EVENT;

[rainkeeper]

Each character is given an adjustment period. After all, to do otherwise would be gauche. And after they've had a chance to catch their breath and find their feet, a courier arrives for them with an invitation to a beautiful garden party at the top of the Sentinel's Rest the following evening. It's implied that attendance is less than optional, and the letter is signed simply with a stylized letter R.

Each letter will also contain a specialized series of clues that will lead them to several different corresponding areas throughout Avastarya. Each location will lead them to the next, and so on and so forth until they reach their final destination. Said destination is a small token, that can be presented at the party in exchange for a gift. The option to keep them is also possible. Surrendering the token or choosing to keep it will both come with benefits, albeit of a different and not necessarily equal sort.

UTA'S token (a small unbreakable wireglass globe, warm to the touch and very bright that seems to swirl and shift like the surface of a star) will be gifted to him after he completes a series of quests. These quests involve the musical arts. His first quest will lead him to a small, dusty workshop with every conceivable type of instrument. He must play the piano in a certain sequence of keys to unlock a secret compartment in it, which will give him directions to the next quest. This will lead him, with a very complicated poem in iambic pentameter, to an old opera house in the Plaguefire district. There, hidden under the 19th seat (they're numbered) he will find the wireglass globe. On the old, rotten stage of the opera house there is a simple mask that looks rather Grecian in origin and mimics the tragedy/comedy mask styles of the day (half of each emotion). It's not what he came for, but will he take it too, or let it lie?

CLARK'S token (a roughly ostritch-sized suspiciously green (but not actually Kryptonite) egg. It pulsates strangely - is it stone, or is it something alive? It's impenetrable to X-Ray vision) will be given to him after he has performed three acts of unselfish kindness throughout Avastarya. Is someone watching him? Hard to say, but once he has done these three things (of the player's choice) a young man will approach him to give him the egg. The young man will tell him to treat it kindly, even though it doesn't appear to be fragile at all...

BUCKY'S token (a small wolf made of steel) will be given to him after he spends a day in the Plaguefire District. This area is one of the poorest in Avastarya, and he has been tasked with reading stories to the children in the orphanage there. The children get to decide to vote on when and if he will be given his token, so he had better be willing to entertain them! The child that gives him the wolf will also tell him a story she's heard, about a demon terrorizing the streets at night. Children's fable, or honest truth?

STEVE'S token (a small striped badger made of petrified wood) is in the old city on which Avastarya has been built. He has been tasked with cartography of an area that was sealed off some years earlier after a plague decimated the spot. His natural immunity should, theoretically, serve him well. The badger will be found on the lip of an old fountain, next to a child's diary of the plague years.

GENE'S token (a long ribbon that seems to be a darker colour than black, it cannot be cut or torn) will be given to him after he helps escort a young woman through Dahl Ahouran. She is looking for her sister, she will say, and navigating the realm of the dead is no easy thing. Gene's being able to talk to ghosts may come in handy here, and once he locates the girl's sister, she will give him the ribbon from her hair.

ELERA'S token (a box full of bones. One familiar with the composition of living things might notice that the bones belonged to something in the Canis family once upon a time...) is a bit tricky to get to. She is going to have to infiltrate a lavish party, charm the host and find a series of small totems (maybe they represent halla?) to unlock a special door on the premises. The door leads to a hidden antechamber, and the bones - in their elegant carven-wood box - are in the middle of an ornate circle. Getting close to it might remind her a little of the Fade from her homeworld, but nevertheless - if she wants the token, she has to chance it.

NATASHA'S token (an unbreakable hourglass, filled with shifting red sand, but when flipped the sand will mysteriously turn black) will be given to her if she attends the trial and potential execution of a wanted criminal. Traditionally, trials and their judgement are not a matter of deliberation in Avastarya. The facts will be laid out before the crowd, lawyers will argue the case, and depending on the crowd's decision the man will either be executed (in a manner they will also decide) or set free. Natasha will have a role in the proceedings - she will be called on to read the tallies for and against the man's death. Will she read the true answer, or lie to the crowd? Either way, afterwards the executioner will hand her the hourglass.

ILLYANA'S token (a small toy ship, beautifully handcarved, with impossibly ornate details) will be given to her after she does a series of small quests. The first thing? Her invitation will have a drawing on it of a precise skyline. Her job will be to find the place where the paper lines up with a real part of the city. She will find that this will have her standing directly on top of a storm drain. Should she choose to go down into it, she will find the next piece of the skyline mystery carved into a beautiful ice sculpture down in the bowels of the old ruin beneath Avastarya. The next phase will take her to the front door of a soup kitchen, where she will be asked to help serve the city's homeless. Once that is done, one of the workers will tell her to go down to the docks. It is here that she will be given the small ship (not a boat-ship, but a space-ship) by a child playing there. He may tell her about a monster that's been seen threatening the bay, but is there any truth to this or is it simply a child's story?

JIN'S token (a beautiful moon pendant, lovingly carved and hung on a chain of something that's almost more like mithril in its nature than anything found on earth) is something she will have to find on her own. She will be given a poem that speaks of fair forests and the rising moon and little else. However: at some point in her travels throughout the city, she will encounter an old man telling a story to a group of enraptured youngsters, and he will repeat the poem. Her IIMP's translation of the local tongue won't be exact, but it will sound like they're talking about a fairy or... spirit? If she chooses to inquire about the story, he will give her details, of how on a full moon in a forest glen outside the city, a magical creature will appear to grant someone's truest wish. Should she attempt to seek out this place, however, she will find that it has been burned down. However, at the centre of the clearing, nestled in an old tree stump, she will find the necklace. If Jin ever happens to use foxfire around it, she will find that her name has been inscribed on its back...

Sentinel's Rest will be decked out beautifully for the evening's festivities. There is an area strung with lights obviously intended for dancing, a table of beautiful canapes that contain myriad delicacies from each character's own world (and in some cases, their own life and experiences), there is an area blocked off for tournament fighting and also one for poetry readings where a young member of the Idyl Eben is reciting while her partner plays the lute.

Otherwise, choose your own adventure! After all, you're practically on top of the world. You are also free to have your character run into another one while doing their scavenger hunt. Team up, help with clues? Also possible!

Comments

[ooc] SENTINEL'S REST PARTY FAVOURS;

[rainkeeper]

[is your character keeping or exchanging their token? let us know here and we'll tell you what they'll get!]

[redactions]

Buck's keeping his token, thank you!

[a_different_future]

[ Given that it reminds him of Kryptonian crystals, Clark's going to keep his. Also, the comparison to kryptonite means he wants to keep it close JUST IN CASE. Given that it definitely looks like an egg, he'll keep it somewhere warm and heavily cushioned. ]

[enshields]

Steve's going to turn his token in.

[preseance]

Gene's gonna keep the ribbon!

[lie]

Natasha's turning her token in! (As it was more or less a job, she won't have interfered with the trial, which really compounds the fact she doesn't particularly see the point of holding onto it either.)

[dirthena]

After much consideration and debating, Elera is keeping her token.

[scleramelani]

[Uta will keep his orb, and if the stage will support his weight, reclaim the mask for his handler or his wall, too.]

[petere]

Illyana is choosing to keep her token!

[dazzlings]

Jin will keep her token, because she likes pretty things and knows that if you find something in the strange wilderness you either leave it be or accept it as a cherished gift.

Clark Luthor | Smallville

[a_different_future]

scavenger hunt: acts of kindness

[ It doesn't take long to figure out what's required of him, but when it happens, it almost seems like an accident.

The first is simple enough: on a streetcorner, an older woman appears to be struggling with her packages. It's quick enough work, quicker than letting her struggle, to take them from her and escort her to her vehicle.

The second is a bit more dramatic, though similarly incidental and rather anticlimactic: there was a statue being moved, a bit of a mechanical failure, and of all the things that Clark is all right with seeing destroyed, art isn't one of them. And the statue is a genuinely beautiful piece. The park will look all the better for it.

The last, of course, is close enough to his old habits as to rub at the edges, a touch dangerous in truth. An alleyway, a young person in need of assistance... perhaps he might have done something uncharitable if they hadn't read the danger in his eyes and his stance well enough to run, but they did, and that appeases the bloodlust, just a little. After all, as he checks on said victim, they do seem to be all right. And no harm, no foul, of course.

Thus, he isn't quite surprised to receive his token a moment or so later, the glowing green egg that makes him twitch at the first before realizing that he feels no tell-tale kryptonite burn. But it is nice to see his efforts were appreciated ]

sentinel's rest: dancing

[ One unfortunate part of being the most hated man on his world (or who would be if his world wasn't in the midst of destruction) is that his dating pool has significantly dried up. And his more recent efforts haven't come to bear fruit quite yet. So if he happens to see anyone lovely enough, well, expect a dance invitation. He's missed flirting with people... ]

sentinel's rest: poetry reading

[ While he and Kent had been at odds in almost every category, apparently the one thing that bound them together was a passion for writing. Though, as he'd discovered in his most recent visit through some research, the other Clark had less of a love of writing as an art than he did. He couldn't imagine Kent sitting and enjoying this recitation, but he certainly is, eyes most of the way closed so that he can properly take in the music and the flowing words. ]

sentinel's rest: tournament fighting

[ For the most part, Clark's going to hold off from doing any sort of tournament fighting; after all, what good are abilities if others know about them? Best to keep his daggers hidden well and leave a few questions as to what, exactly, he can do. Instead, he'll watch the bouts for the time being. Unless, of course, an interesting challenger comes up. Or he gets challenged himself... ]

dancing tho (but not really);

[enshields]

[He and Buck were in and out of dance halls most of their youth. It was a thing to do to pass the time, while away the hours, forget the troubles that came on the heels of the Depression and later on, the coming War. Buck was a wildcat on the floor. He took home a few local championships without ever breakin' a sweat, and Steve had more than a few charcoal scribbles on an old notebook just to capture the fluidity of his form.

But dancing? It wasn't his thing then, and it isn't now.

(He shared one with Peg, briefly, when he got out of the ice and worked up the courage to go see her. She wasn't all that ambulatory, and she was barely a weight in his arms, and he still held her like it was 1945, at the Stork Club on Saturday--)

Nat teases him about it sometimes. Gently, without an edge. He takes it good-naturedly, but he's never been inclined to changing his nature.

So when Clark asks, Steve simply shakes his head. This isn't Earth, and no one here has heard of Captain America. No reason to get his hackles up.

But he still won't dance.]

I'd make a pretty lousy dance partner. Two left feet.

[It's said with neutral politeness.]

dancing! (and referring their tdm as game canon, if that's okay?)

[dazzlings]

[ She's glad for the sight of a familiar face, though the invitation to dance give her pause. ]

I'm not that good at dancing. [ Fair warning where it's due. ] How've you been?

dancing & poetry mixes this up a little

[redactions]

[ He's a shadow. Amazing how that's managed under bright lights and party music, but aside from polite introductions and trips to the buffet table he's nowhere to be cornered. ]

[ But trust someone to do it anyway. Buck looks at that outstretched hand, then he shakes his head. ]

Raincheck, pal. [ He remembers dancing. The body always does. But he's not there yet. And counteroffer, ] Do you want to see what's going on over there?

[ Someone's stepping up to the microphone to read. ]

scavenger hunt: park!

[preseance]

[The Gardener's got a soft spot for all things green and growin', and she'd asked Gene to take a gander at the park. Make sure her handiwork don't need any more maintenance than what's cursory. He's happy to oblige her - he's got a love of the great outdoors that matches hers neatly - and it's a good way to clear his head.

(The War still clings to him. It ain't so far gone from his memory, this place barely feels like more than a furlough just yet.)

He's taking careful stock of some climbing ivy near a low retainer wall when he hears the ruckus. It's a medic's instinct more than a soldier's that sees him turn towards it and advance, just in case, but what he sees when he rounds the wall ain't anything human, to be sure. The statue - of a gigantic cloaked figure - has nearly tipped off its base, and a single man has caught it with no more effort than how Gene picks up a rifle. It's rude to stare, but at least for a moment he can't help himself, and then he shakes his head and jogs on over.]

Hey. You hurt at all?

[Maybe the statue's lighter than it looks. Could be, the way things are here. Not much makes sense in a tune to what he knows.]

gene hicks | oc

[preseance]

Scavenger Hunt;

[He gets a picture of the dame he's meant to help. No name, no telling where she lives, none of that. He takes to understandin' the IIMP might be of some use, but he ain't too good at navigatin' it yet and so gives up after a brief foray. Instead, he takes to the streets. He's in his service uniform, tie tucked between the second and third buttons of his good wool shirt, boots polished to a sheen. His garrison cap is tucked neatly over his belt rather than on his head. He carries himself like a soldier, sure -- three years in and he ain't quite sure how to be just an Alabama boy no more - but there's something solid and sure about the way he moves that goes beyond that alone.

Askin' after the girl with only her picture seems crass, but he can't think of another way to track her down, so-- he might approach your character with a polite pardon me.

Or maybe you might come across him in a back alley, seemingly talking away to nothin' at all. Boy sees ghosts, but odds are you won't hear it outta him.]

Sentinel's Rest: dancing

[Oh, he's plenty reserved but Gene ain't strictly shy. Dancin' is a popular way for fellas to unwind, so far as he's concerned, and the atmosphere is electric. He spends a couple rounds on the sidelines, learnin' the local custom and by the time they're playin' something that sounds a bit like old swing, he smiles at the dame (or fella) next to him.]

You wanna give it a whirl?

Sentinel's Rest: misc.

[For the remainder of the evening, he can be found sampling the food (which he will of course offer to share, should he have taken the last of anything) or sitting in on the poetry readings (during a lull, he might ask your character what the instrument is that's being played, having never seen one before) or just generally being around. Gene is personable and approachable, and genuinely likes people. If he thinks your character's a champion, he'll strike up conversation - usually leading in with a polite interjection.]

misc;

[lie]

[ The studs in Natasha's ears match the green of her IIMP, shaped into a brooch on the shoulder of her dress. It's a moment or two after she's clocked Gene in her periphery that she pulls away from the conversation she's in, murmuring a light excuse me before she walks away.

The party's not exactly winding down, but there can't be more than one, maybe two more readings to go. In the lulls between, everybody's been pretty interested in canapes. ]

You look nice.

[ She says lightly. She does like Gene — for whatever measure that's worth, but this place is still too new for her to put her finger on the pulse of it. ]

sentinel's rest, misc.

[dirthena]

( after finishing her scavenger hunt -- and wasn't that something that was far too familiar for comfort -- elera retreats to sentinel's rest with her prize. the lingering feeling as if she'd been in the fade pulls at her skin and her mind; the comparisons were startlingly easy to make. but thedas is very, very far away.

but perhaps not so far away as she'd like, elera thinks, once she opens the box and discovers what's in it. so absorbed int he contents, in what it could mean, if it meant anything at all, that it takes her a moment or two to register that someone had spoken at all.

looking up at the young man, elera blinks before offering a small apologetic smile. )

I didn't catch that.

( she'd been lucky that she even knew he'd spoken at all. )

natasha romanoff | mcu

[lie]

the scavenger hunt!

[ Mostly, it makes Natasha annoyed.

They're tests. That's the nature of recruitment, and it's what she would do. Eyeballing the first clue, she zips up her leather jacket to the throat and rolls her eyes.

You might see her throughout the day intercepting a package, dropping in on a guy clutching some sort of shock-baton to his chest, cornered in the back alleys. Natasha makes pretty quick work of him — she takes one of the stuns to her side, but deflects the rest. She takes him down with a quick sweep to his feet, and his head lands on the ground with a pretty solid thud. (Now she's really annoyed.)

Another sees her outside a bookstore. Natasha's leaning on her bike, flipping through the book in her hand. She's sipping at some sort of smoothie concoction, one ankle crossed over the other, casual as can be. It's obvious she's waiting, but— the bookstore also has a sign that firmly says it's closed, and all the lights are off.

Later on in the day, you might notice a large crowd gathering — a public trial and potential execution, is the rumor — but while you might see her, making a short and to the point testimonial about what it means to live life with a debt, she's not sticking around to talk to anyone. ]

sentinel's rest.

[ Anybody who saw the crowd beforehand — and there was, after all, a large one — might recognize the lanky man Natasha's talking to: said trial was about him, after all. He's animated and obviously very angry; Natasha's folding her arms and blinking at him, speaking low but firmly, while he forcefully shoves his own sleeve up to show her some sort of— mark? tattoo? brand?— that's on his arm. Natasha stares at him. The set of his shoulders deflates a little, but he's quick to puff himself back up again and flip her off, stalking away from her.

Natasha rolls her eyes. She scans the crowd a little more when she feels eyes on her — catches your character's attention and shrugs, smiling wryly. More than annoyance, it just screams well, what can you do? She's at least not wearing her civilian gear, her black dress simple but cut formally, easily chic office-wear as much as it is appropriate for the here and now. ]

sentinel's rest; misc

[ Natasha learns a lot. She spends her time from crowd to crowd, talking to the Idyl Eben and inevitably striking up a conversation with the lute player. In the middle of things though, she abruptly disappears, and you'll find her in one of the more quiet corners of Sentinel's Rest. A little away from the lights and the crowd, looking out at the world below. She looks thoughtful, but she's frowning, too. ]

sentinel's rest misc

[a_different_future]

[ Fortunately (or unfortunately), Clark definitely has a weakness for competent redheads, so it's really no surprise that he makes his way over to Natasha. Not when she's talking to someone, or when she's clearly observing the crowd. Once she's decided to find a quiet place, though he approaches slow. ]

Needed a little air?

sentinel's rest

[dazzlings]

[ Finding herself in between conversation partners, the next best option for Jin is to eavesdrop, of course. Armed with a plateful of canapes - just shy of too many to be polite; the Heiress will definitely have Things To Say if she catches sight of her - Jin appears occupied with inspecting each treat available. Meanwhile, the portly man behind her is saying such interesting things about his research, if his boastful tone is to be believed. Some way of entering the dimension overlaid with Avastarya where supernatural entities reside, really? A closer listen is in order. Jin keeps her eyes roaming over the crowd as though she's seeking someone out, and most definitely not listening in to his explanation of where the veil between worlds draws thin...

And surprisingly, she does spy a face she recognises: the Apiarist's champion, facing down a man decidedly too agitated for this party's atmosphere. She's impressive, to maintain that composure against his anger. Jin takes a bite of canape, watching Natasha with more than feigned interest while making a mental note to visit the Misthouse sometime soon as the conversation behind her moves on to another topic. It's just as well that it does, because Natasha's noticed her, and- well, Jin has a plate of canapes to share. ]

Gotten into trouble already? [ She cheerfully says by way of greeting, while raising her plate slightly in offer. ] The duck is pretty good. Skip the shrimp.

scavenger hunt: the motorcyclening

[enshields]

[Jogging past her isn't on purpose. He's been exploring the city, and the best way to memorize every seedy back-alley, every laneway, every street is to run it. He's got plenty of time - he spends almost none of it with his Handler. He doesn't like the Architect's estate. It's too close to the bay. He hears the crash of the waves and the call of ocean birds, the air is salted like a fallow field.

The ocean was never an enemy, but he's damn tired of being a drowning man.

He wishes he could say he didn't still wake in a cold sweat, imagining water filling his lungs. Sometimes the dream ends when Bucky pulls him up. Sometimes it's Sam. Peggy.

Natasha, a few times. Discernible by her blood red hair and her smile - he's also had dreams she held him down. He's not a believer of prophecy, and what symbolism is inherent in dreams is just the work of the subconscious brain working through its bruises.

But they're miles away from the shoreline, and Steve slows to a walk. They had dinner together a few nights ago, but fractures are still tender when pressed.]

Nat.

[There are a million meanings latticed in the way he says her name. It's a greeting, it's a question, it's a warning, it's the way he misses her. They can't go back to how things were, but he likes to think their friendship is strong enough to survive the fission.]

sentinel's rest.

[dirthena]

( for once she's not the center of attention. the feeling sits uncomfortably on her shoulders, and lavellan doesn't know what to make of it. she gave it up, willingly, and so now she hovers on the outskirts of the party -- dressed in an outfit that would be more at place in a fantasy medieval setting than a modern dinner party. but it's clear that she would never have originated from this world without that.

clutching a glass in her remaining hand, her attention is nabbed by the confrontation. the gesture of the man is unknown to her, but not the sentiment. natasha's look is greated with a small, thin smile and a shake of her head, although she does move closer to the other woman. once she's close enough, she hums, before casually remarking upon it. )

Where I'm from, someone would have challenged him to a dual.

steve rogers [mcu]

[enshields]

scavenger hunt;

[Steve can be found in the plague ruins beneath the city, should your character venture there. Be careful, the area is structurally unsound and prone to collapse-- but he'd come to help out anyone that seemed to need it (he'd be less likely to accept help should he be caught in a collapse, but you're welcome to try!)

He can also be found in cafes and the like all over Avastarya, deciphering the child's diary he found of the plague years. It's written in a dead language, so it's rather difficult to parse, but hey: having a memory that verges on the eidetic can be a helpful thing when it comes to war tables and battle plans and languages lost to time. Feel free to approach him for (tdm canons totally okay) for coffee or something.]

Sentinel's Rest: misc.

[Steve won't be dancing tonight, no matter the behest, but he can be found wandering amidst the memorial statues, standing at the edge of the Rest overlooking the city or generally being somewhat deliberately apart from the others. Steve is in phase one of Goth Beard Cap phase, he's got Linkin Park posters on his walls, etc.

But he'll be affable enough if approached, and would initiate conversation if someone seemed inclined. 'Nice night' with sincerity or 'did you try the shrimp puffs?' in a dry tone, something along that vein.

I can also set up a personalized starter if you PM/ping me/whathaveyou.]

sentinel's rest.

[redactions]

You're in my spot.

[ They both hold up the wall now. Buck's skirted along the edges of the party, deliberately uninvolved in anything but the buffet table. He still has one of the puff pastries, could offer it to Steve in the precedent they've set for being up here on Sentinel's Rest. But instead, he tucks his fingers into his pockets and draws himself up, a little skittish. He doesn't like parties anymore. And he doesn't hide it. ]

[scleramelani]

Scavenger Hunt: A Musical Interlude

[Uta's lucky to have a ghoul's sense of hearing and the ability to read music, though he never learned how to play the piano. He's able to puzzle that portion out, at least, but the next part is a little more difficult. The mask-maker never went to school properly, never learned to parse poems, and can barely read the language it's written in, and some of the meaning is lost in translation when he turns to technology. Eventually, he might just give up and asks for advice from the nearest champion.]

Sentinel's Rest - Party Time

[There's very little Uta can enjoy, food-wise, here. Perhaps that's for the best - wouldn't want him to become a binge eater, or anyone else a cannibal. Or stain his outfit. It's probably best that he just enjoys a cup of coffee as he watches the engagement, trying to memorize the details of the movement for a future piece.]

Sentinel's Rest - Sparring

[Now, here's something Uta can do. The most lethal of his powers are of course sealed away, but he doesn't need them for this. His coat and vest have been abandoned, suspenders disconnected, leaving him in just a shirt, shoes, and pants, no comment on the state of his underwear.

Honestly, he'd be doing this even if his patron didn't want to film it. He's had it too easy here. He's a predator, and he's getting restless. It's either burn off some steam or rampage.]

party time!

[enshields]

[He'd told Uta the first time they met that he wasn't much for parties, and that holds true. As much as he isn't one to mingle, or blend into the social cog-- well, he didn't dislike Uta, so when Steve spots him, he goes to stand beside him a polite distance away.]

Enjoying yourself?

[He says that a bit wryly, head tilted faintly to one side.]