acrookedchild: (He found a crooked sixpence)
Abigail Widdowson ([personal profile] acrookedchild) wrote in [community profile] undergrounds2015-07-01 07:21 am

Stroke of Midnight [OPEN]

Miss Abigail Widdowson cordially invites you to Geap Manor on Wednesday, July 1st at 19:00.

Food, drinks, and music will be provided.

All are welcome, but individuals are to be aware that any hostilities during the evening's festivities will not be tolerated.


It is the first time in at least a generation that the doors of Geap Manor have been opened to the general population. Or, at least, as general as the supernatural community could be considered. Some invitiations were made personally, but most were formally sent to the higher ranking members of the various factions.

Dinner is announced precisely at 19:30. The small, intimate eating area for the family has been turned into a buffet room. The caterers Abigail hired have obviously been paid well to make sure there is something for everyone. Rich meat dishes, hearty vegetarian dishes, light fish dishes, plenty of accompaniments and finger food. There is also plenty of fairly fresh blood for vampires. For the others, there are wines, water, and tea available.

The grand dining room has had its large table removed, replaced, instead, by small tables that can comfortably hold four. They can, of course, be pushed together to allow for more room.

The ballroom is open to the guests, and the DJ has also been highly paid to make sure the music played is precisely to the hostess's tastes. There is plenty of modern music, good for dancing, as well as older classics. However, interspersed are classical pieces meant for waltzes and foxtrots and other such ballroom dances.

In the sitting room is a drink cart with wine, tea, water, and blood. Chairs and divans are available, as the room is a quiet place, a little away from the ballroom, so conversation can be had with ease. There is an unlit fireplace, and a portrait of Abigail a few years younger than she is now hangs above it.

Most of the rest of the house is locked. One can wander the hallways, but it may prove ultimately fruitless. One who simply walks up the stairways will find the walls of each lined with the Widdowson family portraits of every generation, starting with one of a ten-year-old Abby, her parents, and her six-year-old brother. As one takes in all the paintings, a pattern presents itself. Every Widdowson woman featured is pale, thin, and blonde.

The grounds are beautifully maintained and fenced in by wrought iron on top of stone. A very traditional look for such an imposing manor. On the path from the street to the house, there's little remarkable, save the knocker on the door. Behind the house, however, if one ventures away, one might get the keen sense of something from inside the house watching, waiting, and hungering. On the ground floor, the locked rooms are mostly unremarkable, save for the study at the back of the house. Linger too long near there, and one might hear a sound coming in a pattering set. It isn't a knock against the door, no. Instead, it is the sound of something hitting the wall. If someone were to force their way into the nursery on the second floor or the attic several stories up... Well. They likely won't be coming back to the party. Or to anything.

Wandering, of course, isn't a suggested enterprise. The old house doesn't like people poking around and trying to find its secrets.


(Everyone who has at least a familiarity with the supernatural is welcome, as the invitations were distributed widely. Mingle, make your own top comments, enjoy the food, etc!)
looksatkings: (5)

4 - Sitting Room

[personal profile] looksatkings 2015-07-01 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Tybalt attended this party out of idle curiosity for the most part. If nothing else there had been free food, and quite nice food at that. And then there's been the hostess's little announcement. He wondered exactly what she'd hoped to gain by it - announcing the claim was all well and good, but to do so at an event like this was interesting. Not something most did without some other motive. Interesting indeed.

He wove his way through the other attendees with his usual feline grace until he found the hostess. She was sitting in a chair, obviously waiting for those such as himself to approach her. How very fitting. He walked up and gave her a bow. At a party like this, he hadn't bothered with a human glamour, so when he straightened from his bow, the smile he offered Abigail showed the hint of sharp teeth.

"My appreciation for your hospitality. And I suppose congratulations are in order as well, regarding the formation of your coven."
looksatkings: (8)

[personal profile] looksatkings 2015-07-01 06:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Tybalt's smile widened slightly, not just because of her words, but because of the little hints of nervousness she gave off. And she had thanked him. Probably accidentally, and depending on how this little conversation went, he might be amused enough not to hold it over her.

"Perhaps I should introduce myself. I am Tybalt, a knight of the Unseelie Court. And King of Cats." The last was seemingly added as an afterthought, but really, that was the title he was more proud of. Even if he had been born to it.
looksatkings: (1)

[personal profile] looksatkings 2015-07-01 07:44 pm (UTC)(link)
"Indeed," he gave a slight nod. Of course he was welcome - he wouldn't have come if he wasn't. But there were important things to talk about, rather than pointless politeness.

"I was wondering if I might ask you a question, regarding your new coven and your... plans for the area."

[personal profile] brightwitch 2015-07-01 08:50 pm (UTC)(link)
A) DINNER

Sylvia has come here with a small group of witches from her coven. Alexandrie is one of them and she's far more excitable about this event than she ought to be, oohing and aahing at the grand architecture and the fine food. Sylvia, on the other hand, is much less at ease though she doesn't show it. There's dark magic here, she's sure of it, and she doesn't only think that because she knows some of the history of Geap Manor.

Still, they are guests and she knows better than to pry too deeply into the house's nooks and crannies. They sit around a table and sample a variety of the dishes available, talking quietly among themselves.

B) BY THE FIREPLACE

It's just after Abigail's announcement and Sylvia is quietly fuming. Just when she thinks she's gotten rid of one rogue coven, another pops up like a bad smell that won't go away. The fact that Abigail has the audacity to announce this in public sends a very strong message, and it's one that Sylvia won't ignore.

She's standing alone by the fireplace in the sitting room with a glass of wine in hand, looking up at the portrait that hangs above it. She had met Abigail once before, should have read the signs. Now it's too late to stop this before it really begins, so she's going to have to think hard about how to approach the matter.
constantprisoner: (respectable)

[personal profile] constantprisoner 2015-07-01 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[Dinner]

[There's no denying that Sirius is a little nervous about being here, especially in his human form, but at the same time he felt he owed it to Abby. After all, he had been mooching off her flat for a few days. It probably would have been worth it to mention that at some point but what could you do? What was life without a little risk after all?

He's managed to find some decent clothes for the event as well, though who can say how, and has made his way to the table in the back with a full plate of food.]


[Sitting Room]

[There was a time when Sirius would have happily been the life of the party, but it's hard when you're doing your best to not cause trouble. It occurs to him that the ballroom is probably a better place to hide in plain sight but he's not really interested in dancing.

Instead, he'll just be admiring the room, taking everything in.]
emotioneater: (Darkness creeps in)

[personal profile] emotioneater 2015-07-01 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
1. Dinner

Cooper arrives a few minutes after sunset, fashionably late and once again dressed in a suit that makes him feel uncomfortable. He'd prefer to be wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Alas, appearances must be preserved. The dinner's already been going on a few hours. He picks up a glass of blood and a small plate of hors d'oeuvres. He looks for any table that still has a free seat.

When he spots one, he slides next to you without asking permission. Taking a deep drink of the blood, he fixes his eyes on those sitting at the table. "So, has anything interesting happened?"

2. Ballroom

After getting his fill at the dinner, Cooper makes his way to the ballroom. Now this is what he calls music. He stays against the wall for a few minutes, scanning the crowd to see if there's anyone that he recognizes. He won't be content to stay on the sidelines for long, however. Before too much time has passed, he's out on the dance floor.

3. Stairways

Cooper finds a quiet moment eventually during the event to explore the old house a little. He admires the portraits as he walks, glancing at each one in turn. Eventually, something clicks into his head. He stops at the third generation, staring hard at the woman in the painting. Then he goes onto the next one. Then he retraces his steps to the second generation. Once he realizes what's going on, he mutters to himself.

"Well, that's not creepy at all."

He's not entirely sure what it means, if anything, but he stopped believing in coincidences in the supernatural world quite some time ago.
emotioneater: (Different)

3

[personal profile] emotioneater 2015-07-01 11:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Cooper is one of those watching at the bottom of the staircase. She looks so poised and confident. Only someone who knows her better, like the vampire, would be able to see the signs of nervousness underneath the elegance. There's a smattering of polite applause after the announcement and several people go up to speak with her.

Cooper waits until there's a free moment to approach her. By way of greeting, he grabs one of her hands and kisses it. It's quite informal and perhaps just a touch scandalous for such a proper setting, which is just what the old vampire is going for. "Congratulations, Abigail. That took a lot of courage."
detectiveofthewest: (Default)

Sitting room or pick your own

[personal profile] detectiveofthewest 2015-07-02 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
Heiji didn't usually turn out for fancy parties on his own -- not unless there was a good reason. But this did, in fact, seem like a pretty good reason. So there he was, neatly dressed in suit and tie and more or less minding his manners.

After the dinnertime announcement, he moved to the sitting room, where he took odd sips of wine while waiting for someone interesting he might approach. Of course, there were many different definitions of someone interesting.
detectiveofthewest: (Heiji: deduction)

3

[personal profile] detectiveofthewest 2015-07-02 12:06 am (UTC)(link)
"Definite family resemblance," agreed Heiji, turning to look at the speaker. Eventually, he simply hadn't had enough willpower to resist a little looking around.

"...Oh, it's you." Whatever that meant...
iceolationqueen: (smile - warm)

1

[personal profile] iceolationqueen 2015-07-02 12:19 am (UTC)(link)
[OOC: Going with them having known each other at school and were acquaintances but not maybe close friends - like we were going to do on the TDM, if that's ok.]

Elsa is not always the most social person but she would be foolish to turn down an open invite like this, if only to get a glimpse of Geap Manor. She knows Abigail from school, though they were never close. Her attitude towards her is basically neutral, so Elsa is sure that her presence will not be offensive.

She dressed a bit more nicely than she normally does when she goes to school but her hair is still styled in its usual braid. Elsa smiles at Abigail when she meets her at the door.

"Abigail, good to see you. Your house is beautiful."
iceolationqueen: (worried)

B

[personal profile] iceolationqueen 2015-07-02 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
[OOC: Let me know if I need to change any of this.]

"Are you alright, Madam?"

Dumb question. Elsa knows she's not alright. Abigail just announced the formation of a rival coven and a territory take over. And not only that, this coven sounds like it will deal with darker forms of magic. Elsa is not a witch, so she has no dog in this fight, but she's a Redbright alumna and staff member. Her loyalty, if asked to choose, would be to Sylvia.

They don't know each other well. Despite being staff, Elsa doesn't deal with the headmistress often. She's probably overstepping her bounds and should probably take herself elsewhere. Elsa decides to at least try to be helpful.

"Can I get you a cup of tea or something?"
iceolationqueen: (hey hey)

[personal profile] iceolationqueen 2015-07-02 12:45 am (UTC)(link)
A - Dinner

A free meal is not the only reason Elsa is happy to be here. Of course, being a perpetual student means being perpetually broke so any type of free food is a plus, but she didn't come merely for food. Elsa likes to mingle with the supernatural set, getting a bit of the lay of the land so to speak, catching up with people she hasn't seen for a while.

For her part, she tries not to eat like a starving university kid. She tries just about everything except for the blood - hard pass on that. She turns to one of her tablemates, hoping that they might be a bit more bougie than her.

"Uh.. which wine would you recommend?"


B - Sitting Room

After Abigail's announcement, Elsa is sitting alone nursing a cup of tea that is rapidly growing cold in her hands. She's unsure how to take this. Granted, Elsa is not political. Her aims are mostly scientific - and personal. But the creation of a new coven could introduce chaos into their community.

She has no intent to fight anyone and hopes that it doesn't come to that. Maybe they will be able to strike some kind of peace so that everyone can just be who they are. Though Elsa is not fond of dark magic.

Elsa is pensive but open to being approached.
iceolationqueen: (with anna - touch)

[personal profile] iceolationqueen 2015-07-02 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
"It's good to see you too. It was nice of you to open your house up."

The invitation said that all are welcome if there are no hostilities and Elsa certainly has no intention of causing hostilities. She's here to visit with people and enjoy herself.

"It's been ages. What are you doing with yourself now?"
iceolationqueen: (aww)

[personal profile] iceolationqueen 2015-07-02 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh, lovely. What are you studying? Yes, I like it very much. I'm doing some additional work there and I'm a teacher's assistant which is... about as you'd imagine it to be."

Aka kids are annoying and think they're hilarious when they're actually not.

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