Event | Summer Jubilee | June 22nd-28th

[ironwood]

Characters: ALL! With special guest appearance by Asti
Date: June 22nd-28th, 2014
Location: Keeliai, all sectors
Situation: To celebrate the six month hatching days of the baby turtles that coincides with the arrival of summer, the kedan are throwing a city wide party! And Asti gifts everyone with a happy dream to make up for the badness plaguing Keeliai lately.
Warnings/Rating: TBA

While the kedan have a complicated and extensive system of writing, a good portion of their folklore is oral tradition and there's one prominent tale that's being told over and over this week. Small variances in the tale do occur from telling to telling but the core of the story goes like this:

Long ago before there were any people in the world, the First Family was made in the sky. Sun, the Mother and Moon, the Father were happy but desired children of their own. They watched all the creatures in the oceans, on the land and in the air and wished they could also have a family but they could not, for they didn't know how and so they were sad. They drifted apart, with Mother the Sun only coming out for part of the time and Father the Moon sometimes disappearing from the sky. Not wanting to see them so saddened, the creatures in all the lands and seas and air gathered together and searched their respective domains for children to give into the sky. From the four corners of the world they came with four children: one for the Dawn, one for the Midday, one for the Dusk and one for the Night. Mother the Sun and Father the Moon were overjoyed! They thanked the creatures of the world and promised they would never again abandon their places in the sky and became the First Family. And for a time, all was well. But Dawn and Midday and Dusk and Night grew older and, as children are wont to do, started asking when they could leave their home in the sky to begin their own families. Their parents were afraid of feeling so alone again if that happened so each year they said, "next year, next year". Eventually the children grew tired of this answer and so, sneaking into the place of the Stars where everything that was known was kept and they cut the end off of Time. The next time that their mother and father went to deny then, the children cried "You cannot say next year, for next year does not exist anymore!" And the Sun and Moon were afraid that if the children went away, then Time would indeed run out and so they agreed that their children could have families of their own, if they stayed and became the Second Family. The children agreed and even today, it is said that they are still waiting for the end of Time to grow back so they can visit other places without everything ending.

OOC INFO & LINKS
Subheaders are for various parts of the event and the rest of the post (not in sub headers) is for general mingling and tagging! Questions relating to the event go HERE.

Adopt-A-Foreigner | The Ritual | Dream A Little Dream | Asti's Blessings | Barbecue | OOC Post

Comments

[peacefullywreathed]

The idea of a week-long festival dedicated solely to family prodded some of Solomon's own scars enough that he avoided the festivities. At least, that was the intention. Then Marcelon had broken into his room very early on the morning of the first day and proceeded to try and drag him out in his bedclothes, chattering all the while about the fun they were going to have.

Solomon had thereafter taken to shadow-walking nearly everywhere. He could, theoretically, take the turtle with him ... but he didn't have to. It wasn't escape. Simply ... avoidance.

Possibly the only benefit was that Marcelon chose to view it as a prolonged game of hide-and-seek, so at least he didn't have an angry turtle following him around.

In a burst of shadows he appeared in the corner least visible from the street, looking irritable and resigned in equal measures. The sudden cool wash of Bakura's ghosts felt both calming and chilly.

"Good morning," he said, eyeing the turtle resting beside Bakura. Would Marcelon think to look for him behind another turtle? Would this turtle actually withhold his location from her? "I don't suppose I can bribe your turtle into forgetting that I'm here?"

[denyamenti]

"What do you think, sheneyat?" Bakura answered, addressing his words to the turtle. "What's your price to be bought?"

I will not tell Marcelon where you are if she does not ask, Emily-Helen replied primly, sensing that was what both men wanted. But I will not lie if she does! And I do not know about prices, but I would like another of those seaweed balls.

"There you have it," the thief answered Solomon with a chuckle. "You're getting a cheap deal, all things considered."

[peacefullywreathed]

"Excellent." Marcelon didn't like asking people for help finding him. She thought it was 'cheating'. Given that she was getting better at finding him at all, Solomon wasn't going to complain about her pride. "Give me a moment."

He glanced around to find a stall selling the seaweed balls and went to buy three, and returned with them in hand. One went to Emily-Helen. One went to Bakura, either to eat or use as a bribe as he wished. Solomon kept the third for himself and sat on Emily-Helen's opposite side, where he would be hidden from casual view, and banished his shadow so it couldn't give him away.

"She's mentioned me to you, I take it?" he asked the turtle longsufferingly, picking at the seaweed-ball. How else would she have known, instantly, why he'd made the request?

[denyamenti]

Bakura accepted the treat but held it in his hands, even as Emily-Helen bit right into hers, though the benefit of telepathic speech meant that she could answer Solomon even as she ate.

We all talk about our persons, she responded, which was both and neither an answer, so apparently she was already picking up Bakura's penchant for evasive conversation.

[peacefullywreathed]

"Of course you do." Solomon rolled his eyes and, since he didn't have the benefit of telepathy, was forced to curtail what little conversation was to be had in order to eat. He hadn't even managed to finish the snack before Marcelon waddled down the street, preening in the attention the passing kedan gave her, and came right up to Emily-Helen and Bakura.

Good day! she chirruped, and then squeezed past her sibling to flop her head on Solomon's lap. Found you! Do I get a prize?

Her tone was, undeniably, smug. And her gaze was, undeniably, on the seaweed-ball.

"No," Solomon said flatly, and continued eating, ignoring her disappointed whine.

[denyamenti]

Emily-Helen immediately shifted so that she was snuggled up right beside Marcelon, apparently liking the closeness of her sibling. You should definitely get a prize! she agreed.

At the unhappy noise, Bakura wordlessly held out his uneaten seaweed ball in front of Marcelon. "Go ahead."

[peacefullywreathed]

Solomon hadn't known turtles could purr, but Marcelon still managed to make some turtlesque facsimile as she cuddled up against Emily-Helen. I think so too. At Bakura's offer she trilled happily and rubbed Bakura's chest, and daintily took the treat out of his hand. Thank you! I like you!

"Don't encourage her," Solomon muttered.

[denyamenti]

"It's mine to do with as I please," is the thief's response, though he doesn't respond to the happy bump of Marcelon's appreciation. The ghosts hummed in the air around them for a moment, but they were sedate and otherwise not reactionary to yet another new telepathic voice intruding in their space.

My person and your person talk to each other sometimes, Emily-Helen whisper-spoke to Marcelon.

[peacefullywreathed]

"Remind me to give you a better gift next time," Solomon said dryly, and wiped off his hands on his handkerchief. He debated, for a moment, shadow-walking elsewhere, but in spite of Marcelon's unwelcome presence it was surprisingly comfortable being nestled in-between a couple of giant turtles with the hum of otherwise sedate ghosts in the air.

It was ironic, actually, how after the ghosts' initial violent reaction Solomon should find them soothing. The fact was that they provided just a touch of a buffer between him and any other deaths in the vicinity, and Solomon wasn't yet so unhinged as to risk making an enemy of Bakura by prodding them unduly.

I know, Marcelon whispered back. I think my person likes being nearby yours. It makes him feel peaceful, sort-of.

[denyamenti]

Is he peaceful? Emily-Helen repeated in surprise, for she'd never thought of any of her people in that way, not just Bakura. Now that he wasn't actively refusing her connection he was certainly less abrasive than before, but also now that she had that connection, she understood his motive a little better. Not completely, but a little. He had lots of little voices that had talked to him already, and he had thought that her voice was going to make the other ones stop talking. So Emily-Helen wasn't supposed to speak at them and they didn't to her, but both to Bakura seemed to be fine. The hatchling thought that it must be very loud inside his mind sometimes however.

"I didn't mind it," the thief replied, even though he'd given the snack away. It was stupid for him to point out that no one in their right mind gave him a gift of any sort, but the note is there. He appears to never fully relax at least in public but he's less overt about it right now, leaning against the sun-warned shell of the hatchlings.

(The same as you used to do with Diabound, Thief King.)

[peacefullywreathed]

My person is aware of many other people dead, Marcelon explained. Being near your person blocks out the sight of them, somehow. She could tell there was something more to it than that. Some sort of presence. Marcelon couldn't tell what it was, because Solomon didn't actively communicate with it. But she could tell he felt calmer.

And also cold, for some reason, but it was the sort of cold he liked. Like being in deep, clear water, and freshened. She liked that cold too.

"As you say," said Solomon idly. He heard a note of something in Bakura's voice, but couldn't tell what it meant. "How have your lessons in kedanese progressing?"

[denyamenti]

Emily-Helen hummed thoughtfully, the vibration passing up through her shell so that it made Bakura adjust himself marginally. Our people are complicated, she thought eventually. But they're still important.

"Well enough for something with so many Khons-damned variants," the thief muttered. He'd been focusing on the two main ones but they were all so jointly used that it was hard picking out just them from the other 15.

"And I started something new, from what was found down in the prison beneath the palace when we broke in."

[peacefullywreathed]

They are, Marcelon agreed, and yawned, and curled her flipper around Solomon's hip as if to cradle her 'pillow'. And silly jellyheads sometimes too. There were times she wondered if they had anything but squishiness between their ears, they did things so oddly.

"Never go to India," said Solomon, sounding amused. He had been there once or twice during the war, but always on the sly; Necromancers weren't welcome there. He still remembered how easy it was to move through the country and meet half a dozen dialects within a few hours.

"You mentioned that," Solomon observed, his interest piqued. He glanced down at Marcelon, searching for a place to set his hands, before he finally sighed and rested them on her head, and returned his attention to Bakura. "What have you discovered of the writings there?"

He had heard about the palace's defences, but hadn't yet gone to view them himself. Given some of the reactions his magic had received, he wasn't certain getting so close to Malicant's current seat of power was wise.

[denyamenti]

"It wasn't the writings I was looking to decipher," Bakura replied. "It was those doing the writing. I've managed to track down nearly all of the kedan who were incarcerated there at the time of the Palace's takeover... I've been looking for links between them. Something was done to them."

He purposefully didn't elaborate, not with two present hatchlings who would, most likely, get inadvertent images of what Bakura was picturing based on the fact that the messages had been written in blood. "I was planning to ask you about it later, actually."

[peacefullywreathed]

Solomon lifted an eyebrow at Bakura. "And whatever aid do you require of a Necromancer for that, hm?"

It wasn't a serious question. Bakura knew that Solomon could sense the deaths of others. If at least some of the prisoners had been killed, Solomon would certainly be able to tell how, and possibly why. If the deaths were new enough. The Chinese man in the welcome-centre had certainly been clear enough.

[denyamenti]

"I'm certain you can use your imagination for that one, waheh-maw," the thief answered, equally lighthearted despite the actual topic of discussion. "But if you help me with it, I'll make it worth your while."

[peacefullywreathed]

"Assuming the venture itself isn't already?" Solomon asked, amused. "Very well. How do you intend to proceed?" It was obvious the thief didn't want to discuss things in public--or around the turtle hatchlings. It was also obvious he had some sort of plan. Without knowing what it was, all Solomon could do was ask.

[denyamenti]

Discussing it would include bringing Solomon up to speed on exactly what Bakura had seen down in the prison which would be a little more graphic than the average bedtime story, even from him. And despite what some others around the city would probably claim, the thief actually doesn't have any intention of traumatizing children (turtle or otherwise) just for the hell of it.

"I have a few more names to track down. Two of them were in gangs, in the Metal Sector."

[peacefullywreathed]

'Were', which implied they were indeed dead. Did that mean they had passed information onto their peers, or that their peers new something about the abductions? Curious. Solomon glanced around at the parts of the festival in view in their little grassy nook.

"I certainly have no plans for the day," he said blandly. "Unless you're enjoying the festival too much to leave, theoretically we've the rest of the afternoon to seek them out."

Nooo, Marcelon whined, and clutched him closer with her flippers. I'm too comfortable for you to leave!

[denyamenti]

"I've no interest in these celebrations," Bakura replied. "But this is something better done at night. Does this mean you're coming along?"

So I cannot stay with you tonight? Emily-Helen asked, disappointed.

No, stay with your other one like usual.

[peacefullywreathed]

"Why not? I've not much else to do." The kedan were insisting things could happen at night, if one took the proper preparations, but Solomon hadn't been inclined to do so yet.

Good, said Marcelon, and snuggled her head into his lap. Stay right there. I'm tired from looking for you.

Solomon rolled his eyes and leaned back, and plotted to give her enough time to fall asleep before he slipped away again, at least until tonight.