abraxaslogs | The Festival of Enlightenment

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The Festival of Enlightenment - The Free Cities

Enlightenment - The Free Cities

In the Free Cities, Enlightenment has come once more.

In each major hub, lanterns and lights of every kind are being hung everywhere. On every storefront, every sidewalk, every home and every fence. From elaborate custom made lanterns with color changing lights to simple hand carved candle lanterns and everything in between. By the time Enlightenment proper rolls around, the three major cities are bedecked in lights..

Lanterns and elaborate candle holders and artfully carved candles are going on sale everywhere. Flyers are being plastered on walls announcing The Annual Circus of The Sciences! The latest and most impressive inventions from every corner of the Free Cities! Hosted by Prime Minister Reiner herself!

This is a time to celebrate technology. Free from a dependency on magic, The Free Cities thrive in this time of literal and metaphorical darkness. The phrase ‘lights for Enlightenment!’ is on every citizen’s lips. In the evenings, night markets pop up in the streets. Vendors offering little mechanical toys and decorations set up, as well as the latest street cuisines, and light up jewelry to celebrate the holiday. Pendants, earrings, headpieces, bracelets... some of them glow due to naturally occurring substances, some have chemical reactions activated with the press of a button that make them light up and twinkle.

Circus of the Sciences

In Cadens the focus is on inventions and the latest technological advancements, the buzz about this year’s Circus of The Sciences spreading through the city. On Enlightenment Day, in front of Portham Hall, the greatest inventors from all over the Free Cities gather to show off their greatest inventions, each vying to win the coveted prize of government funding. All inventions are on display to the public - there’s a great deal of talk about an engine powered entirely by steam! - and judged by a team of Ministry officials.

Yet none judge quite as harshly as the infamous Head Judge, Aleksander G. Klingel. Known not only for his own contributions to Cadens innovations and technological milestones, but for his biting commentary during the competition itself. Some of the less technologically minded have even made it a point to attend just to see what the winning insult will be this year...

"I wouldn't trust you running a bath let alone a hydroplane."

"Are you a stuffed puppet? Because your head must be filled with felt to come up with something this inane."

"This is really a tough decision... because you're all crap."

And even the summoned have a role to play, if they so choose. Aleksander is more than happy to compensate any of the Summoned for their time... if they’d just participate in a teeny little holiday experiment. All they need to do is hold a metal rod for a few minutes. Aleksander promises it’s not dangerous, that little tingle is perfectly normal...

Mind over Magic

In Libertas and Aquila, new plays and performances are debuting - and all seem to have a common theme: the power and superiority of technology over magic. Even overheard conversations may espouse the same ideals - how strange that the other kingdoms still rely on magic, it’s just irrational! The theme of technology and light are found even in the newest fashion collections, unveiled for the season, utilizing reflective fabric and metals.

Should anyone ask a local how long, exactly, this holiday is celebrated for, they’ll be told that in honor of the light of technology triumphing over the dim, the festivities last all day and all night. Come the day, the street markets open in the morning and stay open until the next morning. There’s singing and drinking in the streets, everyone trying to stay up until dawn to show that the spirit of the Free Cities will never go dark. Starting with The Circus of The Sciences, kicked off by a speech from Prime Minister Marlo.

Standing on the steps of Portham Hall, wearing her formal military garb, is Prime Minister Marlo Reiner. She holds up her hands for silence from the crowds.

"Welcome, once again, to another celebration of the Enlightenment! We’re gathered together to celebrate and illuminate all the hard work that each and every one of you do, every day, to make our Free Cities what they are! We’ve cut ties with relying on magic to do everything for us and we thrive! Even now, in the darkest part of the year when the rest of the world struggles, we thrive! Because we rely on ourselves! Your minds are more powerful than magic and nothing can dim your light!

"So let’s have a good time! Starting with the Circus of The Sciences! Enjoy the best of what the human mind has accomplished, and if you see something you really like, I don’t think a single one of our inventors would refuse a donation. Judges will be making the rounds soon.

"Here’s to another year of changing the world!"

With a thunderous roar of applause, The Day of Enlightenment officially begins!

A Closing Ceremony

(Coming soon! The events of December 21st and beyond will depend on player actions...)

OOC: Event #5: The Dimming

LOG: Thorne | The Free Cities | Solvunn

PvP: The Mission to the Singularity

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Alucard nods once. The question is fair, and of course there is no pause to it. It simply is, because Sypha has always been an overflowing font of questions.

Her grandfather has the patience of the saints, really.]

We do, yes. Some time ago, we worked together on a sensitive matter.

[There will be more questions because of course there will. But Alucard decides to keep walking in order to settle things faster.]

If you'd prefer, we can stay here and let you craft what you will in this space.

[She wishes she could say the claim struck true, but there's simply nothing there to resonate with. The only proof she really has is this bizarre physical acceptance, as if something rooted in her spine says 'safe'.

She hurries to keep up. His stride is much longer than hers, and he does not seem inclined to wait. She falls into a step-and-a-half pattern as if that's second nature, too.]

What kind of sensitive matter? What exactly am I meant to craft and, ah, how?

[both of those statements imply she has some level of skill at...something. She looks down at her hands as they walk, turning them over to search for callouses or marks of a trade. What is it that she does?

Wait. She's skipped something fundamental, here. She grabs hold of the man's elbow, unease seeping into her questions for the first time:] I have a name, don't I? I must have?

[Sypha's muscle memory isn't touched. That's an interesting matter that Alucard hadn't paid much attention to in the past. The observation goes without comment though, and he keeps his pace.]

I'd rather not discuss it, it was personal and related to my family. [That won't deter questions, but how. That he can take and run with, because he knows Sypha. She'll begin to craft here and that will be the beginning and the end of it.]<,/small>

Whatever you can imagine can be made manifest through sheer will - the building block of magic. [Her words, after all.

To the grab at his elbow, the dhampir goes still. It takes real effort to unstiffen his shoulders and force the to relax.] You are Sypha Belnades. I am Adrian.

[It's hardly fair that he won't talk about whatever personal family matter she'd known about before! She's about to point out that exact fallacy when he speeds on.

His - Adrian's - tone is consistently soft and flat, but he gives slight emphasis to certain words. Talk of 'magic' and 'will' sounds like something he's reciting from memory, a catechism meant to draw other knowledge to the surface. When nothing inside her answers, the thread of unease begins to fray into panic.]

None of that means anything to me. I want it to! I can tell you think it should! Is this normal? Is it normal to feel like--like I've missed a step in the dark when I try to recall something and there's just nothing there? Is the creation meant to help?

[Her grip on his arm tightens. She steps toward him, like a child sidling behind an adult's leg, shoulders hunching into his side]

[Alucard freezes as the grip tightens. There's an instinct, to lash out, to slash, to struggle, to get away away away before anything else holds him down firmer and with greater designs. A tiny part of him recognizes that it is Sypha.

He extracts his arm with all vampire speed possible, but does only that much.]

Please don't grab me like that.

[It is soft and quick and there's terror under there that once Sypha has memories again, she'll want to unpack. So be it.]

It is normal your first time here. It's...the side effect of this place, and an unpleasant one. But you have to go through it, or else there's no opportunity to reach this place at all.

Creating in this place can't hurt. But it does not have to be done immediately. [In the distance is his Domain. Great black thorns keep rainclouds from spreading elsewhere.]

It's more frightful looking on the outside, I assure you.

[He moves away so quickly, she stumbles, nearly falls. But he keeps walking, and she'd rather not be lost in a void, even if the alternative is a stranger who barely seems to tolerate her. She rubs at her arms as she catches up, unable to keep the hurt from the shine of her eyes or the turn of her mouth.]

I'll take your word for it. [Subdued but present in her tone is the implication that she has little choice otherwise. There's literally nothing to compare his statements against, although features do appear to gather around them. There are smudges on what passes for a horizon, indeterminable distances away.] Why come here at all? What's the benefit to you, or me?

[In an abrupt trick of perspective, she finds herself nose-to-tip with a thorn as big as a grown adult. She takes a step back, away from both it and the man who apparently calls this place home. Who...created it?]

Is it meant to be your mirror, or your inverse? [Maybe she's a little more cautious now, wary of a cold shoulder or the great big fuck off wall of thorns menacing anyone who comes too close.]

[He doesn't apologize for the movement or for how Sypha almost falls over. It happens, and he just...Sypha actually grabing onto him is likely to unleash a flow of emotions that he isn't prepared to deal with yet. He's just managed to get his head above water.

With Alucard standing in front of them, the thorns open. There's a hole there now, the size of a doorway, and beyond them, a forest. It drizzles now, the scent of damp earth and fallen leaves drifting out on the breeze. Somewhere, deep, deep in the forest there is a fire going, made of hickory wood and oak. It is a scent that wraps around the dhampir almost immediately, mixing with the scent of sandalwood and the faintest hint of iron that normally hangs about his person.]

The personal benefit is that I am afforded some peace and quiet, away from the world and in a place that I choose. It's no mirror or inverse - simply where I wish to be at the moment.

[He crosses the threshold, but pauses, not expecting Sypha to do the same. At least, not without a little more elaboration.]

The benefit to you is to return and build. I've also heard that for many, they gain an additional ability or power from their first trip to this place.

[Yeah, regardless of what he might say, Sypha looks out at the dark forest behind the barrier of thorny vines and sees one vast metaphor for whatever his deal might be.

But she won't deny that rain dripping from the trees, rich with the smell of petrichor and duff and mineral soil, wraps her up in a sense of restful calm. She can see the appeal, especially if he's some sort of prickly hermit. Reflexively, she pulls the embroidered hood over her head and tucks her nose behind the high collar of her robe. The whole ensemble seems designed to bundle her against the elements, excepting the sandals; mud squishes over their open sides as she steps through the thorny gate.]

'Additional' ability or power? That implies most people have something like that to begin with, which must mean I did as well? Is that why I came here?

[How dare you call him out so precisely Sypha.

He can feel her cross the threshold in the same way the rest of his domain is meant to tell him when someone moves beyond the thorns. The earth rolls beneath his feat, adjusting to the weight of another,, but nothing else comes of it. Good to know things are in working order.]

You did and do, but that isn't why you're here. [He sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose slowly.] The whole thing makes sense once you leave the Horizon. It is a nightmare in the moment.

[One with particular scenery. Alucard moves deeper into the forest, and mist curls around his ankles along with the smell of damp leaves and overturned soil. The rain continues, but there are colors here - bright golds and deep reds of autumn cling to the trees, providing color to an otherwise monotone landscape. One with a small hut that peers out of the fog, once the dhampir walks far enough in.

Without Alucard's presence, the path would fight Sypha and try to turn her away from Alucard's depression hut. Send her back to the walls. But here, a small shack presents itself, warm glow from the windows and woodsmoke from within.]

You're welcome to come in, if you so choose. If not, we can keep walking.

[If only she could say she's had much worse nightmares. But she can't! Because she doesn't remember any! The creeping horror of that continues to bubble at the back of her mind, tamped down only by the intensity of her focus on her surroundings.

It's dark here, yes, but the way pulling a blanket over your head after a bad dream is dark. Protective, almost. The cabin ahead is tiny - more of a repurposed shed or shack - but has that same sense of sanctuary.

If this is all Adrian's mind, all Adrian, what is he wrapping himself up against?]

I'd like to go inside, if that's all right? Unless...if I'm meant to create something, I wouldn't want to impact your-- [a wave of her hand at the forest, however far away it may spread.]

In truth, you're not really meant to do anything you don't wish to. [Alucard is simply aware of how awful the optics are. A lone woman with no memories enters a random man's depression shack. That's...that's absolutely some vampire's M.O.

He opens the door, and the kitchen is far larger than the exterior of the cabin says it should be. Copper cookware hangs from hooks in the ceiling, the stove is in perfect condition, and a little table sits in the center of the room - rectangular, with four chairs. On one of the shelves there is an ugly little doll, and beyond that, a vestibule with doors that lead to two more rooms - the bathroom (claw footed tub and all), and Alucard's room. The source of woodsmoke in the air as it turns out, since it is the only room with a wood burning stove to provide heat. A small mattress meant for one sits on a bedframe of simple oak, and there's a little pile of books on the nightstand.

The dhampir goes to the breadbox. Bread and salt, just as he was raised.]

Do you want something to drink? Wine, water, tea?

[Ah, but she has no idea he's anything other than human! And after his little display at minor physical contact, Sypha's deemed him less-than-a-threat.

Besides, the inherent caution that ought to dictate her behavior now just...isn't there.

The inside is incongruously large, but still clearly meant for only one person. She clasps her hands behind her back as she looks around, suppressing the urge to poke. She'll just go sit down, to keep from rifling through his shelves. That strange doll is awfully out of place among the books and neatly kept furniture.]

Tea, I suppose? I don't know what I like.

Tea it is.

[Alucard is not blind. He has eyes, he can see how Sypha translates sitting on one's hands to standing and enforcing the same level of restraint. There's a soft huff, entertained more than annoyed.]

Go ahead and look around while the water boils. There's not much else to see.

[She'll find something because she is Sypha, but the dhampir is not overly concerned either. For now, he goes to the cabinet to get out two tea cups, and the kettle will go on the stove a moment later. He knows she'll find something.

Probably the books, come to think of it. Some of them are cobbled together memories of his father's most interesting pages, and others are actual books from the Hold. Protective spells for the most part, and at least Alucard knows that much isn't on accident.]

[Given permission, Sypha springs back to her feet and beelines for the shelves. She plucks the little doll up and turns it over in her hands as Adrien bangs about in the kitchen area. Is that a turnip for a head? And a little yarn wig?

Biting off a giggle, she returns the sad little thing to its spot and begins tracing her eyes and fingertips over the books. Funny, she can still read just fine. The Horizon's effect on her memory seems awfully selective. Some of the titles are so esoteric that she may as well be illiterate, though. She grabs the most incomprehensible of the lot and flips to a random page.

The diagrams she's faced with are so complex, they're basically a form of art in their own right. Spidery handwriting labels the component parts of complex symbols embedded in circles embedded in triangles bracketed by yet more runes. It's a geometric orgy, but beautiful for all that it makes her head swim.]

[Sypha, are you questioning Trevor's construction? He'd like to see you make a better one.

They'll probably have to talk about that later. (Alucard doesn't remember it being in the kitchen before.) But he focuses on making tea, giving Sypha at least a little agency in spite of how strange this entire situation is. Black tea with a hint of honey and no milk. And--

--well, he doesn't have baked apples on hand. Alucard could summon some from memory, but it would not be the same, not by a long shot. So he settles for slicing two up, putting a pat of butter in a small cast iron pan, and sprinkling sugar as they gently cook. A makeshift pie filling, and one that sings perfectly once he grates a little nutmeg and ginger on top.

When the apples are done, they are put onto plates, and only then does the dhampir go searching. If the scents wafting from the kitchen weren't enough, surely--

--oh. Of course she found the books]

Sypha? Tea's ready whenever you'd like it.

[The rest of her brain comes back online when Adrien announces tea - for a few moments there, her focus had narrowed to the contents of the book. It's in Coptic, she thinks, although she has no idea how she knows that, or how she came to learn to read it. Actually, how does she know it wasn't her first language? What is the deal here?

Anyway, the tea. The moment she looks up, the smell of warm apple and nutmeg overwhelms her senses. Her stomach takes that as its cue to reestablish itself in her memory with an almighty gurgle. Sypha sets the book aside and reaches to take a portion of food and drink off Adrien's hands.] That smells amazing. I can't remember the last time I had baked apple!

[She feels wholly entitled to a shitty little pun, right now]

[Yeah, that pun is going to get a Dhampir Side Eye.

But the dhampir is also going to settle down and wrap both of his hands around his teacup, eyes lingering not on Sypha but on the book itself.]

You were engrossed with the text. What caught your attention there?

You know, I'm not quite sure? The author writes under the assumption that the reader already knows what this is for. [Sypha briefly turns away from the refreshments to recover her spot in the book] Perhaps it says earlier on, I was flipping through at random.

[With one hand, she carves a chunk of softened apple onto her fork. With the other she outlines the silhouette of the array on the page.] I think it's...energy transference of some kind? There's a lot of scribbly little notes about how these shapes here buffer energy decay during the process.

--Admittedly, that's because it is the second volume. I'm familiar with the first, so I didn't see the need to imagine it here.

[This place is just so weird. At any rate, Alucard takes a sip of his tea, considering.]

But yes, that's the general outline of the idea. The idea is to imbue intent into a glyph that is activated by touch.

Hmm. [A thoughtful sip of tea, never taking her eyes off the page. Oo, she does like it with honey. Did he already know that?] And that's something anyone can do, with the right glyph?

[He did.]

In theory, yes. I've found that it helps to have a slight talent for magic in creating the glyph, but then the activation of the glyph can be from anyone so long as they will it so.

Hm. That almost seems too easy. Is there a catch? Oo, do you have any paper? And, I don't know, charcoal?

[Alucard pauses, considering.

Yeah, he's going to be a dick.]

Try reaching into the air, imagining what you're looking for, and seeing if it will appear.

[Even without her past at instant recall, Sypha knows for a fact that she does not back down from challenges. Her spine clicks into perfect vertical alignment at Adrien's mild suggestion.

She lets her eyes slip closed, one hand raised partway into the air. The other remains on the book, feeling the minute textural variations in the paper. If she just imagines the same sensations against her other fingertips--

The distinct sound of fluttering paper snaps her out of her trance just in time to watch a sheet drift down to the tabletop. Sypha hastily snatches it away from the sticky baked apple residue, grinning wildly at Adrien.] HAH!

[Sometimes, Sypha's predictability is a blessing.

So the dhampir settles in, digging into his apples and treating this all as a perfectly normal occurrance. His eyes flick to Sypha with a mild curiosity, wondering how she'll go about this.

By touch makes sense. And behold.

A soft little huff comes out of him, amused.] Not bad. But the charcoal?

The Festival of Enlightenment - The Free Cities

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