daybreakacademy | EVENT - HALLOW'S EVE DANCE

EVENT - HALLOW'S EVE DANCE

HALLOW'S EVE DANCE
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As October comes to a close, the world of spirits and the world of the living draw ever closer, or so it’s said. In the darkening of the nights ahead, you can almost believe it.

With their usual flair, the Academy has arranged several different types of entertainment for students, staff and visitors alike, running for several days up to the end of October. The month will then be sent off with a bang on Halloween itself, with a ball whose themes and effects are provided by none other than Daybreak’s new student council.

A. HALLOWEEN FESTIVITIES (SOLEIL TOWN SQUARE)
Soleil’s main square has been temporarily commandeered for the use of a festive Halloween fairground, transforming the sunny, cheerful town into something more gothic and autumnal. Traditional fairground games with all manner of prizes are available, with everything from bobbing for apples to shooting Halloween-themed targets in stalls on display. And should you pass through on Halloween itself, you’ll find all manner of costumed trick-or-treaters happy to play pranks or beg for candy - some of them more human than others.

Or, perhaps, you’re one of those very trick-or-treaters. Whether you’re going to the ball or content to do all your socializing here, there’s plenty of room for more costumed party goers to ask for treats or deliver tricks to teachers and students alike.

B. TEST OF COURAGE (SOLEIL AMUSEMENT PARK)
If you’re looking for something that wears more on the nerves, however, Soleil’s amusement park has thrown its doors open and invited the Halloween spirit in. Of particular note is Daybreak’s infamous haunted house challenge, designed and staffed by the Academy’s mercurial faculty. An array of escape rooms, devious traps and seemingly inescapable mazes with scares lurking around every corner, depending on the routes you take, await those brave enough to enter; being a little more restricted doesn’t seem to have lessened their creativity this year.

C. DANCE MACABRE
This year’s Halloween ball is set in the forest within an intertwined ring of trees, each one’s trunk decorated with a frightful face. Their branches interlock to form a windproof wall and weather-resistant roof. The main entrance is easy to spot - it’s the biggest tree of all, and those who step into its frightening facial expression will find that the tree is hollow and allows them access to the party within.

Once inside, party goers will be greeted with laden tables and a floor perpetually in fog. Not to fear, though - those who want to dance will have an elevated, separate stage to show off their footwork. There’s plenty of room to mingle and compliment each other’s costumes, too.

Those who want to escape the rigors of social interaction will find that the specially-made foliage conceals several hidey-holes, away from the main floor. Use them to scare other party goers, have private conversations, and more - it’s up to you.

D. PARTY FOOD
The banquet tables smell divine - while looking utterly revolting, in colors that fruits and vegetables should not be, and disturbingly realistic looking eyeballs and fingers decorating the tops of hors d'oeuvres and desserts, all of them radiating illusion magic for those able to pick it up. Thankfully, each tray had a nice clean label describing what the dish actually is, along with a list of ingredients - an allergic shock might be scary, but it’s not in the spirit of the holiday.
And speaking of spirits, as with previous dances, there is a manned bar with specialty spooky mixes on display, and for those too young or don’t wish to partake, there is hot mulled non-alcoholic cider, punch, and coffee.

E. COSTUME PARTY
What good would a Halloween celebration be without costumes? With the secondhand marketplace and your own ingenuity, the sky's the limit when it comes to dressing up splendidly for the occasion.

What’s more, the student council has arranged two contests - one for mundane costumes, and one for magical ones. Participants are encouraged to display the full effects of their costumes and win over the judges’ hearts with Halloween flair and fervor!

(For official judging, submit your characters' costumes here!)

F. BONFIRES
As the night winds down, the trees suddenly merge together into a giant wicker man that abruptly bursts into flame, laughing maniacally. It then explodes, launching several smaller bonfires across the area and crumbling into a large one that serves as an easy beacon for any lost souls who can’t find their way back without help.

For those who want more privacy or smaller groups to tell scary stories or socialize, they’re free to locate one of the smaller bonfires - or just take the opportunity to wander off into the forest itself. It is, after all, Halloween - who knows who or what you might meet?

code bases by tricklet

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[Desidera came to the event wearing more or less a regular black scaled dress, with a few things added onto the back of it using some shadows that she's taken control of, using them to give herself a pair of wings and a tail in order for her overall appearance to be a draconic one; something that her horns would work for rather than look out of place.

In the earlier parts of the evening, the wings and tail are somewhat large and actually around the size one would probably expect them to be if they were real, but as the night went on, they shrunk down to less-problematic sizes so she wouldn't be tripping anyone or smacking them in the face by accident.]

B:
[Standing outside the haunted house, she's looking in with what looks like mild uncertainty, unsure if she wants to actually try this or not. It doesn't look like she'll be deciding on her own anytime soon, so maybe she could use a little push.]

C:
[While not actually participating in the dancing itself, Desi still spends some time within the ring of trees just mingling, quite willingly talking to just about anyone that approaches her. In any areas that are particularly crowded, the shadow-construct wings and tail outright disappear, only to return whenever there's a reasonable amount of space for them.]

D:
[The illusions are maybe a little too much; for as much as Desi loves to eat, she's hardly touching anything here at all, save for a couple cups of cider. She knows it's an illusion, she's seen the labels, and she has seen parts of the illusion broken when other students take things, but...still.]

[She spots her outside the haunted house. Hazel isn't wearing a costume, just the military replica fatigues she brought with her that had been most of her wardrobe--outside of a dress uniform and a pair of jeans, as the Army of The Edict had been particularly on brand--so some may mistake it for such.

She's had two weeks to investigate a lot of things about pop culture and holiday traditions in regards to All Hallow's Eve and haunted houses are the one she understands the least. But people seem to enjoy the pretend horror of them, somehow.]

Are you waiting for someone?

Ah? [Recognizing the voice, Desi turns to face toward Hazel.] No, I'm not waiting on anyone here, I'm just trying to decide if I want to actually go in or not.

Were you planning on going in, yourself?

I don't know. I've never been in one. I hear some of them may be really haunted. Do you think this school would allow that?

[Hazel still hasn't decided exactly how far this school went in its acceptance of the supernatural.]

I've never been in one either, but I think that's a good question. However it is they've decided to do this, I would hope that they've taken appropriate precautions to try to make sure that it's as safe as would be possible.

Is anything ever really safe? [She says it flippantly, but it's a genuine question. Nothing has ever been safe and why should it start now? Death can come at any moment from anything. A school like this could only lead to more danger.]

Maybe it's safe enough we don't die from it.

[The way Hazel responded makes her wonder about a few things.]

Mmm, the only way to know for sure would be to just go in, though. [She doubts that the faculty would be willing to spoil whatever surprises are in store there.] Did you want to, or would you rather not?

[No. No she doesn't. But if she doesn't, will that make her look like a coward? Is that the kind of reputation she wants? She doesn't think Desi who would think that, but someone else might be overhearing.]

Why wouldn't I go in? I know how to handle a haunting. Are you trying to get out of going inside?

[Look. Look. Appearances are important to Desi too; just like how she doesn't want to be seen as a Problem or otherwise dangerous due to her circumstances, she doesn't want people getting other wrong ideas about her, either.

She makes a vaguely-agitated noise—whether she actually is or not, it's hard to really say—and the next thing Hazel knows, Desi has faced herself toward the door again and is going in.

Should she really be going in alone, though?]

[Hazel is just a little surprised that Desi decided to stalk off toward the haunted house on her own. Then she's moving quickly to follow her, because not wanting to look like a coward also means she can't let Desi go off on her own when she's the one insisting she was going to do it!]

You know, you don't have to walk so quickly. The house isn't going anywhere. For the night, at least.

Edited 2019-11-02 20:14 (UTC)

[Desi slows down a bit when she hears Hazel coming after her.]

Maybe not, but I'd rather get this over with as quickly as possible.

[Once inside, she looks around to see both what's in the first room, and if it's a linear path or if there are multiple directions she could try going. It's also a bit dark in here, not so much that it would be too hard to see, but it's enough that there isn't much of anything in the way of proper shadows, meaning even if she wanted to (and she doesn't), she can't make any real use of her ability in here.]

[Hazel is tense, looking around the room and seeing there is more than one doorway. Four of them, to be exact, two on the far wall and one to the right and left. One of the doors has a spiderweb etched over it, one has a snake, one has a gravestone, and the other has eyes staring down on them. Not real eyes, she knows, but it's enough that she definitely doesn't want to go that route. She steps closer to Desi, their shoulders almost brushing.]

We pick a route and make it to the end, right? I wonder which one is the longest.

[So she can avoid it.]

I would assume so, but I don't know if any of these are longer than the others. [She assumes that they should be roughly the same length.

Seeing the signs over the doors, though, Desi has already decided on one that she absolutely doesn't want to deal with herself; she makes a point of stepping away from one particular door, because spiders are something she just can't deal with.

That leaves them with two choices for which door to take, doesn't it?]

[She can tell Desi is choosing Not The Spider door and Hazel is fine with that. That leaves snakes and a gravestone and of the two, Hazel worries least about the headstone. The dead are terrifying but using calm down with holy water, an exorcism, or a good shot to the face with blessed bullets.

So she reaches out to take Desi's hand and lead her along toward the door with the tombstone over it.]

Let's go with this one.

Alright.

[Still unaware of what Hazel's touch does, Desi makes no attempt to avoid it, letting herself be pulled along with no real resistance; whatever direction Hazel decides to go, as long as it's Not Spiders, is fine.

If Hazel is actively trying to get a read on her here, one of the biggest things right now is, unsurprisingly, concern over how others might see her. However, it's less about the daemonic traits this time, and more about not wanting to be thought a coward herself—a button that Hazel wound up pushing.]

[ Hornet is more passing by than anything, and doesn't really intend to stop. Still, the wings and tail - more importantly, that they're made of shadow, of all things - gives her pause.

She hasn't bothered to dress up, or even to change out of her normal, hard-wearing clothing. The one concession she's made is that her weapon is bound up in silk, so unwary (or grasping) hands aren't cut by its edge. Otherwise, she hasn't even bothered to remove her mask. ]

Your ability is unusual. It's something you use for cosmetic purposes?

[ Straight to the point, this one! She doesn't seem judgemental, however. It's just a quiet observation. ]

[With how many people are here, Desi isn't at all surprised when she's addressed by someone that she doesn't recognize; another new student, maybe?]

Ah? Oh, the shadows? I can use them for a variety of things, but for right now, yes. I can let them go for a bit if they're getting in the way.

[Right now, being judged for what she is and what she can do is one of the last things on her mind.]

[ She shakes her head, a single time. ] They're not in the way. It's fine.

[ It reminds her of the Abyss, that near-silent darkness. She heard it, like the sound of the ocean, when she dozed near enough to that sealed door, that terrible secret. These shadows aren't the same thing as that, but it's still a reminder.

She doesn't say that, of course. ]

Are you dressed up as something in particular?

[The tail still pulls itself a little closer to Desi herself, just in case. Maybe there's no risk of tripping Hornet, but if anyone around the two of them isn't paying attention then they could stumble over it themselves, and since it's not actually part of her, she probably wouldn't even notice.]

I was aiming for a sort of draconic look, since I wanted to do something where my horns wouldn't look like they were out of place. [That should explain the scaled dress as well.] It's my first time doing something like this, so I'm hoping I've done it right.

[ Out of place? She takes a closer look at Desidera, scrutinizing to see what exactly might be out of place. Hm.

She can't see anything. No flaws or blemishes on the surface (and even then, that wouldn't make them 'out of place'. They would just be scars, stories). ]

Your horns would look fine regardless. [ Says the girl with a conspicuous pair of white horns curving back from her head, and not shy about it at all. ] But the dress is well made. It suits you.

[Desidera hadn't really noticed Hornet's horns, not yet, but being told that her own are fine actually catches her off-guard. She'd expected an agreement to the suggestion that they would look a bit strange had she tried any other costume idea, at the very least.

Then again, maybe being a sixteen-year-old human(?) girl with horns isn't all that strange to the other girl, and the horns would be seen as being a normal thing regardless of what she wore.

The compliment on the dress, however, earns a sheepish little smile.] A-ah, thank you. I didn't make it myself, though; it's one that my mother bought for me earlier this year.

[V's dressed rather simply for the night, but certainly in the spirit of the holiday still--in addition to the black clothes and gloves that wouldn't be out of place in his typical wardrobe, he's wearing a cat ear headband, a plain black mask, and a black cat tail is hooked onto the back of his belt.

He's... looking over the food on display at the tables and wrinkling his nose. Despite the delicious smells, he can't get past the gruesome appearances. Which makes for a hilariously 'in-character' image of a cat turning his nose up at unwanted food. When he spots Desi, he makes his way over, cider in hand.]

... I can understand getting into the spirit of the holiday, but this is just a bit tasteless if you ask me...

Tasteless, excessive, I could probably think of a few more words for it given enough time.

[She downs the rest of her current cup all at once, but doesn't yet make any move to get another.]

The lack of non-alcoholic drinks is something of a problem, as well. [Just punch, cider and coffee? Come on. She doesn't even do one of those three normally, tolerating coffee only when it's already gone cold.]

Questionable decisions aside, how has the night been for you so far, V? [There was the smallest urge to call him by his old name, but that isn't something he answers to now, not as far as she knows.]

[He nods in agreement to both statements as he takes another sip of his cider.]

It's been a fun night. It's been a long time since I actually celebrated Halloween last, and I've enjoyed spending the earlier parts of the night with Reira. And yourself?

Mmm, I've never actually celebrated it before, but I do rather like having even one day where I don't need to worry about how people might react to things like these. [She pokes at one of her horns.]

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EVENT - HALLOW'S EVE DANCE

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