TANABATA ⟶ July Sanctuary Log

[likethelight]

 

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.
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.

Food and Activities
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.

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.

➢ 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. :)

Comments

[dohaeris]

[knight lifts a paw to bat gently at pepper like the head of a wolf pack indulging his children. sansa laughs; she can't see his quiet dignity as anything other than the manner of a tired old man, now. she glances at megumi and the treats.]

Oh, does he like them? Knight never shows any interest in proper food.

[training was hard and honestly, more like adopting another wolf into the pack. it occurs to sansa that lady is older than knight, if she were more confident she might find some parallels between lady and herself taking on responsibility before they were fully grown. lady's manners were impeccable by the time they had left winterfell, though she wasn't even half grown. sansa grins.]

Lady should like it very much; her dinner is hard enough to come by, here, without any fear of spoiling it.

[she is, though the size of a grey wolf, still growing. sansa watches knight and the puppy and laughs again.]

He does look like a tired old man, truly. He's not more than three years old, but I suppose he is the eldest of mine. It's hard to tell with hellhounds, though.

[she glances back at megumi with a smile.]

I can bring Vhagar around tomorrow. She does very well with people. [anyone, really. she's friendly.] Hellhounds can be left alone for some time, and I didn't want to pack the Sanctuary with dogs on the first day of the festival.

[they are...big...]

[stoicsilhouette]

[As if on cue, Pepper clumsily trots over practically falling over his own front feet. If he wasn't so cute it'd almost be pathetic. Tail wagging, tongue out perched in an awkward sitting position. Waiting for those treats.

Wow. ] Well that answers that question. [Stated dryly, eye brow raise a tad. ]

Finding things Pepper isn't interested in eating seems to be more of the problem. It all started after he saw Kage and I having dinner one night. [Eyes move to the puppy] - Stay - [before shifting back to Lady. Generally able to listen to commands well, Megumi feels confident the exuberant bloodhound will obey. Probably.

Opening his hand, palm up, he offers the wolf treats. Making non threatening eye contact and choosing never to directly approach her. Rather respecting Lady and leaving her space to make the decision of her own free will. ]

I process the leftover meat I hunt into jerky- if any of them ever need a meal just send me a message. [Stated calmly and genuinely. Being here close to a year, he's finally satisfied with his preservation methods. Living by a no waste policy his entire life, adapting felt natural, but took him a while to get the hang of. In his mind he often can figure out a solution, but it still takes some trial and error while in the field.]

Is Vhager another bloodhound? [ Always up for meeting new dogs, and this one's name is particularly interesting.]

[dohaeris]

[lady was trained for this! she eats the treat out of his hand neatly and gracefully. when she is done she noses gently at the puppy. sansa watches, beaming, and then glances back at megumi. he preserves his own meat? that's a very useful skill. not that sansa ever has any to spare...]

Vhagar is a hellhound, from the Dog Keeper. Have you met him? He's wonderful. He raises magic hounds, they're very clever and strong, and they can't be corrupted or killed...

[she leans down and holds her hand out to pepper again.]

They don't need to eat, but Vhagar likes to try things, sometimes. They look like all kinds of dogs; my friend Richie has one much smaller than Vhagar.

[but sansa needed a fighting form, and she'd liked the borzoi shape when she saw it on a friendly omen.]

She's tall and thin, almost like a little horse. She has a black coat and big ears–I'm sure she'll make a great friend for Pepper. She's very playful.

[she behaves like a normal, friendly, well-socialized dog–less reserved than lady. she cranes her neck towards megumi, still waggling her fingers for the puppy.]

Lady is the only one who eats meat, truly, but she needs such a lot of food...anything you could spare would be helpful. She's taken up fishing a little, and she likes to hunt the big crabs in the rocks.

[lady is in fact responsible for the large dead fish in front of the amaterasu statue. it has clearly been bitten through, but otherwise left intact.]

And if there's anything I can do for this one...do you have any others? I could make him a harness, for town.

[knight has a handsome leather harness carved with his name and branching antler patterns. lady of course has a padded collar that matches sansa's yukata, complete with a dangling stumpwork star charm in the front.]

[stoicsilhouette]

[Oh] So he does exist [- eyebrows raise a tad, having read various sources in the archives and hearing stories through word of mouth. Skeptical until given proof, he was never really sure what to believe. This bit of info has piqued his interest.]

Have you seen other types of dogs he's trained? [With the large variety of creatures that exist in the Trench, it's not hard to imagine there being other magical canines with varying abilities. He wonders how many would be naturally occuring versus endowed with magic or mechanical properties.

Tall and horse like you say- he actually just met a dog like that earlier today. She sounds gorgeous and like Pepper will have a great time with her.] I'm sure Pepper would like to meet Vhagar. [ Him as well.

As soon as Lady takes her fill, he turns towards Pepper who has excitedly but for the most part patiently waited.] Good boy [tossing the treat into the air, to which he leaps but it soars just past his mouth falling to the ground. Needless to say it didn't last very long there.

When he looks at Kage he is struck by her eyes. Although she is very excited to meet new friends he can sense the sadness that rests beneath her enthusiastic expression.

She hasn't been as hungry lately- particularly for treats. Megumi reasons this to be her way of grieving for Ammy. The two would down as many as they could get out of him. Choosing to comfort her he beckons for her to come with his hand. As she approaches she is met by gentle pets underneath her chin and a hardy fluffing up of her hair near her cheeks. She nudges her nose towards him. Pressing her head into his hand.]

I think a harness would be a very useful tool for training him. [ An small head nod as a thank you followed by a pause.] –And I have one other wolf, but he's not conjured at the moment- he doesn't need food though.

[dohaeris]

[sansa laughs at the idea that the dogkeeper might be kind of mythical; megumi doesn't seem very much less mythical to her.

lady gives pepper a few gentle nuzzles and comes to sit by kage; she is never sure if wolf omens appreciate friendly licks or nibbles but she can sit quietly beside her and share her grief.]

Yes, he lives at the Waystation. I like to stop by when I visit the farmlands. He has his own hounds that serve as guides, I think the people here call them delivery dogs. One of them brought me a thank you note last month, after I sent Vhagar over with muffins.

[it literally just said 'thank you.' sansa has a feeling she wouldn't be able to warg the delivery dogs any more than she'd be able to warg her siblings' wolves. she leans forward to pet pepper again when he's finished his treats, scratching between his antlers.]

I can have a little harness for him in a few days, I think, before the festival is over. And I can make a copy of Knight's harness, too, with plenty of room to adjust the straps.

[she smiles up at megumi again, intrigued.]

You have another conjured wolf? That's lucky. I just have a little batcat. She's very sweet, but it's much harder to sew when she's in the room.

[visenya the batcat and vhagar the hellhound might be even more ridiculous theme naming than lady and knight, but there are very few people around who know enough to get the joke.]

[stoicsilhouette]

I remember reading about his use of them as messenger hounds - [ that is a very useful skill especially during a battle or emergency. Hmm maybe paying him a visit would be worthwhile. Plus he can't resist meeting new hounds.

Eyes land on Pepper who eagerly accepts all the pets as if he knows she's speaking fondly about him. ]

There's no rush- but the adjustable straps are a good idea. [ Considering the large size of his paws, Pepper's definitely got some considerable room to grow. ]

Give me a minute [ raising one finger before using his free hand to reach down to the ground pulling out a small metal box. The movement is so quick and fluid it almost appears that he's taken it out of his shadow?? Inside is fresh meat neatly wrapped and lightly salted laying on a fresh bed of ice.]

Take some of this as payment- the kitchen's have ice boxes if you're afraid of it going bad. [ Not one to accept anything without giving some form of compensation in return, this is the least he can do, and he’s pretty sure Lady will enjoy it. Kage sure does!

But the word lucky catches his attention. It’s a funny way to describe a curse- not that he doesn't agree it's just ironic. His other wolf is much more elusive and usually exclusive to battle or dangerous situations. A skilled tracker and advanced in direct combat geared for both taking down threats visible and hidden to the naked eye.

But the batcat- now that sounds energetic and he muses is probably a handful- even as someone who's handled quite a few different types of animals and creatures, cats seem to do what they want, when they want.Giving them wings just adds extra mobility and probably chaos!. But definitely entertaining. ]

[dohaeris]

[sansa looks up, her eyes widen slightly when he pulls out the cooler of the meat–darkblood magic? but she grins at the offer, scratching under pepper's chin.]

I'm always glad to trade clothes and leather armor for Lady's dinner. The little harness shouldn't take me too long; I don't have much in the way of my usual custom on the books for this month.

[night walkers seem to be a little busy for couture fittings in july.]

You might have to come by a little more often if you want to trade for anything else, though.

[her tone is gently teasing. she might as well start the bigger harness for pepper, though. both versions will have little peppers on them.]