[ORP] The Phoenix Festival 1655

[Aida]

Large stacks of wooden faggots lay by the wayside, as the workers from Fenia City's Town Hall secured the last of a rather hefty looking bonfire, ready to be lit for tonight's festivities. Hopefully, when the guest of honour lit it, he wouldn't also burn the entire city down... she hoped. Her outfit, a outrageous festival number she and her maid-in-waiting had been working on for weeks, swished quietly underneath her, made of real phoenix feathers donated by her own phoenix, Renny, who sat preening himself on a nearby fence, enjoying the attention from the townspeople as they prepared.

Trays and trays of food had been brought out - mostly courtesy of Bachi, the towns superstar baker - and laid on trestle tables around the temple green for people to take as they pleased. From the buttery, barrels of ale had been rolled down the streets to the green. Apparently they had caused quite the traffic jam on Septim Lane. She grinned, going through the list in her hand. The food was ready, the bonfire built, pies and ales... ah, yes! The parade. As she had simple given the town craftsmen a budget and told them to 'go wild,' she was not prepared for the extent of which they had actually well, gone wild. People dressed as devilish fire creatures, demons and spirits pranced around outside the temple gates, both delighting and scaring the little children who shrieked with their toffee apples in hand and dove underneath the tables.

Announcing the Phoenix Festival Costume Competition!

The creatures with the best costumes this year could be prizewinners! Show off your Phoenix spirit with a creative number and win up to 500F, plus assorted prizes, courtesy of the diocese of St. Kaylia.

Grand 1st Prize:
500F
A strawberry cake, cheesecake, klahua cake and iskir berry pie.
A white orb
A necklace of choice (leather, bone or gold)
A ring of choice (as above)
A facepaint

Second Prize:
100F
2 cheesecakes and a klahua cake
An apron of choice (as above)
A blue orb
A facepaint

3rd Prize:
50F
A cheesecake and a klahua cake
A facepaint

[OOC: The best RP posts describing the most creative costume will win the prizes! You can use photos, but only as an accompaniment to either your own writing, or your own drawing/photomanipulation.]

[Hexa]

Little Hexa was often found around her mother - but where there were costumes and parties - there was the little girl. She had been dressed by her maid - still unable to properly dress herself - in a rather... contrasting little number. The nursemaid had gotten the little fiery haired child to stay nice and still and allow herself to be dressed.

The dress was quite layered - heavier than the little girl was used too, but she was delighted by the dress in general. The dress itself had layers of all colors - layers of black and greys, reds and oranges, even some pink was tossed in. It created this look of... the child being on fire. She had not yet shown her mother though - the girl had been draped in one of the new sets of cloaks her mother had made; an attempt to save her own cloaks, no doubt. The cloak was a charred grey color - and a tiny bit too big - but comfortable.

Hexa, spying her mother, danced through the crowd - ignoring the parade. She was not amused by parades - she did not understand the customs. "Maamaaa!" She calls, as she twirls, little bare feet against rough ground, fiery curls bouncing this way and that way as she latches onto Aida's leg. "Mama, mama!" She crooned at her - as she began to tug at the cloak - it was getting too hot for the topmost layer of her dress.

Hexa soon had shown the dress - the cloak tumbling to the ground. Like always, the little wild-witch was barefooted, her toes curling against the ground. Her hair - the precious little curls - had been pinned up... But nothing stayed that way for long with Hexa. She twirled - and as she did her little twirl, the dress snapped around her ankles; the colors of each separate layer melding and mixing. The dress was it's own dance, she just wore it. It was almost like a sunset, at first with the pinks and oranges, but seconds later, the greys, blacks, whites, the sullen colors returned. Like a forest under the heat of a flame, the child beamed upward at her mother. She was quite excited - she could get into all kinds of trouble here.

[Sandy]

Sandy walk into festival.

The first thing one saw was the sparkle of the diamonds reflecting the light back, they where spread out across the dress in a random pattern so they did not overwhelm, the outfit, the jewels, even appeared to twinkle as she moved gracefully across the grounds. Once, one look past the sparkling jewels a modest dress woman with full figure appeared. The dress was full length, in rainbow of vivid colors that twisted around her form, one color bleeding into the next color, they were not strips nor squares, but more like tye die, which there was pleasant harmony were they colors met, folds in the dress where hard to see with the sea of rainbow colors.

The waist line had a simple solid color ribbon tied around her waist, the shades shimmered and changed in the reflection of light as she moved, elbow length white gloves stood out from the outfit, giving depth to the dress when in front of her. The dress came all the way up to her neck, where skin should appear, but white face paint took over, looking more like a mime with black accent marks for eyebrows, but with bright red lips applied a bit to thick. Sandy’s hair was pulled back into a French braided pony tail, tied with matching ribbon of the waist, but the hair had a festival colored powered in it, so no natural hair colors showed.

When she walk plain flat shoes where some times visible, it was as if she never expected anyone to see them.
Watching a shadow approached Sandy, you see someone placed a yellow glowing florescent ring on her head as she approached you give the look of an angels halo. The fire light was now captured in the jewels giving a eerily dancing orange twinkle till block by another body. You find yourself staring, and only turn away when some yelled and poked you with a stick to get out of the way, and she was gone into the crowd again.

[Aida]

She saw her adopted daughter first, skipping through the crowd in a festival dress of her own. She grinned, Saph had done a great job with access to the Royal Wardrobe. The summer air was hot and heavy though, and she hurried over to her to help her with her cloak, smiling and kissing her atop her red curls.

"You look magnificent. Are you hot? Here, let me take this." She gentled tugged at the cloak, meaning to take it to sling over her bag (and hopefully not to forget it), handing the little girl her waterskin to take a drink from. Aida laughed as she danced, finally allowing her shoulders to relax, a single phoenix feather becoming loose from her gown and burning up in a magical flame. Finally, it could be a new start for them both. Reborn, like the phoenix... it was all rather fitting. Her little flame, she thought, if nursed might burst into a thousand colours.

Spotting Sandy from a little way away, she smiled and gave her friend a wave, hardly recognising her under a magnificent costume.

"You look amazing!" She called, "Did you do this yourself?" She gave her an admiring glance from afar, wondering if it was my magic or simply talented craftsmenship the dress took on such a splendid pattern. Aida looked curiously at the golden light too, mesmerised for a moment.

It was almost time for the fire to be lit and she gazed at the heaving crowds as they took pies and ale, laughing amongst themselves. Someone dressed as a jester did a cartwheel and a salute as they passed, and she grinned. The sky was darkening and the air was fast becoming thick with joy... although, she considered, perhaps that was simply the heat.

[Duke_of_Earl]

Duke enters the fairgrounds.

While not a costume per se, Duke has decided to partially shift into his ethereal form for this event; leaving only his face solid, the rest of him appearing gaseous in nature as though being made of fire; such seems to fit the mood of the day.

Duke pads along through the crowd, some of which step through parts of him unnoticed as he keeps a weather eye out for some of his friends.

[balerion]

Balerion was fashionably late. Rather a habit that. As far as costumes went there weren't a lot of things dragons could wear to dress up in. Certainly he could have came in another form but that was always incredibly tiring. For tonight his scales would do nicely. Brem always was fantastic at shining them and they positively gleamed with some of them appearing iridescent purple, blue, and black. Nonetheless it was always possible to don a flame resistant black bow tie. It certainly wasn't enough to take place in the costume contest, but that hardly mattered. There was a party and festivities to be had and those he wouldn't miss for the world. He hoped he'd see his wifey there at some point, but for the time being he looked down at those who actually had already arrived. Spotting Duke he dropped from the sky with a ceremonial shower of sparks so as to not crush any of the servants. It was rather hard to find good help and it would be rude to crush someone without at least first being sure that they deserved it.