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

[el_tybs]

"Keep your staff and crystal ready then, there hasn't been much reaction just yet, but who knows when we get closer. Fortitude is saying it's in this direction." With one hand still holding the globe and the other on his hilt, Sam turns to go back around the corner he had come from.

[gatheringstorm]

Nodding, Korrin grips her staff in one hand and reaches for her spirit blade hilt with the other. She doesn't activate it yet, of course, but whatever this is won't catch her off-guard. "...I believe it, it's feeling colder as we go. That can't be just me, right?" Korrin knows she complains about the cold where it exists, but to suddenly be hit with it a few feet away from where they were talking is different.

[el_tybs]

"Maybe not? You're more sensitive to the cold then I am and I've been kind of mentally occupied to have noticed." The entire house felt cold because it was run down and unused so if there had been a change it wasn't enough to really make him notice.

"But it's very possi-" Just before he finished the sentence his head jerks as something goes flying by and nicks him across his cheek. A moment later the sound of a pot hitting a wall echoes.

[gatheringstorm]

That causes Korrin to recoil, staring at where she heard that sound. "Fucking hell! This just isn't going to deescalate, is it?" Muttering under her breath about Kirkwall's stupidly thin Veil, she casts a Barrier over them both.

[el_tybs]

Sam meanwhile is in momentarily stunned silence, eyes wide as he stares at what is left of the smashed vase. He touches his cheek where it had grazed him and thankfully it had been a smooth surface.

"We're definitely getting closer... and it's agitating them." It wasn't just the vase, the whole feel to the hallway had shifted. Cautiously Sam peeks around the corner, immediately pulling his head back when he sees a table screech a couple inches. "There's more furniture..."

[gatheringstorm]

"...run through as fast as we can or use Fade Step, let them hit the barrier before it runs out?" Unless he's got a better plan, Korrin will go with the one that immediately comes to mind. She'll get her blade ready to activate and deflect whatever's thrown their way.

[el_tybs]

"Between the two of us I'm sure we can keep the barriers going. Running and dodging does sound like the best bet... I mean, I don't think these halls are wide enough for me to turn into a bear or anything to clear a path." He pauses after he hears a thud, glancing around the corner to see that some books had been tossed to the ground.

"Doesn't look like they're really aiming either."

[gatheringstorm]

"That would be awesome, dammit. Why couldn't they haunt somewhere more spacious?" Some spirits have no taste. Korrin nods, frowning. "Let's move it, then. I want to do this on my terms, not theirs." She refrains from Fade Step out of concern that she'll just do the work for them and slam into a wall, but she does sprint, holding up her blade hilt just in case their aim gets better.

[el_tybs]

"They clearly planned the possibility of us bringing in a bear in some way." Obviously they didn't, but it was always amusing at how Korrin got worked up when there wasn't more bear.

"Take the right when you get by the desk, I'm sensing something down there," he gets out before chasing Korrin down, readying a barrier spell when he feels the current one go down. He can't really see past Korrin as they run so he'll leave it up to her to let him know if they have to dodge. The spirits are acting up more at this point, and that chill Korrin had mentioned suddenly seems to hit Sam now.

[gatheringstorm]

Bears improve everything, at least if they're your friends in bear form. Fuck the ones in the Hinterlands, though.

"Right!" Following Sam's advice, she hopes to be a large, loud distraction while he figures out more about this accursed place. "Ugh, do you feel that? I--chair!" Yep, time to get out of the way. Korrin ducks, hoping that Sam's doing the same but at least the barrier's holding no matter what.

[el_tybs]

He certainly hears the warning, but his reaction is off by a second as he has to go off by Korrin's moves to determine how to react. So pretty much he starts to duck but then has to toss himself to the side at the last second so that one of the chair legs doesn't catch him in the head. Sam groans lightly as he connects with the wall, but other then a bruise he seems fine.

"Yep! Definitely feel that! It's coming from behind the door down that hall."

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin winces as she hears him connect with the wall, glancing over in concern. But that glances is very brief, as she doesn't want something to smack into her while speaking. "Take a moment, Sam. I can guard you if you need to heal yourself."

[el_tybs]

"I think I honestly did more damage to the wall," he groans, getting back to his feet. Nothing he needed to stop and tend to at this moment. "Let's just press on before the heavier stuff comes."

[gatheringstorm]

She nods, not about to mother hen Sam when he's a healer and knows his own limits. So, she turns her attention ahead, tilting her head a little as she listens. "...a sea shanty. Do we have a pirate ghost? Wait until Araceli hears this...."