The Festival Continues [Day 144]

[bastionmods]

Who: Everyone
Open: Open
When: Day 144
Where: all over the Bastion
What: Day 2 of the festival because that other post filled up fast
Format: any
Warnings: none

Day 2 - Day of Hope and Bravery

Once again, at midnight, another torch arrives - this time with a horse along with the gear and bullshead. As before, they are list by Zulf. Some of the other decorations fade out, to be replaced by Yudrig or Lemaign-specific decorations like horseshoes, saddles, hammers and plants made of colored metal. This will continue to happen throughout the festival, with new decorations overshadowing old ones, but the old ones still remaining here and there.

During the previous day, conversations with a any of the NPCs (or the recently arrived Uras) will bring up the topic of the second day of the festival. Should you care to listen, you'll learn that they use the very early morning of this day to make wishes, wishes that you must think in to a horseshoe that will be left on the side of your home that faces where the "sun" would be rising (the closest approximation to "east").

Speaking of horses! There seems to be a pen with stallions! Unlike Pyth, one must ride one of these stallions and try to stay on it as long as they can while it bucks and jumps about wildly. Good luck to whoever can manage this, it is not an easy task at all! Only one person can win Yudrig's favor, because at the end of the day the stallions will all take off back to... wherever they came from. The person that manages to stay the longest, though, will win a lovely pair of Yudrig boots, and will gain a single very fast horse for the Bastion to keep.

Along with the horses, there will also be races! Three legged races, races while balancing odd objects on spoons, so many races! Most of these are for the kids to make up for the lack of kid-focused things from the day before, but adults are encouraged to help and participate.

Incidentally, respect is also given to those considered soldiers. Be it by their own mental thinking ("I am a soldier for justice/I am a protector, etc") or by their actual title (this includes exorcists, exorcists in training, rebel leaders, etc) but they will be honored on this day for their bravery, comittment and efforts. The same goes for masons. There will be a table set up with charms for the bracelets, specifically hammer shaped ones - everyone is welcome to take one, but anyone who isn't of this persausion may find them too heavy to wear. The charm can be removed, though, but remember to keep the bracelet!

With that in mind, about midday the center of the Bastion will be cleared and people will be asked if they would like to participate in a game of "Defend Lemaign". It's basically Capture the Flag, but with a singular goal in mind - only one team has a "flag" (actually a small hammer statue) and that team must defend it from the other team. Teams can be any size, but once that statue is grabbed and brought to the other side, OR the timer runs out with Lemaign still within his "temple" the game is over. This will continue throughout the afternoon.

When evening falls again, the second torch for the day will appear to be lit, this one decorated with hammers as well as the standard gear and bull. The day begins to wind down, though there are once again other things to do - this time an entire area dedicated to various sizes of building blocks ranging from small to huge. Go nuts, build what you want, show off your creations! And keep them, they will come in handy later! This is not just for kids, even if it seems like it.

There's also jousting taking place. Nothing as dangerous as true jousting - just wooden horses on tracks that have to be manually pushed along (so be sure to take a willing friend with yout) and padded poles that strike padded armor. Winners will find more charms for those bracelets that were given out as their prize, and five shards per win.

Also, something to keep in mind: Since the day is focused around bravery quite a bit, anyone who shows off a particularly awesome show of bravery (be it personal like asking someone out that you like, facing a mild fear and not running away from it, or something even more spectacular) you will inexplicably find your entire room decorated with horseshoes. Horseshoes everywhere. Why? Yudrig, that's why.

And anyone who visits Lemagin's shrine, for whatever reason, will find themselves inexplicably hit with a wave of optimism. Just for the day, though.

This night winds down much the same as before, and again the children are encouraged to sleep outside while lulled to sleep by tales of Yudrig and Lemagin's adventures.

Comments

Races

[bastionmods]

[croceamors]

[Alright, so horses he can't do. That much is obvious. But Saix can run, so if anyone is interested in some simple races against one another... There's always this guy to heckle.]

[coolerthansora]

[Did someone say races? Somehow or other three adolescent chocobos have made it to the festival today, and they are quite excited by all this activity. They aren't nearly big enough to ride yet, but they're certainly grown enough to give anyone a run for their money. These birds were built for speed.

Of course, they may not entirely understand the rules, but it involves running, right? They are happy to join in whenever they see it happening.

Roxas is standing nearby keeping an eye on them--well, mostly just watching them enjoy themselves--if you wanted to ask someone what was up with the colorful birds running around.]

[freedom_engineer]

Are those actually chocobos?

[Colin steps up beside Roxas, recognizing the look of someone watching out for youngsters of any species.]

I didn't think I'd see any of those, here.

[coolerthansora]

[Roxas blinks and glances over at him.]

Yeah, they're chocobos. You- come from a world where they have them?

[freedom_engineer]

My father raised a flock of chocobos a few decades ago.

[He watches the youngsters with keen interest now.]

They're his favorite animals. He has to leave his flock in the care of the stablemaster, now... His job doesn't give him time to care for them personally. But he still loves to ride, and relax with them.

[coolerthansora]

A whole flock...

[Well, maybe Lea used to have enough to be called a flock.]

These three came with us from Vatheon.

[freedom_engineer]

They're energetic little guys, aren't they?

[And that just makes him happier than he would have thought.]

Have you named them, yet?

[coolerthansora]

Oh yeah.

The red one is Sunset, the blue one's Isa, and the yellow one is Popcorn... She looked a lot more like popcorn when she was little.

[freedom_engineer]

Oh, good names. And yeah, they're little more than puff-balls when they're barely out of the egg. Still adorable, though. The lot of them.

You plan to raise them for riding? Or are they going to be free-range pets?

[hellpyre]

[It takes Rin a little while to get her composure back, but eventually she gets calm enough to check out the rest of the festival. She leaves the stallion pen alone because that's one thing she's not stupid enough to try, especially after her bout with Pyth yesterday. (She will be going against the bull again later though)

But the races, that catches her attention. It reminds her a bit of the PE classes they had to take in cram school, only minus getting chased by a giant toad demon.

At first she just watches a little, actually dressed in that new exorcist jacket and those cute socks she got as presents. Should anyone challenger her to a race, though, Oh it would be on like Donkey Kong.]

[fuckthemancers]

It appears as though you're all prepared to go.

[Zulf comes by, tilting his head mostly at the socks. The jacket right now doesn't really mean anything. After all, besides his conversation yesterday with Rin, he doesn't know much about Exorcists.]

[hellpyre]

[Shush Zulf, they're cute and go perfectly with her skirt.]

Yeah! Waitin' for some one to challenge me, though.

[fuckthemancers]

[He didn't say they weren't cute! They're very cute.]

If I wasn't wearing a skirt, I suppose I wouldn't mind giving it a try. I used to be rather quick when I was younger.

[Mostly as a survival skill, of course, but hey.]

[hellpyre]

[Rin has to raise an eyebrow at that, looking down at her own skirt. Of course it's much shorter, and while hardly practical it's not the layers that Zulf is wearing.

Okay, she can give him that.]

Guess you're gonna have to sit this one out then.

[fuckthemancers]

[Yep, layers and length, that's his problem. One day someone will get him a shorter skirt... Or, maybe just pants. Either or.]

I suppose so. This shouldn't be any trouble for you, however, if you keep yourself from getting overconfident like yesterday.

[hellpyre]

[God just wear pants Zulf.]

Heh... my sister always said that was a problem with me...

[fuckthemancers]

[But where will his hammerspace go]

It seems like this is a lesson you still need to learn, then. I don't suppose Pyth knocked any sense into you?

[amphibian]

[Aoi's taking some time to watch the races from the sidelines, too. She's been recovering from a semi-recent bout with Pyth, but now that her breath's caught and her aches have dulled, she's full of energy and itching to run.

So after surveying the competition, she sidles on over beside Rin.]

The races look exciting, huh?

[hellpyre]

[Aoi wasn't the only one who got banged around by Pyth, though her injuries have all faded now. The only thing left is a very faint bruise right at the top of her hair line, mostly covered by her messy black bangs.

Rin perks up at Aoi's voice, giving a nod and a smile.]

Yeah it does.

[amphibian]

[Pleased by their shared approval of racing games, Aoi brightens.] Do you think you're gonna try 'em?

[hellpyre]

I'd like to, yeah.

[amphibian]

But you need an opponent to have a race, right? [Yes, that grin is totally a challenge.]

[hellpyre]

That a challenge?

[Oh she knows.]

[amphibian]

Yeah it is. [She tries to smirk but she's too delighted to not just look goofy. After a moment of scoping out the area—] That marker, the far one. Aaaand then back to the orange one near everyone else. How's that sound?