An Arctic Advent - IC

Nihil shrugs. "Ask him not me. I'm guessing it has something to do with his name."

"Is Mage not a common unicorn surname?... I'm so sorry if I just said something horribly racist!"

Meanwhile, Glenrir was back to keeping his distance from the flame. He would be brave when necessary, but only saprolings were brave when unnecessary. He enjoyed the attention, assuring the youngsters that a rematch could happen and they could check it out in pure racing power, with the humble-brag of it only being lucky he managed to find the right footholds going downhill at the end.

He kept a bit to the stalls, admiring the various arts and crafts, and memorabilia, present. This was how his pack calmed down, this industry, this ingenuity. A reminder that, though they were tiny sculptures, the artisans could move to weapons with little difficulty, from armoires to armors. Still, the creativity was great, amazing they could spend time on art in this environment. The timber wolf looked through a stall of such shiny baubles, wondering if perhaps Lu'Pine may enjoy a gift with his next letter.

tygerburningbright wrote:"Is Mage not a common unicorn surname?... I'm so sorry if I just said something horribly racist!"

"Either way I'm sure Bloody Stupid isn't a common name of any sort." Camellia said with a grin.

RavenscroftRaven wrote:Meanwhile, Glenrir was back to keeping his distance from the flame. He would be brave when necessary, but only saprolings were brave when unnecessary. He enjoyed the attention, assuring the youngsters that a rematch could happen and they could check it out in pure racing power, with the humble-brag of it only being lucky he managed to find the right footholds going downhill at the end.

He kept a bit to the stalls, admiring the various arts and crafts, and memorabilia, present. This was how his pack calmed down, this industry, this ingenuity. A reminder that, though they were tiny sculptures, the artisans could move to weapons with little difficulty, from armoires to armors. Still, the creativity was great, amazing they could spend time on art in this environment. The timber wolf looked through a stall of such shiny baubles, wondering if perhaps Lu'Pine may enjoy a gift with his next letter.

"Can I help you with anything?" a cheery voice asks. The voice belongs to a baby dragon, a frost dragon judging by it's white and light blue colouration. He's sitting on a stool, wearing a monocle and idly polishing various glass works. "I'm Frizz, by the way, perhaps there's something that catches the interest of the best winter runner we've ever seen. See, look what the master just made." He motions to some small glass ornaments, not of the highest quality, but formidable for a faire bauble. Amongst the ornaments, you see the one he's pointing at in particular, it's a glass timber wolf in the motion of running. The dragon chuckles. "Master always likes to cash in on what the folk want, and he figures that timber wolves will be popular for a while, so he's already gotten to work on them."

"Your master is wise, Frizz, though I may be a bit biased." Glenrir smiles as he chats. "I've always found glass a finicky medium, your master is also very quick if they were do have done this all today, with only tent equipment."

He carefully taps the statuette, to get a look at it from different angles. He didn't particularly want the prize money, only things the money could buy. A trophy may be better. He could get a plank, polish it to a glow, attach the little thing, and tack on a gold-plated emblem saying 'First Place', or something of that ilk. The quality of it didn't really bother him, he was truly impressed with any creature that could split glass so finely and quickly without a huge waste product.

It would be a side-project for the next few days after the festival. He liked having something small to work on... If the price was right.

"How much is the going rate of your master's glassworks?"

RavenscroftRaven wrote:"Your master is wise, Frizz, though I may be a bit biased." Glenrir smiles as he chats. "I've always found glass a finicky medium, your master is also very quick if they were do have done this all today, with only tent equipment."

He carefully taps the statuette, to get a look at it from different angles. He didn't particularly want the prize money, only things the money could buy. A trophy may be better. He could get a plank, polish it to a glow, attach the little thing, and tack on a gold-plated emblem saying 'First Place', or something of that ilk. The quality of it didn't really bother him, he was truly impressed with any creature that could split glass so finely and quickly without a huge waste product.

It would be a side-project for the next few days after the festival. He liked having something small to work on... If the price was right.

"How much is the going rate of your master's glassworks?"

"Oh, the faire baubles are going for 15 bits a piece," he replies happily, "I'm not allowed to change the price without Master's say-so and he's a little busy right now with the bellows." The Dragon gestures to a tent flap behind him. "He doesn't like being interrupted as he works."

"That sounds like a bartering tactic, dragon." Glenrir growls a very short, tiny bit, but keeps his smile. "Clearly your master is a very busy artisan. You're quite loyal, you should show some independence once in a while though." Not that he was one to talk, but dragons were less pack animals, as far as he knew.

"That said, I've got no issue with your asking price, so you're a lucky dragon. I'll have one of me." The timber wolf barks a laugh, no pun intended, and grabs the little bauble, fifteen of his winnings going to the dragon.

"I think the ceremony is starting soon, you may want to make sure your Master is able to see it if they want." Glenrir notes as he walks towards a forming crowd.

Blood snaps out of a little daze, shaking just as the two make jokes at his expense. "Hey, I'm not that wierd am I? I mean, my name's Blood, and Mage is a class and not often a name... but..." He frowns and looks around.

"Don't worry about it dude," Nihil says patting Blood Mage's back. "Being weird is way more fun than being normal. Actually normality is totally boring. I don't recommend it."

Adam flutters down towards Blood and Nihil. Nopony is really normal anyway, they're just weird together. It is always preferable to be weird in ways that benefit you and others, and I suspect you have that covered. Do you two have any plans after the awards ceremony or perhaps an interest in ditching it?

Blood tilts his head, a claw of blood rubbing at his chin. "Ponysonally?" Blood shrugs, looking around. "I kind of want to see what sort of things there are here up north. I'm not that good at handling cold, but this cloak is nice and toasty." Blood grins but pauses. "... You know where those other ponies are? The others who came close to first? I want to congratulate them on jobs well done."

Camellia points to herself and asks, "Do you mean me and the bear or the ponies who didn't get any money with their free meal?"

"All of them." Blood shrugs. "I wanted to congratulate all of them on jobs well done. Speaking of, congrats on your medal."

"Right." Camellia responded as if it was only natural that she'd receive praise.

You hear a burst of fireworks erupt into the townsquare, signaling the arrival of a very large wheeled cart. The cart is being pulled by 8 Earthponies. Above the cart upon a large wooden sign the words, 'Exquisite Equestrian Extravaganza' are painted for all to see.

Once the large cart makes it into the square, it's pulled until it stands adjacent one of the walls. Then from within the large cart, an assortment of ponies jump out. Some carry instruments and begin playing a carnival theme, others begin to unhinge panels on the cart with great efficiency and a few troup performers begin acts of juggling, or impressive displays of acrobatics. The festival crowd begins cheering at the performance.

In mere minutes, the cart has been fully re-assembled into a large stage. The music dies down and a series of fireworks launch out from the stage. A smokescreen shoots out and a shadowy figure can be seen amidst it.

"Good folk of Frost Falls, we bring to you this evening, a performance, the like of which you have never before seen. We are the Exquisite Equestrian Extravaganza, enjoy our show." The shadowy figure then raises his horn and shoots out a giant flare. At that moment, a number of props raise out of the stage, flaming hoops and a swinging array of trapeze swings. Followed by a bunch of earthponies and pegasi who begin their act. The shadowy figure has disappeared amidst the other ponies' entrance and the show begins in earnest.

Blood glances at the acrobatics, the shadowy figure catching his sight and slightly worrying him. Why would an actor or acrobat be trying to hide themselves? Blood lifts Nihil off his back and puts him down, starting to walk and find out where the shadow disappeared to. "Then again curiousity killed the cat. Poor Hemeo." He tilts his head. "Might as well though."

Spoiler:

LoganAura wrote:Blood glances at the acrobatics, the shadowy figure catching his sight and slightly worrying him. Why would an actor or acrobat be trying to hide themselves? Blood lifts Nihil off his back and puts him down, starting to walk and find out where the shadow disappeared to. "Then again curiousity killed the cat. Poor Hemeo." He tilts his head. "Might as well though."

Spoiler:

Most of the crowd seems to think that the unicorn disappeared completely, however, you are able to determine that the shadowy unicorn must have been on some sort of clever trap door to have disappeared from sight. He's likely beneath the stage or in some back-room by now.

On his way to check backstage, He pauses, tiltiing his head. "Unicorn?" He glances at the stage, which had a troop of earth ponies and pegasi. "... Something's wierd." He rushes backstage, possibly drawing attention from some other creatures.

Wave Rider notices Blood Mage run backstage. Why is he going there... he better not be trying to crash the show! She then goes on after Blood Mage.

Camellia looked over at Nihil and says, "The fireworks and the show are interesting but, I have the feeling Bloody Stupid Mage is about to put on an even more interesting show for us." and then hops off after the other two.

Carn was interested in the show, grinning as the figure announced the beginning of the show...It was odd, though, they were hiding away...Were they trying to make their actual appearance a thing to remember? It was strange...He glanced around, noting the red unicorn from before moving about, trying to get backstage, followed quickly by others...What was going on...? He followed them, seeming curious as to what was happening, and keeping a keen eye out for anything strange...Of course, not being particularly -familiar- with pony culture, he wasn't entirely sure what was unusual and what wasn't...He supposed he'd be seeing if the mage freaked out about something in time...

Spoiler:

At all the fire (of course it was more fire), Glenrir gets farther back, ostensibly to not block the view of the ponies. He notes some disappearing ponies, but it was a show, he has built a few stages in his time (admittedly most were podiums, but still, stages), trapdoors for stagehoofs were pretty common. Quite smooth ones here though, he didn't even see where the shadow went, normally there's a slight wump, but it was hidden in the fireworks if it even happened. Clever. The amount of wood and fire together did make him nervous, but as they said, they were professionals, they probably pressure-treated the entire thing to resist any falling embers.

The fog and mist source was probably a unicorn. Makes sense, unicorns weren't as physically fit as earth ponies, they'd provide special effects while the others showed off their talents. It wasn't a "magical" show after all, just a "exquisite" one. Of course, he could make fog too, but it was dangerous for pegasi, they were pretty daring, the winged ones could fly into it like its solid if they messed up the layering and setup, very masterful.

Perhaps it was lost on him the spectacle, over checking out the construction of the event, but they were entertaining him nonetheless, so mission accomplished? Still, it was a dark time, a dangerous time. Many ponies were paranoid about things they couldn't see. Hopefully the crowd won't get nervous and rush the stage in fear of the flare being an attack signal disguised as part of the show as the assault team gets out hidden in the fog or something silly like that.

LoganAura wrote:On his way to check backstage, He pauses, tiltiing his head. "Unicorn?" He glances at the stage, which had a troop of earth ponies and pegasi. "... Something's wierd." He rushes backstage, possibly drawing attention from some other creatures.

You rush toward backstage and catch the attention of some of the crowd, and soon a few others are following your example (Wave Rider, Camellia, and Carn), whether because they are curious, concerned or just amused by your decision, is your guess.

The bunch of you run past the side of the stage. A single bulky carnelian-coloured earth pony, with a quarterstaff resting against him, shouts a warning. "Hey, what are you doing? You aren't supposed to be back here." He's blocking the closed door which leads to inside the large caravan, which acts as backstage to keep the ponies warm before their next act begins.

Blood stares at the pony and glances down at the medal on the kitsune's neck, a small smile. "Oh, but the third place winner of the race, here, would greatly appreciate meeting the ponies inside. And I- er we- are accompanying her."

Spoiler: