Muir comes home after hanging with Jimmy and Goodall to find an empty house. He grumbles to himself "I should have stayed in my tree....Sleep in the house they say, don't be antisocial....Pfft.." Muir lets out a snort from his trunk and makes himself some tea.
As the days before the winter solstice ceremony dwindle, the house is a buzz of activity, Erriol Oakhand and his family make all of the preparations to the house and the work is complete within a day, though the clean up takes the rest of the morning after. Hog moves in and gets himself set up and aquatinted with his new work space.
Sam brings two kobolds home with him one evening and gets them aquatinted with the rest of you, Adda and Edda, two very pointy red Kobolds who look too identical to properly tell apart. They greet the members of the group with a quickly spoken but raspy hello, seeming pleased to be out of the conditions Sam had saved them from. They get to work figuring out their daily cleaning schedule and figuring out what their priorities around the house should be, taking into consideration the wishes of the group too. That evening they nearly turn the kitchen upside down trying to find things to simply cook a meal with, but the meal is good, Hog joins you all for a vegetable soup with a roasted meat accompaniment that when blended together makes a great stew, but can also be just as easily left out for a vegetarian option. They quickly get back to work sorting out the kitchen to their own liking after the meal is had.
The town itself is also a bustle with activity, in the lead up to the winter solstice, the morning of the ceremony, a large stage is set up in front of the gates of the council District, overlooking the now cleared and cleaned central market. The edges are lines with closed tents preparing to open for carnival games and pop up eateries, the performers from Cirque Fantastica are lounging around a bar, day drinking in preparation, and as a small orchestra that Gewyn notices is made up from Jasmina performers goes through a few songs and choreography near the stage.
The group find themselves bustling past the preparatory people and on their way once more to the council District, where as a group you are to be given a brief of what will happen this evening.
Gewyn taps his fingers along to the familiar tune from the performers, as if his thigh were a set of pipes. "How are we all feeling. We got our best faces on? How about you, Sam? I've got some powder if you want to brighten up that... intense countenance of yours."
"I feel....ok....I am still trying to get used to the city. Although I have seen quite a bit of it so far. I saw the Tangles with Mr.Connolly, I visited the cavalcade library, the treasury...what views! I am doing my best to acclimate to city life. Thank you for asking Gewyn"
"Brighten my what?" Sam asks in genuine confusion. "Don't worry... I will be on my best behavior. As long as they don't draw it out too much..."
Sam looks here and there at the preparations and such. It's nothing he hasn't seen before and it just reminds him how carnivals and parties and such are all just illusions. So much effort goes into making them seem carefree and relaxed but the truth is the better it is the more likely there's a crap ton of workers busting their ass to make it look that way.
"The Tangles will surely benefit from the gardens," Sam admits gruffly. "Well hell, they'd benefit from anything free but showing the young ones just what a little hard work and dedication can achieve will go far. The fact it'll fill their bellies in time, even further."
Sam pauses for a moment considering but then adds: "When you and yours are ready for a real challenge, head to the Overspill. Those poor souls need all the help they can get. But they're also about the least likely to ever accept it..."
"They make perfect sense," Sam assures. "The Tangles is the Tangle 'cause the streets weave about this way and that like a knot or a... tangle of string. Plus the houses and such are all built atop and against one another. The Oversplill is just what it sounds like - Those who can't, or won't, make it in the Tangles gets shoved out and land in the Overspill. It's... not a nice place. A lot of sad cases, to be sure, but also a lot of the sort who refuse to make it anywhere but the bottom."
Elthana had been away from their new house since they chose Hog and the twins as their housemates. She finally joins up with the group as they start making their way to the council district.
Elthana looks weary, like she hasn't slept in days. For those that really look at her when she joins them, she has almost a haunted look to her, her eyes sunken in, her mouth in an almost grim line. She doesn't answer Gewyn when he asks how everyone is doing, and when Muir mentions the views from the treasury, she gives half a smile and that looks like effort.
She follows along with the rest of them, listening in to the conversation about the Tangles and the Overspill, but adding no commentary.
Vin is excited for the new folks to join them. When Hog shows up Vin offers to help move in his supplies. He doesn't know as much about the Kobold so when he gets a chance he finds out how they met Sam and what they like. Hobbies, goals, favorite foods and things like that. He offers to play some cards with them too when they get a chance between housekeeping duties. Really, going all out to help them feel welcomed.
He vanishes in and out of the house for most of the time apprently working on something but he doesn't share any details. When asked he says "Planning to help some folks. I'll let you all know once I have more details."
Vin is abuzz with excitement and nervous energy on the morning of the festival. Nef is in a very good mood too. Seeming to reflect pride the more Vin seems happy and confident. The half-elf has taken to getting a nice outfit that looks halfway between adventuring and going to a formal ball. Like a well dressed soilder that is ready for anything. He seems to have taken great care in color choices. Like he wanted to show he was part of the Cavalcade, but more so part of the city. A small patch of Cavalcade colors is all that one can find to identify him as part of that group in the city. Otherwise he has city colors on that accent the more traditional clothing.
Vin stops by the Kobolds in the morning and greets them. A regular thing he does to help them feel welcomed as he checks in and sees how they are doing or if they need anything.
When he joins the others he has his notebook out and seems to be writing something. Deep in thought at first until he sets pen and paper down to greet the rest and reply to Gewyn "I think I'm good. It was kind of hard to find an outfit that wasn't just parading Cavalcade colors. This shows a more unified look, right?" Vin kind of poses for the others to inspect as Nef huffs as if Vin could look anything less then perfect.
To Muir he replies "We all here to help if you have any struggles Muir. It's a big city. I for one can't wait to see the garden project finished in the tangles. It's going to look amazing."
When he notices Elthana looking so grim he slides over next to her and asks "Is everything okay? You look so tired. I was a bit worried when you didnt come back. Something go wrong?"
Sam notes how spiffy Vin is looking and his first instinct is to razz him about it… He decides against it though, Vin may just take it to heart instead of as the companionable bullshit backhanded compliment he’d have meant it to be. So instead Sam grunts out a “Nice duds,” and leaves it at that.
Sam himself is a bit self conscious of how he’s going yo look up there. He bought new clothes but it never occurred for him to buy nice clothes. So he has no tears or mends or stains and the clothes still have that New Clothes Stiffness but otherwise they are common work clothes in the obvious Tangles style. (If we’re going in full on Adventure Ready Mode then Sam is wearing spiffy new armor too but…)
Sam had been eyeing Elthana closely, off and on, trying hard to not be obvious about it but probably so hard he made it more obvious. He was wondering about her… Where she’d been, what she’d been doing, if she’d been avoiding the house or just busy with other things, was she in trouble, was she making trouble, did she need help, did she want help, how would she react if he offered help, would it seem weird to offer her help, what if she rejected the help, was it better to say nothing, would it make it worse if he said nothing, was it already worse and now too late to saw something… When Vin broached the subject with Elthana Sam was quite relieved, very curious and curiously annoyed… But he listened closely for her response.
Elthana doesn't notice Sam eyeing her or obviously not trying to eye her. She doesn't notice much of anything at all once she has rejoined the group. She hangs to the back of everyone, just almost a shadow of herself as she walks along. She hasn't got new clothes or different clothes for the occasion, she's wearing her old monk's robes as she always does.
She looks at Vin when he addresses her and gives him a wan smile. "I'm alive." she chuckles at this, a humorless chuckle, "Can we talk about it after this is over? I just want to get through this evening. I think it's going to take all the energy I have left."
Sam frowns at Elthana’s response. “See now, if we had hired Marzana I’m sure she’d have had refresher potions for us. Rest in a bottle. Instead we got loud invisible footsteps in the middle of the night…”
Gewyn notices Elthana too. The tiredness, the weary eyes, how shut off she is. Then he looks around at the buildings and sky about them, lips slipping into a thoughtful pout as he ponders some internal thought. "Sometimes when the..." Then he realizes he's talking to himself and cuts off his spoken thought. Like Elthana said... after this is over.
As a group you enter the now familiar marbled halls of the large council building, and are led by guards to the council chambers once more.
Each council member is seated at the teardrop table, with Judge Tibus presiding at the point as per usual. This time there are seats, ready and waiting for the group to join the table. There are a couple of squinted eyes and a I'll hidden scowl from the Lord Unvale Hemiran, Cavalcade, directed toward Sam in particular, but nothing is said.
"Ah, here we are, I trust the house was well received? and you've settled into it fine?" Asks judge Tibus, the painted legion crest on his shell looking to have been expertly repainted and fresh in preparation for the evenings celebrations.
Muir smiles and nods "Thank you. The house is suitable for our needs."Muir cuts to the chase not out of being impatient but not understanding how things are done "What does the council require of us?"
Sam sees the scowl and gives a smile and a wink in return but otherwise holds his tongue.
"Yes, let's just cut to the chase. I assume you want a dog and pony show and we're here for it," Sam chimes in after Muir. "Tell us how you want things to go and where to stand and all that and let's get it over with, eh?"
Hemiran rolls his eyes and focusses elsewhere at Sam's jesting. Judge Tibus listens to Muir and Sam, then continues a little hastier this time, "ah yes um quite. As was iterated before this group is an ideal, a force for good comprised of all factions, we want to really hammer that home, and so after a bit of mingling, we will call you all forth one hour before the climax of the celebrations, we will present you on the main stage and we would like one of you to volunteer to give a speech. There is no set script but there are a few points we would like you to hit.
These points include; The success of the mission and your anticipation of hokums inevitable return to normalcy. The focus on teamwork regardless of faction. The inclusivity of the keepers of the woods in regard to that success, and finally your anticipation of the druids becoming a welcome part of the landscape of this city. Who thinks they could manage that?" Tibus looks around the group of you raising an eyebrow at Gewyn and Vin specifically.
"See that? I'm ideal," Sam whispers in jest to Elthana after gently poking her with his elbow.
When a volunteer for a speaker is asked for Sam starts rising up out of his chair. "If you really think the people want to hear from me..." he begins but is easily dragged back down into his chair by anyone who tries. Sam has no illusions that anyone thinks he would make a good spokesperson for the group but he can't help yanking on that particular chain a little bit.
"You're right, you're right. There may be a better option...."
Muir puts a hand on Sam's shoulder....not holding him back but more of a friendly placement "Although I think Sam would deliver a wonderful speech full of emotion and truth perhaps one of us who can weave a story full of hope instead?"
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Muir comes home after hanging with Jimmy and Goodall to find an empty house. He grumbles to himself "I should have stayed in my tree....Sleep in the house they say, don't be antisocial....Pfft.." Muir lets out a snort from his trunk and makes himself some tea.
As the days before the winter solstice ceremony dwindle, the house is a buzz of activity, Erriol Oakhand and his family make all of the preparations to the house and the work is complete within a day, though the clean up takes the rest of the morning after. Hog moves in and gets himself set up and aquatinted with his new work space.
Sam brings two kobolds home with him one evening and gets them aquatinted with the rest of you, Adda and Edda, two very pointy red Kobolds who look too identical to properly tell apart. They greet the members of the group with a quickly spoken but raspy hello, seeming pleased to be out of the conditions Sam had saved them from. They get to work figuring out their daily cleaning schedule and figuring out what their priorities around the house should be, taking into consideration the wishes of the group too. That evening they nearly turn the kitchen upside down trying to find things to simply cook a meal with, but the meal is good, Hog joins you all for a vegetable soup with a roasted meat accompaniment that when blended together makes a great stew, but can also be just as easily left out for a vegetarian option. They quickly get back to work sorting out the kitchen to their own liking after the meal is had.
The town itself is also a bustle with activity, in the lead up to the winter solstice, the morning of the ceremony, a large stage is set up in front of the gates of the council District, overlooking the now cleared and cleaned central market. The edges are lines with closed tents preparing to open for carnival games and pop up eateries, the performers from Cirque Fantastica are lounging around a bar, day drinking in preparation, and as a small orchestra that Gewyn notices is made up from Jasmina performers goes through a few songs and choreography near the stage.
The group find themselves bustling past the preparatory people and on their way once more to the council District, where as a group you are to be given a brief of what will happen this evening.
Gewyn taps his fingers along to the familiar tune from the performers, as if his thigh were a set of pipes. "How are we all feeling. We got our best faces on? How about you, Sam? I've got some powder if you want to brighten up that... intense countenance of yours."
"I feel....ok....I am still trying to get used to the city. Although I have seen quite a bit of it so far. I saw the Tangles with Mr.Connolly, I visited the cavalcade library, the treasury...what views! I am doing my best to acclimate to city life. Thank you for asking Gewyn"
"Brighten my what?" Sam asks in genuine confusion. "Don't worry... I will be on my best behavior. As long as they don't draw it out too much..."
Sam looks here and there at the preparations and such. It's nothing he hasn't seen before and it just reminds him how carnivals and parties and such are all just illusions. So much effort goes into making them seem carefree and relaxed but the truth is the better it is the more likely there's a crap ton of workers busting their ass to make it look that way.
"The Tangles will surely benefit from the gardens," Sam admits gruffly. "Well hell, they'd benefit from anything free but showing the young ones just what a little hard work and dedication can achieve will go far. The fact it'll fill their bellies in time, even further."
Sam pauses for a moment considering but then adds: "When you and yours are ready for a real challenge, head to the Overspill. Those poor souls need all the help they can get. But they're also about the least likely to ever accept it..."
Muir looks at Sam confused "There is a worse spot than the Tangles? What is the Overspill? Such odd names for parts of town...."
"They make perfect sense," Sam assures. "The Tangles is the Tangle 'cause the streets weave about this way and that like a knot or a... tangle of string. Plus the houses and such are all built atop and against one another. The Oversplill is just what it sounds like - Those who can't, or won't, make it in the Tangles gets shoved out and land in the Overspill. It's... not a nice place. A lot of sad cases, to be sure, but also a lot of the sort who refuse to make it anywhere but the bottom."
Elthana had been away from their new house since they chose Hog and the twins as their housemates. She finally joins up with the group as they start making their way to the council district.
Elthana looks weary, like she hasn't slept in days. For those that really look at her when she joins them, she has almost a haunted look to her, her eyes sunken in, her mouth in an almost grim line. She doesn't answer Gewyn when he asks how everyone is doing, and when Muir mentions the views from the treasury, she gives half a smile and that looks like effort.
She follows along with the rest of them, listening in to the conversation about the Tangles and the Overspill, but adding no commentary.
Vin is excited for the new folks to join them. When Hog shows up Vin offers to help move in his supplies. He doesn't know as much about the Kobold so when he gets a chance he finds out how they met Sam and what they like. Hobbies, goals, favorite foods and things like that. He offers to play some cards with them too when they get a chance between housekeeping duties. Really, going all out to help them feel welcomed.
He vanishes in and out of the house for most of the time apprently working on something but he doesn't share any details. When asked he says "Planning to help some folks. I'll let you all know once I have more details."
Vin is abuzz with excitement and nervous energy on the morning of the festival. Nef is in a very good mood too. Seeming to reflect pride the more Vin seems happy and confident. The half-elf has taken to getting a nice outfit that looks halfway between adventuring and going to a formal ball. Like a well dressed soilder that is ready for anything. He seems to have taken great care in color choices. Like he wanted to show he was part of the Cavalcade, but more so part of the city. A small patch of Cavalcade colors is all that one can find to identify him as part of that group in the city. Otherwise he has city colors on that accent the more traditional clothing.
Vin stops by the Kobolds in the morning and greets them. A regular thing he does to help them feel welcomed as he checks in and sees how they are doing or if they need anything.
When he joins the others he has his notebook out and seems to be writing something. Deep in thought at first until he sets pen and paper down to greet the rest and reply to Gewyn "I think I'm good. It was kind of hard to find an outfit that wasn't just parading Cavalcade colors. This shows a more unified look, right?" Vin kind of poses for the others to inspect as Nef huffs as if Vin could look anything less then perfect.
To Muir he replies "We all here to help if you have any struggles Muir. It's a big city. I for one can't wait to see the garden project finished in the tangles. It's going to look amazing."
When he notices Elthana looking so grim he slides over next to her and asks "Is everything okay? You look so tired. I was a bit worried when you didnt come back. Something go wrong?"
Sam notes how spiffy Vin is looking and his first instinct is to razz him about it… He decides against it though, Vin may just take it to heart instead of as the companionable bullshit backhanded compliment he’d have meant it to be. So instead Sam grunts out a “Nice duds,” and leaves it at that.
Sam himself is a bit self conscious of how he’s going yo look up there. He bought new clothes but it never occurred for him to buy nice clothes. So he has no tears or mends or stains and the clothes still have that New Clothes Stiffness but otherwise they are common work clothes in the obvious Tangles style. (If we’re going in full on Adventure Ready Mode then Sam is wearing spiffy new armor too but…)
Sam had been eyeing Elthana closely, off and on, trying hard to not be obvious about it but probably so hard he made it more obvious. He was wondering about her… Where she’d been, what she’d been doing, if she’d been avoiding the house or just busy with other things, was she in trouble, was she making trouble, did she need help, did she want help, how would she react if he offered help, would it seem weird to offer her help, what if she rejected the help, was it better to say nothing, would it make it worse if he said nothing, was it already worse and now too late to saw something… When Vin broached the subject with Elthana Sam was quite relieved, very curious and curiously annoyed… But he listened closely for her response.
Elthana doesn't notice Sam eyeing her or obviously not trying to eye her. She doesn't notice much of anything at all once she has rejoined the group. She hangs to the back of everyone, just almost a shadow of herself as she walks along. She hasn't got new clothes or different clothes for the occasion, she's wearing her old monk's robes as she always does.
She looks at Vin when he addresses her and gives him a wan smile. "I'm alive." she chuckles at this, a humorless chuckle, "Can we talk about it after this is over? I just want to get through this evening. I think it's going to take all the energy I have left."
Sam frowns at Elthana’s response. “See now, if we had hired Marzana I’m sure she’d have had refresher potions for us. Rest in a bottle. Instead we got loud invisible footsteps in the middle of the night…”
Muir offers Elthana an arm "You are welcome to use me as you need Elthana. I can help you along..."
Gewyn notices Elthana too. The tiredness, the weary eyes, how shut off she is. Then he looks around at the buildings and sky about them, lips slipping into a thoughtful pout as he ponders some internal thought. "Sometimes when the..." Then he realizes he's talking to himself and cuts off his spoken thought. Like Elthana said... after this is over.
As a group you enter the now familiar marbled halls of the large council building, and are led by guards to the council chambers once more.
Each council member is seated at the teardrop table, with Judge Tibus presiding at the point as per usual. This time there are seats, ready and waiting for the group to join the table. There are a couple of squinted eyes and a I'll hidden scowl from the Lord Unvale Hemiran, Cavalcade, directed toward Sam in particular, but nothing is said.
"Ah, here we are, I trust the house was well received? and you've settled into it fine?" Asks judge Tibus, the painted legion crest on his shell looking to have been expertly repainted and fresh in preparation for the evenings celebrations.
Muir smiles and nods "Thank you. The house is suitable for our needs." Muir cuts to the chase not out of being impatient but not understanding how things are done "What does the council require of us?"
Sam sees the scowl and gives a smile and a wink in return but otherwise holds his tongue.
"Yes, let's just cut to the chase. I assume you want a dog and pony show and we're here for it," Sam chimes in after Muir. "Tell us how you want things to go and where to stand and all that and let's get it over with, eh?"
Hemiran rolls his eyes and focusses elsewhere at Sam's jesting. Judge Tibus listens to Muir and Sam, then continues a little hastier this time, "ah yes um quite. As was iterated before this group is an ideal, a force for good comprised of all factions, we want to really hammer that home, and so after a bit of mingling, we will call you all forth one hour before the climax of the celebrations, we will present you on the main stage and we would like one of you to volunteer to give a speech. There is no set script but there are a few points we would like you to hit.
These points include; The success of the mission and your anticipation of hokums inevitable return to normalcy. The focus on teamwork regardless of faction. The inclusivity of the keepers of the woods in regard to that success, and finally your anticipation of the druids becoming a welcome part of the landscape of this city. Who thinks they could manage that?" Tibus looks around the group of you raising an eyebrow at Gewyn and Vin specifically.
"See that? I'm ideal," Sam whispers in jest to Elthana after gently poking her with his elbow.
When a volunteer for a speaker is asked for Sam starts rising up out of his chair. "If you really think the people want to hear from me..." he begins but is easily dragged back down into his chair by anyone who tries. Sam has no illusions that anyone thinks he would make a good spokesperson for the group but he can't help yanking on that particular chain a little bit.
"You're right, you're right. There may be a better option...."
Muir puts a hand on Sam's shoulder....not holding him back but more of a friendly placement "Although I think Sam would deliver a wonderful speech full of emotion and truth perhaps one of us who can weave a story full of hope instead?"