sixthiterationlogs | [MINGLE] Saints & Sinners Masquerade

WHERE: Corn field next to the inn
WHEN: 31 October, all day and night
OPEN TO: ALL - MINGLE
WARNINGS: Please warn as appropriate in your subject lines
NOTES: Please make sure you have read and understand the event details! If you have questions, drop them here. RECOMMENDED BUT NOT REQUIRED: Put your SCRUBS COLOR in your OTA subject line for folks doing bingo. Time your OTA for the harvest feast, the masquerade, or both. Costume matches and details for folks who did not get matched are here.

This morning, our intrepid villagers awoke to a surprise of the nicer kind: A bundle of clothing left at the foot of their bed, tied with a bow. There is also a note: Put on your new outfit and join the festivities in the corn field next to the inn.

You may be thinking, what corn field next to the inn? The one that sprung up fully-mature overnight, of course.

In the middle of the field, villagers will find an autumn feast: Tables piled with harvest time food and drink, warm and rustic decorations, the day's sunshine fending off any chill in the air.

Tuck in and enjoy, villagers, but take note: Things often look different in the dark, and you might be one of them.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hawke sighs and rolls her eyes. "All about a woman, of course. A wonderfully beautiful and wicked pirate named Isabela." Her smile is affectionate with just the smallest aftertaste of sadness. She'll never see her again, after all, that's always sad. "She stole a relic from the Qunari and they were stuck in my city until they got it back. They attacked and took over part of the city, not entirely because of her, and while she did bring it back, I had to choose to hand her over to their punishment or duel to the death with their leader." It's pretty obvious which route she went, since they want her very much dead. She shrugs. "No regrets to speak of. I love her dearly. I understand why they hate me, I did kill one of their leaders." It was only fair!

She laughs. "A child at heart, maybe, but I was into my thirties before I died, and that's practically middle age by our terms." It was old for someone who put themselves in that much danger. "I can't tell how old you are through that, are you old and gray?"

"...Well shit. I don't know if that's romantic or insane. Or both. Possibly both I mean- it sounds like the sort of thing I would do. So. Definitely both." Which means, of course, saluting Hawke with his drink and making a mental note to befriend the woman ASAP. Like they aren't already well on their way, swapping insane stories and snark. One thing he can say for this place? You meet interesting people.

"Wait what." Died? Died. What the hell. "You mean figuratively, right?"

If it's literal- what is it with this place digging up ghosts?

"Oh it's absolutely both. You think Bull is impressive? The Arishok was terrifying. I barely came up to his chest. It's still a shock I survived that one." Hawke loves a good story, and she has many of them. "He had an axe and a giant sword the length of my bloody body. Both of which he was swinging at my head." Isabela couldn't possibly have crossed a dwarf. Or an elf. Or anyone who Hawke didn't have to crane her head up to see clearly. No, her pirate had to piss off the most dangerous group. "Really glad Bull isn't taking it personally. I'd be happy to never fight a Qunari again." She's a deceptively normal looking person, for someone capable of taking on the Arishok alone. She prefers being underestimated.

Hawke waves her hand dismissively. "I was always going to die one way or the other in battle. I got to pick, which is quite nice if you think about it. No wondering." She's very cavalier about it. Either she hasn't coped, or she really has accepted her lot. Both could be true. "I got to fight this giant beastie first. I'm positive my best friend will write an exceptional story about it, after he, you know, deals with the loss."

...I think you might just be my kind of absolutely reckless and too determined to die." Except for the whole 'having actually died' thing. He's still. Processing that. Temporal displacement is a thing, Altair is meant to be 90, Peggy's long since passed- and he's talking to a dead woman. Why, why, why did he decide to not get drunk tonight?

There's plenty of alcohol for once, and a lot of it's actually palatable and he's-

He pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to wrap his head around the tangle of fantastic fatalism she's served up with a wink and a smile. "On the one hand, I wouldn't have done anything different. On the other- being the one left behind? Sucks."

Hawke laughs and claps her hands. "Oh yay, I love being people's kind. I'm told I'm an acquired taste. Not everyone wants to jump into danger grinning maniacally, but I've found it suits me." There isn't much of a secondary option when everything's an ugly mess in a city. "I did try diplomacy first with him though! But it was all about honor and regaining it, and how corrupt the city was and how he needed to save it from itself, that sort of tripe." So it was inevitable. The only part Hawke truly regrets is being the Champion. The name came with weight and also came from murder, so it was shady from he get go.

She looks at him with open curiosity, and then a flicker of understanding at what he's trying to say. "Yes. I have regrets if only for Bethany." Her friends would move on, because that's part of the life for all of them. She hates being real and sincere, so it's a struggle, but fuck it, sometimes it happens. "My little sister. She's the only member of our family alive now." The sweetest of the lot. Their parents and Carver gone now. Hawke runs fingers through her hair. "But she does have other mages now, at least, they'll look out for her. She's very powerful, I bet she'll lead them some day." Genuine pride there.

"Nothing annoys idiots stirring up trouble quite as much as being made the butt of a joke, or feeling like they're not being taken seriously." Which is why, no matter how grave the situation? Tony makes an attempt to crack wise. To play it off like it's nothing, like whoever's stood up and decided to hold the planet hostage? Is nothing.

Not quite beneath his notice but- boardroom tactics that hold true even here and now.

"...as long as she's got people? She'll manage." He did, with Jarvis and Ana. Obie too for a little while, Happy, Pepper, Rhodey. It wasn't the end of the world. An end of a chapter in his life, sure but- "It'll be awful for awhile but...she'll get past it, if she's anything like you say."

Hawke's glance at him is shrewd, curious, because yes, that is very much part of the reason she mocks and jokes. "There was this one time, Varric loves this story, I was on a merchant guild's hit list. Well, my uncle was, but he had no money, so I was the target." She definitely doesn't miss him, that's for sure. "I knew these five assassins were coming for me, so when they kicked in the door, I invited them into a card game. They were so baffled, you should have seen their faces." Hawke laughs. It's also one of her favorite stories, to be honest, because at the time she'd been pretty certain this was the time she died. It always was in her mind. This will be the time you die. "We played cards until the guard came to arrest them. Two of them came back to play more after! One of them, Brannon, was a bloody shark though. Lost so much of my money to him." So that was a give and take. "Anyway, sometimes that's the way to go. Not the stabbing."

Hawke shrugs. "She's stronger than the rest of us, I bet she'll make it to old age." It would be nice to think one of them would. Her mother was heading in that direction. She'll never see Bethany again, that's the truth, and she should be happy about that. She can have a life and a future that way. Some day she was definitely going to be happy about that. "I would've been a terrible old person. Whining non-stop about my bones and back and the good old days when I was a badass. Still trying to pick up beautiful people, of course, because I'd be old but not dead yet." Hawke grins. "Nah, sounds terrible."

[MINGLE] Saints & Sinners Masquerade

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject