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

[indissection]

"It wasn't necessarily what we expected, no," Sidony agrees, frowning as she glances away.

In a way, she had been lucky. Bastien and Byerly had been there with her and that had been a great support when they had all given up something; theirs had been less... Visible than her own, but they had all chosen to do a sacrifice.

There's no denying that she is still struggling with it, however.

"It is done now, however, and I cannot do much else other than adapt."

[notathreat]

Ellie glances down at her own fingers, biting her lip, the nods. She puts her fingers on the strings of her dulcimer, strums out a bar, then stops.

It's plain when she does this; it's an instrument chosen to work around her own missing fingers, so they won't handicap her playing too much.

"My guitar needed all my fingers," she explains, perhaps referencing her own for the first time. "So when I lost them, I stopped being able to play. But... Astarion found me this dulcimer."

She'd made it work.

Sidony will, too.

[indissection]

It’s not something that Sidony is entirely comfortable with at the moment, the idea that her fingers will be gone for good. She knows her husband and Bastien lost a great deal more - fingers are somewhat replaceable, after all - but it still hurts. It still aches. It makes her feel as though her grasp on her dreams is fleeting once again.

But she hasn’t given up this far, and she doesn’t intend to simply stop. Not if she can help it.

“I needed both hands for surgery, but that does not mean I will need both now. I have another hand and I will simply learn to use that. I’ve fought for years for this and I have no intention of stopping now.”

[notathreat]

It's not an easy thing to come to terms with, and goodness knows Ellie's had her share of grief over her own. But it's a pain she does understand, and when she nods, there's a sense of acknowledgement, of respect.

"Good," she says simply.

"It doesn't seem like you to give up on anything."

[indissection]

That, at least, brings a smile to her face, and she laughs softly.

"I am glad someone seems to think so. It is a slow thing, but I am making it work. I fear I would not be myself if I did otherwise."

[notathreat]

"Don't beat yourself up if it takes a little bit." Ellie shrugs one shoulder.

"And if you... y'know, hurts sometimes in bad weather. That's normal."

[indissection]

Sidony nods, turning her head down to look at her fingers for a moment, before she breathes out.

"I know of the pain of phantom limbs and difficult wounds. But I wonder, for the magical nature of this, will there be more? Or will it act as I know it should? That is the worrying aspect. Will there be more?"

[notathreat]

Ellie tips her head. It kinda sounds like this is something that's been knocking around in Sidony's skull for a while, driving her crazy.

"What do you think might happen?"

[indissection]

"I don't know," Sidony frowns. "It was a magical injury, so there are any number of possible side effects. And who is to say that whatever did this isn't going to come back and ask for more?"