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

[garyoutensei]

"You're not really used to people knowing this shit, are you?" She hadn't missed that reaction.

[pidgeypidge]

"Something like that, yea. It's not really a secret, but I'm still getting used to the idea of casually telling people."

[singerofspells]

"I was hoping for an alternative, because the Dream Width cuts off other worlds," S'reee added.

[singerofspells]

"Called out how?"

[singerofspells]

"Exactly," S'reee said. "I do more of my work in the high and dry than I did back home, and I'm a lot smaller, so I don't just live on my own. There's a reason dolphins have large pods."

[princeandscholar]

[His eyes widen in wonder at that curious choice of words. Then narrow at 'hairy.' Then back to an intrigued expression at 'sweet.' The hand gestures he can’t make much sense of. Cotton candy does not sound like something that could exist. (But really, what here has been probable?) Carefully piecing the details together, he ventures a guess:]

It's a dessert? But like a light pastry instead of a hard candy?

[There's a note of hopeful interest in his tone. A fluffy pastry sounds good right now.]

[musicinmysoul]

Oolong does sound pretty good right now, she has to admit...

Matilda reflexively brushes her hair aside with her hand. "I think I'd like that, too. It...still feels like I just woke up in this world and I could use the familiarity to keep grounded."

She pauses, considering. "...Does it sound weird when I phrase it like that? It sounds weird to me."

[charming_jerk]

Johnny leaned against Reno, quiet for a moment as he watched all the lights below. He couldn't help but think of Crystallis and all of the countless airship trips they'd taken there. He was a little homesick for the place, but he'd feel silly admitting that.

"Whattaya think of this place so far? Vaikuntha, I mean. It ain't bad, huh?"

[mech_and_mutt]

Hey, no prob--

[Hold on. 'Red?'

That alone was enough to give him a pause and a blink. Not 'Wolf-kun?' She'd called him that for so long that it sounded almost weird to hear her just say... Red. It lingered in his ears long after the words had left her lips, and it wasn't just an idol's voice at work. 'Red.'

It was nice to hear, somehow. 'Red.' It just sounded friendlier that way.]

No problem. Like I said, no way I'd ever miss your Empire Debut Concert.

...and for all you're doin' for these people, there's gotta be someone out there who's lookin' out for you, right?

[shinra_dog]

Reno felt the same way, on both accounts. It was strange, missing a home that wasn't his own. But he supposed that, together, they'd made it theirs.

"Mm." Reno cocked his head, lightly bumping it against Johnny's. "It's not bad. That fourteenth district is fuckin' weird. But... nah, it ain't bad."

He stretched out his pinky finger to curl around Johnny's over the railing. "Nothin's that bad as long as I have you with me." Staying together with Johnny had made the changes bearable.

[twomeals]

Eh? No, I don't think it's a pastry...pastry is cake and things, right? [Let's try that description thing again.] Ummm, it looks like a cloud on a stick? Only it's sort of pink. It's definitely more of a dessert than a real meal though, yeah.

[Nodding!]

[promiselisting]

"Yeah..."

Funnily enough, this is actually something she understands on a personal level herself.

"You can make a new one. One they won't be able to take away so easy."

<3

[hashtagdaddy]

Noodle immediately blushed, her cheeks going a dark scarlet at the compliment. "O-oh thank you Sohma..."

She whirled to look at Gladio, having no idea what to do in this kind of situation. Having him call her adorable was much, much different from having Sohma complimenting her - and calling her lovely at that! But her human companion only smiled and sent a look of encouragement her way - no help at all!

Fidgeting with the hem of her dress, Noodle turned back to look at the handsome Moogle.

"You look ... very handsome today too, kupo. A-are you looking for anything in particular here?"

[chocobosnap]

There's a lot of kittens!

[He grins and nods.]

I don't know, don't worry about it. We have to make sure everyone gets enough to be full. All these cute kittens.

Wait...how do we...? Do I just open it?

[The kittens seem to know he's there, and there's food on the horizon, they're looking at him.]

[chocobosnap]

Yeah, I guess not. I'm just...I guess it might seem strange? Since we're here, and not at home, but no matter where I go, that's...just the way it is.

[He chuckles a little.]

But, I mean, with Noct, we'll protect everyone.

I honestly can't even remember how we split the houses, but I think it was this way.

[hashtagdaddy]

"We're all good, none the worse for ware." Gladio's initial response is pitched equally loudly, but he quiets his voice once Cor is inside and the door is shut.

"Ravus and Hope were put in a separate house, but Noct, Iggy, and Prompto are all in this one too. We finished our sweep of the place and didn't find anything." Except that dumb kid and his Moogle who came in and went through their things ... but that's neither here nor there. He'll tell that story another time.

"I trust him with the kid, though, so I don't think we have anything to worry about. And Ravus definitely knows how to scout that house."

[chocobosnap]

"Cool huh?" He grinned and relaxed as he watched.

"I like the sparkly ones that linger in the sky the best."

[hashtagdaddy]

As Gladio listened to Sora talk about his adventures, he began understanding a little better why the kid would just waltz into a house and start going through things. If that's what he was used to, and if that's how things worked where he was from, it made sense that he would just keep doing that kind of stuff here.

Damnit, he can't stay mad now.

He sighed and shook his head gently. "Apology accepted, Sora. If I scared you more after I surprised you by showin' up, I'm sorry for that. I'm pretty protective of my friends and I thought you were an intruder with bad intentions."

Gladio gave the kid a smile. "You gotta be more careful. Some people won't just yell when there's an unexpected stranger in their house." He might not know Sora well (or at all, really) but he wouldn't want the kid to get hurt for his curiosity and strange habit.

[hashtagdaddy]

[No markets? What sort of place did Dylas come from?]

Insomnia was full of stores. And malls. A huge city filled with shoppers and refugees, we needed all the shopping centers we could get. [The smile on Gladio's face fades as he thinks of Insomnia's Fall... of the destruction and how all those markets - all those people - are gone now.

But he rallies, because Dylas seems glum enough on his own and Gladio would rather keep the conversation light.] Even the places we've stopped on the road trip across Eos all had some kind of market. They're good places to get the feel of a city.

[He opts not to respond to the bit about keeping only part of Dylas warm. Instead, Gladio starts thinking of how large a blanket would have to be to effectively cover the Naga and keep him sufficiently warm... would such a blanket even exist?

At least he has something specific to look for now.]

[sullenstallion]

Malls and shopping centers are pretty big, right? They're even bigger than a castle.

[That might help Gladiolus figure out what kind of place Dylas comes from, though Dylas continues to regret sharing information about his home home world. He wants to forget about Selphia.]

You know a lot about shopping. You're not the kind of guy who blows all of his money in one place, are you? I never would've guessed that's your hobby.

[mythmaker]

Hm?

[She lets him think that through. It would feel weird not to call him by his real name once in a while. 'Wolf-kun' is far from dead, but it feels more right to thank him while using his real name.]

It's my first concert anywhere, not just here. My, my. I guess this is even my first ever 'solo debut.' The first time I was performing on stage, it was with Ryuuguu Komachi, after all.

[She folds her hands in her laps. Ami, Iori, and Ritsuko. She hopes they're all doing well. Eventually, she laughs.]

My, my. But I' not done helping people yet. Can I keep counting on your help?

[wind_in_my_ears]

[Klonoa gives a small shrug.]

"Well.. I guess I'm not sure, completely. He just called out, physically.. and I guess with his heart, too. I'm not sure which it was I was hearing.. but it was definitely him."

Re: DRV3 spoilers

[conanima]

Huh? Me? Uh....y-yeah. [She laughs nervously.] It's uh.......I didn't know that could happen. Ahahahaha.

[topgun_textiles]

I, uh, guess so. Just dump that shit everywhere and let 'em eat 'til they're done, I think.

[That was littering, he just knew it, but he was sure other kitties could come by and eat, too.]

[kuposcreed]

(ooc: sorry for the delay, rl side stuff has kept me from the tag rhythm I want and I let this one slip :( )

"Ah," Bonnie hurriedly shook her head, "Kuvon is from this world, but I'm not, kupo. I'm from Crystallis. Ah...it's a bit complicated..." Bonnie glanced at her own moogle as well as Pamela's. It was her belief that circumstances on her world created this one but she always felt weird discussing it in front of the natives.

"But on my world we had a bunch of people arrive from other worlds and like here we moogles were assigned to help support them, kupo. My Hero was from a world called Earth, but we had a lot of people who can from different versions of her world, kupo."