IC Roleplay Logs

VEGGING OUT!

Come on out, the weather's vine!

Happy Summer, Pumpkin Hollow! May the blessings of Kora be ever at your shore and the summer sun bring Serranai’s gifts to life. The days are long and the nights are alive, and the cucumber harvest has arrived. That can only mean one thing--- it’s time for the annual cucumber festival!

2 years ago, in the year 16:53, the festival was cancelled due to all of the cucumbers being turned into turnips by a prankster witch who remains at large. As such, last year the Green King election from the bungled year was honored. But this year, Pumpkin Hollow has opened voting to its newer residents, and with an exciting turn-out! So join us for this beloved summer holiday, and enjoy cucumber-based delicacies, dance at a fancy ball, check out Pumpkin Hollow’s first-ever Pride parade, and honor our new Green King!

This event (ICly) is one week long, running from June 8th to June 14th. It is a brief reprieve from the spooky shenanigans of Pumpkin Hollow and is therefore horror free. Come get a slice of life--- and a few cucumbers too!

Gherkin this party started

Easy Being Green

The first day of the Cucumber Festival is always dedicated to the crowing of the Green King. Last year, this was Theodore “Teddy” Pennyburrow, the foxfolk man in charge of the island’s dormitory house for children without family. This year, it will be his honor to crown the new Green King.

Unlike the airy, floral affair that is Merrymeet, the Green King procession is rustic and raucous, taking place in the cobblestone streets under the fierce glow of the summer sun. Drums beat and cowbells jangle as the sidewalks crowd with cheering neighbors and the members of the Green Court are asked to strut their way to the town square, where each receives a green sash embroidered with vines.

Bringing up the rear are the two runners-up--- Father Mulcahy in third, and Radar O’Reilly in second. Each one is gifted with a pin for their sash (one bronze, one silver) with their names engraved and an enormous jar of artisanal pickles from Miann Farm in their choice of spiciness. Then, it’s time for the man of the hour to make his way forward.

A breeze whips up a fine cloak embroidered painstakingly with cucumber vines, a collar of cucumber leaves adorning his broad shoulders. He is all smiles, and what a winning smile it is. The town’s beloved baker, voted Handsome Offworlder of the Month by the Northwest Hollow Senior Ladies Knitter’s Club for three consecutive months! The man, the myth, the legend, with a name so nice you say it twice--- Max Maximum.

When he reaches Teddy, he has to bend down to receive his leafy golden crown and scepter, but he stands tall to face the crowd as their 16:55 Green King! Congratulations, Max!

From there, it’s time for the commencement party, which is held both inside and outside of the Oak & Iron. Loud and joyful music, dancing, and tons of great food are on the docket for tonight, along with a sacred ritual. It’s time to get the Green King pickled!

The rest of the Green Court is tasked with each buying Max a drink until he’s unable to continue (though Crichton is given permission to present Max with a glass of pickle juice if he chooses). It’s up to Max to earn the right to graduate from Green King to the coveted rank of Pickle King. How much can our fearless leader handle? Can he hold his liquor well enough to beat Archie Brenning’s record? The night is young--- let's find out!

Barrel of Laughs

Once the first day of the festival is out of the way, it’s all fun and games--- literally! There’s a ton of carnival games, tests of strength, cooking contests for pickle-related dishes, and even a contest for biggest cucumber. There’s also some rides, some magically powered and some kinetically powered, as well as “dragon rides” that allow townsfolk to ride on the back of a red, flying leviathan around the island! (It’s just Inspekta in an enormous dragon mask, but he’s hamming it up.)

As with last year, there will be a raffle--- this year hosted by Calloway’s Curios, and with a very interesting selection of items.

• Third prize is a Talking Water Companion. An apparatus worn on one's back that carries a substantial tank of water that it can expel for various uses. The nozzle also talks for some reason. Don't worry, it's friendly. Probably.
• Second prize is a Bicolor Teleportation Circle Cannon. Using one blue magical ring and one orange one, it can be used to designate the entry points of a makeshift teleportation circle, apparently by clinging to the celestial and otherworldly magic lingering on surfaces around town. Can only be used on flat surfaces with enough area to allow entry to an average-sized person standing upright. Use with caution.
• And first prize is a Triangle of True Sight. A teeny tiny triangular arcane construct worn on the ear. The wearer can use it to see monsters through solid surfaces and track their movements, spot otherwise hard to see tracks from animals and people, access a map of the island and receive guidance to specific locations, and translate languages---- including R'lyeah. It also includes a health monitor that can track your heart rate and count your steps. Fancy!
• The consolation prize, given to all players who do not win a major prize, is a Chatty Rectangle, which is a little red object with a panel that opens on the front, which can tell them factoids about the island's Pokemon residents. Calloway has a whole box of them. Please get rid of them. (More will be available for purchase after the festival ends as well.)

Tickets this year have a significant price hike, because of course they do. They are each going for a whopping 300 Brass. Despite Calloway’s protests, Town Hall has asked that the purchase be limited to 5 tickets per person still, in the interest of fairness. If you'd like to purchase any, please use the "RAFFLE TICKETS" thread below to do so!

A Dill-ightful Array of Colors

For reasons some of you may be familiar with, Pumpkin Hollowites tend to be a bit dubious about the idea of parades. So when the idea of a Queer Pride parade was pitched to Town Hall, it was met with no small amount of side-eye from the locals. However, after a thorough explanation of the tradition and its significance, the event was approved wholeheartedly!

On the Wednesday of the festival week, the morning schedule features a parade of brightly colored horse-drawn floats, beautiful men wearing very little clothing, muscular women in heavy knight’s armor, androgynous people in fantastical clothing, and people of all genders clad in symbolic color palettes or different flavors of drag. It’s a splendid display that offworlders and locals enjoy, and the parade leads to the Greymare Library lawn, just off of the main area of the Cucumber Festival that is designated for Pride-specific booths and activities.

Gerry Keay will be hosting a repeat of his popular seminar, “Gay Shit 101”, and various speakers will also be asked to share speeches, performances, art, and poetry about their experience with sexuality and gender. Drag shows will be held on a small stage, the lady-knights will be sparring on a section of lawn for entertainment, and booths will be selling special craft pieces, clothing, and street food themed around the event. This festival will run alongside the main event from Wednesday to Friday, but will close on Saturday to allow the folks running it to attend the closing festivities of the Cucumber Festival.

Town Hall would like to extend a huge shout-out to Pinhole Printing and Binding, the Velvet, Ambrosia, and Silk brothel, and the Bizzyboys for helping to sponsor and organize the event! Pumpkin Hollow is excited to incorporate this celebration of identity and expression into their summer traditions going forward!

A Slice of the High Life

On Saturday, it comes time for the closing ceremonies. Many of the food and game booths are still open in the main area of the festival for the morning and early afternoon, but they close up early to prepare for one final event.

You see, Pumpkin Hollow’s last major celebration was for Merrymeet back in February. The normally delightful spring cotillion was interrupted by Efrain himself, preventing people from fully enjoying the party for the second year in a row. To make up for lost dancing time, this year’s closing celebration of the Cucumber Festival will feature an indoor-outdoor fancy dress party in Town Hall and in the plaza.

As before, if you would like a custom outfit for the occasion, you will need to foot the bill. However, if you aren’t able to pay for one, there will be 50B rentals available, with one catch---- everything that is available for this offer is in a shade of green, since the clothes made for this purpose are made of excess fabric from the festival decorations. Seems like Yorick, in a distracted state after his breakup from Mayor Poe, ordered double the amount needed, and Town Hall is very much hoping that the rentals will help make up for some of the lost budget.

As usual, there will be an impressive array of food (much of which will still be cucumber-based), plenty of music, and good times with friends! Perhaps a little interpersonal drama for later gossip as well? Time will tell! Let’s end the Cucumber Festival with a bang!

Speaking of bangs, once the party ends, there will be fireworks lit outside, so grab a seat on the Festival Green for a romantic evening or grab a complimentary potion of Deafen on your way home for a good night’s sleep. Happy Cukefest!

SYMPHONY OF SORROW

If the Audience Would Please Take Their Seats

You find yourself at the theatre.

You may be asking how you got here, why you are here, when did you arrive. But none of that matters, does it? Nothing matters. Whether you are shocked at yourself for thinking so or whether you have known that nothing matters for years on end does not matter either. Whatever meaning there was to be had in any of this escapes you now. Who you were and what you wanted, what you valued and stood for, it all seems now like such a hazy dream. Out of reach.

There is a ticket in your hand. It tells you where to go. You follow it dutifully. Ticket stubs are exchanged for playbills. A schedule of performances. Whatever. You numbly proceed to where you belong. Performers and stage crew to their places, orchestra to the pit, workers to their positions. All with the knowledge that there can be only pain.

A four-armed conductor in moth-eaten robes raises his baton, and there is music.

You deserve this.

You deserve this.

You deserve this.

Observer’s Overture

First Movement in E Minor

adagio, con dolore
PP

Lights down on the chorus, who sits in the stands. They are playing the role of the audience. Ad lib spoken word between chorus members seated near one another. Soft music begins to swell eerily.

Lights up on the stage. A performance begins, apparently in media res, where the chorus is meant to observe.

vacillante, improvvisato
cresc. P

The performers on stage play out their acts, appearing fearful. The chorus ad libs quiet uncertainty from the stands. Some of them will look down at their playbill and find their own name on the schedule of acts to come. There is a brief description on the page of the act that is scheduled for them. It is clear by the state of the ones already on stage that this isn’t something they have a choice in.

Chorus members attempt to rise from their seats, but cannot. Not yet. Foreshadowing to a later movement. For now, they must endure the overture.

Opera Infernale

Second Movement in Various Keys
( A medley of vignettes, performed in various styles)

chorale concerto a tutti, con affetto

F

Various chorus members rise between songs and make their way to the green room, where they are costumed. They have some time to talk with other incoming acts. They will find themselves and their loved ones being prepared for their acts.

segue

Those who performed before stop in the green room again. They look drained. A fate which awaits the incoming acts.

segue

On the stage, each act is a musical recreation of trauma. A worst fear, a most painful moment, an act of cruelty, a time of hardship. The styles will vary accordingly. If the other players in a given tale are present, they will receive their role without question. If a cast member has no fellow performers from their own world present, an understudy will be chosen to play any other roles from those that they are close to. Everyone is off book. Vocal quality is adjusted to match the conductor’s standards. Staff ensures there are no interruptions. The show must go on.

CODA: Für Nimona
A Coda in A Minor

There is a stranger in the green room, unmoving. Pale glowing eyes peer out from an ungulate-shaped void perched atop a high end suit. Antlers leer overhead. He is waiting for someone. Staff take no notice of him.

Ensemble's Lament

Third Movement in G Minor

bocca chiusa
PPP

There are other places to be besides the stage. Other roles to play.

pesante

Behind the stage, the stage crew toil under Baritone, the stage manager and the Viscount of Suffering. There is a pipe organ built into the man’s chest, and the bell of a horn where his heart ought to be. It shows. He is as cruel as he is miserable. He runs a tight ship.

declamando, letando

There are others in the pit, if they have the musical skill for it. And while this part of the performance is managed by a kinder sort, the Contessa of False Comforts is not so named for no reason.

The opera is long. There are no intermissions. The orchestra plays until their lungs ache and their fingers bleed, while Sonata assures them that it will all be over soon. Surely she cannot be lying. Surely there must be an end…

freddo, pietoso

Just outside the auditorium, there is work for the chorus serving food and drinks, taking ticket stubs for the endless stream of audience members, cleaning messes, or all other manner of soulless work. Perhaps these ensemble members simply did not interest the Conductor. Or it could be that they were made more miserable elsewhere.

Reprise - Observer’s Overture

Fourth Movement in E Major

impetuoso
FF It would seem that once a chorus member’s concerto is complete, they are free to move about the premises. At least until they are scheduled in a supporting role for another soloist. This means a chance to explore--- or escape.

presto repente, bellicoso
cresc.

Those attempting to escape will be met with resistance, however. Guarding the doors are shades, creations of the Conductor who can wear the faces of those held dear by those that look upon them. Escape, more likely, will come from within.

Members of the chorus who attempt to do battle with the Conductor, however, will find themselves up against something far more dangerous. Figures of glass, in all different shapes. Some abstract and solid, some hollow and human-like, and everywhere in between. Perhaps some chorus members will find one to be familiar.

The Hero will need an ensemble of her own to make it through and strike at the Conductor. Perhaps a resistance can be formed in a hidden location near the green room.

Homeward Aria

Fifth and Final Movement in C Major

tiempo di fanfara, vittorioso
F

When a dagger of Aster is driven into the heart of Prince Efrain of Sorrow’s Song, at last, the illusion fades. The members of the chorus relinquish their roles and find themselves on the summit of Crane’s Ridge.

It will be an arduous journey home, but it can be done with the solace that there is one less Demon Prince to trouble Pumpkin Hollow. Music in a joyful major key swells, then decrescendos.

enfatico, mancando poco a poco