SUMMER FESTIVAL: TEMPLE OF BEGINNINGS

[tranquilforest]

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!))

Comments

[oculusriffs]

[god ... DAMN. does Kou play basketball? these slam dunks are coming out of nowhere.]

[Dave's initial answer to that is just a slightly cross look, though. his next answer is a lot of bluster.]

Man, it's not like it was expensive, or even up to the kinda standards you'd get when you have actual plugs. Three verses for a speaker is basically nothing.

[parttimes]

[Sorry, Dave... he means well, probably, maybe, possibly.]

Yeah? Well, take it easy and don't overdo it, either way. The speakers are useful, but you gotta enjoy this whole festival deal too, you know?

[oculusriffs]

Not much point to a party without music.

[there's a subject he takes incredibly seriously, about as much as he does time itself — even if he has really weird metaphors to describe the latter. but, consider the advice heeded. he'll also take it as an invitation to get comfortable, so he flops down at a chair nearby, kicking back, tipping the chair on its back legs casually.]

[parttimes]

Not that I'm gonna argue the point, but still. If you're constantly fixing speakers, you're not really enjoying things here.

[So he's definitely glad Dave took the invitation and is taking a seat with him.]

[oculusriffs]

Fair enough. Can't sit back and stare at the sky if I'm too busy working.

[and there's Dave's way of asking: what is Kou doing over here by himself anyway?]

[parttimes]

[A snort.]

Are you trying to imply that sitting off here staring at the sky is a bad thing?

[He knows he's being teased, it's fine.]

... I was just thinking, anyway. It's nice to have a moment of peace and quiet to be able to do that.

[oculusriffs]

[that's true enough. Dave tends to constantly play music, though, which may or may be an indicator of how much he likes having peace and quiet. or thinking too much on his thoughts, as it were.]

[quiet is also like an invitation to be candid, even.]

Like, about whatever world we're supposed to hop in and try to save next? [he's still not too thrilled with the whole thing, honestly, whatever form "helping worlds in need" actually takes, and it might be obvious in the inflection of that question.]

[parttimes]

Like how much I really don't want to do that, yeah.

[He feels you, Dave, and that inflection is plenty obvious for him to pick up on. He sighs, slumping a little, a frown on his face.]

You ever think we haven't been given near enough real reasoning behind this meddling? Which makes it really shady?

[oculusriffs]

I think about that every fuckin' day. I dunno, maybe the concept of "helping out" is enough for some people to just hop in heroically, but it's not for me.

[mister grumpy god over here.]

What I really want to know is, how much does Astoria actually know about us? What sort of file is she keeping on the people who pass her arbitrary job interview?

I tried to ask her that once. Maybe someone had better luck getting an answer than I did; she just called me a goddamn weirdo and left it at that.

[parttimes]

Yeah, I tried to figure that out too, and she wasn't too into it. We're here because we've been brought here, but who says those worlds really want our meddling?

Who's to say we can do it better somehow?

[He makes a face. He feels you, Dave....]

Maybe we're just making things worse.

[oculusriffs]

You figure that's what we did in El Minha?

[Dave doesn't really have an answer himself. it's not that he didn't care, he just cared more about making sure the people he liked didn't get hurt. so he was probably a lot less help than he could have been.]