Winter's Crest Snow Day [GP]

[st_ockandbarrel]

The Inn was decorated in, if possible, an even more outlandish style than usual. Garlands of evergreens and bright berries competed with gold angels and cheerful small grinning creatures with pointed ears and shoes. A large fir tree had appeared seemingly from nowhere and was now draped with lights and hung with colored glass balls. At the top perched a figure in white robes with wings.

It was, Percy mused, probably for whatever the local holiday was, but it was also close enough to Winter's Crest decorations for him to feel a bit homesick for Whitestone. After all, it was only a year ago that he'd been able to celebrate Winter's Crest in his home city for the first time in years.

Something was still missing - or rather, many things were missing but one thing that he could solve for. Winter's Crest called for snow, and better snow in abundance. To solve for that last problem, he turned to a gnome of exceptional talent. While he didn't know how Sarenrae's power worked, he did have complete faith in her cleric. And thus, together, they concocted a plan: to turn the weather to a more appropriate clime.

The morning of December 20th dawned as it often did in this place - heavy with clouds that would burn off before noon. The clouds were important. They would make the spell casting easier, and Pike knew that she needed all the help she could get. Weather magic was not her forte. Like all clerics with powers as advanced as hers, she knew the right spell but when you had a druid around, there hadn't been much need for her to use it.

Dressed in a warm coat and a big floppy, knit cap, she sat on the ground with her legs crossed. Holding her holy symbol in both hands, she concentrated on the sky. As the Celestial incantation took root, golden rays of light encircled her and rose into the air. With each heartbeat, she could feel Sarenrae's power drawing warmth from the clouds above and into her body.

It took ten minutes to cast the spell and another twenty minutes for it to take effect. The spell would fade if she didn't maintain concentration all day, but it was a small price to pay.

And that's how, before the sun had completely finished rising, it was snowing on the Madonna Inn.

Comments

Corbie - OTA

[st_rikingblueeyes]

Ordinarily, while Corbie was always a bouncy sort of person (less in the recent past, but regaining her usual bounce lately), she did always try to conduct herself in a way that said she could be talked to like she was someone who had a damn lick of sense.

Today she was eight and she didn't care. She'd leaped into the snow with squeals and clumsy, childish enthusiasm.

Corbie couldn't have been more than five or six when she last saw snow like this and she reacted in much the way she had then, flinging snow at anyone who got within range of her arm--which was a fairly good arm for all that she was a girl and small. She tried sometimes too to fling the snow using her magic which resulted in some interesting powder explosions.

Her cheeks and nose were turning red and eventually even her level of activity wouldn't be enough to keep her warm, but right now she paid no attention to it.

Re: Corbie - OTA

[st_hotflashes]

Liz hadn't been paying attention - her fault, really - and she was suddenly hit in the shoulder by a snowball. Having never really been around snow, ever, she was surprised at the impact it created and stumbled a bit before catching herself and looking around. She didn't look upset, but definitely surprised.

Re: Corbie - OTA

[st_rikingblueeyes]

Corbie grinned at her, not looking sorry in the slightest even as she said, "Sorry 'bout that." Poor little thing looked like a startled rabbit.

Re: Corbie - OTA

[st_illfleshandblood]

Jackson held no special feelings for snow, and as it was, he was only outside to have a cigarette. He hadn't expected to find Corbie there, smiling like a kid let loose in a candy store and knowing full well they were headed for a tummy ache something fast, without giving a good goddamn.

"Can we agree not to pelt snow balls at a smokin' man?" he checked, half expecting her to turn on him. But his cigarette was lit and he intended to enjoy it, since he couldn't do so very safely inside.

Re: Corbie - OTA

[st_rikingblueeyes]

Corbie considered the half-formed ball of snow in her fingers and, while ordinarily she might not have asked such a stupid question, she figured why the hell not since it was all in good fun anyway. She grinned at him. "Dunno yet. Will you play with me when you're done?"

Sunny - OTA

[st_igmatized]

Sunny had spent the first nine years of her life in New York City, but she'd long since lost her ability to cold for long periods of time. London thought it got cold in the winter, but she knew that city wouldn't know winter until it bit them in the butt. And Nigeria... well. In Igboland there was only hot and wet and hot and less wet.

So right now she was trying to get some warmth back into her with a cup of coffee, considering if she wanted to get into the snowball fight or possibly find another game to play before she had to retreat again.

And there had to be something she could cast on herself to keep herself properly warm. Though for now whenever her knife flashed out it was to divert a snowball away from accidentally, or purposefully, hitting Pike.

Re: Sunny - OTA

[st_ealthless]

"Thank you!" Pike called after one particularly impressive maneuver from Sunny took out a snowball that would have come dangerously close to her. "I don't think my sign is working very well..."

River - OTA

[st_makemeastone]

First she brought a handful of the white stuff (she wouldn't call it snow yet) into the room she shared with Sam, and it melted. She, poked, prodded and scooped the drift outside the room - she even tasted it.

It had all the properties of snow. She looked up at the sky and frowned. The local climate was wrong for snow which made it particularly concerning that it had appeared.

Not that anyone else seemed concerned.

Still the flora at the inn was not equipped for such an eventuality which was why she soon found herself puttering barefoot in the flowerbeds, removing the offending white flakes and wrapping the more delicate plants in towels to ward off freeze.

FINALLY a use for all those towels.

Re: River - OTA

[st_artrekodo]

Odo walked by the gardens, his senses alert, wondering if this was some form of attack. He was impervious to cold, but could still sense that it was not right, that it should not be happening under this climate. Then again, with such a odd place to start with, it was hard to know what was normal or not.

When he saw the girl tending to the flowers, his first reaction was to be annoyed. If this was indeed an attack, they had much better things to do than to secure the local flora, especially the inedible kind. He had seen her before of course, it was not like there were that many people here, but they never directly interacted.
"River, hi. Are you sure the flowers are the priority?" he said abruptly.

(OOC Note : in the canon, Odo is completely unaffected by mind-readers and the like, on account on him being radically non-human. It is usually quite unsettling for them)

Re: River - OTA

[st_ingofthehundred]

Kash had known that the snow was coming, and he'd thought of his cannabis plants. He moved the potted ones and asked Pike to keep the others out of the snow spell's radius. But he'd decided to check on the other plants and found River, barefoot, in the snow.

"Where are your shoes?" he demanded.

OTA

[st_ealthless]

For all of the work she'd put into the Winter's Crest festival, Pike found that she was happiest watching as everyone enjoyed themselves.

The Control Weather spell was buzzing in the back of her mind, not unlike a catchy song, and reminding her to watch how quickly she moved. One wrong step and there was a fifty/fifty chance that she'd lose the spell and wouldn't be able to cast it again. Luckily Lilith had a made her signs to pin to the front and back of her over-sized sweater that read "Don't hit me. I'm your snow."

She would play some games later, but for now she was content to alternate between keeping the treats table well-stocked with the holiday favorites she'd made and lounging in one of the big comfy armchairs that had been brought outside, sipping eggnog and (most importantly) being careful.

Re: OTA

[st_artandstoke]

"You're our snow?" Jag read out loud inquiringly, and gave the tiny girl a half-smile - not that it lacked in warmth, it was just the way of a lot of his smiles, and made them no less friendly. "Reckon we all owe you some thanks, then. Don't tell me the food's also you?"

Re: OTA

[st_rikingblueeyes]

"How?"

Corbie was taking a break at that moment from playing in the snow, and she had yet to properly say thank you to the person she'd been told was at the heart of it. But when she saw the sign pinned to Pike, the 'thank you' came out as a question instead.

Emma - OTA

[st_ackeddeck]

The first significant snowfall of the year always seemed magical, no matter where it was, everything blanketed in a pure, soft, glistening white. But here, in the California desert, the magic was probably literal. Unless there was an atmokinetic mutant Emma didn't know about at the inn, which was also possible.

Magic, mutation, miracle, the how didn't matter as much as the what, and as Emma watched from the sidelines as people played in the snow, the desire to add to the fantasy and festiveness grew. She let it grow, because it was a good distraction from thoughts of Bobby, who'd have loved every minute of this, and Pyro who would've bitched about the cold and created shapes of flame to keep them warm, along with suggesting they needed to cuddle close for warmth.

Without his fire, she dragged out the inn's portable fryer along with batter for funnel cakes. Beignet dough was proofing in the kitchen for later, and she'd even grabbed a sponge cake from the treat table with the thought of fried tequila, or other booze, for those who wanted a little more cheer in their snow day. While half her attention was on the hot oil, and the treats she made in it, the rest was devoted to a white winged horse with silvered chamfron and blue and silver tack that pranced and flew nearby. Sunglasses hid her solid white eyes; they could be discomfiting to people who weren't used to or expecting them.

The aroma of fried dough called to those who passed by, and Emma had a small smile for everyone who looked her way.

Re: Emma - OTA

[st_ealthless]

"Hello," Pike said with a smile. There was no way that Pike could ignore whatever deliciousness what happening...or the the fact that there was a horse with wings. Making her way over, she tried to get a peek at whatever process was making that dough smell so good. "Whatcha makin'?"

Re: Emma - OTA

[st_artandstoke]

It was the smell that drew Jag near, but the pegasus that made him stop in his tracks before he even saw Emma behind the horse. He hesitated, then walked over, with a gentle stroke on the winged horse's muzzle before he shoved that hand in his trousers pocket. He was wearing his beanie hat and fingerless gloves, but no scarf, and his old leather jacket hung open on his frame; he was clearly not that affected by the cold.

He tried not to look awkward as he walked up to her, and the hands in his pockets would, he hoped, make him seem as harmless as possible.

When she looked his way, his heart lodged in his throat, but he tried for a small smile.

"I won't bother you if you don't want me to," he quietly told her for a greeting, because he couldn't shake that look of fear in her eyes. "I only - I wanted to see how you were doing."

Coby - OTA

[st_rummer]

London in winter had been more cold and wet than snow swept, and Coby had spent two winters there longing for sun in a land where people dragged out jackets and complained of the cold when it dropped down to the 70s. He did not expect to wake up a winter wonderland in what was supposed to be SLO.

After a lazy morning, then breakfast and plenty of coffee by the cafe fireplace, he eventually found his way outside. A big, fluffy patch of snow, untrammeled by snowball fights was too much of a temptation to resist, and Coby crossed his arms over his chest, closed his eyes, and let himself fall backward into the snow. As the first tendrils of cold wet started to snake under his collar, he manifested his wings spreading them outward along the snow for what he hoped would make the coolest snow angel ever.

The ground was cold, though, and lying on his back where his wings were attached wasn't what anyone would call comfortable. Just one problem. Now he was here, he wasn't sure how to stand up again without fucking up his snowy masterpiece. "Hey!" he called out to the closest person and reaching up with one hand. "Little help?"

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_oneswidow]

"You fucking goof," Curnen laughed, but she did as bid, reaching out her small hands. His wings were so beautiful like that, so black against the snow. It made her smile. It made her ache.

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_rangepalette]

Lillith had been contemplating an illusion, a complex moving scene. She had never tried anything like it, and so she had been sketching parts in the snow with a stick.

It took a few moments for the voice to reach her ears. When it did, it took her another moment to locate the body it came from. She crossed over to where Coby lay on the ground with large feathery wings behind him.

Her head tilted first one way and then the other before she decided that no, he had not crushed a large bird. "You have wings," she observed. "Are you a celestial?"

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_illfleshandblood]

"Sure," Jackson agreed, before he realized what he was seeing. It hit him as he held his hand out to grab Coby's, and even as he reflexively helped him up, he was staring at the wings. The enormous black wings protruding from his back. Not that them being smaller would've made him gape any less. "What..."

For Curnen

[st_ingofthehundred]

Percy would probably do some kind of gift thing at dinner. Kash didn't care. The gift he'd made for Curnen wasn't one to share in public. So he found Curnen outside in the snow, waved a cup of hot chocolate under her nose and said, "More where that came from," and turned to head inside.

Re: For Curnen

[st_oneswidow]

He could easily have gotten her attention even without the hot chocolate, but Curnen suspected that Kash had noticed something of her inability to say no to food. It wasn't something she was consciously aware of much of the time, but it nagged her that it was there.

She grinned and took the cup, blowing across the surface of the liquid before attempting a sip. "That a fact?" she asked. But she did follow.

OTA

[st_rangepalette]

Lillith had gone out to see the area that Pike had dressed in snow for the day. After a short time of trying to plan an illusion, she returned to her room to sketch it instead. When she returned, it was late afternoon.

In a large open space, there appeared a small carousel of horses in wintery purples and blues, silver and white. Simple music, light and lively accompanied its turning, and off to the side and above, a band of faerie dragons each no more than two feet long, flew a graceful aerial ballet. Every so often, they returned to perch atop the carousel as such creatures would do if real, and chattered playfully among themselves in Sylvan.

She had never created such a complex scene before, but since she had no need of deceiving and only wished to entertain, she felt no nervousness, and sat nearby sipping hot cocoa and enjoying the snow and the magical sight.

Re: OTA

[st_rikingblueeyes]

"That is SO COOL!" Corbie was bouncing up and down and clapping her hands like an excited child taking in the sight of the carousel that hand't been there before.

She was going to crash hard later, but for right now holy shit this was neat.

Re: OTA

[st_ackeddeck]

It was the music that caught Emma's attention, drawing her attention to the carousel, and the... were those tiny dragons flying above it? With no one looking like they wanted fried dough of one kind or another right then, she went inside for a cup of coffee, hands wrapped around the mug for warmth as she went to take a closer look at the carousel. Nostalgia for time her time with the carnival mingled with curiosity of how it was created, and while the music didn't match memory, it felt right.

When she saw Lillith nearby, Emma smiled. "Is this yours? It's beautiful."