Blackmoon Celebration

[travelagency]

Who: Misc
What: Blackmoon
When: M6 D14 (July 10th) - M6 D17 (July 13th)
Where: All around the resort and village
Notes & Warnings: Up to players to put in subjects

OOC: This is a log post for the celebration for general mingling during the celebration (log and network posts are also still very welcome). Just tag into a starter and ask questions if anything is unclear.

Comments

Parade

[travelagency]

The parade is heard before it’s seen. Six drummers banging in practiced unison. Then come the ribbon bearers, carrying sticks with long paper streamers tied to them. They rustle and hiss in mimicry of the sound of spiders, the silver streamers themselves like webs.

And then following behind are the spider dancers, four people in each of the many spiders, each of the four making the legs, the head, the thorax move and bounce with the beat of the drums. The music swells dramatically, and then, at a climactic moment -- POP! Hissssssss. Streamers burst forth from the "spiders" into the crowd. Locals and tourists alike shriek with surprise and glee, and children duck to scoop up candy tied to the ends of the streamers.

The parade will repeat this performance as it progresses down the street.

[likeaswift]

[Smiley's way home has been blocked by the parade.

He puts up with it in quiet, patient suffering, all the way through the business with the streamers. As small children push past him and revelers elbow him casually in their passage, he pauses to disentangle a streamer that has somehow gotten caught in his glasses.]

[timesbureaucrat]

[Narvin doesn't notice Smiley in the crowd. Right now he's intent on looking for someone who appears out of place, or nervous. He's scanning the people, some jostling to see the parade others pushing their way through the assembled masses. Smiley, in contrast, appears normal, a face dismissed as nobody of importance.

If there is a terrorist, Narvin hasn't spotted a likely suspect yet, but his eyes continue to dart ceaselessly hither and thither as he watches the proceedings with not even a pretense of enjoyment on his features.]

[likeaswift]

[Smiley at this point hasn't gotten the streamer in the face yet; he's only just left his shop, but the streets are slow going with the festivities going on.

He notices Narvin a short distance away—recognising him first as another newcomer to the town. But he also notices the man's alertness, as if he's looking for someone. He knows that look.

He watches a little longer, then catches Narvin's eye and raises a hand in greeting.]

[timesbureaucrat]

[The bookseller is waving in his direction. Narvin turns around, wondering if there's someone behind him waving back. No. No, Smiley appears to be waving at him. He nods once, returning the greeting, then, after a last glance at the crowd ambles over.]

Mr. Smiley. Enjoying the festivities?

[Even as he talks, his eyes start to drift away. Half his mind on keeping up pleasantries, the other half still stuck in surveillance.]

[likeaswift]

Mr Narvin.

[A shrug.]

It's all very well, I suppose.

[In other words: not really.]

Yourself?

[timesbureaucrat]

Crowds. Chaos. [It's a security nightmare, he thinks but doesn't say.]

It isn't my idea of fun.

[There isn't much that's Narvin idea of fun, really.]

[likeaswift]

[Smiley actually chuckles. His impression of Narvin is that the word "fun" is scarcely a part of his vocabulary.]

Nor mine, in all honesty. An eclipse seems like a rather peculiar event to celebrate.

[vengeance_driven]

[A hand clad in a fingerless driving glove reaches out to catch the streamer, catching it in his grip until it's disentangled. And that hand is connected to a lanky limb that's attached on the opposite end to stupidly grinning Serb who's hard face hasn't ever been made for smiling like a reasonable person. At least, despite finding it funny that somehow the spider has managed to catch Smiley in his "web", he is helping.]

How did you manage this? [He asks with a laugh.]

[He's finally relatively well dressed. A light gray turtleneck and a dark suit that make him look a little like an Eastern European Steve McQueen if his nose was a little kinder to him in size and his ears didn't stick out just a touch too far.]

[likeaswift]

I've no idea. Wrong place and wrong time, I expect.

[He takes off his glasses and polishes them on the fat end of his tie. Without his glasses, his face looks vulnerable, oddly weak. Then the glasses go back in place and he seems—not stronger, exactly, but back in his skin again.]

Thank you.

[The man's accent has not escaped his notice.]

[vengeance_driven]

[He snorts another laugh, feeling a little sorry for the old man. Being far away from home is hard, and Niko is still relatively young. It must be even more difficult for him, and Niko recognizes him from one of their lot.]

Hey, my cousin has this. If he would bet on that, maybe he actually make money when he gambles, ah? Come on, is better off the street.

[There's a cafe without every table filled up for the moment. Everyone is distracted by the well lit ceremony and as much as Niko can like this sort of atmosphere he's also not looking forward to encountering the real things when he goes back out into the wilderness.]

[likeaswift]

[Smiley hesitates a moment, and then ducks into the café after the other man. No point in dragging Cold War anxieties into this place, and he wants to get out of the crowd for a little while anyway.]

I understand there's two more days of this.

[vengeance_driven]

Oh man. [Niko pulls up a seat, but seems to conveniently pick one with a straight route out the back and a clear line of the front. It probably doesn't help Smiley's anxieties but it's an unshakable habit.]

[But he's grinning when he sits.]

You would not have done well at a Balkan wedding. It is basically this loud for three days, except getting progressively drunker. More drunk. Whichever. But at least the families have seen each other be stupid and know what they are in for when the party's over.

[endsorrow]

[Oh, look. It's Braska! -- Is it? It has to be. The robes he's wearing take up the same amount of space as his summoner robes, but they're black with spiderweb designs laced all across it in a rainbow of colors, catching the light and -- yes, sparkling. Oh. And he's wearing one of those ridiculous spider hats, the biggest he could find.

And he's dancing.

Sometimes, he's dancing with little children, holding their hands as they jump about, carrying them on his shoulders so they can catch candy-tied streamers. Sometimes, it's with someone who looked a little too lonely in the crowd, coaxing a smile however he can. He'll even singing along with the music, even if he doesn't know the words. Or if it doesn't have words.

But sometimes, he's dancing by himself like a doofus, waving his hands in the air or doing a stupid-looking hip-wiggle that makes the legs on his spider hat bounce over-enthusiastically. ... and makes little spider toys and souvenirs fall out of his pockets. JeezM.u<, just how many of those things has he bought?

So: If you're someone who's looking a little too lonely in a crowd? He might just be popping up over your shoulder to say,] Good evening, my friend. Would you like a piece of candy? This one is, I believe, strawberry-flavored.

[Or, you know. You can approach him and tell him just how horrendous his dancing is. Or you can not be a spoilsport and come and dance with him.]

[folkscallmewander]

I love your robes!

[An accented voice comes from below. Wander could not notice the dancing man playing with small children. Especially with the sparkling clothes.

Wander's pulls back his spider mask as he looks up at Braska, wiping off his face the crumbs of a snack hastily eaten before running over here.]

Didja make 'em yourself?

[He then starts moving from side to side, getting into the rhythm of the music and starts dancing with the energy of a 5-year-old.]

[endsorrow]

[oh, no, it's time for Wander to discover the truth about Braska's wardrobe]

Thank you very much, my friend, [Braska answers warmly.] I'm afraid not! I've hardly got enough talent to make something so wonderful. I had them tailored specifically for me today.

[Braska is going to join you in the dancing, Wander. He certainly doesn't seem to care at all how silly he might appear.]

[folkscallmewander]

[Silly dancing just means you're having fun!]

Really? Then they are so good at makin' beautiful clothes! [A bit disappointing, as now a professional work doesn't have the time to teach him advanced sewing techniques, but Wander reminds himself that at least he learned of a tailor in town.]

You really got into the spirit of Blackmoon!

[endsorrow]

Aren't they just? [♥] If you'd like, I could take you to the tailor once they're open again.

[Braska laughs.] I'm afraid can't help myself when it comes to celebrations like this.

[folkscallmewander]

Oh, thank you, sir! I do a bit of sewin' myself, but nothin' this fancy!

Aren't parties the best? There's so many people, and music, and food, and everyone's havin' a good time!

Parade

[ewestmarch]

Besides the children, there's a massive alien scooping candy off the sidewalks. It's wrapped in a cloak but towers over them, easily big enough to pick up a child in one hand if it wanted to.

Flies buzz around it. It drips a mixture of red and brown, and parents are herding their children away from it. It seems to be ignoring them.

Parade

[most_feared]

Jesus goddamn H Christ the third that was a hell of a smell. Kay cut his way through the crowd to see what was going on, just in time to witness the horror happily plucking up candy.

A child briefly approached it, black eyed and smooth skinned, and flicked out a long tongue to catch a fly before its wary mother ushered it away as well. Welp.

"Hey uh... I think we're gonna have to get you something to keep that mess from dragging." Like a pair of monstrous wading pants. Something.

Parade

[ewestmarch]

The alien rumbles, quizzically, and turns its hood to face the new human. It extends a palm like a fleshy hubcap and offers Kay some sticky candy, covered in a substance definitely no one should be consuming.

Re: Parade

[most_feared]

[That is not at all pleasant, but Kay gives him a kind, if slight and long-suffering, smile and just says-] No thank you, but that's very nice of ya. [ Then he motions him away from the sidewalk, more towards a patch of grass.]

Hey, if you come over here I'll go get you somethin' better than the candy. [And then he can call for the proper clean-up. He knows this isn't the only slimy alien around just... probably one of the more rancid ones.]

Parade

[ewestmarch]

Better than candy? Is this possible?

It lumbers over obediently, wading through children that duck under its legs. The ones that touch the ooze will be violently ill later, more than likely, but for the most part it doesn't understand that. Then it pops a mint in its mouth, wrapper and all. Candy. ♥

Re: Parade

[most_feared]

[He gets on his communicator as the big guy lumbers over and quickly calls someone to bring a big pair of waterproof hip waders and a clean-up bot pronto. It doesn't seem like it is doing this on purpose it's... just... really goddamn unfortunate. He can't even imagine what the hell happened to this big poor man.]

[He reaches into his coat and puts on a pair of rubber gloves, before pulling out the communicator again.]

And a piece of chocolate cake. Bring a piece of chocolate cake. Make it fast.

[And then he puts his hands in his pockets, watching as it stuffs it's mouth with candy.]

They'll be right here with it. So are you enjoyin' the celebration here, big guy?