06-01-2020, 04:19 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-01-2020, 04:25 AM by neon_jellyfish.)
Thanks, everyone!
Day 152
Tonight, Oddwickshire observes the National Vampire Night!
National Vampire Night is mostly celebrated in Quirkmore, because all vampires flock here to greet the vampire queen - Duchess Callidora. Callidora hosts a ball for the most noble of vampire families and a few select non-vampire guests. Queen Isadora calls it 'Calli's midnight snack party' and always makes time to attend, Elazar is also always present as Her Insane Majesty's bodyguard. He likes this ball, because it's a good exercise in stealth mode - vampires have something like thermovision, and he is homeothermic (he is human, after all), so escaping vampires' sights requires a lot of effort. It became the favorite party game of the ball. At first, vampires won about a half of all games, but this is Elazar we're talking about, so he figured out the trick soon, and now he wins practically all the games. The only one who can always find him no matter what is his wife. Callidora's Blood Bank S&M Squad* prepares a special performance every year. It often involves real sword fights. The guests love it. Iaso and other healers not so much.
* In case you don't remember, the Blood Bank Squad is group of Callidora's fans with masochistic tendencies and almost unhealthy, well, no..., totally unhealthy desire to serve her and be devoured by her, which she tolerates, because she's too shy to ask for blood, so being offered some saves her a lot of trouble. She'd prefer for them to be a little less ardent about it, but oh well, one can't have everything.
There's also another ball for less noble vampires, and humans and other supernaturals can attend that one.
If a human goes outside on this day/night wearing something red, it means it's OK to ask them for, ehm, a bite. Conscious, verbal consent is still required, but wearing red and refusing is considered to be poor behavior, so keep that in mind.
If you're not interested in dancing, there's a ton of fun to be had around the town. I'd recommend visiting the annual vampire glass exhibition. Vampire glass is a special type of glass that was developed especially for vampire homes. Thanks to constantly overcast weather and the omnipresent, everlasting, and very thick fog, sunlight isn't that much of a threat for Oddwickshire vampires, so they don't need to completely wall up all windows, but they're still vulnerable to it, so they use this special glass that blocks UV completely. It comes in dark, rich colors, and with numerous effects, opalescent or glow-in-the-dark ones are particularly pretty. Vampires love stained glass windows, most of them feature ornamental designs or typical vampire imagery, but wealthier vampire families often have windows depicting their important ancestors or events from family history. The exhibiton is always beautiful, the glass is displayed in wrought iron window frames of all shapes (the traditional gothic arch is still the most popular, though), with lamps and torches cleverly placed around them, so you can admire how light passes through them.
Coffin makers usually choose National Vampire Night to present their newest models. Since practically no one stays dead in Oddwickshire, you won't find many traditional coffins, but you can find all sorts of coffin-shaped furniture. Beds of all kinds and sizes (including coffin cradles), bath tubs, bookshelves, dollhouses, dressers, you name it.
Streets are full of stalls offering many variations of Bloody Mary, including some alcohol-free strawberry ones for kids. They're my favorite. I once saw an elder lady order one and ask for a celery stalk to be put in it.
Oh, and avoid booths with black banners with red tassels.
Another popular thing are shadow plays. Oddwickshire vampires don't naturally cast shadows, but they can create and manipulate them if they want, and it became a tradition that on Vampire Night, various amateur theater troupes give short shadow plays on improvised stages on streets.
At midnight, a peculiar group of people gathers at a secret place (it's always somewhere else) to be... initiated. It's a very secret ritual, only Callidora and a few of her assistants know the details, and it's better not to ask. While a lot of people choose to become vampires after their death through a patented Schwarzgrabs' procedure, being turned while still alive holds a special meaning, most often it means being accepted as a part of a noble vampire family. I don't really know the details. Callidora's eyes tend to start glowing in a rather unsettling fashion if someone asks about it, so I just don't.
Speaking of Callidora...
![[Image: d9f00641992cb0842e00e926154f2183.jpg]](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/d9/f0/06/d9f00641992cb0842e00e926154f2183.jpg)
Day 152
Tonight, Oddwickshire observes the National Vampire Night!
National Vampire Night is mostly celebrated in Quirkmore, because all vampires flock here to greet the vampire queen - Duchess Callidora. Callidora hosts a ball for the most noble of vampire families and a few select non-vampire guests. Queen Isadora calls it 'Calli's midnight snack party' and always makes time to attend, Elazar is also always present as Her Insane Majesty's bodyguard. He likes this ball, because it's a good exercise in stealth mode - vampires have something like thermovision, and he is homeothermic (he is human, after all), so escaping vampires' sights requires a lot of effort. It became the favorite party game of the ball. At first, vampires won about a half of all games, but this is Elazar we're talking about, so he figured out the trick soon, and now he wins practically all the games. The only one who can always find him no matter what is his wife. Callidora's Blood Bank S&M Squad* prepares a special performance every year. It often involves real sword fights. The guests love it. Iaso and other healers not so much.
* In case you don't remember, the Blood Bank Squad is group of Callidora's fans with masochistic tendencies and almost unhealthy, well, no..., totally unhealthy desire to serve her and be devoured by her, which she tolerates, because she's too shy to ask for blood, so being offered some saves her a lot of trouble. She'd prefer for them to be a little less ardent about it, but oh well, one can't have everything.
There's also another ball for less noble vampires, and humans and other supernaturals can attend that one.
If a human goes outside on this day/night wearing something red, it means it's OK to ask them for, ehm, a bite. Conscious, verbal consent is still required, but wearing red and refusing is considered to be poor behavior, so keep that in mind.
If you're not interested in dancing, there's a ton of fun to be had around the town. I'd recommend visiting the annual vampire glass exhibition. Vampire glass is a special type of glass that was developed especially for vampire homes. Thanks to constantly overcast weather and the omnipresent, everlasting, and very thick fog, sunlight isn't that much of a threat for Oddwickshire vampires, so they don't need to completely wall up all windows, but they're still vulnerable to it, so they use this special glass that blocks UV completely. It comes in dark, rich colors, and with numerous effects, opalescent or glow-in-the-dark ones are particularly pretty. Vampires love stained glass windows, most of them feature ornamental designs or typical vampire imagery, but wealthier vampire families often have windows depicting their important ancestors or events from family history. The exhibiton is always beautiful, the glass is displayed in wrought iron window frames of all shapes (the traditional gothic arch is still the most popular, though), with lamps and torches cleverly placed around them, so you can admire how light passes through them.
Coffin makers usually choose National Vampire Night to present their newest models. Since practically no one stays dead in Oddwickshire, you won't find many traditional coffins, but you can find all sorts of coffin-shaped furniture. Beds of all kinds and sizes (including coffin cradles), bath tubs, bookshelves, dollhouses, dressers, you name it.
Streets are full of stalls offering many variations of Bloody Mary, including some alcohol-free strawberry ones for kids. They're my favorite. I once saw an elder lady order one and ask for a celery stalk to be put in it.
Oh, and avoid booths with black banners with red tassels.
Another popular thing are shadow plays. Oddwickshire vampires don't naturally cast shadows, but they can create and manipulate them if they want, and it became a tradition that on Vampire Night, various amateur theater troupes give short shadow plays on improvised stages on streets.
At midnight, a peculiar group of people gathers at a secret place (it's always somewhere else) to be... initiated. It's a very secret ritual, only Callidora and a few of her assistants know the details, and it's better not to ask. While a lot of people choose to become vampires after their death through a patented Schwarzgrabs' procedure, being turned while still alive holds a special meaning, most often it means being accepted as a part of a noble vampire family. I don't really know the details. Callidora's eyes tend to start glowing in a rather unsettling fashion if someone asks about it, so I just don't.
Speaking of Callidora...