OPEN: Satinalia

[faderifting]

WHO: Everyone
WHAT: SATINALIA
WHEN: Firstfall 1
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: Party hard, use content warnings, move explicit content to inboxes.

Named for Satina, the smaller of Thedas' two moons, Satinalia is a celebration of freedom, marked by wild celebration, pranks, the donning of costumes and masks -- not the fine, delicate masks of Orlais, but animals and caricatures and playful horrors -- and the exchange of gifts both sincere and satirical.

There is no party at the Gallows, but those who can be spared on Satinalia may be given the night off to join Kirkwall's celebration, which spans the entire city and will take several days to peter out. Hightown plays host to lavish balls—but you'll need an invitation, and the unlucky guards posted at the stairs leading into the nobles' district are especially on guard for mischief-makers. There's no such crackdown in Lowtown, where masked revelers spill out of taverns and into the streets, often bringing barrels of ale along with them. Even Darktown gets involved, in its own way: anyone who can afford a celebration goes to Lowtown, but some of the roving bands of thieves in the tunnels don animal masks for the occasion.

And near the docks, enterprising children draped in white cloth are selling admission to a "haunted" warehouse for one copper. Adorable—except that some of the partiers exiting seem genuinely terrified, with one unfortunate man even having wet himself. Taking the children up on their offer will reveal that they have a genuine haunting on their hands. Doors slam, objects fly, footsteps appear in the dirt floor. There's laughter at the edge of hearing and movement on the edge of vision, and brief snatches of a sea shanty sung in a monotone. Make a hasty exit, or try to find the source.

Comments

[arlathvhen]

The first thought that occurs to her is that even disguised, she manages to fuck this up. How can she possibly hope to actually succeed in getting anywhere as herself, if she can't even manage it when he has no idea who she is?

Her second thought involves cursing stupid mabari that are not actually stupid, and are in fact too smart for their own good. When James attempts to free himself, she allows it, and then uses her hands to try to gently fan Interceptor away from her. It's almost distracting enough for her to miss James' query--but not quite.

What can she even say to that? It's one thing to feign a different identity, but it's another to outright lie to someone that she...is fond of. "Perhaps I have. Whyever would you be looking for her?" The mask hides her surprise, but she can't quite take the tone of incredulity out of her voice. Why would James be wasting the festival hunting through the streets for her, of all people?

[judgemewhole]

Interceptor whines, but clearly Beleth is up to something, so he just sits and wags his tail expectantly.

For his part, James is peering around once more, so he doesn't see her fanning away Interceptor, not Interceptor sitting patiently by to see what the 'trick' of this is.

He looks back at her for a moment, and his ears flush red, before he clears his throat. "I ... rather wanted to ask her to dance, as you have asked me." He rubbed his the back of his neck, clearing his throat. "Perhaps get a drink. I am ... not entirely sure what after that." He shook his head, "At any rate - I mean - Uh. I am looking for the pleasure of her company tonight, so if you could tell me where you might have seen her?"

[arlathvhen]

There's a long pause as the woman stares up at him. Her expression is a mystery, but she doesn't move from her position. After some contemplation, she glances back down at the dog, fingers beginning to nervously fidget with the hem of her sleeve. She should probably control that, but--plenty of people have nervous tics.

After a while, she finally speaks. "Ser, I can't help but questioning your tastes. But if you really insist..." Then, hesitantly, she slides the fox mask up, revealing Beleth looking incredibly embarrassed, but there's a small, shy smile tugging at her lips nevertheless.

"...I suppose I'll see what I can do."

[judgemewhole]

James waited politely - well at least politely until she 'questioned' his taste. He glowered at her, taking a step forward to state that his 'tastes' were for women of character, Thank You Ever So Much' ...

And then the mask went up. Interceptor barked happily. And James's eyes widened as he flushed completely red.

"Oh! Ah! It's you! You are here. You are the one who - right. I should ..." Maker's Breath he was an idiot. He cleared his throat, and then added helplessly, "... is it too late to accept the dance offer?"

[arlathvhen]

"I--I'm so sorry." The festival is a fascinating place, and it's easy to look everywhere except at James. "I should have said something sooner, I know, but--Um. I just." She'd never taken the time to really look at the cobblestone road before. How fascinating. "I just wanted to be...someone other than the Scoutmaster, tonight. I don't want to have to be responsible and proper and set a good example."

She sighs, fidgeting with her hands. "I'm sure that sounds stupid. I took this job, knowing what it entailed. And I love it, I do. I wouldn't trade it for anything. But...it's a 24-hour job. I'm never not the Scoutmaster." It sure sounds stupid to her. What would Petrana and Thranduil say if they could hear her? She'd be mortified.

Slowly, her gaze manages to lift up to almost Jame's face. Quite nearly there. "I--I would still love to dance, if you still think I'm worth the time."

[judgemewhole]

His gaze softens more and more as she keeps speaking, because if anyone understands how nervous she is? It's him. His lips curve up at the corners, before he clears his throat and looks away himself for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

"Actually ... . I understand that perfectly." He exhaled, giving her a warm and wry smile. "For when am I not the Knight Commander? When don't I have to try to give a good showing of myself?"

He paused, to look inside of his cloak, to find a rather crumpled mask within. He took it out, and gave her a hopeful smile, "I would be honored ... and ... why don't we both just be ourselves tonight, and not our title?"

He took her hand, and folded their fingers between one another. "So ... Beleth, let us dance the night away."

[arlathvhen]

Beleth is aware that she is both grinning like an idiot, and blushing like one, as well. She has a distant feeling that she should be far more self-conscious than she is, but at this moment, she just can't quite care about it.

"I would like that a great deal," She admits, and then--eyes glancing to him, then back down, as she struggles to spit it out: "But I remember you mentioning getting something to drink, as well. Surely you're not planning on taking that back?"

Okay, yes, she is at the moment, the biggest idiot in the entire Inquisition. But she's pretty sure it's worth it.

[judgemewhole]

He arches an eyebrow at her, before his smile returns again. Warmer, and a bit more teasing as he states, "Well, I cannot possibly let down a promise to a lady, can I? So no, I am not taking ... any of it back."

Not a word, not a desire, not anything. She was rather stuck with him this evening.

[arlathvhen]

"Good, I'm--I'm glad." Smooth. Super smooth. Maybe she should stop trying that whole talking thing, since it's obviously not going well for her.

So instead, she reaches and grabs his hand--something she normally wouldn't just do, but. Today is about taking risks she wouldn't normally. She underestimated just how distracting holding his hand might be, and it takes her a few moments of grinning like an idiot to actually start pulling him towards the dancing.

"I'll warn you now, I'm not the best dancer, so I hope you'll bare with me."

[judgemewhole]

"I'm glad too ..." He managed to get that out without stuttering, so that was good. He was probably still smiling back like a complete twit, but he'll take what he can get at this point.

He lets himself be easily pulled, before he chuckles, "I'm sure I can find it in me to forgive you, as long as you forgive me falling over my own tongue."