EVENT LOG: Strangers Waiting

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✦ STONE FESTIVAL SOIRÉE ✦

... And when my good dream came to an end, I woke up more than ready to bend ... Full Game Navigation

Watch on YouTube Who: All player characters What: The Stone Festival Soirée that marks the end of the celebration When: July 4th Where: Krajina Božstiev Rating/Warnings: Warn in subject lines, please i. Arrival Everyone has been preparing for this day, fussing with hair and makeup, obtaining fancy clothes and shoes, and perhaps even finding a way to make their entrance in style. This is the night everyone’s anticipated, and some of the Different may even think it’s the night they’ve earned. Upon entering the grounds of the castle, the Different who are attending the soirée, along with all the others from this universe who are attending, are met by the court jester, who greets them with a tip of his hat. "Good eve to you, good personage, and welcome to the annual Stone Festival Soirée here in Krajina Božstiev! We do hope the amenities and the environment of the party will delight your senses and engage your spirit." With a deep bow, after the jester checks for invitations, he lets the invitee in. There are more performers and entertainers than just the jester here in this courtyard, the Different begin to realize. It practically has the same ambiance as a circus: trained elephants follow their trainers and perform here and there, standing on their back feet; sword-swallowers jeer with fire-swallowers as these entertainers vie for the audience’s attention; acrobats and jugglers perform from small stages at opposite corners of the courtyard. They are obviously proud of their craft, and happy the corruption has ended—their performances are delivered with genuine and grateful smiles. Hats or baskets are set in front of each performance area for tips. And the patrons of the party appear, so far, to have been generous. The baskets are overflowing with bills and coin. At the back of the courtyard, past the entrances to the castle, there is another jester holding court. The jester’s hat isn’t sitting out collecting money, however; no, the jester reaches toward the audience, where he is collecting the semi-precious teardrop-shaped stones that people collected earlier in the week, one by one. With a momentary sleight-of-hand, the jester makes the stone disappear. And should the stars align, the jester will grant them a wish. Between these pronouncements, the jester’s tricks include fireworks, rising into the air and popping with a delightful shower of sparks. The astute will notice that most of the wishes that are being granted are related to the soirée itself—wishes for dance partners, reunions, special treats to be consumed, or an emotional feeling of completion. Should your character truly desire something that would affect the soirée positively, they should choose wisely. Just one wish will be granted per customer. ii. Food It's when the people who have come to the party enter the castle that they find that the ambiance has become more formal and contained. This is the location of a sumptuous feast filled with delightful foods of all kinds; from finger foods fit for a charcuterie plate, to heftier cuts of meat—a boar with an apple in its mouth, a side of beef, goose, lamb, rabbit, and fowl; from fruits such as grapes, apples, oranges, and plums, to nuts, cheeses, and dishes of honey; from basically anything you could possibly think of to anything you could desire. This is the party to end all parties in Krajina Božstiev, after all. In addition to the food, the wine and mead are flowing. Settle in at a table after choosing whatever you want to eat and drink, and the party hosts will keep everything you desire coming to you. Whatever you need to sate your pleasures. iii. Dancing The dance floor is in the next room, and if decorations can be described as ‘sumptuous’ well, that’s what these are. Silken buntings festoon the walls, with dangling ribbons and flowers trailing from each join in between them. Crystal chandeliers dangle from the ceiling with candlelight bouncing in between them as the bodies move on the dance floor. There are many styles of dance represented here, from the more traditional, to the more interpretive, to the casual. And among the beaming faces, characters might see some familiar ones—Nádej and Strach and all the other gods. No one at the party seems to be taking any particular note of them. The gods don’t seem inclined to speak this time around—they just hand your character another of the teardrop-shaped stones and move on. The opportunity to couple up here is constant, and it’s important to plan ahead. Do you want to dance with him during the slow dance, and with her during the faster one? Make sure to choose wisely. iv. End of the Night Things are winding down now. One by one, the candles are being snuffed out, the plates and the glasses are being cleared—even the smiling performers in the courtyard are going home. It seems this is your signal to make your way home. Only one way for that to be done, at least until you make your way to New York City—you have to walk. So join your fellow travellers as they make their way—you might learn something new about them. Points Bonus Participation in this log will grant a special points bonus: Top-leveling: 2 points The first 5 tags in a thread in other character's top-levels: 2 points

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Comments

[chenqing_player]

Arrival

Wei Wuxian stands in a crowd, dressed in a flamboyant red jacket, with black skinny dress pants. This is a party and he likes to have a touch of sparkle. He stands there watching the various performers as they do their art. It's a colorful and exciting sight. When they finish he applauds enthusiastically, always appreciative of fellow performers. As he gets to the jester, he tosses one of his extra stones and wishes for a bottle of the worlds finest wines.

It's fun to just lazily walk through the area towards where the rest of the event is occurring.

Food
This is more food then he has seen in a long time. He has enjoyed trying everything and that big bottle of wine ends up finding it's way to him. Looks like his wishes have come true. He grins as he pours it into a glass and gives it a first taste. It certainly is a very good wine.

"Does anyone else think that this place throws better parties then most of the ones back home?"

Dancing
Wei Wuxian leans against the door frame as he watches everyone dancing around the room. His type of dancing is far different from what he is watching right now and generally doesn't involve a partner, but he is a quick study and that is what he is doing right now. He's studying the dancers and learning the dance moves so if he decides to join in then it will be easy.

Dancing

[bearshermark]

Elliott thanks his dance partner and weaves his way out of the crowd toward the familiar face lingering outside of it.

"Hey," he says with a grin and an offered hand. "Surely you don't plan to be a wallflower all night."

[chenqing_player]

"I was learning the moves of this place. Might as well know the dances before jumping right in." And he has already figured out the core to several of the dances. He reaches out and takes the offered hand. "But I think I'm ready to put them into practice.

[bearshermark]

"Fair enough!"

Elliott lets his partner decide whether or not he wants to lead, content with anything so long as he gets to dance.

"I spent some time practicing on the sidelines myself earlier, but practicing with partners has definitely helped me improve faster."

[chenqing_player]

"I've not done a lot of dancing with a partner." Well..club dancing hardly counts. That's more just mindless movements, usually when drunk. And what he does on stage is usually either just him or with a few backup dancers. No real interaction between the two. So this kind of dancing is a little outside what he is used to. But he is a quick study.

"But the key to all dancing is just to have fun." He moves easily into the lead position.

[bearshermark]

Elliott is perfectly happy to follow, smiling all the while.

"It really is. Might even be my new favorite way to talk to people. Wish there were more opportunities at home to dance with everyone."

[chenqing_player]

"There are plenty of opportunities! Clubs, parties, just go to a park and join in with street performers. Dancing is everywhere if you know where to look. And if you can't find it, then it's time to host your own party and invite people to dance."

Wei Wuxian would gladly dance with anyone, anytime, anywhere. Even if he doesn't know the dance, he's pretty good with figuring things out on the fly.

Wildcard

[inquiryguqin]

His flamboyant bright red jacket is hard to miss. Among the crowd, Lan Wangji was watching the performers and the Jester was entertaining everyone. It was then the Jester took his stones. After Lan Wangji made his silent wish, probably an impossible one, he is uncertain if wishes do come true. It was then he noticed him. The red jacket is hard to miss.

Pushing his glasses up, "Hello. Did the Jester took your stones?"

[chenqing_player]

"He did. I had extra ones so I don't mind tossing away one for a chance to have a good bottle of wine."

Wei Wuxian didn't see any point in holding on to any more then the full set in his possession.

"What did you wish for?"

[inquiryguqin]

Lan Wangji blinks incredulously, then curious. "Do you like wine so much?"

At his question. He thought about it. "Oh. As for that, I wished for friends. Real good friends. I don't wish for much. It's hard to have friends when I could have everything I could ever want if I asked my father."

[chenqing_player]

"I like all alcohol. I just figured with how this place looks, wine would be a specialty of theirs. I will find out if my wish comes true."

He looks at the other man and wrinkles his nose a little. He doesn't know much about family but it sounds like this one is a bit of a rich kid.

"You shouldn't really have to wish for friends. I mean you already have them with the rest of the different."

[inquiryguqin]

He couldn't be anymore right that he's a rich kid. "I can't drink. But I had a lot of vintage wines back home. My father has a collection of them in his cellar." He sighs. Still, he'll remember that this one likes wine and maybe he'll give one to him someday.

Lan Wangji shook his head. "No...It's hard to get to know the other different." He said wistfully. He realized he spoke too much and this one wouldn't understand either. "Money can buy a lot of things, but not happiness. That's why my wish."

Waving a hand, changing the subject, "Anyway, I heard there's a dinner inside the castle. Are you going?"

[chenqing_player]

Definitely a rich kid. Polar opposite of the orphan who grew up playing on the streets. He shoves his hands in his pockets and looks towards the area where everyone seems to be heading to.

"I'm not one to turn away a party and free food. Especially considered we may have helped this party happen." They did free the one god after all. And although he wasn't around to assist with the second, apparently they were successful.

Food

[darkforcerising]

"At least the food," Anakin said.

He'd been to a few music festivals that had left his head spinning for days, but the food was incomparable.

"New goal, figure out how to make enough money to hire a chef to cook for me every day."

[chenqing_player]

Wei Wuxian points his finger at Anakin with a nod. Now that is a brilliant idea.

"Maybe we all need to just move in together and pool our finances. Big banquet style meals every day.

[darkforcerising]

Anakin shook his head, laughing. "No one wants to be a roommate with me. My habits are way too weird."

[chenqing_player]

"I'm pretty sure I can handle anything you throw down. So hit me with it..what weird habits would scare away your roommate potential?"

Wei Wuxian puts on an interviewer voice as if conducting a formal study of what goes into a good roommate.

[darkforcerising]

Anakin should have seen that question coming but he doesn't want to go into detail about what it meant to live with ADHD and PTSD and all the habits he'd picked up from poverty and being in the military.

So he just smiled and shook his head.

"Are you enjoying the party?"

[chenqing_player]

Wei Wuxian grew up in an orphanage. He's seen it all and wouldn't be surprised by anything. He understands not wanting to go into the details though and looks around at the shenanigans around him.

"What's not to like? Free food, good music, plenty of entertainment. I may work in a party atmosphere every day but nothing beats this kind of gathering."

Arrival

[howkickassiam]

York sees Xian from a distance in the courtyard and smiles, heading straight for him. He's dressed in a blue garment he'd bought on this side of the portals that resembles an Indian kurta, with white linen pants and brown dress shoes. He sees Xian drop a stone in the jester's hand and, having newly arrived, gives Xian a questioning look when he arrives by his side.

"I figured you'd want to save those," he says.

[chenqing_player]

He looks over and lets out an appreciative whistle and wink at the other man. "Don't you clean up nicely," He teases as he turns to him.

"I have a whole set of these things at my apartment. Might as well give back a couple of my duplicates." But don't ask him to break up his set which he has figure out how to display nicely on a shelf in his bedroom. "Besides, if it gets me a bottle of this world's best alcohol, it's worth the trade."

[howkickassiam]

He hadn't heard the jester's spiel about wishes.

"Wait, they're giving away alcohol?" he says. "Or you just mean you are going to have some later?"

[chenqing_player]

"If you give the man a stone, he will grant a wish. I figured it was worth a shot and I don't really have anything else I could wish for." Except maybe for the memories to stop but he would rather not waste a stone on something that is impossible.

He produces another of his doubles from his pocket. "I have one more if you want to take a chance."

[howkickassiam]

"Oh, sure," he says, taking it. He drops the stone in the jester's hand next time he makes the pronouncement about wishes.

With a grin, he turns and bows slightly at Xian. "You want to go in? Or watch some more acts?"

[chenqing_player]

He grins at the bow, "You're the one who just got here. I wouldn't want to tear you away from enjoying the show."

He knows there is a lot of food in their future but it doesn't seem like they have to rush to it. From what he has seen there is plenty and enough to feed everyone in this village twice.