introductory mingle: RIVER FESTIVAL

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and River Festival
when: The month of August; the bulk of celebration will be in week 1, but there is a party and fireworks display on August 14th.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

river festival

In the days leading up to August 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: The River Festival. This holiday is in celebration of the river and the life that it gives to the city, as well as the heat of summer and forming bonds with friends, family, and romantic partners. The celebrations are marked by a community-wide cleanup of the docks and beaches along the river - particularly important considering the recent acid rain - as well as beachfront cookouts and parties (both private and city sponsored) and beach sports tournaments happening on either open stretches of beach or in special clothing-optional beaches, all capped off with fireworks displays on the evenings of August 7th and 14th.

a celebration of the river and togetherness

Following the hedonism of Carnivale, it's time for something a little more low-key and relaxing. The River Festival happens every year in August, and is geared toward community building through cleaning up the beaches and docks along the river and then using all that freshly cleaned beach to gather on. During the first week of August, there are various lightly-themed government-sponsored beach cookouts and parties geared toward family, romantic dates, or casual all-ages get-togethers for meeting new friends; there are also a few more racy parties at clothing-optional beaches around the city. Many private residents also take this time to gather together friends and family, and have cookouts on the beach with all the typical trappings of the beach barbecue. There are also various casual sports tournaments sponsored by community centers, gyms, and sports teams in the city, featuring prizes ranging from notoriety to sports equipment to big bucks. Finally, there are two fireworks displays, one on August 7th and one on August 14th, with free food, and various live performers beforehand.

i. cleaning up

The holiday starts off on a note that is just a bit more sombre than the rest of the season, with the cleanup efforts following late July's strange fog and acid rain blending into the usual tradition of cleaning up beaches and docks along the river. The cleanup is a group effort, with every citizen who is physically able pitching in to comb the beaches, where they pick up fallen tree limbs, garbage, and anything else that's accumulated during the winter and spring, and then raking the beaches to make them clean and ready to use. The cleanup of the docks is similar, with residents sweeping and hosing them down where necessary. This year, there are a lot of repairs to be made to beachfront structures that might've been damaged by the acid rain, so if anyone has some carpentry or building skills, those would definitely come in handy.

This is meant to be a community building effort, so many businesses in the area, more well-to-do private citizens, and the government have pitched in funding to provide lunches, cold drinks, coffee or tea, and snacks to anyone who's helping out with the cleanup efforts. All in all, the cleanup has a very friendly, welcoming vibe.

ii. cookouts and parties

The main traditions of the River Festival involve cookouts and beach parties. On August 7th and August 14th, the government as well as various corporations and businesses in the city, will be providing funds for large beach gatherings. On these days, there will be booths set up offering wares and freebies from various businesses around the city that have helped fund the party, large swaths of cleared beach where residents can don a swimsuit and catch some rays or swim in the river, massive barbecue setups to provide partygoers with all the standard barbecue fare, beach sports tournaments, dancing and musical performances, and fireworks displays (see prompts below).

The holiday isn't just about these big parties, though - many residents arrange their own barbecues, cookouts, beach camping trips, beach bonfires, and other riverside gatherings and outings. Many riverfront businesses offer discounts on services such as canoe or kayak rentals to go out paddling on the river, jetski or motorboat rentals for tubing, wakeboarding, or waterskiing, or mounts to take romantic rides in the surf. Additionally, there is an adults-only section of the beach where any of these activities can be done in the nude in a clothing-optional setting, including the big city-sponsored parties.

iii. sportsball tournaments

Is your character good at playing a particular sport that could, conceivably, be played on a beach? Chances are that during the month of August, a tournament will be set up for them to participate in. The tournaments are pretty standard, generally sponsored by community centers, sports clubs and teams, gyms, and other organizations and businesses in the city, with various levels of specialization, and levels of skill or competitiveness. The prizes also vary, with everything from plain old bragging rights to sports equipment or passes to gyms and community centers, to large lump sums of cash money. Definitely worth it, for characters with a love for sport.

Oh, and a lot of these tournaments are happening on the adults-only clothing-optional beaches, for those grown-up sports fans who like a bit of an extra challenge.

iv. performances and fireworks

On August 7th and August 14th at the end of the large city-sponsored beach parties, there will be evening performances all along the beach. Not as extensive as the musical performances during Carnivale, there are two large-name performers per night, with various lesser-known groups performing at random off and on throughout the day and night. Areas of the beach are cleared for residents to watch and dance to the music, both on the regular and adults-only clothing-optional beaches (acts will switch off between the two areas so both areas get both performances).

Player-characters who are musical artists, DJs, or otherwise perform are free to set up shop around this party and panhandle or put on free performances for publicity.

After the sun goes down, boats will head out into the water carrying a variety of fireworks, and there will be a beautiful display of exploding color in the sky for residents to watch and enjoy. The fireworks are highly advanced, incorporating old-fashioned gunpowder as well as modern technology that result in really beautiful displays that can take the breath away!

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up one of the mod-posted prompts for each Communal Floor. Or if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during the River Festival, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: credit unknown; image ii: Albert Ramon Puig; image iii: Claudio Pilia; image iv: Alan Philips

navigation

Comments

[tevinteraltus]

As it happens. [Dorian did set aside his work fairly freely and decided to tag along, following suit and losing his own shoes as they near the water. Cleaning is all well and good, but really, he's never been one for manual labor.]

Indeed! I do believe it will wait. [He laughed, taking a breath and just enjoying the out of doors for a moment. He did enjoy the warmer weather, and the Quarantine was certainly a reprieve from the likes of Orlais or Ferelden.]

Dorian, of House Pavus. [And as has been his tendency in order to gauge knowledge, he adds-] Altus mage of the Tevinter Imperium. [And he inclines his head.] A pleasure.

[judicia]

( He knows about Tevinter all right. Not as much as he'd like to, of course — whenever he'd ask Fenris about it, it'd always end up devolving into some kind of an argument. And the things he learned about it in the Circle were always presented in the worst possible light. Still, the other mage flashes him a look of recognition right before sputtering out his own introduction, )

Anders. ( He says, grinning at him before looking down toward his feet. ) A wanted apostate from Ferelden.

( He turns his gaze back up quickly, though, his enthusiasm apparently not dampened. If he had knowledge of his own future notoriety in Thedas maybe he would have played it a bit differently, but since he hasn't, )

I was almost beginning to think no one from Thedas was going to come through that portal. Or, if they did, it would be a templar. ( Because Anders can never seem to catch a break. )

[tevinteraltus]

[Fortunately for Anders, if he asks, Dorian will be more than happy to ramble about Tevinter for hours, or at least as long as the other mage is willing to listen. That, of course, after his own eyebrows rise in recognition. How many wanted apostates named Anders could there be? He...would need to be certain this was the mage who started quite a fuss in Kirkwall, after all, before making any assumptions.]

Anders... [He raises a hand to his chin, stroking his goatee thoughtfully. How best to proceed?] Are you familiar with a dwarf by the name of Tethras?

[He chuckles at Anders' joke.] Ah, yes, well, I don't believe the Templars will be quite such a problem anymore.

[judicia]

I know two. ( One's a lot more pleasant than the other, and a lot less likely to betray you for an ancient carving of lyrium. ) Bartrand and Varric. I met them when they were planning their expedition to the Deep Roads.

Varric's a good friend of mine. ( One of a small few. Anders quirks a brow at him, though, wondering, ) How do you know him?

( As for the remark about the templars, he smiles a bit. ) It's kind of nice, being able to use magic without having to look over your shoulder. Though you're probably already used to that.

[tevinteraltus]

[Ah, so it was the same man, then. Getting Varric to talk about much of anything regarding his time in Kirkwall with the Champion was more difficult than, well, things that were exceedingly difficult, but the name had come up a few times. He smiles amicably enough at Anders' question, though, rolling his shoulder slightly.]

We met shortly after a very nasty man ripped a hole in the sky. We've since bonded over a love of literature and a standing gambling debt, but seeing as he isn't around, I suppose I needn't worry about the latter.

[He can't stifle the laugh at Anders' presumption, and he shakes his head.] Do I cast without looking over my shoulder? Yes. Should I? It's difficult to say. In the eyes of Ferelden and Orlais, I am a reviled and tyrannical Magister of the Tevinter Imperium, here to enslave you all with my insidious blood magic, after all.

[judicia]

I honestly can't tell if you're being serious or not. ( A hole in the sky? He's pretty certain he would have heard of that, wherever it happened to be. The thought that Dorian might be from a different point in time hasn't even crossed his mind yet. )

Having a standing gambling debt is sort of an unavoidable consequence of being his friend, I think. ( And if Anders wasn't laughing about it right now, he'd be crying. He's never going to be able to pay for all the hands that he's lost at Wicked Grace. Even Hawke's mabari is a better player at it than him. )

That's what they about any mage that dare to live free of the Circle. Apparently, that's the first thing we'd turn to — blood magic and demons — so we should be thankful the Chantry is around to keep us in line. ( Is that a lot of sarcasm or what? )

[tevinteraltus]

Oh, I wish I wasn't, really. It was quite a mess, demons all about. A very bad year for Thedas, certainly.

[He chuckles, though. It certainly seems to be the same Varric, and thusly, the same Anders. How very, very interesting.]

I'm not, really, though, free of the Circle, that is. Not mine, anyway. I happen to be a fully vested Enchanter. It just isn't automatically assumed we're going to break out in demons whenever we sneeze.

[He smiles.]

You may take comfort in knowing they will, most likely, not be plagued again by such anytime soon. Why there was a full-blown rebellion before I came to Ferelden. Somehow, though? [He raises a hand.] Still damned. I suppose when your great-great-Grandcestors breached the Veil and physically walked the Fade, it's a bit damning...sadly, I was raised to believe that was false.

[His smile wavers somewhat.] It...wasn't, but that's a very long story.

...unless, of course, you've a head for realizing the falsifications of history. Then I'd be happy to share.

[judicia]

( That's a lot of disturbing information to drop on someone out of the blue. Anders is honestly still stuck on the part of there being a hole in the sky, spewing demons out onto the world like the tears in the Blackmarsh had three years ago. The mention of a rebellion, of there being some truth to the Chantry's teaching regarding the creation of the Black City, that takes him a little longer to process. )

Uldred's rebellion was hardly a full-scale revolt. ( He's got a feeling that's not what Dorian is on about, though. What other mage rebellion would there be in Ferelden? If the mages had truly taken up arms against their oppressors, against the entire Chantry and the Templar Order, Anders surely would have heard about it. He frowns a little bit just thinking about it, and then wondering, )

What were you even doing down in Ferelden, anyway? The Blight has only been over a few years. Many of the refugees that fled their homes haven't even gone back yet.

[tevinteraltus]

Certainly not, but it was a spark. [Dorian realized, suddenly, that this man may very well be from a past that had yet to see all the madness that had befallen all of Thedas as of late and he frowned apologetically.] Before I answer any of your questions, might I beg a bit of information from you?

[He wasn't even sure how to phrase it, so instead he cleared his throat made a motion of demonstration with a hand.]

When I left Thedas, the year was 9:44 Dragon. What year is it, or was it, rather, by your reckoning?

[judicia]

9:34 Dragon. ( Before Kirkwall descended into the dumpster fire it was destined to be. Back when the viscount had a head and the knight commander was still somewhat sane. Anders' earlier confusion gives way to feelings of suspicion and hesitancy, the latter of which becomes increasingly obvious in the way he shifts the weight on his feet. )

So you're from the future, then? ( Ten years ahead of him. It's no wonder he didn't know what Dorian was talking about. )

[tevinteraltus]

So it would seem. Time's a funny thing that way. [He smiles at his fellow mage, a comforting expression, aimed to set his mind at ease more than anything else.] Or is it you're from the past? It depends on perspective, I suppose.

[He gives the other man a shrug.] I don't suppose it really matters, in the long or short of it, does it? Here we are, unknown distances from Thedas or any of its problems, past, present, or future.