Festival of the Gods

[bearshermark]

Who: Eleven and OTA (everyone is invited!)
Where: Temple District
When: September 10th, Sundown- Evening
What: A Question of Belief Adventure Festival!
Warnings: Unlikely

[ooc: prompts in the comments! please feel free to make your own starters off the temple tours and festival streets prompts if you'd like! As this is a culmination of Eleven's adventure, I am going to make every effort to tag everyone that tags in]

Comments

Raida's Story- A Song of Hope

[smilingarmor]

[When it came time for the performance of Raida's story, the performers Sylvando had put together and trained for the occasion took to the stage. All wore masks of some sort over the upper parts of their face, which served several purposes. Not only did they make each character visually distinct, they also helped make things easier for the actors, most of whom were relatively young and not especially experienced.

And each one told a story of its own, telling something about the character. The Goddess' mask was the most elegant and elaborate white and several shades of gold, with delicate filigree and a crystal on the forehead. The male lead's mask, while similar in color scheme, was much simpler indicating both his mortal nature and his important connection to the Goddess. And so on through all the other characters. The most faithful had some gold or white in their masks, those less so, darker or duller colors.

The story as it had been presented to Sylvando had been very short on detail, which had allowed him a great deal of freedom when adapting it. What he had come up with was the tale of a song that brought light and hope back into the hearts of war-weary people, and smiles back to their faces. It opened with a group of humans clustered around a campfire discussing their troubles, their fears, and their sorrows. The losses inherent in wartime. A bit of clever Fantastics accompanied music made them look as though their colors were all shadowed or washed out as if they were constantly standing in the shade.

It made a sharp contrast to the Goddess on the opposite end of the stage, given a 'divine' glow with another clever bit of magic. She spoke-to herself but also to the audience- about how she had watched her people fighting against seemingly impossible odds, and how their daily struggles saddened her. And how the way the conflict was wearing away at their spirits, their faith, saddened her even more. And yet, she couldn't simply step in and solve all their problems with a snap of her fingers; they needed to not just survive, but grow if they were to prosper long term, and that required some hardship. What to do, what to do...

The audience's attention was drawn back to the human characters, their growing despair more evident than before. Theirs was an existence without joy or hope, cold, empty and seemingly purposeless. Some wondered why they even bothered to struggle. What was the point? To just exist for another day? They were surviving, but... they weren't living. What was there even left to believe in?

Which led to the male lead taking center stage, and offering up a fervent prayer. A prayer that the Goddess could somehow bring the light back to his people's eyes, and a song back to their hearts. Across the stage, the Goddess heard the idea. A song... yes. A song to bring hope and joy back into people's lives.

As the male lead sadly returned to the group of humans, Raida 'appeared' among them to much astonishment. She calmed their fear, and said that she had seen their struggles and heard their prayers- her gaze falling on the male lead specifically at the latter- and that she had come with a message. Her people were stronger than they knew, and braver than they believed, and as they had faith in her, she too had faith in them, that they could overcome any obstacle they faced. But as they suspected, simply enduring was not enough. To live required hope.

And that while it seemed in short supply, the spark of it remained within them. Within everyone. It need only be nurtured, kindled. They needed only to remember what it was like to open their hearts and let the light burn bright.

Then she began to sing, with the male lead joining in shortly thereafter. And as the humans each joined in the song the shadowy magically induced pall lifted from them, and their colors appeared vibrant and bright again, as if they'd stepped from shadow into sunlight.

Sylvando stepped out from where he'd been until now, acting as support on the sidelines, to lead the audience in clapping along to the rhythm of the song of hope, joy, and celebration, and even encouraging them to sing along with the chorus if they liked. The performers on stage similarly encouraged the audience, sweeping them up in the joy of hope restored and life rediscovered after so long in bleak despair. And as the song ended, the magical glow that surrounded Raida brightened slightly and changed from white to a shimmering rainbow aurora as she smiled on her revitalized people. And it remained so as they bowed gratefully to her...

Followed by all of them turning and bowing to the audience. But Raida wasn't quite done yet, still glowing and shimmering, she reminded the audience that the bright hope she'd given her people wasn't only for their ancestors of long ago, but was still with them today. They needed only to let it burn bright and to share it with each other and the world.

Then, with her glow finally fading, indicating the end of the show, the performers all took another bow as the audience applauded. Then Sylvando, the director, joined them for a second one, before they descended from the stage to talk to the audience members, Sylvando in particular ready to field any questions or comments they might have.]

[bearshermark]

[Of course Eleven stopped to watch each of his friends' performances. Had known Sylv was talented and even when he picked the story for Raida why it resonated with him, why it suited his friend.

But none of that prepared him to be swept up in it, through the song, his chest aching joy to see people participating. His eyes stung when the light was 'restored' and tears finally escaped him to hear 'Raida' speak to the audience.

Eleven stepped back behind the stage and when Sylvando appeared, shot him a weak, accusing glare. His voice held a strained quality to it, but he was smiling]

I have to give a speech tonight, you know.

[smilingarmor]

[Sylvando chuckles warmly at seeing his young fiend so emotional.]

And I'm sure you'll do wonderfully, darling, especially with that fabulous bird of yours.

[Sylvando, as a rule, wasn't overly fond of birds, but for one as stunning as the aptly named Glorious he could make an exception.]

I'm just glad everyone enjoyed the show.

[bearshermark]

[He sniffs rather helplessly, lacking a handkerchief and dressed too nicely to risk his hands]

Yes. If not for Glorious, I don't know that I'd be doing this. But thank you so much again, for all the effort you've put into this. It means a great deal.

[smilingarmor]

[Seeing the sniffling, Sylvando smiles and pulls a colorful handkerchief from the end of his sleeve and offers it to El. How did he keep it up there without it showing on his admittedly rather form-fitting shirt? Trade secret.]

I'm always glad to help a friend. And the little troupe I put together had such fun doing it, we're thinking of doing more shows together in the future.

And you know, if this all falls out as well as it looks like it's going to, maybe we could even make the festival an annual event, with different stories performed each year. Wouldn't that be fun?

[bearshermark]

[Eleven accepts the kerchief gratefully, rubbing around his face]

That's great- and that would be fun. We might not get to see it if we aren't here that long, but it would be nice to think that we helped in such a way that it becomes a sort of tradition.

[smilingarmor]

True, we might not be, but we can definitely get the ball rolling! Once things have had a chance to settle down from this one, you can talk to the priests and see what they think of the idea. I know I'd love to do something like this again if we got the chance.

[bearshermark]

[His head bobs in a short series of nods]

I'll definitely talk to them after, and see what they thought of all this. I'll let you know what they say.

[smilingarmor]

Excellent! I'll be waiting for the news with bated breath.

Now, tell me darling, what was your favorite part of the show?