Strange Trip

It had taken many months, effort from many residents, the summons of an other-planar entity, and even trade negotiations between worlds to raise the Madonna Inn's new temple on an unassuming expanse of grass adjacent to Building 2. It felt more than a bit surreal, to finally walk the finished handmade brick hallways and peer into the room-sized curved-arch alcoves, to be able to reach out and touch the engraved names of those that had departed as mysteriously as anybody arrived in this place. The Temple loomed benignly, profoundly quiet as dawn rose over the newly completed building and brought with it the summer solstice. Vax'ildan and Pike Trickfoot sat together in the common gathering area, chins high with their heads tipped back. They watched a long while in reverent silence as the kindling sunlight began to lighten, then brighten, then beam, gradually filling up the temple with something like grace through the metal mesh and skylight that made the roof.

"It's beautiful," Vax murmured at last, when the whole of the Temple had been poured full of the ambient light. Shapes of brightness and shadow dappled the heights of the walls without causing any kind of painful glare at eye-level. He didn't quite know how Percy and Lillith had done it, but they'd managed some trick of the roof and sub-roofs at exacting angles, neatly fitted panes of black and clear and amber glass making a rather soothing kaleidoscope mosaic on the ceiling overhead. It was an effect quite like sunlight filtered through tree branches, though with an intricate and artful geometric design. Nightfall would be beautiful, too, though in the opposite way - the exterior and interior lighting would set the Temple dramatically aglow, deepening the contrasting shadows. It was a perfect place for private reflection, or to speak to the gods where they might deign to listen.

( ...What's say we go open the doors? This place is meant to be shared, after all. )

******

Vax and Pike will each have a top-level. Come have your characters engage them as they explore the new space, find an alcove of particular interest, or just snark cynically at the whole thing if they're so inclined. Feel free to use the Temple as a staging ground for any scenes you like later!

The calendar of "Kahl-ee-Fornea" was very different to that of Tal'Dorei. But the spring dance had been a good reminder for the Exandrians (one of them, anyway) that the Renewal Festival would take place more or less this time of year, landing always on the thirteenth day of Dulahei. It seemed a fitting time to set the 'small family dinner' in celebration of the marriage of Vex and Percy.

...Yeah, but no. Because Vax'ildan didn't mind a bit of revenge for their having done the thing without so much as telling him for several weeks, and because his sister always deserved the best of everything anyway, the garden had a whopping lot more than that for the happy couple as they opened the doors onto what first looked like pitch blackness. Until the big, white-hot spotlight snapped abruptly on to glare down on top of the pair with blinding scrutiny.

A familiar voice sang out from beyond, his ever-charming booming and crooning amplified to fill the whole of the outdoors by something called a 'microphone,' Scanlan using all his singular panache to belt out a melodic tune:

"There she is, Mrs. De Rolo
There she is, your ideal
The dreams of a million boys and girls who want to find love in Emon City
For Vex may turn out to more than Baroness of the first house of Whitestone and Grand Mistress of the Hunt
There he is, Mr. De Rolo
There he is, your ideal
With so much brooding and tinkering he took the town by storm
With his all-Whitestone face and form
And there they are
Walking on air, he is
Fairest of the fair, she is
There they are - Mr. and Mrs. De Rolooooooooooo~"

A resounding wave of applause, murmuring, cheers, and laughter broke out all around the newlyweds - one such unbridled merry cackle absolutely coming from the bride's brother - and Scanlan's tone changed immediately to a much more vibrant, excited, sporting-event-enthusiasm style of announcement: "Ladies and Gentlemen - it's the DE ROLO FAMILY!"

The strands of bulb lighting popped into yellow-soft brightness all at once, revealing the guests gathered around dozens of tables artfully set with dinner places enough for everyone at the Inn. Each table included flowers, linens, and garlands all matched in smart Whitestone-Blue, darker Owlbear-Blue, black and white with touches of gold accents, all thanks to Caroline's management. The outdoor area so far as one could see had been dressed in one of Lillith's illusions to mimic a beautiful forest clearing at purple-dusk with fireflies dancing, the shapes of buildings and foothills in the distance distinctly cast to look like the city and castle of Whitestone. Ignis and Emma stood by putting a few final touches on what they'd all started calling 'fancy barbecue,' an enormous buffet of haute cuisine smoked and grilled meats with artful sides, a table beside them holding up the massive layer cake Pike had tirelessly fussed into perfection. So many others had come together to help or to wish the de Rolos well - but there would be plenty of time over the evening for them to be thanked and recognized with food, drink, song - there was even an area marked out as a dance floor.

A freshly bathed Trinket in his very own bowtie lumbered up to Vex'ahlia to rumble and lick her face as the pair finally had a moment to react to the spectacle. At ground-level, a small disc-like device with a large serving spoon taped to it had been labeled with marker as Ensign Stubby, rolling its way between tables and chairs while balancing a large, many-times-stabbed basket of flower petals (with a handful left nestled in its giant spoon) on top of its flat surface like a drunken flower girl to finally bump into Vex and Percy's shoes. ...And possibly the best thing about their stunning surprise? That Peter boy had got the whole thing on VHS.