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

[greatcleavage]

[Roy is the type of man who doesn't seem too large -- till you look at him in comparison to people he's standing near.]

[His kneejerk reaction is to say no, but Roy stops himself before he can even get that comment out. Pregnancy does not diminish her abilities in the slightest and she most certainly has a right to decide what she can and cannot handle and operate on that decision.]

I'd actually be really grateful for the help, honestly. [Shifting his weight to balance out his parcel pile, he offers her the bag he'd just gotten.] A reasonable price at that.

[burntbridges]

[She's happy to take it, and swipes a few other items off the top of his stack to even it out. She may not be exceptionally strong, but she makes a point to carry up to her comfortable limit.]

Well I've heard food is best appreciated when it's earned, so I thought I'd test the theory. [Her eyes scan through the pile of items how divided between them.] Are you sure you need all this?

[greatcleavage]

Eventually, yes. I'm stocking up for expeditions. It turns out there's a slight advantage to buying all this double-food when it comes to value per coin. [Roy shrugs slightly, which he can now do safely thanks to her assistance.] I've already stayed in one place now longer than I have for almost any period in the past several years, I need to get back out on the road.

[burntbridges]

You won't be leaving the hall for good, will you? I'd hate to see another empty bed...

[She hasn't been particularly successful at making friends, so there's a spark of worry at the thought that Roy might not always be around.]

[greatcleavage]

You know, I honestly hadn't given any thought to that. [The question catches him off guard and openly startles him, and his footsteps slow slightly as he turns more of his mind to that question.] I wasn't joking about not being still, I'm used to be on the road in some way or another. But pretty much everything seems to center around the quarantine here, doesn't it?

[burntbridges]

[She purses her lips slightly as he speaks.] I won't stop you from exploring, if that's what you need, but please don't leave the quarantine for too long. I barely know the others on our floor, and I'd hate to lose contact with a friend.

[greatcleavage]

[Roy stops walking to look at her straight on, serious and somber.]

If there's things out there that I can do to benefit the people here and help others, improve their lives and the world in general, then I have to do them. If I have the knowledge and ability to do something and I let it go undone, then other people have to live with my decision... and if that brings them harm or suffering, then that is on me.

[But having said that, he shakes his head with a slight smile.] But for now, I don't have any plans on permanently relocating, and I have a job to do here too. So I think I'm sticking around.

[burntbridges]

Well, if you die out there you won't hear the end of it.

[Still, she relaxes a bit now that him leaving permanently is off the table.]

Do you think... I might accompany you when you're out exploring? I know I'm helping enough as a clerk, but.. I'm not immune to wanderlust myself. I've never really had the chance to explore new places before.

[greatcleavage]

I'd like to try to find a cleric capable of casting at least Raise Dead before I go about dying again.

[At least she isn't quite as young as the last girl who wanted to accompany him. Small blessings which make her request much less unreasonable.]

If it's safe and I can be reasonably certain you're not going to come to harm, I don't think that's an unrealistic request.

[burntbridges]

[Well, she can raise him from the dead... but she's guessing it isn't at all what he means and decides to stay quiet.]

I may be rusty, but I can hold my own with a sword if need be. I just want to be sure you're not underestimating me because of my pregnancy.

[greatcleavage]

No, no, I would never underestimate you given your condition. I would underestimate you because you'd given me the impression you were just a housewife, though. [Roy grins, perfectly willing to poke fun at himself for his own misperception.] Nobility and sword practice are synonymous where you come from?

[burntbridges]

Not exactly, but I trained as a warrior when I was younger. My brother made the cut to become a warrior, and I didn't. So... six years later, I'm left as the wife of a farm owner.

[That's a bit of a hint at how old she was when she was training... she doesn't even look her actual age of 18.]

[greatcleavage]

That sounds like a bit of a story, there. [Implicit in his statement is curiosity, but he's not going to ask directly in case she doesn't want to TELL the story. He can understand that not making the cut, for whatever reason, might be a painful memory.]

[burntbridges]

[She puffs herself up a bit.] It's not much of a story - the elders decided I was too valuable to risk on the backfield, and chose to employ my halfbreed cousin instead.

[Or at least that's what she tells herself. It's less flattering to admit she was fighting with her future husband during the exam.]

[greatcleavage]

Too valuable? [If this is some sort of political or procreation thing... Well, let's just say Roy views the pronouncement with a great deal of skepticism already.]

[burntbridges]

[She purses her lips a bit at his skepticism.]

They value loyalty over skill for their warriors. And... my grandmother oversaw the exam. She was biased.

[greatcleavage]

[Well, that's not as bad as he thought, but it still brings a fierce scowl to his face -- and Roy is an expert scowler by anyone's standards.] So your goal was denied and you got shunted off to pointless homemaking for no good reason at all?!

[burntbridges]

Such is the life of a Regis woman... I would only have served a few years, anyway, before they decided my womb was more important than my sword.

[She crosses her arms as she speaks, letting out a little huff. She's managed to hold down how much this angers her for years, but now that he's mentioning the stupidity of it her frustration is bubbling back up.]

[greatcleavage]

Oh, hell no.

[If she wanted to get Roy thoroughly and utterly on her side, that did it. Blatant disrespect and misogyny are two sure-fire ways to get his goat up.]

Letha, so long as you agree to treat yourself properly, I'll train you myself if that's what it takes to get a sword back in your hands.

Uh--assuming you want that, of course. [He might, he realizes, be going off just a bit too fast and hard without her.]

[burntbridges]

[She's not really sure where to go with that, but after a bit of consideration she offers him a tiny nod.]

I don't think I need training, though I wouldn't mind sparring from time to time. Just a promise to take me along with you once or twice before my belly gets too heavy. [She hesitates.] And perhaps if you find any corpses while you're out exploring you could bring them back for me?

[greatcleavage]

[Well, he did say 'if that's what it takes'. But her second request is much like jamming a wrench into the metaphorical gears of his anger; it brings everything to a crashing halt.]

Uh, that -- why?

[burntbridges]

Well if someone got themselves killed out there, don't you think they deserve a proper cleaning and burial? [She tips her head.] And anyway, I might be able to learn something from them. Dead men tell many tales to those who know how to listen.

[greatcleavage]

Oh -- you have clerical powers, too? [Roy is rather reluctant to point out that any bodies out there are probably nothing more than bones and delicious memories in the minds of monsters, making burials a bit awkward. But Speak With Dead, he understands.]

[burntbridges]

Clerical, no. But I have a penchant for speaking to the dead. [She shrugs.] I'd hate to think of how many people have rotted away out there, and are lying about with no one to talk to. It's terribly lonely in the afterlife when no one visits one's grave.

[greatcleavage]

[Roy scratches the side of his head for a moment, trying to piece together how someone could have access to Speak With Dead and yet not call it a clerical ability.]

[Maybe it's some feat from a sourcebook he's unfamiliar with? Well, stranger things have happened, but...]

Oh, no -- it's honestly not that bad. It's all kind of... wonderful, actually, although I don't remember enough to give you any details.