Let There Be Light (Tenebris & Lumens - Sanctuary)

[bravenewmods]

[The change in seasons, from summer to autumn, was subtle to most people who lived and thrived on the lands across the continent. The heat of the season still lingered, but with each passing day it seemed that the winds grew brisker and dusk came just a little quicker. But, in the winding streets of Sanctuary, both Magi and Earthkin alike expressed their deepest, most heartfelt emotions in a rare show of unity between the two populations-- for charms and solemn ceremonies of Tenebris, conducted to honor the fallen from the ancient cataclysm that rent the world asunder, didn’t discriminate between those born in the gleaming towers and those born on the streets. The week long remembrance and the celebration that followed was the only time of the year when everyone could set aside their frustrations and treat everyone as equals.

Even the city itself seemed changed. Shopkeepers and housewives scoured and scrubbed every surface on their homes and the lands surrounding them, and even the students at the Academy took time in between their studies to sweep out their rooms and dust off their bookshelves. Tenebris was more than a memorial, but a celebration of new beginnings as well.

Then, at midnight on the last night, the somber silence that had befallen the city suddenly broke with an explosion of lights and colors-- for Lumens had come, and the celebration of Sanctuary’s founding and it’s promise to preserve and share the light of knowledge with the world had begun. Colorful lanterns gleamed at every street corner, and few could be recognized behind the brilliant masks they had donned for the second week of celebration.

And, on the eve of the equinox that fell on the last day, the whole of the city gathers together as one body and releases a flurry of lanterns to dance among the stars in the night as a renewal of that ancient promise the Seer had made to the world: The towers would exist so long as there was knowledge to preserve, and the curious were welcome to come and seek it. The heart of the city would beat proudly for them, and anyone in time could come to understand it.]

Comments

TENEBRIS (September 18 - 24, backdated)

[bravenewmods]

[ Sanctuary’s contributions to the World’s Fair had been….minimal, thanks to the Fair overlapping with these important, private “festivities”. Visitors to Sanctuary during this time will find the streets darkened, the people darkly-clad, the young people….particularly stressed, due to exams….and all outsiders given the cold shoulder. This is not a friendly time to visit this particular city. This solemn, silent time is for the people of Sanctuary.

On the other hand, perhaps you’ll run into someone preparing to burn an effigy representing their frustrations from the past year. Or you can make one yourself! Just….be careful not to become someone’s frustration…. ]

[empireofmymind]

[ Tch. Look at all the insects venting their frustrations by proxy. As if that will improve a lost cause. Ridiculous.

Fortunately, Ken hasn't the time to focus on what anybody else is doing back here in his hometown - while he doesn't care whether his family worries or not, he'd rather not get the authorities involved. (Besides, they don't know he owns a Pokémon that can fly. They don't know any of the important things about him. Just as planned.) He's here for one thing, and one thing only: the library at the Spoinkwarts School of Magecraft.

Incognito in a Spoinkwarts uniform (don't ask how he got it), Ken heads for the gates. Everyone should be busy absorbed in their own studies, and the librarians should be overworked. A genius ought to be able to get what he came for and escape undetected.

A genius, though, who doesn't have a train of Bug-types staring up at him from around every light post for about two blocks. Ken-chan... ] Veni...

[wovensecrets]

[Dark, dark, dark. Being back here was stirring memories of a sort, for this particular spinarak-woman and not anything good. She just wanted to be out of this city, no sooner than had she set a foot in it, but here she was. A dark cloak covers up her usual colors of choice. Better to blend in, easier to sneak around, reacquaint herself with this city -

And of course, there he was. Foolish as ever, trying to sneak into that library at a time like this, but everything he was doing was Necessary, in a way, to that blasted project, and so as such, he must not be interrupted. Which meant ... she had to keep an eye out for him, and his pathetic little army, whether or not either of them liked it.]

[empireofmymind]

[ Ken strolls onto the Spoinkwarts grounds like he owns them. (One day, he feels certain, he will). He does try not to look too much like the master of the place, though. "Harried fist-year studying for finals" is the look he's going for, so he keeps his head down and walks off to one side, trying to look very much absorbed in his own business instead of Up To Something.

So far so good. And the library, if he recalls correctly, should be....

Perfect. Now he just has to wait for a group of students to enter so he can slip in behind them, looking like he belongs there.

The Pokémon Kaiser, of course, does not belong in this trifling world. It is his curse to be trapped there anyway. ]

LUMENS (September 24 - October 1)

[bravenewmods]

[ After the harsh, forbidding gloom of Tenebris, anyone visiting Sanctuary during this week may not recognize the place. Awash in light, the city plays host to countless masked figures, many of whose masks may look familiar to Union residents. Come to a masquerade ball! Hear a legend from Sanctuary’s founding!

And, if you’re here on the very last day, release a lantern into the sky. ]

[and_after_thrall]

[Elaine had seriously considered not coming. It had been years since she'd visited Sanctuary, the place of her birth. While she had several sweet memories, she also had a hell of a host of bitter ones too. She wasn't eager to relive any of that.]

[On the other hand, nostalgia had its own special allure that she couldn't deny. The closer the holidays drew, the stronger the temptation to return. It was fine now. Harry had guaranteed that DuMorne was dead, and there was no one left to pursue her now. Visiting this place might give her some semblance of closure, and lessen her skittishness and paranoia.]

[But she wasn't going to visit when everything sucked. She deliberately waited until Lumens came about before paying a visit, and the opportunity to mask herself only sweetened the deal. Elaine wasn't sure she wanted to be recognized, if anyone even remembered her anymore, so she had no objections whatsoever to donning the most common Cresselia mask money could buy, slipping the elastic band behind her head, and walking the streets freely. None of her Pokemon were currently with her, but the warp band glinting on her wrist could change that easily.]

[At the ball, she dances. On the last day, she paints a lantern and quietly releases it. And in the time in between, she gathers up her courage and, still masked, quietly makes her way to the blackened and charred lot where her childhood home burned to the ground.]

[Good riddance, she thinks to herself, looking at the skeletal timbers from beneath lowered lashes. In a way, she's glad it's not recognizable any longer.]

[divine_braid]

[He spotted the lone figure staring at the ruined remains of a building. It was hard to miss for someone who, like her, had also been through the destruction of a childhood home. A few times he'd gone back to his, doing exactly what she was doing now. It wasn't easy, but there was just this weird draw sometimes. As much as he told himself, why bother? Or that he didn't care anymore. Or that it didn't matter to him. It still did, deep down, and he was still drawn to return.

He walked a little closer, his own mask in place, though he didn't make an effort to disguise his voice.]

Strange place to be on such a bright holiday.

[and_after_thrall]

...Just passing by.

[She hadn't expected to be interrupted, and she was hardly in the mood to strike up a conversation with anyone who lived here. Elaine would have pulled away right then and there if his voice didn't tickle at the fringes of recognition. She stops, and turns to look at him.]

Duo...?

[divine_braid]

[He lifted the mask, also a Cresselia one, and grinned at her.]

The one and only.

How've ya been?

[and_after_thrall]

Oh, you know me. As festive as ever.

[She smiles from behind the mask, but can't quite bring herself to remove the thing. Old habits die hard, especially when she's standing so close to the place that has haunted her for nearly twenty-five years.]

I didn't think people from Union would venture all the way out here for a holiday. Anything in particular you're looking for, or did you just need a break after being cooped up for so long?

[divine_braid]

More like the latter. [He shrugged a bit.] I heard someone back at the Fair in Union talking about it, so I figured I'd check it out.

Seems pretty festive... all the lights and stuff.

[He decided not to ask the obvious question about the destroyed building there.]

You in town just for the holiday? [He tilted his head back towards the busier part of town, silently suggesting they head back towards the cheerier stuff for a distraction.]

[greyerrant]

[ A behelmed figure is standing nearby as she releases the lantern. The wondrous steel armor of the Battalion functions nicely as a mask, though he has adorned and painted it to look almost like that of a Cresselia, as a nod to local culture. ]

To cast light, even into the darkest places.

It is good.

[and_after_thrall]

[Elaine doesn't turn her head, but she does recognize that serious voice. For a Calderan, she's surprised he would treat a different city's holiday with such reverence and respect. For his young age, she's impressed.]

Yes it is.

[Maybe another time she might have teased him or at least given him a playful jab in the side with her elbow. But if he's going to be respectful, she's going to do the same.]

I like this holiday a lot when I was a kid. But I didn't expect to see a Calderan pay his respects.

[greyerrant]

I was invited here by a citizen of Sanctuary. It would be churlish of me to mock a young girl's traditions. Particularly given that it is about carrying hopes and dreams into a new year.

[ he folds his arms over his massive chest. ]

While I am a warrior made and perhaps born, I revere knowledge, and I viewed this as a chance to learn.

[actsmagnificent]

[ Cresselia masks. Cute. But Haruka has had enough Cresselia to last a lifetime.

Her mask, therefore, is a simple opera-style one for starters, but she's looking over the more intricate Sanctuary-designed ones for sale. How Natto heard about this event, she has no idea - that bug picks up all kinds of stuff over the Warp Band - but he'd specifically requested that if she go, she bring him back a mask to study.

So. Which design should she take back to the boss? ]

[conquerorofwaves]

[Sinbad was close by with his pokemon - it seems they're on a mission to make the surly Gengar with them laugh - so far, nothing's working. The young man straightens up, and goes back to picking out something for the masquerade, trying to decide between a Dragonair mask, or a Vulpix, calling out to them, not realizing there was someone in earshot who might think he was addressing them]

Say, what do you think the market will be for these masks back in union?

[actsmagnificent]

[ Did somebody say something? Haruka looks over. Doesn't look like this is her business, but... ]

It is a Sanctuary holiday.

[ She doubts people who aren't part of Masked Secret Societies That Feign Being Theater Troupes In Public have much use for fancy masks in their daily life. Assuming such people as that exception even exist, of course. ]

[conquerorofwaves]

[He glances over, a little surprised to have someone else answer him]

Well yes, but I remember there were other holidays with masks, and the kids seem to love dressing up.

[The young man tilts his head slightly]

I'm just thinking masks in general, not specific holiday ones.

[actsmagnificent]

Then I suppose there's a market for everything.

[ If he thinks he can pull it off, more power to him. She's got no Rhyhorn in this race.

...do they have Rhyhorn masks? She's not checking. Of course not. ]

[conquerorofwaves]

[He hums]

I've seen you around before, but I don't think we ever introduced ourselves... or really spoke at length.

[With that, Sinbad held his hand out]

Sinbad, President of the Sindria Trade Company in Union.

[actsmagnificent]

[ Huh. Hence the mercantile interest. Haruka looks a bit smug when she returns the shake. ] Haruka Tenoh. I act, mostly.

[ Her handshake's pretty firm. ]

[conquerorofwaves]

[His own was firm, but a bit more gentle than a typical unionite handshake]

An actor? I actually had considered acting, but I decided trade was my way of bringing people and pokemon together.

[His pokemon talked among themselves, the Gengar's markings seem to suggest it was one of Mewtwo's clones - didn't someone pull some kind of crazy stunt with one?]

[actsmagnificent]

It's certainly more profitable.

[ Says the woman in impeccably-tailored clothing. ]

[divine_braid]

[Thanks to the World's Fair in Union taking most of his rapt attention, Duo didn't make it to Sanctuary until the last few days of Lumens. But, he liked the idea of releasing the lanterns, and he wanted to give it a try and see it in action.

So, here he was, taking in the brightly lit sights of the city and picking out which lantern he wants to release on the last day, a Cresselia mask tied to the beltloop of his pants for later.]

[child_of_luv]

[Minako was excited about the lanterns. She'd overheard the girl at the World's Fair talking about it, so she came into town just for the last day. She had picked out a pretty one with gold hearts and red roses on a yellow background.]