Summer 11 - Medieval Week Mingle

[norrhamn_residents]

Okay, so maybe Norrhamn isn't as big of a tourist attraction as Gotland. Maybe it's not home to the best preserved medieval city in Scandinavia, complete with ring wall and twelve church ruins. Maybe it can't even compete with the near Mediterranean climate that Visby has during those late summer weeks, but Norrhamn knows one thing — how to do a lot with very little.

Welcome to Medieval Week - Lite Edition

The beach on the eastern side of the Island has been decked out with as many wooden tables and benches as is logistically possible, while still leaving some areas free for games and dancing. There's a wooden stage set up close to the woods, and a couple of racks of lovingly sponsored time-appropriate clothes available for those who want to blend in with the times.

Entertainment: To set the mood, management hired a band of Baltic musicians that will take up the stage for most of the day, playing well into the night. There's also dumb-ass jester performances from time to time, usually while the musicians are taking a break. The biggest event however is the fire show that starts up as soon as night falls right by the edge of the water.

Games: There's not quite enough room for an actual jousting tournament (my heart breaks) but there's a whole heap of stick horses for those eager to make their own. You're also welcome to take part in any number of feats of skill and strength, like rövkrok, armwrestling, or pillow-fighting on a slick wooden log. For those of a more intellectual persuasion, there's also a number of medieval board- card- and dicegames available.

Food and drink: Oh man. Oh man? There's so much food. Like, if some of the early guests thought that first welcome party had food in abundance, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Between the whole spit-roasted wild boar, through the pea soup and pork, the saffron-pancakes with dewberry jam, the roasted root vegetables (no potatoes in sight), the smoked pike-perch, the freshly baked spiced breads, the apple- hazelnut bread pudding, no one will go home hungry*. Wash it down with flagons of mead, spiced wine, beer brewed on honey and hops, or perfectly alcohol-free elderberry or lingonberry lemonades.

*There is of course thirium alternatives for the android population.

For those interested in more info on the actual Medieval Week, here's a link

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Chat with an NPC

[norrhamn_residents]

[ All available* except Aina.


*The Brook available on special request. ]

[forever_jack]

Since arriving at the beach and taking in everything that was going on, Jack (being Jack) has flung himself into the spirit of things. He's dressed up for the festival in the tightest leggings imaginable along with very short shirt and waistcoat, all in his classic blue (see below). And he's going all out to have fun. You can find him listening to or humming along with the band, dragging random passers-by into pseudo-folk dances, or participating in quite a few rounds of rövkrok (because, hey, ass-wrestling (!), plus it brings back fond memories of MarinaNova) and of course the equally hilarious pillow fighting and only slightly tamer arm-wrestling. He'll also be sampling virtually everything on the food carts over the course of the day, and washing it down with big mugs of beer.

Once darkness falls, he'll be lounging on the sand watching the fire display with simple enjoyment, oohing and aahing along with everyone else. He may be over a hundred and seventy years old, but some things still hold simple delight.

[bluerocks]

Zelgadis does fit right in with the garb of this party, in his perpetual tan tunic-and-cloak look, but he definitely didn't do it on purpose. Large gatherings put him on edge, and after getting a bunch of compliments about the authenticity of his outfit from the band of jesters on their break, he decided he's had enough of the festivities and would rather walk to the opposite side of the island where everything would hopefully be out of earshot.

That is, until a cavorting Jack snags him by the arm and yanks him into some silly heel-kicking dance.

"H-hey!" He's momentarily too flustered to do anything besides stumble awkwardly along. "What's going on?"

Dancing, obviously.

[forever_jack]

Luckily, Jack's seen his outfit before and knows he didn't dress specially for the occasion. Also, he's much less interested in that and much more in having snagged a dance partner.

"Dancing!" he answers, somewhat breathlessly but with a big grin, attempting to link elbows with Zelgadis and skip round with him. It's totally silly, but it's impossible to feel down whilst doing it and that's what matters!

[unwieldy]

Haein isn't normally one to be found at parties or festivities of any kind. He'd much rather be sitting around in his room with only himself for company, so it's a bit of a wonder for him to be here now. It might be that the constant exposure to these gatherings and events is having some kind of a gradually desensitizing effect on him, or it could be that the people here are something else entirely and so the attention usually skips over him. Whatever it is, it's working.

It's not working to the point of getting Haein out there out there, but he is at least enjoying the mead. He's not consuming enough to get him really drunk, but he does have a good enough buzz going on to not hate literally everything around him.

The costumes are something else, though. There's no way in hell Haein's dressing up for the occasion, but he is content to stand there and judge the people who are participating. Like this man in tights who walks by him, for example.

"You look ridiculous," he says with no real bite in his tone and a small hint of amusement in his gaze. It's a casual (unwanted) observation that comes from a place of being a little more tipsy than he imagined he'd get.

[shockingblue]

[GV had been keeping a generally low profile while on the island, enjoying his quiet and a bit of solitude for awhile. Though he'd mostly kept himself scarce for awhile, he finally determined it was time to get out and enjoying a social party... especially when something sounded so... different.

So cue the young man being out, dressed in a dark blue tunic; he still couldn't really pull off the medieval look with his braid, but the clothes fit well and actually looked pretty good. While there, Gunvolt prefers to keep to games of dexterity and intellect rather than raw strength... save for perhaps pillow fighting on a slick log. The boy shows a surprising aptitude for keeping his balance in a precarious position, and proves to be a competitive opponent in anything else anyone might challenge him to.

...What might be more surprising is how much GV can pack away with the food and drink. Though he's still a rather healthy looking teenager, he's also still growing lad, so his appetite for... well, everything from meat, fish, vegetables, and lemonade is quite obvious. Between rounds of games and entertainment, he'd often be caught getting some sort of refreshment.

At least until the fire show, where he watches with attention... while some things might look dangerous for the performers, GV doesn't look at all worried about them. It's just a good show, and it'd be even better sharing it with others.]

sorry Triad, not sorry

[dispare]

[On one of her multiple trips back to where the food and drink are, April recognizes GV and realizes that he's been back and forth here at least twice as much as she has. Seeing him take yet another helping of what's still there, she stops.

And kind of stares for a moment.

And then opens her mouth.]

Sora mea. Where does it all go?

Hanako Ikezawa | OTA

[burntviolet]

i; entertainment

[ After a rather difficult internal debate, Hanako decided to head for the beach and passively participate in the festivities. Medieval events as this one belong to a culture completely different than hers, and she wouldn't admit it but the idea charms her somehow. Stories that were set up in that era never lacked in the long list of books she had read.

The girl will quietly ghost around the stage area and pick a modest purple dress for herself, wearing a white buttoned shirt underneath with the purpose of covering up the scars on her right shoulder.

During the entertainment skits, day and night alike, she will be found sitting far away from the crowd, having found a leverage spot that allows her to safely watch with only mild anxiety about all that fire being displayed. Her relationship with fire in general is not one of the best... at all, if her burn scarsare of any indication.

Though she's sitting alone, she won't reject some unplanned company. Her reaction will be pretty skittish if you're a stranger, however. ]

ii; games

[ Physical based games are definitely not her thing, so she will curiously hover the board games area and try out a bit of everything. Whether it's with cards or dices, her timid glance across the table towards her opponent says something about how insecure she still is on the subject of playing with new people. ]

Sh-... Should we go over the rules first?

iii; food & drinks

[ A big eater she's not, but Hanako looks unsure on what to pick amongst the huge amounts of food available to her. She'd also rather not touch anything alcoholic, lest she ends up embarrassing herself after sobering up.

Getting herself a plate and picking a little bit of stuff she deems nice, she will sit down and be a wallflower, but she tries not to seem unapproachable to anyone who would like to sit next to her, glancing at them briefly without making eye contact and silently nodding her head. ]

It's not occupied... I don't mind.

iii

[forever_jack]

[Jack spots her sitting on her own and slides up next to her on the bench with a plate piled high with roast meat and vegetables.]

Hi! How's it going?

[dispare]

[April was among those that didn't even need a costume at all; her own clothing that she had brought with her was already mostly appropriate enough for the occasion, so she came wearing a blue dress with bits of silver trim lining the edges. It wasn't really something she would think to wear at any other time, but the rest of what she had available would probably have come off as just a little too modern to really work here.

Only a little.

That being said, she also wasn't too big on the activities themselves. The entertainment was good, but she didn't seem to be terribly interested in participating in things herself, being more-interested in watching everything else as it went on, and occasionally going back to the food and drinks.]

[withsoul]

[ It's just after a music performance ends when Chloe approaches April, smiling and bright-eyed. ]

April, hi! Isn't this fun?

Chloe | ota!

[withsoul]

[ A chance to choose her own outfit for the first time in 16 years is an experience Chloe won't pass up! She chooses a dress in pink, leaving her hair in its typical over one shoulder style.

She has an unfair advantage as far as feats of strength and intellect go (being, you know, a walking talking supercomputer with a soul) so she mostly sticks to watching the shows and listening to the music. Those she enjoys a lot, smiling, laughing, clapping, gasping - the whole shebang. It's like she's never seen anything like this live, which she hasn't!

Feel free to talk to her by the stage as she claps after a performance, or at the refreshments area where she'll get herself some thirium. She is always open to have a dance as well. This is fun, and she wants everyone to have fun too! ]

[dumbstruck]

[ Hyunseok never passes up a chance to talk to girls he thinks are pretty, so he absolutely will talk to her while she's just there trying to enjoy the show.

He leans towards her, talking loudly to be heard over the music. ]

Are you a fan of this kind of old style music?

[traumatizing]

[Terry's never seen anyone with such a, well. For lack of a better word pure enjoyment of anything on stage. Honestly it makes part of him jealous he'll never be able to enjoy music that way, but a much bigger part of him is charmed by it. It makes him hesitate to talk to Chloe, don't want to seem like a skeeze creeping on some woman enjoying herself at a show, but when the band sets down for a break and the jester sets up he decides the worst thing that'll probably happen is she tells him to leave her alone.]

You into this kind of stuff?

[wow good great start what a dumb opener jesus]

[freedomordeath]

[ North stands out in bright yellow with a bockstensmantel in muted olive and brown draped over her shoulders.

She's still a little disappointed to have learned of the existence of jousting, only to learn there had been no room for it on their festival grounds. With all that fancy Swedish food no use for her, most of her attention is drawn to the music and shows.

She cradles a medieval drinking cup filled with not-so-medieval blue liquid when she approaches Chloe by the stage, nodding cautiously at her. There's wariness in her eyes, she doesn't quite know where they stand after their first chance encounter but finds herself curious, too. ]

Are you enjoying the show?

[traumatizing]

[Aside from introducing himself to Jack, Terry has spent the entirety of his first day sequestered from everyone else, moping. Writing. He'd considered going to the mingle, but it reminded him too much of Tera.]

[But if he's gonna spend a while here, then he should make an effort. He even goes so far as to get a simple black tunic and cloak just so everyone can see he's trying to be a part of things.]

[He's no dancer, but when the band plays, Terry stands to the side and watches with a beer clasped in his hands. His knowledge of folk music is pretty sparse (and mostly Gaelic) so it's kind of exciting to watch. An especially keen eye might even notice how every now and then his fingers attempt to mimic the shapes the musicians use on their instruments.]

[The food goes down in frankly reckless abundance, Terry's always suffered from eyes bigger than his stomach and in this case he hardly ate the day before either. Between standing by the stage or watching various games (never participating) he goes back for more. It's, perhaps oddly, where he feels most at ease. Occasionally pointing things out that he thinks are good to other people.]

[During the fire show however, he starts animated enough, clapping along with everybody else and enjoying the display. After a little while his mind starts to drift, at first thinking about the time and work it must take to do what they do, the dedication they'd need to do it with that kind of confidence, but that shifts to people he knew, people he think could do it. Long story short he eventually gets up in a hurry and mumbles soft apologies to anyone he bumps or pushes in his desire to find somewhere quiet and away from all this.]

[dumbstruck]

[ Hyunseok finds the food hit or miss here, but the stuff on the table looks pretty good this time. He still has no idea what some of it is though, and it makes him a little hesitant to just tuck in.

So when they guy next to him offers a suggestion he perks up. The only problem is he didn't quite catch what it was that Terry recommended. ]

Which one?

[burntviolet]

[ Yesterday, Hanako didn't have a chance to meet her new roomate after a late return from the library, a short dinner and then a zombie trip straight to bed. Jack told her a new guy came to live in their cabin, but she never worked up the courage to approach him and the news about a Medieval style party soon took her attention away.

Dressed up in clothes appropriate for those times and sitting very far away from the fire show, in a quiet lone spot, she notices someone hurrying away from the crowd and coming towards her area, in a manner similar of how she reacts when she's dealing with a crisis of her own. Pressing her lips together, she finds a chance to speak up as the man slows down in her proximity.

It's really hard to raise her voice, but it comes out, stuttered as her usual. ]

Uhm... a-are you alright...?

[readystopwatch]

[He’s not the only wall flower at the dance, which isn’t exactly Ianto’s thing - neither are costumes or jesters or games or really any of this if he’s being entirely honest. This is about as festive as he tends to get but at least he’s here, making an effort to do vacation things like local festivities. He flashes Terry a slightly sheepish but still friendly smile as he finds himself standing near him, watching the dancing.]

Glad to see I’m not the only one who isn’t keen on dancing.

[bluerocks]

[ Zelgadis is the world's worst party-goer. But, unfortunately for him, he looks just like any other party-goer today, because his default fantasy cape guy look puts him solidly in the realm of excellent medieval garb.

At any point during the day, you can find him trying to avoid dancing, scoffing at the jesters, or wandering off into the woods where it's quieter.

Once night falls, he's likely to be sitting gloomily by himself in the dark with a flagon of mead, looking not that impressed at people waving sticks of fire around, or rolling his eyes at the increasingly drunk-looking people falling off that greased log.

But still, he might tap his toes to the music once in a while, and he's not one to turn down a challenge to some silly game if he really thinks his ego is on the line. Cheer up, Zel, it's a fun party and maybe someone here will make you have fun with them! ]

[unwieldy]

[ Excuse me? Haein is here to fight for the title of world's worst party-goer. Okay, that's not entirely true because at least Haein is enjoying some much needed alcohol to actually get through this party. That's like... partaking in festivities.

Anyway, he's got his own drink when he sits down not too far from where his cabinmate is. Haein glances at Zelgadis for a brief moment before taking a sip of his mead and turning to look back at the people milling about. He's not... comfortable, but he's in a better mood than the ones he's usually in thanks to the alcohol. ]

Do you always wear that cape around?

[ Something that he's been slightly curious about ever since Zelgadis' entrance to Lingonberry cabin. ]

Hope Estheim | OTA

[distantfuture]

[Hope decided to go along with the festival, wearing at least partially a medieval outfit, namely just the top where his bottoms were jeans and boots. He knows nothing of this "medieval" bit, to be honest, although he was eager to learn. Boy used to be an archaeologist, don't judge.

Anyway, Hope could be found generally minding his own business but unlike his grumpy roommates was in a pleasant enough mood throughout, if looking a bit clueless at all the culture he knew nothing about. He usually had some lemonade in hand during the day, or spiced wine in the evening. The food was just lovely!

Other times, Hope could be found at the games section, usually by the board or card games. He didn't quite participate right away, mostly wanting to learn just what the hell he was looking at before diving in, but hey, if you want him to join, he will! Just maybe tell him the rules first.]

[burntviolet]

[ Hanako got an approximative grip on this dice game she somehow became addicted to after various matches with a couple people. It gives her a quirky variation from the more strategy heavy chess, because dices rely on luck only and they're not much of a brainer. Just score the right points and you're the winner.

The last opponent leaves their seat and she's left contemplating, idly shaking the cup containing the two dices and listening to the noise it causes. She had noticed the person who had been watching her matches for a while and she's not sure how to make her approach beyond turning her head a fraction, the scarred side of her face covered by a curtain of dark purple hair. ]

Uhm... a-are you interested in playing?

[readystopwatch]

[When it comes to celebrations like this Ianto tends to like the general idea of them even if he isn’t really one for participation. Dressing up or taking place in arm wrestling is not exactly his thing but he’s happy enough to wander around watching other people make fools of themselves. He can also be found enjoying the food and maybe, just maybe be persuaded to try a card game or two.

He’s relaxed a bit by the time the fire show starts and finds a good vantage point near the shore to watch. Even he can’t be bothered to hide how impressed he is by it, or how much he’s enjoying the spectical.]

super late to the party

[freedomordeath]

[ When she had heard of a medieval week at Norrhamn, North had simply nodded and pretended that she knew what this was about. Medieval weeks had been very far removed from her life, far enough she didn't have a clue what to expect.

Soon enough she finds herself in a bright yellow dress exploring the festival grounds, listening in fascination to the music, inspecting the foodstuffs - strangely touched when she discovers the mug of bright blue liquid lined up with mead and wine like it belongs. Like they belong.

She spends most of her time listening to the music and watching the jesters, but every now and then she wanders over to watch the games, especially the armwrestling. She certainly looks like she could be talked into a game.

In the evening, a bockstensmantel in olive and brown is draped over her shoulders though she doesn't even get cold in this weather. She just likes the muted colors, the ability to fade into the background as she watches the fire show from a wary distance.

There's a frown creasing her brow when she nudges another spectator nearby. ] Do you think that's safe?