July Mini Event - Seaside Sway

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It’s the end of July. Summer is peaking, hitting its stride. In the forest, frogs sing and fireflies dance through the night, and dragonflies go about their business in the sun. In town, farmers roll up their sleeves and young ladies swap out their many layers for breezy floral gowns. And on the beach, swimmers take to the sea for water at its warmest and young crabs climb up from the sun-drenched sand. Kora’s glory at its finest!

For about a week now, a flier has been up on the community bulletin board. :

Midsummer Beach Festival!

Join us on July 21st and 22nd for our annual beach bash!

Organized by the Temple of Sacred Roots in tandem with Town Hall, all townsfolk are invited to join in for seaside festivities in honor of the height of summer. Activities will include:

• Live music (Sign-ups for performers will be available at Empty Pockets Music Bar)
• Locally made strawberry wine from last summer’s strawberries
• Beach pit barbecues for lunch on both days
• A hot food banquet for dinner on the 21st
• A fish fry breakfast on the 22nd
• Paper lantern float
• Beach games
• Tents and bed rolls for beach camping

We look forward to seeing you there!

And, as promised, the festival opens up on the afternoon of July 21st, where the smell of barbecue rises up from Tawny Beach. Tables sit on wooden plinths to avoid sinking in the sand, bearing fresh summer fruit and drinks. Pork, fish, and lamb roast in a sand pit. Enchanted barrels covered in magic frost keep frozen treats like orange juice shaved ice and strawberry sorbet cold. A station for assembling little wood-and-paper floating lanterns can be seen off in the distance and Cormac and the Banshees are setting up for their opening set. Tents and bed rolls have been set up toward the Marina. Literally everything is decorated with thin golden coins on strands of twine, sea shells, and sea glass. In the center of it all, stones have been laid into the shape of a massive compass rose, whose center houses the makings of a bonfire.

Those who were here last year will recognize that this festival is much larger than last year’s, and was not preceded with desperate pleas from Town Hall for help providing food and decor. It speaks plainly to the health of the town now. Even with all that has been going on, the growing population and renewed sense of community and purpose have improved matters around the island considerably.

Near the tent area, a family of crabs (one red, one blue, and three purple) can be observed. The small purple ones are poking each other with sticks. The Limoncello has made port, and Royal and his crew are splitting helper duty with the staff of Town Hall, and are dancing and partying the rest of the time. All is as it should be. For once, there is no dangerous surprise lurking in the shadows.

So, what’s on your agenda? During the day, volleyball, swimming, and a game that involves throwing small fabric sacks of dry lentils into wooden hoops in the sand can be enjoyed, alongside a plethora of frozen treats. At night, food and wine and lemonade are served at the banquet tables and lively music plays on the temporary wooden stage for dancing by firelight. There is also the lantern float, which encourages participants to send a glowing lantern out on the water in honor of the lost and the distant, ending the first night in a moment of peaceful sobriety. You may also notice a charming stranger milling around, cozying up to Royal, and drinking after nightfall--- a woman with dark olive skin, raven hair that soaks up the firelight, and rum brown eyes who wears a billowing blue dress and (whenever she hasn’t placed it onto someone else’s head for fun) a wide-brimmed black hat.

Then, at night, camp on the beach under the stars or head home by additional lantern light. The festivities will continue until the following afternoon! Feel free to share your beach fit in the fashion show thread below, as well. Enjoy!

Comments

[xiaoxiuya]

"You've already given me a great deal of support." Shen Qingqiu smiles at him gently. "But I suppose...if you're not against it, I could use a friend who's been in a similar tight spot before." His cheeks turn ever so slightly pink at his own forwardness. "You might help me avoid the obvious mistakes."

[spaghettification]

“I would hardly have offered, if I were against it. I think seeing the differences will be interesting. I can already tell your will is stronger than mine was.”

Siebren pauses, gestures at the telescope.

“Between that and the fact that you aren’t isolated, I think you have the advantage if your goal is merely to recover.”

[xiaoxiuya]

"Oh, well. You shouldn't be too hard on yourself. I'm a trained cultivator, after all. When I said I put up a barrier in my mind, I meant that literally. I cast a spell to cordon off that section of my memories." He shrugs slightly. "I imagine I would be in much worse shape, otherwise."

But Shen Qingqiu is smiling all the same. A companion who understands your troubles is a precious thing -- and Siebren is already proving to be much better company than Shang Qinghua. He steps closer to the telescope, eyeing it curiously. "Anything interesting going on up there?"

[spaghettification]

"You also weren't locked up. I think I'd have fared better if I were actually treated, in my state. Here, at least, we both have resources."

Siebren steps back, gestures for Shen Qingqiu to take a look at the sky. "It's a clear enough night you can see one of Brahe's moons, if you look close."

[xiaoxiuya]

"Isolating people rarely does any good, in my experience. People need the company of others to feel whole." The pathetic way his first life ended is proof enough of that. But whether he ends up telling Siebren about that or not, now isn't the time.

He bends down to look through the telescope, making an appreciate sound when he spots the glowing orb of the indicated moon. "Beautiful. In the last world I lived in, I learned how to do a little navigation by the stars...but I haven't had time to study this world's sky, 'til now."

[spaghettification]

"There's charts at the library. Not that we have vast distances to navigate. For me, the fascination is the three moons this world has, and the strange planets in the sky." Siebren lingers nearby, but lets Shen Qingqiu have as long as he wants with the telescope.

[xiaoxiuya]

"Mm!" Shen Qingqiu glances over at Siebren, his eyes sparkling. "It's interesting, isn't it, how this planet is so Earth-like despite having three large moons in orbit around it? I wonder how that works, on the physics level."

[spaghettification]

"A more intricate dance. The moons and planet dance around the center of gravity of all four of them, which is contained within the planet as its mass is so much greater than the other three. The tidal patterns are more complicated here than on any one-moon world."

He gestures with both hands, trying to communicate the image of the system in his mind.

[xiaoxiuya]

"And yet, the locals still learned how to sail the seas...perhaps Kora helped them? Or maybe it was simply human ingenuity." Shen Qingqiu grins. "What else can you show me, my friend?"

[spaghettification]

"The planets, and some of the constellations of the local zodiac. Here..."

A stargazing montage goes here, gentle and soft and full of love for the skies and the objects in them.