dance of contrition -- assembly 12/14

[Warringkingdoms]

  [font=trebuchet ms]It was high time for another assembly.

  Climbing up onto the tall rock and straightening up, Rin called, "Assembly time. It's been a while since our last one." Over a month, in fact. Letting a month go by with no meetings had fostered stagnancy- and Elysium would need to drag itself out. As creatures began to gather, she internally ran through what to announce, and in what order.

  She'd had an idea a few nights ago, an idea probably fueled by the kind of devil-may-care attitude that could only arise from sleep deprivation. Nonetheless, the more she thought about said idea, the more sense it made. It was a risk, to be sure, but the benefits outweighed the costs for the most part. She could give these ranks a sort of beta test, and determine if they needed to be changed or not. She could also make it clear to the populace that there was the possibility of social mobility for those who showed their faces.

  Moreover, she could test the character of one particularly-intriguing wild card. Granting them a taste of power could result in disaster, or it could give them a reason to straighten up. Certainly, she'd rather them stay here where she could observe them, rather than running off to another group that might turn them against Elysium- this would give them a reason to stay. If they did go crazy with power and attempt a betrayal, she'd be ready.

  Most likely, nothing would happen at all. She was willing to take the risk.

  "Lemy," Rin spoke, glancing around for the motor-mouthed feline, "I've decided to offer you a choice between the rank of Legate and the rank of Attorney." Tugging at her scarf, she continued, "The Legate manages community events, and the Attorney manages trials- I don't foresee us having any trials anytime soon, but you never know." She cracked a small, almost-imperceptible smirk. "If you don't want either position, you're also free to decline." Maybe he'd decide he didn't want the responsibility, a valid conclusion to come to considering how difficult power was to handle. Even if he wouldn't, she would always make it clear that accepting a promotion was optional.

  Clearing her throat, Rin went on, "I'd like to welcome Mistrim, Valerian, and Harland to Elysium. You may stay here as long as you like." She suspected all three of them would remain here for some time, even if they chose not to become full members.

  "The market festival will officially start on the 22nd- the winter solstice. Invitations will need to be sent out to the Typhoon, Tanglewood, and the Halls of Hiraeth. Unless anyone has any objections, I will visit the Pitt in person and determine if Goldenluxury has them under control- on the very small chance that I determine they don't pose a threat, I will invite them as well." The odds that everyone in Elysium was fine with the Pitt coming were slim at best, and the odds that the Pitt wouldn't pose a danger were even slimmer, but if both conditions were fulfilled... it would probably be fine.

  Rin glanced up at the clouded sky. "I will be running a cartography shop, and unless he's changed his mind, Lemy has volunteered to sell food," she said. "Anyone who wants to run a stall is free to. Games for everyone to play- capture the flag, poker," she cracked another smirk, "Cards Against Humanity, whatever- would be nice as well, so volunteers to host those and come up with prizes would be appreciated." Joking about Cards Against Humanity was probably inadvisable, as inevitably someone would actually host a game and shenanigans would ensue, but... whatever got things moving around here.

  Speaking of prizes, though, the question of currency was something she still hadn't come up with an easy answer for. "If you're running a stall, it's your choice what to accept as payment," Rin said. "We don't have a standardized currency, so bartering will probably be easiest." With a shrug, she added, "And don't rip off your customers. Pretty simple."

  She looked over her shoulder, in the direction of the snow-covered flower fields. "I've heard snatches of conversation about strange sightings- random puffs of air, clinking of bells, what have you." She found herself tugging at her scarf again. "Anyone who sees or hears something odd is welcome to investigate, but please be careful, and go with someone else if you can. It might not be dangerous at all, but you never know." The occurrences seemed benign enough, but she was internally prepared for one of them to cause someone's death out of the blue.

  Was that all for the announcements? She was pretty sure that was all. "If anyone has anything else to say, say it now. If you want to take the oath to become a full Elysite, step forward."

  OOC notes:
  -welcome to [member=9408]Mistrim[/member] [member=9481]Harland M.[/member] [member=2129]HALO MERCER[/member]
  -[member=1487]lemy.[/member] is being offered a promotion to Legate or Attorney
  -market festival will start on the 22nd, with an official announcement and instructions for how to set up a stall
  -volunteers are needed to send invites to the Typhoon, Tanglewood, and Halls of Hiraeth, set up games, etc.
  -Rin will be visiting the Pitt to maybe invite them if they're neutralized, unless anyone objects
  -strange sightings? this is part of the winter plot, so keep an eye out c:
  -oath swearing will start in my next post, have your character step forward in their reply if they want in

[candorosa]

[align=center][div style="width:70%; text-align: justify; padding: 1px; font-family: helvetica;"]Oooh, lookie here, another assembly. Thank the stars, now he didn't have to figure out what he was going to do for the rest of the day. Lemy switched courses and approached the rock, his constant, lazy smile plastered on his maw. With a cursory glance to the rest of the attendants, he sprawled out in a spot near the front.

And promptly froze when the first word out of Rin's mouth was his name.

Lemy tilted his head, making sure to keep his posture relaxed as his smile morphed into something more...questioning. For her to start the meeting with his name, well... Even if with was positive, being singled out rubbed him the wrong way. Before, he had been expecting to be welcomed to the group. This was... Lemy's train of thought trailed off as he continued listening.

Oh? How interesting.

"Wowie! I'm being promoted? You really like me thaaaat much?" He squealed, exaggerating his swooning motion. "Yaaay! Then I won't let you down! Oh, and I wanna be an Attorney! I'm not creative enough to be a Legate, so-rry!" Lemy fired off in one breath, beaming up at Rin.

It was a no-brainer. Lemy didn't play well with others; he didn't care about managing community anythings. But trials? The ability to play a part in whether someone is branded as 'guilty' or 'innocent'? That was what he was interested in. If he could make one unlucky bastard as miserable as he was, then Lemy would win. Who gave a shit about justice and righteousness? Lemy would always choose the option that allowed him to come out on top.

And maybe Rin was right, maybe there wouldn't be any trials in the future. Lemy could deal with that. There ought to be other ways to wield the rank he had just been given.

Lemy put aside his thoughts to focus on the rest of the meeting. "Welcome, welcome, everyone! Let's hang out later, okay?" The pale feline cheered, empty blue eyes searching for the individuals called. As for invitations, he didn't really care. According to word-of-mouth, the Pitt got muzzled after losing the beatdown that was rained upon them. Odds were, they probably wouldn't be too thrilled to participate in an event hosted by a group that aided in their subjugation. Which meant that it could prove hilarious if they did show up.

"I could invite Tanglewood! Do ya want the invitations sent out right now or when we got the stuff set up?" After all, Tanglewood was the only group he actually knew how to get to. "And oh! Yeah, we should invite the Pitt!" Lemy called out, raising a paw in the air, "and if we're not sure, we could just post guards 'round them or somethin'. Everyone deserves to have some fun, don'tcha think?"

Lemy settled down once more, nodding along with each of Rin's points. Cards Against Humanity sounded fun, but he was already tied down to the food stall. C'est la vie, he supposed.

Any playful feelings he might have held sunk at the mention of the strange happenings. He wondered what could have caused it. Something unnatural he bet. He kept an interested smile on his face in order to keep the sneer that was threatening to form from showing.

[Mistrim]

Mistrim hadn’t been in Elysium for very long at all. It made her skittish and she had mainly stayed to herself. However, an announcement wasn’t something she wanted to miss. That doesn’t mean she was in the thick of the crowd though. She stayed off to the side, away from prying eyes. Rin mentioned Lemy, which didn’t surprise Mistrim. What she was surprised about was the fact the Lemy wasn’t already a high ranking officer. Her first impression was that he was atleast second in command or something similar. It didn’t matter now, he had a rank anyway if he so chooses.

Rin’s next statement did make her curl into herself though. She wasn’t a fan of being pointed out but it would make sense that anyone joining would have to be notified about to the rest of the group. Did she even consider herself joining? It made her pause but in a final note she guessed that she was going to. She had no where else to go and the people at Elysium didn’t seem too bad. Staying wouldn’t hurt and so she hesitantly raised her head to Rin. A small nod to say that she would stay. The prying eyes of other members towards the newcomers made her shrink again but her point was hopefully made.

Everything else went over her head. Her self isolation made her clueless to some of the events going on. From the sounds of it, there will be other groups coming to a festival? If that’s true then maybe that should be when she meets some other people besides Rin and Lemy. Mistrim isn’t sure about running a stall considering she has nothing to sell but it would be interesting to walk around and see what other cool stuff could be made.

The comment about the weird Mist she saw made her curious. She had considered checking it out but she didn’t really want to get lost so soon after finding a group. She kinda liked it here despite the cold weather. The people didn’t seem overly mean either, the last thing she’d want to do is get lost in the cold by herself. She faintly heard Lemy speaking but her thoughts were scattered, the only thing bringing her back from a mental ramble was Rin talking again.

This was her chance to become a full member of the group. Despite her shy demeanor and anxiety, Mistrim was ready to join. Her wings fluttered a little out of nervousness and her ear flicked but she walked forward enough to be seen as her statement. Her head bowed down slightly as to avoid any particular gaze and her entire self curled in a little as if that would help people from seeing her. Mistrim buried her face in her scarf, awaiting the oath.

[Warringkingdoms]

  [font=trebuchet ms]"Not creative enough," he said, but he did accept the promotion. She wasn't especially surprised at that. Until she found someone who wanted Legate, she could take care of planning activities; Lemy being Attorney would allow her to evaluate him with relatively low risk. Maybe he'd prove himself, or maybe he'd make her regret her choice, but unless they had any trials- which was unlikely- the actual damage he could cause, if inclined to, was minimal.

  He also had Tanglewood taken care of, which was nice. One less trip for her. "It's up to you when you want to send them out, just make sure it's clear we're starting on the twenty-second," Rin answered, with a shrug. Getting them out of the way early was probably a good idea, but if he wanted to wait, it was no skin off her back.

  Mistrim drew near at her call, a clear indication that she wished to be sworn in, despite her shy demeanor. Rin could understand feeling timid around unfamiliar creatures, having been in such a situation several times. With a small nod, she recited, "Mistrim, do you promise to protect this community with all of your strength; to trust your fellow members enough to ask for help when necessary; and most importantly, to uphold the values of community and justice, and always serve the greater good without giving too much of yourself?" Rin didn't know Mistrim especially well, but if she had to guess from the similarities she'd already noticed, Mistrim would be the type to end up giving too much. She was among those who needed to hear that section of the oath, to hear that she shouldn't give too much of herself.

[Mistrim]

Mistrim actually looked up to Rin as an idol. She seemed to be what Misty wanted to be. It reminded her of someone she used to know well but there is no name and no face...only a feeling. A fearless leader but so kind, so much more then Mistrim is or was. That’s who Rin is to her.

So Mistrim agreed, to protect, to trust, to uphold and to serve. Those were the important words to her. She didn’t exactly know if she should repeat it but she did anyway, just in case.
”I promise to protect the community with all my strength, trust in my fellow members enough to ask for help when necessary and uphold the values of community and justice and always serve the greater good...” Her voice fell off at the end, the confidence she used to say it at all had apparently run out but atleast she had said all the important parts, right? Mistrim felt she hit all the important parts and so slightly grew nervous again, trembling a little in an effort not to shy away again.