Open Social A Taste for Twilight

[Reyna Vernize]

Onderon, Inner Rim

OOC Note: Open to all factions

The agricultural village of Gramsby had been chosen for this year's harvest festival, situated just 3.22 kilometers outside of the planet's capital Iziz. Holding it in Iziz had been out of the question, as the city was still under construction following the Battle of Onderon. Gramsby's native farmers, skeptical and dogged by nature, were reluctant of off-worlders traipsing through their homes, but in the end they'd been persuaded and assured that security would be vigilant.

Old-fashioned lanterns, more ambient than constructive, and jack-o'-lanterns lit the dirt path that wound from Iziz to the countryside village. Carriages led by Tee-mussess stood waiting to trasport off-worlders, if they weren't inclined to stretch their legs and take in the cool night air. Once they reached the village, they would find that its cobblestone streets were already packed with festival goers, aglow with wax candles, paper lanterns, and orange and yellow strung lights. There were shooting galleries, corn mazes, and food stands. Ale and smoked meats were the predominant scents that hung in the air, and the sound of live music, drifting from an amphitheater with live entertainment and dancing could be heard over the chatter and laughter.

Princess Reyna was situated where she was supposed to be—mingled amongst the populace and dressed as if she were one of them. In plain view, and yet concealed, her plainclothes body guards watching her from the shadows. It was an Onderon tradition that the first festival goer to recognize her would be rewarded a prize, should they accept and pass the challenge she issued, and would have good fortune in the season to come. Typically, it was children that recognized her first, eyes wide and eager, except for when Cassian beat them to it. Tonight, it was anyone's guess.

 

[Jade Hart]

A carriage clanked by on the side of the road, suddenly stopping. A woman stepped out, and down. She was dressed in a black suit– black pants, black shoes, white scarf, white starch shirt with sleeves rolled up to elbows, a big red bowtie fastened to her neck. The woman held a black mask up to her face, the type that covered your eyes and nose, a masquerade at a ball.

“What do I owe you?” she asked the driver.
“Don’t worry about it,” the driver, a grizzled old man replied.
“Come on, let me pay you something.”
“After what your master did for our planet, consider it me who is in your debt.”
The masked woman nodded, then smiled.

Continuing to hold the mask up to her face, she walked around lackadaisically from jack-o’-lanterns to shooting galleries to food stands. A pack was on her back, and it looked full of something, bulging at the seams. Whoever she was, this masked woman seemed to be talking to herself now and then, incoherent mumbles or hurried prayers. She ignored Princess Reyna completely, though if this was on purpose or from an inability to spy greatness was anyone’s guess.

Finally, she stopped in front of a group of children playing tag. The masked woman rubbed her neck and looked at an old granny in a rocking chair beside her. The old woman smiled as she pet her cat and looked at the children, then at this masked woman.

“Isn’t anyone afraid the Sith will return?” the masked woman asked, for whoever to hear.

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon Baudelaire was on Onderon. Should he have been there? No. Was he going to be in massive trouble once Master Vanloa found out? Absolutely. Did he care? More than he liked to admit, but that wasn't the point! He was here because sitting around in an old monastery waiting for the wind to speak was as boring as watching paint dry. He was here to show initiative and, and take action! He sighed, not even coming close to believing his own bantha shab, but that wasn’t going to stop him from at least having a good time and meeting a Princess. After all, he’d given up everything to join the Jedi. He was entitled to a little fun every now and then, right?

The carriage jostled and jolted along the road toward the lantern-lit city. From out his window, Leon could make out sturdy wooden houses, and it took everything in him to keep his mouth from hanging open. Everything out of his window looked like it had been ripped right out of a fairy tale. To his annoyance, the carriage came to a stop and he was forced to get out.

He stepped into fairy tale land and found that he fit right in. He was wearing his black Jedi garb and had his sword, Lionheart strapped to his hip. His appearance made him look more like an off-duty knight than a Jedi Peacekeeper in training. Leon took in the festivities, a flame dancer wowed onlookers as they swallowed a column of flame. A juggler was tossing three swords while eating an apple. A woman selling honeybuns called out from a stall. Now, this was what Leon was looking for.

Excitement bubbled up in him as he felt the spectrum of joyous emotions radiating from those in attendance, it was super weird. Leon wasn’t used to this much positive emotion. His life on Adumar was kill or be killed and the Jedi were overly stoic space monks. These people though? These people were… happy? What a bunch of creeps. However, the longer he allowed himself to be enveloped in the adulation the easier it was to understand. He stepped into the square and immediately spotted a woman so elegant she nearly tripped him with the flick of her gaze.

Leon stopped standing bolt upright. His eyes widened a little as he realized who she was. It was none other than Princess Vernize. A smile spread across his face as he made a b-line for her. There was no way he was leaving without an autograph.

@llamallove

 

[Tahiri]

Tahiri was pissed as she stared down the barrel of the rifle, squinting at the target that seemed to have eluded her so far. Bang! The shot went off, and this time, after having bought tickets for three separate rounds and with the final shot of this lot, she actually hit a target. She smiled triumphantly as she heard the sound of the pellet hitting the metal can, only for it the smile to freeze on her face as she straightened up and took a look at the target. She had hit a can, only...she had managed to hit a can on the next lane over, missing her own 9 targets entirely. Subtle snickers, sympathetic pats on the back, and some outright guffaws at the enormity of her failure greeted her as she handed the rifle back to the man running the stall. Shaking her head when he eagerly asked if she wanted another go, well aware that she was operating on minimal funds this close to the end of the months, she walked away.

Looking for a way to cheer herself up, she started looking for something to eat, and found a stall where a man with the most magnificent mustache was selling fried feet of some sort of bird called spurkey, wrapped in bacon. That cheered her right up, and she bought herself one, and after a few bites found her spirits rising once more. Finding herself enjoying the festival like she had been before she had found the shooting range and almost ruined the evening for herself.

That was of course till some guy walked straight into her, and her precious bacon wrapped foot of fried meet went crashing to the ground. As the shock passed, she immediately reached out with a hand and grabbed him be the back of his collar as she seemed intent on rushing past (@Zay).

"You dropped my spurkey! You, miss," she gestured at the nearest person to them, a pretty woman with the pointed years of a Sephi who Tahiri had walked around when the man had barged into her, (@llamallove), "you saw it right? He knocked it right out of my hand! "

 

[Reyna Vernize]

This was a step in the right direction. Onderon might not have healed from the Sith's invasion, the lives they'd so mercilessly taken still an open, festering wound, but tonight was a chance to move forward. Tonight, the war was a distant memory. A fading dream. Hats askew and lips parted wide, men and women had linked arms, heads thrown back with laughter, their cheeks flushed with the warmth of the fire as they danced through the cobblestone streets, cutting a path through the crowd. Children bobbed for apples, their clothing thoroughly drenched, while others ran from stall to stall.

Reyna stood rigid, reclining against a wooden barrel of ale. A group of rapacious teenagers huddled behind it, screwing a handmade spigot into the side of the barrel, looking over their shoulders to make sure the stall keeper didn't spot them. The half-Sephi's lips were parted mid-bite, wrapped around the vibrant red skin of an apple she'd purchased. Her eyes bounced back and forth between the two people in front of her—a tall and slender man, paper in hand, and a woman with curly hair, each stand reflecting the lights that hung overhead.

Off-worlders. They weren't from Gramsby, of that she was certain. Diligent as they were, situated between the walls of the capital and the wilds of the jungles, good-looking the people of Gramsby were not. Their faces were as rough-hewn as the portraits being carved out of logs a few stalls over.

"I'm afraid I didn't," she answered honestly, her tone placid. Probably not the answer the woman was hoping for. Reyna wasn't accustomed to being addressed so informally, and certainly never as "miss." She chewed on her apple, still observing the two strangers. "Do you always wear your pajamas in public?" she asked the man, who was dressed in long black robes. Then, tilting her head to one side, she added to the woman, "What do you think? Think he has any credits on him?" Any man that wore his loungewear in public probably didn't carry enough credits for spurkey. She just hoped he wasn't going commando to boot. The evening was far too young to have to call her guards out of the shadows already. @Zay @Wit

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Laser focused on his goal, Leon hadn’t seen the young woman holding the spurkey leg until it was too late— Crash!

“Oof!” he groaned as the wind was knocked out of him. He was sat hard on the ground by the collision, what was this person made of phrik? By the time he looked up the woman who’d run into him was pointing down accusingly at him. Confusion stampeded across his face like heard of scared bantha. To his horror, this newcomer had brought the Princess into this and it seemed as though she’d was warming to the other woman’s side. The sheer unfairness of the situation left his mouth gaping like a fish out of water.

The commotion caused was becoming a spectacle. Heads were turning, bodies gathering. Leon stood and brushed himself off.

“I apologize, it appears I was temporarily blinded by our gracious host’s beauty,” his eyebrow quirked as he looked at the woman. Now that he wasn’t having to look up into her face he had a stange feeling that he recognized her, or was that just one of the weird feelings Master Vanloa was always talking about?

“Pajamas? My lady, I’ll have you know my rag—er— robes have been crafted from the finest burlap,” it was a terrible joke, but it wasn’t every day he got picked on by an actual princess. What was he supposed to do point out that even though she was supposed to be undercover, she was still wearing higher quality clothing than anyone else in attendance? That would have been rude.

Leon popped open one of the pouches on his belt and handed a couple of twenty chits to the woman who’d hit him like a speeder truck. Was he being robbed? Was this what robbery felt like? It was kinda fun. Also, never in his life had he been picked on by two more attractive people, what a weird situation.

“Hope that’s enough to get you another, uh, thing,” he smiled hopefully.

@Wit @llamallove

 

[Delnor Riek]

Delnor had always had a love for the outdoors and more wild parts of the galaxy and had read up on Onderon in his youth even before joining the Jedi order. He had always wanted to visit and experience all the Great planet had to offer. Once he had the free time it had been to dangerous but now it sounded peaceful enough.

Leaving the carriage Delnor breathed in the air of Onderon before looking around. It all most reminded him of home back on Pantora. Not in direct look but more how it held on to its culture. The town was clearly made up of people that were proud to be born and living on Onderon. Though Delnor Jedi teaching reminded him that pride could easily lead to dark thoughts and deeds. This was not what Delnor saw here today and the people of Onderon had a lot to be proud of.

Not wanting to stand out Delnor had forgone the armored clothing for a simple pair of clothes and a black robe. Though he stood out still his blue skin and white hair would of made him stand out no matter what he had least did not look like some solder and with both his Lightsaber and Blaster concealed he would appear as a simple off-world visitor.

Eating some kind of fluffy sticky and very sweet meal he knew he had been overcharged for Delnor walked and admired the sites sounds and smells of the planet and city as he spotted someone only a few years older than him bump into some one with enough force to send him tumbling back. He was about to rush over to render aid before it was clear there was no need to.

 

[Tahiri]

Tahiri didn't really pay much attention to the credits that Leon held out, her attention on the woman. She was replaying the recent exchange between the three of them in her head, and dots were beginning the connect.

Gracious host? My lady? Tahiri's brow furrowed as she tilted her head and leaned forward to give the woman a better look, and her face started to break into a wide grin. It seemed like like her luck really was in a pendulous mood today, for after the absolute depths of despair that was the loss of her spurkey leg had threatened to push her into, she now found herself here.

"Princess Reyna?" She was visibly excited now. "Oh my god, it really is you, isn't it? What are the odds, running into yo...Waitwaitwait." She stopped, as another thought popped into her head, she hadn't come entirely unprepared to the festival and knew enough to realize just what had happened. "This means I win, right? I called your name, I'm first, so I win, don't I?"

She gave Leon an excited look, and only then noticed the hand he had held out with the credchits, but mistook it for a congratulatory handshake. Grabbing his hand, she began shaking enthusiastically.

"Thank you, thank you! And don't worry about the spurkey, doens't really matter, does it? I won!"

@llamallove @Zay

 

[Jade Hart]

Away from the activity around the Princess, the masked woman continued her line of inquiry with the granny. The old woman smiled, and responded. "The Sith will return someday but so will the jungle. From the margins the trees will one day take back what they are owed and consume us all. That is life. Inevitability. Or young girl, are you also afraid of the branches swaying above your head?"

Normally, Jade, the masked woman, would scoff and smirk at such advice. But today, call it the weather or a change in winds, she stayed silent. Looking again at the children playing tag, the hooligans swindling beer, the wide smiles and bright eyes.

"But we can at least plan. Plan for what is coming. What is out there. What good does hiding from danger do anyone?" she asked the old woman.

 

[Reyna Vernize]

Even if he clothed himself as if he were, the man wasn't penniless, and searched through his pockets until he produced more than enough chits to cover the damage. That was settled, at least.

"It would appear that you have," Reyna answered the younger woman, smiling for her benefit as she tossed the half-eaten apple into the nearest trash receptacle. The sound startled the teenagers, and they scampered away, disappearing in the crowd like roaches exposed by the light. Ale spilled from the open spigot, lapping at their shoes, but Reyna ignored it. Dark eyes settled on the man beside her. "Unless you have something to say about that?"
The Princess had no preference and didn't care who won, be it the man or the woman in front of her, and was ready to seize the young woman's hand and declare her the winner in front of everyone.

But this—a possible dispute regarding the actual winner—was a first, at least since she had taken the mantle of quarry from her mother, and she wanted to see it play out. The half-Sephi was amused by the situation, although that wouldn't register on her face. @Zay @Wit

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

“Uh, I’m not trying to be that guy,” said Leon Baudedlaire directly before, in fact, being that guy, “Buuuuut, I totally saw the Princess before you. I’m the reason you saw her, remember?”

He was fine helping a poor person get some food, but there was no way in hell he was missing out on taking a challenge given by a Princess. Then it hit him. A smile spread across his face as he presented a solution to the Princess, “Why don’t we both attempt your challenge, my lady?”

Leon flashed an excited grin at the Spurkey Lady, “First one to complete the challenge wins?”

This was the perfect opportunity to put his training to the test. Now even if he got scolded by Master Vaolan he'd have a better understanding of his strengths and weaknesses. Leon rested his hands on his hips triumphantly, man, this was turning out to be a great night.

@llamallove @Wit