riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: SAMPREMI

Entry tags:

introductory mingle: SAMPREMI

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Sampremi Celebration
when: March 8th - March 15th
where: In several different locations in the downtown area of the Inhabited City.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

sampremi celebration

In the days leading up to March 8th, new residents may notice advertising around the city, everywhere from digital screens to paper flyers pasted on blank walls, featuring the name of the spring holiday in celebration of new beginnings, new love, and lust: Sampremi. The advertising mentions that there will be street festivals set up at various locations throughout the week and lists where the market will be set up on each day.

street market

The main draw of the holiday is a roaming street market that features special treats and street food that can only be found during Sampremi, a bustling bargain market with any kind of goods you can think of, and fair games that allow a person to win a prize for that special someone.

i. street food

One of the major draws of the festival is the special street food that can only be obtained this time of year. Almost everything you can buy at the Sampremi Festival is meant to be shared - whether it's one piece of meat on two sticks or desserts baked with a narrow part in the middle for convenient tearing, everything is built in twos. The stalls sell everything from cups of soup, sandwiches, roasted or fried meat, deep-fried vegetables and cakes, dumplings, donuts, bagels, turnovers, and anything else you can think of.

Many of the savory dishes are based on the meat of a particular fowl native to the moon Riverview is situated on that has a taste and texture halfway between chicken and duck, cooked to be spicy (ranging from very mild to throat-burning). Many of the desserts are based around a fruit native to the moon that is spherical, red-orange, and has a light sweet taste that is similar to a combination of mango, pineapple, and strawberry. Both ingredients are considered to be aphrodisiacs. Of course, the foods aren't actually aphrodisiacs and any effect is purely placebo.

ii. fair games

The festival features an entire row of fair games ranging from very high-tech games featuring virtual reality and neon holograms to extremely old-fashioned games with darts and balloons or balls and glasses. The games all have prizes in various shapes and sizes, with the standard stuffed animals, but also with goods and special items donated by any business in the city; ranging from tiny prizes to huge and expensive ones.

Due to the nature of the holiday, many of the stalls are set up to cater to winning a prize for your partner, and due to the nature of the Quarantine, a lot of them involve aiming or other aspects of pretending to fight.

iii. shopping

Originally, the part of the street festival that involved an actual market, with stalls and booths set up with goods, was aimed primarily at romantic trinkets like flowers or jewelry, gifts intended to be purchased for a loved one. As time has gone by, however, this aspect of the market has increased, with many businesses participating, though the emphasis is still on small businesses and anything relating to local culture rather than booths for any of the larger more corporate businesses.

There is still plenty of jewelry to be found, for sure, mostly handmade and artisan, but the scope of the Market has widened immeasurably. The Sampremi Market is an excellent place to find specialty foods, clothing, jewelry, art, or other goods that were originally native to cultures on other planets in this reality, or other realities altogether. Many residents in the city use the market to share their unique cultural goods and traditional dress with others.

iv. adult

In a side alley of the Sampremi Market on any day, one can find an area roped off with a red silken cord, attended by members of the Perimeter Guard in casual dress who will ID anyone entering to make sure they are 18+. Once characters are permitted entry, they will find all of the adult offerings that the market has to offer.

Since Sampremi is, historically, a celebration of lust and physical love, the adult offerings are all set up to cater to two or more people of any sex or gender configuration. One can find an adult or sexualized version of almost anything that's featured in the main market, from fair games to adult goods to street food laced with actual aphrodisiacs (there are always warnings for food spiked in this way to avoid accidental consumption).

v. 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 at the Sampremi Festival, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit (left to right): Theo Prins, andreasrocha @ tumblr, hrormir @ deviantart, nkabuto @ deviantart

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(As always, prose is my default but I won't mind matching brackets!)

[street food]

Watching others get their own food, many tearing their purchases in half to share with a companion, keeps her from being surprised when the seller hands her a hunk of seared meat on two sticks. As she walks away, she carefully rips her meal in two and then takes a generous bite.

The signs promised spice and she thought little of it at the time, but once she begins to chew, fierce heat rolls through her mouth. The intensity makes her eyes sting, puts an uncharacteristic pink in her cheeks, and she looks around for something to wash it down. Seeing someone making a purchase at the nearest stand, she quickly joins them. "And water," she adds, as authoritatively as possible with a fiery throat. Holding both sticks in one hand, she reaches into her pocket to find her tap card and smacks it onto the table.

[adult] (just ftr, even if there's attraction she's not likely to act on anything right now)

Simple curiosity is what sends her into the roped-off adult section, only pausing long enough to show the ID provided to her when asked. No festival she has ever been to has seemed so bold in its displays. One booth offers suggestive toys, another an astonishing array of lubricants, a third offers sheathes used to prevent pregnancy. In recent years she has heard of such methods, mostly among gossiping nobles, but she is largely unfamiliar with prevention that is not herbal or magical. She examines flavored condoms with skepticism in her eyes and a hint of amusement at the corners of her mouth.

Eventually she makes her way toward the stalls that claim to sell genuine aphrodisiacs. She may be skeptical about these as well, but the smells do entice. After browsing for a while, she finally buys a pair of ripe purple-skinned fruits the size of her palm. She bites into one as she turns away from the booth, her thumb catching a drop of juice that threatens to spill down her chin, and she quickly side-steps to avoid a collision with the person behind her. "Watch your step," she advises.

[floor 6]

Upon finding so many beds in her room, Morrigan knows this will not work. Perhaps living in a palace for the past few years has spoiled her more than she cares to believe, but this reminds her more of guard barracks than anything else. There is far too little privacy and there have not been many in her life with whom she would willingly share so much of her day-to-day activity.

When few people are around, she goes into the kitchen and starts exploring. Though she considers herself a quick study, the devices here are beyond her personal experience. From the oven to the microwave to the refrigerator, there is scarcely a button she fails to press in her effort to see what everything does. A button on the outside of the refrigerator door startles her by making chunks of ice spill out of a small window. As they scatter onto the floor, she crouches to pick them up.

Edited 2017-03-11 06:18 (UTC)

(ooc: I default to brackets but you can do prose or brackets I don't mind either way!)

[ Curtis had been waiting for some time for this particular cart - they're serving up skewers of roasted vegetables, apparently a very popular dish based on the length of the line. The smell of the spices had lured him in, and he'd been patient waiting for his turn. But as soon as he gives his order, someone barges in next to him and he opens his mouth, ready to tell them to wait their turn-

Except all she does is ask for some water. Sounds pretty urgent about it, too, and it only takes Curtis a moment to guess why. Judging by the red flush on her face and the look of discomfort, plus the sticks of meat with one bite out of them... well, it doesn't take a detective to put two and two together. So instead of getting angry, Curtis shifts to the side to make a little more room for her, asks with a trace of amusement but also concern: ]

You alright there?

[ A quick intake of breath helps, the rush of air easing the burn, and her lips twist wryly. She meets his eyes with no apology, but only after seeing the vendor turn, bark out a quick order to her partner behind the cart, and reach for a bottle of water.

As obvious as it is, her admission is still a bit reluctant. ]

It seems I underestimated a merchant's definition of spicy. [ The bottle of water is offered over the cart before his skewers are, and she wastes little time in opening it and taking a drink. ] A lesson learned, perhaps.

[ An afterthought, she adds: ]

Your tolerance for the intrusion is appreciated.

[ Curtis grins, his suspicions confirmed, and waves a hand through the air as if to disperse any embarrassment this woman might be feeling. ]

I'm like that with spicy food, too. My- [ A tiny moment of hesitation, then. He'd been about to say my husband out of sheer force of habit but then he remembers with a little unpleasant lurch that he's going to have to learn to stop saying that. Curtis recovers quickly, though ] -my friends are always giving me a hard time about it. Here.

[ When the woman at the counter hands over the bottle of water Curtis lets her reach up and take it. His food follows quickly on it's heels and he takes the skewers before the two of them are shuffled to the side by the eager crowd. ]

Oh, it's no problem, seriously. Is that helping? Sometimes water only makes it worse. Milk's supposed to be the best thing for it - I mean, unless you're lactose intolerant, in that case it's like solving one problem with another problem. You sure you're okay?

[ She is... pretty red in the face, still. ]

[ She wonders if he means friends here or friends elsewhere, but after a moment, as they step to the side to avoid getting trampled on by those awaiting their turn, she lets out a small huff of breath that resembles a laugh. ]

I expect to survive, but next time I will be prepared to take that merchant at his word.

[ Both of those are things she can promise, even if she feels certain that the pink has not left her cheeks. She could search for milk, she supposes -- and what do they milk here, she wonders? -- but her pride suggests otherwise. Darkspawn and dragons have not killed her. An unexpected dose of spice will not either.]

What is lactose intolerant?

It's the clatter of ice on the floor that catches Taako's intention; he'd been meditating on his bed, but sticks his head out to see what the noise was, noticing Morrigan having some minor fridge issues.

"You alright out here?" Please don't break the fridge, he's very fond of it.

"Perfectly fine," she answers without missing a beat, mildly annoyed at the question. It would be too much to hope that no one would interrupt her little domestic exploration. Had she realized exactly what that button would do she would have prepared.

Gathering the ice in her hands, she glances toward him as he peeks into the kitchen. "I am," she offers by way of explanation, "more accustomed to cooking over fires and freezing my enemies."

"Not so used to the fancy gadgets, huh?" Taako wanders over towards the fridge, using Mage Hand to scoop up a piece of ice that Morrigan missed, letting it float over to drop in the sink.

Technology is a funny thing, for him. Some of it's very familiar, but some of it's kind of ridiculous, "It was these little things that threw me."

He pulls his shiny new phone out of a pocket, dangling it between two fingers before he shrugs. This whole thing is weird, really, though he's relieved to hear someone say freezing my enemies, since he's going to assume that means magic.

The display of magic certainly catches her attention. She says nothing of it at first, instead watching as he pulls out his own new phone. As she stands, her lips twist wryly. "There is nothing quite like those in Thedas, either."

Taking a moment to toss her ice into the sink, she dries her wet hands on a dish towel. "There are sending crystals, which can allow communication over long distances, but not so many kinds of communication and they are not nearly as common."

She has yet to get her hands on a working crystal, and here phones are as common as masks in the Orlesian court.

"Does that mean microwaves are not new to you?"

He's used to stones of farspeech, which sound similar to what Morrigan mentions so he just nods at that, figuring there's not a lot of point in going into the specific tiny differences. Instead, he just tucks his phone away and drops onto one of the stools, apparently settling in to have a chat.

"Oh yeah microwaves are like- we've got those. Ovens, fridge, all that shit," It's hard being from a fantasy world with inconsistent world-buildings, "Guns are new, and fucking unsettling, gotta say. And uh, cars? Whatever they call 'em, we had wagons but they run on magic, you know?"

"The carriages without horses." She nods, as familiar as one can possibly be a few days after being dropped into a new world. "Convenient. Horses spook so easily."

After a moment of appraisal, she folds her arms over her chest. She had not thought to invite the conversation they are apparently having, but for now she does not object. "And you are a mage as well. If your world's weapons are powered by magic, is everyone there capable of it?"

As soon as Morrigan says mage, Taako makes a face like someone's just forcefed him a lemon. It's entirely possible that two people just happen to pick the same word, but it's unusual enough (to him) that he immediately draws a comparison.

"Oh, not you too? Am I gonna have to sit through the spiel about how I'm a demon?" He met Sera, it didn't go super great.

For a moment genuine surprise creeps onto her face, but when her eyebrows rise they are more matter-of-fact than questioning. "When I wish to accuse you of something I will simply do it. Attempting polite conversation first would be ridiculous."

His question would be less surprising in Thedas. No one she has met here so far has torn their hair out over her being a mage. Despite any complaint she has about being here, it is refreshingly free of Chantry influence.

"'Tis simple enough to see through a demon's illusions. What prompts this?"

"Last person I met who used that word said I was into fucking demons," That is absolutely not what Sera said, but it's what Taako took away from it, because he likes to be dramatic about things, "Which is rude as shit, 'cause I'm a wizard, not a warlock or a mage or whatever the fuck you wanna call it."

Too many rumors have followed her over the years for the accusation he faced to surprise her, but she rolls her eyes all the same.

"Fear is so often an excuse for stupidity. The world I came from is full of people willing to twist themselves into knots to believe the worst of those who use magic." In her experience, the terminology matters little. "How wonderful to know that such foolishness exists here as well."

What he takes away from this is that Morrigan isn't about to give him any shit for being a wizard, so his posture relaxes and he grins, "I dunno what to tell people who are scared of wizards, of all shit."

Which isn't to say he can't be dangerous, but wizards are basically the nerds of the magic world.

And suddenly Roy was practically elbowed out of his own transaction. He took a moment to process this, looking at the woman who'd done it with some confusion as all the mental scripts that govern this sort of interaction failed.

"Are you all right?" he said after a moment, careful not to get in the way of her getting her water. If she needed it that badly, he wasn't about to interfere.

In the moment the question seems utterly ridiculous. Here she is in a foreign place -- on a foreign moon, if anything here is to be believed -- after being taken from her own world, and now she is familiarizing herself with local cuisine as though this is all normal.

"Questionably so," she answers, only once she has the water in her hand. "But I doubt spice will truly hurt me."

Her vague irritation is not meant for him, though, and after a moment and a drink she takes a step back. "I believe I barged in." She gestures toward the cart. It may not be an apology, but it is an acknowledgment of her interruption.

'All right' came in many forms. He was wiling to work with certain necessary assumptions on that score.

"Spice?" He took a moment to process that, out of left field as it was, before he snapped his fingers and dug into one of his bags. From there he produced a loaf of bread, one of the snap-in-half specials that dominated this holiday, and offered it to her in invitation. "Here, this will help a lot better than the water will."

The offer comes as a surprise, but after a moment she tucks the bottle of water under one arm, takes in that hand the stick she has not already helped herself to, and raises it slightly. Her eyebrows arch. "Shall we make a trade then? The untouched skewer for some bread?"

As much she enjoys having things go her way, she is not in the habit of wanting to owe favors, large or small.

The only debt she would owe him was one she created herself, since Roy offered it up no strings attached. But, he understood the mindset that would make the offer an obligation.

"Ought to be half a skewer for half the loaf, but we can argue exact terms when your mouth isn't on fire, right?" He accepted the skewer with a smile, making a little motion with the bread to urge her to take it.

"Not at all," she says pointedly, but still takes half of his bread once her hand is free to do so. She does not take the time to elaborate until she has taken a bite of the bread and then a quick sip of water to wash it down.

"Like so much offered at this festival today--" When she does go on, a hint of disdain is in her voice. "--it was made with a pair in mind: a hunk of meat on two sticks. I merely tore it in two. The bread is appreciated, however."

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introductory mingle: SAMPREMI

Morrigan | Dragon Age: Inquisition

↪ street food

hello!

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floor 6

sorry for the wait! cold took me out of commission

no worries! i hope you feel better

thanks!

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Street food

sorry for the wait! had a nasty cold this week.

Yuck, hope you're feeling better!

getting there, thanks!

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