22 - Harvest Moon Viewing

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Harvest Moon Viewing
When: September 10, 6 PM
Where: The Meeting Hall grounds
Summary: The Heavens are throwing a moon-viewing party!







Party Games

Children are dashing all over the moon-viewing grounds in the early evening, flying kites or playing tag and other games. Many of them are wearing cute seasonal rabbit masks made of paper, or sporting ink curlicues and scribbles drawn over their faces, if they've lost too many games.

Card games and spinning top battles, a few practice archery butts towards the edge of the park, poetry-composing competitions, and even badminton: there's something for everyone, and anyone who doesn't look too busy may find themselves offered a rabbit mask and a game to play. Or perhaps you'd like to try your hand at drawing people into your own game?

Moon Viewing

The moon rises not long after sunset, looming over the garden in hazy golden and red splendor thanks to the volcanic fumes in the atmosphere. The games are winding down as darkness falls, and the faint scent of burning incense fills the air as people settle to view the moon rise. Shinki in their festival best, adorned with Amaterasu's golden chrysanthemum, are serving the guests. They set out trays of fresh seasonal fruit (Japanese pears, persimmons, and chestnuts) and plates of mochi, serve sake, and light portable grills to cook sweet potatoes and skewers of meat.

Mazed & Confused

Part of the grounds have been rearranged into a hedge-maze made of tall, plumed grasses packed close together. A sign at the entrance reads, "Bring back my ribbon from the center of the maze,
and I'll give you a special prize!"

Unfortunately, that's harder than it sounds. The maze is full of dead ends, confusing turns, and twisty little passages, which all look alike. It's almost magical how easy it is to lose your way inside, and the tufted grass will prove to have painfully sharp edges if anyone tries to cheat by pushing their way through the "walls" of the maze.

Those who successfully find their way to the center will find a white ribbon fluttering from the top of a tall pole. If they can climb the pole, pull the ribbon free, and make it back to the entrance, they will hear the sound of a child's laughter, and the ribbon in their hand will disappear to be replaced by a round cake of mochi. Enjoy the prize!

Wild Moon

One of the children participating most energetically in the games of tag and dashing around the party is wearing an oversized gray hoodie with the hood pulled up right to the edges of his happy rabbit mask. He's not being very careful, either: he keeps bumping into other party attendees and barely taking the time to mutter an apology before he sprints away.

Although nothing noticeable happens at the time, anyone who's been tagged or bumped into by that particular child will begin to feel more emotional, quicker to react, and less self-controlled as the night wears on. Those who he only brushed by won't be too powerfully affected, but the more times that he has run into someone, the stronger the effect will grow.

(Note: This won't cause anyone to have emotions that they wouldn't feel otherwise, but both ongoing moods and temporary reactions could be amplified.)

In Summary:

• Play party games
• Relax with snacks
• Try to solve the hedge maze
• Go wild
• Have fun~

Comments

Bunny Rides

[water_meebo]

Bunny... Rides?

[ Mikleo is peering curiously at the strong bunnies and the person holding the sign. He's never heard or seen stuff quite like this before so he was quite attracted to its uniqueness. Is that what you do at festivals? He doesn't quite understand it completely even if he's been to several. They were all very different from each other. ]

[mylanceisbiggerthanyours]

[Don't worry, Mikleo. The woman holding that sign is just as confused as you are.

Despite that, though, she nods with a smile.]

Yup. These are my rabbits, an' they drive my sled. Ah figured maybe folks would like to ride with me, or at least come an' pet bunnies.

[There's six of these suckers, too, and they're all about the size of shelties.]

Ya can pet one, if ya want. Jus' let 'em sniff ya first.

[water_meebo]

[ It's a good thing he doesn't know that or he will be even more concerned about this whole thing. However, they were definitely huge rabbits and did she say sled? ]

They're quite strong aren't they? I haven't seen any rabbits this big before.

[ Oh there's six of them and of course he takes her advice and reaches his hand out for one to sniff. ]

[mylanceisbiggerthanyours]

[Just about festivals, not about bunnies and sledding at least.

A sandy colored one hops over, all muscle and fur and giant ears, and sniffs at him for a bit. Hello person, do you have treats?]

They sure aren't this big where Ah come from. Hares are all tiny lil' things back there.

[She helpfully holds out her hands to indicate the size, which is about what you'd expect for normal wild buns.]

An' sure stronger, too. These're strong 'nuff to carry me in my armor, an' another along with me. Fast, too.

[Incidentally, she's just wearing a cute yukata and a cute small straw hat that overshadows her face a little. Definitely no armor!]

[water_meebo]

[ Animals are magnificent things. He's not surprised at their size. Rather, he finds it really fascinating in a scientific way. He also likes to learn about things. He's such a huge geek that stuff like this didn't bother him. ]

Huh?

[ Unfortunately, he didn't have any actual treats, but he has apples? Mikleo did some grocery shopping so he had some raw vegetables and fruits that he had in his small satchel. He watches the rabbit curiously before attempting to pet it. He turned his head towards her as she spoke again. ]

Yes, it's not very common in my world either. This is the first time I've seen such a large rabbit-- really? That's pretty amazing. They've got a lot of endurance don't they?

[ He smiles cheerfully. ] H-Huh? Armor?

[ She didn't look like she had any on though. ]

[mylanceisbiggerthanyours]

[Don't worry they don't actually talk...to her knowledge. If they did, they'd certainly have a lot to say! For its part, the bunny lets him scratch it.]

They've got a ton, yeah. Been trainin' them slowly to build up more, too. Might come in handy one day...they like runnin' too, an' then they jus' flop over in the grass an' get some treats.

[The bit about the armor makes her head tilt a little...before she remembers that she's only got a leather piece on under the yukata. She's so used to wearing it, she forgets when she's not, sometimes!]

Yeah, Ah'm a soldier. A Sentinel, actually. [Neph that means different things in Crimea.] Might be why one o'my goddess things is defense an' warfare.

[She...probably doesn't look like she's that strong?]

[water_meebo]

[ If they could talk, he'd be way more into this-- not that he wasn't already! Mikleo was definitely enjoying this new experience. Learning about things was always kind of his things. Though, reading books was definitely different from experiencing everything firsthand. ]

It sounds like they like you very much. It must be pretty amazing to handle so many of them at once.

[ He does seem a little ignorant to that but he does notice that she definitely looks a little different from most he's met. She's quite sturdy and when she started talking it made a little more sense. ][ Definitely piqued his interest. ]

[mylanceisbiggerthanyours]

It is, but gotta admit it took a bit to learn 'bout 'em. It's...a lil' like trainin' horses, if horses were as smart as these bunnies.

[The intelligence in these rabbits scares her a alittle, sometimes.]

Thankfully they knew how to pull the sled already...somehow?

[water_meebo]

I see so they're quite an intelligent species. That's different from usual rabbits. I am aware normal rabbits are just as clever.

[ Mikleo is curious to how smart they really are. ]

They do huh? That's unusual and without training or anything.

[mylanceisbiggerthanyours]

Ah wonder if...the original Radegast taught 'em. That would make sense, right? An' they jus' kinda took me on as the new one, then. Though Ah changed deities when Ah came back, so...

[The proverbial hamster on a wheel in her head seems to squeak along for a moment as she thinks on that, before shrugging.]

The Heavens are weird.

[water_meebo]

I don't know much about those who do these things. I've still got a long way to learn about this world anyway.

[ He replied with a small smile at her words. ]

I wouldn't put it past them though. The heavens certainly aren't what I expected it to be.

[ He sighed. ]