#chrp.jubilee

[crows-and-tomes]

For: @aboywithacane

Where: A tent at the Festival Portion of the Summer Jubilee

While she might not burn as easily as others as a result of her fae ancestry, Thera did suffer from the drawbacks of dry skin, both on her hands as a result of the summer’s endless exposure to salt and dry temperatures as well as the unfortunate patches that sometimes popped up on her back. It was for this reason when she saw a new tent that seemed to offer some ointments and tinctures for certain ailments she thought she might check it out.

She didn’t know what she was expecting a Mer who had brought something new tot he surface, a witch with some interesting new poultice, a human experimenting in some sort of homeopathic care, or some other sort of person with helpful knowledge or expertise. But upon ducking into the tent and making eye contact with the vendor who noticeably winced upon recognizing her, she knew this was no well meaning salesman. She couldn’t remember his name, but she remembered that face from some other shop years ago, a primal witch whose tinctures caused as much hurt as the help he promised. His eyes tracked her around the head of the customer he was currently serving, if she hadn’t recognized him she might have mistaken his sneer for disgust but the fear in his eyes betrayed him as readily as her notice. She might be a fathom, but her status as a McNeiven and hence the Saturn of this portion of Europe meant more when it came to the affront to magic this man was dealing from his tent.

Thera slowly looked around, listening to the now continuously halting exchange with the boy at the register.

A boy looking for help, a person this man would be happy to take advantage of in any other circumstance. As Thera neared the counter and spotted the small jar that had been placed on the counter she decided to intervene, “And just what was he telling you this salve is supposed to do dear?” Thera looked up at the young man and while her tone was pointed she offered him a warm smile. She didn’t recognize him from anywhere, he could be anything from witch to human to hunter but he had stumbled into this tent that was masquerading as an apothecary for a reason and she wanted to help him just as much as she was disgusted at the witch across the counter.

[crows-and-tomes]

Who: @finlaylevenson

Where: Bhaegin Beach

When: The Morning Dip

As someone who was normally a towel and maybe a small tote kind of beach goer, the cooler, umbrella, and assortment of other bags Thera was trying to load out of her car onto herself was a new sort of challenge. But she thought herself a resourceful kind of person and as such if she balanced her water bottle on her pinky, loaded up her forearms with bags, and used the crook of her arm to balance the umbrella she was able to perfectly balance the provisions she had secured….as long as no one thought to offer to take anything off of her for fear it would all go crumbling to the floor.

As she walked down to the beach though and spotted her old friend and his adorable shark bedecked daughter, a smile bloomed onto her face. “Hey Fin,” she grinned as she started to set everything down next to their stake out on the beach, “I brought sandwiches from Cat’s and enough beverages to fuel a small army.” She thanked the balance for the fact her cooler from home had wheels.

“How are you tw…..” an excited squeal peeling its way towards her from the water interrupted her as she turned to face the adorable berserker barreling into her legs, “Yes how are you little shark?” Thera giggled at the toddler.

[thistle-and-kane]

Who:@dawnlings & @vidya-telluraves  When: Afternoon Where: Summer Solstice Jubilee 

Juniper knew there was a chance her time at the market might overlap with Allie; that didn’t make her any less excited when she saw a familiar head of blonde hair weaving through the crowd. Not that Sage would have allowed her to miss the other. Pawing at her hair and trying to steer her head in the direction of the other Kane sister. 

With the goahead Sage climbed down Juniper's shoulders and waddled her way over to Allie like a possessed toddler. Flower crown around her neck like a necklace. It was too late to call Sage back when Juniper noticed Allie was not alone. She didn’t want to interrupt but that ship had sailed, so she did what she could and followed. 

“Hey Sprout, not taking a dip this year?” She greeted after Sage had already given her presence away. Smiling and wrapping an arm around Allie in a side hug. Smiling politely to her friend with a nod. @dawnlings

[crows-and-tomes]

who: open

when: Festival portion, Summer Jubilee

Thera licked the last of the grease from her hands as she polished off her secound fried mars bar of the day, quality calories if you were to ask her.

She was making her way towards the antiques section of the fair, more towards business and away from pleasure, though Thera liked her work. She liked the thrill of tracking down books and objects that held import to people who had long past or lost use for them. She pulled a wipe out of her back, she had long ditched the beach bag from her morning with Olivia and Fin back at her car, but her old beat up tote bag was similar in its tendencies to contain multitudes while still appearing small in size. While most used book sellers might not say they mind uncleaned hand, Thera had worked with old and fragile books long enough to know that they preferred clean, ungloved hands.

She hit her third stand before she happened onto something curious. The particular bookseller specialized in foreign language texts and the loosely bound tome barely holding itself together in the French section immediately caught her eye. The lack of glue and binding weren’t the only indication the book was old as Thera tested the fragile, yellowing pages of the text. Astrological symbols and footnotes had been penned into the margins as well, another tell tale sign the book was more than it meant to look to the normal eye.

Her smile widened when she reached an annotation of the Greek symbol Tua being intersected by Gamma, a clever curse if not put in the wrong hands. Thera turned, wanting to inspect the keeper of the stall, when her hands and the text slammed into a person who had materialized close behind her.

In a tumble Thera went grabbing for the text as the book fell in two to the ground, its fragile binding no match for the impact of the movement she had intended to be discreet. The apology fell out of Thera’s mouth as an instinct as she went clamouring to the ground to scoop up the book. “I’m so sorry, how terribly clumsy of me.”

[trinkets-and-laurels]

Who: Open Where: Bonny Bay When: 1:30 AM, after the bonfire

CONTENT WARNING: Nudity mention

The solstice bonfire had been reduced to little more than ash by this point, the music long since faded to echoes. Most of the festival-goers had already dispersed, and the few stragglers who remained stayed closer to Bheagain Beach. Bonny Bay was empty and quiet, save for the faint crash of waves below.

Aldora was alone.

More for the benefit of the others at the event than for herself. People these days were so... what was the word? Shy? Modest? Prudish, perhaps? About bodies.

It was a shame, really—bodies were works of art in their own right, and she had always been one to appreciate art.

Humming softly to herself, Aldora lifted the dress she had worn that day up and over her head before stepping out of her undergarments. Everything was folded neatly and set aside in a pile near the base of the cliff before she began the short ascent to its edge.

Being a vampire, she hadn't been able to participate in the morning dip. She had made peace with almost all aspects of being a vampire over the millennia—both the good and the bad—but the sun was something she still missed dearly, even after all this time. And though she'd never admit it, she had been deeply disappointed that she couldn't take part in such a charming local ritual. The feeling had gnawed at her steadily throughout the day.

But as sentimental as Aldora was, she had never been one to wallow. Nor was she going to let something as trivial as not owning a swimsuit stop her.

So here she was, bare beneath the light of the moon, standing only a few feet from the cliff's edge.

If she couldn't participate in the ritual, she thought as she backed up a few steps, then she'd simply make her own.

Then she ran.

Aldora sprinted toward the cliff's edge with a laugh she couldn't quite contain, pulling her knees to her chest as she became airborne. The thrill of weightlessness overtook her before she struck the sea below with a tremendous splash.

The water would have been cold enough to steal her breath, if she had any. A shock to her system that was almost painful in its intensity, and yet made her feel alive in a way she hadn't in a very long time. For a lingering moment, she remained beneath the waves, watching the bubbles rise around her as she sank, admiring the way they caught the moonlight in flashes of silver.

But the cold was beginning to make her muscles stiffen, and so it was time to resurface.

She swam toward the shore, a sharp shiver and muttered curse escaping her as the breeze picked up just as she emerged from the water. As she wrung the saltwater from her curls, she heard it—a faltering step and a sharp intake of breath.

It seemed someone had stumbled upon her.

A soft, amused huff escaped her.

"Lovely night for a swim, no?" she asked playfully as she continued working her fingers through her hair, entirely unbothered by the interruption.

After a moment, she turned her head to glance over her shoulder at them, her eyes shining with equal parts confidence and mischief.

"Or are you just enjoying the view?"

[trinkets-and-laurels]

who: @wickedxhell where: the solistice jubilee at bheagain beach when: Mid way through the bonfire

For someone as long-lived as Aldora, memory was a funny, fickle thing. Her earliest centuries were little more than a blur—a collage of fleeting sensations. She couldn’t remember exactly where she lived then, though she knew it was somewhere on Lesbos. She couldn't remember much of who she was before the change, either—but she did vaguely remember the feeling of the sun’s warmth on her skin.

The one thing Aldora never forgot, though, was a face.

If she closed her eyes, she could still see the intense focus in Sappho’s eyes as she worked on a new verse. In the silence, she could still hear Dorethea’s laugh as they gathered water together. Their memories were how she carried them with her. How, in a way, she granted them the same immortality she herself possessed.

Which was why the presence of the man sitting near the edge of the bonfire unsettled her so much.

She knew his face from somewhere.

Not in the vague way she had known Chiara’s face before they officially met earlier that day—mostly through reputation and brief encounters in passing. Looking at him brought back the phantom scent of the breeze off the Aegean Sea. The warmth of the sun. It should have been impossible; nobody she had known from that time had survived. Not even the other vampires. And yet, his face illuminated by the firelight stirred something that could only be described as nostalgia.

Or déjà vu.

Both, really.

And yet, as hard as she tried, a name wouldn't surface.

This wouldn't do.

She began to cross over to where he was sitting, making sure her footsteps were just heavy enough to announce her presence. She didn’t want to startle the young man, after all.

“Good evening,” she began, her voice even but laced with a curiosity she didn’t bother masking. “Apologies if this seems rather forward, but... you look very familiar. Have we perhaps met somewhere before?”

[sunshine-and-statuary]

For: @dawnlings

Where: The Dock behind Dunáine Manor

Her toes skimmed across the top of the water as she looked out at the calm water that only expanded to the end of the cove.

If it wouldn’t have caused her brow to wrinkle she might have let herself frown at the idea of a morning swim that was happening on a crowded beach somewhere behind her. She might tolerate the festival later with its bits and bobs but a whole festivity centered around sharing the glorious ocean with others…..she thought about wrinkling her nose.

She tilted her head to let it be warmed by the glorious sun and turned her head to more pleasant things, like thoughts of a day that consisted of day and how wonderful it was….even if the conditions were slightly overcast.

Sometime later when the soft sound of footsteps sounded behind her she turned and allowed a smile to spread across her face at the sight of the summoned fae, “Darling….so kind of you to join me on this busy morning.”

[dawnlings]

who; open ! ♡ where; Eden Ros Annual Solstice Jubilee : Bonfire.

         Now that the sun's stopped teasing all of them from beyond the clouds, fully tucked away to bed for the night, Allie couldn't be more grateful for the sweater she'd thrown on earlier in the day. The bonfire keeps her warm enough, and the sound of people chattering around her, friendly, and inviting. This is her favorite part of Eden Ros, she thinks, absorbing it as she sits here, quietly. But, maybe, Allie's only kept that way by the sweet carton of berries she produces from her little wicker purse, tied with a bow.

         Someone sits down near her, and Allie can't help but greet them with a smile, and a held out offering of the fruit. " Want some? I don't mind sharing. "