Soulfasting Mingle

[bravenewmods]

Who: EVERYONE
What: Soul Fast
When: During Soul Fast
Where: All over Ninetails Vale and in people's houses, etc.
Summary: The Celebrations of Soul Fast Begin!


It's that time of year again, and all throughout Union and in particular the Ninetales Vale, celebrations are beginning. A festival celebrating the passage of another year, of remembering and honoring the dead, and of placating particularly violent spirits has begun. Soulfasting, an old Union tradition, is one of the most popular holidays celebrated, with the Ninetales Vale being overrun with people of all ages.

Children scamper through the streets of the Vale in masks and costumes, begging for candy, while surly teenagers do the same and occasionally play pranks, and adults celebrate in a variety of fashions. Elaborate, highly fashionable costumes are all the rage, and even the nobility slips out into the Vale for a bit of fun. It's not exactly a popular destination most of the year, given the high concentrations of Dark and Ghost-types but during the festival it's most definitely in vogue and teeming with people all happy to help revitalize the area for a week.

The sounds of music drift through the air, celebratory tunes, dirges, jigs, and tunes for all ages. From the Kurain school on it's hill overlooking most of the Vale, a pipe organ solemnly plays out traditional tunes, and is surprisingly cheery for a ghost school. Across the neighborhood on another hill, Hikawa Shrine has it's doors wide open to welcome visitors, with decorations of all sorts set out.

Games are set up at both locations, including Apple Bobbing, Ducklett Pond raffles, and Pin the Scroll on the Spiritomb, though there are others set up all over the Vale's plazas. Skeeball, Target Shooting, Bell-and-Hammer games, and perhaps most strangely a “Whack-the-Diglett” that's been possessed by one of the local ghosts to give the little wooden Digletts faces all hideously angry ones. Eating contests, Pokemon Battle Circles, a Haunted House (with real ghosts!) and dozens and dozens of fortune telling stands all further add to a carnival atmosphere that even the dead can enjoy!

Lanterns and faux Spinarak webs hang from every lamppost and awning, and food stalls line the streets as vendors ply their wares. Food from all over is available, and it all seems to come together around a central square between the two hills. A stage has been set up, with musicians from all over the known world called in to show their stuff. There are dance tunes from Caldera, Union Pop and Jazz songs at work, setting crowds on fire. Sanctuary has sent a full orchestra to play various classical pieces, while Citadel's famous woodwinds and tribal drums surprise and delight. And towards the end of the day, a band from Glacier comes on stage. Their music starts out slow and ambient, but after a few sets they set up electric guitars and the gloves come off. A folk metal concert, complete with an armored warrior-woman doing the vocals and several of the soldiers from the battle weeks prior (some still bandaged) backing her up. It might be a bit shocking, but some of the youth are definitely getting into it...

And then night falls, and the party atmosphere becomes a little quieter. Plays, family meals, Ghost-story tellings, and more subdued activities become the norm though there's still a contingent of rowdies at the heart of the celebration. It's then that the ghosts really come out to play, slipping through walls to greet relatives or tease revelers. For the most part they seem friendly but not always. As usual, some specters of ill-repute have slipped in among the friendly ones, and they're making trouble. Good thing you have a Warp Band to call an exorcist, right?

((OOC: This is a general mingle log, feel free to put up your own top levels and tag around! Welcome to Soulfasting, everyone! We hope you enjoy =D ))

Comments

C

[wise_maiden]

It's always good to have a backup plan. Ready?

[There was something a little compelling about a mystery. Raine starts moving forward. Some of the smoky walls seem to hold shelves adorned with various trinkets, unlit candelabras. Dreamcatchers... and spiders webs. So far, she still seems to be able to keep the area softly lit up as well, though the effect seems to dull after a few more steps.]

C

[untalented]

--Take a break, Raine.

[A few uttered words later, and a Flash spell lit the area. It didn't have much use, but he preferred keeping it onhand specifically for situations like this.

He stayed close to Raine, knowing that the radius of vision that they had wasn't terribly wide with the effects of his spell. It needed some work....but for now it would suffice.]

C

[wise_maiden]

-- Ah. Nice job.

[It might be better for Waver's confidence if she held back, anyway. It also allows her to give the shelves more of an inspection, though nothing is standing out to her as anything particularly unique. Questionable, maybe, but did real channelers or spirit Pokemon really feel anything from these items...?]

I wonder if they have any items that could be considered relics here... that would be fascinating.

C

[untalented]

Who knows? This city has five-hundred years of history that the rest of the world doesn't know.

[He joined Raine, angling the light so the two of them could get a better look at the artifacts.]

It's entirely possible that the channelers might feel something. There is a kind of ghost pokemon that resides within a stone, so anything is possible.

C

[wise_maiden]

So there could be more to these items than they appear...

[Which makes them immediately more interesting and not something to be dismissed no matter how garish.

And here come the sparkles.] Now were they brought up by delvers, or passed down through family trees... can you make out any of these inscriptions?! Bring the light closer!

C

[untalented]

We'd need to find someone from Ninetales Vale to answer questions like that!

[But he closed in anyway, curious himself about what they might possibly be able to learn from such things.]

But I'd think it's some combination of both theories-- Union really lives up to it's name, like that.

C

[wise_maiden]

We'll have to shake someone down to know for certain. Back home we would never have items like these on display for anyone to interact with...

[There are several items displayed, a flat stone, a large bell, and an elaborate candlestick, surrounded by bowls of beads that glow in the light.]

... here! It's an ancient script, but with the state the items are in, translation will be difficult. 'Keeping safe'? 'To keep safe'? Depending on the arrangement, the meaning could be entirely different as well... is that 'for', or 'from'? Hmm...

C

[untalented]

...I think someone is starting to see why Union is so special.

[It was really interesting to watch, as he knew both perspectives very well. He leaned closer, peering at the characters as well...]

Do you think it's referring to the item itself, or whomever is holding it? Or, maybe they're supposed to be keeping something sealed...

C

[wise_maiden]

Hmm... if it was meant to have something sealed in it, it would be careless to leave on display unless the seal was already broken, unless they were unaware of it... or it could be the opposite, and function as some sort of ward instead. [There were almost too many possibilities with the limited information, still it was better to go through them and narrow them down. At least that was the rationalization of sparkly scholarly curiosity...]

Ah - look, Waver! There are more characters here, though they're much more worn away... to guide? Or is that guard ...

C

[untalented]

'To guide' would be appropriate, since we're in this maze, but....

What if the mediums and channelers here have been guarding these items, and spirits conjured up by the festivities have somehow altered how all of this should work?

[Conjecture was all they had. With nothing finite, they had little else to rely on.]

C

[wise_maiden]

!! That is a fascinating deduction! We'd also have to know just how long these items had been in their possession... these festivities are a yearly occurrence, would that make these seals only temporarily compromised? Although... given that mediums and channelers can also be possessed, they could be unaware of something being changed...!

C

[untalented]

So many possibilities....and odds that we won't een figure out the answers as things are now.

[They were, after all, trapped in a labyrinth with no one in sight...]

C

[wise_maiden]

We can take note of the questions and clues and continue to investigate.

[Odds like that don't get a good researcher down, after all. Already she's pulling a small notebook out of her satchel to copy down the ancient writing.] We'll have to keep an eye out for more displays like this as well! They're bound to contain more mysteries...

C

[untalented]

[Waver watched her, impressed with her gusto and level of dedication to fieldwork. The libraries were always the place where Waver had found sanctuary-- the dusty, yellowed documents and crumbling folios were the places where he found the most detailed information.]

...You need to take a visit to the Old City some day, if you haven't already. They're a place that you'd love.

[wise_maiden]

[Libraries were wonderful, but having an opportunity to make observations first hand for comparisons... that was incredible.]

I've been planning on visiting sometime after the festivities! Have you been there before?

[untalented]

Once; I met Helen there.

[And his Vulpix had been a loyal companion ever since. She was willing to travel into the wilds despite her own trepidations, and her warmth had been a much needed asset in the frigid plains of Glacier.]

...I've been meaning to go back, honestly. The Rotoms there intrigue me.

[He wanted to understand them better, even if he was afraid of Ghost types. He wanted to be better able to help a friend out with a particular Rotom problem...]

[wise_maiden]

I'm sure a place like that is worth more than just one look.

[The world was just bursting with places to explore, and she was still recovering from the move and subsequent trip to Glacier to do too much poking around even in the forests.]

I'd be glad to have you along, if you'd like to come. Do you think that you might bond with one of them?

[untalented]

A Rotom? Possibly-- now that I know they're nothing to be worried about.

[And they were very unique pokemon, with their ability to possess machines. Curiosity drove the academic in him, and he knew that the understanding he would gain would only help the Trainer that he would one day become.] ]

[wise_maiden]

[She tilts her head at that.] Did you have reason to be concerned before? Or is it because they're a ghost type?

[untalented]

Like most people, I'm pretty careful around things that can hurt me.

[And, as a pure psychic type, ghosts of any sort could really do a number on him.]

[wise_maiden]

Fair enough. Either way, it's a learning experience.

[Even if he seemed to give the impression that sometimes he was too preoccupied with what could hurt him than anything else.]

[untalented]

[He was tiny. And squishy. And had very few offensive skills to his name.

Of course he was worried about getting hurt. Pain was no fun.]

We'll need to take our own notes, too. There's already plenty in the library, but none from the prespective of an academic from Sanctuary.

[wise_maiden]

I was already planning on that. It'll be quite enjoyable to compare them all afterward! Not to mention comparing anything else that can be found here...

[untalented]

What do you think I've been doing all this time? There's no better way to understand data than through a good few weeks of synthesis and analysis!

[wise_maiden]

Indeed. In fact, it's a good thing that we are scholars in this time. New discoveries are constantly being made, so there's always something to go over. I almost feel as if I'm still racing to catch up with it all.