[EVENT|4TH WALL] THE NEWCOMERS’ ARRIVAL | APRIL 15-22

[ironwood]

Characters: ALL and plus ones.
Date: April 15-22 2015 (2016 in-game)
Location: Farmlands outside the city walls, but this log can also be used for locations within the city.
Situation: Spring planting - fourth wall event, week one!
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings as needed.

The days for the festival dawn sunny if a bit chilly, but the air is clear and the soggy ground has dried enough that there isn’t too much mud in the lanes between fields and homesteads. The broad dirt path to the Woodsmen’s land leads past the tram-line construction, lined with waving ribbons on sticks along the sides. The Woodsmen’s territory circles the city, separated from the city’s walls by five hundred yards of neutral land.

The festival’s central area is Liangken’s Clearing, and this is where the festival will begin and end each day. Liangken is an ancient tree, among the oldest on the turtle’s back. Though it doesn’t flower or bear much in the way of leaves anymore, the kedan have cultivated it carefully and now it’s an excellent representation for the revitalisation of old wisdom.



The lanes between the fields and homesteads will house the stalls, contests and walking areas. The Woodsmen will be keeping an eye on these to prevent anyone from walking off the marked paths. The homesteads provide ‘hotspots’ in among the lanes and fields, with Woodsmen families lending their yards to the comfort and entertainment of their guests.

In general, the Woodsmen are a taciturn, soft-spoken lot who nevertheless take great pride in their work. Their lands are all but sacred -- they accept no attitude, no trespassing, no attempts to thwart their authority. This causes some noticeable tension with the Snakes, who are accustomed to being the sole enforcers within the city; but though there may be some ill tempers and raised voices, at no point will anyone come to blows. It’s hard to argue with someone built like a brick wall and carrying sharp farm implements.

The Woodsmen are a touch anxious about having strangers on their land and this shows in them being overly officious or bossy, but at the same time their pride shows clearly and they are eager to show off the state of their lands, their greenhouses, and their farming processes -- practically without being asked. The residents of Keeliai tend to think of the Woodsmen as ‘cowards’, and the Woodsmen are taking this opportunity to prove themselves otherwise with feats of strength and tall tales.

Due to the farmers’ hours of “early to bed and early to rise”, the festival ends in the early evening at sundown, but begins again before dawn -- usually by greeting the sun with a song.

---

LINKS
Heojin, Ran and Lin | Liangken’s Clearing | Stalls and Lanes | OOC Information post | 4th Wall Character Check In

OOC
While Heojin and his bodyguards are open to everyone (including fourth-wall characters!), they are not available for small talk and general directionless CR. For the integrity of the mod’s inbox, please only request a thread with him if you already have an idea of what you’d like your character to ask/do. Other NPCs can be requested by sending a PM to the appropriate journals directly, with the same guidelines.

The top-level comments are for the festival, but fourth-wall characters should feel free to use the rest of the post for anything within the city of Keeliai itself! Just remember to label the top-level comment for location and date.

Comments

LIANGKEN’S CLEARING

[ironwood]

The Woodsmen will encourage Keeliai's residents to help them tend it by giving it 'gifts' -- usually garlands of leaves and flowers, real and fake. Here the kedan will exhibit that ‘boundless youthful energy' in the way of dances, games and tricks. Characters can expect to be playfully challenged to riddles, pun wars, shell games, and other standard street fair activities. A few of them will come across a little scammy, but their managers will be quick and easygoing to back down if called. It's nothing personal, they'll say. Just in the spirit of the lighthearted prank.

By and large, this is where the younger generations of the kedanfolk gather, and there are games and contests organized by these minors, the oldest of whom seem only around 16. Shapeshifting duels are common, with two or more facing off to see who can change their features fastest, or whose colour scheme is more outrageous. Footraces, games of coordination and motor skill, and even a few eating contests run throughout the days.

Underneath the branches of the Liangken is also where the supposed story of its origin can most easily be heard, although no kedan will refuse to relay at least the basic summary of it, if asked.

The legend of the Liangken (and sibling trees, they will explain, though they do not know where the others are or if they still exist) goes back to before the kedan came to Tu Vishan-- which does beg the question, where they heard it from, and why it has become so internalized. But the tale goes thus: some great time ago, Tu Vishan and the other Great Turtles were not the only world creatures. A terrible red bird called the Xaxosi, with wings that could spread wide enough to block out the sun, patrolled the skies. Its talons were so sharp, that it could land on a Great Turtle and rip away part of its shell. For the peoples who lived on the backs of the Great Turtles, there was no defense they could mount against such a creature.

The Great Turtles, Tu Vishan among them, formulated a plan. Nine seeds were gathered together, each the size of a person, and planted one by one across the backs of nine Great Turtles. Once they grew into tall trees rooted deep into the shells, the Turtles began to sink into the sea, deeper and deeper, until all the land on their backs was submerged and only the branches of these nine trees remained above the surface of the water, the only safe havens in Konryu. The Xaxosi, unable to find anywhere else to land and unable to fly indefinitely, was forced to settle on these trees, where it could be attacked and its bright red feathers ripped away. It moved from treetop to treetop, but each time it set down, it was attacked.

Finally, barely able to fly, the Xaxosi flew straight up into the sun and disappeared, leaving Konryu in peace. The Great Turtles raised themselves above the water level once again, and the nine trees were cut down. But seeds from them remained, and were said to have spread, and the Liangken is said to be sprouted from one of them.

There is one other part of the tale, the kedan will laugh, although it wasn't part of the original version but added some time afterward. It will tell of the Xaxosi being so enraged by having nowhere to nest, that it laid its egg into the ocean, where it was swept away into the currents and tides, and lost. The Xaxosi flying high into the sun was its final attempt to spot the egg from the air, but nothing ever came of it.

[mathsdestruction]

Rita, for what it's worth, is idly sitting a decent ways away, listening to the story of Liangken. And while she's technically listening, she's practically muttering to herself the entire time about how ridiculous it all is. Probably the words "fairy tale" or "giant turtle, ha" could be heard if one is close enough. For the most part, she's entirely keeping to herself, not really going out of her way to interact with people. The few kedan who do approach her are practically shooed away. Youthful energy? She'll spend that doing research and jotting down notes and mathematical equations in a notebook, thank you very much. There's so much time for that.

She will be glancing up from time to time, looking at the shapeshifter competitions going on. And she'll frequently be making rather distasteful expressions at this. Everything has gone extremely strange and weird, and she's not a fan of this at all.

"There had better be some damned good explanation for what the hell is going on here," she'll probably mutter more than once.

[inexplicablygerman]

"I am sure there is, leibchen~"

It shouldn't be surprising to find the sharklike man just... happily wandering about. Well, perhaps it should, because he seems to be redoing his cravat and there's a couple spots of red on the yellow cloth, but, well.

"But, you know, thinking to hard will just cause so much steam, you won't be able to see your scribblings clearly~"

Yeager leans cheerfully over in a chiding way, but he is definitely ready to jump out of the way of fist or fire. He remembers the red mage, and she hits to hurt.

[dreamfandom]

"Welp, I reckon there is."

Not that Pascal had any idea what that explanation actually was, of course. She had a few guesses, but was too lacking in equipment and banana-power to actually test any of her theories out.

"But, even if we're stuck on the back of a giant turtle-thing or whatever, at least it's one with some pretty cool gizmos! Have you been to the metal place yet? They have all these things that go whirrrrr and some that go clang-clang-clang and even some that go whoosh!"

[lonelymonster]

Azami is... torn. On one hand, these people weren't acting like humans usually did - or at least, she thought they were humans for a moment, but then she watched one change and well. Clearing eyes did nothing to change what she saw - even though she had all her snakes, so it shouldn't have changed anything regardless.

On the other hand, her daughter and granddaughter weren't here. As she had been trying to reach them, this is fairly upsetting.

So there's a tiny woman - she's half a foot shy of five feet - frowning at the storytellers and tapping one sandal clad foot in an impatient way. Her hair shifting just a little when there isn't wind isn't a trick of the light, and neither are the scales on her cheeks.

Why couldn't she have found these people, who didn't treat her as a monster, instead of humans? Ah, but if she had found them, she wouldn't have found Tsukihiko.

[problematical]

River is nearby, watching the storytellers with a serene, if somewhat drifting expression. But when there's a break in the tale, she turns to Azami. "If your feet want to dance, there's some over there," she said, lifting a hand to point in an easterly direction.

"But you're not dancing on the inside..."

OTA; 15th

[i_am_the_ninja]

     "Whoa-ho-ho! When did you go all hi-def, Nomicon? This is so bruce..!"

     The teenager walked along, gawking rather openly at everything. So he couldn't remember shlooping, but given how easy it was to distract him, Randy hadn't lingered in wondering just what had happened, not with so many things going on around him.

     "This is just like being in the real deal! What's the occasion?" he wondered aloud, still seeming to talk to himself, although it appeared that he was expecting an answer.

[candystriped]

"What are you even talking about?" a colourful young lady sneered at Randy. Her tone definitely did not match her appearance, being rather crass. "Don't try to make sense of these people, they're all assholes!"

OPEN; 15-16 APRIL

[larrikinism]

There's at least one Foreigner who's taken to the festival with gusto, even though he's really not dressed for the occasion. He's scruffy, for one--beard and outgrown hair galore. Clad in black leather armour, he's nevertheless put an impressive amount of effort into making it look more appropriate to the occasion. He's loosened some buttons and bedecked himself in an eye-searing array of coloured ribbons, even to the point of plaiting some in his hair, and is freely bestowing hugs and cheerful good luck on anyone who says so much as an "Er ..." in his direction.

At any given time on the first two days he can be found in Liangken's Clearing, bouncing from game to game and challenging anyone who looks like they need a slapdown--and, a lot of the time, winning. And cheating. Frequently. (Hey, slight-of-hand is totally utilising all the skills at your disposal!) If he's ever caught out he quite cheerfully refunds whatever he 'won' or bounces into the crowd and vanishes with alarming skill.

At some point he gets a puppet from somewhere and stalks the area, tapping on shoulders using Igor's felt paws and making loud remarks at contestants, passersby, even the Woodsmen on guard. Anytime someone calls him out, he reacts with wide-eyed 'who, me?' innocence.

At another point he takes off his boots and shanghais together an energetic dance around the tree which the kedan join with bemusement fading into enjoyment and laughter.

At yet another point--on the second day--he can be found in the middle of a shrieking and laughing crowd while they watch him juggle fireballs and fire-breathe with no apparent injury. On a separate occasion he's seen showing off his tumbling skills with some truly impressive and impossible flips, somersaults and mid-air spins.

It really isn't long before, or surprising that, he winds up with a hood jingling with coins thrown down in appreciation of his theatre.

Now this is what Larrikin calls an after-death party! Is he in heaven? He must be in heaven. All in all, it's really not so bad. Yanno. In spite of the way he went out.

[ooc: Larrikin is pretty invasive of personal space and compulsively talks in innuendo, so don't hesitate to toss me a note or PM if he gets to be too much and I'll tone him down.]

16th!

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery avoided the festival on the first day. The sheer wave of curiosity crashing over the dirt lanes from Keeliai to the farmsteads put him off, and he'd had more important things to do. The second day, things had already begun quieting down, and in the early hours of the morning the crowds were sparse enough that a short stroll through the proceedings provided a welcome break from his investigations in the city.

He still wore his disguise. With all the new Foreigners scattered about, the last thing Skulduggery wanted to do was ruin a Woodsman's day with someone's panicked complaint.

Because the crowds were thinner, it was easy to spot where an abnormally large group of people clustered near the sacred tree's clearing. It was less easy to see why they were clustered, though it didn't particularly matter; when Skulduggery got close enough to glimpse the performer, he couldn't have moved even if he wanted to.

And he didn't.

To the outside observer, he'd become one of the more rapt members of Larrikin's audience, watching the fire-juggling antics with a strange melancholy expression marring an otherwise young and angled face.

15th

[redlightgreenlight]

Despite her hesitation to join the festivities, she had promised Jackie that she would get him information on the woodsman. So far she had managed to smile and pretend merriment whenever she interacted with someone, but she felt anything but inside. Nonetheless, she found the story of the tree interesting. Sudden movement at the base of the tree caught her attention and she turned to look. She had heard that there had been an influx of new foreigners and it seemed as if one of them had decided to make a fool of himself by dancing around the tree.

She watched with one eyebrow raised as some of the kedan joined in the dance, it was as if the kedan were finally beginning to accept the foreigners, though she wondered how long it would last. As the man spun around she caught sight of his face and her facade slipped into shock as she recognized him. He had been a figment of Skulduggery's imagination when she had first met him, but now he was unmistakably real.

OPEN;

[venivicivetinari]

Ah, street theatre. How utterly ... charming. It was so very filled with ... gaity. And music. And people. And sweat.

Looking at the musicians puffing and blowing and coating their instruments with juices far more ... palatable ... on the inside than the out made Havelock shudder delicately, so he moved away, walking easily through the crowd in that manner of a man so dignified he parted the crowd before him without the crowd being aware of the person for whom it was parting. It was something in the bearing and the faint limp and the way he relied, ever so slightly on the right side of 'injured veteran', on his cane with every step.

It wasn't that Havelock disliked parties. He enjoyed parties, as a matter of fact. It was so very ... illuminating, the things one could hear at a party. Particularly once the wine had begun to flow. But this wasn't a party; it was a festival, where people weren't so much interested in politicking as they were in having fun.

It was a problem. Not much of one, but even so; and only so because at times like this people had no concept whatsoever of 'personal space'. Or 'hygiene'.

But that was alright. Not for nothing was Havelock the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork; there were very few things which could take him off guard.

"Hey, Mister! We need another for the dance! Wanna come?"

--Children, every so often, were one of them.*

Havelock turned to lift his eyebrow at the group of seven hopeful pre-pubescent and barely pubescent locals. Some of them looked like perfectly ordinary humans. One had long scaly ears. Another had a feathered tail. A third had claws she was quietly trying to shrink down to nubs--so she didn't, presumably, trip or accidentally lacerate her companion. They wouldn't have looked out of place in Ankh-Morpork.

They wilted slightly under his impassive gaze, even though Havelock knew--by now--that no one here had the slightest idea who he was. It was, after a fashion, quite as invigorating as riding the steam train high in the avalanche-prone mountains while it was being attacked by regressive and repressive dwarves.

Havelock broke into an abrupt bright smile and bowed. "It would be my pleasure."

He handed his cane off to one of the bemused local guards and let the grinning children take his hands and tug him into the circle. It was an unexpectedly complicated dance--consisting of eight people, quite a bit of clapping, spinning and an awful lot of weaving in and out with other circles. Still, Havelock had been an assassin, one of the best, and the dance was repetitive--it wasn't long at all before he was clapping, spinning and weaving with as much skill as the energetic children who'd been doing it all their lives.

When the music ended Havelock stepped out of the circle, his face slightly more coloured than it had been--though by no means enough to call it 'flushed'. Excusing himself from the disappointed children, he smoothed his faded black clothes back into place and took back his cane with a nod.

[*People frequently said that children were born innocent. Havelock knew this was not so. Children were born psychopathic, and that made them difficult to predict even for him.]

[saraisondetre]

Seles had been sitting the dancing out. For her health; 'youthful spontaneity' and 'activity' had a tendency to make her condition go south rather than north. But she'd watched with amusement as the older gentleman had been pulled into the circle. Her expectation was he'd be like a fish on the beach, but he turned out to be stunningly good. She half suspected he'd danced the dance before or something similar maybe...?

Straightening her ridiculously oversized hat she walked over to him as he exited the circle. She'd like a few words with him! "I didn't think you'd be able to do it. That dance. You surprised me."

Or she could fail miserably at the art of conversation. Her compliments perhaps had a tendency more towards being backhanded than straightforward.

[heliscooter]

Piper had been watching the imposing man get pulled into a dance with the local children, and when he returned to the sidelines, she spoke up, partly covering her mouth to muffle the giggle.

"They're pretty convincing, huh?"

Tenzin / Open / April 15

[airtempered]

It was an interesting story, to be sure, and under different circumstances the well-traveled Tenzin would have been delighted to hear of this previously unknown pocket of culture hiding somewhere in the world. But the unknowns were far more upsetting than enlightening. There was almost nothing familiar about this place, and what's worse, Tenzin had absolutely no idea how he got here.

He kept his gaze alert and his posture straight, his stiff and wary composure a stark contrast to the celebration around him. He glanced around, looking for something, anything he could use to discern his location.

HAI!!!

[12goingon113]

Isn't it kind of funny? How someone can be so far from home, and so removed from everyone and everything they know, and yet...still manage to find something familiar amidst the foreign.

As far as the eye can see throngs of well-wishers move upon their merry ways.
But...there.
Just off to the side, smack dab in the periphery.

Robes of saffron and orange.

[theideaguy]

Sokka had no idea how he had gotten here, but it wasn't for the same reason that Tenzin didn't know. Sokka knew the basics—there was some spell, and then poof! people started coming here—but it was still some amount of magicky stupid stuff that he just wasn't ever bother going to try to understand.

As for how he'd gotten to the festival, that one's easy. He heard there was cheap (and good!) food to be had, and that had gotten Sokka here lickity-split.

And so Sokka is, naturally, going to be carrying around at least two or three skewers full of kebabs. Unfortunately, they aren't his (future patented) meat-kebabs and they actually have some of the Woodsmen's vegetable produce on them, so that's his least favourite bit, but he'll at least still eat them (he paid for it!); that doesn't mean he won't complain.

And that's when he's going to see Tenzin from behind. And, when you really think about it, from behind, Tenzin is going to look a lot like what Aang might look like when he's older. At least the colour scheme seems to match.

"Uh... Aang... did something... happen to you?"

OTA

[saraisondetre]

Seles is more than a little lost. It's not that she's never been out on her own before... Not that such a guess would be far off. But there's a lot to see, to hear and no itinerary at all. Chaos isn't particularly the natural state of her affairs. Or, for that matter, the freedom to go when and where she will.

So as it stands she ends up getting underfoot. In the way of a game here, accidentally cutting a line there, blocking some busy looking people anywhere. And one way or another she finds herself competing in a foot race. Looking to the person on her left, whether they're in the race or not, she tries to put on her best 'game' face.

"Don't think...I'm going to lose!"

Herc Hansen | Pacific Rim

[oldmanstriker]

Suddenly being somewhere far away from where you were wasn't a normal occurance for PPDC staff... as often as they may have wished it. Yet, here, stood in Liangken's clearing, listening to the story of the Xaxosi, is Marshall Hercules Hansen of the Pan-Pacific Defence Corps.

He's assumed he's dreaming, as odd as it is, despite still having the sling over his right arm, and still feeling the dull pain from it. A dog leash is clutched in his left hand, as an English Bulldog is sat at his boots. Herc, himself, is standing straight, at near-enough attention, posture set; a military man, if ever there was one.

He should probably try and wake up, but... there wasn't much he wanted to wake up for. He's assumed he's passed out during the celebrations of the Breach being sealed, but he can't really remember; everything is a blur of tension and, well.. pain.

Sighing, he looks down at Max, who gave an impatient snort, smiling ever so slightly.

"'least you're with me through all this, mate."

Jeremie Belpois | Code Lyoko

[lyokooperator]

"The formula is easy to figure out."

There's a kid, can't be older than 14 or 15, blond, wearing a brown sweater and tan pants. He has a laptop tucked under one arm. Adjusting his glasses, he's watching one of the shell games with great interest.

Sure, he should be wondering where he is, but he can't figure that out yet. It's better to explore, get his bearings and go from there.

"Of course, the operator adds in a variable that's hard to calculate." He pauses, called out by the runner of the game to try his luck, if he thinks he can beat it. "Oh... I-I don't have any..." He pats his pockets down. "I don't have any of your money, sorry..."

He backs off slightly, after that, turning to look out across the rest of the clearing, adjusting his glasses.

Where next?

Re: LIANGKEN’S CLEARING

[tip_the_scales]

Robin stopped to listen to the story. "And we really are on a turtle right now?"

Pitch Black | ota (sunset)

[rideofthefearlings]

The festival itself is winding down for the evening, with the sun having slipped below the horizon, but there's a goodly number of people still milling around the clearing, talking about the events of the day. A fair number of kedan children are likewise in attendance, pointedly pretending to not hear the calls of their elders to pack up their things for the night.

They're not human children, but children nonetheless, and a few of them are watching the man whose seemingly materialized from the long shadows cast by Liangken's branches. Oh yes. They can see him. This is just fine.

"Well, what do we have here..." he smirked, bending his tall form down to peer at one of them. They didn't seem afraid; he could fix that.

Jinora | Legend of Korra | Apr 21st

[spirity]

Jinora isn't inclined to panic. She's naturally level-headed and has a lot of experience with some, ah, sticky situations. But at least she usually knows where she is. It would be a lie to say that she didn't have a moment of sheer panic when she showed up in a completely unfamiliar place. She swallows down the panic, takes a deep breath, and walks toward the crowd.

It doesn't help.

The people-- not human, but certainly not spirits-- shapeshift constantly and seem too distracted to give her any particularly helpful answers. All she's gotten so far is that she's on Tu Vishan, a giant turtle. It reminds her of Avatar Wan and the stories of the old Lionturtles humanity used to live on. But they'd left humanity behind 10,000 years ago. Is this some kind of hidden society? If so, how did she get here? Was she spirited away by spirits? Sleepwalk into a spirit portal?

Jinora closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, walking straight for one of the most obvious landmarks in the area-- a massive ancient tree. It grounds her a little, to see something so old and solid right in front of her.

Morgan | Fire Emblem Awakening

[nosferatanking]

If Morgan had one natural talent it was waking up in a place he didn't know without knowing how he had gotten there. Thankfully, this time he still had some of his memories, even if he didn't have all the gaps filled in.

While he's a little on edge, and trying to be observant of his surroundings, he can't help but get caught up in the festivities. From dancing to riddles to games, he'll jump in and out, even "accidentally" falling for the children's pranks.

Eventually, he makes his way to the storyteller, where he stops to listen. He looks pretty enthralled, and can't help but approach the storyteller (and other listeners), when it's over.

"Wow! That was pretty interesting!"

open but specifically aimed at Krei; later in the week;

[inkulcation]

Mostly China avoids crowds, if only because the disruption and the attention are more trouble than they're actually worth. So she's avoiding the main press of people along the stalls, and also avoiding the groups of children in general in favor of paying attention to the Liangken, and the stories being told.

It really doesn't do to ignore fairy tales just because they're ostensibly fictional, after all. The sheer number of legends she's run into in the last few years alone are proof of that. She doesn't have a notebook or anything in hand, but her air is one of thoughtful attention, and her focus is for once not on the people around her but more on that which she's hearing. When she's ascertained she can get no more out of the kedan she's talking to, China goes back to looking at the tree and sidestepping small children with some little amount of annoyance.