Welcome Festival | Day 01 | Earth Sector | OPEN

[hazelwood]

Characters: You! And you! Even you!
Location: Earth Sector
Situation: The first day of the Welcome Festival is underway and there's plenty of things to see and do!
Warnings/Rating: Fun and frolicking! To be updated if actual warnable material occurs.

OOC Details:
>The IC festivities begin at dawn and close two hours after sunset, at which point the kedan clean up the Sector while the next is being prepared.
>Each major area/activity has a header thread started that you can tag into in. People can then respond to you and the party can begin!
>A header thread for OTHER is available for any festival-related interactions not covered by the rest.
>No one is limited to starting just one thread! If you want to have your character partake of the food and the lanterns? Start a thread in each!

EARTH SECTOR:
Lieuen kicks off the six-day festival at dawn in the Earth Sector, where the meticulously laid streets and carved sculptures have been cleaned and polished to a beautiful sheen.

Hardy rickshaws pulled by kedan wearing bright yellow and green hats have been scattered throughout the sector to offer free guided tours for single and double occupants. Alas, they cannot provide a bird's eye view, but trust these informed guides to know all the fairest shops and most interesting sights, from the famous Polished Fountain (where a flow of sand wears the edges of gravel and carvings into a beautiful sheen) to the little nooks and crannies from which some of the most skilled weavers work their craft.

Festivalgoers are reminded that four gangs operate out of the Earth Sector and that one should always mind their pockets and prizes lest they be stolen away. The Alderwood Commander has increased the police presence in the sector for this day and there have been confirmed sightings of him at work during one or two larger altercations. Common crimes that might occur run to the theme of pickpocketing and alleyway muggings, which can be reported to the nearest officer for immediate tracking and/or apprehension of the suspect. Should two or more characters get into an large-scale altercation, be it with NPCs or one another, please advise Alex (reignsdown or gmail or aim) for intervention/dispersal as a result of the increased police presence.

FAIR:
The economic heart of the Earth Festival lies in the narrow streets that crowd around the portion of Keeliai's center that falls under the Sector's influence. Streets that are generally wide enough to permit the passage of carts have been overtaken by small stalls, spread carpets, and dozens of mercantile displays showcasing the beautiful textiles and carvings that the local kedan are known for.

Today is the day for festival fashion by the sight of the Sector's seamstresses and tailors with their many designs laid out of viewing. Narrow alleyways have been transformed into sizing and dressing corridors for those who wish to try before they buy or to have something crafted. Styles are reminiscent of hanfu, cheongsam, or changshan, but the skilled kedan may tailor something more specific with a hint of inspiration and for the right price.

Wise to the fact that most foreigners have only their twenty juulan allowance and six days of festivities to enjoy, the fair-minded kedan are open to both bartering and arrangements to be paid once their customers have received compensation for their daily three hours of work. Careful though! Credit is carefully measured out and the Earth Sector businesses expect you to hold up your end of the bargain the moment you earn the juulan with which to do it.

FOOD:
Bordering the fair, where the streets widen the deeper one goes into the sector, are the food stalls can be found with plentiful selections of dried meats and a variety of cheeses as the main theme. Some adventurous kedan have hot food on the ready, from steamed buns to rice mixed with meats and vegetables.

There is less liquor in the Earth Festival than some might prefer as the sector is not one of excess. Ales and lagers are the flavour of the day, all of it carefully measured and dispensed to those characters that are considered adults back on their world. Careful when it comes to lying about your age, for underage drinking is a criminal offense on the part of the server and the customer here!

Food and drink are, for the most part, free. Customers found to be returning frequently or abusing the gifts will be charged minor amounts to recoup the unexpected additional costs that comes with feeding hardier metabolisms.

LANTERNS:
Three city blocks on the main merchant's strip of the Earth Sector have been temporarily transformed into a hive of crafting activity. Here the kedan and foreigners are not only welcome, but are encouraged to make round paper lanterns to decorate the sector. Bamboo frames and rice paper are easily accessed in this area, with the paper tinged to browns, greens, and yellows to highlight the earthy tones of the area.

While the lantern-making is a center of interest and activity, the kedan involved are not as raucous at other sections of the festival. There's a degree of reverence to the lanterns and, if asked, the kedan explain it as being both a celebration of the Sector's life and a tribute to its history.

ACTIVITES & CHALLENGES:
All activities available during the Earth Festival are themed to solidity and strength, so get those biceps flexing and come out the carving parks! Typically large, open areas for the display of newly finished sculptures (and home to weekly markets for smaller textiles), these spaces have been cleared to lay out a dozen tables in each for one-on-one arm wrestling with kedans both participating and playing as referee.

Mats are also laid out for informal wrestling between kedan and foreigners, with referees on hand to call points and fouls. There are two or three such spreads in each park and each of them is monitored by at least one law enforcement officer to ensure that no one crosses the line from wrestling the assault.

The most popular event in the Earth Festival happens to be team-based tug-of-war hosted in the largest park of the Sector. Lieuen had a thick rope woven specifically for this event that is capable of withstanding incredible levels of tension without breaking. Twin platforms have been erected over a mud pit built and watered specifically for this event. Teams can be arranged ahead of time or participants can be assigned a spot just prior to a round, with a maximum of five members per team. The rules are simple: The team pulled off the platform and into the mud loses and the winning team stays on as champion (for a maximum of five rounds before they must win their spot again).

PRIZES:
Lieuen has tasked two dozen kedan to wander the festival, dispensing prizes to all characters that participate in the activities outlined above or who simply make an appearance in the Earth Sector today! Identified by the same unique hats as the rickshaw guides, they can be seen giving out (at random) the following:

>Handcrafted fans
>Palm-sized stone carvings of Tu Vishan
>Woven wallets/coin envelopes
>Small bags filled with dried ginger-like candies
>Juulan (1-3)

This is not a long or involved process to obtain, believe it or not! Characters that appear during the Earth Festival, be it in this post or another IC means (example: network posts), are eligible to receive one of the prizes listed above. No mod approval or intervention required!

(Stay tuned for each sector's festival, as it is rumoured the prizes will change for each sector. Characters that participate in one festival and received a prize can receive prizes in the other sector festivals as well!)

Comments

[demon_brat]

[Look, Damian's been getting better about the disguises thing. He's definitely not trusting himself enough to participate in the challenges, but there is really little suspicious about a kid wandering about the festival. He even has a snack in his hands.

Of course, somebody more observant will notice how his eyes, instead of wide with wonder, are narrowed and missing very little. Or that he is not eating the snack, it's just there in his hands as a decoy. Or that he still keeps a little to the shadows, what there is of those, instead of being attracted by the bright spots.

But one would have to be rather observant to notice all of those.]

[cowled]

[Observation is his middle name.

Right up there with 'douchebag', 'collector of pubescent boys' and 'why the fuck aren't you in therapy you asshole'.

But it's mostly just 'observation'.

In the absence of his uniform, he's decided to crash the party as Bruce Wayne: entrepreneur. He's pressed the water out of his suit, and is chatting his way through little cliques of kedan, feeling out the territory as he goes. Bruce Wane has no interest in it, of course, but Batman-- well.

That's another story.

He drifts through the activities, not truly participating in anything, but he watches each for a while, filing away the necessary information. He and Tim have coordinated well enough that he isn't particularly worried about watching his back. If anything comes to a fight, he'll bring it into the shadows.

He's on the lookout for the two other people present from his world. Kon, for whom he feels responsible, and-- Damian.

His son.

It may never stop being strange to apply that term to someone that carries his blood. Bruce still isn't certain what to do with the boy. They barely know each other. They met only shortly before he was thrown into time during the fight with Darkseid, and the only contact they've had since his return was-- Bruce watching Dick and Damian in that warehouse.

He frowns a little, mostly to himself. By his estimation, the boy's come a long way since their first meeting, but he suspects that's mostly Dick's gentler hand at work. By comparison, he's not sure he's up to the task. Odd thought.

Still, he watches for him. And when he sees him, picks him effortlessly out of the crowd. He doesn't make a move, though. He'll let Damian come to him.]

[demon_brat]

[Damian has spent hours and hours and hours watching footage of the man. In costume (much less footage, Father is very good at taking out cameras he's aware of) and out. Under his mother's... care, it was a requirement. After that, it was all that he had, of the person he wanted to become like. Of the one person he wants to call of his blood. Of the greatest teacher he's had.

More recently, he's been slightly less obsessive about it. He's been by his side in (ill-resulting) action, and he's caught some of the conversations Father and Grayson have had, though, and that makes up for it.

In short... it takes very little for his attention to be caught.

Of anyone, Father is the last person he expects to see here. Maybe it shouldn't be - if he's been snagged, maybe Father's presence makes sense - but the fact remains that the recognition is like a jolt through him.

His first reaction is to disappear. Fade in the crowd, and disappear in the shadows around a corner, away from the main throng, for a few moments. Very briefly. He needs a moment to compose himself, and stopping in the middle of a festival will very likely draw attention to himself.

Knowing Father, he doesn't stay out of sight long. Within less than two minutes, he is back in sight. In fact, he does approach the man, falling in step beside him.]

Sir.

[cowled]

[Bruce quirks something not quite a smile at Damian, but not exactly anything else. He doesn't have the heart to correct him. What exactly could Damian call him? Father? He's hardly been that. Bruce knows better than anyone how little biology counts towards familial ties, and how much it matters all the same.

And if he's being honest with himself, he knows he's perfectly lousy father material anyway. What he is to Dick and Tim and Cassandra... that's different. That was something nurtured and grown, not suddenly expected or warranted. And frankly, Bruce has no idea how to accept this new role with any kind of grace. He'd rather take on Bane on a bad day.

But he doesn't - can't - stand alone any more. Not in Gotham, and not here. He's spent so much of his life insisting, focusing on nurturing that same feeling of isolation that encompassed so much of who he was when he was ten years old and lately orphaned that it took him being lost in time to realize that for what family he'd lost, he'd gained back tenfold.

Bruce knows he isn't alone. And he's not going to allow his son to grow up thinking he might be.

There aren't many things that can make Bruce feel awkward. But this is inarguably one of them.]

You've grown.

[His voice is calm, neutral. Neither a positive or negative force. He can't... sound fond. He doesn't know the boy well enough for that. But he's trying.]

[demon_brat]

[Damian blinks a little at the strained expression. Then looks ahead. The only reason he used that address is because he was not sure what kind of a game of shadows his Father is playing, and they are out in the public. Acknowledging things in the open... and there are enough sons who call their Fathers sir, aren't there?

Never mind. He's misstepped again. Not for the first time. He can deal with the consequences.

At the words, he frowns. That statement implies longer absence than has been the case... in Damian's immediate recent past. A bit further back, however...]


Not everyone comes here from the same period of... shared experience. I may have had more time to do so.

[As compared to the end of Bruce's most recent major absence.

Giving information so Father can make more informed decision is a good thing, right? Safe territory.

... he swallows slightly, thinking of his return then. Thomas Wayne shooting a pellet into the back of Grayson's skill. The older Batman propping the younger when the latter's control started slipping with pain and brain damage.

Damian makes an effort to control his breathing. He doesn't even know for a fact that it is when Father here comes from. And what is with the random memories springing up, anyway?]

[cowled]

[The important thing to note, Damian, is that it's not your misstep.]

What was happening before you came here?

[He already knows that Damian is from a later point, and Tim as well. But how much later, that's the question.]

[demon_brat]

[THAT is a distinction that Damian is a long way from being able to make. Especially where his father is concerned.]

The main endeavor has went global - incorporated - a while back. You are occupied in Asia, we are dealing with what is necessary at home. Do you... want more details?

[He trusts that Father has a better idea how much of the future he should and shouldn't know.]

[cowled]

Later.

[Interesting, then. Damian is from at least three weeks past his point, and possibly up to six months, given his calculated timeline for Batman: Inc. Asia-- he'd planned to be in Asia recruiting in just under four. Bruce knows all too well that a first plan never survives contact with the enemy, but who is the enemy in this case? Time itself?

His lips quirk, almost in amusement. He's danced that dance once already, thank you.]

For now, I think I'd rather enjoy the festival.

[He thinks of Dick, of Jason and Tim and Stephanie, who have all been at his side at one time or another cracking one-liners and terrible puns and keeping the darkness of his world at bay.

Damian is like him in that he needs that. God, he hopes it's not something biological, predestined. A curse, laid down on his ancestors. He thinks of Annie, but his memories of her are unclear. He can't recall the colour of her eyes, her hair. But he knows her hatred, and how it came down on the Wayne name.

If it's a curse, he's broken it. For himself, if nothing else. He knows it with an absolute and terrible clarity of thought.

Gotcha.]

Your grandfather took me to something very much like these festivals when I was a little younger than you.

[Just before they died. He doesn't add that bit. In a way, it feels like a betrayal, and he thinks of scattered pearls.]

Shall we?

[demon_brat]

[For now, I'd rather enjoy the festival.]

Yes, Father.

[Damian's tone is neutral, and he lowers his head and prepares to fade into the crowd again, leaving his Father to it.

... and then. He is addressed again. And his face turns back up to look at him, control slipping from his features into a slightly surprised, for a brief instant vulnerable... and hopeful oh. Then his expression solidifies again, chasing away the vulnerability, but with slightly less - stoic set to his chin.]

You sad... you said that it was one of the best days of your life. That you didn't often get to spend a whole day with both your parents. You did not elaborate on what you did with them to make it so.

[Then again, that part might have been because Father was talking to Grayson at the time, and, presumably, Grayson knows the details.]

I... usually, when I have been to such festivities, I have been allowed to them with training objectives in mind.

[Yes. That does mean that one Damian way has no idea how to enjoy a festival. He can observe, evaluate, hide, locate people, extract items, defend... and attack. But enjoy? Can he just... follow Father's lead?]

[cowled]

When you're spending time with people who are important to you, it doesn't matter what you're doing. Time is precious, Damian. And we always have less of it than we expect.

[Sometimes it seems like lifetimes aren't enough for everything he wants to accomplish.

He understands Ra's in that. And honestly, Bruce can't say with certainty that he'd never succumb to that end. He likes to think not, but-- even for a man of his intellect, how well can one truly understand all the dark corners of their mind? How many times has he given himself some absolute ultimatum, only to break it on a technicality? He'd sworn he'd never take another Robin after Jason, he'd been adamant about never using a gun--

Live and learn. He ducks his head, smiles just a touch, and puts a hand on Damian's shoulder. That decision, if he ever has to make it, doesn't have any bearing on today.]

You can consider this training, if you think it would help.

[demon_brat]

[Damian spends the first few moments biting off a comment about time management. Because he learned time management pushing to emulate this man. And even if he has done well catching up to him, it's Father saying that's not good enough.

He has to work through that to even register the implication of importance. The implication that Damian Wayne might possibly be among the people important to Bruce Wayne. Of course, it's phrased to suggest more that Father is important to him, which is a fact. But a tiny part of Damian latches on the potential possibility of reciprocation and refuses to let go. The surge of... something that results from it is... very unexpected. And Damian's not even sure what a precise name for it would be. Or that he should allow himself to acknowledge and accept it.

But it's there, and so is Father's hand on his shoulder. Like that one time before he broke the rule. Before he turned into a disappointment. Into a threat, sent to bring Bruce Wayne down, as the stupid zombie clone had said. The hand is on his shoulder again, and it's... it unclenches something in him, a little bit. Something wound too tight, but, what isn't?

He takes a slow breath, and looks up.]

I am still learning about using time for something that is not training or... test of some sort or another. [Patrol counts as test.] And about having more than two people who are important.

[Eyes ahead of him again.] And about not considering one of those two people important, anymore.

But I'm... willing to learn.

[That part is new. It's also easier to accept when it's father saying he should do it.]

[cowled]

[Talia.

Bruce gives Damian's shoulder a light squeeze and then he returns it to his side. His gestures of physical... not affection, but comfort, are few and far between at the best of times, and it's... harder with Damian than with most.]

There was a time when I would have given up everything for your mother.

[He almost did. He'd accepted his role as Ra's' heir, wanted to stay with her, to raise a family together-- even in that life. He'd abandoned Gotham, leaving it to fend for itself for months while he allowed himself that sabbatical of human weakness. For the first time in as long as he could remember he'd permitted himself to want and it had gone down in blood and smoke. He liked to think that it had snuffed out the last vestiges of his love for Talia, but--

A part of him will probably always love her.

He thinks of the women in his life. Talia. Selina. Vicki. Shondra. Diana. Jezebel. He still cares for all of them. Too much, perhaps.

But it's not necessarily a weakness. He understands that now.]

It's all right to care about someone, to consider them important in your life, and disagree with what they do. You shouldn't feel like you have to revoke your feelings for her to fit into my world. Know where you came from, and become stronger for it. Good and bad.

['I shall become a bat'. The echo in his head is almost eerie. For so long he thought it was the dark moments that defined him. Gunshots, a string of pearls, a single street lamp, the knees of his pants stiff and soaked with blood. And they are a large part of him, he can't deny it. But they're still only half of who he is. He's been longer now without them - by decades - than he had with them.

He loves his parents. Their memories are precious to him, but there are other things in his life of equal importance now. He's had his fill of living in the past.]

Who do you want to be, Damian?

[He never asked that question before. Never had the opportunity for it. And he thinks he knows the answer, from having watched Dick and Damian at work. But assumptions have gotten him - even him, with his all his sundry skills - into trouble before.]

[demon_brat]

[Damian's face whips up, not at the removal of the hand, but later. And now there is the anger. At least he keeps his words low. In fact, very low.]

You may not consider it necessary for me to make that choice that way, but she was of a different opinion. I have been proclaimed enemy of the House of al Ghul, and that is after she controlled my body neurally and allowed Slade Wilson to do the same in order to kill Grayson.

[Bruce might be one of the three people who could realize that Damian's voice wavers a tad, at the name. He's done a very good job avoiding thinking of his Batman since coming here. And now his anger has removed that option. It takes a second to return to the conversation at hand, from wondering what is happening to Grayson. If he's missing, back home, or unconscious. What is happening. He's glimpsed his oldest brother's face, through pain and half-consciousness, now and again. He knows Grayson would worry...

Later. Another time.]

Someone who does what needs to be done. Not anyone's whims. Not even mine.

[Not even in answer to a direct question can he bring himself up to say I want to be, not yet.]

[cowled]

[That makes him raise an eyebrow faintly.]

You aren't the only one between us that she's betrayed.

[That's a warning, although he keeps his tone mild. Bruce doesn't even put up with Dick's (generally warranted) angry tirades.]

[demon_brat]

[Something... flicks over his face. All that he allows himself of showing, or even experiencing, that he was hurt. Then he looks straight ahead again, closed down again.]

No. I imagine not.

[Having been betrayed is not the point he was trying to make, either. But does it really matter?]

[cowled]

[... And Bruce just... exhales.

Despite Dick and Jason, Tim and Cassandra, he's still not very good at being a father. The hand nearest to Damian flexes, he curls his fingers in against his palm and then relaxes them with calm deliberation.]

I'm sorry. It's a sore issue. For both of us, it seems.

[demon_brat]

[It takes a moment for the fact that Father. apologized. to him. and meant it. to penetrate Damian's own vicious circle of thoughts and memories and bitterness. But it does.

So he swallows, and some of the shuttering down drains back out from his face and body. And he nods, accepting the apology he doesn't consider himself worthy of.

His voice is much less edged, when he speaks again.]

I meant that... she made me choose. And I chose to return to Gotham, despite the consequences. Chose to stand by my promise [to you, he doesn't add,] and the work you started.

[cowled]

[He doesn't need to add it, Bruce understands all the same. He stops in the street and steps fluidly in front of Damian, dropping into a crouch when he does so. They're still not quite eye-to-eye - Damian is small for his age, though probably not for much longer, if Bruce's own growth is anything he can judge by - but Bruce catches Damian's gaze regardless.]

I wouldn't expect anything less.

[It's not quite I'm proud of you. Damian still has a long way to go before he can earn those words. But it's the first step to them.]

[demon_brat]

[You know that moment when you're rescuing somebody and they've given up and then they realize that maybe they have a chance, after all, and hope sorts of starts cautiously sneaking into their faces, Bruce? You've probably seen it countless times, over the years.

Well.

Now you can see it on the face of your son. Blue eyes widening slightly, and then all of him holding still as the confidence he never expected reaches down to light up all the nooks and crannies inside of him.

Then he lowers his face in a slow nod.]

Thank you, Father.

[cowled]

[Bruce smiles briefly, the expression a little crooked, and he reaches out to muss Damian's hair as he stands. It... was something his father used to do.]

Come on.

[demon_brat]

[If Damian had know what he knows now, when they first met, that's how things might have been, back then. But he didn't know then. For all that he knew about his Father, and he did know a lot, Mother had left him without a clue as to what he expects. What matters to him. It has taken him this long to understand even this little bit. This long and this much loss and damage, for so many.

This feels like a more proper beginning than the one he completely botched.

... and he still cringes lightly at the hair-ruffle. Out of habit. But he doesn't pull away. And he gives another nod, ready to follow. Or fall back in step with Father. His voice... may also hold a trace of enthusiasm. Or anticipation. Both rare in cases not involving either patrol or actual violence.]

Of course.

[Also of course, it's barely been a few minutes after that, Damian carefully paying attention to what Father is doing, what he pays attention to, what makes those faint reactions play on his face, when the boy stills, head canted to one side, and then looks towards one of the side alleys, nearby. Its' not quite a cry for help, but he thinks he heard a dull thump, like stick on skin, and a grunt of receiving pain.

His eyes shoot up to check if Father's caught it, too.]