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

[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. ]

[spellslots]

[Taako's eyebrows go right up, skeptical of just... everything that went on in that moment, but he attributes it to "maybe a shitty wizard" rather than anything else.]

Hey, that's sweet! I am also a wizard, transmutation if you wanna get into schools.

[Despite Tom being... Tom, it's kinda neat to run into another wizard.]

[pacte]

[ Well.

Shit.

Time to make a mental note to be very careful about his magic and his cover-up stories around this person. ]

R-really? That's neat! [ Sound forced much? ] I haven't really settled on a school yet, so it's a bit of everything right now. But I guess I'm leaning towards conjuration?

[ Or rather his conjuration spells are also wizard spells so it's his safest bet here. ]

[spellslots]

You are giving me heart palpitations just looking at you, my fella.

[He is nothing if not blunt, most of the time, but he does also give Tom a little pat on the arm that's meant to be reassuring.]

Are you kind of a shitty wizard? It's cool if you are, I mean, most people here don't know shit about magic, a cantrip will impress these dipshits. You don't have to sweat it.

[pacte]

S-sorry.

[ Better get used to it because that's just how he is. At least he sounds sheepish and self-aware about it?

And he sure does the cool thing of stiffening at the pat. It's very reassuring, clearly. The blunt question doesn't make him falter for very long at all though. ]

I ... suppose? I mean, I'm only a level four and I haven't used magic out on the field a whole lot.

[ Better to be seen as a shitty wizard than the truth, right? Right. ]

[spellslots]

You don't have to apologize just like, take a deep breath? Chill? I promise I don't bite.

[That's not entirely true but Tom doesn't need to know that, and for now Taako is happy enough to have another wizard that he'll... mostly try not to be a jerk.]

I'd say you gotta level up, but this place is pretty chill as long as you stay outta the forest. But hey, I've got my spell book here if you ever wanna learn some new shit when you level up!

[pacte]

[ What is being chill tho??

But no okay, he'll actually take that advice and pause, take a deep breath, then smile (... nervously) and nod. ]

I doubt my job will have me going in the forest a lot. [ Or like, at all. Which is a blessing even though he'd rather be back in his own bar. The kind offer is still a tempting one though. Even if he can't really learn the spells, the chance to look at a wizard's spell book is an interesting one. ] But that's generous of you, I—

[ Tom cuts himself off abruptly, attention torn away when Chaser suddenly swoops down from the sky, returning from his sweep of the area. Tom stretches a hand out for the bat to alight on, distracted by the news his familiar brings. ]

No luck, huh? That's alright.

[spellslots]

[Taako gives him an encouraging thumbs up for that successful deep breath and like .5 seconds of chill.

And then there's a bat, which is, okay kinda weird, not exactly a wizard thing, but it's not entirely unfamiliar for people to just have pets. This guy sure is kinda odd though.]

Looking for your friends?

[It's a simple assumption to make, everyone does it when they first arrive.]

[pacte]

[ His gaze snaps back to Taako, looking mildly apologetic about the interruption, before he nods. ]

Oh, yes. I am. It doesn't seem like they're here though.

[ Both of them would stand out far too much to go unnoticed for long in this place. Troth because she's a tiefling and Lenny because ... well, he's Lenny. His keytar would probably help too.

Something wistful passes across Tom's face until he feeds Chaser a banana slice and Taako will get to see him at what is probably his most relaxed as he thrills over the sight and can't resist giving the bat a quick nuzzle. ]

This is my familiar, Chaser.

[ His pride and joy, obviously. ]

roll20 lied to me apparently find familiar IS a wizard spell

[spellslots]

[First of all: that's stupidly cute and it's rude.]

'Sup, Chaser.

[He wiggles his fingers in a little wave, not sure exactly how intelligent a bat familiar is going to be, but after Wanda's mice he'd rather just be careful and not be a dick to cute animals.]

If you're looking for folks the best bet is the network, has anyone shown you how that shit works?

[Since Tom is from a similar world to Taako, he's guessing the whole tiny devices with screens might be a bit unusual.]

[pacte]

[ Just wait, it's get cuter and ruder.

Because when Taako greets Chaser, the bat pauses his consumption of the banana piece to squeak a greeting in return. (Which, naturally, delights Tom all the more too so that's another slice for Chaser.) ]

Yes, they showed me when I arrived here. It's a bit more complicated than the technology we've got back home though.

[ It is plenty unusual, but he more or less got the gist of it. It's more a case of not having the confidence to really use it. ]

[spellslots]

[Chaser is officially his favourite (sorry Tom).]

More than a few people have made announcements looking for their friends and shit, so you should do that if you think they might've turned up. Seems to be a luck of the draw deal, there's a half dozen dipshits all from the same world, but then you've got just ol' Taako from my world.