I saw Mommy kissing Samba-Claus (KISS BINGO EDITION) 💋🌿

[beleos]

QIASU (HIGHSTORM)

On December 15th, the marker of the latter half of Takiltu, Kenos comes together to celebrate unity and togetherness, to come together with friends and family, to be kind to others and share in one’s wealth - whether that comes in the form of knowledge, monetary gains, or the exchange of gifts and one’s time. This celebration is an amalgamation of many worlds’ winter festivals, and as such, is known in the two cities as the Year’s End Festival, or Qiasu as Highstorm calls it.

This part of Takiltu is when Highstorm truly starts to hit winter. Snow is a frequent occurrence, but it’s one that the city welcomes, since with the snow comes a few of the most beloved traditions of the city. By far the most popular is heading to Greenwood Yards. The gardens themselves may be either dormant or showing their simpler winter gardens, but you may have noticed an area by the bathhouses left in surprising amount of disrepair… This is because during the winter months, this area fills up with a natural outdoor hot spring! Take a swim under the moonlight, and even explore some of those ruined old manors, now with their first floors warmly flooded. It’s a tradition to bring in your favorite drinks and spend an evening sipping it in a parlor with friends, and to make new ones by sharing your drinks. Of course, do watch out for the ghosts. They’re mischievous more than malicious, but this is their favorite time of the year too!

You can also head to the Great Tree, which is decorated for the season with glittering glass orbs and is the current roost for the pale Moonbugs of Highstorm. Write a wish on a slip of paper and hold out your hands, and one of the Moonbugs will come sit within them. Whisper the wish to the Moonbug and it’ll take the paper and fly away to find someone to fulfill it. Of course, this also means that a Moonbug is likely to come find you! Besides it being good karma to fulfill the wish, you’ll be given a brief vision of the person whose wish you fulfilled and be blessed by the tree for the duration of the month depending upon your Aspect:

• Advocate: People are more likely to buy you meals/rounds and every recipe you make turns out perfectly.
• Exalt: Animals seem to think more kindly of you, and you'll find them much easier to befriend.
• Harbinger: You're given a more silver tongue as your arguments seem to be better at persuading people.
• Iconoclast: You won't be effected by cold weather in any way.
• Savant: You heal much more rapidly from any injury and are generally the very picture of health.
• Stargazer: Your indulgences (whatever they may be) are both easier to find and are of higher quality.

And of course, there’s one more well-known practice in Highstorm, though it’s more of a tradition of Kowloon’s… The Gävle family is a well-known family who has lived in Highstorm for a long time, and they brought a tradition of building a festive Yule goat made straw in the square outside of their businesses. However, it also happens to be outside of Yura Szczepanski’s home. He’ll never do it himself, of course, but if you manage to burn it down? He’ll reward you, obviously. It doesn’t make it any more legal, so those that try generally spend some time in a Highstorm jail, but it’s an enshrined enough practice at this point that not only has it burned down more often than it’s survived, but there’s even a betting pool in Kowloon for whether it survives or not.

Of course, if these traditions aren’t quite your vibe, you’ll also find the city just generally set up for a metropolitan winter. The Antiques & Baubles Market is rearranged to make room for a large ice-skating rink, Tasseography (the coffeeshop by the Tomes) has a seasonal special for a hot chocolate that will fortify you from the cold for a few hours (and make you fire resistant? Weird,), and the city also hosts a full-size gingerbread house that you can indeed take a bite from, to name a few things. Generally speaking, if it’s something you could do in a snowy city at home, you’ll probably find an equivalent somewhere in the city of moonlight.

Be warned, however, if you are visiting from out of town. Highstorm's reception seems just a touch bit chiller than the weather!

YEAR'S END FESTIVAL (SPRINGSTAR)

Springstar will never turn down a chance to celebrate, but eternally Highstorm’s opposite, this is the warmest time of year. With the sun always shining, some days can get near sweltering, but that just means you have a different set of traditions to have fun with it!

The ivy-like vines that decorated the city in the beginning of the month (November) are now in full bloom, and you’re now likely to learn why the Meri consider them sacred. Wherever the flowers bloom, they encourage feelings of warmth and slightly higher inclination for physical contact within those that encounter their magical pollen*. Holding hands with someone by the flowers will give you feelings of liveliness and happiness, and for a few hours, the positive traits of the person you’re holding hands with become more prominent in you and vice versa. These effects do linger a bit longer, since for a month, you’ll also find that being around this person also gives you both a little boost in energy. It’s very sweet! This also comes with a bit of a further game, if you’re at all a frequenter of Psychagogía...

Madame Dee’s hosts a very popular competition simply called Kiss Bingo. Approach the booth set-up outside the brothel and touch your Shard to a special card, and names will appear upon it. From there, the rules are simple. Just give that person a kiss! It can be on their hand, their lips, their [redacted], all of it counts, and once you do, a little kiss mark will mark their name out. Get a bingo, and you can pick from a variety of prizes such as a ticket for a week’s worth of visits at a local buffet, a shopping spree at a nearby store, or a box seat for a day at the Coliseum. Of course, if you’re really an overachiever, fill out the whole card to get multiple prizes. Madame Dee might just give you a job!

With the promise of home that the Meri deeply believe in, they have their own gifting tradition. The Shard-Bearers know best that it’s possible to receive gifts from the Timestream, and for Year’s End, it’s tradition for the Tribune to pull out all the stops. For a week of the Festival, the Tribune works just outside of Heliopolis, and with the help of priests from the Church of Helios, reaches into the Timestream to produce a gift for anyone that comes to ask. This year, however, he's asked Quetzalcoatl and Samba's elves to deliver gifts, but you might not get anything you asked for (or maybe you did!) but they're all gifts the timestream spit out!

On rainy days (or simply the unbearably hot ones), you can also go to Starlight Park, which offers a reprieve from the weather. Inside the dome, you’ll find a idyllic, snowy valley where you can partake in all the natural joys of winter. There’s (highly) competitive snowball fights, sledding, and skiing to partake in, though you might be cautioned away from one slope. Head down that course and about halfway down, you’ll be chased by… a yeti? Luckily it doesn’t seem to be able to harm you, but it’s still shockingly fast and will catch you no matter how quickly you ski. You can also spend a bit of money to rent a yurt along the river for a relaxing and exceptionally cozy glamping experience. Some Yurts are even adorned with the sacred vines. You know, for no reason.

You’ll also find the Meri heading away from the city of Springstar a bit to head down to some of the beaches that surround Springstar. Being an island within an Island (capital ‘I’ meaning the Kenos kind of island), Takiltu is the traditional start of Springstar’s summer season and all the fun that comes with that. The beaches are bustling, but the cool and crystal-clear waters of the ocean surrounding the city make it worthwhile. Surfing, diving, and sailing are popular activities, but just make sure to stay within sight of the shore. It doesn’t take too long to hit the end of the Island and sailing outside the magical barrier that keeps Springstar floating in Kenos’s starscape generally isn’t survivable.

Just be mindful, if you're trying to escape Highstorm's chill for some summer fun, as attitudes are shifting toward bearers in general, and it might not be as easy as it once was.

NOTES

Weather summary for the second 30 days of Takiltu (NOV & DEC):

• Highstorm is out of fall and into winter. While there are some milder days, snow (and heavy snow at that!) is getting more common.
• Springstar is hot and humid, and it's not uncommon for brief thunderstorms to roll through in the afternoon.

Notable city changes:

• Both cities have experienced changing attitudes toward shard-bearers. You will need to be mindful if you want to travel to a city that doesn't house your faction, as things might not be as easy when it comes to getting around.
• Springstar has had an increase in attacks toward it's citizens, and they are often fatal and destructive. Rumors travel among Springstar's seedier types that these are escaping from Ryad, and they aren't being reigned in. That always comes with a flicker of worry.

CODING

Comments

b

[furibund]

[ Springstar is always overstimulating - Never mind now, with the feelings of festivities in the air. She regrets going out, but she's looking for material to work with. Wants to aim for a one and done. People are more handsy than usual, however, and it's getting on her nerves. ]

[ When someone approaches and grips her hand - the mostly organic, definitely feeling one - she tenses. Moves in a jerk to half try and elbow them before stopping herself. Stopping herself from elbowing them, maybe, but she's still quick to yank her hand away. ]

What do you think you're doing?

[damnpire]

[The defensive recoil doesn't appear to both him too much, and he makes no move to go after her hand. In fact, his expression is ever so slightly apologetic. Otherwise, he is just so stony-faced and pretty.]

Sorry. I didn't intend to startle you.

[The good thing: he realizes he is acting really damn bizarre.]

The plants, I think.

[furibund]

You did not startle me.

[ Immediate, reflexive. Only half the truth, she absently brushes metal against flesh before staring him up and down. Mouth twisting upside down before she responds: ]

The plants.

[ Incredulous. It sounds more like a question than anything - why when she literally has a basically adopted walking, talking tree in her normal group! Who knows. ]

[damnpire]

[She gets his strange, undivided attention, no shame. It's a clinical sort of look, though, not rude, and softened ever so slightly by the way the air is making him feel.]

The pollen. It's affecting behaviors.

[He flips his hand palm-up, though close to himself more than out at her.]

Do you mind if I hold your hand?

[furibund]

If you know that then why don't you go inside?

[ Her tone is severe, but lacks real judgement. It would seem, this is just the way she speaks, although the sort of scowl that's more curious than wary is present. ]

Do you always ask to hold a stranger's hand?

[damnpire]

[The severity doesn't seem to deter him into looking ashamed, or apologetic. Or scolded even. He accepts it? Masochist behavior.]

There are things I need to do.

[He can't wait for pollen, and now he must suffer the consequences of this decision.]

I don't usually ask to hold hands at all, but when it is a stranger, yes, I do ask. You may refuse, if you want.

[furibund]

[ Sometimes masochism is what you need. ]

[ At least the woman resists any desire to role her eyes at the simple, reasonable answer. Perhaps because it is both of those things and she's too much of a straightforward person herself - it's easy enough to accept. The sound that comes between her teeth is a breath close to a laugh, ]

Then it sounds like you should start wrapping things up.

[ And while she only half believes a plant is at fault, she makes a mental note to avoid staying out longer herself. It's fine, there's a whole house to work on now isn't there? ]

Then you have your answer. [ She refuses, she means. ] I don't hold hands with people who's names I don't know.

[ It almost sounds like a 'so what's yours?' kind of tone. ]

[damnpire]

You aren't wrong.

[He can admit her advice is reasonable. She is a great deal more prickly than he is, but their understanding seems to bisect at pragmatism.]

My name is D.

[Not much of a name for her, but something nevertheless. It isn't really a haste to hold her hand, so much as she called out his lack of manners, and this offends his own sensibilities of being polite. When it comes to randomly grabbing her hand initially anyway.]

[furibund]

[ She breathes through her nostrils - a sound that sounds more like acknowledgement than a verbal answer. The name offered doesn't earn so much as an eyebrow raise, but then the universe was a huge place and naming conventions depended on planets. Who was she to question it? ]

[ So she nods, in short offering: ]

Nebula.

[ ... A pause. And then quickly, added: ]

This doesn't mean I'm holding your hand now, either.

[ Important boundaries. ]

[damnpire]

A pleasure.

[Just because he is one of the weirdest guys here who is equally as weird about etiquette for some reason. The brim of the hat bows along with his head, obscuring the top half of his face briefly.]

That's alright.

[He really won't pressure her to take his hand again. If nothing else, hopefully the pollen won't get her either.]

Did you arrive recently?

[furibund]

[ Nebula gives a sharp nod of her head and says no more. ]

[ Her hands, as it were, fold across her chest as she adjusts her weight to one side. The curve of her mouth low - bemusement? ]

No. [ Frank. ] It's been an annoying long two months by this planet's standard.

[ ... So, yes. A newer arrival than most, but she's not some wet-behind the ears spring flower! >| ]

[damnpire]

[The two of them are... maybe a bit too similar in many ways. Perhaps this is why he is not bothered at all by how Nebula goes about things, especially unsolicited hand-holding.

SHE IS SO FUNNY. D assigns her new, but not naive. He remembers when he had only been here for a month or so, and everyone else could tell.]

And many annoying more to come.

[They are suffering. It's perhaps a little clear he is not exactly the type of person to wander up to every single person and try grabbing their hand, not when he feels like being here is bothersome. IT IS. Send him back!!]

Do you plan to go back home?

[furibund]

[ Nebula inclined her head, but said nothing. In some ways, it's probably agreement. Most things were annoying, growing up as she had left little room for frivolities. It's more in-line with disagreement from the low curve of a corner of her lip that appears to breathe: I don't plan on staying here long enough to find out. ]

[ How she would accomplish that is a different thing altogether. The question itself earns a raised brow. She knows her answer, that doesn't mean she's going to give it so easily - even if being a Meridian gives off some of that answer. ]

Is that the first thing you usually ask about others?

[damnpire]

You would be surprised what people tell you when you ask.

[Well, ask nicely, but ask in general too. The more ingrained the person was in Meridian or Zenith, the more readily they seemed to be to explain how they were staying to forge a new world, or going home.]

You would be surprised what their answer says about them.

[Rhetorically. She may not be surprised at all by something so simple, and he would expect as much woth how straightforward she appears.]

[furibund]

I don't ask.

[ She'd say she doesn't care, maybe that's part of the truth. The other part is implied: Any questions she ever needed to ask she could get in much harsher means to ensure they give her the answer she wanted. ]

[ Those days are behind her, though. ]

[ Nebula does snort - rolls dark eyes too difficult to really notice and answers: ]

I don't need more people thinking they know me more than they do.

[ Which is a response, isn't it? If he thinks her answering will tell him something about her, she'd rather not. There's already one too many deeming her beliefs one way or another. Even if her desire was to return home, the choice of faction should be proof enough. ] There's already enough of that nonsense going around.

[ What with the gossip magazines... ]

[damnpire]

Sometimes, it doesn't hurt to ask.

[Though getting things out of those more like herself simply by asking is another story. Not that he thinks she'll suddenly decide to start asking questions of anyone she meets.

Besides, he isn't so different. He's not afraid to ask questions, but it keeps people from having the time to ask him questions instead.]

It was strange this one had been broadcasted.

[furibund]

Until you find the wrong person.

[ With the inclination that she is the wrong person and she has neither the interest in reciting her personal motives or the desire to ask him of his. She's just.... like this. If she had a question to ask - she'd do it (even if forcing the answer isn't quite somethign she'd do anymore). ]

It's more strange that others haven't. [ Countered, dryly: ] After all, publishing the names, faces, and weaknesses of your enemy is standard protocol on most planets.

[damnpire]

[If he is worried at all by the idea someone would attack him for so little questioning, her included, he doesn't show it. Nothing can be worse than being attacked for simply existing.]

That's true, but I don't know if the other Oracles had any interest in publicity.

[Ignoring any earlier warnings for the sake of curious conversation:]

What year where you from? Was planetary travel common?

[She is already giving away little things about herself just by talking to him.... (Kidding.)]

[furibund]

It wasn't the Oracles behind it.

[ So yes someone could and probably would broadcast it all over again (annoyingly). And she has half the mind to find them and deal with them herselves, so they can't try again. ]

Planetary travel is common for many planets across the galaxy. [ A beat and she adds, ] It is unlikely we share a common calendar for the year to make sense to you.

[damnpire]

There are plenty of people here who have never heard of such a thing.

[Not because it didn't exist necessarily so much as their timeline was still primitive. Sometimes, all you've got are wagons.]

You can't always be sure. We may have more in common than you think.

[He doesn't point it out, but he understands the personal and professional distance. It's funny he is on the other end of it this time. Karma.]

I'm sorry for being untoward earlier. [He lowers the brim of his hat politely by nodding.] I didn't mean to take up your time.

[furibund]

Obviously, I didn't say there wasn't.

[ Thankfully, she's never seen a society with just wagos or she'd be judging. ]

Each planet has its own calendar. Unless you're from Earth like half of the people around here seem to be, I wouldn't know yours.

[ Not entirely true, anyway. But at least she is all but saying she's familiar enough with Earth's for it to matter. The response feels funny in its stiffness and she breathes out her nose. ]

Just don't try holding my hand again. I'll break it next time.

[ At least she's not saying he took up her time? Is this progress? Sorry, D. ]