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]

"Apology accepted."

She's hardly the first to think he's an ordinary cat. Mogget sounds uninterested, his attention firmly concentrated on the water before him. Is that a bream he can see swimming in the depths? His ear flicks. Just out of reach...

[stauncherhearted]

She's always loved cats. Juliet alone provided hours of entertainment, and Nancy found herself studying the way Mogget moved. The way his ear moves. She knows better than to interrupt again. So she'll just watch, for now.

[bellbound]

The fish is getting closer. He leans out over the edge, lifting a paw ready to swipe... Then there's a minute disturbance in the water, a ripple caused by the night breeze or something like that, and when the water clears the bream has gone. Mogget withdraws his paw and turns around as if he wasn't really interested in the lake anyway–

–And the witch is still there. Watching him.

That's not creepy.

"If you're thinking of a spell to trap me," he says, "it won't work."

He doesn't trust any witch, whether they're from Circle Daybreak or not. Why won't she go away?

[stauncherhearted]

Nancy holds up both of her hands. "I wouldn't dream of it." She gestures at the collar. "You already belong to somebody, and I have a cat of my own waiting for me at home." A real cat, not a fae.

"And I'm really not one for making deals, either. I was just watching, that's all. Sorry." It wasn't awkward when you forgot you were dealing with a fae.

[bellbound]

There's a pause as he regards her with wary eyes. "Why?"

Mogget has spent centuries being suspicious of unknown witches. He isn't about to assume that her intentions are innocent.

[stauncherhearted]

"My mother made a deal with a fae, once." She explains it simply. She never learned much about it, Fagin would never tell her, but she knew the story. "And in exchange, he took her first born. So I'm not about to make a deal, when I know how wrong they can go."

She had to hope her mother had no idea what sort of man Fagin was, or she would have never made the deal in the first place.

[bellbound]

Fae stealing mortals away. Mogget has experience in that area – not in doing the kidnapping, but in rescuing mortals that have been taken to the Other Realm. Oftentimes such attempts fail, but sometimes there is a loophole to exploit.

Of course he hasn't done any of that in the past thirty years since he spent most of it locked inside one house.

"Who was the firstborn?" Mogget asks, showing a hint of genuine curiosity for the first time.

[stauncherhearted]

Nancy tilts her head slightly, looking at the cat. A corner of her lips tugs upward in a wry sort of smile. "I thought it was obvious."

She glances over the smooth surface of the pond. "I was."

[bellbound]

He thought so. There's a moment's pause, then the cat gets up to approach her, sniffing delicately around her ankles.

"Were you ever taken to the Other Realm?"

That's the trace he's looking for, the scent of magic far wilder and purer than any witch.

[stauncherhearted]

Nancy nods slowly. She's no reason to be telling this to the cat, but honestly, it's nice to be able to talk to someone about it. "I was occasionally, yes. More often when I was younger. I was last there a year and a half ago, about." Had it really been so long?

[bellbound]

"A price must always be paid." He says it to himself more than to her. The mother made a deal, and the price must be paid. Such is the way of these things.

But there's another scent on her, stronger than any trace of the Other Realm. He wrinkles his small pink nose and backs off, looking up at her.

"You smell of death. Death and blood."

[stauncherhearted]

It was the way, she'd never argue that. But her mother's mistakes were ones she had paid for, and subsequently used to shape her views. She didn't mind working alongside the fae. But deals, those were something else entirely.

Nancy's hand flies to her neck, worried for a moment that perhaps the glamour had faded and some of her scars were still visible. "I... do...?" Concern colors her face, her brow furrowed.

[bellbound]

She does. If he focuses his attention, he'll likely see through the glamour but he doesn't need to. The way her hand flies to her neck makes it obvious.

The cat shakes his head, rubbing at his whiskers with a paw. "Now I remember why I don't like parties. Dead things and smelly wolves and lost little witches... Same old." He finishes cleaning his whiskers and stretches instead, looking up at her. "If past experience is anything to judge by, you'll die young. Enjoy your life while it lasts."

And he saunters off, tail in the air.