And in to the third day... [Day 145]

[bastionmods]

Who: Everyone
Open: Open
When: Day 145
Where: All over the Bastion
What: Day 3 of the festival
Format: Any
Warnings: None


Day 3 - Day of Pleasure and Purpose

The next lamp appears in the Bastion, this time with mirrors on one side. And of course a certain Ura gets to light it.

Oddly enough, there seem to be roses everywhere in the Bastion, almost completely obscuring any of the previous decorations. They're still there, just... buried. Behind bushes, next to vases, under mounds of rose petals. You can't escape it! They won't do anything bad to you, of course, but you might start finding rose petals in your hair, in your pockets, or lingering on your clothes as the day goes by. Mirrors also join the decorations, but besides that, all reflective surfaces (windows and mirrors) will suddenly have clearer reflections, and be decorated in rose borders. Unfortunately this means looking through actual windows will be a mite difficult as you'll see reflections more than you'll see the other side of them.

Today will also be a day of blindfold games! Guess the object! Guess how many are in this box! Place this thing in that thing! All without looking! Prizes will be given out to those who get through these blindfold games - another charm for your bracelet, and maybe two or three shards per win.

Along with these games, there's one big challenge in the center of the Bastion - a giant thorny maze. Should you brave this mess, you'll find twists, turns, awkward corners and areas just barely big enough to walk through. However if you make it to the center, you'll be rewarded with a rose ring. And not just any rose ring. This thing is special! It will allow a user to call upon rose thorn vines that will attack an enemy at will. It is restricted to three times a day on the Skyway, but it will come in very handy, especially for those with no real defensive or offensive capabilities. (That said, if your character manages to get this item and doesn't need it for whatever reason, please be kind and give it to some one who can.)

As day winds in to night, another torch appears, this time with roses. Roses going wild on this lamp. It makes it a little difficult to light, though. And oddly enough, near the gear symbol on this lamp... the roses seem to be withered. Huh.

Dinner gives way in to a sort of "desert" for the evening, a huge selection of cookies in various flavors on tables all over the place, along with tubs of rose petal ice cream that don't seem to melt no matter how long they stay out.

But those cookies are not just any cookies - they are hollow ones. They're backed with a thin indented line down the center of them, and snapping them at this point will reveal that there is paper tucked inside. It will give advice to your character that is shockingly accurate to this person, some how. Regardless of who gets it, the advice will be pertinent to them and really only them. From there you'll be encouraged to take a second piece of paper, write your fears, weaknesses or secrets that you don't wish to tell anyone yet wish to get off your chest and then drop them in a strange mirror-decorated box sitting near the monument. If you do so, you'll find yourself oddly sleeping easier tonight...

This night closes out the same as the previous ones, with stories for the children as the adults relax in to the wee hours of the morning.

Comments

PRESENTS

[bastionmods]

Under Hense:

Aoi - she chose no present, but still got something! A large wooden closet, rose designs carved into it and the handles carved like gears. Inside is a random variety of sporting equipment, including a new swimsuit and socks.

Nanaki - hot pink framed glasses and cute socks.

Under Garmuth

Patchouli - Sakuya's pocket watch, and fluffy pink socks with a moon pattern

Saix - Clothing, and a Mirror of the Crippled Duke, and some... very pretty socks

Hilda - Zoura Egg, and Pikachu socks. Yup.

Zelda - Link's battleworn shield, and some very pretty socks

AZ - Eevee Egg, and Sylveon socks. (Can you guess what all the Pokemon characters are getting?)

N - Darumaka Egg, and you all probably saw this coming. Black/White Starter socks!

[gianthobo]

[AZ and Floette wander over to the small pile of presents, and the giant man blinks slowly in confusion as he picks up the egg. ... He has a vague idea of what Pokemon this might be, but he's not totally sure. Carefully, he holds it close as he unwraps the other package.]

[... Well, socks are socks. Even if your best friend is giggling at them.]

[heptagram]

[Patchouli had been spending most of the festival keeping to herself -- albeit occasionally checking for gifts for her. It would be terribly rude to leave that, right? Well, on the third day, her gift arrives, and um...

Well. That's kind of depressing. Patchouli hadn't really thought about the idea that home was, indeed, gone. Well, maybe still in existence, but not in a truly usable sense. At least the socks are pretty.

So, uh, sad witch. Go cheer her up or something.]

[forhyrule]

[ If she hadn't already been sitting, Zelda would have fallen to her knees, because the incredibly heavy gift in her arms was one she never, ever would have expected. Among all the relics of her kingdom that Garmuth could have given to her, Zelda found herself with something that had never belonged to her. It was her hero's shield, the very one he had held in battle, nicked and dented from protecting its wielder, caked with dirt and grime. The leather sling was pulling away from the hammered iron that held it to the back of the shield, and the cloth on the grip was stained and frayed. But Zelda wrapped her arms around that shield (socks clutched in her right hand), and hugged it tightly against her chest. Leaning her forehead against the cool iron, she began to cry. ]

[croceamors]

[Just like most others, Saix checks the gazebo mostly out of curiosity and some faint obligation. He's not really expecting much, honestly. It still occurs to him that he barely remembers the name of the God he ended up choosing- it simply hadn't mattered.]

[But, just like all the others, he notices his name and that brings him in. The socks earn an annoyed look because what the hell even, and he starts to open the simple box expecting nothing really better than that. The mirror earns a raised eyebrow, and he picks it up to set on the side. At first, he doesn't understand the significance of the clothing...]

[But the first item he holds up is a zip up vest of some sort, with a collar to cover the neck. It's shades of blue, with a crescent moon on the front. He seems surprised, and unsure.]

[Still, if anyone looks for him later, he'll be wandering around the festival, wearing something different than his usual black coat.]

[findsrisks]

[Nanaki had seen everyone else getting gifts, but she hadn't really been expecting to get anything important. She wasn't really that big into presents anyway.

But then she finds the small box, and soon enough she pulls a pair of all-too-familiar glasses out.]

...that idiot.

[Even though she's smiling, there might be tears at the corners of her eyes.]

[amphibian]

[Aoi seems a little unsure of the wardrobe as she approaches it--it's pretty, but not really her style; have the name tags gotten mixed up?--and then she opens it.

She gasps and her whole face lights up. At once she sets to work tearing through its contents. Goggles! Socks! A swimsuit! Tank tops and t-shirts and shorts--she wriggles out of the bright red sweatshirt she's wearing and swaps it for a sleek-looking black one hanging in the closet. There's a basketball that she has to get up on her toes to take off the shelf inside, and she laughs, thrilled, as she bounces it against the gazebo.

If anyone's nearby, it will be hard to miss Aoi occasionally giggling or clapping her hands together with glee as she goes through her shiny new wardrobe and strews sports equipment all around her.]

Blindfold Games

[bastionmods]

[individuates]

[Ventures up to the table to see what kind of games were on offer. No harm in trying his luck, right?]

Rose Labyrinth

[bastionmods]

[Only one person can actually win the ring. It can be given away later, but for the sake of the festival once the various participants start to get close to it there will be NPC tags to throw them off the trail. Should more than one PC still make it to the center we will likely have to have some sort of tie breaker to decide the final victor.]

[blackblooded]

[Crona's certainly trying this. The meister isn't intimidated by the thorns, and is determined to win. And a determined Crona isn't so easily deterred.]

[alwaysintense]

Ishimaru knew the trick to mazes! You just kept turning left, no matter what. The thorny rose bushes lining the trail seemed... harsh, but so long as he stayed towards the center of the path, he should be fine.

Except when the hedges got a little too narrow for him, and he tripped a bit, and he soon found his sleeve helplessly caught on a particularly thick patch of thorns. He could tell it would take a while to untangle... at least if he didn't want to damage his uniform.

Re: Rose Labyrinth

[earthandpine]

Rosethorn is on a thoroughly enjoyable leisurely stroll through the maze made up of her name. Able to sense the next couple turnings without any conscious effort, she can at least avoid any immediate dead ends. The plant mage has had to be a little stern with the bushes herself, as they try to lean in toward her. As she once told Briar, rose vines must really like him to leave a scar so deep.

In fact, if anyone wants to find her talking to the roses, there is ample opportunity. "I don't have spare sets of robes here, and I'll thank you to keep your thorns out of this one. You're very excitable for roses so large, but I suppose that's what happens when you spring up overnight. How did you grow that way? You don't seem weakened by it."

A wave of calming green magic follows her words, soothing the plants back into their proper neat lines, but they can't explain quite how they grew. It comes as no surprise. Plants see the world very differently.

[aprettyred]

[ Anna is... stuck. Fortunately the two sections of hedge she's squished between aren't that thorny, but..

She's not going to move anytime soon either.

How did she get stuck? Its a mystery. ]

Treat Table

[bastionmods]

[coolerthansora]

[It may not be sea-salt, but it's still ice cream. Roxas is up for trying a new flavor, especially since the scent of roses has been with him all day. His hair seems to have been particularly good at catching rose petals, and he gave up on plucking them out after the first hour.]

[amphibian]

[SWEETS, OH MY GOD SWEETS, Aoi is in food heaven tonight. The physical plausibility of her devouring so many snacks at once is actually kind of dubious, but do you think that's going to stop her? Nope.

It'll be hard to miss Aoi stacking a plate with all of the baked goods available as she rounds the table, especially donuts, and occasionally stuffing some into her face as her plate gets too full. She's heard about the advice cookies and she's taken one of those, too, but it's sitting off to the side—every now and again she'll pick it up, stare at it almost like she expects the line to open up into a mouth and bite her, then put it back.]

Mirror Box (At the Monument)

[bastionmods]

[wayofvoice]

[As always, it's difficult to miss Paarthurnax. The Monument isn't an unusual place for people to loiter, but perhaps it's a bit more interesting to notice that he is staring rather intently at the little mirrored box. When he breathes out through his nostrils, the mirrors fog up... only for it to clear up almost quicker than it appeared.]

[He seems to be considering something.]

Pyth Challenge

[bastionmods]

Re: Pyth Challenge

[fuckthemancers]

[Yes, the bull is still here and daring anyone to come at it. It's probably become a fairly familiar sight to the residents by now.]

[Less familiar is the sight of Zulf... wearing pants. For once. Anyone who's even just seen him a few times has probably figured out that the Ura often prefers long patterned skirts. But nope, here he is dressed in actually pretty plain clothing for once. There's just a button up white shirt, plain dark brown slacks, and boots he seems to have picked up. Don't worry, he managed to find a sash to tie around his waste that is a hodgepodge of colors. And there's an orange rose in his hair...]

[He seems to be squinting down into the ring, obviously uneasy but sighing to himself.]

Re: Pyth Challenge

[bastionpc]

[He's not participating, but he'll be cheering on anybody who tries.]

Story time with Zulf

[bastionmods]

[fuckthemancers]

[Oh look, it's this guy again. He's seated at the same spot as usual, now with the addition of a crimson rose in his hair and petals stuck on his sleeves.]

[If you want to hear some stories, you've come to the right place, and he'll do his best to let everyone get a chance at hearing about any God they want.]

Everything Else, Everywhere Else

[bastionmods]

Sleepy Dragons

[wayofvoice]

[After all the feasting that has been going on the past few days, Paarthurnax seems to have finally decided to give it a rest. Anyone wandering near the river will see Paarthurnax curled up as best a dragon can be on the Bastion side of things. Somehow, an assortment of rose petals have ended up scattered on him although it seems more like something to blame on the wind.]