December Vignette

December Vignette

In honour of the festive season this vignette is themed.

Quote:

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You have been invited to a Yuletide celebration with an interesting or unique tradition. Describe this tradition and the area that it comes from/the setting.

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Rules

1. One submission per character.

2. All entries have to be within the declared period. Editing your post and completely changing your submission is okay as long as all the edits occur before midnight EST on the closing day.

3. The moderator judging the monthly vignette contest may post a vignette at the end, but will not be eligible for first or second place.

4. Only on-topic vignettes are liable for rewards. The topics are broad enough that no character should be particularly limited.

5. PCs must be involved in all vignettes. How "canonical" you choose to have the events of the vignette is up to you.

6. All participants receive EXP. The top two finishers also receive GP. (Clarification: this excludes off-topic submissions, as per Rule 4).

7. Entries are assessed on the following merits:

Use of topic: Did the writer use the topic, or write something completely random and off topic?
Creativity: Did the writer make something unique out of the topic or was it more cliche?
Mechanics: Basic writing mechanics: spelling, grammar, punctuation, word usage, etc.
Notes: Additional comments.

https://i.imgur.com/sp7iH1t.png


Mikael Leviasi ia Saiph & Ayvriel Leviasi ia Saiph
Location: Raiaera

The air turned colder, the wind fiercer but the most troublesome part was all the fog that rolled around the coast. During the morning it would feel as though Mikael was seeing the world through brilliant haze and during the night he felt as if submerged to the bottom of the sea. With a weary sigh, the young High Elf peered across the field ahead of him, the coast were several days away but even so the weather had turned far colder than he had originally wagered. For the moment, memories of the chilly dark nights flooded back into his head.

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“Abbie! Abbie! Abbie!” Mika yelled as he sprinted through the hallway, but none responded and Mika continued to race down the hall until suddenly his legs were no longer directly beneath him. He looked down and saw the rug closer before suddenly his face and his cheek impacted on the somewhat soft rug surface. His thoughts wandered on why his legs suddenly appeared behind him and what exactly tripped him.

The elven child struggled to stand back up but quickly rolled to his side and with a single huff Mika sat straight up. His foot snagged onto the heavy rug and his forward momentum sent him falling to the ground near instantly. Mika sighed, remembering his father’s voice already Stop draggin my feet, yeah yeah. . . Mika stood back up and this time took a much more cautious and slow approach to his running; walking through the hallway.

Mika heard a patter of feet quickly approaching and a small voice sang out; ”Mika, see ya, wanna come, with me ya?” Abbie had quickly ran up to her brother Mika’s side and smiled widely at him. “Where ya been? I’ve running around looking for ya.” She explained.

“What? I’ve been you looking for you. . .” Mika responded, but he shook his head, “-Doesn’t matter. . .look remember how last year we couldn’t go with Mother or Father?” Mika asked.

Abbie nodded her head, but before she could say anything, “-Well, I saw them order some things from the tailor and guess what?” Mika asked.

Abbie opened her mouth but she was again cut off, “-They ordered five things from the tailor. . . you know what that means?”

Abbie didn’t bother an attempt to answer, instead she waited for, “-We’re going on the boat this year!” Mika concluded.

The two elven children shared a starry eye looked of amazement and joy before quickly running together down the hallway to reach their parent’s room. The two laughed eagerly and stood in front of their parent’s door, the large wooden double doors were heavy to move for children and the last time they had needed all three siblings to push one of them open. Mika and Abbie both gave the other a nod and attempted to push it anyways, as they had nothing else to try.

Their other poor brother had been kept inside his room because of the sniffles and the healer explained that the natural process would be beneficial rather than any healing medicine to remove the illness. Neither Mika or Abbie thought that was okay, if the adults can fix what was wrong with their brother why not just fix it? Both had declared that they would discover the cure for him, after their afternoon snack of course.

But for the moment, both Abbie and Mika were focused on pushing their parent’s door wide open. They first charged into the door and pushed, and then they pushed again with their combined strength, Mika was breathing hard and Abbie was already sliding to the ground. “Mika, these doors are too heavy for us.” She declared unhappily.

Mika gave himself one more shot, this time with more of his strength and. . . “You’re right.” Mika said defeated, as he joined his sister by slumping down to the ground next to her.

“Hey Mika, what’s the big deal about getting our dresses from the tailor and the ship today anyways?” Abbie asked, her head leaned against the door as her breathing finally slowed.

Mika scratched his head, he remembered his instructor telling him something about Winter and Spring Solstice, then darker nights and less sunlight, “-Well, something about the weather and the ship is supposed to take us around the city so we can see the lighthouse because I guess it was built a very long time ago?” Mika answered, rather unsure but confident enough.

Abbie quietly nodded and slowly started to hum, “-But the reason for our clothes?”

“We have to look nice!” Mika answered promptly, at least he knew that much of this celebration today.

Both sat there for a moment, each attempting to hum different parts of the same song before the door behind them opened and both fell backwards as their backrest disappeared. Mika and Abbie stared upwards at both their parents who seemed more amused than anything else and before either child could bolt straight up their father grabbed Abbie and their mother grabbed Mika and each hoisted them to their eye level.

“Both of you are suppose to be at your lessons.” Their father spoke, his old and weary eyes scanned each child carefully, assessing to see which would make the first excuse.

Mika and Abbie bit their lips together and avoided direct eye contact for the moment, “We finished early,” Mika muttered first, his worry leaking into his voice.

Their father gave him a rather dubious expression but their mother simply sighed at her husband and grabbed Abbie from him to hold both children with each arm. “Did you really finish early?” She asked.

Sheepishly Mika and Abbie spoke in unison, “No. . .” neither really wanted to lie to their parents, but Mika had hoped they could have dodged the question entirely. Their mother sighed but kept them hoisted on her arms and walked inside the room and getured with her head towards the center where three black dresses were being showcased on some mannequins.

“We have your dresses ready,” Their mother explained as she gently lowered both Mika and Abbie back down as the two raced ahead. “-Make sure you find them comfortable enough to wear for a few hours.” Their mother warned as Mika slid his hand across the dress.

Abbie’s was a bit more akin to a true dress, while Mika noted his had pant legs and some less frills with the black laces than Abbie’s. The two gave each other a knowing stare and quickly put on the black blindfold that the mannequins were wearing. Neither could properly see, in fact it was near impossible to see movements past a few inches from their face. The two were about to run out, or at least run in the direction they assumed was outside before they suddenly felt the loss of connection to the ground by a pair of hands holding their waist.

Their parents clearly had no intention of allowing them to run wild while blindfolded and made sure the two of them put on their new dress for the Celebrations tonight. Abbie and Mika moved their legs and arms quite a bit, trying to see how far their range of motion actually was and even attempted to make a spirited escape once again but their parents halted their path and resumed on getting their hair finished before the night of celebration.

Abbie hummed along a few songs, as Mika attempted to hum the second verse, which soon turned into a rather impromptu game of who could figure out which song either were humming. Their mother only continued to shift their bodies around and help them into their new clothes for tonight’s celebration.

“The winds grow cold, the nights grow long, but their light continues to shine

The loss of sight blurs the path of life, their map for hope unseen, unknown

Walk far, search wide, run fast, swim deep, the Elf finally seeks his home”

Quote:

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From the Archives: An Elf turned blind searches for a place to call home, and wishes to find peace. The blind can never see the light, but can feel what light is, a warmth that calms the heart. The Elf discovers the island that the City would later be built upon and there the Lighthouse shall be constructed to provide a light for all seamen and travelers to find, and give the Elves living in the City hope. Darkness/Despair, doesn’t come as it is already there, hope is the light that needs action to be seen.
-Mika's forgotten Studies

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The air was a tad cold, but the excitement was felt as both Mika and Abbie raced along the large barge where they would partake in the celebration. The magical energy nearly vibrated the very essence of all elves participating, the sheer amount of songs and displays of magic made both Abbie and Mika’s eyes larger than ever. The two of them looked on with starry eyes and nearly giggled with laughter whenever a shot of water would erupt from the ocean surface. The Merfolk were always a treat for the two young ones, amazing them with their skills at manipulating water and swimming marvelously. Both Abbie and Mika looked from the edge of the barge and gave the other a knowing look, but suddenly they felt a sense of dread coming from behind them before they even moved another inch.

Mika was the first to respond, “Motherrrr-” but the sharp look stopped Mika from speaking and Abbie gingerly looked away.

“Do not go into the water, else the two of you will end up sick like your brother.” She explained, the fierceness was evident and the two children nodded before each waved farewell to the Merfolk in the water.

With their daring plan dashed away, Abbie yanked Mika to follow her as the two elves raced across the barge to hopefully find a good place to view all the lights. The large Lighthouse was brilliantly decorated and if there had been any ships out in the sea they would have spotted the Lighthouse kilometers away. The songs sung in the air made the sky sparkle, the magic within their voices enthralled all those listening, even Mika stayed quiet as he listened. The song matched the one sung by their mother, but the sense of wonder shifted drastically as the two young elves smiled wide with wonder, attempting to match their voices to the magical song being sung.

The ceremony though had begun, sudden hush rolled through the air and the lights followed suit, suddenly the City covered in darkness for a moment. Save for the single light at the harbor. Abbie and Mika managed to catch the start of the small light’s journey, it seemed to rather take its time but as it went a softly glowing trail was being left behind by the light. It was as if a star from the night sky was dancing in front of their eyes as it kept getting closer to the lighthouse.

Mika remembered the song his mother sang, as the hums from the rest of the Elves around him grew in volume. The lost elf who ventured for peace, a place where none needed to fear the darkness or worry of not light. The small star-like light finally reached the lighthouse, a moment and brilliantly the Lighthouse lit back up, shining brightly cutting across the darkness, showing the rest of the City that they have their own light to shine the path. The sounds music grew and finally the prayer started, but both Abbie and Mika were still unfamiliar and thus held a paper that held the words.

The two followed along the prayer until it reached the end, the wish, Mika repeated what was said but Abbie muttered something that he couldn’t quite catch. The Wish, as the prayer was called, ended with a single wish that all Elves ask the Seven Gods, prosperity for their Home. Mika eyed Abbie for a moment, the even was basically over but the celebration was still going so they had plenty of time to enjoy themselves, “Did you not know how to say those last few words?” Mika asked.

Abbie only grinned, never the expert when it came to lying, “I made a wish is all. . .” She responded. Mika pursed his lips for a moment, he considered asking her about it but honestly it didn’t matter as much as what he wanted to do anyways.

“Well, let’s go, we have a few minutes before Mother comes back for us.” Mika explained as he took off, Abbie close to his heels. The two found themselves near another part of the barge and looked over the rail. They gave one another a knowing nod and kicking off their shoes, they climbed over the rail and jumped. They cheered loudly as the two dove into the water, both waiting for the sharp cold feel of the sea water, but instead they didn’t feel any water but each were being held by a pair of hands. Cold hands, but not what Mika or Abbie were suspecting, the two children looked around and saw two of the Merfolk holding them.

They looked beautiful with their scales, the jewels that they decorated themselves with, it all looked amazing to the two children as they attempted to wiggle themselves free from their grasp. The two Merfolk genuinely appeared amused that two elves attempted to jump into the water but neither allowed their charge to wiggle free. “You children will get sick if you dive into the water.” One of them spoke, their voice honey dipped and whimsical.

“Yes, and I dare say I remember your Mother telling you two the same thing.” The other spoke, similar, perhaps sisters? Mika wasn’t quite sure but he noticed how similar their scales and fins appeared, how the torches and lights glistened off their skin.

Mika burned a brilliant crimson, and Abbie continued in her attempt to wrench herself free, but the Merfolk quickly swam with the two, near effortless, to the nearest pier. Placing each on solid ground and giving the two a quick once more the Merfolk wagged their finger at the two before quickly returning back into the sea. Abbie stuck her tongue out at them once they left while Mika embarrassingly sighed in defeat.

“At least we can tell our poor brother how we had the Mermaids carry us ashore.” Mika offered.

“Let’s go get our shoes. . . so Mother doesn’t ask questions.”

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This will be extended until the end of January due to only one entry.

Vignette closed for judgement.

Thanks lots for the participation!

Mikael wins by default, as his was the only entry!

Mikael receives:

200 EXP
200 GP

Commentary to follow in the coming days.

Rewards Added