melodiesofeternity | 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

Beast Boy may have seen her at the Curti Center, standing with Cid as he gave his introductory speech, but despite his recognition of lack thereof, she remembers the green boy. Claire holds a small reusable container filled with iced tea and takes a tiny sip.

"People will think you're a Gourmand if you continue on like that."

Beastboy had to swallow his food in one large gulp to avoid spraying it everywhere when he started laughing.

"Dude! No way. I thought about it for a hot minute but there's WAY too much meat in that place. And I'm vegetarian. Once you've been a cow it's kinda hard to look at a hamburger the same way again you know?"

As for this lady he recognized her...couldn't quite remember her name right away but he knew he'd seen her sighing while Jessie stood in for Cid at the introductions.

"Still, they make some pretty awesome desserts! You're local right? And you look really smart so like...what's your favorite? What should I try?"

"I'm not from around here," she replies flatly. "If you can't recall, I work at the Center and we're not some sort of monogamous culture."

She drinks her tea. Beast Boy did say she looked smart, so she may as well reward that with some sort of suggestion.

"The fried cakes are unique."

"Ah heh heh, sorry. No I mean you're from this world. Or at least I thought you were. My bad!" He looked appropriately apologetic but then brightened up at the suggestion.

"Fried cakes! Got it. I dig a unique flavor."

"I'll go find some. Try not to offend one of the more important people you've met." Melody chirps before floating off to collect enough for all three of them.

"Have you worked at the center a long time?"

Claire looks around the table, decides that standing isn't going to be of much help, and slides onto the bench opposite Beast Boy.

"Several years. It used to be much quieter."

"Ah...err that's not our fault is it?"

It wouldn't be the first time that the public had blamed the heroes for something out of their control but he was hoping he wouldn't have to apologize for it.

"Did you always like handling complicated stuff like you do now? I mean you're obviously good at it if you've been doing it this long."

Claire makes a noise of discontent. "If you say you're the reason for bureaucracy and office management, then yes. Life finds a way to make things difficult."

Another sip of tea.

"At this rate, I'm the only one I trust to manage the entire system. I know where everything is, I know everyone's schedule, and I'm the only one who can handle the transition from one filing system to another. But that's work talk."

"Ah...hmm...well I mean I don't think I am. I was never good with paperwork stuff. I usually leave that up to Robin or Cyborg. They were kind of the leaders of my team back home."

Melody returns with more for him and herself just in time to hear Clair talk about her job.

"Well if anything happens to you then you'll have every hero who came through the Center rushing to save you won't you?" She meant it as a compliment while Beastboy set about munching on a fried cake.

"Do you fight and stuff too? Do you have like super cool red tape attacks?"

"Red...tape?" Claire raises an eyebrow. "That's not a physical attack, if that's what you're imagining. Office life doesn't have the flashiness of field battles."

She watches Beast Boy eat his new dish for a minute.

"I can provide support if it came to a fight, but I'm not on the lookout for one. I'd rather live my own normal life."

"Aw lame!" He exclaimed and then tried to back peddle. "I mean...for me that would be but I guess not a lot of work would get done if it was as flashy and err...violent as what we're here for right?"

Melody pipes up again sympathizing with Claire "Normal sounds like a treat doesn't it? I hope you at least get to take the occasional vacation?"

"Probably not if she doesn't have anyone to cover for her. It'd probably take a whole party of heroes to cover the work she's doing if she's managing the entire system."

"I take breaks when I feel like it. When you get older, you have to find your own time and ways to relax." She finishes her tea right there. "And you're right, a violent office is a terrible office. That's life."

A bit of a downer, but Claire doesn't care.

"But it's good work, if overwhelming at times. I wouldn't want to work anywhere else."

"Well...that's great!" He seemed unsure at first but managed to slap on a smile at her conclusion.

"Everyone should be able to do something they love. Either superheroics or...paperwork I guess." He laughed "And if what you love can help people and let you do other stuff you love like...you know, with money? Even better!"

Melody seemed unsure. Something about this seemed important to her "You really think so huh? Have you ever had a job other then superheroing?"

"Oh uh...well yeah I guess? I mean I worked at a fast food place for like a week but it turned out to be an evil alien plot to kidnap all of Earth's cows and destroy the planet so...does that count?"

"Did you fill out paperwork and actually have an interview?"

"Uh...no. I just kinda showed up."

"Did you get a paycheck?"

"Nope, my boss was the evil alien so I defeated him and then my friend accidentally ate him."

"Then I don't think it counts. What do you think Claire?"

Give her a few seconds to stare and process this.

"There is a significant number of people acting as full-time mercenaries. Mind you, not against other countries, but rather against monsters and fighting off bandits. I wouldn't say they, er, regularly fight in restaurants, but I suppose your world is different.

"It must be hell keeping track of those sorts of plots."

"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.

Event || The Festival of Light

Culinary attractions

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject