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

EXPOSITION OF THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHT
[Klonoa slowly walks through the halls of the museum, looking over the paintings. The big weapons were awesome to look at, and it's been interesting seeing all of these strange creatures. Leviathan. Shiva. Ifrit. Ramuh and Typhon remind him of some bad memories, though.

He completely misses the giant dragon for the smaller ones. So... this is something that Summoners can work with?]

"I wonder what summoning's like..."

[He says, loudly to himself in the hall of the museum.]

MOGNET EXPOSITION
[The sound of chattering moogles behind him bursts into Klonoa's ears as he stepwise wanders his way away from the expo. So... many... moogles. So.. many products with 'Kupo' appended... Luta is beaming, the mint green-pommed moogle slathered in free samples of every shape and size, licking some kind of kupo-nut ice cream that Klonoa had taken one sample of and swore off for the rest of eternity.]

"That was amazing!! Klonoa, we should come back here tomorrow, too!"

[His ears are twisted behind him. A pair of sunglasses rest unevenly across his face. Klonoa walks like a lethargic zombie as his body slowly tries to reboot.]

"Oooh, wait, wait, let's go back in! I just remembered we never got a picture from The Great Mogrifficent!"

[Klonoa slowly turns his head to anyone in the vicinity, his yellow eyes begging for help.]

PARASRAYA DISCOVERY
[Klonoa frowns as someone else walks away from him. Even though he's so new to this world, the thought of traveling to a closed-off, forbidden city sounded incredible, but ever since he's been here, so many people just won't even give him the time of day. He's really starting to get disheartened; sure, a few people being standoffish might be expected, but this many? What is wrong with this empire??]

"Ah, excuse me!"

"Meow"

[...Klonoa hangs his head as they walk away. He just can't work with these people.]

Edited 2018-08-26 20:02 (UTC)

A boy studies the largest painting, notebook in one hand, pen in the other. Fresh out of the Time Mage guild, Orcelito needed something to steady his mind. What better way than to study the long-past happenings and constants of the world? He leans forward, observing the many shapes crowding the canvas.

"It would be nice if we could talk with them. I’ve heard they only come to fulfill their contract in battle, but they must have a unique perspective and could tell us a lot about their world."

[Klonoa turns, looking at the boy who's evidently taking notes. He steps closer and raises a hand in greeting.]

"Hello. You ah, sound like you know a lot about these things."

[Or, more than he does, at least.]

"So, they live in another world when they're not.. summoned?"

Orcelito tucks the pen in the pages and returns with his own wave and a smile. "Not really. I arrived here this month." He just studies every moment he isn't sleeping. It's been exciting, to say the least.

The question brings his attention back to the painting with a small frown. "Do they? I meant they could tell us about this world. But if some of them are so large, wouldn't we have seen them by now? Perhaps they do live in another realm."

He’s still wrapping his mind around these concepts from his latest asterisk inauguration. If Time Mages can send things into voids, perhaps things can emerge from those places as well?

[Klonoa frowns a little, putting a hand to his chin. Really big creatures are kind of hard to miss.]

"I'm not really familiar with how they work.. They only appear when summoned for battle?"

[He asks. Come from another world, maybe.. only appear when needed, and disappear as soon as the battle's over...]

"That's.. unfortunate for them."

“Really? I think it’d be exciting to come and go freely.” He might not have thought that way a day ago, but now there’s a timepiece in his pocket and that Time Mage enthusiasm is kicking in whether he’s conscious of it or not.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could travel between here and our homes? Maybe it’s like that for them.”

[Klonoa smiles awkwardly. This is hitting a bit closer to home for him than he's ready to admit.]

"I guess so... but, they're not in control of it, right?"

[He gives a small shrug.]

"It.. would probably be nicer if they got to choose how long they stayed, instead of just.. when whatever they came to do is finished?"

"That's true." His voice lowers, subdued. The thought that these beast-like creatures might have obligations of their own didn't occur to him. The spirits of his world were free from such hindrances. It will be something to think about later.

For now, he returns to a cheery tone as he moves forward among the exhibits; it’d be good to focus on something else. “Are you enjoying your time here at the museum? There’s a lot to see, isn’t there? This is my second time, but I’m still finding things I missed.”

[Klonoa blinks, sort of snapping out of it after a moment.]

"O-oh, yeah! There's so many things in this world to look at, but what with the hidden city and everything, it's like I'm finally learning at the same time as everyone else."

[Of course, he would probably have had a lot of this already if he'd gone to become a summoner, but at least he's happy thinking he's all caught up on the information.]

"Oh, I'm Klo~oa, by the way. It's nice to meet you."

[He says, holding out a hand to the man.]

A light laugh; it’s refreshing to meet someone honest about it. "I know what you mean. It feels like we've only just begun, but I think everyone feels that way, too." A couple of weeks barely felt like enough to get situated, but at least it was something.

It takes him a moment to respond to what he assumes is a handshake - still getting used to these new gestures. With a smile, he accepts. (It's a little awkward with a hand that's not quite like his... he’ll keep his touch light to be safe.)

"I’m Orcelito. Nice to meet you… Kloooa." He hopes he pronounced that correctly.

[Klonoa smiles, shaking Orcelito's hand gently.]

"Nice to meet you, Orcelito! So... what's your world like?"

[He asks, tilting his head to one side curiously. He's never had the opportunity to learn about so many different worlds at one time before.]

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.”

[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?"

(no subject)

princeandscholar - 2018-09-15 01:06 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

wind_in_my_ears - 2018-09-18 02:10 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

princeandscholar - 2018-09-21 21:03 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

wind_in_my_ears - 2018-09-25 21:28 (UTC) - Expand

"It's an intoxicating sensation. Eidolons are beings of terrible power, and to hold one at your beck and call in its true form is... an experience not easily rivaled."
It would seem that Kuja, too, has been gazing at the Eidolon mural, just out of sight. "We keep running into each other. Enjoying the festivities, I trust?"

[Klonoa glances at the side to see the scantily clad silver monkey guy again.

He gives a nod, smiling.]

"Hello again, Kuja! Yeah, they've got a whole lot of free food to eat. And, someone shoved this pretty ornament into my hands for some reason. It's been nice so far."

[He tilts his head to one side.]

"So.. how does it work, exactly? I mean.. summoning, and eidolons and all that."

Kuja is visibly repulsed by the 'ornament'. "Good gods, what is that-" He clears his throat. "Ahem. Hello again, Klo'oa. It's certainly been an... enlightening experience."
He gestures to the Eidolons depicted. "I'm not certain how it works here on Vaikuntha, though I expect it's all handled through Asterisks. On Gaia, Eidolons are powerful spirits that can be called from the Aether and commanded to perform certain tasks. There's a rather complicated ritual that involves a crystal or precious stone, attuned to the Eidolon's spirit. Sacrifice the crystal and offer a gift of magical potential, and the Eidolon will appear. Once summoned, you'll have an extraordinarily powerful servant for as long as you can sustain the beast's physical form. Anyone can do it with the right magical know-how and enough mana, but of course Summoners have a particular and uncanny knack for it."

Klonoa frowns, just listening to the description. Powerful spirits, Aether... Crystals and powerful servants... and anyone can do it?

"What's the Aether?"

He asks, his ears waving slightly behind him.

Kuja pauses, considering that a moment. "It's more of an expression than an actual physical place. Aether meaning 'nonbeing'. In practice it just means the ambient magical field that surrounds a planet with a Crystal." Typically an Eidolon will appear from, apparently, nowhere, perform a single task, and then vanish. That's all most mages can sustain them for."

"So they appear out of nowhere when they're summoned from somewhere else..."

He lowers his hand, just... thinking about all this. Pulled out of nowhere from another world, only there to perform a single task, and disappear once it's finished. He gets a kind of weird expression on his face.

"I... feel sorry for them."

Kuja blinks. He's about to ask 'why?' but... stops. That was what he'd made Black Mages for, wasn't it? Serve their purpose and then die. Just like the genomes. Just like...

"I hadn't... thought of it, that way."

Klonoa talks again, after a few moments of silence.

"Ah, sorry Kuja.. I guess you would know more about them than I would."

His tail swishes.

"I just... empathize with them, I guess."

The genome falls silent, for a time. It's true, though. As much as he'd valued his freedom, fought to protect it, committed the worst crimes imaginable to keep it... and he'd gone about enslaving Mages and Eidolons.

Little guy has a way of hitting where it hurts.

"Hmph. Well, at any rate. Being summoned outside a willful contract with a summoner was such a rare occurrence, I doubt it mattered much."

[Klonoa nods, letting his arms fall to his sides.]

"I guess that makes sense. How did people figure out these eidolons in the first place, anyway..."

[He shrugs.]

"Did they just try with different rocks to see what they did?"

Kuja sighs. "Unfortunately, nobody knows. The Summoner tribe is all but extinct, exterminated by a man who feared them. A small handful survived, as far as I am aware, but living today there are only two. One a child, too young to remember her tribe's secrets, and the other a young woman who was raised far away from the ruins of the tribe's home. Both were skilled Summoners, but I'm afraid the underlying theory behind discovering a new Eidolon is lost forever."

Klonoa frowns. "Oh... I see." He says, shifting slightly. "That's a shame. But... someone in that tribe, they must have figured it out originally a long time ago, right?" He says, tilting his head to one side. "...Maybe they just called out into the void for help, and.. someone found them."