Click here for a list of weather descriptions, seasonal festivals, and a real time:site time conversion.
Character of the Season
Frail in body but dangerously quick of mind, Nikandr is the sort of character who proves that curiosity can be just as perilous as any weapon. A necromancer, inventor, and problem-solver with more ambition than self-preservation, Niki approaches the world like a puzzle box begging to be opened, even when what’s inside has teeth. Blunt, dry-witted, fiercely independent, and carrying a history best left partially buried, he has a knack for making even failure feel fascinating. Whether he’s raising the dead, moving across Caido to King's End, or experiencing a hangover for the first time, Nikandr brings a wonderfully strange spark to Caido, and we can’t wait to see what trouble his brilliant mind wanders into next.
Congratulations, Niki!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
OG Skinning provided by Kaons, with functionality and many custom plugins made by Neowulf!
Lyra grabs her own drink as she and Noah find the water station. She makes her way to a chair and waits for the man to join her, sipping idly at her drink as she gives him a moment. When he finds the seat next to hers, he seems less tense, and she laughs at his comment. "I'd say anything would be a brave first experience," she says drily. "I may not have been to many festivals, but I've heard stories. Like that Blood Moon Festival in the Grounds? Wild." This one may be chaotic, but at least it's controlled chaos. That one? It sounds like absolute absurdity to Lyra.
The shade is fractionally cooler than being in the sun or near the fire, but only just. Sweat drips down the back of her neck, and Lyra sets her drink aside to tuck a few tendrils of hair back into place in the messy bun atop her head. "Would it be in poor taste to ask what your favorite festival has been, even though this one is still going?" she asks with a mischievous smile. "Or shall we save that topic for another time?"
The festival is a roaring success, one might say, and that's not just because of the intensity of the bonfire (though that does help). As people mingle, eat, drink, dance and otherwise enjoy themselves, if anything it feels as though The Climb grows even hotter, the mix of body heat and offerings spiking the heat in the air. It's stifling, suffocating even, and a few festival-goers retreat to the shade or sit down, worried they might faint. Just as it feels like it might be too much, though, the temperature breaks.
It doesn't cool down much - don't be silly, it's still Longheat after all - but it certainly feels as though the earth and the air breathe a sigh of great relief, like whatever chokehold Tanau has had over the season has let up its grip. And for those close enough to the bonfire to see, they'll notice a little more purpose to the colourful flames. Rising up within them, the fire condenses and shimmers into the shape of a young man. Tanau isn't fully materialised - there's no golden skin or dark hair today - but as the bonfire he's a blaze of flame and colour, and a heat-mirage smile warbles in the space where his mouth ought to be.
"I didn't mean to make everything quite so hot," he apologises. "I just wanted to dry things out after all the rain. But thank you for coming to celebrate me."
Tanau has appeared and is satisfied with the offerings he has been given! The heatwave will end with the culmination of Longheat and there will be no adverse effects in the following season.
Feel free to continue posting your reactions/celebrations! The thread will be archived at the end of the month.
I'll Shout! From the rooftop singing, everybody gonna know my name
His laugh that comes out lacks sound. It’s just the slow roll of warm breath over the sly cut of his mouth, gaze positively bright with ignition as it locks onto her. He’s prepared to wait, honed in on the first indication that she’s set down the necessary kindling for him to take to and turn this into a true fire. For now, he sparks repeatedly off her.
Even as they tilt back towards friends and family, he remains taut with a readiness he won’t let slip by, tempering it with thoughts of his cousin and his mess of a romance. ”Oh, so that means it’s our job to.” It’s less question than assignment at this point. His gaze finds the trio back near the bonfire and he hums thoughtfully. ”Looks like maybe he’s gonna unzip something,” Kaisel offers, nudging her to see the way Soh and Koa both step away. ”Maybe he’s finally noticing.” He can only hope.
Leaving them to blunder about on their own, sure to step in if they continue to be morons, Kaisel’s attention snaps instantly back to Flora as she tilts in towards him that way. Her warmth swarms over him instantaneously as she covers him more fully with her body, skin sliding together with a kiss of sweat. He tilts his head towards her, his smile sharpening from consideration to action. ”I knew you would,” he claims, practically combusting on the spot as he reaches and grabs her, hoisting her shamelessly along with him as he dashes through the crowd towards the seclusion of the Sugar Tide, absolutely Irish goodbying this party. ”You always get the best deals!”
Flora and Kai out!
Kaisel
So I gotta be loud! Don't turn it down, can't let outside noise drown you out
Wearing a watery blue, faded and stretched-out sparkling hair tie on his left wrist
Noah’s mouth twitched at the mention of the Blood Moon Festival, the expression somewhere between amusement and discomfort. He leaned back slightly in his chair, fingers loosely wrapped around his cup, streams of condensation rolling over his knuckles. "I went, once." He said, moving glacier eyes ot her brilliant blues.
“It felt… off,” he said, mouth pulling slightly at the corner and his head tilting back and forth ever so slightly, “people weren’t themselves. Or, for some, maybe they were too much themselves.” A faint crease formed between his brows. He huffed a soft breath, shaking his head once as if to clear the lingering unease. “I don’t think I’ll go again. Some things are better observed from a distance, if at all.” The chaotic nature of it, and of the goddess it celebrated, was not appealing to the Sentinel.
“This one’s easier, though. More, hmm, merry." He said, lifting his glass to take another drink of water. Before he knew it, he had emptied the glass. Still thirsty, he reached his hand out towards Lyra as an offer to take, and fill, her water glass as well. "Torchline has its share of parties though, right?" He asked once he returned, offering her back her full and chilled glass. He was content, for now, to sit and talk with the woman in this tent. The distance between their chairs felt safe, and all of the tension he had felt before when she laced her arm in his fell away.
the sun inside of her rages like wildfire and she is gold, gold, gold
The popsicle is handed to her and she takes it while Nova orders, unable to hide the grin that spreads across her face as she picks out the honey tubes, snickering slightly before they’re turning away once they’ve paid and she pops the cool, sweet ice pop in her mouth. Relishing on the relief, she looks over when Nova has her try one of the tubes, trading easily as sisters do to try each others.
“’s real good, mm.” She mumbles through the chewy bite, the relief very pleasant. Only then does her sister wave at someone she doesn’t know, and she watches with an easy expression as he approaches even if she's somewhat sizing him up. “Hi Marcus. I’m Caly.” She greets him once she’s snagged her popsicle back and shoots him a bright smile. “There’s a frozen honey cart ov’r there.” She hooks her thumb toward the direction of it. “Real nice with the heat.” Not that it would last much longer, at least.
Tanau appears and the air gets cooler – marginally so but enough that it feels like she can breathe again and so she takes the opportunity to take a nice long deep breath of it.
Calypso's popsicle is a refreshing bit of lemon sweetness, Nova's blue eyes stretching wide at the sour surprise. It mixes with the lingering honey stuck around her teeth to make a beautiful melody of flavors that feel very much like a kaleidoscope of colors in her mouth. Nodding her head with the most enthusiastic of approvals, she slackens her body like it's taken the prize. There's nothing else to fight or argue out because the combination is "Thooo gooodh."
When her attention shifts to Marcus's approach, the playful exaggeration brightens back into starburst excitement, her waving hand summoning him from the crowd. Before he's reached them, Nova's already telling her sister "Thith ith Marcuth!", giggling when he then echoes the introduction he hadn't heard. Her smiling mouth closes around another bite of frozen goodness, the fellow hybrid stepping just close enough to feel the bit of magic hovering in the air around them, a shimmering mixture of air to cool the sisters.
She looks between Caly and Marcus, letting them get acquainted before joining back in to sing her praises for the treats. "Mhm!" The honey sticks to her teeth, thicker than taffy but so much better - except that when she tries to speak, the words are blunted by the sweet hindrance. Completely unbothered, she pushes the honey around with her tongue, her grin showing off the glob that coats her teeth and roof of her mouth when she says, "Ther're tho many opthinth!"
Then Tanau appears in a ripple of fire. She spares him a curious glance, still humming with delight for her own enjoyment when he fades, taking the worst of the heat with him. Out of sight, out of mind, and Nova turns back to Marcus, blonde hair shifting with the tilt of her head. "Didh you jhoin the guilth yeth?"
Marcus settled easily into their orbit, the lingering loneliness from earlier fading beneath Nova’s bright energy and Calypso by her side. Marcus followed the direction of Caly's suggestion, the corner of his mouth lifting. For a moment he considered it. The smell alone was enough to tempt anyone. But, he lifted the crumpled paper still stuck to his fingers as evidence, instead, offering her a smile. “I already surrendered to the first sugary thing I saw,” he admitted with a soft laugh, “and I think a second might actually kill me.”
His attention snapped back to Nova as she shifted topics with the same quick enthusiasm she seemed to bring to everything, her gravitational field pulling him in with a step towards her he didn't consciously notice. “I wrote a letter to the leaders. Figured that was the polite place to start.” His smile brightened, an idea a spark behind his eyes. “I just haven’t made it to the guildhall in person yet.”
