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

tom collins | the adventure zone:(k)nights

[pacte]

A ▸ SEARCHING

[ As a newcomer and someone who doesn't really have anyone to mourn, Tom feels rather out of place at the celebration that's going on. In spite of that, he still goes out because the event draws out a lot of people and that provides the perfect opportunity to see if he can find some familiar faces in the crowd. He helps out where he can whenever he's asked to help hang or hand out lanterns, but largely his focus is on finding out if his friends or anyone else from the Capital City have found their way here.

To that end, he has his familiar out and scanning the crowds. Some people might:

1) Notice the bat that's—curiously enough to perhaps warrant some investigating—flying around in broad daylight and possibly even spot the twitchy fellow that's following it a few paces behind.

2) See Tom pause and glance around, catching your eye and then making a few motions with his hand in a Thieves' Cant, looking as if he's expecting you to recognize it.

3) Or maybe you're someone unfortunate enough to have the bat suddenly nosedive and briefly get real close to your face before flitting off again after which Tom will rush over, mildly flustered and hurriedly saying: ]

S-sorry about that, he thought you were someone else.

B ▸ CARE FOR A DRINK? (CLOSED TO ROOMMATES & VISITORS OF COMMUNAL FLOOR 6)

[ Adjusting to new shared living quarters is a little easier the second time around now that he's done the same back home after joining the Beasts of the Ring. All things considered, he adapts pretty quickly and he does his best to be a thoughtful, considerate roommate.

It's just that today he's taken over a portion of the kitchen table out of necessity.

Having accepted the job of bartender, he's found out that this world has some drinks that he's never heard of so he's practicing mixing them; various bottles and glasses strewn over part of the table. There's just one little conundrum: it's not exactly feasible to try it all out himself. So as soon as he hears someone enter the kitchen, he chimes up: ]

Hey there! Um, would you like to try a drink?

C ▸ WILDCARD

[ Want to do something else? Go for it! Tom can be found all over the place during the day and at night he'll be working as a bartender at The Quarantine Bar. ]

B.

[aeturnus]

[ Howdy, roomie. ]

What's the proof?

[ He doesn't really care that much, but really? Stranger offering drinks out of nowhere? He's gotta get heckled at least a little. ]

[pacte]

[ 'Sup, roomie.

Tom isn't fazed by the question in the slightest. To him, it's a normal thing to ask and it's his job to know so he hardly misses a beat as he responds in his usual shaky tone of voice. ]

80, about 40% by volume. I made a Daiquiri with this.

[ 'This' is emphasized by Tom grabbing one of the bottles on the table and holding it up. It's got Bacardi Superior written on it. ]

[aeturnus]

[ His brows go up for the continued nervous-sounding voice, but he holds a hand out for the mixed drink. ]

Sure, let's give it a go. Hard to say no to free drinks.

[pacte]

[ Sorry man, nervous is pretty much his default state of being.

He brightens at the acceptance of his offer though, setting down the bottle and picking up the cocktail glass to hand it over. ]

L-let me know what you think! We don't have this brand of rum where I'm from so it's a new one for me.

[aeturnus]

[ Somehow he gets the feeling even having some of his own product wouldn't help that for Tom...

Anyway, he takes a small drink and is silent for a moment. ]

It's not bad. Not quite sweet enough for me.

[pacte]

[ It sure wouldn't.

Tom watches with anticipation, trying to be subtle about it and failing, until he gets an answer at which he nods and (shakily) smiles. ]

O-okay, thank you.

[ He turns away briefly to write something down on a notepad that's on the table before looking back. ]

Are you one of the new arrivals too?

[aeturnus]

[ This guy wears his heart on his sleeve, apparently, and Cain can't help but be amused. He sets the drink down and kind of gets comfortable against the table instead. ]

Yeah. You just get here too?

[pacte]

[ Tom shifts in his seat a little to better face his presumed roommate. ]

Yeah, I'm pretty new too. Crazy place, huh?

[ It's ... one way to describe a world so vastly different from his own. ]

I'm Tom Collins.

A3 - bless you for playing him

[hevenly]

[ Angela nearly snatches the offending beast from the air, but decides to be merciful this once and let it fly away. The ensuing apology does little to assuage her ruffled feathers. It's hard to imagine a six foot something, scantily clad warrior woman with fiery red hair and distinctive facial markings being mistaken for anyone but herself.

Still, merciful. ]

It is no trouble.

aw thanks, he's a delight

[pacte]

[ Frankly Tom isn't sure what Chaser was thinking, singling out this intimidating figure of a woman, but he still feels the need to defend his familiar a little bit. That, and she doesn't seem too pleased regardless of her words so he probably owes her an attempt at some further explanation. ]

I'm looking for my friends and one of them— well, she has a similar height as you so ...

[ Hence the mix-up? Or something like that.

He'll just ... sheepishly hold up a hand for Chaser to land on so he stops circling the air above them and keep him from potentially inciting more annoyance. ]

[hevenly]

[ Given her height, Angela is in a unique position to gaze over the heads of the crowd. She does so now, looking out for anyone else of her height. ]

Your friend. What does she look like?

[pacte]

[ Tom recognizes the help offered here and eagerly takes it. If anyone has a good vantage point, it would certainly be this lady so why not? ]

She's a tiefling, so she kinda has demonic features? She has horns and a tail, anyway. She usually carries a staff with her and wears rags.

[ Basically Troth would really stand out in this crowd and be easily spotted. ]

[hevenly]

[ Angela doesn't know what a tiefling is by name, but she can certainly look for demonic features. ]

I see none matching that description here.

[ Could be his friend is just not in this immediate area, or it could be she is not in the quarantine at all. ]

[pacte]

[ It's really not surprising news at all, but he can't help but be a little disappointed. ]

Ah, that's- that's too bad.

[ A beat before he offers a shaky smile. ]

But thank you for looking, that's kind of you.

[hevenly]

[ It was kind. Perhaps too kind. ]

What will you do for me in return?

[pacte]

[ Well, that's ... unexpected. Tom looks quizzical for a second until he decides it's better to just roll with it. ]

Um, is there anything you need help with?

A2

[spellslots]

[Things Taako doesn't understand: thieves' cant.

Things Taako can recognize even if he can't parse out the actually meaning: the answer is thieves' cant again. So when he sees what Tom's doing, he still wanders over with a grin, happy to have apparently found someone from a similar world as his own.]

Sorry, my dude, no rogues here as far as I can tell. Although, admittedly, that could just mean they're a real good rogue...

[HMM]

[pacte]

[ Briefly Tom's hopes soar when he's being approached with a grin, thinking that he's found a fellow Beast of the Ring. It's entirely possible given how new he is to the organization himself, he doesn't know everyone or even how many people are a part of it. It's full of so many different types that the elf coming his way could be as likely a candidate as anyone.

Unfortunately that hope is short-lived when it becomes apparent that the meaning of the signal was lost on this person. But the disappointment is there and gone in a flash again, because hey ... ]

Oh, but you recognize it! [ Hardly anyone seems to recognize thieves' cant for what it is so that alone is exciting enough. ] I'm not really a rogue myself, it's just something from back home for a— specific group, I guess you could say?

[ He's probably not supposed to talk about the secret sign of the Beasts of the Ring or even being a member though. SO UH, quickly moving on before he loses all subtlety in his excitement and blurts things out he's not supposed to again. ]

Where are you from?

[spellslots]

[Their approach to secret organisations is markedly different, but Taako doesn't really care enough to push it for now and find out what that specific group is. He's more focused on the overall fact that a) this guy knows thieves' cant and b) he's a half-elf.]

Faerûn, which I'm gonna be so psyched if you know, cause most the folks here are from some shitty planet called Earth.

[That's not really true, but he's mostly counting from the arrivals that have come since he arrived, rather than the people who've been set up here for years.]

[pacte]

[ The way his face turns sheepish and apologetic already gives away the mutual disappointment that's about to happen. If not a fellow Beast of the Ring or a citizen of the Capitol City, here he'd been hoping he'd at least found someone from his own world, but alas. ]

No, I'm sorry, I don't know Faerûn. I'm from Iren.

[ Which isn't going to mean much when they're from different worlds. Oh well, at the very least it seems their worlds have similarities and there's some comfort to be found in that. Certainly more so than this Earth. ]

Earth must be full of just humans.

[ Because there sure are a whole lot of those. It's weird. ]

[spellslots]

[He's a little disappointed, but not enough to make a fuss over, since it's hardly Tom's fault and at least their worlds are somewhat alike. Tom will probably get it when he complains about being real easy to kill.]

Can't win 'em all, I guess. [Maybe next time he'll get lucky.] And yeah, it's only humans on Earth. A couple have things called metahumans which is like, they got powers but it's not magic, they can just fly or are crazy strong and shit.

[A very helpful explanation.]

[pacte]

[ Very helpful indeed. Any disappointment he has is quick to be replaced by puzzlement at the new information he's being given about 'Earth', it's tripping him up a little. ]

That's— uh, very strange. [ It's not even the only humans thing or the powers of unknown origin. No, what puzzles Tom most: ] Don't they have magic at all? I can't imagine a world without it.

[ Both as a magic user and as someone from a world that practically runs on a combination of steam power and the arcane arts. ]

[spellslots]

Tell me about it, the whole thing is fucking wild and most of them won't even believe you on the magic front unless you prove it.

[Which does make Taako ask:]

You got any magic yourself?

[pacte]

[ The weirded-out look on his face reflects the sentiment of 'fucking wild' until he's asked a question and he promptly looks nervous.

Or more so than usual anyway. ]

Oh, yes. Yes, I am a wizard.

[ With how strangely rehearsed that sentence sounds, the way his voice cracks on the word 'wizard' surely makes the statement all the more believable. He quickly clears his throat in an attempt to cover it up (badly so) before pressing on. ]

What about— what about you then?

[ This elf sure looks way more like a wizard than he does which makes him all the more nervous about the lie, but he can always hope. ]