[EVENT] THE SHANGPAR RACE

[ironwood]

Characters: ALL!
Date: January 20th to January 24th
Location: Various.
Situation: It’s time for the Shangpar Race!
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings as needed.

The day is here, the day is here, the day is here! Though not every shop is closed and not every kedan is on the streets, it’s a near thing. The race is slated to begin early in the morning, and the city rises for the occasion. Shops open late and workplaces allow for a late start to the day to give everyone an opportunity to watch the starting festivities.

It begins with something almost like a parade. The riders -- there are fifty-five of them, thanks to negotiations during the forum -- are escorted from the shangpari holding pens to the starting line just outside the city, using the most circuitous route available in order to take the riders through every sector.

The starting-line is located just outside a set of the city’s gates, while the finishing-line is at the set on the opposite end. It leads off away from the city, traversing through several of the shell’s terrains, from burgeoning woodland, across a ‘river’, to an area of wasteland leading into mountains, and then down to the shores of the shell’s edge.

While the usual daily processes continue during the race, there are runners at supply checkpoints who, thanks to the efforts of Stark Industries and a handful of Foreigners, are able to report the race statistics via audio directly to the consoles. Groups of children hired as criers run from place to place without access to consoles to carry those reports to the rest of the city. In this time the kedan already begin preparations for the feast which follows it, regardless of who the actual winner might be.

The winners begin trickling in on day four to a crowd already prepared. Thanks to the runners, the residents of Keeliai already know who’s in the lead and when, roughly, they will arrive.

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LINKS
Parade | Betting booths | Starting line | Finish line | Feast

OOC
In the related forum thread the family leaders were open to the idea of Foreigners participating in the race as long as they possessed no abilities that would provide an unfair advantage and were able to front the cost of 500 juulan. If your character has no such abilities and would have wanted to participate, and you feel you have reasoning for their being able to finance their entry, please PM the mod journal so we can work out the details.

No Foreigner who enters will be able to OOCly apply to win the race -- this event is about the cultural experience, not the winning or losing! More details regarding the race are available on the itinerary here.

Please also do remember that IC actions will have IC consequences. This is a huge, huge cultural event for the kedan; disrupting it in any way will cause a negative reaction. That's not to say don't do it -- but do be prepared for the consequences.

Comments

[theideaguy]

Sokka looks at Akito with a healthy bit of dubiousness. "No, I completely forgot to count the other ten racers that beat you to the finish line in my calcula—of course you got fifth! As in four other people people you. One, two, three, four, fifth?" He raises his fingers as each of the numbers is counted.

But despite the sarcasm, Sokka is still grinning. "I knew all of that stuff that I coached you on was going to help!"

[akito]

Akito shoos him a look that is equal parts confused and dubious. "Only Ayin-san and Miss Zanru knew I was going to race." Therefore only they could have coached him. Though Akito isn't exactly upset by Sokka's declaration, since it reminds him of a particular crow-head back home.

"But fifth..! That means I get more time before Sandy is killed."

[theideaguy]

Well, really, for Sokka, it's more the spirit of the effort rather than the effort itself. "Hey, I would have! That ought to count for something." Still, he's smiling. "You should have told more people. We would have had a huge crowd out here for you, you know."

Sokka looks over to the Shangpar with a little curiosity. "You do that. He probably deserves some treats after all that running." Yes, Akito. Fatten him up for the feast. Sokka is wondering how good they taste.

[akito]

"Who would I tell?" He honestly can't think of anyone he would tell off the top of his head. Sarah's gone, and so is Hawke. He's still upset with Tony and Gene, plus he knows they're busy anyway. Maybe Katara, but... It hurts to think about Waterbending. Even using the water skein she made him makes him sad, yet it's too useful not to use.

Akito scratches Sand Tiger at the joint where wing meets shoulders, earning an noise that clearly pleased noise, followed by the creature butting its head gently against his chest. The shangpari remind him so strongly of dogs despite their appearance. It's still hard for him to imagine killing one for food, but it's an important part of the kedan custom and so he won't argue against it.

"I think I'll let him eat what he wants while I groom him."

[theideaguy]

"Well... all of us?" Sokka says as if it's the most obvious thing. "I mean, hey, I imagine you shocked the pants off of some of the kedan, thinking they'd get all of the top spots." Just how many top spots are actually "top spots" is left as an unsolved question. But still, top five, right? "I mean, even you could use an entourage greeting you at the finish line, yeah?"

But let's be honest for a minute. Yes, the Shengpar may be cute. Yes, it may look like a dog. But it's still meat. Sweet, juicy meat. Sokka would do the same thing in a heartbeat. He thinks the kedan, for once, aren't entirely crazy.

"Sounds like a good plan. Anything that you need now that you're back?"

[akito]

"Why would I tell people who wouldn't care?" It's not said bitterly in the least, but rather matter-of-fact. He knows that he's largely ignored by most people, whether it be due to his size or demeanour he has no idea, nor does he particularly care.

"No," he shakes his head. He'll need shoes later, but for now he couldn't care less. If need be he can sit on Sandy to spare his feet further damage.

[theideaguy]

Well, it looks like Akito is stepping in on Sokka's resident position of being the town complainer. Seriously, move over; you're getting in Sokka's way.

Sokka looks around at the scads and scads of Foreigners around... by which to say Sokka is looking at not many people. "And this is better? Crossing the finish line practically by yourself?" Sokka sighs. "Look, I get it. Why bother being potentially disappointed when you can set your expectations low to begin with? But if you actually want people to notice you, saying quiet isn't going to change that." That's why Sokka is rather... unquiet.

[akito]

Stating the facts and not minding them is not the same as complaining, Sokka! Your title is safe.

Akito looks around; he doesn't pay attention to the lack of Foreigners, but the presence of Kedan. They may not know him, but they acknowledge him and what he's done, which is what he had been hoping for. It doesn't necessarily make him happy, but he's pleased.

"I don't care if the Foreigners notice me or not. I tried speaking up many times before." A shrug. "I'm not the kind of person people tend to notice, but I don't like much attention anyway."

[theideaguy]

This disarms Sokka a little more than it ought to, and Sokka's mind is suddenly racing into high gear to come up with a reasonable retort. Because, really, why wouldn't Akito want to be noticed now if he's tried speaking up before in the past?

"What have you even tried to speak up about in the past?!" Sokka says aloud. "I mean, I've never really heard you say—"

Oh.

Sokka's posture goes straight down, and his shoulders slump a little in reaction to the realisation. "Okay, I know we barely know each other, and that we haven't spoken much, but you know Katara and Tony, and they seem to like you well enough. So..." So... what? Sokka's at a loss for words, trying to figure out how to be just a little bit humble.

"So... maybe we should hang out sometime... get to know each other better?"

[akito]

Akito turns his full attention to Sokka at that, not just the half he had been giving him before. If he's surprised he doesn't show it (he's too exhausted to be surprised anymore) and simply stares at the other boy with a discerning gaze. This is one of the few times he's without his eyepatch, having lost his during the race at some point, so Sokka is treated to a scrutinizing mismatched stare; one eye bright gold and pupil slitted, the other a warm amber-grey.

When Akito speaks, his voice is tentative but sincere. "If you really want to, that would be okay."

[theideaguy]

Sokka isn't taken back by the mismatched stare. It is weird, sure, but hey, he's seen a lot of weird things already in his day that are far weirder than this. Guy with a tattoo of an eye in his forehead than can shoot death beams of terribleness at people? Yeah, Akito, you've got nothing on that.

Sokka just looks at Akito with puzzlement, cocking his head briefly to one side. "Of course! Why wouldn't I? You're friends with my friends!"

To be honest, there really is no ulterior motive here. Sokka's already been mother henning all of his friends from his world together; might as well pick up the slack elsewhere when people don't feel like they belong.

[akito]

Akito can understand that logic. It's a code that Kogarasumaru lived and thrived off of, and meant that Akito was rarely ever alone the past few years of his life before waking up in Keeliai. He can admit to himself that he misses it. Being surrounded by friends or friends of friends was wonderful, even if he could only watch from the inside of his shared body. It made the relative isolation and loneliness in this place even more jarring and painful, but now he's admittedly a little bit scared to get close to anyone again.

"I... Yeah, I guess so? They've both been really kind to me."

He misses the Akito that he was before - the one who would invite himself along with his friends without a care to what they might think. The one who could always find the bright side and fun in everything. The one who was happy to just be free that everything else was just a great big bonus.

Now he feels much more like the Akito who was kept locked in a cage, alone save for Agito. Except this time he doesn't have his other half to keep him company.

"I should probably go, um. Take Sand Tiger to rest now, ne? And, ah... Thanks for greeting me here. The next time you see Katara can you tell her I say hi?"

[theideaguy]

Well, at least there's some semblance of a positive tone from the boy. He can't help but admit that he's glad to have helped in some small way, even if Akito didn't mention it directly... and even if it was mostly hidden behind the mask that he wears himself. Yes, even though his eyepatch is gone, Akito wears a much more prominent mask, it seems.

"Hey, it's alright. Happy to do it. And I will tell Katara you said hello when I see her. I imagine she'll probably appreciate it." Or at least he supposes she would. Sokka never really asked about Akito; there had always been bigger issues of drama to deal with.

"Anyway, take care. See you 'round." And with that, Sokka heads back up into the stands to wait for Zuko.