JANUARY MINGLE

[stellafortunamods]

January Mingle: A Ballad in Goblets
Welcome to Teyvat - a vast magical world of adventure.
You open your eyes to an unfamiliar sight. A cool breeze flits through rustic buildings and sunny streets, carrying the smell of flowers and wine. The very air itself seems charged with mana, the warm pulse of the land palpable beneath your feet. This is a new world, a world where the elements compose all of reality. Before you is a bubbling fountain, and a key is entwined between your fingers. And that weight on your hip? A sparkling bauble that you've never seen before, yet it feels natural, as if it had always been there.

Asking around nets you the name of this world - Teyvat - and the name of this city - Mondstadt, blessed by the Anemo Archon, Barbatos. Your new home is accessible with the key placed in your hands, though this also brings to mind another question. How will you get money? Food isn't free, after all.

Luckily for you, there's plenty of jobs available for the enterprising Traveler. Be it taking requests from the Adventurers' Guild, or working part-time at one of Mondstadt's many food establishments, Mora is to be had when hard work is involved. The cuisine of Mondstadt is best paired with its wine, served at bars or enjoyed in private with a few friends.

And about that shining gem. locals will tell you that it is a Vision, a sign of favour from Teyvat's elemental gods. With the Vision on hand, you find yourself capable of commanding one of the seven elements. What will you do with this newfound blessing? Use it for good... or for evil?

Mondstadt's liveliness doesn't diminish when night falls. Bards sing through the wee hours of the night, and the lights of the city help keep most evildoers at bay. All seems peaceful, a pastoral idyll of a life that seems more at home in a storybook. Yet for those Travelers who venture out beyond the city's walls and into the ruins dotting the landscape, they may discover hints of a bloodier past now forgotten.

Glancing at any of the calendars in the city will tell you the current date. August 10th was the day you arrived. As soon as the last minute of August 16th slips away, the world around you changes. A blink, and time itself rewinds by seven days. Looking outside, the mown lawns have regrown, the windmill needs fixing again, and the well is once again full. Just what is happening here? It seems only you, Traveler, remembers the week that never was.

State of the World

For the first two weeks of the game, IC time will be looping from August 10th to August 16th. It's currently late summer in Mondstadt, and the trees are just beginning to turn out their autumn colours. The weather is cool and pleasant, with light showers on Tuesday (11th) and Friday (14th). It's also a good time to go out gathering berries and nature's bounty from Mondstadt's forests and valleys.

These two weeks will let us trial out our commissions and regains system and craft improvements for February onwards. There will be no activity requirements for January, so all threads started during this time period can be used for regains!

For all questions regarding January's mingle and events, please head over to our OOC post.

Comments

i

[picolin]

[ Yup, it sure is crowded here. And while Serpico had given Felix a polite nod and a watery smile upon taking his seat, he also hadn't really reacted to that rude response.

It's fine. He's not really here to make friends, either, as reality TV stars would say. So he settles for quietly nursing a glass of water while waiting for his own order -- just a bowl of stew, something modest and inoffensive -- and glancing over a map of the area. Barely paying any attention to his tablemate until -- ]

Hmm? [ He glances down at the plate, then up at Felix, then back down at the plate. It looks ... fine? ] ... most people are paid to take on the role of poison-taster, aren't they? Ahaha.

[ Joking, joking! As evident in the light toen of his voice, equal parts playful and simpering. And though he sets aside his map and tilts his head to take a closer look at the dish -- mostly curious, though a tiny part of him is checking for foul play -- Serpico doesn't touch it. Yet. ]

Eeh ... it's quite generous of you, though. Shouldn't you be eating it yourself? I'm sure an active combatant like yourself needs the energy from something like this, no?

[ After all, it was kinda hard to miss how Felix was fiddling with his knife the whole time. ]

[brothered]

[now all i can think about is serpico and felix starring in the real housewives of mondstadt? thanks for that. anyway: felix, as he's fond of telling anyone with ears, does not joke, hence the flat look he levels across the table in response to that poison-taster quip. something, something, poison is a weak man's game... miss him with that ish...

but remaining silent is out of the question, apparently, because this guy just has to look a gift horse in the mouth! dang! which is, like, absolutely understandable; a person who just blindly accepts something (especially food) from another is a fool, and yet, as felix huffs out a quiet breath—well! well. one day someone will take a gift felix offers them, inspect it silently, and nod with and/or grunt in approval. felix will propose on the spot.]

"Active combatant?" You make it sound as though we're at war.

[one of which he just saw through to the end, thanks. he's tired—and so hungry, and yet, as he casts another suspicious look down at this hunk of meat some person ruined, just absolutely ruined—]

What did you order?

[picolin]

[ Whoops. Slip of the tongue. His mind still keeps wandering back homeward, so worried about his mistress, and Serpico quickly covers up that mistake with a watery laugh. ]

Eeh, am I wrong? I can't claim to be terribly familiar with those who hunt for a living, but the expression you wear is quite the fearsome one. Like you're prepared to end a man's life, not that of an animal. Ahaha.

[ Yeah that should work. Nice and spineless.

In the meantime, he takes the chance to look Felix over properly. He'd concocted that watery lie on the fly, but on second glance, he really does have an impressive demeanor to him, doesn't he? Something to note at the back of his mind. ]

I only ordered a bowl of stew for myself. ... are you proposing a trade?

[brothered]

[felix knows how he is? knows that he is not, ah, the friendliest individual; like, nothing about him screams friendly and welcoming, but to say he's that "fearsome" seems so—hmm. his eyes narrow, just a bit, as he looks back up at this stranger, openly studying him as he is studied in turn. he isn't that intimidating, even to a guy as noodly as this one...

...ah, well. nothing to think too deeply about, in the end, and thus felix sits back in his chair, crossing his arms as he does so.]

I am. You'll certainly be getting the better end of the deal. [that roast surely cost more mora than a bowl of stew, but also:] I won't hold it against you.

[an attempt at something... approaching levity, perhaps, though his tone is as flat as ever. listen: he just wants to eat :'c]

[picolin]

It would certainly be a good deal, but ...

[ That's precisely what bothers him. Because while Serpico isn't completely averse to the idea of people being capable of acting out of benevolence, it also isn't something he's accustomed to. And it's certainly not something he's had directed toward him very often. So it's hard for him to take this deal without knowing exactly why it's being offered his way. ]

... but I'd feel quite guilty, depriving one such as yourself of their hard-earned, filling meal. A bowl of stew surely wouldn't be enough to sate a diligent hunter. You shouldn't be too generous, my good sir.

[ Pause for effect before he adds innocuously, ]

Ah, or is it that you're simply a picky eater, perhaps?

[ Haha, that'd be funny, wouldn't it? Such a stone-faced man being picky about food. What a ludicrous thought! ]

[brothered]

[bro, please, just accept this offer so felix can eat. this deal seems so simple that felix can't quite understand why someone would even hesitate? the roast is obviously fine; this guy is just, like, making a big deal over nothing.

or: felix has never needed to worry about money and/or the generosity of others, and you know, it kind of shows. he shifts a bit in his seat as this guy puzzles things out, obviously impatient—and then, like, mildly uncomfortable, because oh, but picky sure brings back memories. let him just glance right off to the side.]

So I'm told.

[his friends sure do (did?) love to fuss. anyway, time for felix to do what felix does best: huff.]

Either you eat the roast, or it goes to waste. Generosity has nothing to do with it. [well, no, and yet—] Which means that your guilt is pointless. Just take it.

[picolin]

[ Okay, yeah, that last bit's the bit that gets to him, triggering a little spark of annoyance. Because even if he's witnessed plenty of disgusting opulence during his years serving the Vandimion family, as someone who grew up scrounging for scraps, that sort of wastefulness still annoys him.

'Potentially wasteful, possibly spoiled,' Serpico notes to himself about Felix, even as he maintains that look of flustered, well-mannered innocence. ]

Well, but ...

[ It's at that moment that his stew is dropped off at their table, and Serpico looks from Felix, down to it, then back to Felix, eyebrows slightly raised. It sure smells nice, doesn't it!!!

And then he finally gives a dramatic sigh and slides it across the table. Though he doesn't pull his hand away from the bowl just yet. ]

Then -- would you at least give me your name, kind sir? I'd like to know who I owe the thanks for such a generous meal.