cointosser: ([139 - S2])
Jaskier "old-timey fuckboy" Alfred Pankratz ([personal profile] cointosser) wrote in [community profile] abraxaslogs2022-03-25 07:05 pm

[open] a fantastic public charity event!

Who: Jaskier, open to all of the Free Cities!
What: The bard is holding a concert at Cadens's Old Public Hall in order to raise money for its renovation!
Where: Cadens
When: The end of March, a bit after the eclipse/Singularity event shenanigans
Warnings: None. This is a family-friendly event. :)



The Event

[Flyers hand-written and posted around the city of Cadens promise many a thing: a lovely night of community and belonging, beautiful decorations, a precious place to bring your bonnie sweet (the most important.) Jaskier fully intends on this being the perfect date night; the more lovers who become closer thanks to him, the better. The hall will see a larger audience than it ever has before! And hopefully more money will be thrown at it than ever before.

Of course, that’s what this is: a charity concert being held to raise funds for the old Cadens speaking hall, a large hall that has long fallen into disrepair. Through the efforts of Jaskier (and mostly) Alucard, restoration of the hall has begun. However, it has far more renovations ahead of it, and coin will be needed.

The concert is meant to be a grand time, but, it is about the money. This is a charity event, technically. But there's no reason he can't have fun with it.

And since Jaskier does nothing by halves, he has gone fully all-out. At the concert, any goers will be free to partake in:

+ free food (courtesy of himself, Alucard, and Sam's cooking, generally fresh bread, rolls, sweets, cheeses, and various finger foods and slices of roasts)
+ free wine and local juices (mostly paid out of Jaskier's pocket)
+ flowers will be given out, though it is STRONGLY IMPLIED a donation is expected (bouquets can be purchased for your honey, as well)
+ Nadine will be going around the crowd and providing small samples of tonics and potions

There will also be a small raffle that Jaskier will be running. Tickets can be bought for a small fee, and ticket holders can win small prizes of bouquets (courtesy of yours truly), a box of fresh pastries from the local bakery, an array of prized feathers from his pet toy gryphon, or a slightly fancier bottle of wine. The ultimate prize will be a free song written personally for you by Jaskier, all topics and requests accepted. Yes, it is a grand prize. For the small prizes, you can decide whether your ticket is a winner or a loser!

Please, remember to keep your behaviors amenable, fair citizens of Cadens. This concert is for charity, and no roughhousing, fighting, or generally ill tempers will be suffered. And as an event on city property, it is meant to remain completely neutral. No politics or you'll be kindly escorted outside the event!]


The Old Public Hall



[The Cadens Public Hall is an old, large speaking hall hosting distinctive architectural features that are strongly Thornean in influence. Like the old days, the concert is mostly meant to be standing-room only; the second floor mezzanine has been blocked off due to unsafe conditions (mostly old, rotting floorboards.) There's a slight musty smell that lingers despite Jaskier's best efforts to hide it.

His attempts to hide it are vast in number: every where one looks are richly colorful groupings of flowers, tied to pillars, hanging from strings of semi-magical lights that have been criss-crossed over the main concert area to mimic the sight of stars, and growing from pots meant to hide dusty corners. Illusionary birds fly and flutter about, adding spots of color and life to the old hall.

Small tables and chairs have been set out the entrance for folks to eat and relax at while music fills the hall and spills out.

Jaskier himself headlines the music, accompanied by a flautist, a drummer and a cellist. Songs that he performed at the Summit are part of his set: a song that venerates the magical accomplishments of Thorne (which may earn some grumbles from local Cadenites, but that same magic flows through the hall itself, amplifying the music and preventing echoing and regulating temperature.) His ballad about Lyfbringr, one of the gods of Solvunn, features, with a slightly baudy edge to it. But most prominent are several songs about the Free Cities themselves: bastions of hope for those who have lost their home, rich mixing pots of culture and people, with fantastic advances in technology.

Peppered among the songs are general fun, upbeat songs. As the night draws to a close, the songs become slower and softer, meant for dances between lovers.

Between sets of songs, Jaskier can be see moving through the crowd, shaking hands, dancing, and showing off his precious new pet toy gryphon named Mog, with black fur and feathers and an owlish face. (Yes, you can pet him.) Mog accompanies him on stage as well, flicking his tail and sleeping inside his lute case.]


Speech, Speech, Speech

[Like all good events, it must begin with a speech.

At the beginning of the concert, while his band behind him plays quiet music, Jaskier takes the head of the dais that is acting at the stage, giving the concert-goers a hearty bow with a sweep of his large, feathered hat.]


Hello and greetings, my fellow citizens of Cadens! While you may not know me -- though I highly doubt that, if you've ever stepped foot into a local tavern -- I have been dwelling in your city in some time now as the conveniently-dubbed Summoned. I am the Master Bard Jaskier, and tonight we have gathered for a few hours of good will and merriment.

I have been welcomed into your city ever since I came here by chance, and have long wanted to give back in what ways I can. This concert is being held for the good of the very hall we stand in, long having fallen to disrepair in lieu of other pursuits -- important ones, I'm sure! -- by the city. However, as a musician, I have high respect for any such beautiful place, and I have recently began working tirelessly with an anonymous patron and friend to restore this grand old beauty for the use of all Cadens citizens.

Please, peruse the first floor of the hall to see our recent work in restoring and preserving historical Cadens architecture. There is free food and drink for all -- though, if you're a known glutton, learn a bit of restraint for the sake of the children. [Laugh track.] There are small gifts available in return for donations at the stands just ousdie. There will be collection plates placed around the tables, and by the door -- you'll see that lovely young man there, yes? He'll be glad to take your coin off your hands! [Another laugh track. He's hilarious, he knows.] All donations will go straight to the restoration of this historic hall.

By your leave, lovely gents and beautiful dames, I bid you a wonderful night. May your hearts be light, and your coin purses even lighter!


For ideas about the general mood of the music:

Youtube Bardcore Playlist



cryptsleeper: (Doing real research)

Closed to Jaskier

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2022-03-26 11:56 am (UTC)(link)
[It has been such a long night, it is morning. Only barely. Technically. The stained glass windows let in nothing but inky darkness, and in it there is a little bit of heartaching nostalgia for the dhampir. He loved nights like this. It was an excuse to stay out with--

--never mind. There's a lot of emotion to sit and sift through now, now that the basics of clean up are done. The donations have been gathered, counted thrice, and locked away until Alucard can squirrel them somewhere safer. Most of the trash has been bagged and swept off to the side, uneaten food was encouraged to be taken away by those departing, using a napkin or two to hold it all together.

There's just three bottles of wine, a bard, a dhampir, and the bard's toy gryphon left in the hall. Alucard can't speak for the other two, but he is spent. So much so that he simply walks over to the dais and flops down, bracing his back against one of the columns that supports the galleries above.]


Heading home soon?
cryptsleeper: (Doing real research)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2022-03-27 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
[Mog that's not a food.

Alucard has grabbed the last bottle of red for himself. He has just enough energy to uncork it with an extended dhampir finger nail and a whole lot of wiggling about. The pop! is satisfying, and god. He really does like drinking on the work site, doesn't he?]


I don't know how you manage that for a living. [He means it respectfully, and offers the wine bottle over to Jaskier first.] My ears are still ringing, and that's with the pitch perfect control of the magic here.

[....not him too.]

Pardon?
cryptsleeper: <user name="malagraphic"> (Hotter and drunker mess)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2022-03-27 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
That's going to lead to him becoming an ankle biter.

[Obviously, Alucard is a gryphon expert. He isn't, but he does understand patterns and animals to the extent of being a part time wolf.]

And yes, that does make a difference. I think this is the first in a very long time I've had most of my senses overwhelmed in a positive manner.

[Oh. Oh fuck no, he's not having the second version of this conversation. Not without a long sip of wine. There's a soft whine of protest as he offers the bottle back.]

Not you too. Geralt already started in, and that entire situation is complicated.
cryptsleeper: (i have an idea it's kind of a dick move)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2022-03-27 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
[Alucard will be proven right and in that moment he shall declare vindication!

But for now he's going to watch the weird fluffy creature get comfortable and accept scratches from a human, because that's what is happening now. They're going to just do this until they fall asleep.

There's a half-hearted attempt to swat at Jaskier's elbow.]


You did hire him to pay attention to any problems tonight. [Doing his job, obviously.

Alucard pauses, stretching his legs out just a little bit more.]
Sypha works well with most people, but I take your point. The rest is a topic that requires...this amount of wine, I suppose, but less feeling of success in the air. [It is somber, is what he means.] And tonight has felt like whiplash.

[On to brighter things.] How was it performing up here, magic and all?
Edited 2022-03-27 03:18 (UTC)
cryptsleeper: (he smile!!!!)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2022-03-27 05:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Geralt having to hold him is one of the most ridiculous sights I've seen in a while.

[Mog you're a weird lil buddy, you know what?

Jaskier, no! Leave topics where they are, don't come back around to them!!![


Hm. [Idle fingers drum against the floor, processing everything that Jaskier's revealed. It makes sense that the hall's magic removes the guess work of fine tuning the music - the way the magic is set up eliminates the need. But there was something else Alucard noticed in it all.] Did you feel any sort of...return energy, amplified in a way that felt different than usual? When I was walking around, it felt like some of the heightened reaction had just a touch more than what I might usually expect, and there have been some symbols in here that I've struggled to understand the purpose of.

[He has a theory now though. Best to see if he's right.] In that, we're in agreement. The logistics are enough to keep me occupied, and the pay off has already made itself clear. So long as it's kept apart from anything else that happens. [Art and politics may often intermingle, but there's still a few lines Alucard refuses to cross.]
cryptsleeper: (Wine mom energy)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2022-03-27 09:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[Soon gryhon trees will be next. By windows, of course, for maximum sunbeams and watching the world below.

Still. Alucard lazily stretches a hand out towards Mog, if the creature is so inclined. If he wasn't talking right now, he'd probably change form. Such as it is, petting something would be nice..]


It's something I need to investigate, at any rate. It feeds in to a lot of potential decisions down the road, and I can't restore a place that I don't fully comprehend. Can't ask that of a construction crew either. [There will be moments where Alucard will have to ask for help, even as loathe as he is to admit that. The work is much more intense.] Spaces with this age do have their own personalities though, magic or not. I this evening brought out a glimpse.

[A place of warmth and art. Not joy, but energy for positive means, not destructive ones.] If I'm right about emotions being amplified by the building, either by magic or just the sheer aura of the place, then that's all the more reason to keep an eye on it all. [And because Alucard is still a petty bitch:] I'm a little disappointed that there wasn't more of a reaction.
cryptsleeper: (Wine mom energy)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2022-03-27 11:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[Oh fine, Mog. He'll streeeeeeeeeeetch, but only just. Two cool-ish human fingers pat the gryphon's side. Fluffy!]

I think it should be good for now, and it may not be as easy to do a second time. Once the real work is under way, it won't be as simple as shoving all of my drawings and notes off to the side. There will be lumber, tools, equipment, everything.

[Also not a complaint. Alucard remembers how intense building his crypt under Gresit was, and that was without the need to experiment and retro-engineer an existing space. Plus living in a cactus is cheap.]

I think we'll need to do that some time next month. For science and personal enjoyment. [Have another swat, Jaskier. You've earned it.] Mmm, it does, doesn't it?

[He exhales, taking another sip from the bottle.] Thank you, Jaskier, for making this evening possible.
cryptsleeper: (he smile!!!!)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2022-03-28 02:24 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll still need to consult your ears, from time to time, to make sure the system is functioning as a performer needs it to.

[Alucard had used the plural in the note to Goro to obscure his identity, but it wasn't exactly a lie either. This is collaborative with Jaskier, just in very particular ways. The public face and the private work, and...it'll do, he thinks.

Also congrats, Jaskier, that's the second kiss he's had in the same day after a near year long dry spell! You're getting a playful shove for it, but also definitely a flush of pink in those cheeks.]


It was. And in the spirit of previous commentary, who was the woman you were speaking with when things drew to a close?
Edited 2022-03-28 15:34 (UTC)
cryptsleeper: (Wine mom energy)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2022-03-28 11:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Luckier for you, your compensation comes in food form.

[He knows Jaskier will refuse coin, but compensation through meals? Never.

He and Sypha are going to have a long talk later. The question is before or after he talks through every emotion with someone else. And fine Jaskier, you can keep that mental image!!]


--Oh now that is intriguing. [Alucard leans in, meaning Mog has even less of a journey to make.] It might mean a more administrative role in addition to actual performance. The trade off would be the potential to regulate uses of spaces like this for art and only art though. [Worth it, is what he means.]

Somehow, I think she has enough connections to figure out who is doing the work if it truly matters. [There's a thoughtful hum as long fingers dig into soft gryphon tummy, rubbing gently.] The Architects is a nice, simple way of obscuring identity for now.
cryptsleeper: <user name="malagraphic"> (I'll consider it)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2022-03-29 01:06 am (UTC)(link)
[Roasted with spring time veg, perhaps. A nice bed of lightly steamed asparagus, a tender herb salad with olive oil and salt. Maybe nice fluffy rice, scented with thyme. Alucard can work on it.]

You and Sypha could share road stories.

[Meaning that there's someone else, if there is a need to talk about it with someone who really understands. Alucard can't. Home was the castle or his mother's clinic. A small sphere where he was content. Sure, the castle moved, but it was like how a turtle's home was always on its' back. He was settled and rooted, until he wasn't.

Alucard's hand may now pet through Mog's fluff idly, but in it is an idea. A simple one, and maybe it is a place to start.]


A plaque, yes, but maybe with slightly adjusted credits. This building was renovated and preserved by the firm The Architects in whatever date and year I manage With generous funding and assistance from the Friends of Old Public Hall.

The only way to truly have a stake in the building's use, I imagine, is to be the organization that supports it.
cryptsleeper: (Wine mom energy)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2022-03-29 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
Don't meddle too much.

[Jaskier will probably meddle some. Sypha gets along easy with most people, and so does Jaskier. The dhampir has zero doubt in his mind that they're more likely to become fast friend than not, and he is going to havee to deal with teasing from both of them. It isn't a terrible fate, all things considered. Could be worse.

There's a tired laugh. His hand slows in Mog's fluffy underbelly.]
It's an entire building Jaskier, with complex needs that I'm still trying to understand. The magic needs more study, I have to figure out what the first phase of work is, and I haven't even considered exterior work yet. Repairing headstones was simple for the most part. Sure, there were different pieces with different needs, but the process was similar across the board.

[The time span doesn't seem to bother him, at least.] When I built my crypt under Gresit, I was working with the limits of being underneath a whole city, but I still had freedom of design, after all. This? This is a real challenge.

[A year or two is fine.] I think if that's the route that is used, then there has to be people who aren't Summoned and who aren't politicians involved either. Two and two would be a fair balance to start with.
cryptsleeper: (Softe)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2022-03-29 12:15 pm (UTC)(link)
A hunch. One that's right, going by your reaction.

[Don't look so faux wounded at an accusation, Jaskier, and maybe Alucard won't suspect you.

Alucard's pretty sure he's going to just sleep here tonight. The only question is if he'll have enough ability to change into his wolf form before he well and truly conks out. Shame there's no gryphone nests here.]


If there's anything you want to learn, I can show you. Even if it's just a few of the audio spells, so you can use them for other concert venues. [The yawn Jaskier lets out is a little too contagious. Alucard follows suit.]

Interest should be high anyway, after this evening. [Alucard stretches out a bit more, which translates into him sliding down so that he's just flat on his back, period.]

I don't think I am getting up from this spot for a few hours now..
cryptsleeper: (OT3)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2022-04-01 10:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[He'll let it go.]

It could help with other venues that are not as enhanced as this one.  Less of a strain on your vocal chords, project more from the lute so the sound carries further.  [The list rattles off all too easily.  Alucard's gotten a good sense of what he's looking at now, and he can foresee possibilities.]  More possibilities I'm not thinking of at the moment.

[More to think up as well and experiment with.]

The nice thing about being a wolf is that it becomes easier to sleep in strange places.  If you sleep here, you're going to wake and walk funny. [There's a walk of shame joke to be made here, but Alucard's not the right person to make it.]  You could ask him to do it though.  Just don't send Mog, he might fall asleep en route.

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