September Event - Guest Appearances

[pumpkinhollow]

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!

Comments

[tartaros_avatar]

Paired with the intensity of the previous questioning, that series of facial expressions spelled trouble. It was the sort of look you got from someone who might snap in an instant, or stay quiet and try to poison your drink later. It wouldn't be Stefan's first time for that either.

"Really?" Stefan said, his tone remaining straight and level as razor blade. "Lucky thing, then. We almost weren't. He said it was impossible for a grown man to start training, but it turns out I've got the knack for it somehow." He and Shen Qingqiu had debated the subject. He was fairly certain it had something to do with the radiation from the Fountain of Zeus, and Shen Qingqiu had been absolutely certain that wasn't how radiation worked.

"You must've known him longer, then. Has he always insisted on self-sacrifice, or is that new?" Stefan asked. "Last month he tried to refuse safety measures against an evil wind and a magical flood." Much as Stefan didn't want to admit it, he hadn't totally shrugged off the latter. He'd known what Shen Qingqiu had wanted and he knew death was only for a day here, but knowing that still didn't let him rest easy for the week after that.

[xiaoxiuya]

"He did what?" Luo Binghe could have kept his cool through a discussion of cultivation, no matter how many provoking remarks this stranger made. But a reference to Shen Qingqiu's self-destructive habits, and its potential consequences, makes the blood drain from his face once more. "It is a long-standing habit of his, yes...but tell me, what became of him? Is he well?"

If he's been lured to this world just to find that Shen Qingqiu has gotten himself killed again, Luo Binghe swears he will burn down this entire island and everything on it, including himself.

[tartaros_avatar]

He'd guessed correctly. "He's alive now," Stefan waved away the concern. "It was only temporary. He wouldn't have died at all if he hadn't told me to save someone else." Not that he had anything against Anzu, but he would've prioritized Shen Qingqiu. He'd shrugged it off at the time, but it wasn't so easy as that.

And so he wasn't in any particular rush to talk more about the incident. "You're one of his boyfriends, right?" Stefan changed the subject. "Why's he such a stubborn fool about this sort of thing?" Shen Qingqiu was a selfless sort. Maybe it was just like the gang back on Earth, saving each other's skin countless times over the years. But Stefan wasn't entirely sure of that. Soldiers of fortune and cultivators seemed like worlds apart.

[xiaoxiuya]

"And that's...typical here? For death to be only temporary?" If so, that might be useful...but Luo Binghe is not yet prepared to trust this philanderer who openly brags about his unearned connection to Shen Qingqiu. He won't discount Stefan's story, but he's watching him carefully behind a veneer of civility as he volunteers, "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that term, 'boyfriend.' But shizun has always cared deeply about the safety of those under his care. When this one was younger, he threw himself between me and a blow from a demonic weapon, receiving a poisoned wound -- but surely you've already heard this story from him?"

(Shen Qingqiu has never said anything of the kind to Stefan Richter. He's full of stories about monster hunts and cultivation techniques, and may crack a wry joke or two about having taught teenagers in his past life -- but on the topic of his own deeds, he is all too often strangely silent. Is it humility, or a bizarre sense of shame, that leaves his tongue tied?)

[tartaros_avatar]

"Nobody here dies for long," Stefan confirmed. He'd avoided finding out what it was like so far, but Shen Qingqiu apparently made a habit out of it. "He claims it has something to do with an Outer God called Nyarlathotep that's been causing havoc on the island, but I'm still skeptical about the details." Either somebody else who'd read Lovecraft had already ended up here and spread stories around, or on the off-chance there really was a Nyarlathotep, Lovecraft wasn't an accurate reporter. Any man who was afraid of the Dutch couldn't be taken seriously.

"A boyfriend's a man you're involved with. Beau, sweetheart, that sort of person." Stefan paused, giving Luo Binghe an assessing look. The cultivator was cold and pushy about getting information he wanted, while technically toeing the line of politeness. A real piece of work, and Stefan knew he was one to say that of somebody else. It was pretty clear he was territorial about Shen Qingqiu, but how much was the question. Stefan was going to have to keep an eye on this one throughout the night, to make sure this didn't get bad. "Guess he hasn't gotten around to mentioning that one. So, if boyfriend's not in your vocabulary, what word would you use, then?"

[xiaoxiuya]

More peculiar turns of phrase. What distinguishes an 'old' god from any other kind of deity? Does the stranger man to say a primordial creator has taken a negative interest in this land? If so, they're all frankly doomed, and he should have a relatively easier time convincing Shen Qingqiu to leave with him...in theory.

And then there's all these maddeningly casual words he insists on implying to his own relationship with Shen Qingqiu...would Luo Binghe's refined and elegant shizun really consort with someone like this? Grinding his back teeth, Luo Binghe forces a pleasant smile to his face and replies, "It would be impolite to put a label on our bond before I've even spoken to him...but I think 'husband' has a nice classical ring to it, don't you?"

[tartaros_avatar]

Stefan just barely held in a doubting snort. That was rich. If it was true, then this wouldn't be the first time Stefan had been a homewrecker, but he'd gotten the impression Shen Qingqiu wasn't like that. Or rather, his situation didn't have anybody to cheat on. Stefan knew he wasn't the only man in Shen Qingqiu's life, but either this was news to Luo Binghe, or this guy was trouble.

And Stefan wasn't going to let that stand. "Look," he said, "I've never been married to find out for myself, but I can't see myself waiting for a dramatic moment to say it. That would be the first thing." Especially if he'd just found out his husband had people on the side. "Burying the lede like that doesn't do you any favors. If you're serious about him, come out and say it. And if you haven't asked him to marry you, then you've got a whole different problem claiming that title." That was another strong contender for what Stefan liked least about Luo Binghe's statement. Claiming some bigger part of a man's life than might've been earned.

"So I'm asking again - What are you to each other?" The casual behavior was gone, replaced with a steely-eyed focus. "Because he's my friend, and I look after my friends. I need a straight answer on this, or we're gonna have a problem."