undergrounds | Night Tournament Opening Ceremony

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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!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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?

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.

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?"

He gets a small amount of satisfaction knowing that Eames was coerced into this too. Even the high-ups in the Courts live by the whims of their masters.

"Still a pawn on the chessboard, are you?" He looks around, up at the cheering crowd. "I wonder if they know. Still, they probably don't care. Entertainment is cheap. Those with power know that."

It might even have some of the effect that its creators no doubt intended: to quell the masses, make them believe that there's hope for peace or at least distract them long enough to forget about everything else.

Eames snorts a laugh at that, following Mogget's gaze to the crowd. (Boxer, meanwhile, is still inching and snuffling.)

"If there's one thing I've learned about mortals, they are astoundingly good at ignoring the suffering of others considering they're always blathering on about empathy and free will."

Not that fae are any better, but at least they don't pretend to be unless they need something.

As long as the dog's not on his float, Mogget's going to ignore the slobbery thing. He is on his throne. He is not about to be accosted by a dog.

Instead he watches Eames, curious. "And so you and I are in the same boat, so to speak." Neither of them are considered people by many in the crowd today, despite Sylvia's pretty speech. "Funny, isn't it?"

"A lord and a familiar, both forced to entertain people who'd just as soon watch them ground up for pixie dust like circus animals?" It feels like a fair summary of the situation, and he raises an eyebrow to look back at Mogget with a blank look and a dry, "hilarious."

Somebody's probably laughing about it anyway.

Yes, hilarious. In that bleak, not really funny at all sort of way. Sidesplitting.

"Circus animals perform." So yes, it's an apt comparison. "What do the Unseelie expect from your performance? Can you afford to lose?"

It would really benefit him if Eames deliberately lost and allowed Mogget to be crowned champion of the fae. Not that he expects Eames to care about that. But it would help.

"They probably expect me to win and bring glory to the court, but I'll settle for not losing embarrassingly."

So he can afford to lose, truth be told he'd be surprised if any of them noticed given how difficult it is to get any of them to pay attention to mortal issues, but it's whatever.

"And what if you lost to me?"

It's a serious question. Eames is getting in the way of Mogget becoming the champion of the fae and if he loses Samantha won't be best pleased.

He doesn't mean to, but Eames laughs at that. It comes out of him suddenly enough that even Boxer looks up from his attempts to covertly get closer to Mogget and gives Eames a concerned tilt of his head.

"I don't think there's much risk of that happening. Not unless your master fancies loosening your collar a little."

Well, there go his chances. And dignity, probably. They both know Samantha won't loosen his collar.

"You could if you chose to. A forlorn hope, I suppose."

His float looks sadder and sadder. Woe.

"Live in hope. There's still a chance I might get fed up and throw the towel in."

Not much of one, but it's been known to happen in the past.

He gives a feline shrug. "I shan't hold my breath."

A cliche it may be, but a fitting one. He supposes he should be grateful that Eames bothered to give him any reassurance at all.

Night Tournament Opening Ceremony

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