Night Tournament Opening Ceremony

[undergroundmods]

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Every four years the Night Tournament is held in London as a celebration of the physical, mental and magical prowess of its supernatural inhabitants. Over three weeks the chosen competitors will take on various challenges in an effort to be crowned Champions of their species. Tonight, the grand opening ceremony is taking place at the Redbright Institute, where guests can expect a spectacle of magical wonders and of course the parade of this year's competitors.

The ceremony takes place from 8pm-11pm Sunday 6th August. It is being hosted by the school's Chancellor, Sylvia Redbright, accompanied by event organisers Alexandrie Belrose, the Dean, and Yasmine Merad. Guests must have purchased a ticket in order to attend the event, unless of course you are one of the competitors or someone involved in organising the tournament.

Rules of entry
• No weapons. Any weapons or objects that could be used as weapons will be confiscated.
• No drugs or alcohol except that provided at the event. Don't try to sneak any in.
• No violence.

There is security present on the grounds during the event. The school itself is shut. (In fact, if your character is a member of the Redbright Institute, you could have them acting as security if you want.) They will respond to and put a stop to any trouble.

Order of events
The entirety of tonight's ceremony takes place outside in the grounds, namely the football field. There are stands around the field where the audience can watch the show. A number of stewards (student volunteers) will check tickets and direct guests over to the right place. They are also selling a variety of drinks and snacks to cater for all supernatural tastes. Vampires without daylight jewellery are directed through to the "shade zone": a section of the stand which is completely shielded from the sun.

8pm-8.30pm: Redbright Choir
Led by the Head of Music Ms Sandra Ng, the Redbright Choir is comprised of a variety of students representing all supernatural beings coming together to sing in harmony. They are accompanied by a live band.

8.30-9.30pm: Welcome to the Night (nb. sunset is at 8.45pm)
Settle in for one hell of a show. The hour's entertainment, proudly organised and performed by students at the Redbright Institute, features a showpiece from every supernatural type, from witches performing a spectacular light show of magic, meta humans showing off their powers, to werewolves and shapeshifters dancing in fur costumes. The theme again is harmony: the show ends with all performers joining hands in a giant circle on the pitch before performing their final dance.

9.30-9.45pm: Sylvia's Welcome Speech
As the host and sponsor of the Night Tournament, Sylvia will then step up to a podium to say a few words. She talks about (you guessed it) peace and harmony and coming together to celebrate supernatural diversity. She speaks proudly of the Redbright Institute's record of welcoming and teaching any supernatural student, no matter their background. The one thing that does get all the journalists scribbling furiously, however, is a brief mention of the Night Council's new President. Though she doesn't mention him by name, she does say that she welcomes the President's stance on promoting peace and unity.

9.45-10.15pm: The Parade
At last the 16 competitors are introduced one by one. Dressed in spectacular costumes, each competitor gets their own float which makes one round of the field before they all meet in the centre of the pitch. The parade is accompanied by inspiring music and showers of glitter (or is it pixie dust?). Smile and wave, everyone. Smile and wave.

10.15-11pm: General Mingling
Finally, the audience are allowed to invade the pitch where they can mingle with the competitors as they please. Stewards walk around serving more drinks, and there is a live band playing until the end of the event. Stick around to catch some gossip, place a bet on your preferred competitor, or offer support to your favourites.

[OOC: Please see the information post for more details on this event and to ask any questions!]

Comments

[falsify]

Eames didn't volunteer for this, and as such he's not really happy to be here. But he has to admit, he can't find a fault with the float they've put together. It's kinda ostentatious, but what isn't when it comes to fae?

A throne of woven branches and sunset-coloured leaves sits atop the back of what looks like it could've once been a dragon, eyes closed in repose or death under a blanket of fallen leaves with chrysanthemum blooms at its claws. Tiny lights of various colours dance around it, and on the throne Eames sits in burgundy and gold finery, aristocratic in a 19th century flair. (The fae wanted something a little older, but Eames refused to do breeches.) Where other participants wave to the crowds, Eames is deeply uninterested, chin resting in his hand as he leans on the arm of his seat in an open display of boredom. At his feet sits his beloved rottweiler, coat shiny and tail thumping in excitement as he watches the crowds and the dancing sprites.

It also leaves a fun trail of leaves and petals as it moves, Eames' own personal touch just to be that little bit more annoying. Somebody's going to have to clean that up later.

[ghoulaid]

At some point in the night, Ghoul decides he's going to be friends with the dog. Even if it is on Eames' float.

He has enough self-respect to wait until Eames looks distracted, then he sneakily squeezes up against the side of the float. From there it's a matter of reaching out and patting the area in front of himself while quietly clicking his tongue at the dog, attempting to lure it over.

[falsify]

Who clicks their tongue at a dog. I mean honestly.

Boxer's kind of slumped to lay down and curl around Eames' feet, still watching the crowds with the occasional thump of his tail to signal he's still interested. His ears perk when Ghoul comes over and his tail stills, not on alert but he's watching him warily for a moment, he can smell the dog but that's a human. And no one's come over to them so far, is he an enemy? Is he dangerous?

Better keep watching just to be sure.

[ghoulaid]

This is some shit. He's a werewolf, god damnit. The most superior canine of them all, and yet he can never get domestic dogs to listen to him.

Maybe he's supposed to actually talk to them. He tries to keep the peeved look off his face and maintain something more neutral as he leans in a little and whispers, "C'mere. Right here," he says, pointing to the area he wants the dog to move to, as if providing a visual aid will suddenly make a lightbulb go off. "Come on, puppy." He's careful to keep his voice soft, because this is none of Eames' business. He doesn't need to know Ghoul is trying (and failing) to sweet-talk his dog.

[falsify]

Yeah, sorry Ghoul. The response that gets from Boxer is for him to lift his head a little more and give him a confused headtilt for his trouble. He understands the order just fine, but... Is he supposed to follow it? Who is this man? He looks up at Eames, but Eames doesn't seem to be involved in this at all.

It's basically the doggy equivalent of "my dad says not to talk to strangers," but he does sit up, so that's something.

[stauncherhearted]

"Look at you!" Nancy's impressed, very impressed when she walks up to Eames. She'd offer a hug, but she knows now how much he hates them, so instead she immediately turns her attention to her BFF, Boxer. "Hello, puppy!" She greets him warmly, already starting to give him scritches and attention.

"You stole the show, yes you did, Boxer! Are you gonna help Eames win?"

[falsify]

Boxer is delighted by the attention, lifting his front paws as if to leap up on Nancy but he's not allowed to do that, so he puts them down and instead presses his muzzle into Nancy's hands with a lot of affectionate licking for good measure.

"He's certainly doing his best," Eames says, smiling down at the dog as he gets all that affection out.

[stauncherhearted]

Nancy grins up at Eames, keeping all of her attention otherwise turned towards the dog.

"I'm so glad they let you bring him- oh, yep, he smells Juliet on me, no doubt." Juliet had blessed her by curling up on her lap for a fair bit earlier before she and Cooper came out.

"So I can't believe you're doing this- you're not being forced into it, are you?"

[falsify]

"Depends. What's your definition of 'forced'?" Eames responds, a little wry like he's making a joke, and he kneels down next to Boxer and starts smoothing down the fur along his side. The dog turns and goes to lick Eames' face, but when he jerks back out of immediate tongue range, he goes back to slobbering fondly all over Nancy.

[bellbound]

Having cast his eye over the competition, it's probably fair to say that Eames is the competitor Mogget is least happy about. Here he is, supposed to be representing fae to prove that familiars are far more worthy than those dirty conniving Seelie and Unseelie, and the Unseelie send in a lord to essentially ruin his chances.

Also, he has a dog. Mogget hates dogs.

So he watches from a distance, perched on his own throne which seems small and pathetic compared to the Unseelie's finery. As their floats come closer, the dog notices the cat and sits up sharply.

Oh, it had better not be about to come after him. "So who did the Court choose to enter in the tournament?" he asks. "You or the hound?"

[falsify]

Luckily for Mogget, Boxer is a very well trained dog. (Plus he really doesn't have much in the way of hunting instinct.) Boxer sits up alert and watches the cat, cautiously leaning his head out to try and get a good sniff now they're close enough.

Eames, for his part, drops a hand to scratch the dog behind the ears as he turns his gaze to the Mogget. "I suppose you'll have to wait and see, won't you?"

Wouldn't it be great entertainment if Mogget had to fight a dog?

[bellbound]

No, no it wouldn't. Mogget's ears flatten as he leans away from the dog and his crown slips half an inch lower over his eyes. Stupid thing.

"Did you volunteer?"

He half-suspects Eames might have, if only for the attention. Fae are notoriously fond of spectacle.

[falsify]

Boxer lowers his head right against the base of the float and inches forward, still trying to catch a scent as if the cat somehow won't see him now. Eames' lips pull into an amused smirk as he catches this out of the corner of his eye, but he's not planning to intervene unless he starts trying to cross floats or Mogget lashes out.

He'd dance around the question, but Mogget's already encountered his distaste for being made to do whatever the Courts want, and they both know well enough that not wanting to do something doesn't mean you won't do it.

"I'd much rather have nothing to do with this at all," he says, sighing and gesturing vaguely, "but who am I to say no when I've been nominated?"

[specifiercity]

Arthur approaches Eames after the parade, raising his eyebrows like he's kind of impressed at the float, but then he looks Eames up and down and asks, "So did they pick this out for you or did you dig that out of your own closet?"

[falsify]

Eames laughs, partially at the comment and partially at the dog that's making a beeline for Arthur and rising up on his hind legs to put his paws on Arthur's hip/stomach/chest/wherever to illustrate what good friends they are.

"You don't like it?" Eames smooths down the front of his jacket, "I think I make it work."

[specifiercity]

Arthur lets Boxer jump up but then he backs away and crouches down to his level to prevent any damage to his clothes.

"I never said you don't make it work," Arthur says, scratching Boxer's ears as he raises an eyebrow up at Eames. In truth the whole getup does look good, but in a costume-y sort of way. Not an every day sort of way. "What do you think, Boxer?" he asks the dog, "Does he look good?"

[falsify]

Boxer has no thoughts about Eames' clothes. In fact all of his thoughts right now are about what a good friend Arthur is and he excitedly sticks his face in Arthur's hands and into his belly and paws at him, tail wagging furiously like he might actually take off.

"I'd take that as a yes."

[outstandingbalance]

"I wasn't expecting to see Boxer here tonight." Natasha smiles and kneels down to say hello to the dog when she spots a free moment to approach, in full faith that Eames will understand why the dog is getting a greeting before he is. She pets his big head. "If I knew, I'd have brought him a snack."

Only once she's had the chance to ruffle the dogs ears and neck does she turn her smile on Eames. "Was that part of the deal to get you up on the float?"

[falsify]

"Maybe it was," Eames smiles, watching Boxer turn his head to lick Natasha's hand and sniff at her-- there's new smells since they last saw eachother! How exciting. "Who could turn down that moral support?"

[outstandingbalance]

All sorts of new smells. In particular, there are girlfriend smells. Surely that's very interesting? Natasha lets the dog sniff and lick, at least briefly. "He does seem good for that. I can't imagine someone better to have on your side."

Her brows rise and she glances at the throne "Especially when you have so much responsibility."

[falsify]

"It's true, raising a child is a lot of work." He says with a smirk and a gesture to the dog. Eames is super not interested in talking about work right now, there's a lot of it and he hates it all.

[freelife]

"And who is this handsome fellow?" Evie's abandoned her float and made her way over toward Eames. Say a word about her black leather gladiator get-up and she will murder you.

Evie holds out her hand towards the dog, letting him decide what he thinks of her first before she goes in for pets.

"And why have I never been introduced to him?" She raises an eyebrow accusatorially at Eames.

[falsify]

Boxer circles Evie, tail swishing low as he sniffs at her feet and legs first. There's a lot of familiar scents, ones he's smelled on Natasha before, and it puts him a bit at ease. Looking up at her with a big doggy smile; Evie has been classified as Friend.

"This is Boxer," Eames says, a fond smile on his face as he watches Boxer assessing Evie, "and you haven't met him before because you've yet to take me up on my invitation."

[freelife]

"Hullo, Boxer." She needs no prompting to start petting her new friend.

"He's absolutely lovely- I'm terribly sorry about that. We'll do dinner. By the end of September. I promise you." She was confident the three of them would be able to work out a time to get together. It's not like Eames or Evie had real jobs.

[falsify]

Boxer wags his tail, looking up at Evie all happy for the attention. He's not as effusive as he is with even Natasha, but he is always delighted by new friends.

"I wouldn't make any promises if I were you," he says, a little teasing, "no idea when things are going to go crazy around here."