A much deserved vacation day!

[itookashot]

Who: The Free Cities Summoned
What: Beach Party Episode, aka the Summoned take a break and enjoy the new portal
When: June 6thish, post Nocwich weekend. We can timey wimey it folks.
Where: Aquila!



[ooc: these are just suggested prompts, please feel free to roll with any ideas you have! Thanks to Hannah for sharing the code. Descriptions about Aquila are taken from the settings page here and credited to the mods. A player-made Pinterest mood board was created here for inspiration, but keep the world of Abraxas in mind for the reality.]

The Aquila Portal / Time to Go!

An invite shows up on the network from Jesper Fahey to the Free Cities Summoned stating the following:

Hey everyone, I managed to score funds from our money makers to have a group outing through the Aquila portal. We deserve it, don't you think? We did vote it into being after all. So get out your beach day clothes (or lack thereof) and meet at 9 AM tomorrow. If you come later, I'll let the portal people know the list allowed. They've got chairs and such to rent there, so don't worry if you don't have anything helpful.

Let's party like we're in the Horizon! If you need some extra cash while there I know the people to beg.

PS - No arguing, Crows. (That means you Kaz.)

True to his word, Jesper will be waiting at the newly opened portal to mark the Summoned so they're allowed to get through with the money he's collected. He'll smile and wink at them as they go through. He is dressed casually himself for this outing and in high spirits. Summoned can meet up here and go through together if they'd like or maybe be persuaded if they're not really sure about it.

Welcome to Aquila!

Aquila is the world's fastest-growing economy and the scenery in Aquila is also considered some of the most beautiful, with both the mountains and beaches of Andromeda Bay nearby, making it a popular destination for vacationers.

The beach may be exciting, but it isn't the only part of Aquila to enjoy! The massive public market takes up most of the city's center. Anything you might want can be found here. Countless booths and stalls and carts fill the town's center, and traders from all across the nation congregate to offer their wares. From raw materials such as fabrics, dyes, exotic wood and stones, to finely crafted artisan everything. Furniture, clothing, foodstuffs, weapons, art, magical oddities, it's all here. The market opens at sun-up and shuts down sometime after sunset - plenty of sellers will linger, hoping for one last sale of the day.

Art and fashion thrive in Aquila. Studios and galleries of art are scattered all over the city and artists sketching or painting out on the streets or on the nearby beaches are a common sight. This is the time to go looking for new clothes as seamstresses and tailors are all looking to outdo themselves and create the next big fashion statement.

But if it's the beach fun you're looking for ....

Fun in the Sun!

It's more crowded than usual in Aquila thanks to the emergence of the portal, but the Summoned will manage to camp out their own area on the right side of the beach and have freedom to enjoy themselves alone. Nearby one of the entrances of the beach is a local business called The Wave Palace. There people can buy or rent chairs, cloth to sit on, hats, and other beach items to feel more comfortable.

Once settled onto their spot on the beach, the Summoned can enjoy a full day of various activities to either relax or be active. They can swim or race to see who is the better swimmer, do the same on a sand race, and head up to a popular nearby cliff that is perfect to jump off of. Challenge each other to the perfect dive or laugh if someone ends up belly-flopping.

Anyone can lounge comfortably in the sun or maybe they want to get creative and build sandcastles. They can rent bowls and sticks and other instruments at the shop to gather sand correctly. Maybe your castle is remarkably impressive or dismal at best, but the point is to have fun. If you're feeling mischievous you can bury a friend in sand, or even a stranger if you want to test fate. You can find rocks or shells to collect and bring home as a reminder of the trip here.



There is a bar down the beach called The Wave Crash Pub where people can sit and listen to live music or carry drinks back to their chair. At some point in the day, someone suggests playing a game of volleyball or something similar, and a net and ball can be found to set it up. Test your might against each other and no cheating! (Just kidding, cheat away.)



As the day comes to a close, stay long enough to watch the sunset together or do some night swimming to cool off. When it's time to go home, don't forget to either return your rented items or decide to buy it. See if you can convince a friend to get a keepsake or ask their opinion of one on the way out. Hope you all had fun in this beach day episode!

Comments

[everybodysterrible]

"Julie was pretty quick to warn me off petty crime." Abby at home, mostly from boredom, committed minor acts of petty theft. She didn't need to, her parents gave her money. More after the divorce as each one tried to buy her over the other. So even the actual criminals weren't really interested in crossing the law here.

Abby makes herself smaller against his side as he talks. He's very disarming, or maybe he's better as a person than her friends at home. Or maybe he's just hornier than they are. Who the fuck even knows. It's a weird situation, and it just gets weirder the deeper it goes. Going from crime to citizen, of course a lot of that is more the option to do it than the intent.

"And what would it say about me in that book?" She managed to keep her tone even, matter-of-fact, as she asked. She was tempted to list all her weaknesses, that's how annoyingly cloyingly sincere he was. The way that she'd only ever opened up to Norah before. She couldn't trust Max with a secret, and Ginny was an entirely different fucked up mess. But- he offered his book as proof of his expertise. Time for him to put up.

[itookashot]

Jesper laughs. "The first time we met we were doing petty crime. But that was a different situation." It's fond memories for Jesper. Over a year ago now, maybe a year and a half even. Wild to think about. "There was a peace summit, all the factions were selling in the same place. We both were stealing things from Thorne's section." Very funny in retrospect. Julie was doing it for very good reasons of having survived Thorne's shit. Jesper just thought they were fancier. He still carries the Wheel of Fortune charm he stole all that time ago.

Jesper met some of his closest friends during the summit. The peace didn't really work out long term. "Back then we didn't have Nocwich yet, it was one of the rare times people could meet in person. It was also the only time they let people voluntarily switch factions. Inej did it to join me." He glances over in the direction of his best friend, he always knows where she is. That seems so long ago and yet also yesterday, a memory distilled in time.

This is a little history lesson that she didn't ask for, but Jesper finds Abby very easy to talk to. He can tell that she's fishing and he doesn't mind, he did bring up his expertise and compliments, she can have as many as she likes.

"Silky pretty dark hair, beautiful big brown eyes, adorably petite, on the shy side but warms up. A very nice smile, when she does smile." Jesper playfully pokes her cheek where it would curve if she did smile.

[everybodysterrible]

This had to be a bit of how Ginny felt, walking into a story already started. Friendships already made. No matter hwo much she fit in (and she didn't) there would be this bridge she couldn't cross. It was nice of Jesper to share, it was good to bridge the tension she'd accidentally introduced.

And then he said something kind, and a little flirty, but as much as he was a fuckboy it wasn't insincere. Which she supposed was the problem with say Press. Everything he did, everything he said, was a lie to get what he wanted.

Jesper, right now, seemed to want to make her feel okay. Which was fucking weird and why did people do that? Which is why she sat up to study his face to be sure of his sincerity. He does get that smile he thinks is so nice, for his sincerity.

"Nobody at home ever- I don't get that kind of attention." She sinks back into his side again, looking at him was nice, but being seen right now wasn't. "Which is why the only guy I've done anything with spent months making me feel like shit before looking for a cheap hook-up."

She'll just let that thought hang in the air. Maybe he'll see his mistake now. That she's not worth it.

[itookashot]

It is a story already in progress, but the thing about Abraxas and the Summoned is they all start somewhere inside of it. Julie'd been there half a year by the time they met, and now he sees her almost every day. It'll be the same for Abby too, as she gets used to it.

Jesper is a Crow, and the Crows are broken people, only put together by helping one another. He is fairly together but there are fractures in him just like anyone else, just like her. He does look at her when she talks and his eyebrows furrow. Something else Jesper is? Very protective of his friends.

"Well if he shows up here, you tell me, and I will melt his hair and eyebrows off and put the fear of whatever god he might know into him, lest I melt his dick off too." Technically he's not allowed to kill people openly and he's really not supposed to kill other Summoned. It's the only real reason he didn't go after Goro early on, when he kept upsetting Julie and they really could've used him being knocked off. Jesper wasn't joking, he is a stone-cold killer, a bad guy on paper. Except for the people he cares for.

"In my experience, people who like to make others feel lesser, it's because they're the weak one. And want to drag everyone down to their level." He's seen it so many times at this point.

[everybodysterrible]

Emotions are complicated, someone so ready to protect her should make her feel good. Someone ready to murder a person she knows should make her feel bad. But Press, he deserves it. Fuck that guy. But her? She doesn't deserve this kind of fealty.

Abby moves from curled up at his side to straddling him, which she is more than aware might mix messages. But she needs to look Jesper in the eye, keep all of his attention on her. "This isn't about him. I know he's a piece of shit. I knew it when I accepted his offer, this is about me. I agreed to it, some asshole treated me like that cause that's all I deserve, okay?"

There's none of Abby's playfulness, this is that cold dead sincerity she gets when she's at her worst. No cheeky grins or clever banter. Just how she feels about herself, what it's like inside her head. All the time.

[itookashot]

Jesper is surprised when she moves but he allows it without question, always quick to adapt. It's slightly mixed messaging but he doesn't assume things either. She wants his attention so she's going to get it. The smile drops and he is taking her as seriously as she wants him to.

He reaches up to brush his fingers through her hair, the other hand behind him to keep him somewhat sitting as she settles into his lap.

"I'm a gambling addict." It's not something he often talks about with people who don't already know. There is a lot of shame attached to that reality, and while he's come a long way, he still feels it. "I gambled my father's farm away. I almost got Inej killed because of my debts. A few months ago, I got fucked up by the gods and gambled all our money away here. I stole money, slept in the street, I couldn't stop." The gods were causing it, yes, but it didn't make it easier for him to swallow. Some people could fight them off. He didn't.

"Everyone has their shit. You can't get caught up in what's deserved, because we're all flawed people who deserve nothing."

[everybodysterrible]

She leans into the touch because, to be honest, anyone being this gentle with her is new. She likes it, she absolutely likes this sort of little show of affection. It distracts her a little, lets her mind just turn off for a few seconds, her hand drifting to hold his hand against her in case he got any bright ideas he could take it away.

"That's- both an illness, and also Gods can do that shit?" She hadn't had a ton of dealing with Gods and very definitely sat out on the whole execution thing that happened after she showed. It was a lot, of course, she is aware how much of her shit can be labeled under the same items — minus the divinely inspired destruction. Still, point made.

"Nobody deserves anything huh? So whatever we get is what? Exactly." She isn't sure she agrees they deserve nothing. But she wants to see where this thought goes before she starts objecting and saying she absolutely deserves cookies and weed, fuck that nothing shit.

[itookashot]

"Yeah, it happened in October. Three gods, sometimes called heralds, showed up and fucked us all up. Everyone got influenced by one of them, I had Adlewyrd who ramped up emotions and desires and made people more likely to give into them."

So for an addict, it was instantaneous. He really had no ability to fight back, and he didn't try either. Jesper feels guilty about that, how little he tried to keep his wits about him, he succumbed entirely and wallowed in that state of mind for days.

"It was the first time they'd done anything like that, people were really freaked out. But that's why everyone here believes in them, we experienced it. The Horizon was fucked up too, you could get stuck in these weird places we never saw before."

Jesper knows this is a whole lot of bad information to get on an otherwise fun day, he really didn't mean it to take this turn. He forgets that not everyone is given the 'life here is weird' summary when they first arrive. A part of him thought maybe Julie would, but they've all been off since the kidnapping. Tired.

"Nobody deserves anything so you go for what you want and you take it. You make your own life and decide what it should be." Jesper lives by this rule and he believes in it absolutely. If he gets stuck in deserve, he could make arguments for why he doesn't deserve anything that he has. His friends, his lovers, his family. And maybe he doesn't. But he's still going to have them anyway.

[everybodysterrible]

"I know that you probably won't believe it, but that wasn't your fault." Abby was good at both the words she'd never listen to, and why she wouldn't listen to them. He seemed to take his failure to be able to withstand a God fucking with his already extant addiction as his own. And nothing she could say would fix it. But she felt it needed to be said anyway.

And that her vices, her self-destructive behaviors, weren't fully her fault. And she fucking didn't believe that for a second.

And maybe she should have asked more about the history of this place, for all these people in her life. And maybe the answers were all bad and that was why she never asked in the first place. She was hiding herself, so it made asking about everyone else harder. Guess there wasn't much she could do with that anymore.

She didn't sell any thoughts as he explained his rules for living here, that she agreed or not, believed him or not, she smiled pleasantly enough and twisted so she wasn't straddling him anymore. Only to tuck herself up under his arm again with her legs across his lap like some ill fitting puzzle piece.

She could decide more of what she wanted later, right now she wanted to cuddle. And that was good enough.