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

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. ]

[a_different_future]

[ He glances over to the stage, raises an eyebrow at what he thinks is about to happen before turning his attention entirely to Bucky. ]

Certainly.

[ He gestures for Buck to lead the way. ]

[redactions]

[ He hesitates a little — just the mental calibration of deciding whether to put his back to the man (he ends on no, because it's not just them, it's a whole party). His IIMP doesn't need to translate, but Buck holds it in his gloved hands as it records the performance, with the press of a holographic button it explains the significance of the words as they listen. ]

[a_different_future]

[ Clark doesn't bother with trying to get behind him; once it becomes clear where he wants to stand, Clark stands side by side with him until they reach their destination and after. He listens, eyes closed, soaks in the words and the music and listens to how the two intertwine.

It's lovely. ]

[redactions]

[ It's lovely. The words cascade, clash, the music of them sways the crowd, a few of whom aren't hiding their tears. Everyone claps politely, people are waving roses to give to the poet once she leaves the stage. ]

Can't say it was my thing, [ he says quietly, ] but that was pretty swell.

[a_different_future]

I admit to some admiration as well. Harmony. Dissonance. Correctly balanced, the two can work quite effectively.

[redactions]

[ In the of course you are tone, ]

You're one for art, huh?

[a_different_future]

[ He glances over at the other man. Well... ]

Everyone is, in one way or another. Whether it's the art of perfectly strung sentences, the curve of a body, fresh grown flowers, the taste of an expertly-prepared dish...

[ His lips quirk in a smile. ]

But yes, I have something of a love of words.

[redactions]

[ A kill is beautiful, in a way. The colour of blood, the arc of a body. War is a waltz he knows better than his own damn name. ]

[ Buck looks down. He compresses something in his body, and then he breathes it out. ]

Do you want to keep listening?

[a_different_future]

Do you?

[ He notices the moment of... something, but doesn't know Buck well enough to read it. ]

I'm always up for poetry, but I'm happy to adjourn.

[redactions]

[ Clark likes to oil the wheels, he notices. Make things easier for him. It's a kindness. It does... work. ]

No harm tryin' something new.

[ Is he a man who enjoys poetry? Well, no time like the present to find out. ]

[a_different_future]

[ Clark prefers easy. When it costs him nothing, he finds no reason not to ease matters for others. He likes being liked, and in a place where it looks as if he might be able to form alliances and connections without them being immediately imperiled by the person he'd beholden to, he intends to. ]

Shall I grab us a couple of plates, perhaps? Something to enjoy the music with?

[redactions]

[ His eyes smile. His mouth tries. Playful, ]

What if I don't enjoy the music?

[a_different_future]

[ He prefers the eyes, trusts them more. The smile is understood, and returned. Similarly, as a matter of fact. ]

Don't tempt me to make the strings break from a distance. I'm trying to behave for my first real showing out.

[ He's kidding. 90%. ]

[redactions]

So'm I.

[ He tilts his head over to the Surgeon. She's decked in the same silver and blue that he is, with her brooch matching his cufflinks, deep in conversation with two others. ]

[ She wouldn't mind if he needed to duck out because the Soldier was jangling his nerves. But Bucky has been stubbornly trying to stick it out. He hasn't once turned his back to an open space, and nor has he tried anything at the table he didn't see someone else eat first. Friendly, ]

Are we takin' bets?

[a_different_future]

[ The Seer is in her habitual black, her face hidden, her crown radiant. She sits alone, apart, watching them, though she seems genial enough when approached. Clark looks at her for a moment, and there is something in his eyes. He may be... just a little in love with her. In a way. There's devotion there that he won't hide. But he flicks his eyes back to Bucky. ]

Bets on...

[redactions]

[ He can't not watch, even if it's absent of the cold scrutiny that would have been his usual expression. ]

How long we last.

[ His control is — frankly impressive. Buck's only a little jealous, sometimes people are able to curate themselves that well, if they're trained from young. But most often, it's being squeezed into an ill-fitting mold, with the extraneous parts carved away. It's disassembly. ]

[a_different_future]

[ Clark was trained on the Luthor proving grounds, pitted against his own brother and the ghost of his entire civilization. He'd learned to survive. That was all, really. ]

Only if you forbid me from cheating.

[ Like said string. Or setting someone's dress on fire in a spot. Or moving quickly enough to put a pineapple ring on their head. ]

[redactions]

Now you're makin' me curious.

[ He's smiling now, the kind that'd be lingering if the muscles weren't so disused, or the harsh lines on his face so defined. ]

But I think I'll save up mine for when the party deserves it.

[a_different_future]

[ The way his limbs go loose in disappointment is utterly fake, but it's meant to be, teasing in it's own way. ]

If you wish, I suppose.

[redactions]

I'll cheer you up. Their champagne ain't bad.

[a_different_future]

[ It earns him a laugh, a small one, which means it's more genuine than most of the ones he's given. ]

No, it's actually quite refreshing.

Terrible champagne is a true burden when you can't even enjoy the effects.

[redactions]

[ He picks up two flutes from a passing waiter and offers one to Clark. ]

You can't get drunk either?

[ They skillfully avoided talking powers last time — Bucky wasn't forthcoming, anyway, it was obvious he was extremely outclassed both in terms of raw strength and training. ]

[a_different_future]

[ There's a certain wryness to his expression as he glances over at Buck even as he takes the flute. ]

Would you really want me to?

[ He takes a sip. ]

But the clarity of flavor is enjoyable enough. When it's good.

[redactions]

Ain't about what I want, pal.

[ It's only curiosity, he won't push. ]