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September Event - Guest Appearances

GUEST APPEARANCES

Ignition

September 20th is the Autumnal Equinox. Many places across the world of Concorde celebrate the first day of fall. While various nations and regions have their own cultural practices surrounding it, nature is god everywhere. And so the inception of Mother Autumn’s domain is universally recognized, even if the names change from place to place. But on a little island named Marrow, in a little town called Pumpkin Hollow, there is another reason to celebrate.

The birth of Dahlia Leeds is not so important an event that it supersedes Celestine herself, and neither Dahlia nor anyone in town is foolhardy enough to claim as much. In fact, after the events on this very same day last year, one might argue that perhaps her birth at least started out as a bad thing. But she is certainly the wealthiest person in town. It is through the combination of substantial wealth and a generous heart, two things that are very seldom found in the same place, that we end up with a soiree where the birthday girl would rather spoil everyone else on her day than herself.

The doors to Leeds Estate, which presides proudly over the town upon its throne at the crest of Founder’s Hill, are flung wide open. Large sums of Brass are paid to caterers, florists, and seamstresses to make sure this place is decorated to the nines. Some businesses labor all year, just to prepare for the handsome payoff they’ll get from this event alone. And you, dear neighbor, are invited. Not only are you invited, but you are dressed for the event in whatever your heart desires, completely at the birthday girl’s expense. Dahlia ensures no cost nor conflict stands in between anyone in town and a much-needed break. She is determined for this birthday of hers to be a good night.

Or else.

Incipience

{ The timeframe between ignition and the peak of burning, where a small, contained fire spreads and grows gradually into an established flame. All it takes is a spark. }

The whole town is abuzz as preparations for the gala begin. From the moment people begin to wake up for the day, the air throughout Pumpkin Hollow just feels electric with excitement. After August, people have been needing this lift in morale, and after how last year’s gala went… well, there’s a lot riding on this one. And Dahlia seems much more in control now.

Speaking of being in control, the whole lead-up process has been incredibly organized. You wake up to a delivery--- your outfit, perfectly tailored and completely paid for. Accessories are included. She truly thought of everything.

It’s noteworthy that Dahlia’s invitations this time included another name beneath her own. “Suzanne Marie Dyneax,” it said. Most people don’t know the name, but gossip gets around in a small town like this. It’s not hard to pick up on the fact that this probably refers to Susie, one of the teenagers that Dahlia recently moved into her home, whose own birthday was ruined by Seemingly’s attack. Gift baskets have been delivered to others whose days were in proximity to the disaster--- Zivia, Capochin, even CT. Wine, fruit, and sweets, along with a birthday card. Dahlia has said in the past, “my birthday is your birthday,” but never has that felt more true.

With businesses mostly closed for the celebration, you are left with the majority of the day to prepare in relative peace. For many of the women in Dahlia’s inner circle, there is even a pre-party group dressing room set up on the third floor of her home. Only those who received her special invitation (Susie, Noelle, Fever, Cassandra, Anya, Alice, Patty, Melanie, Basira, Elsie) are permitted to join, but any friends or partners are gladly invited to wait at the bottom of the stairs for the girls to make their grand entrance.

The food is laid out, flowers placed, dresses laced and buttoned. The clock strikes 6pm, and the fun begins.

FLASHOVER

{ The moment when a blaze reaches its maximum size and heat, and the radiant heat in the space is such that all combustible materials ignite at once, allowing the flame to steadily and freely burn for the rest of the night. }

By the time it reaches 6:15, the ballroom is already flooded with eager dancers and hungry dinner guests. After all, the whole town is invited, and everyone’s excited to see Dahlia’s beautiful new ballroom and take a load off.

The music is elegant, played by a rotating cast of musicians who join the party when their act is over. The food is extravagant--- Dahlia and two of her partners are some of the biggest foodies in town, so this is expected. There is talking and laughing and the swirling of ballgowns, and all is well.

But there is a guest you do not recognize in the corner of the ballroom. An older man with white hair, strong features, and a dour expression. You can see Dahlia eyeing him, then flitting over to him, then talking to him. Her expression shifts from anxious, to annoyed, to resigned, before at last she sighs heavily and leaves him to it. Whatever it is that’s going on, clearly it’s something Dahlia is willing to begrudgingly tolerate in order to get back to having fun.

The reason for the disturbance becomes clear in short order, but by the grace of Celestine (and perhaps Eligos), it isn’t a reality bending nightmare or an attack by some monstrous beings. It is simply more guests.

A lot more, in fact.

Those who were on the island in September of the previous year will recall the Visitor’s Center, which appeared briefly just past the beach and served as temporary living and meeting quarters for visitors from the homeworlds of current residents. It would seem that this is a repeat incident. For the night of the gala, one to two “plus ones” have been invited for the vast majority of offworld residents. Most of them are friends or family who are happy to see their guests--- but this is ultimately a working of Eligos, so naturally, this is not always the case.

At the very least, Eligos seems to have been generous with his own granddaughter. As she turns away from him, she very nearly runs into someone much shorter than her. A dark haired human man with dwarfism. He laughs at the accident, grinning up at her as she stares back at him, utterly baffled. Then, petticoats billowing out, Dahlia sinks to the floor and embraces him as tight as she can, head pressed to his chest with little regard for her carefully-styled hair. Even those across the room can hear her shout his name. ”Jonah!”

Within the hour, the ballroom is packed with nearly double the people originally expected, turning the party livelier than it’s ever been. Tearful reunions, laughter, dancing, mischief, romance, sparring, cruelty, and even proper, righteous violence. Truly, this Leeds Gala will be one for the books!

--------
[ OOC reminders: each apped-in player character is entitled to one or two guests from their homeworld. This can be former selves, family, friends, enemies, and they do not have to be from the character’s exact canonpoint. They can be from the past or the future. You may play them yourself, ask another member player to do it, or recruit a non-member player to do so with moderator approval. Non-member players are permitted to join the Discord server while they’re active in this event! Threads you write for your own guests are eligible for AC for the character they’re there with, and threads you write for someone else’s guest can be used on the AC of a character of your choice. Just make sure to mark them as guest threads. After the gala, guests will be allowed to move freely about town, stay the night on Saturday and go home Sunday, or leave right after the gala if preferred. And last but not least, characters played in the gala can be apped directly from this event, rather than going through the normal arrival process. Let a mod know if you have questions, and have fun! ]

Smoldering

{ The decay of a flame as available heat, oxygen, and burning material gradually diminish. Eventually, the flames will recede entirely into glowing embers, glittering like orange starlight amid the ashes of what once was. }

The party rages well into the night. It’s not typical for residents of Pumpkin Hollow to stay out this late, with everything around here that goes bump in the night, but eventually party-goers begin to find their way out. They move in small groups, huddled around lanterns, may they ever stay lit. Perhaps the surprising bit is that their guests can go with them. There are even reservations made for board overnight at the Oak & Iron, all under the name “E. Rex”.

But alas, these reservations are only booked for one night. And by the time the sun begins to set on the darker half of the year for the first time, an unfamiliar black boat is moored at Jack's Marina. One that the guests will recognize as the vessel on which they arrived. They must leave by the time it becomes dark.

Or must they? Perhaps for a select few, they will fail to feel the call which draws them home. It is unclear why. There are many that Mortanne would have allowed residency for, if she could. But for some reason, all but a small few feel the pull. Perhaps Eligos has simply abandoned them here. (Or maybe none at all end up marooned and everyone goes home? That all depends on you, dear reader.)

When the sky goes dark, the aptly named Heavy Heart shoves off, with only her crimson sails hanging suspended seemingly in midair in the moonlight. The black ship is otherwise consumed by the night. And soon, even those flashes of red vanish into the distance.

Moments recede into memories, like a dying fire settles gently into glowing embers at the bottom of a hearth. The festivities are over, and the guests are gone. Life in Pumpkin Hollow resumes as before. But maybe just a little warmer and brighter.

“My birthday is your birthday,” as Dahlia often says.

Happy birthday.

References to the appearance of Leeds Estate can be found here!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Valdis takes a breath, sharp and painful. If this man was her guardian, then she had betrayed him for Fenrir, and yet his voice carries only pain, not anger.

"Gideon."

She thought all the Guardians had died when Eden burned, none of them would ever have allowed their charges to be taken while they breathed. She searches her memories for answers, uncertain if she recalled this face upon one of the dead, or if he had been wiped away completely.

"They call me Valdis here."

His means of survival do not make him proud, but it has, at long last, brought him to this awaited moment. He still found his way back to her, just as he vowed he would.

"Then I will call you Valdis," he answers with a bow of his head. "Now I recall that I heard a handsome, tall man call you that not too shortly ago. Who is he?"

Valdis stares at him, half confused and half suspicious. Her past has come back to her in a way she's not sure of. At least Fenrir was a known entity, even Michael or Raphael would be easier to face. Amos she would never want to see again, but this man, Gideon, he is a complete unknown walking out of a past she barely remembers. He should be angry with her, surely he knows what she did, how she betrayed Eden and everyone in it. Six dead guardians, six destroyed fledglings...how is he not furious?

"His name is Max, we met a little over two years ago."

What anger he had for the betrayal has long since faded under the weight of his own sins. But his concern for her is still as strong as ever it was, and so he is asking to be sure she is not being targeted again. It was his job to protect her, after all, and his failing to do so that cost them everything.

"Is he a good man, this Max? Do you trust him?"

The overprotectiveness wafting off him gives her a little pause, surely he realizes she hasn't been a fledgling in over two thousand years.

"He is a good man, and yes, I do trust him."

If he's interrogating her over Max, she can't imagine what he's going to say about Fever or Erik.

As he nods some of that defensiveness retreats. But not all.

"Good. I was half afraid I had been called here to prevent another disaster." The way he has heard people speak of previous events in this hall... can he be blamed for the concern?

"Do you have questions for me?"

Valdis pulls back a little, even as his defensive emotions fade. Pumpkin Hollow isn’t a safe place, but Eden hadn’t been in the end either.

“I don’t know. If I remembered you I would probably have something to ask, but I guess I don’t really know what happened in the end.”

The jab of pain is but a quick flutter this time. He can't blame her for something she doesn't remember.

"Do you want to know? I can only tell my part, and I do not want to burden a stranger unnecessarily."

"I'm essentially a stranger to myself, and if you were Meira's guardian, I would like to know what happened. Maybe then she can finally rest."

The ghost of who she once was deserved that at the very least.

"Maybe she and I both..." he says somberly. This was not the reunion he hoped for, but it may be the one he needs.

"All right. I will tell you all of what I know and what I felt. It might be a conversation better held in a more private setting."

It's entirely possible that this person is lying to her, that he's not actually Meira's guardian, but it doesn't feel like he's lying.

"We can go to the garden."

She doesn't quite turn away from him, unwilling to fully expose her back to someone she doesn't know, but she leads the way nonetheless.

"Garden," he says with a rueful kind of smile. "That does seem like the right setting for this tale."

He stays exactly half a step back and to her right the entire way, so precisely that someone could have measured each step and found them the same. It feels good to get to do this one last time, and to know he is still capable of it.

Once they've found a place to come to rest, he starts with what feels like the most important part first. "I was Meira's guardian, and I took that duty very seriously. But I was more than that, too. Her father loved her, and she knew that, but he was not a very close figure in her life. She always felt that she only knew him from a distance. I sympathized with her. I did not become a father to her; to be clear, we both knew that our duties must come first, but I was her mentor and possibly one of her only friends. Our love for one another was real and true. Even after...her actions caused all of our falls, my love for her has not changed."

Her skins crawls as he takes position behind her, matching her steps as a guard would, as if she were someone important. She barely remembers how the guardians interacted with their charges, to be honest she still didn't remember most of her life in Eden. As he speaks, she's even less certain. Her memories of her Father were twisted, as if the family he knew and the one she did very different. Or maybe it was just her memories that showed a certain light instead of the whole picture.

But one thing stands out the most.

"Fall? Not death?"

"Well..." A tight expression pulls across his features, somewhere between a grimace and a grin. "No. The rest were slain. Only I fell. I was cast down by Raphael as punishment for letting my guard of you--I mean Meira, slip."

He closes his eyes and takes a breath to recenter himself before he attempts to continue.

"It was my responsibility to keep her safe from all harm, even that of a false friend. I failed, and I got what I deserved. I should have gotten worse, if not for... well, I doubt you would recognize the name Clarissa either."

Her expression remains neutral, but her insides are churning with sorrow and disgust. She'd never liked the way the warrior angels spoke to the guardians, as if their job was more important than Gideon's. Raphael had been unfair, what happened was her fault, not Gideon's, and yet she still cannot remember this man. Perhaps those memories being lost are part of the punishment for them both.

"I'm sorry, Gideon, I know Meira didn't mean for any of that to happen."

And to hear him try to justify it hurts even more.

"And no, I don't know who Clarissa is."

"I know that too. I never doubted her. Never." Sorrow wells up inside him, but he wears it as a smile. "I hoped that I'd be able to tell her that when I came here tonight. It was one of my regrets. But if you know it, then I hope somehow she will too."

At the very least, he can lay that burden down now. Lay it to rest, one could say.

"Clarissa is Raphael's sister. She fell by leaving, and she resides now in hell as the first wife of Lucifer, an Archdemoness. She found me after my fall, offered me a job at her side, as her guardian, instead. She has been very good to me since."

"I see."

Valdis falls silent again. Her aunt is an Archdemoness, bound to the King of Hell himself, fallen by choice. She's not sure her family could become any more convoluted or complex. This web seems overwhelming, all the way up to the point where her aunt rescued Gideon whom her father had cast out.

"I...am glad you found renewed purpose."

"I did not expect you to be," he says without meeting her eyes. "It does not bring me pride to serve Hell, but you are right that I needed a purpose. I had nowhere else to go."

He hesitates on the verge of adding something to that, the words dancing on the tip of his tongue, and in the end he decides there's less harm in speaking them than not.

"She is not as evil as you might assume. She may even welcome a visit from you."

Valdis still isn't sure she is, but the unfairness of his exile could have ended far worse than it did.

"I do not believe Demons are any more evil than the Angels are, but they are both my enemy and if my aunt has the power you claim she does, well I can't imagine she didn't know what became of us."

She has no desire to break Gideon any further than she already has, but a Queen of Hell would not be unaware of what a son of Lucifer was doing, even the son of a rival.

"But I would be remiss to not owe her something for helping you over a situation I caused."

"What became of--" A shadow of horror passes over his expression. Should he have trusted his mistress not to lie to him? No, of course not, but...

"What do you mean by that?"

His surprise is not reassuring, even if she does feel as if this should have been obvious.

“No Queen of Hell would be ignorant of the workings of a son of Lucifer. Did you think we gave up our souls of our own volition?”

"I thought you were all dead," he says very slowly.

No one, no matter how good, could fake the way this has shaken him down to his very core. He was searching for her soul among the dead. His mistress knew that. She'd even consoled him. All the time, it was a lie?

"Are you telling me you were in Hell all along? All of you?"

Valdis blinks, suddenly uncertain. When they had emerged it made sense that the Angels had not known them, but she had assumed both her father and Michael had. Perhaps Raphael had been too ashamed and sought to hide his failure.

“I don’t know how long Meira was in Hell, I still only remember pieces of it. But Fenrir led what we became out of Hell over a thousand years ago.”

He's shaking so hard the various buckles and tassels on his armor clack together noisily. What they became?? Fenrir ruled over a group of... no. No, no, no. That was them? Meira was under his nose all that time! His gauntlets squeak as his fists tighten at his sides.

"If I had known, I swear to you, I would have stopped them at any cost."

He whips himself around into an angry circle, because he cannot keep still with such anger buzzing under his skin. "I am a damnable fool. How could I not have seen?"

His rage causes her to flinch with how powerfully it surges over them both, but concern for him quickly overwhelms any ill effects.

“You would have died. Not even Raphael could stand against someone like Fenrir and he was there for it all.”

September Event - Guest Appearances

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