introductory mingle: SAMPREMI

[riverviewmod]

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

navigation

Comments

[inlaid]

[She shrugs, not about to argue with him with him on that front.]

Dude? [The inquiry is given, with little time to invite a response before she follows it with another.] What was the easier work that you did, anyway?

[Elemental manipulation, perhaps?]

[spellslots]

Telekinesis, just a little bit of the ol' transmutation magic.

[It's his area of expertise, after all, even if this isn't exactly how he normally uses it.]

[inlaid]

[She nods in easy acceptance, not unfamiliar with it.]

You have a deft touch. The only people I've seen manage that so subtly were water elementalists.

[She quiets, given the opportunity now to pick out her prizes--both of which she pockets quickly--before stepping away from the booth.]

[spellslots]

[Taako makes a point to almost-jauntily fix his hat at the compliment, just a little bit pleased with himself, before he ruins it by grinning.]

Is that a druid thing, water elementalists?

[He's not super well-versed on druid magic.]

[inlaid]

[Let him be confident. It was a neat bit of magic and Bryn can appreciate the skill in others, especially when it comes to abilities she doesn't possess.]

Not a druid thing. A Gifted thing, usually, or a rare few Asarians. What's a druid?

[Sorry, no druids on Teru. And the closest thing to elves in her world all have wooden antlers.]

[spellslots]

Druids are magic users who are just like, super into nature, you know? They probably fuck trees or something.

[Why is he like this? Why is this the sort of information he thinks it's necessary to share?]

[inlaid]

[Well that she wasn't expecting. She snorts, followed quickly by a grin.]

Sounds uncomfortably splintery, or just asking for a bad case of poison ivy rash in even worse places.

[Sorry, she's not much better.]

[spellslots]

You joke, but I have watched a dwarf flirt with vines and it was the worst day of my life. And I've died!

[He's still joking as well, he just needs to complain about that experience at every chance he gets. Because it was terrible.]

[inlaid]

[There are so many things she could say about the dwarf and the vines, but the offhand comment that he died brings her up short. She lets out an inarticulate noise.]

You died? Like, for a few minutes or something before you were revived?

[He looks remarkably healthy and well right now, but she knows that it doesn't mean he hasn't been through some trauma previously. She ought to be more sensitive about it just in case but the question slips out before she can help herself.]

[spellslots]

Uh, it was like, a time loop? So I died but came back! Good as new.

[And there are those other eight times that he's died but he can't remember them so they don't count, that's how it works.]

[inlaid]

[How does that even...what the...

She stares at Taako a moment, clearly running over what he's said in her mind, as if it could magically make sense to her with time, but no. No such luck.]

Right. Okay. Well, I guess you lucked out--Sorry, what's your name?

[She's usually a much smoother conversationalist, but talking to someone who has died and come back thanks to a time loop has thrown her a little.]

[spellslots]

[He's kind of used to that.]

Taako.

[He barely manages to successfully introduce himself to most people he meets, so it's probably for the best that Bryn took the lead on that one, even if it wasn't as smooth as it could be.

But he does offer his hand to shake, so there's that. He has some manners, like at least two.]

[inlaid]

[Bryn reaches out to shake his hand when offered, grip firm and confident but not crushing.]

I'm Bryn. Nice to meet you Taako, and seriously, thanks for the assist. And if you won't take a prize then will you take a snack? Or a drink?

[They're all buy one get one free so it's a little self-serving but who cares when there's good food to eat and good drinks to enjoy?]

[spellslots]

[For someone who looks like a strong wind might blow him over, Taako's got a decent handshake, and a lot of callouses and scars, though the latter are mostly from cooking.]

Hell, I'll take both. I never say no to free shit.

[Free things are the best things.]

[inlaid]

[She notes the callouses and scars with no more than a flicker in her gaze, but makes no comment.]

Come on then, let's get wrecked and stuff our faces.

[Heading off from the booth, her own trinket of a prize in hand, she scans the horizon for food or alcohol, whichever she spots first.]

Any preference? I'll take just about anything.

[No picky eaters here.]

[spellslots]

[Those words are music to his ears; he's almost skipping as he keeps up with her.]

Oh thank the gods, I've been waiting for someone to say that.

[Mostly the "get wrecked" part because it's kind of just depressing to get drunk alone, but doing it with someone else means having fun. Logic.]

Wine or cocktails, if we're talking booze. Nothing that died, if we're talking snacks.

[Sorry he's vegetarian, it's a tragedy.]

There were some bars and shit over that way.

[With a vague gesture towards their right. Not that he was keeping track of where the alcohol was or anything.]

[inlaid]

[New drinking buddies are the best and like Taako, there's a bit something extra in her step as they start heading toward the nearest anything.]

Strong alcohol and meat-free snacks. I think we can manage that.

[And a bar would be welcome after all of the street wandering. She wants to sit and enjoy herself.]

So, speaking of gods, do you mind if I ask what the situation is with yours back home? I mean, there are multiple, I assume from what you said, but are they present? Do they ever actually communicate or show up on the mortal planes?

[spellslots]

Oh, hell yeah, I got something from one of them, actually.

[In a moment of actual honest-to-god foresight, he decided to actually wear it around his neck, rather than just toss it into his room as soon as he got home, so Taako tugs on the piece of cord and lifts the bag of requirement from where it was hiding under his shirt, to show Bryn.

It's just a small thing, a simple bag wrapped in gold chain and sealed with a padlock, but it's the most demonstrable thing he has, when it comes to gods. There's also clerics, and Merle's arm, and Kravitz, who proves the existence of the Raven Queen, but he doesn't have any of that stuff here with him.]

She said it'd open when I need it.

[inlaid]

[Thank the deities, someone else who is from a world similar enough to hers that they've had contact with their deities. Everyone else she's spoken to seems to look at her like she's crazy. Like it's strange somehow.

Her eyes flick to the bag at the end of the cord, careful to only examine with a look, to not reach out and touch it. The padlock seems like a source of security, however...]

What if you need it quickly? Do you have the to that little lock?

[She accepts what he says without question, however. If he says it is from one of his deities then she believes him.]

Do you know what will happen when you open it?

[spellslots]

I kinda figure it'll just like, pop on open when the time is right.

[He tried to open it using magic, but nothing happened, so he's having the tiniest bit of faith that Istus might actually know what she's doing. When push comes to shove, it'll do whatever it needs to do.

The fact that Istus cleaned up the whole mess with Refuge helps him trust her, just a little.]

Lemme guess, you're kinda weirded out that no one here is chill with their gods?

[They either don't have any, or they believe in them but don't have proof, which is as odd to him as it is to Bryn.]

[inlaid]

[Again, she nods, accepting what he says. It's not new to her, the gifts of the deities working in such a way.]

Something like that, yeah. I mean, in my country, our deities have been with us for centuries. They're not just holed up in their temples with their priests or priestesses either. They walk the streets. They go to shows. They visit the markets and throw parties and crash dinners. They're part of our community, not above it, not...silent. As if we're not even worth speaking to.

[Her lips twist with frustration, and she pulls the door to the bar open with a huff of breath.]

It's not like that in every country in my world but it's like that in others as well, at least. It's known.

[spellslots]

[That's a little more extreme than he's used to; the gods tend to keep a bit of a distance, not interfering too much if they can avoid it, although he doesn't really know if its because they think mortals are below them or if they're like, bored or whatever.

If he was an all-powerful god he probably wouldn't hang out with a bunch of loser mortals, to be honest.]

I gotta admit, that sounds annoying as shit.

[Taako tucks the gift back under his shirt, sweeping into the bar with that little bit of a spring still in his step, and claiming the first spot at the bar he sees.]

How are you supposed to be the hottest one in a room if a god can swan in whenever the fuck they want?

[This is his problem with gods walking among regular folk, apparently.]

[inlaid]

[Her irritation disappears with a burst of laughter that echoes into the bar as they step in. That isn't the reaction she'd expected but it lightens things considerably for her. She's too serious about such topics, too passionate. It's a trait of her people and she shakes her head as she slips onto a barstool with ease.]

Who says divine presence means peak physical perfection? [She grins.] It doesn't matter who walks in, I'm always the hottest one in the room.

[Of course...]

Though I admit you would give me a run for my money. Maybe if I drink enough you'll seem less pretty instead of more.

[spellslots]

[He could fix that with a wave of his hand and a dropped spell, but the last thing he's going to do is show anyone what the liches took from him, so all he does is grin.]

Listen, there's nothing pretty about a messy drunk, so if you're giving those drinks to me...

[It's hard to tell whether he's joking about that or not, but it'd probably be safe to say he's just trying ("trying") to con more booze out of her.]

[inlaid]

[Bryn signals to the bartender and then glances over to Taako.]

I'll stand the first round, and maybe the second if only to get you on your way toward messy, though I don't for a minute believe it's possible.

[If he doesn't return the favor and stand the second round of drinks it may be fewer and far between that she offers him free drinks but for the moment she's pleased and entertained, which seems worth the cost for good company.]

What are you having?