acatalepsy_logs | SUMMER FESTIVAL: TEMPLE OF BEGINNINGS

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SUMMER FESTIVAL: TEMPLE OF BEGINNINGS

It’s something like summer here at the Temple of Beginnings, or close enough to it. The weather’s been rainy and hazy for the past little while, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find some way to enjoy ourselves, right?

The day dawns cloudy and drizzly, but people seem determined to carry on anyway. The space slowly takes recognizable shape as a festival, even if a small one. There are tents set up outside, some of which are transformed into game opportunities, complete with prizes (some of an...interesting nature), surprisingly sophisticated target shooting games, ring toss, and other activities of skill and chance. A few more become stations for the food and drink that had been prepared, and the rest consist of chairs under canopies for people to sit and talk in case the rain continues.

Luckily, as the day goes on, the rain stops and the clouds move on, until the blue of the sky is visible once again. By early afternoon, there are only a few scattered clouds still remaining, and it seems likely that the weather will hold true for the evening. Strings of paper lanterns and other decorations are brought out and hung between the different stalls, around the makeshift stage, and placed at the tables. Some pots of bamboo are brought out and set in two clusters at either end of the line of tents. Each cluster has a corresponding table with strips of colorful paper and pens laid out carefully on a table and weighted down with rocks to prevent them from flying off.

A handful of figures come out and inspect the set-up, focusing especially on a shallow ditch that had been dug earlier, now drained and lined with weighted down tarp and rocks, running parallel to the tents and curving to end abruptly just beyond the fire pit and the stage at both ends. After some discussion between them, there is a flash of flame, as though something were burning, and then the strangest thing happens. The ditch fills with fresh, clear water. Even after a few hours, the water doesn't drain away or grow stagnant, still flowing somehow despite having nowhere to come from or go to.

The sunset that day is a brilliant, auspicious red, and evening sets in with a cooling breeze refreshing everyone outside. As the first stars appear, the lanterns are set alight, the music starts, and the first performer steps out onto the stage, surrounded by floating light.

SUMMER FESTIVAL
Welcome to the summer(ish) festival for Astoria’s Circle! We hope you have a wonderful time.

Layout
Even from the buildings that are actually being lived in, the lights of the festival are visible. If you strain your ears just a bit, you may even hear some music being played in the distance, muffled by the stone walls. Why don’t you come join in?

Once arriving at the festival itself, you may be struck first by how bright it is. Light seems to be a theme, from the bonfire set up in one of the firepits closest to the rest of the complex, the lanterns strung up between the tents and stalls that are set up in a line leading from the other buildings towards the gated sparring area that you may already have availed yourself of. Just in front of that area is a makeshift stage, little more than a raised platform of wood and stone, also lit up well by additional lanterns.

Opposite the tents is the river.

It might not seem that exciting at first. It’s hardly a river, really, just a shallow trench of water about seven feet wide and one foot deep, lined with rocks along the bank closest to the tents, stretching in a not quite parallel path opposite the stalls and tents that have been set up, beginning at the stage and ending near the bonfire. The water is crystal clear and clean, and murmurs as if it is flowing from some unseen source, but it’s not clear where it is coming from at all. As the night goes on, and more people take the opportunity to make floating paper lanterns at the station located close by, the little stream itself lights up, the water reflecting the lights, and just beyond, the stars in the sky.

EVENTS:

Sign-in
While definitely not mandatory, in the direct path from the living quarters to the festival itself, there’s a table set up with sheets of paper and writing utensils where you can sign-in. Let us know (ICly!) who you are. Maybe add a fun fact about yourself. Or draw doodles all over the pages. Whatever floats your boat.

Wishes

As is traditional in the home countries of some members of the Circle, there are some bamboo trees in pots set up on either side of the little river, and tables close by with colored strips on loops of string and pens. Write down a wish, or anything you’d like, really, and hang it from the bamboo. Or, browse the bamboo yourself and see if you find anything interesting. Later on after midnight, they’ll be burned for luck!

Games
You’ll find the usual games in the various stalls, some with a decidedly cobbled together look, using what materials were available at the temple, and some with a little more sophistication, thanks to the particular gifts of those within the Circle. Try your hand at shooting a target, a game of chance, or take over a stall yourself and introduce your fellow Circle members to something you used to play at home. There may or may not be prizes involved, depending on which stall you find yourself at.

Food
You’ll find your usual fair fare, though with a decidedly cosmopolitan flair. The foods themselves are somewhat limited by what was easily obtainable within the Temple itself (or improvised), and some Circle members may have contributed decidedly experimental dishes. It really is a potluck, so take a look and see what interests you! Strike up a conversation with your fellow diners as you pick up your food and then find a table to sit at, but keep in mind that most of these are home made by others here, so the cook may be close by, listening…

Performance
What’s a festival without any entertainment? In addition to the music being played on speakers in the background by our very capable DJ, there is also a stage where you can show off your gifts. In addition to singing or other traditional performances, this is an opportunity to demonstrate any interesting abilities or gifts you might have, including new ones you may have gained upon arriving at the Temple! There is an additional sign-up sheet near the stage, so write your name down and what you plan to perform, and we look forward to seeing what you can do.

Bonfire

It’s a really big fire. Enough said (hopefully). Sit and relax, or chat with those around you. If you’re lucky, there may even be some additional entertainment. At a little after midnight, the bamboo bearing the wishes will be burned here and the festival closed for the night.

Lanterns
If you’d like to give it a try, there’s a small station set up where you can make your own lantern out of paper! You can choose from one that floats in the air or on the water (or both, no one’s policing this). Make your own design, and let it fly aloft or float on the water with the other lanterns, chat with others who are working, or just settle down by the water and watch the lanterns and the stars.

**If your character (even if you were just accepted!) would like to participate in the set-up for the impromptu festival at any point, or just wander around and ask what’s going on, please feel free! All the set-up would have been occurring in the space between the TDM and this post. If your character would like to handwave having helped set up, this post is also an option!

(( Set Up: Outdoors ✧ Set Up: Indoors ✧ Sign-In ✧ Bamboo Wishes ✧ Games ✧ Food ✧ Tables ✧ Performances ✧ Bonfire ✧ Lanterns ✧ Clean-Up ✧ or your own!))

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Or get lost... or freeze to death... or get attacked by wolves... or eaten by a bear...

[Just gonna... tug her sleeve down to cover the hints of bandage on her left arm when she mentions "wolves", oops.]

The mountains can't be underestimated either! You don't have mountains in your [not a village, so-] town?

[He sees that, lady! The motion is a bit troubling given all the frightening things she's talking about.]

City. No, we don't have mountains. Or wolves or bears. It's by the water.

[He glances back at the sleeve she'd been messing with and raises an eyebrow.]

Something wrong?

[Okay, so... a port city? Guess he wouldn't rightly know about mountains, then...

But at the question she just smiles harder and shakes her head- it might even be hard to tell if she's genuinely trying to deflect from the bandage or if she just didn't even notice he'd noticed.]

Mm. Just a little homesick, I guess. I kind of need to get back- I mean, I guess everyone does, but.

[He indeed can't tell if she's trying to hide it or not and wonders if he should press more. She doesn't seem hurt too badly, but he really can't tell.]

...I don't see how that's a problem with your sleeve. [But anyway.] You've got something to take care of back home?

[He knows the feeling. Like she said, probably a lot of them do.]

It's just a bite. Nothing serious at all, it barely broke the skin-

[Something to take care of? ... Everything.

So she downplays the injury, (just a little, not too much), even as her eyes find the bamboo fronds, the wishes hanging off them. Her wish, among them.]

I just need to get back to my village. And my parents. I'm sure they're worried sick, and then there's the harvest coming, and winter will probably be so harsh this year-

[She seems evasive enough about the bandage that he'll let go of it for now--she seems to be handling it. Besides, worrying about family is something that he can relate to a lot--in a way, that's the more important wound to address.]

It sounds like they must rely on you a lot. [His smile is forced, but his next words are genuine.] But, hey, they got by before you were born, right? So maybe they'll be fine until you get back.

[Or not.]

They had other children back then...

[Human children.

She wasn't going to cry again, she had told herself- but despite that, she finds the need to use that sleeve not to hide her bandage but to wipe her eyes.]

They need me, now, I can't just leave-

[Is she--oh no. At first, Firo turns his face and pretends that he doesn't see any tears, no way. It's only when she speaks something that sounds so blatantly wrong that he makes himself try to meet her eyes.]

Hey, you didn't leave anybody. Astoria dragged you here just like the rest of us.

[Maybe it's just semantics, but he doesn't think so. At the least, he thinks it's important that she not let herself feel guilty over it.]

[He's right, she knows. Konoha tries to make sure the tears don't fall, wiping quick as she can, but-]

But they don't know that. What if they think something happened to me, or-

[What if they thought she was dead?]

Ah, yeah, there's really nothing we can do about that.

[Helpful, Firo. And to boot, he's going to awkwardly shove his hands in his pockets and try to ignore any signs of crying. Privacy!]

...What do you think they'd do if they thought that?

[He (hopefully) has a point he's getting to with this, even if it seems like a mean question.]

[No, it... doesn't seem to help, that's for sure, if the sniffling she does is any indication.]

P- Probably... ask the village priest to pray for me?

[Not where he was expecting that to go, so maybe he'd better direct a bit more.]

Oh. But, uh, okay, so after that--they'd probably go on with their lives, right? And then whenever you come back, they'll probably be overjoyed to see you!

[Which... doesn't take care of her concerns about caring for them, but he's doing his best here.]

Let them think I'm dead?

[Perhaps it's because she lost her birth parents. Perhaps it's because the humans she called parents now has spoiled her, been too loving, too protective... but Firo's idea isn't quite clicking. Instead... she shakes her head even harder at the idea, eyes watering.]

What if- what if my father's heart can't take it, or- my mother might faint with shock, and-

[And she wouldn't be there to help.]

[Dead end--if anything, he realizes that once again he probably made it all worse. He kind of wants to punch himself, but that's not going to make her feel better, is it?

Maybe if he let her punch him. An idea to file away for later.

He sighs and cards his fingers through his hair. Needless to say, this isn't his strong suit--you don't often have to comfort a crying lady in the course of camorra work.]

Whatever happened to that 'blood of the mountains,' huh? If you're tough, doesn't that mean they are too?

That's just my build... I was born in a farming village.

[Konoha quickly wipes her eyes in an attempt to not actually cry, annoyed at herself that she wasn't saying the right things, that she wasn't as strong as she wishes she was.]

Besides, they're human...

[And even though she didn't think jinba better by any means... they were stronger.]

I'm sure they appreciate the vote of confidence.

[But then he drops the sarcasm, adopting a more sober tone. He doesn't like to say what comes next, but it's true.]

All we can do for them is do our best to get back. My family's counting on me too, but I don't even know where to start with all this.

[It's perhaps a bit of his way of apologizing--who is he to try changing her mind when he doesn't even have his own family taken care of?]

[Sarcasm isn't in her repertoire, and rather than being able to brush it off, Konoha shrinks in on herself in shame.]

...

[So he didn't know where to start.

And neither did she.]

That's right-

[And before she actually does cry... she (pretty badly) feigns overhearing someone calling for seconds on their stews, and she moves to gather up her hot pot in a bustle.]

I have to get back to helping, but- thank you.

[He's pretty sure he deserves the opposite of a thank you, since she started this conversation seeming content enough and is now almost crying. But given that she plainly wants to make a getaway, he'd have to be even more of a jerk to argue that point. So he nods, awkwardly as hell, and waves her off with:]

Just take remember to look after yourself so that you can get back to 'em someday.

[At the very least, sniffing aside... she gives a small bow and a wave of her own before she goes.]

I will- thanks.

[... But until then.

Maybe she had to work on acclimating to this place.]

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SUMMER FESTIVAL: TEMPLE OF BEGINNINGS

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