Imbolc

[undergroundmods]

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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

[bellbound]

The other cat seemed to have surprised himself by uttering actual words. Mogget snorted under his breath, sitting down too.

"It's called talking. Have you anything to say?"

Like why he was bothering a harmless little cat.

[dirtyredneck]

"Shut up!" he snapped, now feeling quite irritable. "Ain't never done it like this before! It ain't natural."

A pause and then Daryl was up and in the not-cat's face, staring him down, "Did you do this to me? This some of your magic?"

[bellbound]

Somehow hearing that gruff American accent coming out of the bobcat's mouth made him seem much less threatening. It helped that Mogget was no longer second-guessing his intentions. He didn't back up when the other cat moved in on him, instead flopping down on his side and looking up at the bobcat with big innocent eyes.

"How should I know? Have you encountered fae before?"

There was a touch of fae magic about him, Mogget thought, now that he could smell the shapeshifter up close. Not much, but it could be enough to enhance his powers.

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl's jaw clacked a bit and his tail twitched violently as he started to slowly pace in a wide arc, keeping his body facing toward the not-cat. Confirmation he was fae was good. Him not being the one that did this was not.

"All the fucking time." The scowl on his furry face was quiet clear. "But I try to keep my distance from them when they're working their spells."

[bellbound]

"Then you only have yourself to blame." He was quite firm about that, his small furry face swivelling around to keep an eye on the other cat. "Where's your witch?"

The shapeshifter probably reported to a witch, he reasoned, otherwise why would he be here in cat form? Maybe Samantha had invited some of her friends and their familiars from outside London. If she hadn't already, he suspected that she was about to start a new trend.

[dirtyredneck]

"Where's yours?" he countered, continuing his agitated pacing. No way he was telling this cat he wasn't a familiar. Even if he was curious about him. "If she don't need you around what makes you think anyone needs me?"

[bellbound]

He seemed oddly irritated by the notion. Mogget's green eyes continued to follow him.

"You haven't answered the question," he pointed out.

He wasn't going to answer until the shapeshifter had taken his fair turn.

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl was going to be stubborn. "Neither have you."

He sat his butt down and pretended to be suddenly interested in cleaning one of his paws. "They got anything other than fish to eat around here? Rabbits maybe?"

[bellbound]

He had noticed some rabbits last time he visited the school, so there was probably a warren somewhere. However, Mogget did not feel particularly inclined to help. He shrugged one shoulder.

"If it's rabbits you're after, I suggest you search the grounds and find out."

It was a reasonable suggestion. And it would get the shapeshifter off his tail. Think of all the fish he could be eating if an annoying bobcat hadn't decided to stalk him.

[dirtyredneck]

Without the ability to be blunt as a hammer (or at least not feeling safe enough to be) Daryl didn't have much more he could do aside from hold the not-cat up. He wanted to know more about him. But couldn't see a way of finding out without giving too much of himself away.

"Maybe I'll go fishing, then," he said. "Ain't had fresh fish in a while."

[bellbound]

As if he was going to let this clumsy beast take his fish. Absolutely not. Mogget got up, tail lashing once before he calmed down.

"A large creature like you choosing fish over the fun of chasing a nice fat rabbit? Well, it is the lazy option, I suppose..."

And the one he hoped the shapeshifter wouldn't pick. Perhaps he could goad him out of it.

[dirtyredneck]

"Nah," Daryl sounded suddenly very enthusiastic about catching fish. Like it was the best idea in the world. "Not if you hop in and go swimming. All sorts of exercise in actually catching a fish right there. You must be doing it wrong. I'll teach you the right way."

[bellbound]

Swimming?

Mogget's ears flattened to the point they practically disappeared into his head.

"I know how to fish," he replied tersely, "and I won't be hopping in. Splash around the other side of the lake if you must, but leave me be."

With that, he started moving off down the path towards the lake. There was little he could do if the bobcat decided to follow him but he had made his feelings known.

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl stood and started to follow, much happier now that he'd succeeded in putting the not-cat as on edge as he'd been. Or at least piss him off.

"You'll never catch anything if you don't jump in. Or if you do, it'll be a small thing and you'll still be hungry after."

[bellbound]

He'd beg to differ, but he held his tongue. Padding on the soft grass that bordered the gravel path, he glanced back at his larger shadow.

"Bring me a fish that weighs at least four pounds and I might believe you. Trout, preferably."

That was nearly half Mogget's weight. He usually caught smaller prey.

[dirtyredneck]

"They got trout in that pond?" If they do, it's probably decently stocked. Not something he's used to. Then again, he rarely went fishing. Hunting land animals was his preference.

[bellbound]

"Brown trout," said Mogget, who was already imagining the succulent fish that the bobcat could bring him. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to bring him along after all.

[dirtyredneck]

Brown trout wasn't bad at all. And they could get somewhere in the range of 30lbs if he remembered right. Well, trout in general. He wasn't sure about Brown specifically. Bottom feeders for the bigger ones. Might be some decent eating out there after all.

His ears perked up and head high, he padded along in silence until they were at the edge of the pond. He came to a stop next to the not-cat and looked down, trying to make out where the fish he might want were. Unbeknownst to him a thread of magic stretched out and started quietly pushing the fist to sort themselves into groups by size and weight.

[bellbound]

Mogget looked out over the water for a moment, sniffing the air, then retreated to a nice warm patch of grass where he had an excellent view of this part of the lake. The place was quiet, no one else around. Most of the guests didn't bother coming this far.

So he settled down at a safe distance to watch the other cat fish. After all, he didn't want to get any water on his fur.

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl's ears twitched at the not-cat's retreat, but he was pretty focused on his hunt now that he'd decided to do it. And even if the 'hunt' was an underwater one (fishing, Daryl, it's called fishing), once he was on it, he wasn't about to come back empty handed. Or empty pawed as the the case may be.

Still, it took him some time to figure out where exactly he wanted to jump in. He paced along the shore line, watching the shapes of the fish curiously as they seemed to be pooling in odd groupings. But once he realize there were more of the bigger sized ones a little further out and down from the surface ones, he figured he had a good target. He'd just have to swim for it.

Well, after he jumped.

Daryl backed up a good twenty feet, went down on his haunches, and then launched himself at full speed toward the pond.

Hope you like the sight of that splash, Mogget.

[bellbound]

Better the other cat than him. He could only imagine how freezing that water must be. The splash didn't reach him, Mogget having been sensible enough to rest out of harm's way. Frankly, he thought Daryl was mad to do this but if he was willing to launch himself into a lake at night at the back end of winter, Mogget was all too willing to reap the rewards.

Assuming that ridiculous splash didn't scare off all the fish. He would wait and see.

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl wasn't exactly a powerful swimmer, but he wasn't a bad one, either. And it helped that some magic had leaked out of him to help organize the fish in convenient groups based on size that he still remained unaware of. It was enough to make sure his jaws could close on a very wiggly trout somewhere in the 15-20 pound range before he had to surface and then swim back to shore. His fur was wet and plastered to him, but a few shakes and an eventual tongue bath would help with that. In the meantime... fish!

His. Fish.

[bellbound]

Mogget's fish.

Once he saw that the bobcat had dragged a fish heavier than Mogget himself to the shore, the small white cat decided that it was time to collect his prize. Cautiously, and after waiting for the shapeshifter to shake the water from his fur, he picked his way down towards the water's edge, eyes fixed on the gleaming trout.

"A good catch," he commented, and padded forward as if to claim the fish for himself. Daryl couldn't possibly have any objection to that, could he?

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl's fish.

His claws slid out as he pushed one paw into the flesh of the fish and lowered his head over it to protect it from the would-be poacher.

"Yeah. It is." he agreed, his tone as cold as the water he'd just braved for the meal. "Should try to get one yourself."

[bellbound]

Mogget halted. The larger cat was protecting his meal, which was not supposed to happen.

He tilted his head. "Why not share? There's enough for two."

He would have preferred to snatch the fish from under the shapeshifter's nose, but Mogget was realistic about his current size and strength. That wasn't going to happen.