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

[brightwitch]

Well, that's his mistake.

"I know where you are, darling. I only wanted to know if there were any things you weren't telling me. Now I know I can trust you with everything except keeping it in your pants, so that's progress, isn't it?"

She gives him a winning smile. Hey, she could have found things that were much more damning. Once she'd had Mogget interrogate Lydia and realised that the girl knew absolutely nothing of importance, she felt much better about the whole thing.

[longterm]

Cesare doesn't quite know how to take that. On one hand she's being pretty insulting. On the other hands, she's pretty accurate. He sucks on his tongue for a second as he thinks on it.

"We never said we were exclusive..." he says, wondering quite why he's trying to defend actions that he doesn't think need defending. Apparently Samantha has that effect on him. "I have no doubt you have a plenitude of your own gentlemen at your disposal." After all, Samantha and Cesare have a business relationship, don't they? Albeit one with perks.

[cutting in, with permission]

[dredefulchilde]

"That's hardly gentlemanly of you, Borgia, impugning a lady's honor like that." Joscelin has only heard the last few words of the exchange, having been turned away from the bar because he looked too young to drink. Really, this is a Night Council event. They should be able to tell a vampire apart from a human by now. So he's annoyed, bored, and looking to cause mischief. He sidles up to his sometimes friend and the unknown lady and gives her his most angelic smile.

"You deserve better than Cesare Borgia, madame."

[brightwitch]

The interruption is poorly timed. Samantha raises both eyebrows, taking in a breath when she sees the child vampire. God, he's creepy. Even the thought of a child vampire is creepy and here's one butting in on a private conversation.

"I bet you're not the first one to say that." She glances at Cesare. "Cesare and I are colleagues. We were discussing business."

It's sort of true, if you spin it the right way.

[longterm]

Totally and completely true. In a sense. Cesare shrugs and nods, trying his best to play it cool. Truly, why is Joscelin barging in on this? He should know better. Or perhaps he does and he simply doesn't care.

"Even I myself would say it. Sorry to disappoint, Joscelin. But I fear she knows far better than to liaise with a dreadful cad like me." Also somewhat true. After all, Samantha has just made it very clear that she knows he's a bit of a whore.

[dredefulchilde]

"Super secret Night Council business, is it?" Joscelin drops his voice to a conspiratorial stage whisper. "And what intrigues are we plotting today?" He knows he's being a pest. He also doesn't give a damn. Being a pest is kind of the point.

"You haven't yet introduced me to your lovely colleague, Borgia. Beyond being a cad, you've also got terrible manners."

[brightwitch]

"Samantha Okeke, Mother of Witches and Witch Representative on the Night Council." Samantha glances sideways at Cesare, giving him a questioning look before turning back to the child vampire. "Who are you?"

If he's a high-up vampire she ought to know him already, especially someone as distinctive as him. Maybe he's some kid that Cesare turned centuries ago. Still creepy.

[longterm]

"This is Master FitzThomas de Lisle," Cesare says with a smirk, deliberately using the word master to pick on him. If Joscelin is going to make things difficult while being polite at the same time, Cesare is going to do the exact same thing.

"We know eachother from a while back. What was it? 1800s? Back when they wouldn't let my dear friend here wear trousers past the knee." Another jab, but Cesare thinks he's pretty safe to do so with Joscelin. Joscelin invaded his conversation, not the other way around.

[dredefulchilde]

So this is the Mother of Witches. Joscelin had seen her around before, at events, but never made the connection. Joscelin bows elaborately despite Cesare's introduction, "accidentally" stepping on Cesare's toe and scuffing those very fine shoes. "A pleasure, madam," he says, politely kissing her hand and knowing how much he disturbs her. He can see it in her face.

[brightwitch]

Ugh, he's kissing her hand. Samantha manages not to recoil in disgust but her smile is strained. "Right. Nice to meet you, Mr de Lisle, but you're right, we were discussing private business. Do you mind if we...?"

She turns away slightly, indicating that she and Cesare need to move on. They still haven't finished their conversation and they're certainly not going to do it with the child vampire listening in.