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deercountry2022-07-13 07:21 am
likethelight) wrote in deercountry2022-07-13 07:21 am
TANABATA ⟶ July Sanctuary Log
Sanctuary - TANABATA
"SEE YOU AGAIN, MOM"
The "star festival", celebrating the one time of the year when star-crossed lovers could cross over a sea of stars to meet again. One based on hopes, wishes, and the fervent desire to see each other again. Following the departure of Amaterasu back to the sea, wolf momgod of all who is responsible for the Guardian Saplings including the one Sanctuary has been founded around, Sanctuary is hosting the best approximation to a Tanabata celebration as the Trench will allow. Why? Because hope keeps the trees alive and strong, and Tanabata is about people having hope -- and would have been happening around the same time.
And because people miss dogmom and she would have liked it.
The festival is taking place at Sanctuary, but all Guardian Saplings can be paid visits. Paper for wishes and decorations have been set up at each/given to the other caretakers.
A Sea of Stars
The main hall has been transformed into a living night sky, with jars of hope from the moonlit butterflies back in April hung with care high up, each repacked with a single orb of hope per small vial with care, creating a river of starlike glowing lights overhead. The windows have been covered to aid with the nighttime effect, in addition to helping to keep out the light of the Beast Moon after dark. The gentle glow, as they are literally the tactile hopes and dreams of people, provides a small purifying, uplifting effect to everyone underneath. The light ebbs and flows calmly. The hall is cool as well, thanks to the pale/cold bloodstone cooling system that glows like moonstone along the walls and keeps the indoor areas regulated.
In the evening, as the sun sets, the new choir bell will ring out as well, cleansing corruption entirely from all who hear it. The lights gently pulse in time with it.
Wishes and the Guardian Sapling
The sapling is no longer in bloom, but despite the sweltering heat in full glory. Paper wishes are hung in its branches, along with origami streamers in colorful paper of cranes and other shapes. A bustle of activity is in the cloisters around it in particular, with most tables set up there to keep the courtyard itself clear. Origami streamers are hung in all the doorways leading out to it as well, creating the effect of string curtains, and there are paper lanterns as well.
A life-size stone statue of a wolf bearing a striking resemblance to Amaterasu has been erected next to the sapling, with her most radiantly happy canine expression she could sometimes get. There is room to place offerings for her, and people are encouraged that she would like "all the foods."
Colorful strips of paper (tanzaku) have been cut and placed out on a table in the cloisters surrounding the courtyard, where one can write their wishes for the next year down on them and hang them on the guardian sapling. They come in the following colors with a helpful, but... somewhat hard to read note with arcane handwritten note:
Red will help with wishes relating to ancestors and family, and giving thanks.Food and Activities
Yellow is the color of friendship and is the best choice for wishes about relationships.
White is the color for determination and responsibility, and for making personal resolutions.
Blue represents tranquility and trust and will aid wishes aimed at self-improvement.
Purple is the color to choose if you want to improve your brainpower and skills.
Following all of the best creative recreation methods available to them in Trench, the cooks in the kitchens have been trained by Megumi Fushiguro, among others, on how to best serve culturally appropriate dishes. These foods are served free at little vendor booths in the main hall (with people encouraged to help out and help serve!) and include pawprint mochi (the inside is either chocolate or strawberry), pickled sakura mochi, mitarashi and tricolor dango, chilled somen with a yuzu-soy dipping sauce, various types of filled onigiri, and cut watermelon in a variety of shapes including stars, sunbursts, and pawprints. Many have been made with small amounts of the Paleblood jam from June and have mild corruption cleansing effects as well. Various kinds of tea made from the dried or pickled cherry blossoms and/or leaves of the guardian sapling are being served as well, and they have a corruption-cleansing effect and have been noted as tasting "heavenly". Some of the jams have been cut with fruit juice/lemonade and frozen into popsicles as well... you're welcome, CorruptionPops are now a thing.
Various demonstration and activity tables have been set up including origami, with... questionably penned instructions from Palamedes in an arcane style for several shapes including cranes, sunbursts, stars, and wolves. Various Sleepers familiar with the practice have also been encouraged to set up there and help teach people how, and everyone is encouraged to hang their completed crafts in the guardian sapling. Most of the paper is red, white, pink, and gold. Paper lanterns have been made as well and light up various parts of the whole festivities.
A few vendor booths are set up, including one "selling" white yukata, trimmed in red and gold and bearing a distinctive star pattern on the back of it and intricate embroidery. Most Sanctuary members would receive one for free if they expressed interest, and anyone else can receive one for volunteering their time and helping out. People are encouraged to wear them for the celebration if they didn't have their own; these are styled in honor of Amaterasu.
Koz Orphanage has been specially invited as well, and children from it can be found running around during much of the event and given various activities to do or items to play with.
Sparklers are available for individuals as well, also courtesy of Viktor. Perhaps there might even be glowsticks from someone... :)
Fireworks and Closing Celebrations
On the final night, all the wishes will be gathered from the trees and collected in a ceremonial firepit. The wishes are burnt in order to release them to the heavens to be heard—and perhaps by Amaterasu still at sea—and will be ignited by several Sleepers with fire abilities (Shouto Todoroki, Megumi Fushiguro).
As they're burnt a fireworks display will begin overhead, launched from the steeple up high, courtesy of Viktor and anyone else assisting him in the matter. Anyone outside watching them in the courtyard will have the effects of the Beast Moon diminished by the blessing in effect from Moon Presence. The choir bell will toll a final time at the end, to clear the effects of any lingering corruption, and signal an end to the festivities.
WHAT
Sanctuary is about humane beast purification efforts and corruption relief. Renovations began in May 2022 and room clearing and rebuilding is still in progress. Beast patrol efforts and purification started more in earnest in June-July.
All roles are volunteer on an as-you-can basis up to full time, with time reimbursed by food, shelter, care, and community support. And because it's run by people who BLEED SENTIMENTALITY EVERYWHERE in addition to being founded on discovery of a Guardian Sapling, it's hosting a Tanabata celebration in conjunction with honoring the memory of Amaterasu.
All roles are volunteer on an as-you-can basis up to full time, with time reimbursed by food, shelter, care, and community support. And because it's run by people who BLEED SENTIMENTALITY EVERYWHERE in addition to being founded on discovery of a Guardian Sapling, it's hosting a Tanabata celebration in conjunction with honoring the memory of Amaterasu.
WHEN
Starting July 7, ending after a few days in a final celebration and ceremonial burning of the wishes.
THINGS OF NOTE
Tanabata
➢ Please feel free to presume your character could have helped out with setup if they have any ties to Sanctuary or characters here! If they would provide a food, service, or game they are free to have a table set up.
➢ This event is open to the whole of Trench and would have been freely advertised as such, including as a safe place to treat effects from the Beast Moon and corruption.
General / Member Update
➢ Sanctuary has been blessed by Moon Presence for the month of July, thanks to the efforts of Luna and Sansa. All negative effects of July and the Beast Moon are lessened within its walls, and anyone meaning Sanctuary or the people in it will be physically repelled. Lunar flowers have begun growing up the sides of the monastery in earnest like morning glories as a result.
➢ as of June, coordinated efforts to patrol Trench on their own and save Beasts and people both have begun. Members will be on a group chat in order to coordinate with each other and reach out to purification Sleepers when encountering Beasts. Everyone is encouraged to work in teams, especially to partner with someone who can purify Beasts or corruption.
➢ a training facility has opened up, with currently self-defense hand-to-hand combat classes being taught by Jason and others willing to train others encouraged to come forward. Fighters on patrol and wardens will be contacted to let them know about open sparring times so members can coordinate better in fights. There is an indoor room with training dummies (that fight back courtesy of Viktor) that opens up into an outdoor space between two of the long halls that can also be used.
➢ Please feel free to presume your character could have helped out with setup if they have any ties to Sanctuary or characters here! If they would provide a food, service, or game they are free to have a table set up.
➢ This event is open to the whole of Trench and would have been freely advertised as such, including as a safe place to treat effects from the Beast Moon and corruption.
General / Member Update
➢ Sanctuary has been blessed by Moon Presence for the month of July, thanks to the efforts of Luna and Sansa. All negative effects of July and the Beast Moon are lessened within its walls, and anyone meaning Sanctuary or the people in it will be physically repelled. Lunar flowers have begun growing up the sides of the monastery in earnest like morning glories as a result.
➢ as of June, coordinated efforts to patrol Trench on their own and save Beasts and people both have begun. Members will be on a group chat in order to coordinate with each other and reach out to purification Sleepers when encountering Beasts. Everyone is encouraged to work in teams, especially to partner with someone who can purify Beasts or corruption.
➢ a training facility has opened up, with currently self-defense hand-to-hand combat classes being taught by Jason and others willing to train others encouraged to come forward. Fighters on patrol and wardens will be contacted to let them know about open sparring times so members can coordinate better in fights. There is an indoor room with training dummies (that fight back courtesy of Viktor) that opens up into an outdoor space between two of the long halls that can also be used.
➢ with the hidden archives now unlocked, scholarly members of Sanctuary are encouraged to help study them and uncover other artifacts—and especially the strange new locked door discovered within.
➢ there is a family of batcat kittens old enough to be crawling everywhere throughout the building now. They might still be learning manners and latch onto you in an overexcitement to taste your blood from time to time.
➢ the large communal baths have been cleared out and renovated, thank god. They run on being open to male-identifying characters for one set of hours, female-identifying for another, and the rest of the time operate on "nobody cares". Privacy screens are hung between the tubs though—one side is regularly cooled down with ice for the hot months.
➢ with more people needing safe harbor during the Beast Moon and rising violence from natives during July, more actual rooms have been cleared out and are free to use for anyone who will also help work to maintain the place (chores, grounds keeping, etc.). There are always spare beds in the infirmary wing as well.
➢ members who patrol or purify beasts/fight in some way now have access to various relic items that have been donated for use for when they are actively on patrol. These will eventually be tracked in the member spreadsheet... eventually. Just give them back when you're done.
➢ Viktor and K's efforts have resulted in the lunar generator coming online and bringing lunar lighting and cooling throughout the building via a cold-pale bloodstone network. Rejoice!
➢ There is now a small, hidden stash of coffee bartered from Dabi. Someone might have to pry it from Viktor's jittery fingers.
This log is WIDE OPEN for Tanabata festivities and serves as the general log for Sanctuary for the month. Go wild and do whatever you want, have fun with your top levels, etc. :)
no subject
I don't doubt it. At least I know who to call if I lose a hand and don't feel like testing the water here. [she's seen enough body modifications, chemtech and otherwise - and she doesn't doubt viktor's ingenuity or skill at all - considering he was somewhere on the other end of those gauntlets. was it 70/30 viktor/jayce? 50/50? does it matter?]
Second time? Well, that means you're probably pretty good at it. Or you have a hard time saying no. I mean, look at this place. It's ...really something. There's Piltie fancy and then there's ...this. It's not just for show. It feels ...real.
Anyway, it's not like something this top notch would choose a mediocre firework person.
[that was a ...bunch of compliments. and the remark about new fingers will occur to her later.]
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I'll even throw in some interesting modifications. Like eh... one of those pocket knifes with the various tools. [swiss army knife. don't actually lose a hand though vi, the basement is bad enough.
his lips quirk at that assessment, mostly that it's real. it is, it doesn't feel like progress day and all the gilded showing off. it's nice, he thinks, to have someone who gets that around again.]
Flattery. For that I'll let you light some of the fireworks when the show starts. [he offers dryly as the stairs up come into view.] Sanctuary is very much Allen's doing. He is... incredibly sincere and genuine, in a way that concerns me occasionally, to be sure. But the results speak for themselves.
You're welcome to come around and help out other days, if you're feeling charitable. I will vouch that you are excellent at picking up heavy boxes and moving them around.
no subject
Allen Walker? That's ...Alayne's friend. One of her best friends, here?
[it figures that he is sincere and genuine. he seemed nothing less in the brief conversation they had, and yeah, it makes all the sense in the world if he's close with her. alayne is also sincere and genuine in ways that could be described as ...concerning, but vi had also seen a bit of something else under there - a steeliness, a determination that was somehow not at odds with the rest of her.
would something like this even be possible if the intent behind it weren't genuine? nah. no way. it occurs to her just then that at its base level - even at its aesthetic level - what she's reminded of is the firelights. and who was ekko if not genuine.]
I'll keep that in mind.
[you know, when the urge to be charitable strikes. she can't help but think about her sister - and that's a whole mess. but powder or jinx - they'd both like the fireworks.]
no subject
[you know, the people stepped on in all the drama and power struggles, the people just trying to get by in their shitty little houses, surviving attacks and odd magics and sometimes the more violent whims of dangerous sleepers. the kind of people he wanted to help with hextech and failed, the kind of person he once was, and maybe vi was too.
hm.] There's been pushback, there is a status quo of slaughter and violence, but so far... not bad. Ah, here we are.
[there's the bell, and another box of fireworks is already up in the steeple. he gestures for her to put her box down wherever, offers,] Thank you. It is good to have you back, Vi. For heavy lifting if nothing else. [dry but hey, he means it.]
no subject
So it's true that they just ...they're just gone. Even though this is their home, they just die and we get second chances. Tch.
There's always a status quo. [the implication in her tone: and it usually sucks and yes, here we are. once the box is down she'll fold her arms, her face serious a moment before:]
You know I'm in, right? Fuck that status quo.
[and after a pause, a little softer.]
It's good to be able to talk to someone who...
...to someone from home.
[she doesn't just mean of the same worldscape, she means the undercity. yeah, he may have gotten out, but that didn't mean he'd wholly forgotten where he came from. he might have been one of the only ones to get out and remember.]
You really gonna trust me to light one up?
[CAN SHE?]
no subject
his lips quirk, at all of it. very good to hear she'll help, but also-] It is. Honestly I think it's something I've missed since before I came here.
[at least he had sky, or his visits down, but still. it's nice compared to how jinx in their brief meeting looked at him like he was a traitor, and he couldn't blame her
but there's a festival and he brushes the thoughts aside, amused as he pulls out a lighter he holds out to her.] I am a man of my word. We need to fire off a test now anyway, so have your pick.
[should he trust her... well, he is, so there you go. he can direct and keep an eye on things it's probably fine.]
no subject
[WELL, OKAY THEN. she's not about to make a mess out of this, so she takes the lighter, no fancy tricks, no fake fumbles (she's tempted but no), reaches for a firework (gold) and suddenly it's lit. she'll let him direct her after this since he's the expert. but vi's smile is tinged with sadness she doesn't think about anyone seeing.
it isn't me that should be doing this.
in another world, another time - another path - what could powder have been had she gotten a chance like viktor had.]
no subject
but he watches, directing where needed, mostly just saying how to plant the firework down and where to aim.
(if he notices any melancholy he says nothing. there are a great many things to be sad about these days.)
when it shoots off he watches it sail into the sky then explode in a huge shower of golden sparks. people probably cheer on the ground and viktor huffs a soft laugh.]
Well done, and all your fingers in tact.
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Well, I've only been here a couple days.
[she winks at him - a completely spontaneous response, and she's not about to question it.]
no subject
the wink gets a genuine laugh despite himself, the kind like he wasn't expecting it and bites it back after only a moment. incredible.] Cheeky. Tell me, how have you been settling in?
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I'll add that to my list. Cheeky Lady Sturdy Rucksack. Catchy, but not very intimidating.
Good? Not bad at all? [it comes out as a question - mostly because it's hard to believe and she's still waiting for the other shoe, or pile of heavy boots to drop.] I've got a place, a room. It's fancy as fuck, but there's a tree in it. And this huge bed. And windows. Three fucking windows. [the fact that she is making such a big deal about an actual bed and windows says ...probably a lot more than she wants it to.] It's in the uh, Rookery, with Alayne and "L".
Oh, and I found a job. A couple jobs if things work out.
[she nods toward the fireworks] Your turn. Let me see how a pro does it.
no subject
[boy it does, that window hype. given he knows stillwater yeah, he can guess. he has no idea who 'L' is (he does know lazarus but not as that, ah mystery) but he nods to the rookery.] Is that where the job is? Or elsewhere?
[ha, time for pro fireworks. well, the only real pro thing is he knows what each firework will do because he made them, so he can pick a particularly impressive one just to be a bit cheeky himself and light it. when it shoots off into the sky it sparks red and orange, a handful of little bursts, crackling as it falls.
he glances to vi with a little mock bow. thank you, he's here all week.]
no subject
[blood stuff. anti corruption tattoos. maybe even other kinds of tattoos. she wants to learn more about saeri's runework, even if it's something she can't do herself.]
There's that and I'd like to try my hand at being a hunter. My hands. Uh. Fists.
Do you happen to know if people fight for money here? Like, as entertainment or gambling? [she suspects alayne will possibly (probably) object to this idea, so she's asking viktor.]
[she can't stop the corner of her mouth from raising at his mock bow, and she flicks her eyes over him and back down again before offering:]
Let me know if you want me to hook you up with some ink.
no subject
[maybe less tattoos but still. regardless his thoughts go to her fists, namely imagining how she apparently used the gauntlets as weaponry. it's still an odd feeling, the whole matter, but he doesn't have an issue with making weapons for self defense or defending the population from actual monsters so much as he refuses to consider making any weapon of war.
so he regards her hands for a moment, hand going to his chin.] Like the gauntlets? I could make you something similar, if you'd like. Specifically with some shielding so you don't get eaten your first day, given close combat is... risky.
[funny, how now both he and jayce have offered her the gauntlets now in some way. he brushes aside the thought of their world for now, leaning back as he gives her a quirked brow.] Hm... I don't think so. The problem is blood pollution would be too easy to form even in largely peaceful fights. If there were- and I cannot say I think this is a particularly good idea- you'd find them at Cellar Door. That's where the entertainment usually can be found.
Hm. [amusement. honestly it's good to have someone to push a little and who pushes back.] I may take you up on that. In truth I considered it, when I was younger. I had to save everything for the doctors though. [a shrug. Just Zaun Things.] And you are clearly an expert in getting them.
[he taps his cheek where her VI is. who needs nametags, honestly? face tattoos are in]
no subject
What? [she'd heard him, and she can't say she hadn't thought about asking, but the fact that he just ...offered it, without question, without her pestering him - but viktor is just full of surprises.] Yes. Hell, yes! [shielding. that's funny. vi almost laughs. she'll have to tell him how she discovered that completely by accident.
she gives him a cheeky little shrug in reply.]
Eh. You say risky, I say, bring it on.
[yeah. that is kind of what she didn't want to hear, but it tracks, given what her book, what everyone else has said here and there, so far. she'll go to cellar door anyway - knowing full well it's a bad idea - and when she finds nothing, she'll set it aside.]
Did 'em all myself. [and she mirrors that tap. there's genuine pride as she replies, even though her current garment obscures the largest and best - most complex - of them. the ones on her arms had been easy enough to see the day he'd led her out of the chaos and into his lab, an act she is still grateful for, probably always would be.
of all the people it could have been - and it could have been anyone - the fact it was another zaunite - even if he had a bit of that piltover sheen - it felt like it meant something. and so then it just did. which is why she almost asks the question - almost risks spoiling the moment. then reconsiders.]
If you make me those gauntlets, I'll do it for free. [she will do it for free even if you don't make them, shhhhh.]
no subject
but ok, her reaction to gauntlets makes his lips quirk despite himself.] I can probably have them done by the end of August, though I can't make promises. I have- [hm, a pause. a moment before he says,] - another project I need to get done by the end of August. As long as things go smoothly though perhaps we can get something finished before then.
[frankly it will be a lot easier, given the bulk of the work in getting the gauntlets to function was already done, just hextech schematics instead of with bloodstones. ah, never thought he'd be making them for actual fighting.
he rolls his eyes at 'bring it on,' even if he can't help an amused shake of his head. back before he went to that tournament purely to see vi fight, because he knew she'd be something to witness and he was right.]
Hm, you have yourself a deal then. [he settles on, as if he wasn't going to do the gauntlets for free. they're ridiculous.] I admit I like the designs of yours. All the eh... the colorful, flashy tattoos don't interest me.