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ph_logs2024-11-16 03:18 pm
pumpkinhollow) wrote in ph_logs2024-11-16 03:18 pm
November Event - Dance of the Decayed
[PLAIN TEXT VERSION HERE]
And so, under the cloudless sky, abundant with the sounds of joy and laughter and the silliest music you’ve ever heard, you while away the lovely day. Dancing is, of course, the primary activity, specifically circle-dances with joined hands around something akin to a maypole with a weathervane on top and a lattice of flowers encircling the pole, but also just in general. There is also a large bonfire where people are writing things down on paper and tossing them to the flame--- apparently things in their life they wish to be rid of.
Funded by town hall, Pumpkin Hollow’s most prolific chefs are giving cooking stations and serving tables, and are distributing their finest seasonal selections! What’s your flavor? Farm to table delicacies from the local farmers, pastries from Max Maximum’s bakery, Laios Touden’s fabled monster cooking, and more! (If you look closely, you may even catch sight of Dahlia Leeds hiding behind that last station.)
However, as the full moon bathes the mountain in silver and mingles with the warm light of bonfire and lanterns, a figure can be seen standing up there. A woman in a shimmering gown, textured hair in a long ponytail that looks like lassoed cloudstuff. Perhaps you know her.
DANCE OF THE DECAYED
PRELUDE
It’s the morning of November 16th and it is beautiful out. The sky is cloudless, endless, a blank canvas washed with brilliant blue sprawling out in every direction. Perfect for filling with kites and bonfire smoke and joyful song.
Today is the Dance of Celestine --- a religious festival for some, a community festival for others, but a good time for all. It is celebrated by climbing to the highest accessible place (in this case, Crane’s Ridge) and being close to the sky. There will be flame, food, festivities, and as the name implies, plenty of dancing! All that’s left to do is make your way skyward!
Not to worry! While the train does still run, the option to hike is always open, and there are some horse-drawn wagons helping to cart people as far as they will go. Plus there are the combined efforts of the residents--- wizardly sorts, winged folk, and strapping men and women all live around here, certainly some tricks to help make the journey easier can be found! However your trip looks, there will surely be helpful hands around to make sure everyone makes it safely.
Prior to its discovery as the final resting place of Linette Brenning, a local mage of good standing who disappeared years ago, the well in Fall’s Promise Cemetery had been carefully sealed with anti-magic sigils because it was regularly spewing magic that caused the bones of the dead to walk the earth. Now with Linette properly laid to rest, her spirit is no longer subject to the sigils. But resting peacefully as she is, she’s still not above a bit of harmless mischief.
Which is why, as the bulk of the townsfolk reach the summit of Crane’s Ridge, the sound of rattling bones and banging drums and strumming guitars and singing accordions and thump, thump, thumping old boots coming up the trail.
A band of skeletons! All dressed in tattered old Victorian clothes! They’ve come up from the cemetery to join in the dance!
The skeletons will be here all day and cannot be destroyed or tampered with in any way that isn’t temporary. They cannot speak, so unfortunately they will not be able to meaningfully answer questions and are really only interested in partying anyway. As such, this is sadly not a lore gaining moment. They will, however, dance with you, cause hijinks, and make flower crowns with an assortment of festive autumnal blossoms they’ve brought with them.
Today is the Dance of Celestine --- a religious festival for some, a community festival for others, but a good time for all. It is celebrated by climbing to the highest accessible place (in this case, Crane’s Ridge) and being close to the sky. There will be flame, food, festivities, and as the name implies, plenty of dancing! All that’s left to do is make your way skyward!
The Journey Begins
Getting up Crane’s Ridge can be a bit of a task. Generally, miners and other workers who need to get to the higher parts of Marrow Isle’s lone mountain take the train. A simple red locomotive with passenger seats in the back and cargo cars in the back, situated on a single loop of track. However, last year’s Dance of Celestine was summarily ruined due to metaphysical complications with said train, so many are reluctant to ride it.Not to worry! While the train does still run, the option to hike is always open, and there are some horse-drawn wagons helping to cart people as far as they will go. Plus there are the combined efforts of the residents--- wizardly sorts, winged folk, and strapping men and women all live around here, certainly some tricks to help make the journey easier can be found! However your trip looks, there will surely be helpful hands around to make sure everyone makes it safely.
More Bones to Sort
The island’s current residents aren’t the only ones joining the festival.Prior to its discovery as the final resting place of Linette Brenning, a local mage of good standing who disappeared years ago, the well in Fall’s Promise Cemetery had been carefully sealed with anti-magic sigils because it was regularly spewing magic that caused the bones of the dead to walk the earth. Now with Linette properly laid to rest, her spirit is no longer subject to the sigils. But resting peacefully as she is, she’s still not above a bit of harmless mischief.
Which is why, as the bulk of the townsfolk reach the summit of Crane’s Ridge, the sound of rattling bones and banging drums and strumming guitars and singing accordions and thump, thump, thumping old boots coming up the trail.
A band of skeletons! All dressed in tattered old Victorian clothes! They’ve come up from the cemetery to join in the dance!
The skeletons will be here all day and cannot be destroyed or tampered with in any way that isn’t temporary. They cannot speak, so unfortunately they will not be able to meaningfully answer questions and are really only interested in partying anyway. As such, this is sadly not a lore gaining moment. They will, however, dance with you, cause hijinks, and make flower crowns with an assortment of festive autumnal blossoms they’ve brought with them.
SHINE ON, HARVEST MOON
Everything is Nice and Fine
The festival runs from the early afternoon until well after dusk. Picnic blankets are spread, logs and stones are positioned for sitting around an enormous bonfire, and a dance floor is cleared. Looks like Juniper Sweetwater and the Deadwood Five are off the hook for music--- we’ve got skeletons for that! And they don’t seem to plan to quit playing their jaunty music anytime soon.And so, under the cloudless sky, abundant with the sounds of joy and laughter and the silliest music you’ve ever heard, you while away the lovely day. Dancing is, of course, the primary activity, specifically circle-dances with joined hands around something akin to a maypole with a weathervane on top and a lattice of flowers encircling the pole, but also just in general. There is also a large bonfire where people are writing things down on paper and tossing them to the flame--- apparently things in their life they wish to be rid of.
Old North Wind
One of the most beloved activities of the Dance of Celestine is the flying of kites. The blustering wind above Crane’s Ridge is perfect for catching fabric and sending kites up to the sky. There are premade kites that are elaborate and beautiful artistic depictions of things like clouds with trails of raindrops, suns, moons, stars, birds, dragons, and autumn leaves, which people can take turns flying, as well as plain white kites that can be painted and flown. Participants are encouraged to write a wish onto a strip of fabric and send it up the strings of one of the kites, to offer the wish up to Celestine or to the universe. What do you wish for?Potatoes and Molasses
What would a Pumpkin Hollow festival be without the food? Especially not too long after the last major harvest of the year.Funded by town hall, Pumpkin Hollow’s most prolific chefs are giving cooking stations and serving tables, and are distributing their finest seasonal selections! What’s your flavor? Farm to table delicacies from the local farmers, pastries from Max Maximum’s bakery, Laios Touden’s fabled monster cooking, and more! (If you look closely, you may even catch sight of Dahlia Leeds hiding behind that last station.)
Patient is the Night
The top of Crane’s Ridge is only partially flat enough to host this party. Arching over the rocky platform of the summit where the festival is hosted, there is a stone formation, tall and proud, that looks like the head and neck of a crane. It’s only big enough for one or two people to be on, making it a popular cloud- or star-gazing spot for couples.However, as the full moon bathes the mountain in silver and mingles with the warm light of bonfire and lanterns, a figure can be seen standing up there. A woman in a shimmering gown, textured hair in a long ponytail that looks like lassoed cloudstuff. Perhaps you know her.
3. You can understand dependence
It's not the first time they crossed paths tonight. They shared several dances earlier, Shen Qingqiu laughing and congratulating Siebren at the obvious increase in his control (or was it his power itself that had increased? At the time it didn't occur to Shen Qingqiu to ask) and he ascended the crag himself to sit nearby and smile, a drink in hand, as he listens as Siebren extols many of the same facts he'd shared with Shen Qingqiu himself, during their private viewing several weeks before.
Now it is much later, and the flush of Shen Qingqiu's impromptu experiment with drunkeness is also beginning to fade from his system. He promised Artemy that he would turn his cultivation back on before he went to sleep, but now he's wondering if it would be cheating somehow to turn it back on before he gets a headache. He sits down next to Siebren, smoothing his robes over his knees for a moment before looking closer at his friend and asking, "Are you well, Siebren? You're looking a little green."
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It's a rotten metaphor, and he knows it.
"The cobwebs are cotton candy. The rain will come, the sugar will melt. But right now, I can't move. Not by accident."
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He gently takes his hand, chafing Siebren's knuckles with his own, soft hands. "My friend, I'm here. Tell me how I can assist you?"
He's no medical cultivator, but he can still unobtrusively check Siebren's pulse. Does it seem to be erratic or moving too fast?
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One thing that's not normal at all: Siebren might have shown up in an off-white sweater, but his pants, too, are now an off-eggshell color they weren't earlier. The effect is uniform, not just someone spilling a little bleach on pants.
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Shen Qingqiu changes his grip to Siebren's face, turning it gently until they can make eye contact. "Come back to me, my friend," he murmurs. "Look at me, listen to my voice. I don't know how to help you, but I'll still try. Just give me a sign, a little direction..."
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"I think I need to get away from the crowd. Too many minds. Help me?"
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"Should we return to the train station, then?" he asks gently. "Or would the hiking trail be better?" If worst comes to worst, he is more than capable of picking his friend up and carrying him down the mountain.
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"If the train is likely to be crowded, let's avoid it. Please."
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"We'll walk, then," he says gently. "Just follow my lead." And with a gentle, measured pace he begins to lead Siebren over to the trail, feeling just a little bit like a child with an unwieldy balloon. It's not at all how he was planning to end his evening -- but he's quite glad he was there, if the alternative might have been Siebren finding himself all alone.
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"Thank you. I'm sorry to pull you away from the...everything."
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As they start to put a little distance between themselves and the party and the night grows quieter around them, he dares to ask, "Do you know what triggered all that? I know you must be tired, but...things got a little odd back there."
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He sighs slowly, like he is deflating. "The pressure of so many minds, lit by so many passions was much. And I felt them at the edge of me, and me at the edges of them."
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Not the time, not the place. Shen Qingqiu clears his throat awkwardly and instead asks, "So, the distance? Is it helping?"
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His voice is soft, distant, wounded. There is no pride in what he did, or what he's becoming. Not in this moment, when it's complicating everything.
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"I know you wouldn't have done such a thing without good reason, my friend. But may I ask why? How did everything come to this?"
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He sounds almost apologetic about it.
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He mutters it, his grip loosening on Shen Qingqiu's hand.
"I am trying to explain. But I need you to hear me."
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He makes himself take a deep breath. "I feel as though, if I don't keep an eye and a hand on you, you'll float off somewhere and I'll never see you again..."
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There's less humor in those words than perhaps there ought to be.
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It's dark but for torches set to light the way, and they're alone on the path right now. Anything could happen. They could do anything, and no one would know.
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He chews on his lower lip, realizing -- "I suppose, looking back, there's a conversation or two that we're past due to have, but...is this really the time? I don't want to stress you out, Siebren. I care about you."
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