Jaskier "old-timey fuckboy" Alfred Pankratz (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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abraxaslogs2023-05-09 08:07 pm
cointosser) wrote in abraxaslogs2023-05-09 08:07 pm
[open] wake up, it's time to gather now
Who: ALL OF THE FREE CITIES.
What: A glorious celebration and a Summoned-powered festival!
When: The second week of May.
Where: The Old Public Hall, the outlaying plaza, spilling into the streets of Cadens.
The Reopening Celebration
The Aquila Portal
The Lunae and Ikorr
The Festival Days
What: A glorious celebration and a Summoned-powered festival!
When: The second week of May.
Where: The Old Public Hall, the outlaying plaza, spilling into the streets of Cadens.
[The flyers appear all at once overnight among all of Cadens, with the front text reading: GRAND RE-OPENING OF OLD PUBLIC HALL. FIVE DAYS OF CELEBRATION WITH MERCHANTS FROM ACROSS THE FREE CITIES AND NOCWICH, ALL TO CELEBRATE THE REOPENING OF ONE OF CADEN'S ARCHITECTURAL MARVELS AND THE FREE CITIES'S OWN FORM OVER FUNCTION FESTIVAL! with the dates given underneath.
The back of the flyers will list the precise details, including the topics of each day of the festival. This festival is to act alongside and celebrate the native Free Cities celebration Form Over Function week that the Cities host every year. As with most things Jaskier and Alucard touch, it has to be a little Extra.
New to the city? Want to change careers? As suggested by the mods, the Summoned can use this festival to look for work or make new connections in the Free Cities with the locals displaying their craft. Artists, artisans, playwrights, theatres, inventors, and scientists will be looking for the next wave of brilliant minds and talented individuals.
Also acknowledged on each flyer are the equipment and food donated by the various Free Cities governing bodies.]
[A big celebratory announcement during the first day of the festival will be made in front of the Hall once the market opens. This is the grand unveiling of the new portal that is being permanently opened to Aquila, agreed to by the Free Cities government. The announcement comes from several of the Free Cities' very own Summoned: Jayce, Claude and Sam.
The portal is intended for leisure and business travel and will have a crossing fee. A portion of the proceeds from the festival will go to providing those of lower incomes with a single paid-for trip to and back from the Aquila portal. Please make use of such generosity, Summoned!]
[Most of the festival is meant to feature the local artists and artisans of the Free Cities. However, many artisans from Nocwich have also been invited and provided with their own space, with water misters set up to keep the wolves and vampires (and visitors, of course) cool in the desert air. Long, shaded walkways keep visitors safe from the sun.
The Lunae have a history of traveling to Solvunn to attend celebrations, so they will arrive in Cadens in greater numbers. While the vampires have less of a presence than the werewolves, they will still offer their wares like blood-infused wines, glowing flowers, and unique meat dishes - similar to what was provided last year!
All three Nocwich ambassadors will make an appearance for at least one of the days.]
[A large open-air market will be open throughout the celebration, which will feature retailers and artisans from Aquila, Cadens, Libertas, the Lunae, and the Ikorr, all set up in the plaza that leads up to Old Public Hall itself. Advertisements will be posted to entice new tourists to Aquila, in the interest of Fallon Marsh's new push for tourism to the coastal city.
Each "day" features a special theme:
- Book and Literature Day includes a seller's market inside and on the steps of Old Public Hall, along with book signings throughout, starting off the five-day celebration. The latest and the greatest works that have come from Free Cities minds are featured, sold, and autographed. If you're an up-and-coming writer, there are small podiums and stages set up on the outdoor stages for you to provide readings of your own work and advertise any exciting new book clubs. There is no promise of quality for the open-mic readings, and there's no withholding criticism when it's bad either.
Large presses and the self-published all share their wares, ranging from the latest scientific journals to the unsurprisingly long line to meet the author of the popular Onion James mystery novels. Near the new bar in Old Public Hall, an informal bookclub will open will be hosted. The evening will feature authors in conversations with each other, offering book signings and writing workshops for nervous young novelists. If you're curious, feel free to join in and show off your newest writing piece!- Painting and the Visual Arts Day marks the second day, which will see the Old Public Hall transform into a gallery for a day. Featured artists are lesser-known independents, working to create monumental-sized paintings, glass sculptures that refract light, tiny drawings that show skill on the smallest scale possible, and more. The Hall provides the ground for artists to lay out sales of local paintings, sculptures, woolen arts, and even the services of artists themselves. All matter of art will be set up for sale in the Old Public Hall, as well as works organized on the main floor of the Hall as a gallery. Clothing designers from Aquila will be showing off the latest fashions, as well as looking for new models among the visitors. Libertas's artists will once again be pushing their counterculture art, supported by Quilleth Kaur and the Arts Restoration Committee.
- Science Day will feature a symposium on the current state of technological developments in Cadens and how they relate to artistic practice on the third day. Within the Hall itself, the maze of the books from the previous day has been replaced with an open floor plan, allowing for a horseshoe-shaped display of inventors and their wares -- and a surprising amount of artisan fashion work. Two large areas feature in-depth talks about recent developments in both fabric production and sewing machines, resulting in more unique fabrics and dyes that will be displayed later that evening.
Keep an ear out, as the names "Jayce" and "Viktor" float among the populace as Summoned inventors to keep your eyes and attention on. Provided by these two fame-collecting talents is a display of their fantastic revolving armillary sphere, modeled after the astronomy of Abraxas, which casts an atmospheric starry light over the area once night falls. This new permanent installation is now available for viewing in front of Old Public Hall as a navigation point and to show the union between art and science.
Further into the night, garments will be shown, with a discussion about new techniques used and how they were made. The beauty of asymmetry is lauded, with the use of coraline plant fibers for boning, experiments with structure and bright fabric dyes, accented with fine details. Shapes and textures are exaggerated and celebrated. A large screen behind the stage allows for some projection magic to focus on all the little details for the whole crowd to see.- Theatre Day arrives on the fourth day. Indoor and outdoor stages will be set up, featuring short plays and costume shows. There are several morning workshops available for perusal; some are writing-focused, led by some of Libertas's leading playwrights.
Outside of the Hall is the brand new romantic comedy All The Wolves You Loved Before, commissioned for the grand reopening by one "J. Alfred" to be performed for the first time ever. It tells the story of an exceptionally handsome, white-furred werewolf from Nocwich with a charming and surprisingly funny demeanor, falling into scraps and eventually into love. Inside the Hall is the classic Murder Among Thieves, a mystery featuring a group of bandits that are picked off by a killer one by one.
That night, Old Public Hall will host the three-act play It Happened In Section 600. The horror piece sells hard on its exquisite special effects (made with a combination of science and magic), telling the story of Miss Harker, a new librarian at the University in the early days of the Free Cities. Ghosts supposedly haunt the library, but just exactly why remains a mystery until Miss Harker starts her first day. The mystery features spirits and a tale of revenge with the early days of the Free Cities as the backdrop.
Local theatres will provide backstage access and classes on special and visual effects. Playwrights will provide signings and host writing workshops as they scope out new or aspiring young actors. For those brave enough, you can find others to help practice your audition or even aid others in theirs!- Concert Day, which marks the end of the event, features live, performed music from 3 p.m. until midnight, acting as a tour de force of the restored Hall's acoustic capabilities where both technology and magic work together. Smaller, independent bands will be highlighted and enhanced with magical special effects, with -- unsurprisingly -- the night ending with a special performance by the Gem of the Phoenix himself, Jaskier! Rumors have it that the appearance of a real phoenix itself may appear, granting supreme luck to all who see it in the future...
The magic of the Old Public Hall is in use for this concert series, where magic birds will explode and fly among the eaves of the Hall's roof, the roof will disappear in view of the night sky, or small explosions of color — named "fireworks" — pop off with every growing crescendo. The final show will feature a performance of Jaskier's ballad to Lfybringr, ballads of bravery in the Free Cities sands, and exciting tales of forbidden lovers meeting in the eternal night of Nocwich.
The final song of the night, ending the Festival, is "The Phoenix Always Rises From The Ashes," a loud and explosive power ballad that sounds strangely like modern rock to some ears, meant to invigorate and inspire all of those who have lost hope. This show features magnificent displays of wildfire magic, echoing the unrestrained strength of Libertas's people. When the final line echoes through the hall — And the people, like the phoenix, will always rise! — a gigantic, illusionary phoenix will appear, covering the roof of the Hall, giving a beautiful, defiant screech before exploding into feathers. These feathers are soft to the touch, quite real, and can be taken home as souvenirs.
As always, thank you for your patronage and interest in the arts, Free Cities. Remember that, in the end, the people will always rise.]
The Free Cities Conclave Public Statement - Closed
Hello everyone!
[Jayce steps forward first and he has a strong voice used to making public statements. He's smiling widely, his own enthusiasm palpable.]
We have exciting news but first I would love a round of applause for the incredible work that has been put together for the Old Public Hall and this festival. Jaskier, our very own Gem of the Phoenix, and Alucard have worked tirelessly on this project.
[Jayce applauds, hoping other people will do the same.]
As you may have heard, we were given permission to create a Summoned Conclave. Vanguard Sam Wilson, Claude von Riegan, and myself, Jayce Talis, were elected to represent the Conclave, and we're very honored. Our first request to the Free Cities, voted on by the Summoned, was a permanent portal opened to Aquila. Our news is that it has been officially approved!
For a crossing fee, people can now explore Aquila directly. We want to thank Fallon Marsh as well as the other representatives for making this a reality.
[ He looks over at Claude, stepping back so he can speak next. ]
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Enthusiasm is no less obvious on Claude's part when he steps forward at Jayce's cue. This speech is something he feels confident in giving as well from years of them, and it comes as naturally as ever as he looks out to the crowd. ]
As Jayce mentioned, the portal to Aquila now means easy travel between not only there and Cadens, but also from Libertas to Aquila. This links the cities in ways that will only stand to benefit each thanks to their fellow Free Cities citizens and the Summoned alike. There's chances for trade, learning more about and appreciating the arts and history of each city, and supporting each economy by visiting markets, shops, and trying new restaurants. The latter is something I'm looking forward to myself.
[ Is he kidding? Maybe, but there's a grin to go with that which suggests it really might be something on his own agenda while visiting. But - there's also more (important) things to be mentioned yet. ]
More importantly, this truly is an exciting time. This portal offers an opportunity for the Free Cities to be more united than ever by granting access we've not had before.
In addition to that, we'd also like to thank Nocwich for their support. Artisans from Ikorr and Luna are here as well, and we encourage you to support them as much as they'rve been supporting all of us.
[ With that, he'll step back as well for Sam to take the spotlight. ]
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Now I know everyone wants to get back to the actual party part of this festival, so I promise I won't be much longer.
[ he laughs a bit, nodding at the crowd like he knows he's going to get heckled. whether or not he does, sam turns back to the crowd with a bit more of a serious tone to him. something that carries weight, though he is still smiling to the crowd. ]
This is something to celebrate- the restoration of this hall, [ he gestures around him, to the hall and the celebrations and the sheer number of people. ] the opening of the portal, and everything that's brought us here. I've watched over the last few months- hell, year at this point- as Cadens has opened its arms to us Summoned and given us a place to call home while we need it. That isn't something to take for granted, and I feel like I can speak on behalf of us Summoned when we say we do not take that for granted. And now, with these opened portals, I feel like it's safe to say that all of the Free Cities feels a bit more like home- not just the capital. We're dedicated to being members of the Cities while we're here, and that goes for helping change it for the better.
Which, I also have the honor to remind everyone that a portion of the proceeds from this festival will be used to provide those who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford the portal crossing fee a single, paid-for trip to and from Aquila. So if you're thinking about buying something, now you have twice the reason.
[ ha ha, he's funny when he tries, isn't he? someone please laugh because otherwise he's just going to provide the laughter himself before he turns back for his final comment. ]
All this to say: I wanna thank y'all one last time for coming out today. We all know Jaskier and Alucard know how to throw a party, so I think it's about time we get to the fun part. To the Old Public Hall!
[ and with one final applause, he'll step away from the mic and effectively end their speech. ]
drive-by
He may even be seen blowing a kiss towards Sam.
Bright orange petals appear to rain on the stage as the trio finish their speech, following the trails of the wind.]
drive by!
It seems like someone (Hilda) has been busy with a trivial arts and crafts project that involved making artistic renditions of Jayce, Claude, and Sam into gigantic cut outs. They're pretty faithful in terms of features, but they're doing ridiculous expressions (think winking, or throwing finger guns).
When the applause strikes up, the cardboard heads are thrown up again, dancing wildly amongst the crowd. Don't ask Hilda how she made them. You can probably expect that the answer is through sheer will power, paint and markers. As for the identity of her partners in crime that are holding up the cut out heads - those will forever remain her secret too (
Hint: it's Sylvain and Wylan). ]no subject