Harvest Festival

[undergroundmods]

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Harvest Festival, 19th September 2015
Welcome to the Ealing Harvest Festival! Sponsored by Sylvia Redbright, this event takes place on a bright autumn day in Elthorne Park, Hanwell.

(Images for reference: One. Two. Three.)

FESTIVAL
The park has been transformed into a hub of colourful tents and stalls, a country-style fair selling wood carvings, paintings, baubles, baskets, plant pots and flowers, pretty tin boxes and knick-knacks of all kinds. Of course, this is all to give it an air of legitimacy should the general public wander by. The real wares on offer are those sold by witches: stalls crowded with incense, candles, precious stones, herbs, good-luck charms, spelled trinkets and magical jewellery. Gain entry to one of the small tents and you may be able to buy yourself a low-level spell or potion. It's all there if you know where to look.

Meanwhile, the centrepiece of the festival is the harvest altar: five large bales of hay, stacked around each other, where the festival-goers are encouraged to donate food and other gifts in thanks for the harvest. Tinned food is typically offered. Children attending can make a corn dolly and offer it to the harvest altar. There's food and drink to buy too, of course: vegetable and pumpkin soup, baskets of fruit and seasonal vegetables, home-made bread and jam, tea cakes, fruit cakes, seed cakes, scones and apple pie. Drinks include coffee, tea, cider and fruit juice. In short, it's all very wholesome. And decidedly not vampire-friendly.

A COMMUNITY IN MOURNING
It's not all about giving thanks. Following the hostile takeover by the fae in Croydon and the hard-fought conflict in Barnet, many witches have been displaced and are in desperate need of aid. The poster by the harvest altar says that all donations will be given to the homeless and vulnerable communities in London.

Meanwhile the entrance to the summer house has been disguised by a glamour to prevent the general public from entering. Only supernatural types may climb the steps to pay their respects at the memorial that has been set up to mourn the Daybreak witches and their allies who have recently passed. There are candles, flowers, wreaths and cards jostling for space with pictures of the fallen witches.

RITUAL AT SUNSET
The general public have disappeared but the witches have an important ritual to perform. As the sun sets, they gather up all the donations from the harvest and join hands around the altar. One witch will light a flame. Sylvia herself will invite volunteers of different species to step forward and offer their blood, as a symbol of unity between supernatural communities.

As the hay burns, the witches dance around the altar, their last ritual of the evening.

NB. Sunset is at 18:51.

Comments

Re: festival

[digophelia]

[ ooc; she can notice him in her next tag, if you like. she's not doing so well, so! ]

[ Alice remains largely ignorant, for now. She lets other children pass along their corn dolls on the altar without word. She hovers close by, suddenly struck with a sudden desire to swoop back in and take the doll. Alice feels a strange desire to hold onto something, for comfort. It was largely the result of clinging to her stuffed rabbit back in the hospital. Even at eighteen years old, she slept with it, ever since they found her outside of her burning house, and placed it with her during her recovery.

It is a very childish thing to do, but it comforts her. She tried very hard to blend in and interact with the other witches and found herself floundering. She'd wait for the other Midnight witches to pile in, at least, leaning out from the crowd. Alice was starting to get a little antsy, slowly moving her way through others. She would continue to remain oblivious of being watched, for now. ]

[knowstheworld]

[Childermass watches her as she stares longingly at the doll she had placed on the altar, and did get the sneaking suspicion that she would have snatched it back if she could. Only propriety keeping her from doing so. Having seemed to win her internal battle with herself, however, she makes her way through the crowd of guests once more. But she seems... Distracted. In more ways than Childermass knows he will be able to understand, as an outsider. And yet.

And yet he would like to know more. Who is this girl? Is there something wrong? She seems, for lack of a better word, troubled. Is it just the crowd? Is there something more than that? Norrell had advised him to keep an eye out for those who stood out from the others, and, well. This girl certainly fits that. Even if only in personal ways. He may be a thief and several other, less than noble things, but he would not leave a girl in such a state if there were something he can do.

He steps forward, following and continuing to observe. Making certain that she's not getting into trouble, or that trouble isn't finding her as he quietly trails along the stalls a fair pace behind.]

((ooc: feel free to have her notice him whenever you like then! :')b ))

[digophelia]

[ After about a moment of watching others pass through, Alice decided to step away to calm herself down. Alice could have easily been swallowed up and there's no one she sees or knows. It's a new level of awkward, trying to converse with others, but Alice is so soft spoken that no one can really hear her. It almost makes her feel isolated. With no one here that she knows, she turns away and decides to take a seat somewhere else, some place not crowded. It was around the same time his steps followed hers, observing her.

Alice didn't notice, at first. She's small enough and her long dark hair in her face, her expression is partially obscured. Through her hair falling through her face, she notices a figure. It could be a hallucination, something crawling out of the corner of her eye and into her sight much like anything else. She turns quickly, spinning on a heel and ready to spring forward. He startles her, her face turning a shade whiter.

Had he been watching her? A little incredulous, Alice opens her mouth about to unload on him, but she stops. Her temper, exhaustion, and state of mind are never a good combination. ]

Excuse me.

[knowstheworld]

[Perhaps it's just as well that Childermass had not used his magic to disguise himself as a shadow -- he may have actually convinced her that he was a hallucination at that, and he had only intended to keep an eye on her, not. Well. Wreak havoc on her mind. As she whirls at him and opens her mouth to confront him, Childermass knows that he's been caught. And he knows that he must cover for himself, if he does not want an awkward confrontation.

He sweeps his hat off and offers her a little bow of his head.]

My apologies, miss. I did not mean to startle you. [He does his best to act sincere at that, which is fairly easy enough, as it is true.]

[digophelia]

[ On one hand, Alice doesn't want to cause a scene, herself. Now that she's suddenly and abruptly stopped taking her regular medication, her hallucinations were worse. Had it actually been a hallucination, her response would have been stranger. It's a strange catch twenty-two, she's unsure whether or not she should be grateful he's not a hallucination. Alice does pass him a look before she glances away for a moment to quell her temper.

There are people in mourning, a great disaster has just happened, and Alice was about to take out her knife and go at him. She takes another breath to try and soothe her nerves. No matter what she does, she's still fairly angry. ]

Were you looking for someone in particular that just might have a similar appearance?

[ Her voice was low, with a tone that exuded her warning. No one really looked like Alice or dressed like her, not even the smaller children. She knew that asking that might be provoking him, but the point was Alice wanted to make it clear she didn't take to kindly to being watched. ]

[knowstheworld]

[Childermass raises his hands in front of him in something of a defensive gesture, as well as a gesture to demonstrate that he means her no harm. Nothing up his sleeves, see? Not that he really needs anything up his sleeves to be a threat, he supposes, but that's neither here nor there.]

I meant no harm. If you will pardon me saying so, miss, you seemed lost. I was merely concerned for your well-being.

[A beat, before he continues to admit:] I could not help but notice your sorrow, to leave your gift behind at the altar. You have lost someone...? [He means in the recent fighting, but the question is generically broad. It could mean anything. Her hesitation could have meant anything itself, after all.]

[digophelia]

When I was small.

[ The details behind her family's death despite it being ten years ago was still a rather sore subject to her. She didn't really believe that he would be concerned for her well-being. Why would he be? It would take more time to calm her nerves before she found herself even slapping his hands down. Alice finally breaks her icy gaze, stepping slightly to the side. She takes even more time to calm herself down, visibly wearing a look of annoyance. ]

I was looking for others I may know. Why would it matter? No one really would care one way or another unless they wanted something.

[knowstheworld]

[Childermass raises an eyebrow at her slightly. 'No one really would care one way or another unless they wanted something,' she says, and the way she says it is... Certainly bitter, for a pretty little girl of her age, that much is for certain.]

That is certainly a very bleak way to look at the world. Are you really so quick to judge?

[digophelia]

Better safe than sorry.

[ Alice was still fairly bitter catching this man, who she's still pretty certain he was sulking around her. Alice didn't have any friends she could turn to and no one really seemed to take interest in her, she felt. She still continued an odd pattern of turning her head from him, with her arms firmly crossed over her chest. It was her way of calming down, before she did something very stupid and lashed out at him.

A moment later, Alice turned back to him, just to see if he was still there and sure enough- ]

I'm sure I'll find who I'm looking for in due time.

[knowstheworld]

And who might that be? [Childermass asks, casually, neutrally, raising an eyebrow as he does.]

Perhaps I might know of them. Perhaps I have seen them in the crowd. [Perhaps he's just trying to get a better feel for this odd little girl. But that is neither here nor there, he supposes.]

[digophelia]

[ Alice takes a breath.

Really, she didn't want to advertise she was looking for more members of Circle Midnight to a stranger; somehow, talking about the Circle Midnight in the midst of tension seemed like a very bad idea, or so her paranoia taught her. She didn't respond right away, she turned to glance to the side, her arms tightly crossed across her chest.

Yeah, right. ]

I'd rather not, sir.

[ She wanted to at least be polite, if only due to the fact she had a very bad temper when it was out in the open. ]

I'll be fine, I can wait a bit longer.

[knowstheworld]

[Childermass assesses her for a moment longer, before nodding slightly, and tipping his hat to her.]

As you like then, miss. Just be careful when you walk about. There are worse than me on the streets of this city. Be on your guard.

[If she does not speak up to stop him, he supposes that he'll be on his way then. He's not in the habit of terrorizing girls, whatever people might say of him one way or another.]