The Second Annual Neo Festurus - Fin
Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2023 7:42 pm
The Citadel was alight with sound and song, lined with booths and encampments full to the brim with cultural trinkets, artifacts, and shows telling the storied histories lining the Jaida Coast of Madeira. Between the booths and banter, the smothering scent of local fare smothered the attendees in a blanket of flavor. The suns were still in high formation, bringing warm light and a cool breeze to the beach bursting with people of many shapes. From the four cardinal directions come the multitude of denizens of the Jaida Coast to commemorate the year's most auspicious events and unexpected attendance. Neo Festurus, a newly minted memorial and conference covered Toscano Bay in a layered muffle of bustle.
The previous year was a somber time, the tension in the air could be cut with a butter knife. Zero invited the Atlanteans to the surface as a means to extend the olive branch of Neo Arcturus. Never did he expect to be on the receiving side of an assassination order. His whole experience in the Jaida Coast was founded on misconceptions and hearsay, it happened to be one of the many places he didn't know anyone who knew anyone who knew anything about the region but some old friends who'd already passed on. He typically had more than just a rumor to go off of when investigating a mystic lead, but just looking for somewhere off the beaten path led him to the place where he made a difference in more ways than one in a space he entered on a whim and a dream.
So on the heels of a tragic mistake, one that altered the landscape of Toscano Bay and changed the trajectory of the whole region's future, what better way to make amends than to honor the fallen and celebrate their final rest, as we all are scheduled to take, than a celebration of their lives? The previous year, The Conservatory, with the support of the people of the Southern Shadelands and Jaida Heights, invited the Atlanteans of Mares Vidas to the memorial service. There, everyone attending had the pleasure of experiencing the traditional folklore associated with the Lunar Wing Eclipses. Lunar Wings is the region's single synchronized holiday and a perfect opportunity to foster new, optimistic futures with one another. They regale their people with ceremonial food and drink, dances and song, theater and exhibits they pass on to their kin. The Atlanteans begrudgingly joined, not by invitation of The Conservatory, but to reconnect with their ancestral neighbors.
Here, at the Second Annual Neo Festurus, the relations came much less strained after The Conservatory has grown to successfully host a gracious crossroads for their neighbors. The Conservatory went through extensive work over the previous years living in the Jaidan wilds, learning from the natives how they work with the land to bring the best out of it. A condition of the Skyfall Arrangement and a slanted form of indentured servitude gave the founders of Neo Arcturus an intimate knowledge of the land they shared with their new proximal family. This festival was Zero's grand gesture to the community, a thank you and apology for the melange of factors that brought him into his new position. In year two, the atmosphere felt decidedly more light, the production value shot through the roof compared to the maiden celebration. The whole citadel was decked out in a particular enchantment, adorning its walls and vertices in festive illumination, specially curated to bring each culture's influences to the scene. The Gafren Tribes brought all of their surprisingly well mannered Cassowaries down this time as their honored guests. The Denkou and Titanians hosted crafting seminars of ore and wood, the Garganega regaled people spinning tales of the secrets in the Shadelands. Even the Vumoi entertained their neighbors as tour guides of the festival grounds.
The Atlanteans were few in comparison, but made up a still sizeable portion of attendees. Where music and dance were sparse, groups of people from all the different regions just mingled and enjoyed each others' company. Some hailed from rolling plains, others from off the shore, but today was a day to honor and highlight those differences, as they all shared a moment with one another, the Lunar Wings Eclipse. What the Atlanteans initially took as a veiled co-opting of local values to benefit a clutch of interlopers has grown into a harmonic moment the likes of which hasn't been seen in this part of continental Madeira in a millennium. Whether they liked it or not, the Atlanteans could appreciate the graciousness the gesture came with. After annihilating an assassin's armada in a ghastly flash, erecting some nigh invincible construct and establishing themselves as a fixture in the region. All the Jaida Coast came together in that tragedy's wake for two years to bring solace to their neighbors. It didn't make up for the stark losses the Atlanteans suffered nor for the occupation of the coast, but it allowed them a stronger connection to their local extended family, a trait that could forestall or prevent the next great tragedy.
The previous year was a somber time, the tension in the air could be cut with a butter knife. Zero invited the Atlanteans to the surface as a means to extend the olive branch of Neo Arcturus. Never did he expect to be on the receiving side of an assassination order. His whole experience in the Jaida Coast was founded on misconceptions and hearsay, it happened to be one of the many places he didn't know anyone who knew anyone who knew anything about the region but some old friends who'd already passed on. He typically had more than just a rumor to go off of when investigating a mystic lead, but just looking for somewhere off the beaten path led him to the place where he made a difference in more ways than one in a space he entered on a whim and a dream.
So on the heels of a tragic mistake, one that altered the landscape of Toscano Bay and changed the trajectory of the whole region's future, what better way to make amends than to honor the fallen and celebrate their final rest, as we all are scheduled to take, than a celebration of their lives? The previous year, The Conservatory, with the support of the people of the Southern Shadelands and Jaida Heights, invited the Atlanteans of Mares Vidas to the memorial service. There, everyone attending had the pleasure of experiencing the traditional folklore associated with the Lunar Wing Eclipses. Lunar Wings is the region's single synchronized holiday and a perfect opportunity to foster new, optimistic futures with one another. They regale their people with ceremonial food and drink, dances and song, theater and exhibits they pass on to their kin. The Atlanteans begrudgingly joined, not by invitation of The Conservatory, but to reconnect with their ancestral neighbors.
Here, at the Second Annual Neo Festurus, the relations came much less strained after The Conservatory has grown to successfully host a gracious crossroads for their neighbors. The Conservatory went through extensive work over the previous years living in the Jaidan wilds, learning from the natives how they work with the land to bring the best out of it. A condition of the Skyfall Arrangement and a slanted form of indentured servitude gave the founders of Neo Arcturus an intimate knowledge of the land they shared with their new proximal family. This festival was Zero's grand gesture to the community, a thank you and apology for the melange of factors that brought him into his new position. In year two, the atmosphere felt decidedly more light, the production value shot through the roof compared to the maiden celebration. The whole citadel was decked out in a particular enchantment, adorning its walls and vertices in festive illumination, specially curated to bring each culture's influences to the scene. The Gafren Tribes brought all of their surprisingly well mannered Cassowaries down this time as their honored guests. The Denkou and Titanians hosted crafting seminars of ore and wood, the Garganega regaled people spinning tales of the secrets in the Shadelands. Even the Vumoi entertained their neighbors as tour guides of the festival grounds.
The Atlanteans were few in comparison, but made up a still sizeable portion of attendees. Where music and dance were sparse, groups of people from all the different regions just mingled and enjoyed each others' company. Some hailed from rolling plains, others from off the shore, but today was a day to honor and highlight those differences, as they all shared a moment with one another, the Lunar Wings Eclipse. What the Atlanteans initially took as a veiled co-opting of local values to benefit a clutch of interlopers has grown into a harmonic moment the likes of which hasn't been seen in this part of continental Madeira in a millennium. Whether they liked it or not, the Atlanteans could appreciate the graciousness the gesture came with. After annihilating an assassin's armada in a ghastly flash, erecting some nigh invincible construct and establishing themselves as a fixture in the region. All the Jaida Coast came together in that tragedy's wake for two years to bring solace to their neighbors. It didn't make up for the stark losses the Atlanteans suffered nor for the occupation of the coast, but it allowed them a stronger connection to their local extended family, a trait that could forestall or prevent the next great tragedy.