[open] picnic at hanging rock

[heirring]

WHO: Wysteria, EVERYBODY, a bunch of demons, and I guess some guy named Tony Stark
WHAT: A picnic to celebrate a Riftversary goes terribly wrong. No, it has nothing to do with the rift that opens in the middle of it and everything to do with Wysteria forcing everyone to speed date.
WHEN: Mid-Kingsway
WHERE: The Scenic Vimmark Foothills in September
NOTES: Some light demon fighting and rift closing violence, will update if necessary.

PICNICKING
With the weather having only just recently cleared of its end of summer storms, taking the worst of the miserable humidity with it, it's almost a pleasant time accept an invitation to a picnic in the foothills East of Kirkwall. Posted on the Gallows notice board and distributed personally to a few close friends and enemies, the invite had read:

You are Cordially Invited to attend a Celebration acknowledging the completion of a year since Miss Wysteria Poppell arrived in Thedas. Please follow the Map on the facing page. Refreshments Provided. Games Obligatory. Gifts Optional.

And so roughly twenty blankets of varying sizes and patterns have been requisitioned (unofficially, with written apologies to the Seneschal slipped under his office oor) from the Gallows and laid in rough rows on a slightly less miserable than usual hill overlooking dark line of the Waking Sea. The refreshments? Meager. They're largely Gallows-typical fare packed in baskets, end of summer fruit and what is sure to be the last of cheaply had honey cakes before the shortage of sugar causes the market value of honey to skyrocket. But at least the wine on hand is excellent.

PARTY GAMES
--Which is a good thing, because the party games require a certain level of inebriation to be truly enjoyable. For those who'd like to preserve some sense of dignity, there are various card games and croquet (get your practice in now, Riftwatch Leaguers!); for the brave and daring, there is Snapdragon - a game in which participants snatch raisins from a shallow bowl of burning brandy.

But the main event, dubbed Tête-à-Tête, requires all partygoers to be numbered off intos ones and twos and then break up into pairs. Each pairing has three minutes to have whatever conversation they like together. At the end of three minutes, Wysteria rings a bell and Number Twos rotate to the next Number One waiting on their blankets of choice. And so on. No exceptions.

IT'S ALL FUN AND GAMES UNTIL--
The warmth of the day, the scorched fingertips, the limping conversation, and the dry Gallows rations all conspire to indulge in a not insignificant liquoring up. Which means the rift tearing open over the party is potentially more disastrous than normal. Good luck; don't get slashed by a Terror demon, and don't get caught under under new Rifters falling through from out of the fade.

Comments

i

[overharrowed]

Julius is easy enough to coax into croquet; after all, she's already coaxed him into dueling so she could take notes and involving her in his project to magically expel dust from various crevices of the Gallows. A lawn game is hardly a major ask.

Good-naturedly, he says, "There are too many ways to fault. One is afraid to breathe very hard in the direction of the field of play. But at least it's fine weather to lose soundly at a game from another world." If one wanted to blame him later for saying the equivalent of it could be worse, they could.

[heirring]

"Oh pish posh, Enchanter. What kind of attitude is that? It sounds to be as if you are merely avoiding your turn. Come now, this is the beauty of the game - it could turn at any minute, you see. And so you musn't give up simply because my score is so far ahead of yours."

She's being a cheeky shitheel, but the flashing smile and cheerful temperament suggest she both knows and is mostly joking. Wysteria hooks her mallet jauntily over one shoulder.

"The Lady Asgard ne de la Fontaine and I have been experimenting with variations on the rules, you know. Discussing the legality of certain methods of sabotage and that sort of thing and whether it might be applicable to leverage one's particular talents to affect play. After all, an individual who has spent their whole life training with a mace will certainly have an advantage with striking a ball farther than, say for example, myself. We had contemplated what an all mage match up game might look like and I wouldn't mind some practical experimentation to test the theory if you feel it might lend you an edge in the field today."

[overharrowed]

Julius smiles. Whether or not his complaint is sincere, he isn't put off; of the things to not be naturally gifted at, "a game that involves mallets" is one he can live with.

"An interesting question. My immediate thought would be to allow the use of glyphs under certain circumstances. Useful for both moving things and making it so things can't move." He gamely prepares to take his turn, even though Wysteria's lead is such that it can't much matter at this point. As he does, he adds, "I'm sure someone will just want to set the balls, mallet or both on fire. There's always one mage who suggests setting it on fire when considering any novel problem."