The Underground Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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undergrounds2016-12-04 10:53 pm
undergroundmods) wrote in undergrounds2016-12-04 10:53 pm
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The Mother of Witches retires tonight
Today is a big day for the witch community. On 4th December, Sylvia Redbright turns 60 and her reign as Mother of Witches officially comes to an end. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Sylvia is hosting a retirement party at the Redbright Institute. The school will be open to all friendly guests who wish to celebrate with Circle Daybreak or hear about Sylvia's many achievements as Mother of Witches. There will also be a more private gathering during the event for Sylvia's closest friends and allies.
The party takes place from 7pm-12 midnight Sunday 4th December.
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 within the school and present during the event. (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.
Places to go
The main location open for the public is the large Assembly Hall where a live band plays folk music throughout the evening. There are waiters serving champagne and canapés or if you prefer you can go straight to the buffet table yourself. At 8pm, there will be a series of speeches by various high-ranking witches singing Sylvia's praises before Sylvia herself will step up to be presented with a large bouquet of flowers and gifts from the witch community. Her thanks will of course be gracious. After 9pm, there will be a show of magic from some of the most promising young witches in London. It's a music and dance performance that features a dazzling display of colour, light and fire plus other spectacular tricks including levitation, illusory rain and lightning and finally a giant ash tree that grows in the middle of the room to represent the Mother's protection. (None of it is real, of course. It's essentially magical special effects.) In the last two hours of the night, the witches will invite everyone to let loose and dance around the tree. It's probably a good idea to be quite drunk by this point.
If you'd prefer to go somewhere a little quieter, two of the lecture halls are open, each featuring a different video playing on a loop. The first video is a potted history of the tradition of the Mother, Maiden and Crone, describing how they are chosen and what purpose they each serve in the witch community, with a particular focus on Sylvia becoming the Mother. (It does not feature or mention Abigail Widdowson.) In the second lecture hall there is a video telling the story of Sylvia's many achievements as Mother of Witches over the past thirty years, including her efforts to bring peace in London, to unite the witch communities across the UK and to foster a culture of magic that helps rather than hurts people.
Elsewhere, the dining hall is closed to the public because from 9pm there is a private party hosted here consisting of a three-course meal followed by drinks. This is where Sylvia and her closest allies will be for most of the night. Entry is restricted to a select guest list.
Sylvia will reappear in the reception area from just after 11pm to say goodbye to the guests and give her final blessings as Mother of Witches. After today, there will be a transition period until the new Mother is selected, but this will be the last time she hosts any kind of official event in her capacity as Mother of Witches.
[OOC: If you are a high-ranking ally or potential ally of Sylvia's (level 4 or above), you may be invited to her private party! Please check with me if you're not sure. Otherwise, there are opportunities to catch Sylvia and other NPCs during the event. Or just enjoy the free champagne, it's up to you.]
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When Nancy comes to sit in one of the lecture halls, she's got a full glass of wine in one hand (hardly her first), and a large plate of food in the other. While she's lucky enough now never to have to worry about where her food is going to come from, she's quick to snatch up any free food she can, maybe even bring some over to the boys' on her way home. They needed to eat better than the shit Fagin fed them, and it fell to her, more often than not.
She slides into a seat just a few down from Micheletto, before settling into what's going to be her dinner. A bit of magic levitates the glass so she doesn't have to hold on to it when she doesn't want to. She's intent to focus on her food when she hears a line from the video, about the Maiden. She can't help herself, she scoffs out-loud and mutters: "sure, easy to say when you've got the Maiden barred from London." Before returning to her food.
Yeah, she's not Sylvia's #1 fan.
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Once Nancy speaks, however, Micheletto seems more interested in paying attention to her than to the video. Without staring at her too long, he turns his gaze back to the video. He leans over a few seats, however, and asks quietly, "But a circle is incomplete without the Maiden, is it not? How has madam Redbright managed without?"
He can smell juicy political gossip - an old habit, working for Cesare in the middle of a pit of vipers all those years ago. It doesn't help that he's already familiar with witches and their politics, anyway, from his time with his mother.
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Hopefully Sylvia doesn't want to take up the title of Crone.
Though, honestly, that would be pretty great.
"But the title is still Abby's, even if she's not here." As far as Nancy was concerned, anyway.
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"What did Abigail do that deserved exile in madam Redbright's eyes?" Surely, if this young lady was that broken up about whatever it is Sylvia has done, he's sure he's in for a lot of explanation.
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"She was backed into a corner, and chose the only out she saw," Nancy explained. Abigail was her friend, her sister and she was still a Midnight witch at her core. Of course she was sympathetic. "Aligned Midnight with Islington." Which was where she was now, content with the protection of her Marquess of a boyfriend.
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"There's a mark, on her hand now. She could return, I think. But all of London would be on the look out. It'd be near impossible to do magic at all, from what I read." She had done some reading, about the brand Abby now wore.
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"I suppose the question remains whether the Maiden would even want to return. That would change everything."
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No; she hadn't joined Daybreak. She would never join Daybreak.
"Now that's certainly a question." She tries to play it neutrally. "Wonder if we'll ever find out." She hums at the end of the sentence, like she's considering it.
Then, a pause, and she turns to him. "I'm Nancy." She extends a hand.
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He is rather relieved to find that his assumption was correct, when she gives him her name. He shifts slightly as well, if only to give her a proper handshake, firm yet brief. "Mick," he answers, concisely, cementing the pattern of terse replies when asked about himself.
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Nancy settles back against the seats. "What brings you out tonight?"
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"I came for a friend," he says, truthfully, but doesn't clarify. "I stayed out of curiosity. Witch politics always make things... interesting."
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Gosh, it would have been great to have never gotten involved in them in the first place.
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He already knows, of course. Cesare explained it all in his letters. But until she knows about his ties, it's best to feign innocence.
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"Here for a friend."
Here for all of Midnight.
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"you didn't tell him you were coming?"
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Of course, as to whether he actually did or not, that is another matter.
"But he has other people to talk to, other things to do. I figured it would be best to stay out of the way. So I decided to rest in here. And I've learned quite a bit about the Redbright Institute."
Not enough for his liking, but he had time to do so.
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"...And, did he?" Nancy leads, watching Mick carefully. So what if he was sitting here catching up on the Redbright Institute. She was more curious as to how his friend welcomed him.
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Nancy blanches a little at his question. "Me? Oh gosh, there isn't much to tell, honestly. I'm almost twenty, grew up in London my whole life and when I'm drunk you can really tell." That's when her lower-class cockney accent would come out.
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"More than there is to say for me, I expect," he answers truthfully, but listens to her story nonetheless. "So you must know the best places around, yes?"
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Nancy highly doubts that- she has an interesting life, but she tries to keep most of it away from the public. "That I do. Anything in particular you wanted to see while you're here?"
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