Welcome Festival | Day 03 | Water Sector | OPEN

[hazelwood]

Characters: You! And you! Even you!
Location: Water Sector
Situation: It's the third day of the Welcome Festival and things are becoming a little more waterlogged!
Warnings/Rating: Splooshing and splashing! 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!

WATER SECTOR:
The third dawn of the festival sheds light on the Water Sector, where the canals have been skimmed of surface debris and underwater walls scrubbed until the sunlight that reflects off their polished surfaces adds to the glimmering effect of the gentle current in the water. Walkways have been swept and patched so that those prefer overland travelling have clean and clear paths with which to navigate the sector.

Festivalgoers seeking a tour better have their sea legs (canal legs?) for today's guides will be rowing them down the open canals on boats strongly reminiscent to the gondolas associated with Venice, Italy. The sights focus on the beautiful fountains visible from the waterline and the deep waters that the canals move through, including one narrow passage with kedan-built coral display artistically arrayed beneath the surface in tribute to the colonies that grow in the ocean waters. A few guides can be teased into telling stories about waterbound forms they have taken, for the atmosphere is relaxed and no to tours follow the exact same route.

The most peaceful sector in all of Keeilai happens to be the Water Sector. With no active gangs and citizens that believe in a philosophy of loving thy neighbour, the Alderwood Commander is extending a degree of good faith in the people's ability to behave. No additional police forces have been dispatched today and no sightings of Evandau have been reported. Criminal activity is at a minimum today with the majority of issues being misunderstandings rather than self-serving intent. Still, the regular police patrols are active and any festivalgoer with a problem is encouraged to sort it out themselves or file a report.

Continuing with tradition, 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.

FISHING FAIR:
After the market of Earth and the demonstrations of Metal, the merchants of Water have come together with an entirely different sort of fair at which attendees can acquire goods made and themed to the Sector. Rather than a browse-and-buy layout, they've cleared and netted off two ends of a canal block mid-sector and scattered over one hundred brightly coloured and sized fish forms with varying buoyancy that hang in the water. Shoppers then pay between one and three juulan to "fish" one to three times with specially designed fishing rods. The goal? Snare the hook on one of the fish (a skilled fisherman might snare two with the large hooks) and haul it in.

Each fish size and colour represents a different category of merchandise that the shopper can peruse and make one selection from (per fish). More game than actual market experience, participants are rewarded for successful catches with items that are worth at least their initial investment. One might walk away with nothing, or they might walk away with coral jewelry, vouchers for free boat rentals, or bags filled with some of the more eccentric groceries that the sector has to offer.

FOOD:
Don't care to take your chances at winning culinary oddities with the fishing fair? Then wander the sector's walkways to find dozens of haphazard stands set up by the ma-and-pa restaurants to get samples of the dried fish, strange sea greens, and no less than a half-dozen varieties of root vegetables and meats that have been preserved in brine. You don't know unique eating until you've had a meal in this sector, trust us.

Grog is the popular term for the liquor made widely available in barrels and at bars lining the canals, but no two areas serve the same combination. One glass may be a mixture of rum and beer, the next rum with sugar and nutmeg! There are also some suspiciously virgin concoctions masquerading as grog, so mind your tankards and where you fill them up!

Minors, once again, are discouraged from requesting drinks, as one can never tell when an officer will wander by and catch the unlawful serving of an underaged party. While there is a virgin drink on tap, the odds of finding it are somewhat unreliable.

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:
Ranged along the canals and in the alleyways are small tables manned by one or two kedan. Here is where the lanterns for the festival are being made, often by a festivalgoer stopping by for a handful of minutes to produce a cylindrical "rolling paper" lanterns. This activity is open to kedan and foreigners alike, with a great deal of creative freedom allotted to each. All are encouraged to lend a hand in the production of hundreds of lanterns to light up the area at the conclusion of the Welcome Festival.

These stations are some of the most laidback of all Water Sector activities and the kedan supervising each is just as likely to help out with the construction as they are to sit back and chat throughout it.

ACTIVITES & CHALLENGES:
The theme today is, you guessed it: Water sports! (...not like that.) Skill, strength, and speed come together with great breath capacity for those willing to brave the wet for the sake of friendly competition.

Most popular of the events is the underwater scavenger hunt, wherein Lieuen commissioned twenty kedan to each weigh down and toss in the canals twenty bottles with sequential clues as to the location of the next bottle in the sequence. Participation in this is largely informal and accidental, with the person who finds the greatest number of bottles declared the winner at the end of the day and given bragging rights as a marine detective of the highest skill level. However, the kedan aren't keeping the best track and some predict two or three parties to claim this title as their own by sundown.

Second are the swimming competitions, with four canal blocks netted off and drawn into four separate lanes for competitors. Swimming heats of all manner, from the breaststroke to the doggy paddle, will occur periodically throughout the day. Bragging rights (and a small seashell bracelet) goes to the winner of each race, with no limit set to the number of times one may compete.

Third and last of the major events happens above the water level... barely. Four more canal blocks have been netted off and three row boats have been built specifically for teams of two to row their way to victory in heats occurring every hour on the hour. Champion teams may re-enter to their heart's content, with the prize being those enviable bragging rights!

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 Water Sector today! Identified by the necklaces of seashell and coral weighed heavily about their necks, they can be seen giving out (at random) the following:

>Mesh/net bags dyed sea green and meant for carrying groceries
>Palm-sized envelopes filled with dried seaweed snacks
>Cord bracelets with polished coral beads woven into the band
>Juulan (1)

This is not a long or involved process to obtain, believe it or not! Characters that appear during the Water 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

FISHING FAIR

[hazelwood]

[tasteforpoison]

[Yelena's been at the past two days festivals, finding them prime opportunities to get a sense of each sector and it's specialties.

Of course, she can't help but get caught up in the fun of it all. There's certainly a more relaxed atmosphere to this area and Yelena allows herself an opportunity to partake in something more than the food.

Giving a precious juulan for the opportunity, she's currently trying her hand at "fishing" for the fake fish in the canals.]

[lunargoodness]

[Being near the water is nothing new for Yue. She lives in the Water Sector, and before that she lived in the Northern Water Tribe. Still, like the other festivals before, this one also came with new experiences and opportunities. Like the fishing!

Er, "fishing".

At any rate, it's not something Yue has ever tried before. (Or been allowed to try.) But for now, she'll just stand back and observe how other people are doing to see how easy it is.

And maybe awkwardly try to socialize.]

Have you caught anything?

[tasteforpoison]

[Yelena looks up at the sound of another girl's voice and looks over. Her eyes widen slightly, immediately. She's beautiful, and the white hair is so incredibly unique. The effect is striking, really.

Feeling a bit awkward, Yelena looks back to her pole and gives the other girl a half smile.]

No, not yet. I really gotten the knack of it yet. Are you going to give it a try?

[lunargoodness]

I think I might, though I've never actually tried anything like it before.

[tasteforpoison]

It doesn't cost much I think. Do you have any juulan on you?

[lunargoodness]

I do, and I should have enough. [HMM.] It doesn't seem as complicated as fishing back home, at least.

[tasteforpoison]

Less complicated, I imagine, since the fish are good enough to stay still for us to catch them.

[A small joke there, since the fish are fake.]

Give it a try and I'll show you how these ones get hooked.

[whoneedsbending]

Now this was something he could do! Theoretically at least. He'd bought two shots and was currently sticking his tongue out in concentration as he tried to hook one of the fishes. He was close, the hook just teased the loop and finally it went through, Sokka quickly pulled the fish up and woop, bringing it closer to him.

"Who's da man? Sokka's da man!"

[withoutaworld]

Rikki's passing by just as Sokka announces his triumph, and she can't help but laugh a little, drawing to a halt when she reaches him. "Would you like a celebratory fist bump?"

[whoneedsbending]

Sokka jumps at the voice and clutched the fish so he didn't drop it back into the water. Eyes wide as he turned around and saw someone there. Sokka looked confused for a moment before he grinned and let go of the fish with one hand, making a fist.

"Sure!"

[withoutaworld]

Rikki grins and bumps her fist against his, totally unfazed by his momentary confusion. Glancing briefly at the fish in his hand before looking back up at his face, she tilts her head and says, "I'm Rikki. I'm guessing you're new here too?"

[whoneedsbending]

"Yeah got here a few days ago. S'all kind of one big mushy blur though. Oh! I'm Sokka...but guess you knew that from the...cheering."

Then he's rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly but keeps grinning.

"So, having fun?"

[withoutaworld]

"Yeah, I kind of guessed from the shouting." She grins, no trace of mockery in the expression.

Her smile fades a little at the question, though - not by much, she's making an effort to keep it in place, but a bit of the brightness slips away as she glances around the fair.

"Yeah, I guess. Just kind of... Well, it's not much like where I'm from. Which isn't bad, it's just making me a little homesick." And a little weirded out by the effort these guys are going to to welcome newcomers to their universe when Rikki can't see how their being here really benefits them.

FOOD STALLS/DRINKS

[hazelwood]

[lunargoodness]

[Yue has been enjoying the festivals so far, and this one is no exception. At any rate, the foods available here remind her of home, which is always a plus.

As for drinks, apparently some of them aren't actually alcoholic. Though Yue doesn't know which ones are. So maybe the one she's got is non-alcoholic.

It's not.]

[littlecousin]

[Nita once again can't fairly participate in any of the contests, so she's avoiding the areas where the races are being held, and instead sampling the food, most of which is comfortingly familiar. She's currently trying to describe a certain kind of seaweed to a kedan chef in the hopes they have something like it.

Lots of hand gestures are involved.]

ACTIVITIES & CHALLENGES

[hazelwood]

[repelled]

[it's not that he actively dislikes swimming. it's an enjoyable activity, really. builds strength and muscle. can be quite relaxing under the right circumstances. and he doubts that the canals in the water sector are anywhere near as cold as the ocean they arrived in was.

nonetheless, he has his suspicions. it certainly isn't going to be warm, either, and for good reason.

impassively, but with his eyes watching the races intently, chase finds himself a spot on the edge of one canal to watch kedan and foreigners alike test their swimming capabilities. if nothing else, it's a good demonstration of physical fitness, and who knows when the opportunity will arise to cause a little havoc?

he glances around before the race starts, eying passers-by and idly running the woven coral-bead bracelet a passing kedan gave him between gloved fingers.]

[daughterofnayru]

[Zelda had ventured out of her suite only in hopes of catching a glimpse of someone who remotely resembled being in charge. She needed to speak to someone in charge and quickly.

Her search however has proven to be in vain and so far she's only seen foreigners and kedan. It wasn't sitting well with her in the slightest. She's yet to turn back however. If she is anything, Zelda is determined. Or stubborn, depending on who you asked.

She stops near Chase, to watch the races. Maybe something like this will alleviate her frustration.]

[repelled]

[he glances over once when someone actually stops by him, rather than passing on by or accidentally running into him on the way to the canals. (not that people tended to make that mistake very often.) blonde hair, regal bearing. skin not even remotely blue. another guest of the emperor's hospitality.

he turns the woven cord over and over in his fingers and keeps his eyes on the canals as he speaks.]

Let's hope this is more than a haphazard splashing affair.

[though he doesn't sound particularly confident that it will be.]

[daughterofnayru]

[There's no visible reaction, outside of the turning of her head and the raising of her eyebrow. But she's in fact been startled. She studies the person speaking to her then nods at his words.]

Though, I must admit, I did not come here to watch these festivities specifically.

[repelled]

I doubt too many of us did. These festivals seem to cater to the undecided.

[it's only moderately judgmental. after all, he's here too.]

Or did you have some other goal in mind, and stopping to watch people make fools of themselves in the water is only a sidetrack?

[daughterofnayru]

I seek an audience with the emporer of this land. It is most urgent that I return home.

OTHER

[hazelwood]