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

[sprent]

See? She's doing better already, and Gela is barely dragging her now that they've picked up a little speed. They are doing lovely loops around the rink together. "The Cumber river froze deep enough away from the crossin', enough to skate on. South Vale side.

Have you been to Nevarra before? The winters can be very cold."

[heirring]

"Just the once, but north," she says, carefree or foolish enough not to give her wobbling feet two much study as they spiral along under Gela's direction. "Nevarra City. I can't say I particularly noticed the cold, though it was around this time of year. To be fair, we'd other matters to worry about."

Given the general assault of the city, the hoards of walking dead, and the various mad old magisters and cursed dragons pirouetting about.

"I heard much of the company went rushing off to Cumberland this summer. Did you go with them?"

[sprent]

"They were goin' right as I was arrivin' here," she admits, smiling through a sudden pang of anxiety, "I thought I should stay back and find my feet before tearin' off."

This isn't quite true, and isn't technically a lie. She feels safe in it, and then she remembers that Wysteria already knows that she is from Nevarra, and awkwardly adds, "I didn't leave my hometown on good terms, so I- it was better for me to stay behind in the Gallows, I think. But I heard the Conclave went well for you."

[heirring]

"Oh, I suppose that's true so long as we consider a delay on any resolutions 'well.'"

This has something of a dismissive air to it like some idle sweeping motion of a hand (if Wysteria had one to spare to such an activity). For her part, she might have preferred to return from Orzammar to proper news rather than just the threat of it. This vague business of no real decisions and no real rules made or unmade makes to rather difficult to gauge in which direction one might lean toward in order to best dodge their effects.

But this, it seems, is a worry for another day and not at all the reason why she'd inquired in the first place. There are more pressing matters than some ineffective Conclave to tend to, namely:

"Is that why you came to Riftwatch? Because of the circumstances of your having left Nevarra? It wouldn't be the first time, you know."

[sprent]

"Well it's not a condemnation," Gela offers, but Wysteria's hand does a flicking motion in the air, so she allows the subject to drop. Besides, she's got some dodging of her own to do now! She's said this before but repeating it always makes her a little bit anxious but Wysteria did not know the river Cumber, so she won't know enough to poke holes in whatever Gela chooses to say, a small relief.

"I don't know if I should find that reassurin' or not..."

In some ways, it is! "At least you'll have all of us here, I have to thank you for that."

[heirring]

"Oh, yes indeed. All together we make for a fine little united party of scoundrels and ne'er-do-wells. So you should find it reassuring, I should think," she says as they scrape along. "Unless of course you're the type to have terrible dreams, or—well, I suppose that's nearly everyone these days, isn't it? But no, I think this is all good news. For all that we've had every color of traitor and murderers, to my knowledge no one in Riftwatch has ever posed a danger to another."

Here, a brief pause for consideration. Then—

"Unless of course you're concerned for your reputation. In which case, no. I would not be at all reassured and would recommend you find your way back to Nevarra as quickly as you're able."

But this must (mostly) be a joke, for Wysteria laughs directly after having said so.

[sprent]

Every colour of traitor and murderer- Gela blanches, visibly unsettled, unsure how Wysteria has pegged her this easily. She forces herself to laugh once she catches the joke, a nervous giggle bursting out of her.

"Oh," she says, relieved, heart beating hard, "No, I- honestly already have a bad enough reputation without bein' with you lot, so I'm not too worried about that." That's her little joke, but it doesn't make her laugh so much as try to change the subject: "Do- our allies think that poorly of us?"