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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cornelia had seen Adrien earlier on the way to one of the guilds but thought nothing of him indulging the cats. It's seeing him still there while en route back to the housing district that she cocks her brow a bit and makes her way over to the kitty pile.

"You're spoiling them." Her tone is friendly enough; she isn't judging, or scolding, or anything of that nature. Just observing.

"I know, but it's so hard not to. Look at them...!"

He really is just a kid playing with so many cats, touching the toe beans that he can, and scratching behind all the ears. He holds one cat up in particular of fair fur and the smokiest gray color points against cream fluff.

"It seems impossible to look away." Not because of the magnetic force of cuteness, mind, (though it is a factor) but rather because short of looking straight into the sun, she has yet to escape the sight of them.

Though now she's looking at just the one he's holding up, her brow quirked and her head slightly tilted, unsure if he means for her to take it from him or take in its adorableness.

"Is that one special?

That was true. Cats seemed litterally (snrk) everywhere. Though, he'd also seen the faces of some people not too pleased by the number of cats loitering around their properties which had him a little more concerned.

"I think so. Among all the cats here right now, this one looked like someone spilled ink on its back."

And to show her, he carefully turns the cat around and - sure enough - in the center of the cat's back was one dark almost splatter-looking spot compared to the soft transition at its other color points.

On the other hand, rather than being concerned over the displeased locals and their relationship with the cats, Cornelia has been watching them to see how they navigated around the floofs. Moving through the city has thus become something akin to passing through a thick garden except that sometimes parts of it meow and groom themselves and climb up former stormtroopers and otherwise behave in farily harmless ways.

So when he shows her the kitter's back, she frowns.

"Is it ink?"

"No. It's just has black fur here..."

Adrien lowers the cat into his lap and runs his hand through its fur. Sure enough, the black ink blot stain on its back was just fluffy waves of dark fur. They're all purring so loud; it's great. This is great.

She doesn't quite get why that makes it special, and she looks perplexed enough to make that pretty clear, but she doesn't press because it's not something she needs to understand. Goodness knows people have given her similar looks when she's spoken fondly about things like detailing on a weapon.

Her frown, at least, has evened out. "What is it about cats that appeals so much to you?"

"What appeals the most?"

At least she asked for something narrowed down because he could've gone on for hours. Cats really were just great for all the reasons, but if she wanted to know why for him specifically? "... I like the fact cats can be pretty independent when they want to."

"Their independence? I can't say I was expecting that answer." Especially considering how happy he seems while being almost blanketed by a swarm of them.

"Oh? What did you think I might say?"

He's not asking in jest or anything; he was genuinely curious what Cornelia might think. Though, yes, being swarmed by cats was another reason to love them...

"Perhaps something more along the lines that they're smart, or friendly, or perhaps even misunderstood." The latter of which she's heard often enough from Euphy that she's come to consider it for others as well. "None of these ones seem very interested in being independent."

"Ah... well, those are other reasons, but you could say the same about dogs." Sitting up a little more and idly stroking the cats' around, Adrien shrugged. "I heard there's a Guild around here for 'Catmancers'. I haven't made it that far yet into finding it, but they're supposed to be huge cat lovers."

"I was there earlier." After finding herself too unfamiliar with the other jobs' skills during the crab battle, she's made it a point to visit all the guilds. Even the ones like Catmancer. "Apparently they have an affinity for sitting in boxes. The guild members, not the cats."

This befuddles her. She sounds befuddled.

"... T-They actually sit in boxes?" Okay, he has to laugh at that. It sounds silly and adorable... and gosh if he didn't have that urge before. "So, it must be a Modifier of the Asterisk... I could see that causing trouble in battle if there were any boxes nearby."

"It's said that some are prone to being distracted by laser weapons as well," she adds, and though she still sounds somewhat befuddled she sounds more serious now, too. There is no decorum in chasing lasers, no pride, no beauty. Not to mention the added risk of, say, a Magitek Knight and Catmancer having to come together against a deadly enemy. "Goodness help us all if we have to rely on them in a life-or-death situation. Though I suppose there's something to be said about being underestimated. Someone with a sharp enough mind could use the Asterisk to their advantage."

And now she's considering the Asterisk's potential uses. Completely and entirely not for herself, mind, but she does suppose she'll have to take Catmancers seriously on the chance that she might find herself fighting alongside one.

Great.

"Likely. I could see the Asterisk being one of the faster ones... maybe not that great in terms of defense though." He had to get up and actually check the guild out, but could he really bring himself to move these adorable guys? No, and that might be a problem... maybe, no, he'll try getting up slowly with a few cats still on him.

"I'm gonna go check it out. The abilities might be worth the downsides."

Casts him an are you really considering becoming a Catmancer kind of look but says nothing to that effect. He's young, but he's clearly putting a responsible amount of thought into the Asterisks. She neither needs nor wants to interfere.

The look doesn't last long anyway; soon, she's shifted to watching him try to get up and is back to looking slightly amused.

"Are you able to get up on your own?"

He's not even bothered because yeah he might become a Catmancer, but he most likely won't. Just something to consider if things didn't end up working out. Heck, Plagg will probably be pleased, but still scoff at all the not cat enough.

"Yeah... I got it...!"

Though, standing with two cats still on his shoulders and trying to pick up four from his lap only for more to crawl on does complicate things.

She's just a big ole job snob, anyway. She isn't, however, anti-cat or anti-helping, so when it becomes apparent that the kitties aren't going to let his lap remain unoccupied, she attempts to scoop the closest cluster of them away so that he might have a chance at rising to his feet.

"I'd say they beg to differ."

"I almost made it..."

A slight pout, but he sends a smile in a moment once he's up on his feet. "Thank you though." It was inevitable that he would have to get up besides just going to check out the Guild so no point in delaying that.

Curtly nods to acknowledge his thanks but otherwise focuses on the more-daunting-than-expected task of discouraging the kitties from deciding that she's their new source of attention.

"If it's any consolation, you should have many opportunities to prove as much on your way to the guild." You know what, she's just gonna scoop them all up in her arms, stand up, then kind of pour them down onto the ground. Gently. In the process of doing such, she adds, "The cat population is far denser there than it is here."

It's nice that she's removed all the cats because now, he feels like he should be able to walk more than one step before possibly tripping. Right, he can prove himself on the way to the Guild.

"... It is?"

Cornelia, he might be doomed.

What's a little doom every now and again? Especially when it's the fluffy kind of doom.

"Mm. Enough that you'll have to mind your step. There were times when I could barely see the ground ahead of me." And times when she considered scaling the buildings and travelling across rooftops, or turning back around and crossing her fingers that Catmancers would never be relevant, or burying herself beneath a pile of cats and never emerging because of the severe loss of dignity she suffered while trying to walk unhindered through them. Not that she'll vocalise any of that, of course, though after a moment's thought she does carry those thoughts to a conclusion by adding, "You may wish to consider recruiting backup."

"You couldn't see the ground?"

Gosh, that just meant all the cats... he doesn't know if he'll be able to survive. Maybe he should climb onto the rooftops, be followed by the cats that way - yeah, maybe that'll work... oh, but what if kittens followed? No, he'll stick to the ground. "... Let's see how it goes first. If it becomes overwhelming, then I'll call for back-up."

She says nothing for a moment, giving him a considering look as she shifts from being somewhat casual to taking on a more authoritative stance. "Before you depart, there is one more matter I'd like to address. Has anybody spoken to you about what happened to Euphy?"

Who still hasn't said anything to Cornelia about it and who, at this point, Cornelia can only assume never will.

"I don't intend to discuss it now." Because depite her feelings about Lelouch, she isn't going to say anything without his knowledge or without giving him the opportunity to speak up himself. "But neither do I intend to leave things open to interpretation."

Event || The Festival of Light

Parasraya Discovery

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