Event || The Festival of Light

[eternitymods]

Who: Everyone!
When: August 18th - 25th
Where: The Empire
What: The Festival of Light is here! Feel free to use any of these prompts. NPCs tag will come sometimes this week. Please mention it in your top-level if you'd rather not be tagged by a random NPC.
Warnings/Notes: N/A

EXPOSITION OF THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHT
— Third District || August 18th – August 25th || 10:00 to 23:00 —
The museums in the 03rd District are open to visitors and are home to many relics predating written history. A lot of those old relics are items of archaeological interest or look like they could be really advanced technologies if they weren't broken beyond repair. Prototypes for Magitek Armor of a new age are exposed, alongside fragments of what are believed to belong to the legendary WEAPONs, machines that belong to the same category than Ultima WEAPON.

The section for Eidolons has all the Eidolons the characters have met so far as well as others yet undiscovered displaying on a gigantic wall-covering painting. The largest Eidolon on the painting appears to be a dragon some characters may recognize as Bahamut, he is so big he dwarves the other Eidolons and should one pay attention, his wings are actually the background of the painting.

Interestingly, someone has doodled something that looks like Ultros over Leviathan on the painting...


SUNNY STARLIGHT
— Ninth District || August 22nd – August 25th || 07:00 to 19:00 —
Do you really believe because it’s summer, you can escape the beauty and magnificence of Christmas? Think again. There is one thing all the nations on Vaikuntha are of one mind on: the wait from the December 26th of a year to the December 24th of the next is too long. This is why a band of Moogles, Lalafells, Bangaas and Zoras from all across the Empire have occupied half of the Ninth District. Decorated trees, Christmas music, people dressed as Santa Claus (and probably dying because of the heat), fake gift boxes as well as a very large and pretty box for donations all await you!

Kids below the age of 15 will all receive a gift if they come: plushies made in the likeness of the main villains of numbered Final Fantasy games! And when you press the button hidden on their stomach, they speak a random line. Who doesn't want a Sephiroth plushie saying "You are a puppet" or a Jecht one repeating "Cry, cry, cry" all day long?

It's like a dream come true!


MIDNIGHT AIRSHIP
— Twelfth District || August 20th – August 24th || 23:00 to 06:00 —
For the late sleepers, it is possible to board a special airship prepared by Hypellos to party up in the sky. The Airship flies all around the Imperial Territories and should characters so desire, they can ask to stop by one of the two other cities. Whether they want to dance, to eat or to enjoy the view, it might be a very fun and relaxing activity. It is also a very good place from where to watch the fireworks… Or to scout for an incoming Tarutaru and her weapon toy.

Note that all the personnel onboard are Hypellos. They are very serviceable and nice, but can try the patience of those not used to their accent. Of note, one Hypello is green and appears to be angrily stalking anyone heading for the "Sunny Starlight" event. He is quite sneaky though and will always manage to get away before being approached.


MOGNET EXPOSITION
— Ninth District || August 22nd – August August 25th || 07:00 to 19:00 —
The half of the Ninth District not occupied by Christmas fanatics is occupied by the Moogles working for the Imperial section of Mognet. Split for the regular Mognet for a decade, Imperial Mognet has managed to thrive. Imperial iMog Slates have all sorts of functions other iMog Slates could only dream of, such as games, grammar check and that kind of stuff. All of those things can be visited at the exposition! Not only that, but the Moogles are also putting on display things that have nothing to do with Mognet but more to do with Moogles themselves.

Come and visit the exposition to discover the rich and amazing culture of the Moogles! Kupo Nuts, Fur Dye, Fake Kupo Nuts, Pom Shiner, Carved Kupo Nuts, booklets titled "How to Use Your Cuteness to Exploit People," Mognet Bags, Deluxe Kupo Nuts, Sheets to Prepare Future Strikes, Mog Beds, Explosive Kupo Nuts, Kupo Champagne—

There is no end to what might be learned from Moogles!


CHOCOBO RACES
— Sen Riqeaux || August 23rd || 15:00 to 20:00 —
A Chocobo Race will be held all around the city! Will you compete? Shall you win? There are no prizes as all the money earned through the race is given to the Safety of Sparks Golsaucia movement. Those participating can bring their own Chocobo or get a temporary one from the people organizing the race. It will be a very bad Chocobo though, so they shouldn’t expect to win… Beware the Hamsters and Marlboro during the race though. It’d be a real shame to end up getting eaten while racing.


SHOPPING
— City's Outskirts || August 18th – August 25th || 07:00 - 20:00 —
On the city's outskirts are all manners of stalls by shoppers eager to make some money. You can find everything there: plushies, food, clothes, souvenirs, books and even cosmetics. Why, one of the merchant is even selling contact lenses covering nearly all of the rainbow's spectrum aside from green while another sells all kind of swords, even the supposed legendary Excalibur! This might be the perfect place to take on O'aka's Quest if you so wish!


MINI SPARKS GOLSAUCIA
— Eleventh District || August 19th – August 24th || Anytime —
Specially for the festival, stallholders from Sparks Golsaucia were invited and brought a few attractions to display what they can do. Noticeably, there is a shooting stand—Once again, a treasure chest game where characters are presented with ten chests and can open only one-- Prizes range from one Gils to gigantic plushies. The novelty this year is something called the "Kupo Boxes," Boxes you punch open and you get something: perhaps something wonderful like a 1 million gil ticket, more often than not though absolutely nothing. Will you try your chance? Be careful, your wallet might not survive it.


TOURNAMENTS
— Tenth District || August 19th – August 23rd || 10:00/15:00/20:00 —
There is a Blitzball Competition taking place during the Festival of Light! Characters are free to go and watch the matches, so long as they can pay for the tickets. At the same time, a Triple Triad competition is taking place. Characters are free to enter the Triple Triad tournament if they so wish. Characters who know Triple Triads have decent chances to win. And even if your characters lose, what matters is trying, right? There are no prizes to be won, as all money goes to the Triple Triad For Everyone associations.


CULINARY ATTRACTIONS
— Second District || August 18th – August 25th || 12:00 to 13:30 / 19:00 to 21:00 —
What would a festival be without free food and banquets? Not really a festival. In the fourteenth district, there is a banquet and many stands held by people from all over the Empire. All kind of food can be found here-- Refined food, pastries, cakes, cooked meals, etc. It's virtually impossible not to find something to like in all of this, and it's all free! There are, however, guards standing around on the lookout for Gourmands who would be tempted to ruin the fun for everyone. After what happened two years ago, better be careful.


THE OPERA
— Ninth District || August 18th - August 24th || 22:00 —
There is an opera every day for all to see for free, titled "A Goddess's Tears." It is a retelling of the creation myth, but shown from the (presumed) perspective of the Goddess of Death. The play depicts the Goddess as someone who started out as a rather sweet person, but whose life took such terrible turns she wished to die and resented life. Yet, death was too scary of a prospect for her and she couldn't choose what was better, Life or Death. As the play progresses, she decides both are equally terrible and resolves to create a world where those very notions shall no longer exist.

As the play unfolds, toward the ends the story becomes what people are more familiar with. However, rather than letting her die wordlessly, the four heroes appease the Goddess's soul by singing. As the four heroes sing, the Goddess smiles and sheds a single tear before passing away. It is said the play is very emotional, sensible people might want to pass on it.


HOUSING
— Fourteenth District || August 17th - August 27th || Anytime —
Before, after and during the Festival of Light, the characters will all need a place where they can rest. Thankfully for them, people coming with the Curti Center delegation are all given the keys to stay in one of the abandoned houses in the 14th District. Truth to be told however, those house look anything but abandoned. Why, it's as if people had been living in them up until very recently, given how either clean and ordered they are for some, or chaotic and neglected they are for others (Characters who were present in Melodies of Life will be able to notice the houses are nearly identical to what they were just before the time skip during endgame, though there are a few eerie differences).

At least, it's a good place to sleep!


ARDYNIAN DISCOVERY
— Fifteenth District || August 18th – August 25th || 10:00, 15:00, 20:00 —
Everyday, it will be possible to get wheeled motor vehicle driven by imperial soldiers and go visit one of the other cities, case in point, Ardynia! Not much is done over there for the Festival of Light, but it is worth checking out, if only for the Wizard and Jester Jobs. It is a thriving city with people from all over the Empire, and it appears to be something of a shopping center for the imperial region.

And most importantly, discover the official headwear of Ardynia: the Fedora! It is said Archaeologists have imported this fashion trend to Ardynia when they pass by, but none know whether this is true or not. While most citizens have enough senses not to actually wear this dreaded hat, those who do wear it really look dumb doing so. And those who don't look dumb look like they'd make jokes about your pet's untimely demise while you're still crying about it.

Perhaps is is best to stay away.


PARASRAYA DISCOVERY
— Fifteenth District || August 18th – August 25th || 10:00, 15:00, 20:00 —
Everyday, it will be possible to get wheeled motor vehicle driven by imperial soldiers and go visit one of the other cities, case in point, Parasraya! Not much is done over there for the Festival of Light, but it is worth checking out, if only for the Archaeologist and Catmancer Jobs, as well as the Weapon Master Association. It is a technologically advanced yet small and cozy city...

... If it wasn't for a tragedy plaguing the city: cats, cats everywhere. If the meowing doesn't kill you, the constant flow of cats asking to be pet, fed and to sit on your lap might. You may even encounter a few tired citizens paying you money to take care of the cat infestation around their house. Others however are really defensive of the cats and will hunt anyone trying to bring harm to them. Of course, the source of all these cat-related troubles can be traced back to the origins of the Catmancer guild.

But, perhaps it is a story best left for another day.


FIREWORKS
— First District || August 18th – August 24th || Midnight —
Fireworks will be launched from the Castle starting 00:00 and will end at 01:00, everyday of the Festival. No matter where you are in the city, anyone should be able to watch them with ease if they so wish. Unfortunately, it means falling asleep before midnight may be a bit hard with all the noise. On the 25th, characters will be with dining with the Empress as the fireworks happen.

Comments

[sonoftenebrae]

[Yes, the closed borders. Another way this empire is like the Crown City...

Ravus drops his remaining raptor skewers into the next trash receptacle they pass. All this talk of Niflheim and Lucis has put him off his appetite.]

Agreed. They brought us here. There must be something they want from us.

[Ravus has no reason to believe an empress would invite the outworlders here out of mere friendliness or curiosity.]

[promiselisting]

[ Man she hadn't even thought about it from that angle. How are you actually more cautious about this whole thing than she is??? ]

Are these displays all they got? They don't have like... actual models at the nearest hangar or anything?

Guess it also depends how much a hand the government has in all this kind of stuff. If the people who made these airship designs are acting on their own then that's a whole different thing we gotta worry about.

[littlemhigan]

"Maybe there's a mite of hope fer Mooglekind yet. I think Benny could stand te take a lesson or two."

She hands the tablet over and watches Riku fuss with it. "Sommat about it havin' been developed in isolation from the rest've the mognet, or the networks needin' te re-integrate or sommat. I hardly understood two words've the entire discussion. Fanciest thing I deal with back home is Linkpearls and the odd bit of Magitek that crosses my path."

[littlemhigan]

"Good answer," she replies as Benny flutters over to Tommy to help keep anything from slipping away. "I'm not entirely sure that Ben even knew what gil was 'fore she got stuck with me...but she's learnin. Gettin' on alright with yours?"

[littlemhigan]

Castor happily pops one into her mouth, making a sound of surprise as she tastes the cream hidden inside the pastry.

"Ha!" she says when she's done, "now ain't that somethin! Thank ye, Ser."

[promiselisting]

[ Thaaaat gets a bit of an eyebrow raise. That... admittedly took a turn for the more-serious-than-expected. Like. She'd expected it to be a little serious but not quite this much??? ]

That... isn't the first time Shiro's disappeared.

[ She says it as a statement, not a question. ]

Hunk... told me a little. That you guys've been away from Earth for... a really long time.

[ She can't imagine how homesick she'd be in that situation- or... well, maybe she can a little, because of here. But still. ]

[promiselisting]

Seriously, Moogles are supposed to be like... the dominant species on Vaikuntha so far as numbers go, right?

[ It'd be weird as heck if there were literally no way for the tablets to compensate for Moogles at all. She pauses for a moment, then holds her hand out. ]

Give it here. I've got human fingers.

[ She can poke through settings for you. ]

[eternitynpc]

Gods are neither good nor evil. I do not think it is as simple as saying what one of them did is okay or not okay.

[regalblaze]

[This entire situation is bringing up memories that neither of them is very fond of. However, they will have to work with what they have and keep pushing on.]

Such hospitality doesn't come without an ulterior motive, it is true.

[And Ignis holds back a warning for Ravus to be careful. The man managed to manipulate Niflheim, he knows better than anyone that he needs to be careful in situations like these.]

I have a few backup plans for dire situations.

[He's good, but he's not equipped to fight the Imperial soldiers. At least not with the powers he has right now.]

[eternitynpc]

Finally!

[ Rather than look pained at Gladio's attack, Gilgamesh appears to be very pleased that the attack connected and did hurt him. But then he raises all eight swords at once—

In the meantime, Enkidu is pushed back and slams into Gilgamesh... At the same time than the Magitek Armor rushes forward and prepares for its attack. ]

Enkidu? What is the mea—

[ Before Gilgamesh can conclude its sentence, the Magitek Armor kicks at him, sending both Gilgamesh and the dog falling through the ceiling... And disappearing into the sky with a little star as a "I'll be back" can be heard in the distance. The Magitek Armor then crumbles down, seemingly having exhausted its energy.

It might take some explaining to the museum's curator to explain the destroyed Magitek Armor and the hole in the ceiling. On the bright side Gilgamesh failed to steal the magitek sword! And another one fell from his lot.

You get:

x1 Ramza's Sword ]

[desertbloomed]

[ Ashelia looked over at the other woman, nodding. ] This city holds many memories for me. It's quite bittersweet.

[desertbloomed]

No? Where would you rather be stationed? Here in Sen Riqeaux?

[righthandstand]

[Okuyasu slams his shoulder into the door, shutting it with a loud bang and earning the glares of the employees and patrons.]

Sorry!

[He yells at the people and frightened cats inside the cafe.]

[boomchucka]

Selphie nodded her confirmation that they were indeed talking about the same person and that she was indeed from Crystallis before arriving in their current location. She still didn't understand Ardyn's motives for what he'd done on Crystallis and had never really asked about his star in great detail before things had gone south. The fact that there were others who knew about him here made things slightly better but only added to the uneasy feeling that was growing in her belly.

"I had a feeling that was the case," she admitted before pulling out her iMog and quickly writing something on it before showing it to Regis.

"You can't tell the others," she wrote on the slate. "I already know that I'm not on everyone's good side lately so it's better to keep this quiet for now."

[boomchucka]

[Selphie gave the cook a look of sincere appreciation before she pressed forward with her current train of though.]

This place holds a lot of similarities to a place that I used to call to home so I was wondering about how this place came to be.

[boomchucka]

Yeah, it is.

[If the names of the locations on this world's map were anything to go by, Vaikuntha was eerily similar to Crystallis.]

It's even more obvious since coming to the Empire.

[boomchucka]

She notes the serious look and shrugs her shoulders in response. She's not too sure how to feel about this festival but knows that it's pretty similar to other festivals that she's been to in the past.

"It's definitely a good way to get people to come back to the Empire," she admits. "The atmosphere of the town seems pretty light right now but maybe that's just to put up a good show of 'we come in peace' and the like."

[promiselisting]

Heh. [ Futaba grins. ] Good to know I've got at least one supporter out there.

[ You're great, Amanda. ]

Seen anything actually interesting out here?

[ Since she's not having any luck. ]

[mech_and_mutt]

So you've been, then, right? Everyone talks about it like it's super important. More than all the other worlds people came here from.

You got any idea what all that's about?

[princeandscholar]

This was my first try. It would've been nice to hit it... but I suppose it takes practice.

[Meanwhile, Orcelito can't help but think that birds seem to have good eyesight and coordination, so maybe this boy does too? He passes him the toy gun and steps aside with a hopeful smile.]

Perhaps you'll have a talent for it? You won't know until you try.

[mech_and_mutt]

Well... yeah. Whales float.

...Right? That's somethin' they do? I, uh, don't know that much about oceans.

[mech_and_mutt]

Hey, if you wanna ask the guards for a close look at their Magitek armor, be my guest. [Even Red of all people knows that there are some cages that probably shouldn't be rattled-- especially those ones that may, in fact, have high-power, missile-equipped Magitek armor inside.

Besides, he just got that airship flying again. No surface-to-air missiles for him, thanks.]

Maybe. But you'd think they'd keep anyone who could actually build these things on a pretty tight leash. Back in Myste Aura they wouldn't even let me fix up my own robot 'till I had some kinda rank with the Magitek Knights-- I can't see it bein' easier here.

[twomeals]

What's that? An invitation to free tastes of stuff? Yue gives a cheerful "Okay!" before going to take the glass, taking a quick, small sip and--grimacing. Swallows it, though!

"...It tastes kind of weird...what kind of drinks are these, again?" He hadn't actually checked before trying.

[pidgeypidge]

"Flyboys. I like it." They did seem pretty cool, despite the circumstances.

"There'd be no question if you'd spoken to any of my friends. They're very... memorable." To say the least.

[pidgeypidge]

Nope.

[Or the second, even. But the mention of Hunk was enough of a distraction to keep her from dwelling too hard on that.]

Yea, it seems like we've been gone forever. [She couldn't say for sure how long it had actually been, but coming here certainly hadn't helped.] How much has he told you? [Some of it wasn't hers to tell, after all. But it wasn't like they were being super secretive about who they were or where they'd come from.]

He's been... okay, right? [Aside from disappearing, obviously.]