Arcana Festival Sign-Ups

[Nimh]

ooc: yes, this thread is set to the last season..you can still sign up in autumn, but only the first day of Kalendryas. If this is a problem, I'll have to change the days of the festival, but alas I did not anticipate my herald article taking so long to be posted.

ic:

The Last Week of Junctior
During Late Summer, Era II

Throughout Vers, an excitement had gripped the already vivacious town. Pointy-shoed, brilliantly dressed citizens appeared to walk with more of a bounce to their steps, their expressions filled with the wide-eyed joy of a small child eagerly awaiting presents on their birthingday. The musicians and bards that filled the streets with the clamorous tones and timbers of a variety of different instruments, including voices, seemed more upbeat and more determined to spread their talent over the avenues. The town buildings themselves had been bedecked with summer's last flowers, strands of tantalizing flowers with exotic scents and colors were strung across doorways and windows. New to town decorations, someone had taken up the idea of stringing together various leaves and seeds from trees outside of Vers and intertwining them with the flowers. The occasional leaf was tinged already with the hint of autumn's reds, oranges, and yellows, but this was rare given the intricacies of a spell, however accidental, cast by the infamous Imaden.

The town square was particularly overwhelmed with vibrance, the occasional building decorated with a mural by some student hailing from the nearby academy. The most notable set-up in the square, however, was the wooden booth framed in flowers and topped with twin red flags that rippled quietly in the soft late summer breeze. The sign, its background white, displayed in bright red, scrolling letters: ARCANA FESTIVAL SIGN UPS. A young man with black hair sat behind the booth upon a tall, round, wooden stool, his ankles hooked around two of the legs as he leaned his elbows against the makeshift counter space. A thick stack of papers sat to his right, weighed down by a smooth, round stone while to his left was a shorter stack held down by a similar paper weight. He held in his hand a feathered quill that he brushed along his scruffy chin as he waited for someone to approach.

When someone finally did, his smile widened and he straightened immediately. "Serale! Here to sign up for the festivities?" He then rolled aside the weight on the larger stack and pulled free a fresh piece of paper. Pre-written on the page was a form.

Name:
Sphere:
Level:
If you are a hedgemage, which sphere will you participate in:
Where have you received training:

"Here. Fill this out. Entering the festival is free of charge." He handed the paper over, as well as the quill in his hand. "Once you've signed up and I've read your form, I'll determine which group you'll be assigned to and inform you of the time." Another smile as he patiently awaited the return of the form.

ooc: This will currently be the only festival thread up and running until I'm aware that there's more than just two or three people signed up. The next thread that will be opened up is the Masked Jubilee, which celebrates the start of the festival

[Rygan Nebarska]

Rygan was particularly enjoying the atmosphere of the city leading up to the imminent Arcana Festival. He was excited himself and anxiously anticipating the event. Even moreso because he was planning on participating in it.

Rygan approached the booth where people were to sign up for the activities, smiling back at the young man and greeting him with, "Serale and good brightening to you," he paused, then answered the man's question, "Yes, I am looking forward to the Arcana festival. If I am not mistaken, I believe I am the first to apply?"

After the man gave Rygan the form, he thanked him and filled it out:

Name: Rygan Nebarska
Sphere: Thaumaturgy
Level: Initiate
If you are a hedgemage, which sphere will you participate in:
Where have you received training: The Delphi Ara Academy in Olympia

After finshing, Rygan waited for the young man to give him more information, anxious to participate and see how his talents compared to other mages'.

[Odyleon]

The whole town of Vers knew about the Arcana festival, but Odyleon Q. Meiers. He must have been the most uninformed Mystic ever to walk the Material Plane, for he didn't have a clue nor had he taken any notice of the general state of excitement that seemed to hold the place. No, it wasn't until the festival was almost up and running that he realized the colorful village had something major in store.

Festival? Meaning some kind of magical competition? See, despite his character, Ody was still a young male Human, with all the instincts that this status entailed. One such instinct was the infamous Caveman Pride, wherein the human male relives the ancestral days of living in a cavern, wielding a big club to bludgeon prey and rivals alike. The Caveman, always eager to display his superiority over fellow Cavemen so that he could maintain his harem and... but this is a tangent. Suffice to say it took half a second for the Problem Solver to decide he was going to enter – the fact it was free further fueled the little, cute, clumsy Caveman inside him.

"Serale" he announced as he approached the booth. Last time he had signed up at a booth, he was applying for Prefecture. A failure, though he had learnt much. For one, the mermaid named Bianca had shown him how anatomically correct Mermaids are not nearly as appealing as one would think. "I'd like to sign up for the Festival." He didn't even know the rules, or the events for that matter.

Name: Odyleon Q. Meiers
Sphere: Mysticism
Level: Journeyman
If you are a hedgemage, which sphere will you participate in: N/A
Where have you received training: The Imaden School of Higher Learning in Vers [INIT & APPR], The Academy of Mind and Fire in Demios [JRNM]

He handed the form back to the clerk and that was it, for now.

[Magus Syfer]

Magus feasted his eyes in the frivolity that was the Arcana Festival. He had heard of many activities that were specifically aimed at mages at this festival, the most interesting one being the duels. Though he had never partaken in any mage duels to date, his blood pumped in excitement. He was very keen to utilise his spells, spells which lay as yet unused ever since his tutelage under Master Nicholas, spells which were going to waste.

Approaching the man who seemed to be in charge of registering entrants, he greeted the man in response. "Serale indeed. Quite a festive you lot are." He took the form and proceeded to fill in the appropriate information.

Name: Magus Syfer
Sphere:Elementalism
Level:Apprentice
If you are a hedgemage, which sphere will you participate in:
Where have you received training: Initiate training at Port Alyxandrya's Stormhaven Academy, Apprentice training at Demios' Academy of Mind and Fire

Handing the form back to the man, he smiled broadly. He was going to be duelling mages...

[Lohrtar Silvermoon]

Lohrtar was not what you could call an avid reader of the herald, and he did not take all that much interest in the happenings around the empire. But a recent article had managed to get his attention. And that was regarding the Arcana Festival in Vers, the city in which he was now residing. It seemed he was not the only one excited about this. In fact, the whole town was on its end, decorated even brighter and more elaborate than usual. Surely this would be a memorable event. As he strode up to the sign-up stand, hewas wondering what exactly the Ikos contests would be like, or whether he would actually have an opponent of his own level. Ikos certainly was a less-than-popular sphere, and there probably weren’t that many journeymans around in the empire.

His demeanour was friendly, but he was, as usual, somewhat absent-minded, caught up in contemplations rather than what was going on around him just now. ”Serale”, he said. ”That I am”, replied the Ikonomancer to the clerk's question, and began filling out the form that was handed to him.

Name: Lohrtar Silvermoon
Sphere: Ikos
Level: Journeyman
If you are a hedgemage, which sphere will you participate in:
Where have you received training: Madame Dubois of Port Constantine(Initiate), Imaden School (Apprentice), The University of Metaphysics in Ieffreon (Journeyman)

He pushed the form back to the clerk, thinking about the tournament before him. It was certainly exciting for the Rak -follower, who was obsessed with attaining and proving his power. And this would provide good practice, and lead him one step closer to being worthy of trying for the title of Master. This was all far away, and for now he just looked forward to the tournament.

[Drake Stormbringer]

Timestamp: Late Junctior. Summer of era IX PF.

Drake quickly left the gates behind him as he headed into the center of the town. For asking people who walked by his temporary shelter he gathered that the enrollment for the Arcana festival had started. Light stepped and happy minded he toured the city, following the crowds of extravagant clothes that covered the ostentatious people that in turn were called Versians.

Moving from street to street, the psychedelic display of colors seemed to change at every pace he took, while keeping its colorfulness. In other words Drake was on the beginning of a headache. Finally he turned around a corner and saw the big sign stating the Festival sign up. Smiling as he saw that it was free of charge he waited patiently in line until his turn.

Name: Drake Stormbringer
Sphere: Sorcery
Level: Initiate
If you are a hedgemage, which sphere will you participate in: N\A
Where have you received training: Academy of Arcana in Vortex.

Quickly he handed the form to the receptionist and waited for further instructions.

OOC: Sorry for the short post, net time is running low and I didn't want to be left out

[Nimh]

Rygan
"One of the very first, sir," he informed the young thaumaturge with a wide smile. Javis Torpe himself seemed to be infected with the excitement that ran through the city. He shifted anxiously around n his chair, drumming on the makeshift counter of the booth as he waited for the return of the application. "An initiate, hmm? And it looks like you came a long way, too, eh? Did you come here specifically for the festival, or have you been here a while now?" The tone of his voice was sort of wistful, as if he wished he were a mage himself himself. Ah well, good things didn't always happen to good people.

"You'll be participating in the Junior Battles, mister...Nebarska. You'll be participating with ours of your level within your sphere." He paused, pulling out another sheet and twisting it around until he found what he had been looking for. "It looks like all Junior Battles occur on the second brightening of the first cycle in Kalendryas. Yours will take place before pracenda, it appears. Around the sixteenth candlemark of that day."

He scribbled some notes on the young man's application before tucking it into the short stack. "Just so you know, the Ludstones are hosting a jubilee on the first brightening of Kalendryas to start off the festival. They request everyone come costumed, although it really isn't required." He folded his hands and peered up at Rygan. "Otherwise, do you have any questions?"

Odyleon
Javis Torpe, the young man behind the booth straightened at the sight of a prospective festival participant. Not that there hadn't been many already, of course, given that this was a town centered on magic, but Javis always tried his hardest to look as impressive as possible around those who did have magical talent. He, sadly enough, had been one of those that simply didn't have the gift within him. He was an unfortunate in this matter, much to his dismay considering the fact that his parents were both outstandingly talented and very respected at the Imaden School. But someone always had to get the short end of the stick. Too bad it hadn't been someone else...

"Serale! Glad to see you're signing up, sir." Not that he knew who Odyleon was. He was just...glad. He took the sheet back from Odyleon as it was handed to him and glanced it over. "You'll be participating in the Mysticism Speciality Event, which will take place on the sixth brightening of the cycle around noon time. That's apprentice level and up, by the way." Some might have considered that unfair given the fact that apprentices really were not as skilled as their higher-level brethren, but...life wasn't always fair. "And just so you know, the winner of each event within their sphere will take place in the Tourney on the very last day." He was jotting down a few notes on Odyleon's application. "On the first darkening of Kalendryas, the Ludstones are hosting a jubilee. They request that everyone come costumed, but it isn't required." He picked up the stone weight set a top the smaller pile of papers and plopped Odyleon's application on the very top. "Any questions?"

Magus
"That's what Vers is, my friend. Festivities! Never been here before, I take it? You're in for a treat. We try to keep the magic alive long after the celebrations end." Javis was young and was clearly delighted to encounter another in their teens. They could, at least, appreciate some degree of celebration and the like. "This is just a small taste of Vers once it gets started, I promise you." He glanced around at all the bright colors that dappled the street square. He would be right out there among the rest of them celebrating, he was sure.

He picked up the form and looked it over. "Apprentice elementalism, eh? The Elementalism speciality event takes place on the third brightening of Kalendryas around noon time. Just show up a little before the fourteenth candlemark and you should be fine. You'll be competing against other apprentices, as well as those who are above you in terms of levels. Whoever is the winner of that event will go on to participate in the Tourney on the last night of the cycle." He seemed to grow more and more excited as he spoke about it, his voice rising and quickening. "The festival will be kicked off with a jubilee at the Ludstone Manor. It over looks the new lake. It's a bit of a walk from the town, but it'll be worth it, I tell you. That's on the first darkening of the cycle." He put the application on the top of the completed stack. "Have any questions?"

Lohrtar
Javis was surprisingly quiet as he waited for Lohrtar to fill-out the form, not bothering to make idle chit chat as he waited to receive the document. Maybe it was because he had sensed the man was more internally based. At least he was the first to come up to the stall and not outwardly express that he was excited and eager to begin the festival. So he clamped his lips shut and hummed a little ditty as he waited. "Ah, here we are!" He took the application and looked it over. "An Ikonomancer, eh? And a journeyman at that. I wanted to be an Ikonomancer," he explained, his tone suddenly a trifle dismal. "But I didn't have the skill in me. Arcana just isn't my gift." What was his gift was uncertain. He certainly knew how to keep his booth in order.

"Anyway...the Ikonomancers will be pitting against one another on the fifth brightening of the cycle around the fourteenth candlemark. The winner of that event will go on to compete in the Tourney at the end of the cycle with all of the other mages who won their events. The festival will begin with a jubilee hosted by the Ludstones on the first darkening of Kalendryas. It's a costume party, but you don't have to get dressed up if you don't want to." He smiled, made some notes on the application and filed it. "Questions?"

Drake
"Serale...sir...giant..." Javis looked a bit intimidated by the towering man's stature. Javis wasn't a very large man himself, standing maybe five feet three inches, and to see someone closer to fifteen feet...well...that was amazing! At least the giant wasn't signing up for a weapons battle. He was positive the big man would have won it...hands down. He waited quietly for him to finish filling it out...realized how difficult it might be to fill in what must have appeared to be such tiny spaces. But the giant must have learned to adapt to a world significantly smaller than his own.

"All done?" he asked as Drake handed the form back over. "Initiate sorcery?" He nodded and pulled out a second piece of paper to check his information to the events. "You'll be participating in the initiate junior battles with others your level and sphere. All initiates battles take place on the second brightening of Kalendryas. Yours...will be taking place during the fifteenth candlemark!" He took some notes and filed it away. "And the festival will be beginning with a jubilee at the Ludstone Manor home on the first night of the cycle. It's a costume party, really, although you don't need to get dressed up, if you don't want to." He canted his head to the side. "Any questions?"

[Odyleon]

Ahh, this all made sense, Ody agreed. "I see, speciality events to select one candidate from each Sphere, and then good, old fashioned duels to crown the winner." Short and sweet, even sweeter since it would allow the Problem Solver to face fellow Mystics from the start. He felt little admiration for most of his 'colleagues'; because they indulged in every sort of iniquity through their craft, they had earned the whole Sphere the far from envied reputation of Mindbenders. Risa Galilie had once told him that the Vaettir, the secret cadre of Magi who ran the town from the shadows, specifically made sure that no Mystic could join their ranks. In a city of Magi, Psionic users were looked down upon as second-rate tricksters. Grrrr.

"Masked jubilee? Sounds interesting." Even though Ludstone himself didn't number among Ody's favorite people to spend an afternoon with, he at least knew the location of the man's manor, so getting lost wasn't much of a possibility. And as far as costumes were concerned... he would come up with something. The Human had his own unique fantasy, some would find it funny and others disturbing or just demented, so scoring originality points would not prove hard. He could dress up and be a Nosferatu. Or a Xet, or a Lamia. Granted, he had no money to waste on costumes and everything would just have to be an Illusion, but still better than no costume at all and pretending it was an Odyleon Q. Meiers costume!

"Thanks for the information, I don't think I have any questions for you." he stated enthusiastically, rapping his fingers on the booth's counter. Actually he had one – if Necromancers weren't permitted to sign up, that meant only 7 Magi would make it to the final test (unless last era's winner was automatically admitted to the final round; but alas, wasn't this the first Versian tournament ever? Hmmmm...). It would be interesting to see how they would organize seven people into a fair match with one winner...

Then he noticed the pile of applications resting next to the young man and realized that even O.Q.M. could use some more training and practice before entering the arena. "Have a good brightening, then..." Too bad Mr. Galloper had just as much Arcana talent running through his equine body as Javis Torpe himself. The thought of signing the horse up had actually crossed Ody's mind – as a Druid, most likely, for the Friesian could commune with nature in more ways than one, which are best left unsaid.

[Carly Jr'ana]

A small blue figure moved effortlessly between the crowd as if it were a field of grass, each individual blade of grass shifting to admit her. The colours of Vers had lost their virtues to her within the first week of her arrival, her developing cynism labelling the colours as petty. Still, they were awfully pretty, and today the blueness of her skin merely made her fit into the ridiculous spectacle of the crowd.

The elf, a child, skipped towards the booth and gave the man a small grin of bemusement. The man naturally looked back quite perplexed by the child, and before he could get a word out she had snatched the quill from his hand and hastily scribbled down her details upon one of the many forms.

Name: Carly Jr'ana Vampyler
Sphere: Ikos
Level: Apprentice
If you are a hedgemage, which sphere will you participate in:
Where have you received training: Le Arthro Panepistimio Peri Metaphusika, Ieffreon

Placing the quill firmly back into the mans hand and shifting the form closer to him she gave him a happy looking nod and prepared to skip away, thoughts of her well thumbed tomes flying through her head.

[Eldrie Lennon]

Eldrie made his way to the festival and took a form from the booth, with of course his characteristic smile for the man,

Name: Eldrie Lennon
Sphere: Sorcery
Level: Initiate
If you are a hedgemage, which sphere will you participate in:
Where have you received training: Vers

Finishing the form he handed it over to the man. With a quite nod of respect, Eldrie turned and walked away.