middaeg | VALENTINES CHARITY

♥ THE FESTIVAL OF LOVE ♥

"At the Festival of Love: Shine like thunder
At the Festival of Love: Cry like rain
At the Festival of Love: Hear my calling
At the Festival of Love: Hear my name"

...wait, who prepared this poster? The vibe it gives off is totally wrong... ah, well, it will do! ♥

I. Welcome! ♥

On Feoveuer 14th regulars of DiplomaTea will immediately notice that the place looks different. Fresh flowers, garlands and paper decorations are everywhere, all in lovely shades of pink and red. Heart-shaped confetti is falling from the ceiling, magicked to disappear shortly after touching the floor so it would not make a mess. Quiet music is filling the whole cafe, one of the many masterpieces of Amadeus Mozart and a particual favorite of Marie who picked this particular song to play. Even those who have missed Marie's flyers and announcements about the upcoming event would definitely notice that something joyous is going on inside, why not check it out and join everyone?

If you haven't heard before, the posters will explain everything. Today's event, The Festival of Love celebrates the holiday known as Valentine's Day some Mirrorbound might be familiar with. This is the day to celebrate love in all shapes and forms. Spend a wonderful, romantic evening with your partner... or your friends and family, because these kinds of love are important too! Or get some sweets and eat them all by yourself, because self love is also important! All money collected during today's event will go to aid the refugees and help those who have been affected during last month - celebration of love for your fellow woman, man and everyone else.

a. Preparations ♥

Of course an event this big cannot happen without the help of many. Making and putting up the decorations, enchanting the confetti and music, building the booths, preparing the tables, all of this and much more took almost the whole previous day. Everett will also defintely need part-timers to help tending to the increased number of custoers during the event. If you visited DiplomaTea during that time, you probably couldn't enjoy your drink in peace... or maybe you were roped into helping? Marie gives you a pleading look. Every pair of hands is useful, you know!

II. The Festival of Love ♥

Kissing Booths ♥

Two hastily made but lovingly decorated wooden booths have been placed on DiplomaTea porch. For supporting the cause with a small fee of 100 cunes the person inside will gladly give you a lovely kiss... though you are, of course, welcome to throw an even bigger amount into the donation box! The Mirrorbound staff the booths in shifts so nobody will be forced to sit out the whole event and more volunteers are always welcome... come on, don't you want to support the charitable cause? Marie is quite persuasive, she might find a way to convince you even if it's not something you would have usually agreed to ♥ Or maybe your crush is currently in the booth and this is your big chance? Either way, thank you for your support, good people!

Bake Sale ♥

Are you skilled with the cooking appliances? Would you like these skills to serve a good cause? The tables just next to the main entrance of DiplomaTea have been filled with cakes, pastries and other kinds of sweets donated by Mirrorbound - help yourself to some! You have to pay for it, of course, but all the money collected helps the charitable cause! For those who are not fond of sweet things, savory and spicy snacks are also found on the table.

Did you bring a dish? Would you like to buy something? Or maybe you are just staffing the tables and helping with the bake sale itself? All kinds of help are appreciated! Are you culinarily challenged but refuse to admit it? Thank you for your donation anyway, it is going on sale! Did anyone see the Fae who donated these cupcakes? These appear to be enchanted and eating one will cause you to say the opposite what you mean for fifteen minutes. What do you mean, Marie, we are putting these on sale as well? Could it be... that Fae was... No, impossible!

Auction ♥

Want to support the cause with a bigger sum? As a part of the main event, a couple of items will be auctioned. To show their support, the Coven donated several valuables that could definitely be of use for both Witches and Monsters:
an ornate golden ring Fae-blessed to provide the wearer 12 hours of invisibility (which does not have to be used consecutively, it's 'turned on and off' by rubbing the stone set into it, and does not conceal the wearer from other Fae)
a suit set and a dress that will both transform magically to fit whatever Monster form the wearer has (and will also take on the wearer's color and design preferences)
a book on imbuing baked goods with minor luck spells - good and bad both.
Place your bids now! But that's not everything that will be put on sale today - donations from Mirrorbound are also accepted and will be auctioned! Do you have any items you no longer need and could contribute? Maybe it's something you have crafted yourself? Or a voucher for any kind of services you can provide? Whatever it is, thank you for your donation! Yes, even if it's enchanted. Especially if it is enchanted!

Not donating or buying anything? You could certainly help with the organization part! That pile of items over there... Mind checking out what we even have there and assign starting bids?

A Word from our Sponsor ♥

DiplomaTea is offering a couple of special offers on this special day, all proceeds will be donated! Extra large mug of cinnamon cocoa you can share with a special person to warm up your bodies and hearts. You can also drink it yourself if you want to, nobody will judge you and certainly not Everett. However, even if you came here by yourself... Are you sure you can finish it by yourself? How about splitting the cocoa with someone who also came alone? That's the spirit of the day!

For those interested in a drink that can provide more thrill than simple cocoa, Everett is offering a tea blend called Ardric's Warmth. In his own words, it tastes like a live firecracker and has enough caffeine to raise the dead. And yet, this blend seems to have its dedicated fans in Aefenglom, especially among Dragons. Dare to try it? Or maybe someone tricked you into drinking some?

Inkchanted Corner ♥

Caster Cú Chulainn is doing a promotion on behalf of his and Waver's tattoo shop, Inkchanted. Still undecided if you would like to visit their place? Unsure about a permanent tattoo? You can try it out here and help the cause! For a low fee you can have Caster draw a small, enchanted painting on your skin. It can make you give off a charming aura, perfect if you are still looking for someone to spend the evening with or trying to grab the attention of that particular person. Or maybe you are celebrating self love and just want a spell that will allow you to eat a lot of sweets without consequences tonight? Perfect! Another idea? Be sure to communicate it well, you would not want to end up with an enchanted painting that gives a different effect you originally wanted... though even if you do, the magic will only work for a few hours. You can wait that long, can you?

Magic Show ♥

Trucy Wright, one of the recent arrivals to Aefenglom is on stage and about to perform her splendid magic show! Huh, that's nothing special in Aefenglom, you might think. Magic is an everyday thing for every Witch after all. However, this young lady here is not a Witch, so how does she do it? With totally real magic, of course! Get your seats and pay close attention to everything she does, but you are not very likely to notice anything - this girl is a professional, after all. In using real magic, of course! Or maybe you have similar skills? You are welcome to join her on stage and perform your own well-practiced trick. If it's not as well-practiced as you thought... well, at least you made the audience laugh? In need of a charming assistant? Just pick someone more or less willing from the audience!

III. Cleanup ♥

Tired after a busy day? Congratulate yourself on a job well done, we managed to collect a nice sum that will certainly help a lot! But before you can rest in your bed, there's more to be done. Taking off decorations, removing the confetti enchantments, washing the dishes, collecting the trash and cleaning the whole place. We cannot leave Everett alone with this mess after he was so nice to allow the usage of DiplomaTea for today's event, can we? You can stay and help, can you? Maybe there are some leftowers from the bake sale to sweeten the deal?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Dragon!Eren bursting into buildings growling, “Oh yeah!” is a mental image no one deserves. ]

Not a big deal, huh? [ Observe as the gears shift in his head. ] Well, if it isn’t a big deal, you probably wouldn’t mind doing enchantments for a penniless, down-on-his-luck new Mirrorbound like me, right? Thanks for offering, man!

[ Hiccup. Hiccup, don’t stand for this. Put your foot, uh, prosthetic down. ]

[Ah. He sees what's going on here. Hiccup is good-hearted, not completely stupid, and he gets a wry smile on his face as Stiles goes on. Luckily he can't really be taken advantage of. He's got more money than he needs thanks to Toothless shedding scales just constantly, and he does feel for the new arrivals, who really don't stand a chance of winning some of these auctions.]

Well, you know. I take labor in trade. How are you at construction? [He's half teasing, but half serious as well. The Phoenix Tear's damages from the fires last month aren't fully fixed yet and Hiccup could use another set of healthy hands for a few things.] And what were you needing?

I mean.

[ Pauses, making a “so-so” gesture with his hand and grimacing. To be fair, Stiles really does not look like the type of guy you’d expect to be capable of doing any manner of construction. ]

More a brains kind of guy, you know? And I don’t exactly need anything yet. Well – uh, you wouldn’t happen to…make baseball bats, would you?

Sorry, I've got all the brains I need right now. [He says with a wry little laugh. Honestly Hiccup doesn't exactly resemble your ideal construction man or blacksmith either - he's pretty tall and skinny. Who would have guessed that those stick arms can bring a hammer down?]

I don't know what a baseball bat is, so probably not at the moment. I'm good at working off a picture, though. [Bludgeon. What you want is a bludgeon, Stiles. And boy do vikings know bludgeons.]

[ While Hiccup is on the slender side, he still looks like a bona fide badass to someone as mundane as Stiles. Maybe it’s the braids. ]

A baseball bat is…uh, it’s… [ Words are tough, okay? Especially when you’re on the spot to describe something so commonplace. ] I guess it’s like a wooden club? It’s used in sports, usually, not as a weapon. But I’m not really comfortable with…

[ A gesture at the weapons on the auction table, beautiful though they may be. ]

…sharp. Anyway, it’s a moot point. It’ll be a while before I can afford anything beyond the basics. Like, what would you normally charge for these things? Just curious.

[Common to him, maybe. Hiccup has definitely not gotten into the local sports scene, whatever it might be.] A wooden club. So, a cudgel? Who plays sports with a cudgel? [That's the strangest thing he's heard all day, thanks Stiles.] And it's still your weapon of choice?

[Hiccup shrugs broadly at the question. Honestly? His pricing is inconsistent as hell.] It usually depends on how much metal I have to buy, how many hours go into a piece. These are an alchemy experiment, so they were always going to- you know, run a lot more. Buuut, a wooden cudgel with or without studs I could probably bang out in less than a day, and I have a nice chunk of rowan wood laying around the forge already from another piece.

You're new, right? Just sketch me what you're wanting and you can come by and pick it up in a day or two.

[ The familiar word cudgel has Stiles wracking his brain; it takes him a few moments, but he eventually remembers where he’s encountered the word before: RPGs. Figures. From what he can recall, cudgel does sound like the right term for what he’s describing – this guy seems to know his stuff. ]

Rowan? [ he repeats, excitement lighting up his features. ] Like, mountain ash rowan?

[ That probably made no sense. Realizing this, Stiles tries to dial back on his enthusiasm. ]

I’m new, yeah. Okay. Okay. [ Nope, he’s still really excited, whoops. ] Wait, hold on. Would it be possible for the cudgawhatchamacallit – cudgel, right – to have, uh, a core of ash from burned rowan? It’s…a thing in my world. A big thing. I know it’ll cost extra. I’ll figure something out. But would that work? Can you do it?

Uh- yeah, I've heard it called mountain ash before. [He's mildly confused by the excitement. Sure, it's a nice wood, lightweight and strong, but. Wood enthusiast??]

From- burned rowan? Doesn't that, you know, affect the... the structural integrity? [It seems like something important, though, so- well, he's willing to try.] I can give it a try, but I- I have some questions here. How long do you burn the wood for? Are we talking- straight up ash, or just- just blackened, or?

[Also why. But that seems rude.]

[ Even in his state of restless excitement, Stiles can see that the request is confounding Hiccup. Probably not a great sign, if the other boy is as good at his trade as he seems. Time to really chill out and approach this more levelheadedly. Stiles holds up a hand, silently asking Hiccup to wait – then inhales deeply, holds the breath, and exhales loudly. When he drops his hand, he does seem a bit calmer. ]

You’re probably right about the structural integrity, [ he admits, deflating. ] And honestly? I don’t even know the specifics. I doubt it’d work without a druid to work their hocus pocus, anyway.

[ Not to mention… If it did work properly? It would affect Stiles himself, as a Monster. Damn. ]

See, where I come from? Most monsters – (yeah, that’s monsters with a lowercase “m,” ) – can’t cross a barrier of mountain ash. It repels them. We use it for protection. Who knows if it’ll work like that here, though.

Uh- I mean, if you mean magic, I can do that too. [Not sure what hocus pocus is but he's learned to look for context clues in his time here. That's just what comes from being from a much less advanced era than most everyone else.]

So, it wards off bad things. Cwyldtid is probably the equivalent here, since- you know. Monsters are people. [But Shades are something you'd want to ward off.] I'm not sure why the burning is necessary, I have a few barrier spells that work just fine, but you're set on it, I could try to figure it out. It'll take some time, though. If you're carrying around a stick you don't want it to break apart the minute you hit something.

Yeah, I figured you were a Witch from the neato enchantments.

[ Stiles simply doubts that the mountain ash will perform the same way here the way it would have if prepared by a druid familiar in the art. Maybe he’s best not confusing this guy anymore than he already has, though; sucking back a wistful sigh, Stiles shakes his head at Hiccup. ]

It was a dumb idea. Don’t worry about it, dude. But how do your barrier spells work? Those sound promising.

VALENTINES CHARITY - Feoveuer 14th

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