SATINALIA

[incaenstrix]

WHO: Everybody!!
WHAT: SATINALIA!!
WHEN: Backdated to the first day of Firstfall
WHERE: Gallows courtyard
NOTES: Drunkenness and shenanigans. HALLOWEENMAS!!

This Satinalia is, perhaps, less grand than in years past. Blockades are still limiting access to luxury goods, after all, so the fine liquors and dainty foods that have been featured before are nowhere to be found. And Tertia, the temporary Morale Officer, doesn't have the connections or deft touch of organizers past, so things are rougher than they've been before - the musicians are less polished, the ale a little more watered-down, the decorations somewhat haphazard.

But you know what? It's still Satinalia. Nothing can really screw up Satinalia. Especially because there are some rather lovely touches, the best of which might well be the ice skating rink. A section of the Gallows Courtyard has been roped off and frozen over with magic, leaving a (largely) smooth sheet of ice covering it. Skates are available to borrow if you don't have a pair. Of course, some injuries are definitely going to result (if you skate off the edge, you're smacking into stone instead of a soft snowbank, which can be disastrous), but hey, it's fun.

Other perks are the bonfires, with mulled wine and cider being served out of cauldrons around them, where people might sit and reflect while watching the flame. There's also dancing, of course, with the musicians basically being any band that's been recommended by members of Riftwatch - so there are lots of half-competent cousins-of-friends playing here. What they lack in skill they make up for in enthusiasm; this is the first gig for a lot of them, and they're thrilled to be here.

One thing that's missing is the Satinalia fool being named ruler. Tertia wasn't familiar with this tradition and didn't arrange it - so there's a last-minute campaign being held, in which people can either nominate others or self-nominate to be named Riftwatch's greatest fool to be celebrated.

Enjoy yourself. Exchange presents. Get drunk. Have a blast. Don't lose any teeth.

Comments

[favoriteanalyst]

[In some ways, it's easy to see why the commander would have fans. The grin in the face of the grim is infectious.]

Oh, no, if Orlais is on the table, then I'd much rather stay in the Gallows in Kirkwall. Perish the thought that we sully our reputation further.

[It will always be easy to dunk on Orlais. Low-hanging fruit is still fruit.]

[katabasis]

Diplomatically speaking, I'm compelled to note that Orlais has been among our most steadfast allies in this whole business. [Not even he seems convinced by that particular sentence though; low hanging fruit indeed.] So long as we're not consulting Starkhaven for their opinion. Or Tantervale. Or any of the Nevarrans.

[Weird how Orlesian forces never seem to wander very far outside their borders when they've actually been invited to.]

[favoriteanalyst]

[Strange that. How very odd. Surely just a coincidence.] You'd think in times of war, people might put their differences aside to unite as a front. Look how easily it happened with the Blight.

[Very easy, and not involving a small band of misfits and two very weird and determined Grey Wardens working a few miracles with nothing but some string and spit. There were definitely no problems getting everyone on board with fighting an enemy that was going to kill them all!]

Thankfully I'm not paid for my diplomatic skills.

[katabasis]

[Flint's amused snort from behind the wolf mask has the cutting and grousing quality of someone who's heard this joke before but still finds some bitter humor in it's trajectory. It's incredible, one might suggest, that the whole world hasn't collapsed a few dozen times prior to this point. But then they might have to think a little on the Arlathan and the elves and their once great cities. With as cheery as the party has managed to be thus far, surely there are better trajectories to follow than that one.

Such as: the dance splitting partners again to the off kilter tune of poorly played music. By the time they link back up again, Flint has decided to pursue the obvious alternative—]

I have to wonder whether we're paying you for the right things now. Research seems an odd choice.

[favoriteanalyst]

Oh ho? Does it?

[Is it, perhaps, a dig at his Templar history? Flint knows, after all. He's not nearly as handy with a sword as he used to be, before his hands went numb from ancient elven bullshit, or even when he was younger and more spry. But if he gets pointed to a battlefield full of enemy mages and told to smite them with the hand of the Maker, well. He certainly wouldn't shy away from the prospect.]

What do you think might suit an old bookworm better, Commander?

feel free to disregard if this is too old!

[katabasis]

[From behind the wolf's mask, the look Mobius receives in reply has the air of some sly, shared confidence—two people who know perfectly well what they both know—all stitched through with the bemused undercurrent of: Well, he's not going to say it first. That would be gauche.]

I'm an old bookworm, [he says instead.] But apparently I've other talents that better suit the work to hand. I'd be surprised if that weren't your case as well.