melodiesofeternity | Event || The Festival of Light

Event || The Festival of Light

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.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Never being given a present is still not something he can imagine - he was spoiled for those things in his early youth, even if they were mere distractions. But this in particular is not an unfamiliar feeling to him. He's quiet for a moment to let her thoughts explore the dilemma before venturing his own. His voice lowers to avoid being overheard by the other festival participants.

"It's a lot of pressure, isn't it? Being offered something and feeling you should accept it, even if it's not quite what you want." His smile is subdued, but still earnest. "But I think it's good to be considerate, too. If accepting it will give the other person happiness... or if it would make you happy to receive something. You don't have to keep it, but that doesn't mean you have to turn it down, either."

"Yeah. I'll be honest; I'm not sure what brought any of this on, but it's gotta be hefty if the empire's opening its gates like this. It's one heck of a welcome, if you ask me."

The zora is folding his hands behind his back as he makes himself comfortable. "And that's coming from someone who already lives in Vaikuntha. You're one of the offworlders, right?"

Wah- [He is not expecting his hand to be seized by bird talons and, even having tried falconry in the past, it is an odd sensation indeed! But it doesn’t hurt, and there’s some sort of mythical candy waiting, so he follows, careful not to run into his guide’s feathers. ... Something smells rather good moving in this direction, though, he can't quite place it.]

"Well, if it's like that, I'm fine with being known as Shirogane the Vth. However, I'm not certain if I'm ready yet."

But given it was a family-based title, no one outside of her line would have it.

"Yeah," Sora blinked over to the other with a soft grin, "pretty obvious right?" He shrugged his shoulder. "You know, I gotta say.. this is pretty complicated, learning all these different nations and stuff.." Sora cleared his throat. "I mean, so like this place, .. it wasn't always open, was it? All these districts?" He stretched his feet out from the couch and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm Sora.. by the way, and this is Nunumu."

[ Sora mutters a soft “thanks” before he wipes his face again. He just feels like it’s just gushing out from his face. ]

I’unno, how is your.. [ The waiter suddenly appeared over to their table. ] Hi. [ Sora waits for the other man to ask whatever he wanted to before he spoke up. ] I want some water and.. um, something sweet. A sweet pastry… [ The waiter looked perplexed and yet not amused at all. ]

Um.. just anyone, I can’t really see what this menu says..

Oh, he was so pleased that the other accepted his apology. Gosh, the guy was pretty upset and Sora could definitely understand. He’s never had that happen to him before, honestly, he’s even taken things out of boxes in shops. He really needed to reevaluate his actions before he thought about doing that again. Maybe he can do something to make this up. “Hey, you’re right.. can I do something, me and Nunumu.. we’ll do your laundry and um.. fold it.. or whatever.. tell us what we can do!”

"I .. I," for one thing, he's just really excited about this. She was incredible! He's never seen something as amazing as a whale just howdy-doing-as-you-please up out of the water and hovering around. "Oh!" He bounced on the back of his heels. "I've been a merboy before, like you know.. mermaid, mermen, merpeople. I guess maybe a shark-boy, I had a fin and ehh." What did Triton say, "Dorsal?" Yeah, that sounded right. "So I been in the ocean, a place called Atlantica, have you ever been there?"

"Oh dude cool! I'm just a bard for now. I couldn't really decide what else to do so I just put it off. I mean like...I was gonna try and be a gormund right because cooking is kinda cool but..." His face went pale for a moment and his eyes a little distant.

"Way too much meat..."

Melody just laughed at his clear trauma and then he shook it off and was grinning again.

"What made you pick those jobs?"

[Yue might not have normal human hands, but that's never stopped him before - and probably never will, unless he loses his hands entirely. He's not exactly the fastest runner, either, but. Forward! Through the game stalls, the snack stalls, the--oh wait, there it is! He stops in his tracks, pointing over at their brightly-colored target destination.]

Here! See, it looks like clouds, right?

Can I have the milk tea and the pudding? Thanks! You can get him his own pudding [He doesn't realize that he's being loud, and the waitress smiles to remind herself that this is what she signed up for when she got a job.

After she leaves to the kitchen, Okuyasu finally takes a good look at Sora.]

Dude, are you sick or what?

Oh, despair? Well, in that case, Ren is just going to retract that fruit he had offered— and just take a bite of it himself as he nods in agreement.

"Well to be honest, I'd take dis pear over dat pear any day, too." But that probably went without saying, right?

"Maybe he just woke up on the wrong side of the toy bed."

[Orcelito picks up the pace, eager to find the source of this unique and delicious scent. Led to the colorful stand, he pauses, taking in the rows of clouds on sticks. It's cute. But a bit large for candy? He watches as a child gets one... oh, it is light like a pastry! He’ll be letting go of Yue’s hand now to step closer and see what the workers are doing. They're spinning it like thread? That's where the name comes from!

Having observed the situation like a proper Tactician, Orcelito is now ready to make his decision. After some final consulting:]

Does it matter which color I get? Are there different flavors?

"Really? Could you... see your spirits, like we can here?"

That would explain some of the previous comments. But likewise, it’s hard to imagine life like that. Would they be everywhere in your house? Wouldn’t that be awkward? Or, maybe like servants and one gets used to them?

It certainly wasn't fur dye or conditioning cream that made Sohma pink a little and puff up to be called "handsome." He was hardly vain by any means, didn't much think of himself in those terms at all. He was brains, he was numbers, he was... apparently handsome? He was flattered.

"Why, thank you, Miss Noodle!" He tried not to fidget and look as flustered as he really felt. Was it working? He tugged down on his little vest.

"Actually, I was examining the newest models of the Empire's iMog tablets," he told her. "I was curious to compare their functions and processing speeds, as well as security features..."

For Assassin reasons.

Oh no, was he being boring, though? "B-but, I'm convinced that our models are perfectly sufficient for our needs." Oh no, stop... "Um, also exotic kupo nuts?"

That actually wasn't a lie, he was very curious about the Empire's flavors as a connoisseur.

"Off the top of my head..." Reno squinted as he thought. The first person to come to mind was Ignis, but the other man already had his own shop now. Reno wasn't sure if the others in that group had the best skills to run something similar.

"The network might be your best shot for now," Reno agreed, admitting defeat. "But I'll definitely keep it in mind and send anyone your way if I find a decent candidate."

He gestured at the cats in the streets. "At least start-up money should be easy, considering the rewards they're apparently offering to relocate these guys."

Sometimes Reno really did wonder if there were other gods somehow still looking after him, in some sense, even between worlds. Maybe gods' powers extended beyond worlds but their main concern was their own little creation. After all, Atia had brought others to her island... That's what gods were supposed to be, right? Outside of all of that, transcending existence?

Was this some kind of reward? Did Reno have some kind of protecting patron? It was weird to consider it, since Reno didn't think he deserved it. Or at least he hadn't, before fighting for Crystallis. Maybe that was the atonement he'd been looking for. Maybe there was no way to fix what he'd done to his own world, but he could save another -- and he did.

"Turks don't retire." The only way a Turk left was in a body bag. And while Reno had already outlived his shallow expectations, this supposed-fact was deeply ingrained in his mind.

"... Tell me about Florida."

The Turk snickered and nodded. "Yeah, gotta agree there."

He sighed and planted his hands on his hips as he surveyed the rest of the streets, children running with their gifts... all strange dolls, all saying terrible things.

"It's weird, though... I mean, I guess it's normal to have 'bad guy' toys, but they're usually paired with 'good guy' toys, right?" There was always that sort of element to action figures, some kind of conflict, some kind of heroes versus villains to be vanquished.

"But I haven't seen any 'good guy' talking dolls."

[Yes! The delicious tasty sugarcloud stand! Yue happily follows him over now that they've reached their destination, having fun watching them spin the sweet confectionery...]

--Eh? Flavors? [He'd honestly never bothered to ask.] Um, I think there's just one flavor...probably.

For a while they'll both be just. Watching the area around them go by in silence. But she does finally speak up.

"Almost quiet enough you'd forget what we're here for," she says, voice more tense than one would probably expect from a casual sightseer. He may be enjoying himself overall but, all of this social stuff, even being out in crowds... not really her cup of tea, "You're... one of us too, right?" An outworlder.

She thinks she might've seen him before? She's been here since the first wave, and she's got a pretty good memory.

A tad small for a human, more of Lalafell-size. She takes his Slate and presses the home button.

"The direct link to the function is right here, by tapping the button, kupo." Mogaruru pokes at it with a gloved hand, which has been fitted with fibers that facilitate touchscreen interaction. "But if you're in a hurry, you can swipe left and use the default settings!" She demonstrates by returning to the home screen and swiping.

"Now, you know the basics, aiming the camera and pressing the button, kupo?"

"Oh, wow..." Jesse folds her hands with a contemplative look. "I wonder if I'll be that close to my friends when I get older."

"Ah." Mogaruru's mask bobs, though it hides what expression she may have. "It's not impossible for there to be similarities between worlds, but I imagine it must be a shock no matter what, kupo."

I am a private man. Any secrets stay with me and myself only.

[His mouth remains shut regarding that topic, unfortunately.]

If you have questions about living in Vaikuntha, I can provide some answers.

Malls can be pretty big, yea... but nowhere near as large as the Citadel or any other Royal households from Eos. [Damn, this guy definitely came from some weird places.]

I'm not the shopoholic, that's Iggy's thing. [Please never let Dylas meet Ignis and bring up that accusation.] I know how t'shop when I need to, though, like for gettin' gifts or if I need new clothes.

[Gladio can't help scoffing amusedly though - how could Dylas guess at his hobbies when he barely knew him?] And I've learned how to tolerate shopping with people like Iggy an' Iris - Gods she's the worst - but shopping ain't my hobby. [A pause. The mention of his little sister still hurts, but it's getting better.]

I like makin' things. Wood carving, buildin' shelves an' other stuff, things like that. That's my hobby. How 'bout you? What's your hobby, Dylas?

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Event || The Festival of Light

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