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

[changelingdude]

"To be honest? I mostly just go with the flow and if I have to remember stuff I ask my friends. They're all super smart."

"Too bad we couldn't get them here then." Melody sassed and Beastboy stuck his tongue out childishly.

Yup, the fate of your world rests in their hands. Feel good about that one.

[changelingdude]

"Dude! Yeah see that's why I came here in the first place!" Beastboy's face lit up at the mention of the Catmancer's guild.

"See I used to have animal super powers. But around here I'm just a bard. So like...if Catmancers can do cat stuff I wanna be ALL about it!" He wiggled his ears excitedly to which his Moggle added

"Well you already spend half your day napping and being lazy so that won't be too hard to change."

[changelingdude]

"Now we're talking! Alright I won't try to Kupo. The last thing I wanna do is be a jerk, but I do totally wanna learn more about Moogles!"

"Well you could have just asked. I mean...I'd like to think of myself as an expert. Even if I don't Kupo as much as the others."

Beastboy shrugged "Might as well go right? Plus? Free costume!"

"I shouldn't be indulging your weird cosplay fetish."

[changelingdude]

"Heck yeah dude! We'll find a karaoke machine and have a party! Once we're having fun more people will wanna join in right?"

"I mean...I do like karaoke." Melody mused and Beastboy was already trying to drag them along with him.

"What do you do around here? Like...I'm a bard, how about you?"

[changelingdude]

"Ugh, fine. I guess all of you humans are headaches in your own way." Melody conceded and Beastboy looked relieved.

"I've been known to be a little naughty sure but I'm mostly nice" he insisted, not realizing how that might actually sound to someone. Melody caught it and snorted with laughter.

"On that note, come on we'll get you an elf costume or something. Maybe reindeer antlers." He offered a hand to Pidge excited to have someone else to join in on their merry making.

[changelingdude]

"Woot woot! That's the way! Show em what you're made of dude!"

Whipping out his bass Beastboy began plucking the strings to provide Papyrus with some background music for his showing off. Between the two of them they were getting some attention now and their antics were making more people curiously try on hats.

"Don't be shy now! Everyone loves a stylish guy or girl or inbetween!"

[modelcivilian]

"You used to have animal super powers? Cool."

Really, that's super awesome. Kind of like a comic hero back in his world. "Yeah, when I went by, besides dressing up like cats, they had may cat-like abilities. Super napping was one of them, haha."

[princeandscholar]

Orcelito did not expect that question and is blank-faced for a moment. While he's asked about others' worlds, very few have returned the question.

"It's lovely. Green with lots of hills and features, like here." He has a quiet smile as he looks down, wistful. What more can he say? He's seen so little of his own country. In the three weeks he's been here, he's experienced more than in the sixteen years he was kept in the castle. Turning back to the topic at hand, he gestures to the exhibits.

“My world’s spirits weren’t like these, and the technology was different. I’ve had a lot to learn, but everything here is amazing. It makes you feel hopeful for the future, doesn’t it? If the country keeps their borders open, we can learn so much from each other.”

[princeandscholar]

Eh..? [Now his smile is definitely on the awkward side; he knows he looks young, but isn't this a little much? (His sister occasionally made such offers, but she was seven!)]

I'm fine, thank you. [He regains a steady tone with some amusement.] Though, I am hungry now. Have you tried any of the food stalls here?

[Festival food is either subpar or superb, and he’s learning the best way to avoid wasting gil is to ask!]

[gathersnomoss]

"I'm not worried about my dignity, but I actually want a hat I like," Zelgadis replied. "I don't go for flowers."

[twomeals]

"Karaoke? Ah, a party sounds fun!" Noooo idea what karaoke is, that's fine. Yue happily follows along, regardless of comprehension.

"I'm a black mage! I can make fire and stuff, it's pretty cool--if you're a bard then you must really like music, huh?"

[shinra_dog]

"A long, long way." Reno nodded soberly. "For a long time, I hated 'im. But seeing what he became on Crystallis reminded me what he used to be, an' what he coulda' been all along. I'm glad you got to know that Sephiroth."

He gestured at other dolls being passed around. "But I can assume that these figures would all be considered 'villains' by the people of their worlds. Which is why it's hella weird that they're bein' handed out now..."

Reno shook his head. "I mean, for Halloween shit, maybe. Everyone loves the spooky-scary for that. But Starlight? It's weird, yo."

[shinra_dog]

[Oh, Dylas. How cute.]

[Reno laughed and shrugged.]

Well, yeah, the idea is to look good for the Empress, right? The easier I am on the eyes, the better!

But if you really wanna cut it up... I mean, seems like a waste, but you do you, man.

[shinra_dog]

"You had blue milk?" Reno stared at Wedge incredulously. "No wonder they put so much effort inta' makin' good liquor!"

He couldn't even imagine drinking that.

"So you guys are Outworlders too, huh?" Reno considered it. They seemed to have adjusted pretty well. "What made you decide to become pilots an' start picking us up?"

[shinra_dog]

Reno sniffed and rubbed an eye. He hadn't laughed that hard about something that was otherwise disastrous in a long time.

"He's, uh... He's saying despair," Reno clarified, enunciating. "He's bein' a real dick. But I think the pear is better."

Though the way some of the old fanclub magazines were written, there was definitely some speculation about Sephiroth enjoying "fruit."

[shinra_dog]

Reno didn't recognize the face, no. But a wave deserves a wave in return and Reno smiles. He had a gut feeling that she was an Outworlder like him by the way she had been looking around. Though, to be fair, the Empire had been closed off for so long, he expected other Vaikunthans to be looking around eagerly too.

[shinra_dog]

"Maybe..." Reno still didn't feel good about it, but it wasn't an entirely impossible suggestion. "I dunno why they'd choose to recreate houses, though..."

Taking a quick glance around the neighborhood saw more of the same. Familiar houses, some in better states than others, and all too quiet. Reno shook his head.

"I guess we should go in," he mumbled, not looking forward to it in the least. But they'd have to sleep somewhere eventually. He definitely didn't voice the concern that there was some ulterior motive in being assigned to stay in his old home. At this point, it was probably more paranoia than reality, and he didn't want Angeal thinking he was crazy. But he'd be really crazy to rule it out entirely.

[eternitynpcs]

"I HAD NO IDEA CATS HAD SUCH AMAZING SKILLS. WELL DONE, FELINE FRIENDS!"

He has no idea what a world-gate is, but he's guessing it is something like teleporting? Teleporting is a thing.

"THOUGH IF YOU ARE TRYING TO GET OFF PLANET, YOU SHOULD TALK TO THE PUPUS. THEY HAVE THE BEST SHIPS FOR IT, ALTHOUGH DON'T LET WEDGE HEAR YOU SAY THAT. OF COURSE, NOBODY HAS BEEN ABLE TO GET PAST THE DREAM WIDTH YET."

[eternitynpcs]

[Whoops. Well, Ganeshan tried, at least. It seems there's no harm done, though the startled cats are starting to circle back around the two of them, watching the proceedings with their patented curiosity. At least they are too repelled by Ganeshan's sniffling to pounce.]

ARE YOU ALRIGHT? YOU SHOULD TRY NOT TO FALL.

[The good advice abounds in this thread. Ganeshan offers a hand to help Yue stand.]

I THINK I MAY HAVE TO CONCEDE DEFEAT. THEY DON'T SEEM TO LIKE BEING PETTED BY ZORA...

[Or maybe they are just scared of this one particular one, the world may never know.]

[eternitynpcs]

"Only on the Outer Rim. Closer to the Galactic Core, nobody's even heard of a bantha, let alone tried to milk one." Don't worry, Reno, he's just as put off by it. Luke and Biggs were crazy about the stuff, though.

"Biggs and I have been here for ten years now. We were pilots before we arrived, and we figured after the Center rescued us from up there, it'd suit us fine to return the favor by doing what we knew best. Of course, until you guys started showing up on the radar a few months back, we only found inanimate objects from up there."

He gives the flask a little shake. The brandy is one of the things they retrieved up in the 'Width.

[pidgeypidge]

Pidge couldn't help but chuckle as Melody conceded without much of a fight. That was interesting.

That comment was certainly something, and she couldn't decide how to respond. Fortunately, Melody spared her by laughing out loud. "I'll keep that in mind," she told him, smiling.

"An elf costume?" For a minute, she couldn't decide if he was being serious or not. But then she decided that going along with whatever he had planned couldn't hurt. "You know what? Let's do it!" With everything else that had been going on, she figured she'd earned the right to do something a little ridiculous. So she didn't even have to think twice about taking that offered hand.

[pishirogane]

"Of course..." Clearing her throat, she managed to get the blush to go away. "Though, to know that title will be so freely given out, perhaps I should declare it retired here."

No more Detective Princes... except maybe behind closed doors.

[wind_in_my_ears]

[Klonoa tilts his head up, just letting the thoughts of green hills run through his mind. Well, it's... not a lot to go on, but.. Oh well. He knows it's a whole lot easier to describe a different world than your own.

He turns with Orcelito's motions, looking back to the wall.]

"Yeah, it really is. I never thought I'd be able to just.. heal someone like this. These asterisk technology things are incredible!"

[He blinks. Oh, wait, was he talking about specifically this country? Whoops. Uhh, different topic to distract from that mistake...!]

"Ah, what were the spirits like in your world?"

[wind_in_my_ears]

[Klonoa shakes his head. That's not an easy question to answer.]

"Sorry.. I don't remember much about my world if I'm not awake there. But.. it reminds me a lot of Lunatea."

[He says, facing down and to the side a bit as he closes his eyes to remember.]

"Five elements. Tranquility, Joy, Discord, Indecision, and Sorrow. The world.. forgot about Sorrow. So it became the King of Sorrow, and called out for people to remember him."

Re: Exposition Dump

[wind_in_my_ears]

Klonoa's gaze falls as he thinks back. It's been a long time since he's felt like.. being in a pit of thoughts. He knows he has to pull himself out of it... but..

"...Or, if you'd been faster..."

Klonoa nods, just gazing into nowhere.