event pt 1 | full moon & litha

[moustre]

Event Log: June, A Midsummer Night's Dream

I. IUNERIL 17TH - THE FULL MOONS The days leading up to the full moons are the same as last month: Monsters are a little itchier and a little easier to agitate, whether they mean to be or not, which becomes increasingly noticeable the day before the full moons. But of particular note is that this may be the second full moons that some arrivals have experienced, and with that comes greater risks, greater agitation, and further reminders to take care of themselves. Weather fair, despite the worries of the city, Monsters will find that the Sisters aren't blocked away by clouds this night. The moons cast their light down on the city, and the pull is strong for even the veteran natives that call the city home. The Coven is offering potions and charms, in an attempt to encourage those without a Bond to ensure that they will be able to keep their wits about them throughout the entire stretch of the Sisters' time in the sky at their fullest. They're always allowed to reject the offer, but it's with a warning: if they let their newfound instincts overtake them, then they might find themselves back in the Coven under worse conditions. But the Sisters rise framed in stark red skies, even as evening falls across Aefenglom, much to the discontent of the city. Streets that are rarely dim are lit up even moreso, now, in the face of this omen, lanterns and candles leading all the way to the Harbor District. Their colors flicker with shades of blue, green, violet - anything to offset the red. Boats that come and go along the river also carry a lantern or two with the same intent, and ships in the harbor are decorated with magical faerylights, strung across hulls, masts, the works. There's no place in the Harbor District untouched by light, with nary a sign of red in the midst of their goods. Tensions are already high, between the humans and Monsters of Aefenglom. It's especially noticeable on this night: full moons already cause everyone to be a little jumpy, but with the red tidings for Litha, they're more on edge than ever. Some blame the new arrivals, though never directly to their face, especially when they don't know who, or what, someone might be. It's always a there-and-gone whisper, it seems like. Gossip. Distrust. Unease. It doesn't lend well to the full moons, but there are still those that want to help. Many will notice that there's already activities and decorations up for Litha, some of them still under construction despite the fast approaching festival. The most notable of all are the hedge mazes that have been constructed, both by hand and with magic to encourage their growth. Behind the festival organizers' backs, a group of people - both man and beast - are offering Monsters a chance to burn off some of their energy by embracing their instincts in a more... constructive manner, with native Witches and Monsters alike prepared to intervene if things get a little too violent. In a sort of mockery of Litha's traditions, they're partnering Monsters up with a willing participant to run the mazes, with a variety of options that they will list. The partner - or partners, if there is a party looking to go in together - can be either Witch or Monster, and the people organizing this won't judge as they inform the interested individuals of their options: a. A-HUNTING WE WILL GO, allowing the Monster to either hunt a small livestock or game animal (a piglet, fowls, rabbits, the like) or to hunt down their partner through the maze they've chosen. This need not end violently, and can become more of a game of hide and seek meets tag. b. EVERYBODY WAS FIGHTING, where one maze in particular has been devoted to a makeshift fight ring at the very heart of it. The organizers hope, somewhat, that by making the Monster(s) in question run the maze first they'll be a little tired out already when reaching the ring. c. UNDER THE PALE MOONLIGHT, because instincts don't always call for violence, the organizers offer a more intimate experience here, whether it's sexual or nonsexual. Maybe you just want a good cuddle..? The organizers emphasize the idea of consent, and will not force anyone against their will into the hedge mazes, no matter which one it is. They also want to make sure that they will step in to help if called upon, in case someone gets a little too overeager. Witches looking to use magic this night will, peculiarly, find that their magic is a little less... cooperative. Many of the Coven Witches speak of how they specifically wait to cast powerful spells on the night of the full moons, to ensure that they have the greatest chances of success with the help of the Sisters. However, Witches of the new arrival persuasion are much weaker on full moons. Their magic is still there, and they can still draw upon it for spells, but they'll have to put greater effort if they want to cast a spell with any significant amount of power. Overexerting oneself while doing this is entirely possible, so it's best to try and find some sort of balance, lest you find yourself exhausted and without a means to defend yourself. We ask that any and all NSFW threads be marked accordingly, or otherwise moved to a locked post on the log community or an entry/inbox on a character journal. Remember to please be excellent to each other, and respect all limits that your threadmates might have, if you explore the more sexual or violent aspects of the offered prompts. If things get OOCly out of hand, please let us know; if things get ICly out of hand, please let Nessie and Mhairi know.

II. LITHA - IUNERIL 21ST TO 23RD Despite what chaos there might have been on the night of the full moons, and the subsequent day after as things began to calm, Litha still arrives as scheduled on Iuneril 21st, as the sun begins to set. The summer solstice reaches its peak the following night, and the festivities wind down the third dusk. While certainly still lively, it isn't as completely festive as Boaltinn, most certainly because of the red skies, and the natives are obviously trying to make the best they can of what they perceive as a poor situation. To say that the natives are on edge would certainly be an understatement. Whatever happened in those hedge mazes is untraceable, now, and everything looks pristine. Faerylights decorate every awning, overhang, and eave, magical and twinkling with colors to offset the red skies. There are no bonfires, this go around, but much like the fires it seems that the lights all lead to the primary area of celebration: in contrast to Boaltinn, Litha is celebrated in the Entertainment, Shopping, and Harbor Districts. Doors to businesses are wide open (with many even having large signs indicating VAMPIRES WELCOME HERE - those that don't make a clear statement), and stalls offering wares and foods and activities alike are set up at nearly every corner alongside preestablished businesses in the market. The harbor is especially lively, with many sailors coming and going as they prepare for setting sail. While ships themselves are always coming and going in the port, Litha is an important time for the more longterm voyages and those meant to carry some significance, and each ship departing is bid farewell with equal fanfare. Fireworks and celebration that is, at least in some part, genuine, but does carry a certain level of enthusiasm that borders on force of will. a. ASKING FOR A LITTLE COMPANY Though all businesses in the Entertainment District open their doors for the festivals of Aefenglom, the brothels of the city in particular are offering a warm welcome this Litha to anyone who might be interested in spending some time with someone - or, multiple someones. They have open rooms for mingling, lounges with floor pillows and low tables where customers can partake in spiced and unspiced drinks alike, where the unspiced are lacking in the potions and near-aphrodisiacs of the spiced drinks. Private rooms are also available for those seeking a more... intimate experience, however one may take that to mean. The brothel workers are more than happy to attend to any interested parties, but also aren't against randomly pairing individuals up, based on their specifications. And, after a little misunderstanding regarding their classes, the Head Madame of the guild has decided that they will be offering chances for individuals to perform at their establishments. She was rather charmed by the mishap, bless your souls, as were the rest of the guild, so the new arrivals have endeared themselves to the brothel workers. Dances, conversation, assorted busking - whatever skills that their quest-takers learned, whether it be of the more sexual nature or not, they'll provide whatever they might need to put on a show and attract or entertain clientele. b. I'M WISHING FOR THE ONE I LOVE Anyone interested in making their way into the Shopping District will find just as many open doors, as well as numerous stalls interspersed where they weren't before. Vendors hawking their wares and goods like always call out with Litha specials, and businesses set up temporary stalls to draw attention to themselves, with promise of greater bargains and products to be found at their main establishment. There are many that sell spiced foods and drinks, with varying degrees of strength depending on how one wants to feel. Others are selling candles and lanterns, offering a magitech version of a lighter at a steal, depending on how much you purchase otherwise. The largest stalls, and the biggest displays at storefronts, are the flowers though. Every single flower shop in Aefenglom has come out full force, practically painting the district in a myriad of non-red colors as they put their stock on full display. They offer deals for those who wish to buy bouquets for a sweetheart or someone they admire, as well as anyone wanting to make flower crowns for those they care for. Each of the seven largest shops are also handing out a single flower for those partaking in festivities to place under their pillow to dream of future partners, the flower they're typically most well known for; this varies from shop to shop, but the up and coming Rose Bush certainly isn't going to let superstition stop them, and are handing out red roses. It's a bold move, but one that causes the tizzy that they were intending it to. And if one is feeling particularly whimsical, they can go to any well at night, looking into the depths in a bid to see their future spouse and true love within. Perhaps making an offering of a flower would bring good luck..? Just don't linger for too long, as there's a rumor that someone is pushing unfamiliar faces into the well, likely targeting those they think are new arrivals. c. GET LOST WITH ME Though the Harbor District has some bleedover from the Shopping District in terms of festivities, their streets and warehouses are where the most room is available for the hedge mazes. Some are sprawling as they fill the streets and alleys, spilling into the towering buildings that have been empty to load the contents onto waiting ships. They create their own environments, with flowers from the flower shops blooming in the rows and creating archways at entrances and exits. Some are enchanted to seem neverending, although there always is an exit, if one can only figure out the puzzle. Each maze has a different method to its madness, and arrangements that those running them have decided on. (Some faces may seem familiar, to those that encountered them on the full moons; they'll feign otherwise, focused only on the now and refusing to draw attention to any recognition.) Some mazes send in the partners together, randomly selected and tasked with figuring out how to reach the end of the maze together. Others will send the partners in from different ends, with the instructions to find one another, whether in the center of the maze or in its winding path. Another variety offers something reminiscent of the hide and seek meets tag game, tasking one as the hunter and the other as the hunted, a game of pursuit meant to replicate the "playing hard to get" variety of courtship. There's no restrictions on how many times one can enter the maze, as it allows one to forge many bonds - and possibly Bonds - and replicates the process of finding your true love. Or, loves; no one here is going to judge anyone. They certainly won't judge, either, if participants opt to take a swig of something for luck in love before they go in. However, some mazes have been tampered with: rather than opening out into somewhere safe on the street or in a building, they empty out unaware participants into the port itself. Hopefully you know how to swim. Once again, we ask that if any threads take on a NSFW nature that they be marked as such, or otherwise moved to a locked post in the log community or an entry/inbox in a character journal.

Welcome to the event log, part I! While mingling on the log itself is highly encouraged, feel free to make your own logs; take the prompts offered and go wild, go crazy, go stupid, have fun. As ever, if your character is getting into any Shenanigans, let the mods know, and if you have any questions about the log, ask them here!

Comments

[ipseite]

( petrana's smile is enigmatic, to sansa's query, but the elegant elongation of her hands and the unnatural brightness of her eyes underneath the moons' light certainly suggests the shape of the answer. no wings are—yet?—in evidence, but at her wrists there are glimmers of something glittering, and hinted at just at her throat, above the high neckline of her dress.

she will have to catch sansa to drop fae dust in her hair, but even before they begin to move she's confident that she will. she has all of the relevant skills—she's quick, and light on her feet, and accustomed to navigating unexpected obstacles with practised ease, in leaping and landing even upon a moving target (an improbably able horsewoman, but that would probably be cheating)—it's only that she's always before been running away, and not towards.

not after.

as she bolts after sansa, she uses the hedge maze itself to her own advantage; catches a corner and uses it to launch herself into a graceful leap, shoes abandoned at the start, the thudding of bare feet and silken swish of skirts heralding her, and her breath, trained for this, easily sustained. marius had not thought he was molding something that might chase. )

[mislike]

[Sansa Stark knows what it is like to flee, as if her life has depended on it, and while these are not the snowy woods surrounding Winterfell, she does know that for the monsters it's a good release. So she will not be an easy catch. She keeps her steps light, trying to dart and make her path not so predictable.

It's probably the only thing that saves her when the other girl lunges, and Sansa makes to turn quickly, having to pull her arm and make a break for it, trying to go even faster. She turns back with a smile, to see how close she is.]

[ipseite]

( behind her, petrana has—stopped? she seems to be struggling with something, tugging at the laces at the back of her dress, and it isn't clear what sort of difficulty it is that she's having until—

ah.

the wings that burst forth from her back flick stardust violently in their first beats, the remnants of the altered flesh that had trapped them beneath skin, and she swerves uncertainly the first few feet, grasping the edge of the maze itself to stop herself. she rights her angle, kicking off again and not precisely relying on her stumbling, baby deer mastery of new flight but exploiting it to speed herself along with leaps and bounds, clutching her loosened bodice to her bosom with one hand.

she seems quite pleased with this development, immodesty aside. )

[mislike]

[Sansa can hear the girl behind her. It sounds like something shedding before she hears the flapping of her wings, making her turn back to watch. With wide eyes, she sees the girl zooming ahead. There's a soft laugh, a look of amazement of just how pretty the other girl is. She looks like a creature from a story Sansa would have loved as a young girl.

If they were going to use their abilities here, Sansa starts to shoot light into the air to try and distract her enough to dart behind another hedge, inviting the chase eagerly. Sansa is not going to make this easy. After all it is meant to tire the monsters out.]

[ipseite]

( petra's answering laugh is musical, and then delighted at the bolts of light sansa flings behind her—she follows them eagerly, her long fingers stretched before her—inhuman, but beautifully so, leaving a fine trail of glitter behind her as she tries to both reach for sansa ahead of her and hold her garments to her body at the same time.

it's a piece of oddly endearing humanity lingering in the center of all this unreal, fairytale strangeness that slowly but surely remakes them in its image. surely no true fairy creature would still have such concern for its maidenly modesty. )

[mislike]

[Her modesty is not lost on Sansa, and if she were in her place, Sansa would do the same. In some way she wishes she could help her. She's already told Conner she would like to make some clothes with spells and the like sewn in. Perhaps she could make clothes tailored to fae like Petra.

She tries to not be distracted for now though, rushing through the shrubbery, going at it for a little while. Petra will try and burst forward and Sansa darts until they come to the middle where it opens up large and there's no where for her to duck or hide from.]

[ipseite]

( the maze opens up in the center and petra—

does not lunge, immediately. there is a playful edge to the way she skirts and circles, instead, spinning in place with the beat of her wings. a tease, almost, how she flits forward and then past, entirely. )

You see, ( lifting her free hand, where shimmer falls so as to mark her path, ) there are much worse things, than to be the lily gilded.

( sansa is terribly pretty, but wouldn't she be so charming if her hair sparkled with fae dust? )

[mislike]

Does that not mean you still have to catch me first?

[Her laugh is sweet, looking up at Petrana, almost entranced by her. She stands opposite of her, trying to swerve, but the glitter is all in front of her. She has little choice but to run through it anyway.

It moves through her red hair, making it shine even brighter. Each strand seems to shimmer on its own, and she looks up in awe of it.]

It's beautiful.

[ipseite]

( sansa caught in the beauty of her own shimmer—petra catches her, then, taking her by the hands and alighting on bare feet, her skirts swirling around her. )

I think I might have been more afraid, ( candidly, ) but how can such loveliness make one fearful?

( it's what she left behind her that she fears, not what she might be becoming. )

[mislike]

[Her hands are taken and the other girl causes such a sight that Sansa must smile again. She feels younger, like a time before she traveled south to King's Landing. Petrana reminds her of a less fearful Jeyne, a girl she would want to be friends with.]

You are no true monster. Too good and pure for such an image. [Sansa squeezes her hands lightly, face still lighting up.]

[ipseite]

( something about the sharpness of her smile softens, strange and sentimental—

affected, in a way that sansa could not have predicted and cannot yet read the source of in her. how strange that she should have needed to hear it, after all this time. it doesn't settle under her skin naturally, the way it once might have, but it is something to be tucked away and kept for later, when she needs it more. )

We are all of us complicated. No?

( a light thing, with old aches behind it. then— )

But I am Petrana before I am anything else.

( madame de lamorraine, almost exclusively, but it seems to her eye that sansa has certainly earned her given name. )

[mislike]

[She naturally dips low into a curtsy upon getting her name.]

It is well met. My name is Sansa Stark of Winterfell, and I know what you mean. It is important to remember who we are still. Even as magnificent as our changes are.

[And Petrana's certainly are. It's clear Sansa is still taken with her.]

[ipseite]

( it's the small things that betray her, sometimes; that she does not mirror sansa's curtsy, but how natural it is for her to incline her head to acknowledge the courtesy. habitual, to merely accept it as an appropriate gesture of respect. she doesn't quite elaborate, )

Petrana de Lamorraine has changed before, ( with a hint of sharp wryness, huge eyes seeing past sansa, somewhere else. some other when. ) Perhaps less visibly.

( no less—dramatically. she might not call it magnificent; she thinks marius would like the word a great deal. )

A long time ago I was of Cedoux. I think we always remember the things that made us.

( they sound like the same thought. she allows it to stand as if they are. )

[mislike]

Cedoux? [It's not a word she knows, but it's a concept she's aware of. Being one thing and then changing.]

When I was younger I did not want to be what I was. It was only after years that I fought to return to who I once was. I took it for granted.

[And it seems she is fighting to return home once again.]