( open ) an informal family dinner

[theidlemaiden]

Who: the summoned of cadens
When: beginning of august
Where: the sarstina inn and tavern
What: the welcome committee (sam wilson, hilda, jesper) has come back together again for another cadens welcome event! everyone might remember the last event and this one will be much of the same. Including, but not limited to, another invite by hilda! | sam art credit!
Warnings: will update as needed!

THE DINNER

Just as before, this is kicked off with Hilda's invitation, and if any of the Summoned come by Sarstina's that evening, they will find it set up a little differently than usual, but very similar to last time.

There is a long table set up near the bar that has a whole party-spread, a ye-old-southern-party kind of set-up, if you will. There are dips, charcuterie plates, sandwiches, drinks, a pastry/dessert bar and almost anything else that Sam could get his hands on. It is all, of course, limited by what’s available in Cadens, but thankfully he’s been here long enough to figure his way around the food options. Behind the bar is Mag (because no one else is getting their hands on the alcohol stash, thank you very much) and she will serve whoever it is that comes up to ask for a drink and will refuse any sort of payment - it appears someone is covering the tab tonight.

The rest of the tavern is set up for a party, with tables and chairs scattered around, a stage set up in the corner, and a decently sized space in front of the stage for dancing if the night gets to that point. There may or may not be some live music later in the evening, no promises have been made, but if anyone else wants to get up on the stage they are more than welcome.

Nadine has been kind enough to provide little apothecary bags filled with a mild sleeping tonic and things to help settle the nerves that new (and old) Summoned can take with them. There’s a table near the door and by the bar that have these bags in wicker baskets with a small sign that reads: Visit Salves and Stitches for all your medical needs!

The vibes are definitely low-key and casual – come get an ale, come eat some food, and if you're new there is a very good chance you'll end up (gently and in the most friendly way) cornered by either Sam, Hilda, Jesper, or any of the other Summoned. They are here to help answer questions and give a bit more background on what the hell is going on. And also let you know about the deal that has been going with Mag and the Inn for almost two years now. Aka, if you're looking for a room, there is one here for you in exchange for work. You can leave whenever you have a job, or you can stay as long as you like. It’s all about helping Summoned get more settled, and as long as you’re good at taking instruction and picking up after yourself, Mag hasn’t had any issues. Not a bad gig, right?

And if being social isn't your thing, or you’re just not the party kind of person, the Welcome Committee understands. But also, really, who is going to turn down free drinks and free food? The Cities work on coin and commerce, so turning down a free meal isn’t really the smartest thing. Plus - there’s alcohol. And the food is pretty damn good.

OOC INFO

- this is a totally open post! There will be some TL’s below from the Committee Members, but otherwise, have fun, meet some people, and put up a TL of your own! there are various places to run into people around the tavern, and if you find someone who is willing to help you into the Horizon (Sam is happy to help, but he’s helping Host), Sam's been letting people know they can use his room upstairs.

- the only Rule is there will be no fighting. You want to duke it out? Take it somewhere else. There will not be warnings or second chances, so don't be an ass. Summoned have lived in this Inn since they were all portaled here ages go, this is their home. and if ANYONE is seen giving Mag a hard time, there are a few people here who will not hesitate and who are not afraid of squaring up. Also, you cause problems, and you will not be invited back :)

- The whole purpose of the Welcome Committee is going to be going overboard to be welcoming, especially to new faces. Even if your character didn't see the big invitation, feel free to have them invited by word of mouth, or chased down by any of the members. Some Summoned may have also checked the barracks for any new Summoned to bring them into town.

- Mag is an NPC who you can read a little more about in the NPC section of the Cadens setting page. Feel free to have her come in and out of your tags as needed!

THE INN

Magmara (or Mag) has run the inn for years and has been a familiar face in that neighborhood as a woman who always made ends meet, almost in spite of the way she took care of her friends and neighbors above all else. Most weren't always sure how she managed to run the place on her own, but she made due, though she always seemed a bit overwhelmed and exhausted. When the Summoned arrived in the Cadens through that first portal, Sam managed to stumble in and make quick friends with Mag. In exchange for manual labor, fixing up and cleaning up the inn, as well as whatever other various tasks Mag needed to be done around, Sam would be given free room and board (a deal she now offers to any Summoned that arrives in the city for as long as they need it).

The inn itself is 4 floors tall, with the top three floors making up the 15 or so rooms (around five rooms per floor), and the entire bottom floor reserved for the restaurant area. The tavern makes up the entire first floor and is a large open floorplan, with a small stage in the corner, a walled-off area for the decently sized kitchen, and a large wooden bar where Mag does all her business for both the inn and tavern (where can almost always be found standing behind). It serves drinks of some variety (though not nearly as large a selection as some of the more well-known taverns) and some food (usually a single, large meal that will be served to the tenants and whoever comes in throughout the night for a moderate price). It can be busy some evenings, but in general tends to keep a more 'dive-bar' kind of feel, filled with more locals and regulars than a casual dinner-going crowd.

The rooms themselves vary from fairly simple, single-bed inn-style rooms with a small bathroom and little else, up to a two 'bedroom' suite style with small kitchenettes and spaces for sitting rooms. Each bedroom has its own small bathroom for the tenants, with cleaning, washing, and chores left to those who live there. What used to be more of a working inn now serves as a kind of boarding house for newly arrived Summoned (or simply those who won't leave), and Mag has found herself quite okay with that.

Comments

[falcony]

[ oh, buddy, things are always easier when you've got one big baddie to fight against. but the reality of this place, just as the reality is for sam back home, is that it's very rarely ever that simple. and the real harm only happens when you have people acting like it is.

and sam catches on to the points that have cal reacting, the surprise and the frown, and it all falls in line with what sam was able to gather from this first impression. cal didn't strike him as a soldier type, and magic had a tendency to catch people off-guard when spoken about that easily.

still, when he finishes, he gives the boy a few moments to let it sink in. it's not his first time infodumping on someone who didn't realize they were setting themselves up for one, but it's been a while since sam has decided more information is better than none. even so, the smile he gives cal is sympathetic and apologetic. ]

You got dropped into the middle of a centuries-long conflict on the brink of war. I wish it was more simple, but these things usually aren't.

[ and cal's assessment has sam nodding, and there's a flicker of tension that pushes through him that he does his best to play off. whether cal means it or not, he's struck sam's biggest nerve where all this is concerned. ]

You're telling me. Now- some of the mages back in Thorne are claiming that there's something off with the Singularity, and there's a running theory that the Singularity itself is what connects all of our universes together. So if it goes caput, it'll ripple through time and space, which would make it our fight. But there are people here, have been people here, who shouldn't have been forced into this. That's why there's a bunch of us trying to find our own ways back; so the people who do want to go home can, and then the ones left are ones who actually want to help.

[thepath]

[ Maybe he's lost all faith in authority, but the more Cal thinks about it, the more he doesn't trust anything the three factions are saying—to him, it sounds like they're all talking out their exhaust ports, making up whatever story about the Singularity best fits into their narrative on the conflict.

The truth might be anywhere between them. Or it might be somewhere else entirely, and that's the frustrating part. Sam's smile, at least, draws a quick one out of Cal, and he shrugs his shoulder as if to say this isn't even his first (or second or third) complicated scenario. ]

Usually? Or always?

[ His interest is piqued when Sam mentions that the Singularity itself could connect all their universes together, so any issues with it could then impact all of time and space—that is certainly a theory, and one Cal is surprisingly more inclined to believe. The Singularity already seems to have some sort of connection to his and countless other universes, if it pulled them all here, so why not all of them? Why not a permanent connection, with the Singularity as the focus? The Force binds all living things, all galaxies and universes, the whole of everything, anyway.

Force help him, his head is starting to spin, and he hasn't even had much to drink. He's just a simple Jedi terrorist who hits Imperials instead of the books.

He does perk up at one particular mention, though, his eyebrows lifting as he shoots Sam a sly look. ]

"A bunch of us"?

[ Does the capital-g Government know anything about these efforts to leave, perchance? He's guessing not. ]

[falcony]

[ sam's relationship with authority is complicated, having gone from a similar position - with little to no faith in any sort of authority after being burned by it a bit too often during his deployment - to being, in his own way, a different sort of authority. but an authority all the same. he knows back home the power he has in his position is something that should be put to use, and here? isn't all that different.

but that doesn't mean that urge is gone - the suspicion, the paranoia. sam is waiting, at every turn, to be burned by the choices he's been forced to make over these last couple of years (it's only a matter of time) but he won't regret making them; not when he's been able to help people in the meantime.

the question pulls a kind of chuckle out of him. ] Between you and me, I don't love absolutes, but I've yet to find a simple one. [ said in a tone that indicates sam, too, has been in his fair share of complicated situations.

he can tell cal is getting a bit overwhelmed, and sam's expression turns more apologetic. he is usually better at easing into this, but cal's started this off asking some of the harder questions. no real easy way to dip into the reasons leading up to what will amount to a magical world war.

the sly look gets a kind of half-lifted shoulder. ] There are Summoned across every faction, a little over fifty of us, and very few who actually side with the powers at be. We're trying to all stick together here; and the popular vote definitely leans towards at least knowing how to use an escape plan.