introductory mingle: MEMORIA

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Memoria Commemoration
when: May 1st - May 8th
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

memoria

In the days leading up to May 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: Memoria. A more solemn celebration than Sampremi or the Flower Festival, Memoria is a week-long time of remembrance for those lost in the Great War and the epidemic that decimated Riverview Quarantine's population 10 years ago. Memoria traditions include lighting lanterns for the dead, telling stories about lost loved ones or lost homes, eating meals with loved ones, and a special gathering to send floating lanterns down the river in honor of those lost.

a solemn commemoration of those lost

While the main city-wide event associated with Memoria is the floating of lanterns down the river on the evening of May 8th, the holiday is generally seen as a time of reflection on and appreciation of things that have been lost - people, homes, cultures, and planets. It is also a celebration of the things that remain. Many locally-owned shops will host displays of culturally-significant food, and will hand out informational flyers sharing the unique customs of their own homeworlds. There is a heavy emphasis on sharing time with family, friends, and lovers, and anyone who is able to will cook meals or treats for loved ones, or at least purchase them something good to eat.

i. hanging lanterns

Throughout the entire week of Memoria, residents will be hanging lanterns around the city. Lanterns are generally placed in greater number in places of passage - streets, bridges, and all alongside the train lines are particularly well-decorated, as are any trees alongside paths, and most homes and businesses have a profusion of lanterns around their doors and windows. This tradition is twofold; some people believe that the lanterns are hung in these places in order to guide the spirits of the dead back to those who still love them, other people believe that the lanterns are to give light for living loved ones to find their doors in times of darkness...many people believe both.

No matter what your character might believe, you can be sure they will find themselves offered a lantern for free from various businesses or friendly citizens passing by, and invited to hang it before the sun sets, or they may be handed a bundle of lanterns and asked to help share them with others.

ii. sharing life

Throughout the city, characters will find groups of people gathering to share hot drinks and talk about their loved ones lost, their homes and planets, or their experiences during the Great War and the epidemic. Anyone who has lost someone, who has fought to survive, who is feeling cut off and homesick, is welcome to sit and share their story. If your character chooses to sit and to share their story, they will find that people will gather to listen, will generally be respectful of the telling, and may share their own similar experiences in return. This is an excellent time to air grief in an environment where most people understand and respect grief, and a good time to deepen the connections to others around you, to understand them better.

There is also a very large focus on cooking or purchasing meals or treats for loved ones during Memoria, with many people taking meals with everyone they care about during the week of the holiday. Some go the extra mile and will hand out baked goods (usually chocolate or cinnamon), packets of candy, or other little treats to acquaintances, especially if they would like to form a closer bond with them. This is a great time for characters to reach out to someone they would like to get to know better with a surprise treat!

iii. floating of the lanterns

On the evening of May 8th, just before sundown, many of the city's residents will head toward the banks of the river, where they will light lanterns in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, in honor of their dead loved ones. The types of lanterns vary wildly, based on personality (either of the person floating it or the person they are honoring), culture, and many other factors. Some lanterns are very simple, others are incredibly complex, but the one common feature they all have is that people write on the shades of them - they write about their feelings for their loved ones, their wishes for their relationships and friendships, a memory from childhood or home, or even just lines of poetry or lyrics from songs that express something they miss, or something that hurts them.

Once those emotions are written on the lanterns, the lanterns are set free, floating down the river in the darkening evening, in a cathartic gesture shared by most residents of the city. Waves of lantern floating will start around 7 pm and continue until the sun rises on the morning of May 9th.

iv. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to set up headers for a communal floor, or threads open to roommates for the purpose of getting to know each other. Or if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during Memoria, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: glowconcepts, image ii: by trenchmaker, image iv: cherryorange; image iii: found uncredited on Pinterest - please let the mod know if you find credit!

navigation

Comments

[yorkist]

( Throughout the entirety of his tale, she is silent; rapt, even. She has ever been fond of a well-told story, and this one does not disappoint at all. Even if it is not about the fall of Troy. Because for her, the conflict which this King Ragnar faced hit far, far closer to home than she could have ever thought possible.

Once he is finished, a little smile crosses her face, as she finds something to be delighted about. )

Good. That was well-thought; your father seems to have had a keen mind. And if aught had befallen you, I would not be able to hear of his daring now. Little seems to have changed between then and my era. As apparently, I am to understand we are from all periods in time, worlds and walks of life here.

Betrayal and murder continue to cause power to change hands.

( Leaning back, Elizabeth shifts her legs beneath herself to sit more comfortable, and adds: )

Did your father lead raids, as well, then?

[ragnarsson]

Some things never change no matter how old the world gets.

[He's seen that plainly enough. Ambition and political intrigue will always drive people forward. That and revenge was what was driving Ivar now.]

Many. I went with him on the last one he made to England.

[It had ended with his father's death, but for a crippled teen who had experienced a lifetime of pity, it had been some of the happiest memories of Ivar's life.]

[yorkist]

I believe some five hundred years have passed between that time and my own. The game is still the same; only the players differ.

( She meets his eyes, finding them beautiful to gaze upon as she smiles with some wryness. )

That would be my homeland, of all places. Against the Saxons, yes? The isle has been invaded again since by descendants of your people from across the channel in Normandy.

Then you are a warrior, as well, I take it.

( Of the many things she might be described to be, a fool is not among those. His legs may be immobile, but the rest of him is built much as her father's frame had been in his prime: muscular. Sighing beneath her breath, she raises a hand. )

My name is Elizabeth of York. I was born a Princess of England. You see—even the names your people gave to the land live on. It was once called Jórvík, unless I recall incorrectly.

[ragnarsson]

Judging by others here, nothing much changes with people even after a thousand years. Just the technology gets more advanced.

Yes. We took an army to kill the kings that murdered my father. We'd just finished blood eagling King Aelle when I was pulled here.

[He decides to spare her the details of what blood eagling entails. She reminds him a little of his mother. Not a warrior like a shieldmaiden, but with a quiet strength that some women possessed. Still, this was not the time or place to talk of the torture they'd put the old king through.

Correctly identifying him as a warrior makes Ivar give the first small smile he's had since this festival had started. He's too often an object of pity or surprise, people either unbelieving or astounded that he could be not only a warrior, but a very good one at that.]

I'm Ivar Ragnarsson. Some call me Ivar the Boneless. That's the trading post the English call Eoforwic. I was thinking of turning the army towards that city after we were done killing King Ecbert of Wessex.

[The history books will write of how he was the first Viking conqueror to take the city with the Great Heathen Army.]

[yorkist]

I know not if I should call that sad or comforting. Logical sense would be that eventually humanity might learn from their past.

My own father imprisoned the king who came before him; he was mad. Some claim he had him killed, others that he did the deed himself. But the body was shown to the people, so no rebellion could arise in his name.

For what comfort words might bring you, I am sorry that you lost your father so young. I was seventeen when my own perished.

( She does not wish to know what "blood eagling" entails; at least not right now. Thus, she does not ask. but there is neither fear nor judgment in her as she meets his eyes. Elizabeth can ken well why a Saxon might kill someone perceived as an invader; and why that man's people would seek revenge. Neither side was right or wrong.

The same is the case in the civil war which she was born into. She returns his smile with a gentle one of her own. )

There is a chronicle that speaks of your ferocity. The Saxons were not overfond of you, I think. ( She nods her head, keenly interested. ) Were you seeking to remain in England after you had conquered it?

Some of your people settled in France, to the North. I descended from Robert the First of Normandy. I believe I read his name was Rollo before he converted.

( And she has no idea what that name might mean to him. For all she knows, a century or more may separate him from her ancestor. )

[ragnarsson]

People never learn. Gods might, but people will just keep making the same mistakes as the previous ones over and over again. [He's pretty darn cynical for one so young, but after the life he's led, he's learned never to see the best in people. Their worst sides always come out eventually.]

Then you know the pain that comes from losing someone so important to you. [Ivar had always felt like he had to earn his father's love. To have it so freely given had led him to give ever-lasting loyalty to Ragnar in turn. Even after death, he had a great influence on his son.]

I don't know. I have someone I need to kill back in Kattegat. But there's a big world out there to conquer. [Lagertha wasn't going anywhere and he was going to use the army while he had it. All of England would be under his thumb before he was going back home.

The mention of Rollo made him blink in surprise. There's a name he hadn't expected to hear ever again.]

Rollo? That's the name of my uncle. He betrayed my father for wealth and power given by the Franks. But he's still a Viking. He went with my brothers on a raid to Spain. I suppose that makes us distantly related.

[Not the first distant relation he's found here. Considering how tangled his family tree is already, he really should stop being surprised.]

[yorkist]

That must depend upon the pantheon. From all I have read of the myths of Ancient Greeks, theirs never ceased feuding amongst themselves. The God of my people turns a blind eye to suffering, as well. ( And she has noticed, over the years. When the plight of her family worsened, and no amount of prayer or fasting could bring any sort of relief. Her faith is dwindling, even moreso in this new world. )

I do. I am saddened that you do, as well. ( That was how she had felt regarding her mother. How similar they may find one-another's experiences, were they to speak more deeply on the matter. )

Indeed. You have good fortune in having access to ships in order to do so. I would, were I able. Did something happen in your homeland? An invader had come from France, and felled my Uncle in battle. I cared not for either, as I was their prize to be won. ( The longer she spends away from home, the less Richard's death bothers her. Is she terrible, or had she simply never cared at all?

His question draws her from her thoughts, and she inclines her head in a short nod. Surprise widens her eyes a little, but a warm smile crosses her face. )

Indeed. I know nothing of him from the point of view of your people, simply that he was popular enough that the Normans erected statues of him. His great-grandson went on to conquer my country and was elected fairly as their king by right of conquest. It is a pleasant surprise to find myself among family here, however distant.

( Honestly, she couldn't be more pleased. Though he is at odds with her country in his own era, that bears little weight in how happy she is to simply not be alone here. )