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

[bellbound]

1) The parade

Oh, the indignity of it all. He's being made to ride on a tasteless float that some witch put together: it's all white and silver, a winter-themed design with a covering of fake powdery snow and fake trees with naked branches tangling together. Somewhere in the middle of that is a throne made out of the tangled branches on which Mogget is perched. His costume, such as it is, consists of a crown made out of twigs and silver-painted leaves, and a silvery cape that covers his back. He hates it. He hates everything. Why is he being made to do this?

The floats meet in the centre of the pitch and Mogget casts a jaundiced eye at another competitor nearby.

"Tell me you didn't volunteer for this."

2) Mingling

He manages to get rid of the crown at least, but the cape is firmly tied around his neck and Samantha has forbidden him from taking any form other than cat tonight. She also told him to be nice, whatever that means.

At some point during the evening he can be found with Samantha herself, perched on her shoulder while she shows him off to her witch friends.

Later he escapes and slinks off into a corner trying to avoid everyone but then a nearby steward offers sushi to the waiting guests and his ears prick. Surely as a competitor he deserves special treatment. Perhaps one of these guests can be persuaded to give up their food. He winds around the legs of the nearest likely candidate. Maybe he'll attract their attention. Maybe he'll trip them up. Either could work.

1!

[hurtcomfort]

Cole straight up volunteered for this. He's looking around at all the floats and he is just awe-struck. There's so much light, so many sparkles, capes and spangles and all sorts of things and it's so much better than being in his alleyway the whole time. He can feel himself drifting, he needs to appreciate this while he can.

So, at Mogget's question, he gives the cat a confused frown.

"Of course I volunteered for this. It's amazing." He doesn't think he's ever seen anything like this before.

[bellbound]

Right. The ghost volunteered for this. Clearly, he has nothing better to do.

"You could have been a spectator," he points out. "All of the spectacle, none of the work."

That's what ghosts are good at anyway. Spectating. He remembers the first time he met this one looking at a pen of rabbits. What's his name? Cole? Something like that.

[hurtcomfort]

"I don't mind the work," Cole responds, with a shrug. Any sort of judging that Mogget's doing is entirely lost on him. "It's something to do."

Wiling away your existence as a ghost most often stuck in an alleyway can get really boring. Besides, Cole liked people. And there were so many people here at this event, people who he could see and talk with and help.

[bellbound]

Cole's attitude is entirely foreign to Mogget. It's hard to even begin to fathom his response.

He shakes his head. "You have strange priorities. Most people would find a hobby."

Even if the hobbies available to a ghost are limited he could watch television or people or sports, or take to haunting people on misty moors or something more appropriately ghost-like.

[hurtcomfort]

"I haunt an alleyway." It's said like that answers Mogget's questions. Of course he doesn't have a hobby. What sort of hobbies can someone have when they're stuck in an alleyway half the time?

"Besides, I help. That might be a hobby."

[bellbound]

Well, of course he haunts an alleyway. Ghosts always haunt somewhere. It's a perfectly respectable use of a ghost's time. The helping thing though, he's mentioned that before and it's still a foreign concept to Mogget. If he had any choice about it, Mogget would at least be selective about who he helps and what that involves. Cole seems to have some ill-defined idea of helping that could apply to just about anything, with no real passion for any particular cause. At least, not any that he's discerned yet.

"So you're branching out," he comments. "Well, I suppose it helps to stay positive after one's death. Do you have the skill for it?"

In other words: is Cole going to be serious competition?

2, r.i.p

[ghoulaid]

There's a godawful cackling sound from somewhere nearby. Who on earth is making such a grating noise? "Wait, wait-" Oh, right. It's Ghoul.

Suddenly, there's a blinding flash of light from a camera- and if Mogget bothers to turn around, he'll find Ghoul kneeling on the ground with a phone in his hand, giggling behind it like a pre-teen girl. Who can resist taking a picture of a cat in a cape? The fact that the cat is also Mogget only makes it even fucking funnier. This moment absolutely must be immortalized.

*r.i.pieces

[bellbound]

The camera flash makes him startle, Mogget whipping around to stare at – oh, of course. It couldn't be anyone else. And Ghoul's in the tournament as well, which means they're going to have to compete with each other. Joy of joys.

"What?"

His glare is full-on icy. What's so funny?

[ghoulaid]

Ghoul can't help himself.

He immediately snaps another picture now that Mogget is facing the camera, and it's perfect. He's so glittery and angry looking. Ghoul finally lowers his phone, very obviously pleased with himself. "Your cape's cute."

It's nicest thing he will ever say to Mogget.

[bellbound]

He's taking pictures. Two pictures. He's taken two pictures. Mogget stares at the offending phone and then at the offending wolf.

"Is it? I can't see myself."

That's his one consolation. He hasn't looked in a mirror to find out just how silly his get-up looks. He supposes Ghoul might be about to rob him of that.

[ghoulaid]

Nope. This feels like a trick. Mogget's waiting for Ghoul to hold the phone out so he can slap it out of his hand, isn't he? Well, that's not happening. Those pictures must be kept safe until they can be distributed.

Ghoul hides the phone somewhere inside his vest with a smug grin. "You're gonna have to trust my judgement." Like anyone ever wants to do that.

[bellbound]

It's 100% a ruse and honestly Mogget's surprised that Ghoul didn't fall for it. Perhaps he's not as stupid as he looks.

...He's going to share those pictures, isn't he? In the old days they could dress Mogget up in ridiculous garb and make him perform tricks and that would be annoying for a day but there wouldn't be a record of it. Not so nowadays. His cape will live forever on the internet.

The cat scowls. "You appear to share that judgement with my mistress. She approved this... get-up."

2!

[trickofthelight]

Where Mogget is white and silver, Desmond's dressed in brown and gold, though it's a toss-up for which of them exactly looks more ridiculous at this given moment. However, they're both equally starved, so when he feels a furry body sliding around his ankles, he can't help but squint downward and snort.

"You can get your own food, can't you?" You can absolutely bet he's stuffing his face right now, having finally been unable to bear being the center of attention or dealing with a rumbling stomach.

[bellbound]

He's getting gold paint on his fur. To be fair, he's already got glitter on his fur from various floats and he could hardly look more ridiculous than he already does, so... Food is more important. Mogget looks up at Desmond, feigning innocence.

"Can I? What's that?"

He smells fish. Give it.

[trickofthelight]

"Salmon." And the nice stuff, too. Desmond puts another piece of his mouth, before he relents and slips one down to Mogget. Sadly, he's kind of a sucker.

"Kind of weird making a cat compete in something like this, isn't it?" Because if Mogget's actually here of his own volition, he'll eat his own loincloth.

[bellbound]

You're a champ, Desmond. Mogget scoffs it down at once and then looks up expectantly for more.

"It is," he agrees, because it is. Times like this he misses serving Sylvia, even if she hardly ever let him out of the house. "You would not have been my first choice to represent Circle Daybreak either."

Desmond may be a fast learner, but he's hardly spent years perfecting his craft.

[trickofthelight]

If Desmond gives him more fish, will this mean Mogget will let him win if they're matched up against each other? Probably not, since cats aren't the type to feel they owe anyone anything, but he's going to sigh and flick him another piece of salmon anyway.

"Probably not if the point of competing was to win," Desmond agrees, glancing around. "In fact, I'm not sure I understand the point of this whole thing. Bragging rights? Bonding over making fun of whoever they could talk into this?"

[bellbound]

Desmond giving him more fish will have absolutely no effect on how Mogget competes with him in the tournament. He still has to try to win. But that's a problem for another day. He snaffles the salmon and then cleans his whiskers, feeling a little more amiable.

"I do not know." He looks up at Desmond. "Perhaps someone saw potential in you."

1

[roddy_reinigen]

Oh. It was that fae cat that he was terrified of. Roddy sighed, shifting his gaze.

"Well, yeah. What, don't think a rat has a shot at winning?"

Of course, Roddy didn't even think he had a shot at winning, but he wasn't going to outright admit that to Mogget. Even though they both knew that Mogget was easily far more of a threat in this competition than Roddy. Or he could just be wondering why Roddy, who had been up to illegal activities both times Mogget saw him, was making a public appearance. And the answer to that was that Mogget was the only one who saw him doing those things who wasn't part of said activities. Also, he wasn't expecting Mogget to compete.

[bellbound]

Oh. It's the rat thief. He's got some cheek signing up to a tournament when he knows Samantha will be there. Unfortunately Mogget has no proof and can hardly go shouting about how the rat stole a flash drive containing blackmail material so he'll have to settle for a withering stare instead.

"There's an actual bear in the next float. I would say your chances are slim."

He's not commenting on his own chances, which are also slim. If he didn't have the collar binding him things would be different, but Mogget's powers have only waned over the years. He's not what he once was, in quite a literal sense.

[roddy_reinigen]

Roddy shrugged. "Sure. The bear would beat me in a fight. Horribly. Painfully."

Wait, where was he going with this?

"But only one part of the tournament is fighting."

So he could do way better at the other things. Balance everything out.

[bellbound]

"True," Mogget agrees. "I suppose you'll have to hope that one of the games involves splashing around in a sewer or squeaking loudly or... hmm... breaking and entering."

Totally random example, not a dig at all. Yep.

[roddy_reinigen]

Roddy, of course, knew exactly what Mogget was talking about. Naturally, he acted like he had no idea what Mogget was talking about.

"Oh. Wow. Way to stereotype rat shifters. It's not like there aren't a few nasty things I've heard about cats."

Mostly from other rat shifters.

[bellbound]

"Each of us play to our strengths. And character, I suppose."

He's quite happy to live up to the mean cat stereotype. It suits him.