lostcarnival | ⇨ THE LUNAR SOLSTICE

Who: Everyone!
When: Winter Breaks: Day 6 - Day 25
Where: THE MOON
What: The carnival journeys to one of its moons to celebrate the Lunar Solstice. More information here.
Warnings: Winter fun.

MOON WALKING↴

The journey to the moon only takes a blink of an eye, but it leaves the carnival far away beneath you. The second moon can be seen on the peripheral, massive compared to its usual view. At least when the holidays start out, there will be no notable wildlife on the moon, though this is something you can talk to the Ringmaster about if you think it needs a change. It sounds like this is the first time she's used it in quite a while - it probably needs some dusting off!

Claim your cabins, and proceed to... well, do whatever you want! There is no rush and little obligation, besides to enjoy yourself. For real, this time. She promises there will be no vampires. Or, at least, none that don't already work for the carnival.

► CABINS: Living arrangements are character choice for this event, and there are a variety of cabins of various sizes, mostly built to house 2-6 people, though you can fit more in if you squish. They are all made of wood and of a rustic design - no fancy modern furniture, here! Each building is housed with a fireplace and the needed amenities. You can pick up materials to cook with the private kitchens if you like. Theoretically, you could spend the whole holiday sequestered away, watching the snow fall. Some of them also have outdoor hot tubs available!

► ACTIVITIES: Activities are mostly going to be character driven, though there will be some large group games like bingo and maybe a poker tournament happening at some point in one of the festival halls. Otherwise, there is a lot to offer: skiing, snowboarding, hiking, ice sculpting, snowball fights - it goes on! If you'd like to run a winter activity, just let the mods know, and we will get the word out there for you.

► FEASTING: Every day isn't a full-out feast because that would get a bit unhealthy, but there will be a number of specific feast events over the holidays where everyone is encouraged to let out their inner hedonist and stuff themselves. There will be one big feast per week, with smaller but also delicious meals offered in between. The feast dates will be B12, B18, and B24. There's also plenty of alcohol available for anyone who wants it.

► SHOPPING: As mentioned in the planning post, there is a massive market being run by the World Walker Caravan! The Ringmaster has given everyone 1250 credits to spend on items, but there is a caveat - must spend at least 500 of those credits on gifts for other people. And it better be a good one, if you only buy one! (She will ask that you do not buy her presents, however. She appreciates the sentiment, but it seems sort of silly buying her things with her own money! If you'd like to gift her, please have it be something more personal or handmade, but you are not obligated to get her anything at all.)

► TREATMENTS: The beginning of the holidays will also be about the time that the emergency Medical Team will have finalized their treatments for the Prince's poisoning. Watch out for further information on that - and make sure to get treated if you are suffering from petrification or poison induced illness! The holidays will be a lot more fun that way.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It would have been a risk to everything I wanted to do then." Something she must know. If he had told her when the temptation had struck him, when his heart had been swayed--

Well. There was a small chance they would not be having this conversation, for one reason or another. He had robbed her of the right to choose by withholding information from her, but he had no other choice if he wanted to continue on his path. After all his mistakes, this was the one matter he would not fail on.

He shakes his head. "I learned long ago the Dalish were disinterested in learning the truth. They were too comfortable wrapped in what little they held."

A risk. She knows now what he meant by their relationship being selfish now -- it was an indulgence he never meant to partake in, one that could have gone nowhere. And yet he'd encouraged it, fell into it just as she had. That, too, makes anger well up inside of her; but it's aimless. If she had listened, if she had accepted all of his warnings, they wouldn't be here either. "Perhaps you should have taken it as a sign." That there was something of value in Thedas, that he need not continue-- "If telling the truth could risk it all, does that make the cause you fought for worth it?"

She knows what his answer will be.

Lavellan sighs, and shakes her head. "I thought I proved to you years ago that not all Dalish are the same." Or was her eagerness to learn, her dedication to the truth, and her acceptance of what he says just pointless and inconsequential to him?

He shakes his head. She didn't know what was lost. How painful it was to look at what the People had become and know that he had been the catalyst to it all. That was his burden to bear and no matter what else he saw, nothing would change that. He had to undo what he could, see what could be rebuilt in the ashes and death he'd create. The cost would be great, but he had to try.

And facing her, in the end, would tear him apart.

"No, you proved that you are different. I have met no others that have rivaled you." In her eagerness to learn or acceptance of the harsh truths that their history held.

As if the ruins, the remains of the library, weren't enough to convey the scope of what they'd lost. Selfish of him, Lavellan thinks, to assume that only he has known loss; all of Thedas has suffered in some way, more recent than the moment the Veil went up. But their strength was not dwelling in the past but in accepting, in moving forward, surviving.

She huffs, shaking her head at him. "I am not an exception to the rest of the Dalish, Solas. Perhaps you simply need to learn how to approach them better." Or in any way that wasn't so immediately off-putting, as she's sure his encounters have been.

All had known loss, but very few had seen the fall of an Empire, the chaos and panic and horror that overcame an entire civilization. All he had been able to was sleep and dream, forced to exhaustion from what he had done.

"The time for that has long since passed," he replies dismissively. "I will not alter course now." Not when he's signed a contract that will give him precisely what he needs to move forward.

"And to think you claim the Dalish are the short-sighted ones, clinging to the past." How hypocritical of him, Lavellan thinks. If they were different people, if this was a different moment and they were somewhere else, she might have reached out for him. Instead she attempts to walk in front of him, to cut him off so that he will have to look at her.

"You have a year and a day to learn," Lavellan points out, keeping her chin high and proud while staring him down. "Whatever else you're planning, you must account for that."

And that may be enough. She has to believe it will be.

He stops walking and meets her gaze, his own head held as high. They were both proud people and stubborn. Strangely enough, those were features he found attractive and frustrating to deal with despite knowing they existed strongly in himself.

"I have a year and a day until I return to Thedas and continue my plans," he says. For he knows what he will have then and what he will be able to do with it. Before he lacked the power to open his focus himself, but now? Now, he'd be able to do it himself. All he needed was it back in his possession, restored to its former power. "I did not sign the contract lightly."

What she thought she might accomplish here with him were lofty dreams.

Like calls to like, one might argue. Lavellan doesn't blink, still staring up at him with hard eyes -- determined, as she always is, to make him see reason. A losing battle, maybe, but Lavellan has nothing more to lose. What is a year and a day of trying to sway him? She may not have another chance at this.

"Nor did I. Your presence here is a surprise, but I won't let you think I will simply let you wander around without trying to change your mind." An unexpected gift, to be sure, and one Lavellan isn't going to waste. If only she knew what he agreed to, although she would not be surprised if it was something to aid him. As her's was. "And if that does not work--" Well. He knows what she swore to do.

So he would need to make himself harder to find, make his presence even less known than he was planning. As much as he cared for the woman before him, loved even, there was no chance of him seeing his mind changed. He was set on this path. It would be a waste of time for the both of them.

"We will be at odds when we return." There is no doubt in his voice at that. Their contracts would finish and they would return to Thedas, ever in conflict once more. "Your time here would be better spent in preparation of that."

"I do not think there is enough time in the world to prepare me for that." She responds, casually and with a wave of her hand. "But I know what I must do, Solas, if I fail to turn you from this path. Do not doubt my resolve." Perhaps not the best thing one could ever tell the man she loves -- that she will kill him should he force her hand. But it is the truth -- Thedas has more value, more weight, than her feelings for Solas.

She's sacrificed everything else for it, what would be one more thing?

"I would not insult you to underestimate you so," he scoffs. He knew what she was capable of, he had seen it in his travels with the Inquisition. What had drawn him to her would be what could cause his downfall. Underestimating her would be a mistake, it was why he had refused to share more of his plan. The more she knew, the easier it would be for her to succeed.

His head is held high as he meets her gaze. "If you are finished, I would prefer to continue my walk alone."

For a moment she doesn't move, doesn't blink. Simply stares him down before she nods, and steps aside; it won't be the last she sees of him, Lavellan is certain of it. "For now," she says, and gestures him on before sticking her hand back into her coat so that she doesn't reach for him. The temptation is there, it will always be there.

"I shall see you around, Solas." For he won't escape here, not here.

⇨ THE LUNAR SOLSTICE

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