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Spring Blossom Festival: Dawn

Scene details

Setting: The city square will be decorated with wreaths, dancers will be prepared to showcase their rituals and there is fun to be had! There has been growing rumors that it will be the first time that the boy prince will show up to make his first announcement as he steps into his path of manhood. What's a festival without shenanigans?

Log


  It is the Spring Blossom Festival, a time when many of the flowers are blooming to include the most exotic ones at the Hill and Dale. Outside of that portion of the town, the boars are the most active.

 The atmosphere around the capitol is filled with vibrant life today; whimsical music from the wind instruments play throughout the city square accompanied by the strings of the musicians, spreading good cheer along the town. Hanging above the high points of the city are strings with vibrant flags attached.

  The square is filled with dancers in old traditional garb, though one that may not be apparant, except recognizable by the keen, obscured by time, is the ritual garb of the druids. At least, this one is the only person within the garb. The others have a more 'current' look to the garb.

  Even the vendors are popular today, evident by the wares related to the spring time. This also means it's double duty for the Vanguard Association. Many have been hired as the guards to help oversee the event, even as far as undergoing high security. This means a few 'A Class' Vanguards were hired. Considering a big event at the square center... the rumor of the crowned prince's 'First Speech'.

  Taking in the environment and enjoying the scenery is none other than Reize, who is staring wide-eyed and happily. Of course, he also has his arms full of meat on sticks and has been stuffing his face with them. "Mmm! This is great!" Om nom! "Everything is so busy and with good reason!"
 

Ruidosa, being very pale and a vampire dislikes Spring time. Things are 'reborn' and the air is alight with 'life'. She prefers fall and winter. Nevermind Summer. Even with her night gem that's ''parasol season''. Luckily, the sun is that not brazen yet and she's doing her best to not be too grumpy.

She takes in the dancing and is sketching, drawing and writing about the festival on a blank page in the large tome.

Though, Still, she's standing by Reize and then giggles a little, as he's practically peraps balancing meat on meat on sticks. "You know. You're going to get sick if you keep eating like that. I think. Right? Humans get sick if they eat too much?" she asks curiously.

Pause.

"C...Can I try one?" she asks.


 Ivo's eyes are on the dancers, the half-finished skewer in his hand subtly but repeatedly bobbing as he unconsciously waves it like a conductor's baton. As tantalizing as the aroma from the meat is, it cannot overpower his curiosity at the diverse art forms on display.
 "I read that there are over thirty officially recognized peoples in Granse," he remarks, "and many of them are represented here. But I think there were even more communities represented in the Burial Mounds of the Great Plains to the south. Some absorbed by the stronger powers by Vaeltrandia, I expect, and others overlooked by Zerhem and the history it has written." His lips upturned in a half-smile, his eyes sparkle with interest. "These dancing styles... these express not only the many peoples of Granse, but the ways that they have influenced each other over time, their ideas and ideals cross-pollinating."
 The busy crowd brushes by him, setting his blue cloak to rippling, as he turns to Reize, now beginning to grin.
 "Even once we learn the secrets of Vaeltrandia, so much of Granse's story will remain to be told!"
 As attentive as Ivo is to the performance, and as inattentive as he seems to be to his skewer, he nevertheless sticks close to Reize while endeavoring to keep the performance is view. If Ivo has any higher priority than his own curiosity, it is: do not unintentionally allow Reize to wander off on his own. That's basically a Game Over, right there.
 His grin widens as he glances at Ruidosa before looking back to Reize. "She's right, you know," he notes. "Make sure to try the skewered little cabbages, too. They've been expertly leached of their bitterness." Even boy wonders need their dietary fiber.
 It would be ungentlemanly to comment on Rui's own eating habits. He'll find some other way to tease her-- I mean, what? Hm? This narrator didn't say anything. You must be hearing-- uh, seeing things.


  In response to Ruidosa's comment about him getting sick, the young explorer scoffs at the idea, "I should be fiiiine!" He is not worried about getting sick from the food at all. His eyes have lit up in delight from the sticks. He looks over at his partner as she asks about trying one.

 With a grin, the young explorer extends a stick out for her, close to her mouth, whether she'll take the stick from his hand or will just bite from the stick itself is up to her. "Sure, Rui!" He is happy to share the food with his partner!

 The group are treated to the sight of the dancers spinning around and around, some of the girls charming all of the other men while the others keep with the motion. The musicians are playing a vibrant, rhythmic tune that spreads through the town.

 Beer mugs are clanked, people are chattering, and even more so, many people are dancing around.

 While the group near a bridge where the water stands, Reize looks over out to Ivo. "Really?" He looks thoughtful, "...Yeah, there did seen like more communities involved." He looks over towards Ivo and Ruidosa and then back out to the crowd, "Sure, I'll grab some skewered cabbages along the way. Do you guys think we shou-----WHOA!"

  Reize is caught by surprise as one young girl amongst a gaggle of girls approach him. Reize turns towards the girls with a nonplussed look on his face.

 "You're the young new Vanguard that we've heard so much about!"
"You and your friends done a lot of brave expeditions!"

  One of the girls approach closer, which has Reize leaning against the bridge with sweat, "This lady would love to have a dance with you~"
 

Ruidosa is taking notes in her book as she mmmmms to Ivo, nodding and only half listening as she looks up to see Ivo and his half-meat skewer. then suddenly there's girls, she's about to say something when one of them is leaning in on Reize and this makes her open her mouth.... she looks to Reize... and the dancer. and back to Reize and then the dancer and she slams her book shut and suddenly moves to ''shove'' the dancer forward and off the bridge and send her careening into the water.

"I CURSE YOU!" she says angrily, and jealouslily and perhaps a tad possessively too as she huffs.

Pause, then she sweetly turns to Reize. "DO you wanna dance?" she asks, eyelashes fluttering. As if she didn't just dunk a girl into the drink out of spite like, a literal two seconds ago.


 Ivo is successfully resisting the urge to look over Ruidosa's shoulder and at her book, mostly thanks to the impressive performances on display. As the people of Zerhem and happy visitors dance to the lively music, those in traditional costume ascend to raised daises, all the better for their practiced movements and elaborate garb to be admired and appreciated by spectators like the Cosmopolitan. His intent gaze is drawn to the one in druidic garb, a young woman who turns with skillful steps and fluid gestures. Her white and red raiments, like that of a priestess, are complemented by an astonishingly lifelike and presumably stuffed falcon perched upon her shoulder, which she impressively avoids disturbing as she dances.
 "Hmm?" Ivo is distracted as the girls approach Reize, his eyes narrowing as he stares at the druidic dancer. "Did that bird just... move?"
 "Stay calm, Bacach," the dancer, inaudible from afar, whispers to the falcon, which blinks at her. "You can do this, Aoife...!" Despite what she says and the grace of her movements, the young woman seems significantly more nervous than her animal companion. "The big city's not so scary...!"
 She's a long way from the logging town, and this festival is the most people she's ever seen in one place before. As though picking up on Aoife's internal tension, Bacach ruffles his feathers and, sensing an intense gaze, looks towards the source.
 "Eh?"
 Ivo blinks, looking toward Reize and Ruidosa.
 "Did you two just see--"
 *SPLASH*
 "--"
 Now. Now is the time. If Ivo is going to muster up a zinger that Rui fully deserves and absolutely cannot get justifably mad at him about, this is the moment to do it. OK, let's think. He should bring up her mother, and what he's read in her diary, and--
 "Bacach, no!!!"
 Is that a raptor's cry?
 As Ivo opens his mouth to unleash his limit break, the Ultimate Quip, the druidic dancer can be heard shouting in dismay as the large falcon swoops over the shocked crowd toward Ivo, snatching the unfinished meat skewer from his hand and taking off into the sky--
 "Huh? Huh!? HhhhaaAAAA--"
 --the force of which, of course, sends Ivo toppling into the river too.


  "...I don't think that would be a good idea."

  "Ah, wh---aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" There is a sound of a splash that follows the shove.

  Reize and the other village girls look over towards Ruidosa with a giant sweatbead forming. The girls slowly inch away from the young explorer, leaving him and his partner to their own devices. Interacting with the explorer may not be in their best interest.

  When Ruidosa turns to face him with that sweet smile, he offers her a warm smile. He takes her hand, "Certainly!" He brightens, even if he does sweat a bit at her reaction to shoving the girl. After all, making his partner angry is not in his best interest!

  Reize recognizes that Ivo is nearby, offering his long-time friend a smile. "Oooi! Ivo, you think you should be fi----"

  Sudden bird-up experience.

  Close up on falcon eye as it snatches up the unfinished meat skewer.

  As the camera pans back to Reize and Ruidosa as the young explorer stares down from the bridge, he winces at the splash. "I--ivo!" He grimaces, looking over towards Ruidosa with a sweatdrop. "...D--Do you think he will be fine..." He rummages around, "Maybe I can find some rope for him to climb up."
 

Ruidosa La Crima rolls 1d20>10.
Comment: Reize Retrival?
Roll(s): 18. Total result is 18. This is a success (by 8).

Ruidosa La Crima: 1 , Random Girls: 0.

Ruidosa beams and is about to go dance along with the others when Ivo is flung from the bridge down into the water as she frowns and looks to Reize as she frowns and frumps. "Guess dancings on the back burner...." she says. What was Ivo about to say anyways? Surely not the ultimate quip that would utterly destroy her. Right?

Still, she looks around and frowns a little. Then she turns into a bat... does a loop.... and pops Reize over the edge, quickly, after Ivo.

She follows soon after, flying down, trying to catch Reize to slow his descent. Reize may... be heavier than Ruidosa estimates. This may not go well.

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Swimming Check
Roll(s): 2. Total result is 2. This is a failure (by 8).


 Ivo once wondered why, with a river running directly through Zerhem, the druidic refugees of Vaeltrandia had helped to construct an aqueduct running from Lake Gerisia. One reason is that, as the resource requirements of the growing kingdom increased, this was a means of both purifying and increasing the water supply of the de facto capitol of Granse. Another, however, is that there are fish lurking in the river that tend not to dwell in the lake beyond and that can make dealing with the river rather inconvenient.
 The current here is not so strong, so the Cosmopolitan is not too worried as he begins to swim toward the surface. But his waterlogged cloak catches the eye of a creature whose rest his sudden descent has disturbed. A giant river pike, provoked by the cloak like a bull by a matador, lunges and, razor teeth flashing beneath the river's surface, seizes the fabric and begins to pull.
 "Brbrhrbm!?!?"
 Ivo, desperately fighting this new and unknown force, reaches a hand above the river surface, grasping at nothing, only able to hope that he will be able to take hold of something, anything.
 Hm? What's this? There's something in his hand--
 "Kheeeee!"
 Bacach, having swooped down from the sky, ascends again, leaving a now meat-free skewer in Ivo's outstretched hand. Clutching the useless stick, he sinks beneath the water again.
 Thanks, Bacach.

Reize Seatlan rolls 1d20>10.
Comment: bad fish
Roll(s): 11. Total result is 11. This is a success (by 1).


  Reize looks over his partner when she turns into a bat.

  ???

  And then he's popped over the edge, "Whoa....!" The young man undergoes a very fast descent towards the water, "Gaaaaaahhhh!" Until Ruidosa clamps on to catch his descent and get him towards the edge toreach their older companion. The explorer has a huge sweatdrop over the side of his head, "... We ought to work on the 'heads up' thing, Rui...."

  When the young man starts to make his way down, he sees that Ivo is being tugged down by an unknown force. As the boy looks a bit more deeper, he can see that the giant pike had made its way to grab his older friend. "Oiii!" In order to save Ivo, the first thing that Reize does?

  Swing his boomerang in the water to bash the fish.

  "Get away from my friend!"

  Next thing?

  He extends his hand out for Ivo to take, "Oi! Ivo! Take my hand!" He looks up towards his partner, who may be struggling with his weight, "Rui, just get us to the shoreline!"
  Despite all things going on within the watery front, the music continues to be vibrant. Everyone continue to enjoy the party, dancing vividly while gleefully making chiding jokes, light-hearted ones, etc. The overall atmosphere within the town is joyous.

  The spring harvest festival is then met with flowers fluttering down, many trained birds used to drop the satchel full of the flowers to let them rain down.

  A symbolic meaning of blossoming.
 

Ruidosa is flapping for dear life as she huffs and huffs and huffs and huffs and is eyes closed, going full force forward dragging Reize and Ivo through the water to the shore as she then HUFFFS and transforms back into her normal human form and cries. "But he might had drooooowned!" she says finally, now that she can talk 'normal human' again in regards to working on the heads up.

Still, she flumps back to her back and blinks as it rains....flowers?

"Huh...?" she asks , a little dumbfounded.


 The oversized pike, known for its aggression and vicious bite, goes from having daggers for eyes to having swirls for eyes as Reize's boomerang impacts. Its jaw loosens as it flops from Ivo's cloak as, with prodigious and impressive effort, Ruidosa's bat form pulls not one but two young men back up to land.
 "Huff... huff..."
 Ivo, soaking wet, dark hair plastered to his brow, gazes up at the sky, catching his breath as his gaze swivels to confirm that his friends are both safe.
 "...Thanks, you two."
 After being so heroically rescued by Ruidosa, he could never bring himself to unleash the Ultimate Quip. With a pang of regret, he lets the opportunity pass, out of gratitude for the vampire girl. And, maybe, hope that good karma will pay off in the form of a friendly Madam La Crima. What? He just had a near-death experience.
 The young man's blissful smile might be explained away as his being grateful to still be alive or joy at the lovely sight of birds scattering above, raining down blossoms to the oohs and ahhs of the admiring crowd. Only one oddity mars the display: one bird significantly larger than the others, bearing a large razor-toothed pike now with Xs for eyes. It swoops amongst the other birds, causing them to veer away from the predator, before it descends amongst the performers.
 "Bacach, I don't *want* this fish!!!" a young woman wails.


  There is a resignated sigh, Reize is left rubbing the back of his head at Ruidosa's response. "That is true..." He glances back towards Ivo, looking at his older friend, "Oi, Ivo, you alright?" He lowers his posture just to make sure that their Responsible Adult of the group is faring well.

 Upon the reassurance that Ivo is in good spirits, the boy smiles, "Ah, great!" He looks around at the flowers descending, tilting his head with curiosity, "Oh wow!" Then, it hits him, "Let's head back up! The music is..." It sounds like that the music is brought to a close. "...Well, I guess the song ended..." He apologetically looks up at Ruidosa, "We'll have our next dance, promise." He brightens at her.

 Officially, the dance have concluded and despite the falcon's display, everyone have been clapping. Maybe it is part of the theatrics in their eyes. Overall, the crowd continue to chatter.

 Until a horn blares in the sky. Following the horn are trumpets tooting. It is on that signal that the quiets the crowd within the square. It is also at the point that many of the higher ranking Vanguards have taken position around the square. Given the slow quiet, there is a bit of etiquitte at work.

 The announcer speaks out to the group, "Ladies and gentlemen, we thank you for your attendance in this festival! Spring is a new beginning for us all! New life, new paths, a new future! And with that, this spring is very important! The royal prince is arriving to make a public announcement!"

  This actually stuns many people, given that the royal family have been rather hands off. There are rumors of their weaken state and the other matter is that they're dependent on a child who may seem ill-fit for the role.
 

Ruidosa is glad whining loudly solves the problem, AS IT SHOULD, and sits up as she frowns as the music stops and she pouts. Well. At... at least no one ELSE danced with Reize. Like strange girls. All gathered around Reize and and and--- okay she calms down slowly, and blinks. "Eh? So that rumor is true?" she asks, opening her book and making a note as she tries to hurry back up to the festival ground. She has to take this all down!

She's gonna hear a prince (!) speak and she wants to make sure she writes down every bit of the announcement but she pauses.

"RIGHT IVO ARE YOU DEAD? NO? GOOD!" she says as she continues up the way and pauses again.

"Reiiiizzzzzeeeee-y come onnnn." she begs.

Then she continues up the way.


 "Am I dead?" Ivo asks reflectively, as he is showered with petals from the heavens, as though being greeted by angels. Just to confirm, he checks his own status.

> Ivo's Status: Wet. Speed is halved.

 "Well, no harm done," he remarks to Reize, showing the maturity and grace befitting of a Responsible(?) Adult as he gets to his feet, boots squelching, and brushes his sodden hair back before beginning to follow after Ruidosa, dripping water as he goes. There's no time to change, so he'll do so afterwards. He wants to catch the prince's speech too, after all.
 Thus does Ivo fail to notice a fact that shall surely distress him later: a pike-sized bite that has been taken out of the hem of his cloak.
 Some distance away, a very confused dancer stares at the scrap of blue fabric she has wrenched from the jaws of the large fish in her hands, all while the falcon perched on her shoulder ruffles its feathers with an air of self-satisfaction.


  "Right, right!"

 Reize responds to Ruidosa before following suit of his partner. He looks at Ivo to take a quick check-up on his friend who nearly drowned. Luckily, he doesn't look too worse for wear. He follows Ruidosa up the path until they get back to the surface.

  After a moment of silence, trumpets flare up once more as the guards have started flanking to the square. Each of them have taken position, ready to cordon off anyone who tries to get too close. At the high arch of the town stands the current ruler and the queen. Both of them have leaned in together to watch the proceedings.

  One of the Senior Vanguard members have been tasked to oversee the event and walk with the prince. This individual is a man within his mid-twenties, bearing a serious look on his face. Beside him is a short, regally dressed blond-haired boy. He looks a bit nervous over his current surroundings, but he is taking a deep breath. In his hand is a scroll, which was handed to him as practiced.

  Just as practiced... just as practiced.

  He will take a step towards manhood.

 Deep within the shadows of the alleyway, there are a pair of men who have been eyeing the proceeding. The silhouette men grin, then they slip off to their next point.