undergrounds | Night Tournament Opening Ceremony

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Night Tournament Opening Ceremony

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!]

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Arthur hangs around the edges of the event until after the parade, finding a spot only just close enough to hear Sylvia and watch the floats go by. Coming here was a little last minute and it's almost like he wants to be able to make a quick exit, but it's a good networking opportunity, and if nothing else he gets to see what Eames has been bitching about for the past few days.

Still he plays it pretty cool once the mingling starts, grabbing a drink, quietly placing a couple frivolous bets and then falling easily into conversation with the people around him. He's going to be a little wary about getting cornered into one-on-ones with anyone from Islington or East End, but otherwise he's just hanging around to people watch and maybe catch up with a few people he knows.

"Arthur!" Nancy absolutely abandons whatever else she was doing the second she sees her friend and rushes over towards him. Without any hesitation, she wraps him in a friendly hug and kisses him on the cheek.

"Ohmygods," she gushes, sounding every bit her age, "Where the hell have you been? I haven't seen you in ages!"

He's only somewhat prepared for the hug and kiss when Nancy calls his name, so when he says "Nancy!" it sounds a bit taken off guard. He hugs her back of course, but quickly lets go to let her step away.

"I'm sorry, I've been locked away in the House for months," he says. "Too much work. What about you, how've you been?"

Nancy's all smiles as she looks up and down at Arthur fondly. It'd been far too long since she'd seen him.

"You poor thing! But I've been good, I've been pretty good." Things with Cooper were tense, but she was fully sure they could work through it. They had to. "Let's see- you know Daryl got me a job at the garage he used to work at, yeah? And Eames got me a passport!" She existed! Yay!

"Wow, that's amazing," he says, smiling genuinely. He likes seeing her so happy. "How's the job going?"

"It's great- I really like it. Inventory specialist- it sounds a lot cooler than it is, but it's a job." A legal one, that she was surprisingly good at.

"D'you want to grab something to drink? I'm almost out." Nancy raises her glass.

Arthur nods along, then raises his eyebrows at the suggestion of a drink. He's had a couple so far, but...

"One more couldn't hurt," he says, never too disagreeable.

"That's the spirit!" Nancy could put more away than most people, and was running low on her own drink. She steers him over towards the bar.

"What else has been going on? How's your love-life, hmm?" She raises an eyebrow toward him as she leans against the bar, positioning herself to give the bartender the best cleavage shot. Best way to get served first, it was sad to admit.

Arthur lets out a surprised laugh as he leans on the bar and waits for Nancy to take care of the drinks.

"Uh, non-existent," he says, and as far as he's concerned that's the truth. He hasn't been actively looking for that kind of companionship in a long time, and with everything going on he doesn't even feel like he has time.

(Sure, he ends up sharing a bed with the same person two or three times a week but he wouldn't consider that pertinent to the question.)

"Oh, of course." She signals the bartender to give her whatever she and Arthur are drinking, then turns back to Arthur with a smile across her lips.

"Makes sense, all that Hillingdon work. Well- all work and no play..." She's teasing him, eyebrows raised in jest.

Arthur laughs softly and shakes his head. "Don't worry about me. I actually like working."

He waits a beat before he continues, "What about you? How are things going with Cooper?"

"Why am I not surprised?" She grins at him.

He mentions Cooper, though, and her smile falters. "They're... Well, my brother told him all about my ex-boyfriend." She pushes a stray lock of ginger hair behind her ear. "He didn't exactly take it well." They were still together, they still loved each other. There was just this shadow in the relationship, now.

Arthur frowns, not understanding. "Why should he care about an ex?"

Because he was an abusive asshole that Nancy was going to willingly go back to the moment he got out of prison.

But she can't say all of that. She doesn't want the judgement that Cooper gave her, not from Arthur, too.

"Because he was a really big part of my life, and I'd never told Cooper about him." That had been part of their conversation, before Cooper had straight up asked Nancy if Bill ever hit her. "And it kind of blew up from there."

Arthur doesn't need to know the details, so he doesn't ask. "I'm sorry to hear about that," he says. "Hopefully he sorts himself out."

"Thank you, Arthur." She smiles sadly, blinking gently. "I do, too. He means so much to me, I don't know what I'd do if I lost him."

She takes a drink.

"I know a lot of you don't like him, but I love him." But Bill was there first. There was something magnetic between the two of them, and there always had been. For better and significantly worse.

"He could stand to make some better decisions," Arthur says, in a kind of reassuring tone like that's the only thing he doesn't really like about Cooper. There are a host of other things but those are more a matter of taste than anything else.

Nancy glances over at Arthur and presses her lips together in a sort of grimace.

"You're not wrong. But he's trying. He used to run a nest back in the States."

"Nests in the states can get away with a lot more than they can here," Arthur says, "It's good he has some experience being in charge with other vampires, but that's not what the game is here. He has to understand that."

She hangs her head slightly, but plays it off like she's taking a drink.

"Yeah." She swallows thickly.

"Other than that, things are real good, though." Well, she wasn't talking to her favorite brother, either. Or, she was quite certain, her best friend. Well, shit. She was doing quite far from good.

Time to drink.

Arthur's completely deaf to any change in Nancy's tone, taking a casual drink and then sighing. "So how do you think this is all going to go?"

She sighs. "No bloody clue. I think Eames probably stands the best chance- though Mick- Micheletto is a really accomplished fighter. I'd love for Lance to do well, but..." She shrugs. He was a total dork.

"And Lydia, as much as I love her, she's got no chance at all. So yeah, my money'd be on Eames. Yourself?"

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Night Tournament Opening Ceremony

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