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

[hurtcomfort]

Yeah, Cole's staying put where he is. In fact, he's adjusting his posture slightly so that he's still sitting on the float but also looking at Ghoul--though he does peer over at the float in question as if to make sure of the one he's seeing. Yep, that sure is a float covered in dead things.

"Why would they put dead things on your float? You're not dead." It's an honest question because really, so much of Ghoul's float is downright confusing to poor Cole.

[ghoulaid]

"'Cause I like dead things." Because of course he does. He'd better, anyway, or else he'd have some real problems with all of the dark-themed tattoos he's got all over himself. "And it goes with my costume. I'm like a wolf version of the grim reaper." It only makes sense for a harbinger of death to have a corpse posse, geez.

"What, uh... What were you supposed to be?"

[hurtcomfort]

Okay, Cole will admit that 'wolf version of the grim reaper' does sound pretty cool. And Ghoul looks pretty cool as well. All of the costumes might be confusing, but they're quite fun to look at.

"They wanted to make something ethereal? Lots of silver, lots of spangles, floating in the fog. But I can't wear the costume, so they had to change." Which really? That's a bit of a shame. Cole would like to be spangly, at least for a little bit.

"I wouldn't mind wearing the costume. I just can't."

[ghoulaid]

Ghoul gets one of those thoughtful looks on his face seconds before he props his head up against one of his hands. "It makes sense that you can't wear normal clothes, but can't you change the way you look?" This is definitely not napping, which he should be doing. The pack has had him awake since 7AM, for fuck's sake. But ghost-stuff will always get him talking.

[hurtcomfort]

"I don't know?" said with a little shrug. "I've never really tried."

He has issues becoming tangible, he doesn't know if he can change the way he looks, he occasionally forgets how to human...truly, Cole is a shining example of ghost representation.

[ghoulaid]

"So try it."

As in right now? Apparently so, because Ghoul gestures at Cole with his free hand, prompting him to go on. "I dunno why it wouldn't work. Like, physics and stuff doesn't have shit on you anymore." Great pep talk...

[hurtcomfort]

There's a pause, where Cole squuuuuuuinches up his eyes real tight, fist clenched as he concentrates...but nothing happens.

He opens one eye, still sees that he's wearing his khakis, shirt, and slightly ridiculous floppy hat and just frowns. No luck. "It's all right. I'm not good at being a ghost anyway."

[ghoulaid]

Ghoul frowns as well before sitting up, reaching out to poke at the approximate area of where Cole's knee would be. Like poking him will spur him in to suddenly changing, or whatever. What is logic.

"Nah, don't say shit like that. You gotta practice, is all." Now this is an area where he actually does have experience and knows what he's talking about. "I was a real fuckin' awful wolf, y'know, but now I'm less bad. I'm tellin' you, it's all about fake it 'til you make it."

[hurtcomfort]

"You were?" Now that's interesting. Cole can't help but frown as he looks over at Ghoul. But he seemed so good at it, so confident in being a wolf. The fact that he was an awful wolf to start with...

"I guess that means there's hope." Cole simply responds. Fake it 'til you make it. You bet he's gonna internalize that something fierce.

[ghoulaid]

"Still kinda am." He flashes Cole a toothy grin. "Think of it as like, bein' disappointed at a baby 'cause it doesn't magically know how to change a tire. You didn't start out dead, 'course you don't know how to instantly do all the professional dead stuff." Is this Ghoul's life now. Is this really how he chooses to spend his time? Paranormal therapy? Why is he like this? No one will ever have the answer to that question, but it doesn't really matter. Ghoul's all about it.

"Anyway, I think they have this thing every few years. You'll totally be able to project whatever you want by then." If he's still around... Ghoul suddenly wonders whether Cole wants to move on or not. Is it rude to ask?

[hurtcomfort]

Considering that Cole's all about helping other people but is absolutely horrible at dealing with things himself, the paranormal therapy is certainly helping. Ghoul's putting things into words that are a bit obvious, but Cole's never really connected the dots before. Because he's right. He didn't start out dead. And there was a while when nobody would help him be dead.

"By then I'll also know what I want to wear." It's supposed to be a joke, as shown by Cole's small, awkward little smile.

[ghoulaid]

Ghoul's face practically lights up all of a sudden, which is never a good sign. "You should dress up like a ghost." Yep, bad idea confirmed. "Y'know, the classic sheet-with-eyeholes-cut-out shit?" Look at him, he's already snickering uncontrollably just thinking about it.

He must be stopped.

[hurtcomfort]

"Why would I dress up as what I already am?" Cole does not get the joke in the slightest, and is sort of frowning at Ghoul in confusion. You wear a costume to hide yourself. Or you wear a costume to show yourself, showing secrets to the world.

Neither option is fitting right with Cole, and he can't help but look a bit confused.

[ghoulaid]

"'Cause it's funny," he says with a grin that doesn't seem to be affected by Cole's lack of a funnybone. "Like, in an ironic way."

It's fine if he doesn't get it, because seconds later Ghoul is flapping a hand at him. "Actually, no, nevermind. Don't do it. If I turn in to a ghost before this rolls back around, I wanna do that costume."

[hurtcomfort]

It would be funny? Well, okay, if Ghoul said so. Since dying, it's been a bit harder for Cole to connect with what people thought as funny, sad, and so on. But Ghoul seems nice. Ghoul wouldn't lie. He'll take him at his word.

"I can still do it if you aren't dead," Cole simply responds, with a little shrug. "One of us will just have to remember"

Ghoul. Ghoul's the one who will just have to remember, Cole's forgetful enough as is.

[ghoulaid]

Ghoul's humor is incredibly untrustworthy, unfortunately for Cole. Chances are, if he finds it entertaining then it's probably really, really stupid. Case in point, really.

This agreement they've reached is acceptable, though, and he nods. He'll remember the terms for sure. One doesn't simply forget such a stroke of genius, even if the next event is in four years or something. "Okay, if I'm not dead then you can do it. But if I am dead, I'll fuckin' fight you." This is reasonable.

[hurtcomfort]

"I wouldn't want to fight you. I'd let you have it. I'll just come up with something else."

Cole's taking this as seriously as Ghoul is, though at least on his end it's because he takes everything at face value. They're going to make an agreement about who's going to dress up like a sheet ghost? Awesome, this is a thing that will definitely happen then.

[ghoulaid]

"Good. I'd shake on it with you, but you probably need to save your energy."

And speaking of energy, Ghoul seems to have generated some more in himself through all of these ridiculous negotiations. It's no nap, but it'll do. At last, Ghoul finally rolls his way to the edge of the float and slips off, standing against the side of it with a little sigh. "M'gonna check out the rest of the competition. You should too, I think most of 'em can see you pretty easy."

[hurtcomfort]

Cole nods, giving Ghoul a small smile. He's right, though. Check out the competition, see what's going on, talk to other people.

"Good luck," Cole's grin just grows. "I hope you do well!"

Somebody still has yet to understand the whole competition thing.

[ghoulaid]

That is disgustingly sweet... It actually takes Ghoul by surprise. He blinks dumbly and his stupid mouth automatically blurts out an unsure, "Um, yeah, you too," before he can even think about it.

And then he makes a face once he realizes what he's said. Fuck. No. That's not how competing works...

Aw, whatever. He likes Cole, and okay, maybe a part of Ghoul really does want him to do well, because he's a ghost and he works hard, damnit. He can let this one slide- so instead of trying to take it back, he shrugs at himself and waves at Cole before wandering off.