Imbolc

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The festival of Imbolc marks the end of winter and the coming of spring. It may not seem like it, but the days are getting longer and winter's grip is beginning to thaw. What better time to celebrate new beginnings and make a fresh start?

That's exactly what the witch community is doing, as Samantha Okeke takes her place as the newly anointed Mother of Witches. The event is being held at the Redbright Institute, courtesy of Sylvia Redbright the previous Mother, and will take place entirely outside. Carefully placed warming spells ensure that the air temperature in the grounds is comfortable rather than freezing.

The event begins at 5pm (after sunset at 16.52) and finishes at 8pm.

Order of Events
5pm-5.30pm: Flowers and Candles
The first half hour allows time for guests to arrive and mingle. The main area where guests will arrive first is the lawn and pavilion. Here there are two stalls selling a variety of early spring flowers and candles. A third stall is selling hot drinks where you can buy tea, coffee or brandy, a fourth is selling a variety of fruitcakes, cupcakes and seed cakes, and a fifth is doing excellent business selling plant pots filled with earth blessed by the new Mother of Witches and a variety of plant seeds. A sign on the stalls proclaims that all proceedings will be used to fund a new centre for magical innovation, sponsored by the Mother of Witches.

At the pavilion there is an altar where guests are encouraged to light their candles, lay down their flowers and wish for good health in the year ahead. It is also traditional for young witches to wear flower garlands, so expect to see a lot of flowers around in general.

5.30-6.15pm: The Mother of Witches
At around 5.30pm there will be a ceremony where Sylvia will officially pass on her crown as Mother of Witches to Samantha. Guests will be ushered through to the quad to witness the ceremony. A podium has been set up in the middle of the quad where Sylvia will wait for Samantha to arrive on a raised chair carried by four male witches. Wearing a white dress with gold lace trimming, Samantha represents the purity and fertility of the upcoming spring.

It's then time for Sylvia to symbolically hand over her power by giving Samantha her wand and setting a crown of jasmine flowers on her head. The final act is for Samantha to light the candles that have been placed around the podium, a symbol of new beginnings.

She will then give a speech, addressed to the witches of course, but she is aware that there are others in the crowd who will be interested in what she has to say.

6.15-7.15pm: Offerings
Samantha will be sitting on the raised chair which has now been set down on the podium, flanked by the four male witches. A small white cat sits in her lap. Now is the opportunity for all guests to bring gifts and offerings for the newly anointed Mother of Witches. Every coven will nominate a representative to present a gift and say a few words. It would be courteous for guests from other factions to do the same, though not everyone will.

In the meantime, the gardens are open for guests to wander around with fairy lights strategically placed to help guests find their way.

7.15-8pm: Mingling
The remainder of the event is open for guests to mingle as they please, with the quad, front lawn and gardens all open. The stalls will be selling food, drink and other wares right through to the end of the evening.

Comments

NPCs

[brightwitch]

(Say who you'd like to talk to when you tag!)

Sylvia Redbright
Sylvia is available only during the first half of the event. She'll be drinking tea and chatting to her fellow witches before the ceremony and then stepping aside to let Samantha take centre stage. Whatever feelings she has about Samantha at this moment – and there are things in the new Mother's speech that concern her greatly – this is not her night and she does not wish to steal Samantha's thunder. Consequently, she will say her goodbyes soon after presenting her gift to Samantha (a ruby ring). She hopes Samantha never has to use it.

Samantha Okeke
Samantha makes her grand entrance to the event when she is literally carried into the quad on a raised chair held aloft by four strong witches. She has a smile for everyone and the crowd seem to love her. Her speech starts by praising Sylvia for her thirty years of work and dedication and talking about how honoured she is to take up her mantle. Then it gets more interesting.

"As I look around at all of you, I see so much hope and so much optimism," she says. "But I have also seen fear. As witches, we are the keepers and custodians of the supernatural community. It is our duty to maintain the balance within our world, and when that balance is threatened it is vital that we have the skills and know-how to deal with it. My promise to you is this. I want every witch to feel empowered, to unlock his or her full potential, and to use all the tools we have at our disposal to make our world a better place. Magic is a gift. I want you all to embrace that gift, embrace your magic, and take joy in all the great things that we are going to achieve, together. Better education for young witches, better access to the tools and ingredients we need, and most importantly the freedom to experiment and find new ways of improving the lives of witches across the country. We can do that. We can be better. We can do so much more.

"Let me give you a concrete example. Today I'm very happy to announce that I plan to open a new centre for magical excellence and innovation, to foster an environment of creativity, freedom of expression, and experimentation. We have so much talent in this country. My father always used to say that British witches are peculiar. I think he meant it as a compliment. I want to take that quirkiness, that sense of independence and eccentricity, and combine it with the rigour of a scientific laboratory. Britain has some of the best universities in the world and carries out some of the best research in the world. There's no reason why that can't apply to British witchcraft too.

"So I say to you: no more fear. Imbolc is a time of new beginnings, so let's wipe the slate clean and make a fresh start. Be passionate. Be bold. Be brilliant. And most of all, be yourselves. Thank you."

After the speech, Samantha has something of a regal bearing as one by one representatives from the various covens and others come forward to offer their gifts. Keen observers will note that the white cat that appears to sit in her lap is not a cat at all, but a fae: Samantha's familiar. Samantha blesses each witch that approaches her with her wand, and she has a kind and gracious word for everyone that approaches – assuming of course that they are polite and respectful in turn.

Following the formal ceremony, Samantha is keen to get up, abandon her flower crown and wand, and work her way through the crowd. In particular, she tracks down Katherine Moore and spends a significant amount of time having a whispered discussion with the werewolf alpha. She can also be seen conversing with the various Night Council representatives. Samantha has a plan to make her vision of a new innovative type of witchcraft a reality, and she wants to get buy-in from the Council members to help her do that.

Katherine Moore
Katherine spends most of her time on the fringes of the event, hanging back and observing, though she does offer a gift to the Mother of Witches on behalf of the East End Pack (a hand-crafted wooden staff that doubles as a stake). She isn't one for ceremony or hippy witchy bullshit, but she does want to get a sense of whether this new Mother will kowtow to the vampires in the way that Sylvia Redbright has or whether she might be able to find an ally amongst the witches to help with a counter attack against the Islington Nest.

That's why she can be seen having a long discussion with Samantha in the gardens after the ceremony. A large part of her is happy that Samantha is talking to her at all, which she knows is a ridiculously low bar but it is a reflection of the werewolves' standing within London at the moment. Maybe, just maybe, the changes within Circle Daybreak present an opportunity for the pack to assert itself within the supernatural community.

Others
You can pretty much guarantee that every witch NPC on the Elites list will be there, so let me know if you want to grab any of them!

Katherine

[falsify]

Ah, now there's someone Eames has been meaning to talk to for a while now. He's so busy most of the time, he hasn't managed to reach out properly to the wolves, but why turn down the opportunity when it presents itself?

He's spent most of the night at the fringes too; avoiding the witches for the most part, but eventually he wanders up to Katherine with a smile and a glass of champagne in his hand.

"Ms Moore," he offers a hand as he approaches, "I'll admit, I didn't expect to see you here."

[brightwitch]

Fae. She can smell it on him instantly, the acrid tang of magic, the sense of otherness. Katherine looks at the offered hand and then back up to the fae who apparently knows her name.

She folds her arms. "It's a big day for the witches. What's it to you?"

She's not the friendliest customer.

and Samantha

[falsify]

As a token of friendship, Eames has indeed come with an offering-- gift giving is a tradition he holds fast to. It's a copper pot, engraved with subtle patterns and decorative handles styled as branches and leaves of ivy delicately moulded in copper too. The inside has a subtle ceramic coating to stop the copper interfering with anything one might mix in it.

They've really thought of everything.

There's nothing in her speech that raises any red flags for him, no more than he's suspicious of most witches anyway, but as he approaches with his gift and spots her familiar... That's a little less benign. There's a brief wrinkle of distaste to his nose, but then he's all smiles as he offers the gift, so everyone knows the fae — or the Unseelie, at the very least — have only friendly intentions.

"I fear it might be a little... Old fashioned, after your speech," he says with a touch of wryness.

[brightwitch]

It's a beautiful gift. Samantha is delighted with it. Far more delighted than her cat familiar, who sits up with his hackles raised when Eames approaches. Samantha ignores that, nudging the cat aside while she coos over the pot.

"No, it's lovely," she says and looks up at him with a bright smile. "Vintage! Sometimes old is the new new."

Samatha and her familiar

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl did the polite thing before attempting to stalk that white not-cat. He waited until it was off her lap and she was out walking around. But by then the urge to follow was too much to keep fighting and he needed to see if his senses were fucking with him or not. He could only tell something was off about the cat, not what exactly and his curiosity demanded to be satisfied. So stalking it, it was.

And perhaps giving a low rumble in his throat to try and catch it's attention and communicate with it. Cats, even if they were familiars, usually paid attention to him when he focused on influencing them.

[bellbound]

Well, it was nice of Daryl to wait until Mogget had wandered off before stalking him. The cat was following a familiar path through the garden as he headed towards the fishing pond when he caught an unfamiliar scent and his ears pricked. Mogget snorted to himself. Shapeshifter.

He turned around, eyes scanning the darkness until he caught a glimpse of another set of feline eyes hidden in the shrubbery. He sat down on his haunches, tail curling around his paws.

"You may as well turn back," he pointed out. "We can hardly have a conversation otherwise. Unless you are trying to eat me, which I do not recommend."

Samantha

[stauncherhearted]

Nancy had had a nagging feeling that when Samantha had referred to 'witches', she wasn't including her. Maybe it was because the woman had been very clear as to her feelings on what she viewed as traitors. Silly, honestly. She didn't know enough about the situation at hand to call Nancy anything. She was no traitor, not when she had been with Midnight.

But she knows it's bad form to come to one of these and not approach her, not bring a gift of sorts. For hers, she'd selected a good bottle of gin, and taken great pains to procure it. With flowers woven through her ginger hair, and a polite, soft smile, Nancy approached the new Mother, bottle in front of her to present.

There was no need to be petty right now, not when she was doing her best to support Cooper in any way she could. Even if that meant getting along with Samantha.

[brightwitch]

For the record, no, she wasn't including Nancy. Anyone who chose to leave their coven and make their bed with a vampire had opted themselves out of the circle of trust as far as Samantha was concerned.

But she also wanted to ask Nancy's boyfriend a favour tonight, so it paid to be a little more polite.

So Samantha accepted the bottle of gin with a gracious smile and nod, acknowledging Nancy's right to present her with a gift. "Thank you."

Sylvia

[outstandingbalance]

Natasha makes her appearance only a little late. It isn't a night for her, but she has an interest in seeing how the event goes off both practically, as a part of Redbright, and politically as a part of the supernatural community. And a rather vulnerable part of it, from her perspective. Maybe it's old instincts that make her skittish, but she likes knowing who the players are and what their aims.

That in mind, she's there in time to hear Samantha's speech, and she stands impassively toward the back of the crowd through it. The focus, so solidly on the witch community, is not lost on her.

After, it's Sylvia she seeks out first. She doesn't have a plan for the encounter, but she wants to gauge the previous Mother of Witches' reaction to a message that is on its face a marked change of direction for Daybreak. Before Sylvia departs, just after she's discharged her responsibility by making her gift, Natasha intercepts her, falling into step beside her as though by coincidence.

"She has a flair for the dramatic," Natasha observes dryly.

And Samantha

[outstandingbalance]

Toward the very end of the evening, Natasha finds an excuse to cross paths with Samantha. She doesn't consider herself to be in any position to engage otherwise, but she's good enough at what she does to make such a meeting seem casual.

She looks up as though just recognizing who's in front of her, and smiles slightly. "Congratulations," she offers, brows rising somewhat. It's a delicate balance of socially fluent and caught above her pay grade. The kind of posturing that had served her well as a spy, and as a vampire. "It was some speech."

sorry samantha

[ghoulaid]

The Night Train was a drag, but this is almost just as bad. Everything's so pleasant and flowery and formal and- and witchy. He's still holding a touch of a grudge against witches of London, and all their sweet little ceremonies that seem to drag on forever aren't raising his opinion. But he's not here for his own enjoyment. He's here to keep his eyes open (though he does close them for a bit during the speech, if only to keep from rolling them) and his mouth shut.

He's been skulking around the outside of the crowds, keeping to himself, and ends up zoning out at some point. When he comes back down to earth and turns to relocate, he finds himself inches away from running right in to Samantha herself. He quickly corrects his course by jerking back and blurting out a surprised, "Holy shit."

Then he frowns. Be nice. Be nice. Be nice. "You oughta wear a bell." Close enough.

[dirtyredneck]

There is no way in hell Daryl is showing up to this event in person. ...as a person. He does, however, have an interest in finding out about the new Mother of Witches and being as Redbright the institute had something of an alliance with Hillingdon, he felt a lot safer attending a witch-focused event on their property than he had felt getting anywhere near the witch carriages on the Night Train. So he came as a bobcat. Not attached to anyone, but wandering around like he had every right to be there. It was easy to fool most witches into thinking he was an attached familiar just by acting like he had a purpose. After all, cats - even larger than normal ones - were a very normal familiar for a practicing witch to have.

Daryl stayed as high as he possibly could in the quad during the speech, but afterwards, when the gardens open up, he keeps largely to their many hidden spots. Though his shadow and sometimes more of him could be seen slinking from bush to bush as he wound his way between groups of people and listened in.

If you're someone Daryl actually knows, expect to have a bobcat quite furiously start rubbing up against your leg in a demand for attention, regardless if you recognize him in that form or not. There's a witch eyeing him a little too closely and he really doesn't want to be forced to become an actual familiar by one of them. Much better if they think he's already attached to someone, even just as a pet.

[stauncherhearted]

There were a few reasons Nancy was here tonight. One of which was that this was the sort of event Cooper was expected to be at, and subsequently, she now was, too. The other was because this was the Mother of Witches, and, well, she was a witch. It just seemed right that she go.

All night, she'll mostly be with Cooper, occasionally ducking off to get another drink, or something to eat. When the moment arises, she's taken care to place flowers at the altar, to light candles. This year was going to be better than the last- she still remembered how around this time last year she'd woken up in the hospital. Now, she woke up in a giant bed next to the man she loved. What a difference a year made.

[knowntohisfriends]

The Dodger may have just snuck along as he followed Nancy. He was fairly certain that no one would like one of Fagin's lot at a do like this, but eh, he was bored and the party look right fancy. He wandered up to her, grinning.

"So, what we thinking of doin' then?"

[dirtyredneck]

Very few things would make Daryl break bobcat form anywhere public tonight. Nancy was not one of them. So instead of being his usual brooding self, he padded over to rub against her leg as she made the rounds through one of the quieter parts of the garden. A quick greeting that did not invite further petting, but would definitely get her attention.

[bellbound]

Mogget knows his way around the Redbright grounds, though he's only visited the school rarely. That's why the moment he's done with the tedious business of watching Samantha accumulate a ridiculous number of gifts, he skulks off into the gardens on his way to the fishing lake.

It's more a big pond in his opinion than a lake, but nevertheless it is full of fish and that's why Mogget can be found sitting still at the water's edge, staring keenly into its depths. He'll go back to the lawn later on to observe the guests as instructed, but not until he's caught a fish.

[stauncherhearted]

Following her surprisingly uneventful conversation with Samantha, Nancy had made her way back to Cooper. Cooper, it turned out, was in the middle of an important conversation, and Nancy really didn't feel like standing around being eye candy. She'd done that enough as it were, thank you very much. So, that meant time to wander the grounds, which brought her here. To the lake.

Carefully, she approaches, noticing the cat. The fact that it's the same from Samantha's lap is something she'll realize later. For now, she softly calls: "hullo, kitten."

[ghoulaid]

Ghoul finds it very telling that finding a cat is the highlight of his evening.

He recognizes it as the one that had been with Samantha, because how many other white cats could there possibly be around here, but other than that? He's oblivious to what it actually is. All he knows is that it's a fucking kitty and he wants to try petting it. He crouches down a few feet away, gently tapping the ground in front of himself to coax it over. "C'mere, kitty kitty."

[falsify]

Despite his massive distrust of the Institute, Eames can't think of a justifiable reason not to see the new Mother of Witches anointed. Nor would he be happy with himself if he missed it.

So here he is. Eames sticks to the fringes most of the night; watching, observing, careful to keep his expression neutral as he tries to decide how he feels about all of this. The answer is tired, mostly. He hates politics, he hates witches, and he's by and large indifferent to brandy.

Once the speech is over and his gift given, Eames can be found around and about the open areas. Partially to just have a look at the Institute, but also making small talk with various faces, familiar or otherwise. He's not doing anything openly shady or making a scene, he's representing the Court tonight so he has to be on his... Well, at least on adequate behaviour if he wants to avoid burning any bridges.

He even wore nice clothes, look at him taking things seriously.

[thelittlemerman]

Finnick's not representing his court this evening but he's trying to behave as well, even though he likes approximately none of what's going on. The plan was just to watch the ceremony and then leave as soon as it was appropriate, but he's so upset about the cat in Samantha's lap that he seeks out Eames as soon he's alone.

"She has a familiar," he says, low and biting, forgoing any pleasantries as he stops to stand beside him.

[brightwitch]

Eames asked her to meet him while presenting his lovely gift and Samantha is intrigued enough that she does seek him out soon after the ceremony has finished. She has no idea what he wants but she has some experience dealing with fae, so she's fairly confident that she won't fall for any Unseelie tricks. They are the most devious of all supernatural creatures, and Eames is the Lord of Autumn so he must be nearly the most devious of all.

Still, she approaches him with coffee in hand, careful not to spill a drop on her pristine white dress. "Eames, right? Here on behalf of the Unseelie Court?"

[thelittlemerman]

Finnick's not here on business so much as morbid curiousity. There's another, higher ranking member of the Seelie Court here to present Samantha with her gift, so thankfully he doesn't have to get too close to her and the familiar in her lap. It creates a pit in his stomach, knowing that she has one and that she'd dare bring it to a public event like this, where fae are free to attend.

He spends the evening trying to socialize and be charming in spite of it, trying to figure out when he can make a graceful exit without arousing suspicion. It's an unfortunate reality that he tends to draw attention from mortals, so it's not always easy to do things without being noticed, but it gets progressively harder to mask the uneasiness he feels around the new Mother of Witches.

[ghoulaid]

Whenever Ghoul feels awkward and out of place he tends to gravitate towards familiar faces, even if he hardly knows or isn't particularly fond of the person in question. Which is likely why he ends up inviting himself over and in to Finnick's business.

"Does your face usually look like it's about to snap in half?" Isn't that a wonderful start. He hoists himself up to sit atop a nearby retaining wall, swinging his legs back and forth as soon as they're off the ground.

[bellbound]

There aren't many free fae in attendance but they all make Mogget wary. Usually, they're the enemy. This one appears to be very good at playing along with human social niceties but he's also staying well away from Samantha, a tactic that has Mogget's approval. So why is he here?

He jumps up on one of the benches around the quad, green eyes alighting on the other fae. "Here's a new face. Sent by one of the Courts, I presume?"

He could be another familiar, Mogget supposes, but there's no visible sign of it. Usually there's something, like his collar, that proclaims allegiance.