Roleplay

An OoC note:
Heya, and welcome to the first Eightleaf Town roleplaying thread! (Signups for the Eightleaf RP community are found here, if you're interested in joining and haven't alright signed up. Please don't post unless your dragon(s) has/have finished the signing up process!)

It just so happens that it's the first day of the Starfall Celebration this year, too! So, I decided to start the rp there. Enjoy!

---

Eightleaf Town: a quaint, small town in the Southern Icefield. Cobblestone roads made it more comfortable and easier to walk from place to place, and facilities of all sorts stand in an organic network around the business district. The residential district isn't far from this at all, and everything is easily within walking distance of each other. Usually fairly quiet, and visitors are uncommon. It does have good relations with the port town of Pinecoast -- who they frequently trade with -- which lays north of them, up the river and through a pine-filled wood. Otherwise, this peaceful, little town largely goes ignored by the world at large. Nonetheless, it has its own stories, filled with its own people.

And that is certainly no different today. Today, after all, is the beginning of what the townsfolk have been preparing for all week: the first day of the Starfall Celebration. Of course, if one wanted to celebrate the week-long Arcane holiday to its fullest, a visit to the Starfall Isles was in order. But some, like many in Eightleaf Town, would be celebrating somewhere closer to home, whether due to the inconvenience of traveling so far, simply preferring the local festivities, or some combination thereof.

Today, the streets and businesses had pink, star-shaped or -spangled decorations everywhere. Starfall banners flapped in the gentle breeze that flowed through town, pink stickers of stars and comets adorned business doors, and signs with "Happy Starfall Celebration!" hung here and there, according to the respective tastes of their designers. Over the main streets in the business district were draped strings of pink, reflective stars. Eight-leafed clover flourishes made from purple paper tacked the strings in place on the buildings they hung from. A miniature, brass model of the Arcanist's observatory proudly shone in the middle of town square, where dragons would gather each night this week to watch the sky, and celebrate with sparklers, streamers, and festivities specially-planned by the town committee.

But the first of these town-wide festivals wouldn't start until nightfall, and right now, it was still morning. Still, the festive spirit was growing by the minute, as anticipation and excitement filled Eightleaf Town's denizens.

"Fannar! Report!" a gruff, old Snapper known as Chief Grip commanded his subordinate. He was standing in the town square, overseeing some last-minute checks to the premises.

Fannar, one of the many Tundras double- and triple-checking everything, quickened his pace to the chief. "Yes, sir! Everything's in order, sir! No vandalism, theft-- not even anyone shady-looking near the premises!"

"Hmm good. The day is still new, however. It's our duty to make sure everything's in place for tonight's festivities," Chief Grip responded.

"Yes sir!" Fannar saluted again. Then, he gained a much more casual air, smiling at his commander. "You know, sir, I think everyone's really excited for this. And the committee did a really great job on everything this year!"

Chief Grip hummed his agreement, nodding, though still remaining much more serious than his young subordinate. "Indeed. That is precisely why it is so important that we fulfill our responsibility to make certain the festival proceeds safely. This may not be the Crystalline Gala, but it is nonetheless important. The Arcanist deserves his share of respect, too, even if we don't live in his lands."

"Of course, sir!" Fannar responded in full and cheery agreement, as per his usual.

---

Also in the business district was a quaint, little cafe. Pink and purple asters and pansies bloomed short and in abundance in the insulated, wooden displays right outside, near the little, intricate, metal garden tables and chairs set up out there. There were two, small, round tables, and two chairs each, with more seating inside the cafe itself. This was the Lucky Star Cafe, and currently, pink star and swirl stickers adorned its door and garden troughs. The little chalk board just outside had pink and white letters scrawled across it, advertising "Starfall Specials," and bore a pink chalk drawing of some stars and the Arcanist's ancestral rune.

Inside, the Coatl couple who ran the cafe were just finishing up preparations for the day. As always, the scent of freshly-brewed coffee mingled pleasantly with the delicious smells of fresh-from-the-oven baked goods. Pink, star-shaped decorations hung on the cafe's walls, and adorned the indoor chalkboard, which held the day's specials for both the cafe proper's side of things, and the little bakery they had in there.

On display in the bakery's side of things were star-shaped sugar cookies coated perfectly in a smooth, hard, pink glaze, vanilla cupcakes filled with a raspberry compote, and topped with a powder made from dehydrated strawberries stenciled in the shape of the Arcanist's mark, shooting-star-shaped doughnuts filled with a pink-colored custard, and little chocolate cream tartlets made in the shape of the Arcanist's head, including his face, stylized cutely. Of course, the usual sweets were also available, but this was a special week, and that demanded special desserts. Still, there was a plate of chocolate chip cookies out as free samples, as per usual.

And of course, if you're going to have special confections, you need specialty drinks too. Among those listed on the cafe's menu for this week were the Shooting Star Espresso, Nebula Herbal Tea, Asteroid Praline Mocha, and Liquid Solar Flare -- a special, chili-infused hot chocolate. All of the regular options were also available, as usual.

The cafe's baker was currently closing up a to-go box with a variety of the specialty sweets, while his mate, Ebea, was just getting settled behind the counter, smiling at him. "You've done such a good job this year, Sweets."

It was his nickname, really, but it was what everyone called him. He smiled at his mate. "Thank you. I hope everyone enjoys them. I want to see everyone smiling as they eat them!" Then, he looked back to the box he was now carrying as he walked out from the staff-only section and into the as yet empty indoor seating area. "I wonder if they'll be surprised! I can't wait to see!"

"I'm sure they will be," Ebea chuckled. Sweets was on his way to The Lion's Inn, same as every morning, to pick up some breakfast for the two of them and to deliver a gift of baked goods in return. As the male Coatl exited the cafe and turned the "closed" sign to "open" with his tail on his way out, she called out one last, "Be safe!"

He gave her a smile in return as he disappeared from the view offered by the door's inbuilt glass panes.

---

Meanwhile, in front of the Dancing Feather Lounge, Munaa waited anxiously. He paced in front of his establishment, looking up every now and then. I wonder when it'll arrive. He was expecting a package from the Starfall Isles this morning, and, admittedly, had made the purchase relatively blindly. He'd received a tip from an Arcane dragon that the Arcanist's craftsdragons had been working on a very special piece of apparel that she thought he would like. She wasn't supposed to say much about it, but she had his style pinned fairly well, so he trusted her judgement. Besides, one had to take risks sometimes if one was going to stay current, especially at events like these.

So, he had bought it. Munaa's eagerness to receive his order came from more than just curiosity, though. He would be performing during the town's festivities on the second night, and he still had to practice his dance in his full costume and get used to the flow of it. Much of today would likely be spend practicing...if his order came in on time, which he desperately hoped it would. That was why there was a sign hanging on the lunge's door that read "Temporarily Closed on" and underneath it, "Starfall Celebration business." Below that read "Performing on the second night of the Starfall Celebration!" and below that, "Open again on the fourth day of Starfall." The sign itself was decorated with the Arcanist's ancestral mark, and some scattered, pink stars.

Still, it was currently being blocked by the proprietor's pacing as he mumbled to himself, "Come on, where are you? Please hurry..."

((That's enough for now from me, I think. If you control one of the town's facilities, please make sure to describe if and how that facility is decorated for Starfall, so that people know what the setting they're in is like!))

Spinel was very excited for the festivities; she had hung starfall themed banners haphazardly all over the place, and had stuck little star stickers to absolutely everything. It might be difficult to get them all off later, but she didn't care. That was for future Spinel to worry about. Present Spinel was all about the celebration. She had also hung up some posters in the windows of the pet shop, advratising some pink and purple pets she thought fit the holiday. On every poster however, in small writing under the cutesy themed advratisment it read '*please do your reserch before getting any pet. Pets are forever, not just a holiday.' On the outside of the pet enclosers there where little stickers too, and she had given many of the animals themed toys to play with; little star shaped squeaky toys and the like. After prepreations were complete, she flipped her sign from closed to open and bounced on her heels, excitedly awaiting customers for that day. She hoped some of her animals would find great furever homes during the celebration!

Nash sat on a stool in the back of the shop, having already fed the pets. He was reading a book and just keeping an eye on the animals, making sure they adjusted well to the new stickers outside their homes and their new toys.

Located in a fairly central area of the business district stood the Lion's Inn. Many dragons were surprised that it was doing so well for itself, much less that it was still in operation. Several years before, the inn, then simply referred to as the "Eightleaf Inn," had almost gone out of business, the previous owner too old to properly take care of it. The city had been sad that they were losing such a place, but there was simply no one to take over for the elderly Guardian. Around that time, a Spiral couple had lost their lair to glacier melt, losing not only their home, but most of what they owned. They moved to a nearby town, this lovely town of Eightleaf, until they could get back on their feet and petition the Icewarden for a new lair.

Upon arriving, the couple found that the town's only inn wasn't going to be around much longer. Swiir, a pretty young spiral with much too much empathy for her own good, was distraught over the fact that such an establishment was going down. She pleaded with her husband, Virro, to use the treasure they had managed to salvage from the wreckage of their home in order to buy the inn and get it back on its feet. Virro was reluctant at first, not thinking that it would be a good investment in the long run, but he soon gave in to his wife's wishes. In the months to come after they purchased the inn, they worked hard, refurbishing the building. The inn continued to operate in this time, though they didn't get very many visitors. In the final months of the inn's refurbishment, it closed to customers, the couple intent on making everything perfect.

Then, finally, the inn was finished. Its doors opened to a new look and a new name, the Lion's Inn, a play-on-words by the Inn's new cook, Virro. The lobby of the inn was large and inviting, sporting a long counter against the left wall, behind which stood the kitchen; a large fireplace against the right wall, the mantle of which was carved with images of lions and dragons of kinds; a plethora of varying kinds of tables built to accommodate the various breeds of dragons; and, at the back wall, two hallways diverged to either side, leading to the rooms that were for rent, and two staircases led to a small balcony on the second floor, where more rooms were located. The room that the inn's owners shared was located behind the counter as well.

The façade of the inn sported four large columns, carved with snowflakes and spiraling clovers, which held up an overhang that helped to keep the area directly in front of the inn free of rain and snow. The two doors that led inside had a simple-but-elegant design on their fronts, not wanting to be anything special so as not to take away from the highlight of the inn's front. Above the doors was a carved wooden head of a roaring lion, its mane made up of roses of varying colors. This is how it stayed for many years to come.



Now, at the time of the Starlight Festival, the inn's façade was decorated in an array of pink for the celebration. Long ribbons of pink swirled down the columns in the opposite direction of the clover patterns; the doors had been replaced with a pair made of a pink wood and carved with the symbol of the Arcanist; the roses around the lion were bright pink, as well. Within, sparkling pink ribbons looped along the ceiling in long arcs, reaching down towards the floor before turning back up again. Two Companion Comets, magical items the couple had managed to get a few years back during a previous festival, danced slowly around the ceiling, moving around the ribbons. The mantle of the fireplace was decorated with the same sparkling ribbons, which were, luckily, fireproof, and a single Arcane Runestone graced the middle of the mantle, glowing softly.

At the counter, Swiir was busy writing up a "Specials" list on a chalkboard, an idea they had borrowed from the nearby bakery, though they only used it for festivals or other such events. "Is the food almost done? Sweets should be stopping by soon," she called into the kitchen.

Virro was busy inside the kitchen, preparing a special meal just for Sweets and his wife. "Almost, my dear," he called back, focusing on the food in front of him. It was one of their new specials they were trying out for the festival. A baked Aether Hermit lightly topped with a sweet jelly made from Nebula Floaters. He didn't have a name for this specific creation just yet, but he was sure Swiir would come up with something amazing. "You know I'd rather it be done after he's gotten here, anyways. Then it'll be plenty fresh when he takes it with him."

"I know, I know." Swiir rolled her eyes, but she had a smile on her face. She loved Virro's dedication to his work. She had finished most of the board, but now she had reached the concoction that Virro was working on currently. It didn't have a name yet and he had left this one up to her, trusting in her to come up with something good. She was stumped, though. She didn't know much about food, especially not seafood, so she couldn't use any existing knowledge she might have to come up with a name. Perhaps Sweets could think of something when he got there...

((@Cryoluxa I'll have the menu in the next post. Didn't want to keep making this one longer. ^^;; ))

(( Wonderful posting so far, guys! The Starfall Celebration spirit is everywhere here! ^_^ ))

@GenesisReborn

Even though the Lion's Inn wasn't particularly far away, Sweets couldn't help but gawk excitedly at all the decorations in the streets on the way over. The town was awakening, and dragons were beginning to walk from place to place. Hatchlings laughed and squealed, and one or two parents had to hurriedly stop them from flying up into the strung decor. Seeing them brought a big grin to Sweets' face, and he began to think about Summersnow.

Summer was a girl he and Ebea looked after, though not officially. Really, they weren't sure where in town she lived, but she always turned up. Lately, according to the local private investigator, she had been following him around. Ebea had tried to tell the girl that the detective's work was important and required concentration, but to no avail. At least Detective DePero -- while obviously a little annoyed -- was enough of a gent to assuage the Coatls' concerns as well as he could. Sweets, himself, thought that the detective may have even secretly enjoyed the company.

She's probably with him now, if she's awake. She'll be by as soon as she gets hungry, though. Sweets chuckled to himself at the thought. And then, he'd arrived. The Coatl smiled at the decorations hung around the entrance, taking it in before he pushed his way inside.

A few of those staying at the inn were already downstairs. By the fireplace, a large Snapper was telling a heated tale, if his grand gestures and quick speaking were anything to go by. A few other travelers were his audience, from the looks of things. Sweets had to be careful not to get drawn into the story. He knew that this Snapper -- named "Magellan the Fantastic" -- was always full of good ones, and every time he'd get engrossed. Instead, Sweets looked over to the other side of the main hall and smiled at the familiar face behind the counter.

"Happy Starfall Celebration!" he called cheerily. Then, he began waddling over, still carefully carrying his box. "This year's going to be a good one! You should see the decorations the town's put up this year! And your inn... It's wonderful! The Arcanist himself would be impressed!"

---

@akrimau

It took some time, but eventually, dragons began coming by the local pet shop. Some just came to get pet supplies for their animals, some came to look at what was in. One family was looking to buy, letting their hatchling giggle and exclaim at the wonderous creatures within as she tried to pick one out.

"It's her birthday today," the child's mother was explaining to Spinel, "so we said she could have a pet."

Swiir focusing almost entirely on the chalkboard in front of her, an odd thing for a Spiral such as herself, since they were such an energetic species. Had she not been so focused on naming the dish that Virro was working on, she would have been cleaning cups, wiping down the counter, averaging the sales from the previous day, and memorizing the story being told by Magellan all at the same time with no difficulty, as any Spiral could do. This dish, however was perplexing her, taking her full attention, something she did not often experience.

Upon hearing the call of "Happy Starfall Celebration" by a familiar voice, Swiir's focus shattered and everything came rushing back in a comforting flurry. Suddenly, her mind buzzed with various thoughts and she found herself conscious of Magellan's story once more. "Sweets!" she called happily, her body twirling happily through the air a few times. Though his presence was a daily occurrence, she never got tired of it. "Thank you so much, I did a lot of work designing the decorations this year. Virro has been working on the menu. He's got quite a few things on it. Speaking of which, Virro's almost done with your meal. It's something he made specially for the festival. We can't think of a name for it though, perhaps you could help us?" She spoke non-stop, her words coming out in a flurry as they usually did. As she spoke, she set the Specials board up on the counter and turned it for the customers to see. She also began wiping the counter down with one hand while jotting down calculations with the other, her narrow body twirling all the while, something it did when there was nothing nearby for it to curl around.

The board held a list of various dishes based on foods directly related to the Arcane flight. Virro wanted to bring a taste of the Starfall Isles to their town. It helped that one of the visitors to the town that year was a traveling merchant. Said merchant was a Nocturne by the name of Imriel. He had many different things for sale, foods from the Starfall Isles among those, but his specialty was celebration items from what he had told Swiir, especially fireworks and the like, an odd thing since he was from the Wind flight.

Altogether, there were six different dishes on the board, the last of which was unnamed.

---

-Larvae Glow -Baked Hardshell -Manabug Salad -Manaleaf Salad -The Arcanist's Mouse -

Broiled Pauper Larvae dusted with ground Mana Thief and served with Fallout Whisper (Causes Tongue Glow) Hardshell baked in the shell topped with shredded Catroptria Grass Moth wings and served with Orchid Beetle jam Made with Orchid Beetle, Mana Thief, Moonlight Strider, Wasteland Pauper, Four-Spot Mealworm, and White Lace Honeybee (with Honey) Made with Manaweed, Star Moss, Juneflower, Dark Creeper, sliced Red Delicious Apples, dried Aether Cherries, and a tangy Raspberry sauce Roasted Satin Mice lightly coated with Honey Baked Aether Hermit lightly topped with a light coating of sweet Nebula Floater jelly

---

((@Cryoluxa Sorry for the wait, I just didn't have the energy required for this post. (Which was a lot because of the research that went into that menu. XD ))

Papplion walked infront of his flower cart, it looked beautiful! At least in his opinion. The cart was draped in purple and pink silks with Starwood flowers on the ends. Actually during the festival he was going to sell Starwood tree flowers and Lucky star clovers! Seemed fitting as the town was named after it. Sadly none were eight-leafed...He managed to get them from a kind little kiddo in his clan named Marduk, who was currently out on a adventure in Arcane lands.

He walked towards the flowers gathering some Lucky star clovers and some other fitting arcane flora. Time go around handing out flowers and clovers to celebrate!
First off the café! Then the inn... He just really liked treats...

Walking, rather skipping to the place he waved and grinned to passers-by, he was ecstatic for Starfall! Reaching the place he saw the open sign and gladly open the door " Hello Ebea! Great day for Starfall games ain't it?! Well, I've got some flowers to hand out!" He took one bouquet of of his claws and handed it to the Coatl "Tada! Anyway where's Sweets? He out gettin' things ready?

((No prob, @GenesisReborn. I understand, and normally I wouldn't timeline push like this. It's just that Starfall is getting close to an end, so I'm going to have to wrap this up at some point here, and start a new topic (that won't have such a timeline restraint on it.) :) ))

"Oh, thank you very much! How special!" Sweets happily replied to Swiir, fluttering up high enough to sit on one of the stools in front of the bar. "I'll gladly help out if I can."

Then, he smiled at his box again before turning that smile back to the Spiral. "And here! I brought these over for you! There should be enough to last you the entire festival, if you only eat one a night each, but fresh is best, so I understand if you want them all sooner instead of later!"

He slid the folded, thin cardboard box towards Swiir. It was decorated with the cafe's aesthetic, as it always was, but this time, it had little, pink, sparkly stars decorating it, too. And inside was two each of his specialty sweets for this year's festival, freshly baked.

---

@SkullLotus

"Oh, Papplion! It's always good to see you!" Ebea greeted in happy surprise. She gratefully accepted the bouquet. "And than you so much! They're lovely! Let me find something to put these in."

As she rummaged around, Ebea also set about answering the Tundra's question. "Sweets is out getting breakfast for us right now. He'll be happy to hear you dropped by! You know, those flowers you gave us the other day are absolutely perfect for Starfall! I wanted to thank you in person, but it was Sweets who was here when you dropped them off... Ah!"

She had, of course, been referring to the flowers outside. Papplion always made their cafe look so cheery with the flowers he gave them, whether as presents or purchases. And finally, she had found a vase that fit the occasion. It was locally-blown glass, stained pink. After filling it with water, Ebea placed it on the couner, and put the flowers in it. "There. That's just what we needed! Thank you very much, as always, Papplion!"

((@Cryoluxa Well then we should try to finish up the morning stuff so we can get to the evening’s celebration and deal with that.))

Swiir peeked into the basket and squeezed with glee. “Those look so good!” she said excitedly, finishing her other tasks and now focusing on Sweets. She was also listening to various conversations in the inn at the same time.

At that moment, Virro walked out of the kitchen with a basket of his own, in which sat two carefully wrapped plates of food. “Hey, Sweets, two meals fresh out of the kitchen. We have a name for them yet, Swiir?”

“Not yet. The rest are done, but I’m stumped. I asked Sweets for some help.”

He set the basket down on the counter and peeked into the one that Sweets had brought. “Looking tasty. Looks to be enough to last the festival. Well, for me, at least.” He cast a knowing glance at Swiir, who responded with a wide, innocent grin. “So you got any ideas for a name then, Sweets? The food is exactly what it says on the menu.” Absentmindedly, his tail intertwined with Swiir’s, the two anchoring each other in place.

Normally, a Spiral’s tail would instinctively wrap around a solid object in order to keep the Spiral safe in various events, the most common of which being their tendency to suddenly pass out from overuse of energy. To anchor yourself to another dragon took a conscious thought and a lot of trust, as this was equivalent of the spiral putting their life in the hands of the other. The fact that these two did this unconsciously just showed how deep their love for each other ran.

---

Imriel had been searching for the Police Chief for a short while and had finally spotted him. “Chief Grip!” He called, walking over to him. “The area for the fireworks tonight has been sectioned off, yes? The area is secured and safe?” He didn’t want any accidents happening during the night’s festivities, so he had asked for a couple of guards to watch the area. It was quite boring, so the guards were likely set to switch out regularly. Imriel didn’t like taking them away from the festive air of the town, but it was better for everyone if such volatile items weren’t sitting unattended.

He had, of course, gotten the permission of the Chief and the Mayor before setting up, something he had spent nearly a week doing. He wanted everything to be perfect for the festival and, with a little bit of magic, he would make it so. He wasn’t sure what was going on in this odd form of Sornieth, but while he was here he was going to repay the hospitality of this town’s citizens as best as he could; and that meant making a spectacular fireworks display for their festival. He hadn’t been there for very long, but he had been planning this ever since he learned that they would be holding the festival here and dragons had been talking about it for weeks. He couldn’t let them down.

@cryoluxa

Spinel smiled at the dragon, though secretly she was a little anxious. "Oh, that's wonderful! Do you have a particular kind in mind? Different pets require different specific requirements, so you want to make sure you can meet a particular creatures needs before purchasing." She felt a little rude explaining such basic information to another adult, but so many pets that are gotten for birthdays and holidays are dumped or mistreated because the child doesnt know how to care for them, so spinel felt it was a neccesary precaution. Plus the way the child flitted about from cage to cage made it seem like they hadnt picked what kind of pet they wanted before coming to the store, which was a sign that they probably didnt research or set up any specific habitats. "I can help you pick out a particular species if you don't have one in mind," she added.

Nash just watched the child closely, making sure she didn't harass the animals or do anything to hurt herself.

(( @GenesisReborn That's the plan, but I'm trying not to rush people too much, too. I'll go ahead and handle the pacing, including summaries by wrap-up. Trust me; everything's going to be fine. :) ))

"Oo, thanks!" Sweets responded to Virro, as he looked into the basket. His tongue flicked up and around the side of his mouth briefly at the smell that greeted him. "This smells amazing! Excellent job, as usual, I'm sure! It's really good to see you again, my friend." It didn't matter that he saw the couple every day; he was still quite pleased with their meeting.

"Now, about your naming issue..." It was onto business. Sweets took out one of the breakfasts and began eating it then and there, carefully rolling the tastes around in his mouth and analyzing their flavors. After swallowing, he couldn't help but beam cheerily at Virro. "This is amazing! You really know just what I like, hehe! It's sweet, but savory. And it's light and magical! So..." He pondered that a bit before announcing, "I've got it! You should call it, 'Baked Nebula: Like a sweet cloud of magical stars floating on your tongue!'"

It was a little lengthy, but could be shortened easily enough, at least.

---

Chief Grip and Officer Fannar turned their attention to the Nocturne as he approached them. While Grip didn't normally deal with dragons directly, he was out in the open out here, and it wasn't like he wasn't overseeing the security of the place.

Still visibly a tiny bit put out, Chief Grip gave the young man a nod. "Everything is under control, I assure you. We have patrols running more frequently just for that purpose. Your display will be kept safe."

His annoyance being replaced by a bit more diplomacy, the chief also added, "We do thank you for your willingness to add to our festivities this year, Mr. Imriel. I hope the town has been treating you well."

---

@akrimau

"There are just so many different kinds, and we heard that the sorts found her change often," the mother explained. "So, no, we don't know quite yet."

Then, she addressed her daughter. "Did you find one you like yet?"

The little girl beamed at her mother. "There are so many cute ones! I don't know what to pick!"

"It is an important decision. You're choosing a best friend, after all," her mother gently encouraged.

"I know! I'll do my best! Hmm maybe...a pink one? Like all the decorations everywhere!" the girl cheered, thinking back to the pink stars hanging from the strings above the roads.

"A pink one would be perfect to remember this special day, wouldn't it? But make sure you're certain!" the mother happily reminded.