH, PUNCH YOUR THROAT

One of the highlights of the festival is the infamous kayak race -- a hallmark of Mirabar culture and sport. The leather kayaks, handmade by the locals in Mirabar, are beloved and much bragged about, and after a month or so of testing, they are finally ready for the tournament.

Many sign up -- locals, members of the Circle, travelers that have wandered from distant lands . . . but only one team can conquer! So, congratulations to TEAM 1! You have won 100 GP each, a set of three trophies, and and all-you-can-drink voucher at the Dusty Coffer for the duration of the festival! Cheers!

Alternatively, you can also enter in the fighting tournament, set up by a local bunch of rowdy Guild members that just like to punch each other. The fighting tournament is a bit less prestigious than the kayak tournament, but you've still got a bunch of folk who turn up to see who is the best around. Are you a winner, or a loser? Either way, much praise to RUBY ROSE who winds up winning the whole lot! You win 300 GP, and a championship belt that looks like it is made out of gold, but it is definitely not.

Feel free to play out races, match-ups, scuffles, or observation! The winners may be set in stone, but you can feel free to thread out whatever rows or punches to your heart's content.

🡆 Prior to the tournament, you might hear what some of the betting rings have to say...who has their eyes on you? Or is it a friend of yours, by any chance? Looks like word goes around, it could go in any direction.

🡆 The crowd around you is roaring with passion and excitement. They may even get as heated as you do, so try not to let their zealous reactions get the better of you.

🡆 The most you'll get after the tournament is a towel to wipe off your blood, sweat, and potentially tears. If you've been injured, it could be in your best interest to seek medical hel and rest. Or not.

THE CEREMONY OF LIGHTS.

Every night of the festival, the people of Mirabar go down to the river's edge with paper lanterns. You can get them by the boatload, for free, provided to every single person who wishes to have one. On these lanterns are tags which you can write whatever you would like.

Should you ask the locals, they say that they write down their hopes, their dreams, and their wishes. Once they do that, they set out into the boats and push them out into the air, to send them to the gods, and pray for proper fortune. You may take out a boat (which are on the river a plenty) if you wish to do so, and participate in the ceremony to your heart's content. But there is something almost solemn, about the ceremony.

These people, clearly, are hoping for an end to conflict, and a continued prosperity to their city.

What do you wish for?

PAPER FACES ON PARADE.

Finally, at the end of the Festival, there is a massive masquerade in the Guild hall. Everyone is wearing a mask, ranging from basic black to brightly colored with a lot of feathers and jewels. It seems everyone has gotten into the spirit of the Festival, and the locals are intent on partying until the sun comes up.

There is a live band, a lot of dancing, laughter, and joy. There is a massive table of food of every type you can think of, a plethora of wine and ale, and endless merrymaking to be had. Feel free to dance, eat, drink, and celebrate for as long as you desire!

But be sure to go outside at around 11:00 PM, to watch the beautiful fireworks display over the river. You can run out to grab a boat, to watch it on the river proper, or you can watch it from outside the Guild hall. It's a lovely, romantic end to your hard work in Faerun . . . enjoy it, and each other.

🡆 In the heat of the dance, it's likely that you'll be passed from one partner to another. Try to make do with the foreign — or perhaps unexpectedly familiar face that will be greeting you. And try not to get caught in the middle of a slow dance...

🡆 Some of the food and drink offered will serve as a bit of a pick-me-up: the people of Faerun have decided to use their magic to ensure that the party is as enjoyable as can be. So for those who are a bit more on the antisocial, troubled or moodier side, perhaps an enchanted dinner will make the night easier on you?

🡆 Take the boat a tad too far out and you run the risk of getting stranded in the river. The current grows stronger the further down along you go, so do be careful.

MOD NOTES.

🡆 This is a fourth wall event! Please feel free to tag around and have fun in the festival log! We have a list of reference links at the top of the event post for your reference, if you need help. This log is free for everyone to play on, even characters who are currently not in game.

🡆 A separate log for those investigating the fires referenced in the OOC post will be posted. This log is purely for entertainment and fun for the fourth wall! The fire investigation will be limited to those who showed interest.

🡆 If you have any questions, please ask them on the original OOC post here! This includes fourth wall participants!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mmm, people like Tetsu and Kai tend to get the most of that from me...they're better than they used to be, but they're still pretty grumpy about stuff they don't need to be. So I like to work on that when I get the chance~ [That's definitely more of a friendly thing than anything, though, because Tetsu and Kai also happen to be Ren's longest-standing friends and he just wants them to be able to enjoy things a bit.

Ren can't help but smile at noticing that nearby couple take offense to that remark, though.] Not sure I'd word it that way myself, but I think you made your point...

[Molly clicks his tongue.] Well, that's because I'm crass circus folk and you're... what? A professional businessperson, I guess? Y'know, on paper we really shouldn't get on this well, but gods do I love a good smashed expectation.

[And Molly thought he had Ren pegged in the batthouse that day, only to find he was everything he shouldn't be with a personality like that. Will wonders ever cease?]

I own a company and work on the board of another one, so basically. [Ren shrugs a little, as if the niceties of it don't really matter all that much to him in the end. The observation about how they get on draws an amused little hum out of him, though.] It's nice not to have to worry about my public face, you know~? It's pretty easy to pretend to be socially acceptable, but it's pretty boring, too.

[That might have something to do with why he's faded back a little bit from being as public-facing as he used to be in his adulthood - it does, ultimately, give him a bit more freedom to be him.] The "prince and pauper" stuff is a bit of a cliche in my world, but then, it's usually the romantic kind there...

[The slight tone of amusement Ren says that in might point towards it being one of those trashy romance novel cliches of choice in his world.]

I've heard of that, actually. [Not in so many words, but it's not an idea that's entirely specific to a modern society. The idea of identical strangers switching places to live life as the other one does and see the troubles from both sides is a cliche, after all.] And it is romantic- if it were real, I can't think of any scenario where the pauper doesn't take a good chunk of the gold and fucking books it. 'S what I would do. Fortunately, it's just a story and we don't look enough alike to pull it off.

[He beams, like this is the funniest thing.]

Edited 2019-05-31 01:16 (UTC)

[Well, Ren could probably make himself almost identical to Molly with his changeling abilities, though he's not sure if that plays nicely with things like tails and horns. He's mostly been shapeshifting into an elf when he's done it, though he does hum a little in amusement as he goes along with a similar idea.]

What, aren't there spells people can use to look like someone else here? It seems like that sort of thing would have to exist... [Or be innate to certain races, ha ha, but Ren's not giving himself away as a changeling quite that easily.] It's a little harder to do that in my world, though. Most people don't keep physical gold, for one thing...

[He sticks his tongue out with an unhappy pout.] Yes, and I'm one of the few bloody people I know who can't use them.

[By the time of his death, he had no idea of the many uses of Polymorph.] There might be cloaks or magic items, but then it just gets complicated and most of those things wear off in an hour. But a good, non-magical disguise lasts as long as you commit to it, and that I'm sure will work where you're from... Sad about the gold though.

[And just as he says that, he pulls Ren into a fancy dip.]

Oh, that's a shame. I think I had a pretty simple illusion spell, but it wouldn't be able to do something like that... [Since having Disguise Self is a bit pointless when you can do basically the same thing by virtue of what you are, if perhaps with a few more limitations. Minor Illusion is mostly just for shenanigans.

Ren hums a little doubtfully at the idea that a disguise would work in his world as he's dipped, though there's some amusement to it.] I don't know about that...we use some pretty fancy stuff to test identity in my world. It's hard to fool a fingerprint scanner if you've never seen one before.

[He thinks they might've had that sort of thing on the Horologium, but nobody actually used those to open the doors except maybe Violet.

He pulls up rather dramatically from the dip when it comes time to, coming in almost flush with Molly before he returns to a more normal distance.]

[Molly waits until there's a more respectable distance between them, though just before they part, he taps Ren's nose with his and giggles.] You're right. I've got no idea what this. Can you really tell people apart just from that?

[He's gonna go somewhere with this. He's got something smooth he's building up to that may or may not land, but he'll be delighted by the ride, nonetheless.]

[Ren pokes his tongue out a bit as his nose is tapped, but plays along with it all the same. He's mostly just being silly about it, honestly.]

Everyone's fingerprint has a different pattern. So you need a machine to tell all the differences, but they're pretty common in my world. It works kind of like those chests in the temple, the ones that don't open unless it's you trying to open them.

[Except it's technology instead of magic, but it's the best comparison Ren can think of that's not just going to be incredibly confusing.]

So it's all in the machines, then. If I were to... do this- [he trails a fingertip down the side of Ren's face, pushing some of his hair back as he does]- and then you closed your eyes and I did it again... You wouldn't be able to just know that was me from how the fingerprints feel?

[He's clever enough to know that's not how it works because he's touched enough people's hands to know you can't feel the difference in their damn fingers. That's not the point. The point is flirting.

He's not that great at it, but he has conviction.]

[Oh dear. Ren tilts his head into the trailing fingertip, but there's something amused in his expression as if to say that he's already got some returning sass on the tip of his tongue.

And, indeed, it comes as soon as the question is posed, and alongside Ren bringing one of his own hands up to press a fingertip under the end of Molly's chin.] Well, even without a machine I could guess it was someone with pretty dextrous fingers, but if you want an excuse to touch my face, you don't need to go that far, you know~

[Ren being Ren, while he might play along with the silliness, he's also just going to be completely shameless about the fact that touching his face is by no means something that needs that much fanfare to happen.]

[Molly's vibrant, solid-red eyes widen a bit like he did not anticipate this being so easy or that it would turn on him so quickly, and he bites his lip a bit. He's used to flustering people, knew that Ren didn't strike him as the type to be flustered, but somehow entirely missed that Ren could dish it right back out and leave his glib tongue tangled.]

That's... Good to know. I'll remember that. For the next time. [And Ren learned a new fact about Molly- he can dish it out, but pretty people giving him any kind of positive attention kind of leaves him going WHAT DO. It doesn't happen that often when he's not paying for it.]

[Ren's smile widens a bit at that reaction, something a little bit predatory at the edges of it even though it's primarily amused. It's always nice when turning things around on people gets this kind of result, and his fingertip rubs back and forth a little, just subtly, as Molly muddles his way through that response.]

Oh, what's that face? Are you getting shy on me now? After all that talk, too~ [His fingers curl slightly, so it's not just one finger resting against the chin, and, if Molly lets him, his thumb comes up to touch a little teasingly at Molly's lower lip.] It's pretty cute, though, so I guess I'll let you off for making all that bluster.

[It's the damn finger under the chin thing, he realizes as Ren doesn't back down immediately. It's so stupidly dominant that Molly, who is generally the most dominant force in the room, is easy prey to it. Sometimes you wanna be the one who has interesting things done to them, rather than do interesting things.

But that doesn't mean he just utterly drops to all fours like a submissive dog. It's always more fun when you bring the fight. He was just caught off guard. The second Ren's finger teases at his lip is when he snaps his teeth ever so slightly. It's a dramatic shift from flustering to being back in control- or some approximation of it, and it's not an exceptional lie either, but dammit, he will have his way.] I was just waiting to see if you were crazy enough to put your fingers near my mouth. Always the first mistake.

["Crazy enough" might be one way of describing it, but apparently it's an entirely calculated kind of crazy, because Ren's manner remains entirely the same upon having his finger snapped at. If anything, his smile widens that little bit more.]

Oh, do people not usually mean it when they put their fingers there? That's okay. It makes it more interesting when people bite back.

[Molly might have sharper teeth than the average person he deals with biting back, but Ren's pain tolerance is a lot more considerable than his appearance would imply, too.]

It depends. I've had it done a few times where they really, really deserved being bitten, and a few who were into it.

[Molly quirks an eyebrow so high that it vanishes beneath one of his curls and could probably be pressing into the place where his horn begins for all he knows.] Annnd I just learned which one you are. Good.

[Ren laughs a little at that and finally lets his hand drop, though not after a slight but somewhat lingering press in at the lip.] If they deserved to get bitten, I suppose being into it wasn't very useful at the time, then.

[He doesn't seem remotely abashed at the observation or Molly's creeping eyebrow, though, waving a hand somewhat dismissively.] Where's the fun without a little bit of a snap back, anyway?

I don't wanna shame people for their fun, but the whole notion of not fighting back a little is kind of dull. I don't think I've got the patience for it.

[This is a strangely intimate conversation they're having here on this dance floor. And Molly's into that too. It's nice to get the whole boundary discussion out of the way.] I'm down with being tied up, but don't expect me to stay still.

[Wow that crossed fast beyond innuendo. Social experiment. Also it's funny to watch someone who was about to cut in to encourage more partner switching just backpedal and go elsewhere just due to the topic.]

Right? It's awfully boring if people are just like that... [Ren has some friends who have gotten into the habit of just sighing and tolerating his shenanigans because they know it's less of a payoff for him, but even then he usually finds ways.

Ren doesn't seem to mind the intimacy of the conversation, though, even laughing a little as he sees that backpedal.] Mmm, that's fine by me...

[He leans in towards Molly's ear with a motion that matches the tempo of the dance, so it might seem like a flourish until he speaks in a soft, amused voice a good octave or two lower than his typical airy tone.]

...I like to watch people struggle while I pick them apart~ [Social experiment...right...]

[Molly makes another soft, surprised sound, as he listens, losing the tempo a bit and nearly tripping over his own feet. Damn his desperate need to chase his new experiences and damn his inability to handle when people are more charming than he is. He's too used to people being put off or amused. Fighting back is unfair- interesting and exciting, but unfair.]

You know, I feel like I would have guessed that about you. [There's a definite choking quality to his tone as he tries to recover his grip on things.] Call it a hunch or... predetermination. I am a vessel of the higher powers, y'know. I know these things.

[Nailed it.]

[Ren gives a melodious sort of laugh in his ear as he draws back to observe the effect of his words, keeping his own tempo as if to highlight Molly's brief loss of it. From the look on Ren's face, it's probably easy enough to guess he's used to taking these situations by the horns (perhaps literally, in the case of dealing with Molly).]

Well, I've always been a pretty good read of people, but I don't think it had anything to do with being a vessel of the higher powers. [There's some amusement in his tone at that, though that might be because Ren is technically a vessel of higher powers, he just happens to be able to predetermine things that aren't really relevant to any world but his, even if he did have access to his normal powers.] I guess I'll just have to make sure I keep you guessing at my methods~

That's both exciting and terrifying as a prospect.

[The song ends and they really should really be switching partners, but Molly doesn't seem to be in any hurry to leave, quite content standing on the edge of this fire he coaxed into being whether it burns him or not.]

Wanna go for another round, then?

[Ren doesn't seem too fussed about switching partners either, seemingly waiting to see what Molly wants to do. There's a lingering sort of humour to his expression, and at the question, he gives a light one-shouldered shrug.]

I don't mind. Or if you wanted to go somewhere more interesting, I don't mind that either~ [Ren's flexible enough about this sort of thing, but he is a bit the type to let someone else make the first move. The retaliation is a lot more fun to him.]

[Molly considers the party, considers Ren, and his grin widens as the math works itself out in his head.]

Well, we're on our way out the door, aren't we? Might as well get a happy ending out of it.

[No shame at all. None.] It's what Astoria would want.

[Ren can't help but laugh at that, though he doesn't seem bothered by the idea either. Not precisely the kind of new experience he was planning to have tonight, but he's definitely the sort to roll with what comes.]

Should I ask why you think she would, or do you just think it'd make a significant contribution to the town...?

[Clearly there is no more significant contribution than a happy ending, though he figures Molly probably just means her wanting the "happy ending" part in the less figurative sense.]

the night of wonders.

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