Comin' together to Celebrate (IC)

[The Selkie]

Hi and welcome to Comin' together to Celebrate, the annual Spring Festival!
Please apply and be accepted on this OOC before posting here. Thanks! If you don't want to, though, you are welcome to read along with our festival shenanigans! ; )

Cuan, Láir Square.
Thousands of people filled the square, which was in front of the magnificent Grand Temple of Lodan Lir - not the Main Temple, that one was hidden deep in Cuan's side-streets, but the Grand Temple, which certainly deserved its name.
Especially today, as the venerable, old complex was decorated with flowers, flags, everything under the sun. The Spring Festival was afoot and today, it was, the day of the Spring Equinox and the gigantic, collective birthday party of all Selkie.
For one young woman, barely not a girl anymore, it was also an important day due to something else: Mona Beag of the Tribe of Louth, Envoy of Lodan Lir, would turn fifteen Springs today. That meant, that she, as Envoy, would be married to Her God, Lodan Lir, today. This was called the Bainis.
But that was later today.
Now, the Spring Sacrifice needed to be done.
Selkie usually did not offer living things in order to win the favour of their Gods, but once a year, each of the six deities of the Six-Pantheon got a little present: A horse was sacrificed to them, an equine of the best breed, sacrificed by the High Priest or High Priestess of each Cult, on the day of the Spring Festival, which celebrated the return of life after the long and harsh winters (especially in this year).
This was the highest religious festivity the Selkie knew.
And the weather was almost perfect!
Sunny and only a few, small white clouds in the sky.
People from all over the Free Lands had come, so many, that some of the fields in front of the city's gates had been cleared for use as camping fields. Due to the Bainis, delegations from the other five Cults and their Orders were lined up next to the Temple, only being there for representative purposes (as was the singular Flamen Minores from Lutetii and the Kyrenaian Priest).
And people from all over the world were there, too.
From one of the major streets of Cuan to the steps of the Temple, a street had been left free, a street, which was now used by Mona and her escort: The girl, her flaming orange-red hair open and freely fluttering in the wind, sat on a colt, which was almost a stallion, dressed in a Geansai in Lodan Lir's blue.
At her flanks, two Priestesses rode on their own horses, their faces hidden by coats. One was Amy Banphrionsa of the Tribe of Westmeath, a Priestess, Arrowmaiden and Mona's caretaker, for the Envoy was an orphan.
The other was Kiah Tincéir of the Tribe of Louth, a Servant to Lodan Lir.
Led by Mona by the reins was a beautiful, young colt, a strong one, a virile one, with a fuchsia coat and a white mane. He trotted, completely relaxed, behind the three of them. People, Selkie, bowed their heads in respect to the young woman, who had earned the respect of theirs.
This time, the hostess and main sponsor, the Cabhair Group, would not make an appearance and speak a few words, this time, the occasion was too important.
On a small stage in front of the Temple, a large, bronze bowl stood, tended to by Priests and Priestesses, watched over by a bluenette woman with blue eyes, who was still beautiful, despite being in her fifties. High Priestess Aife Cuisle of the Tribe of Wicklow bowed her head with a small, tender smile.
As they arrived by the stage, Mona dismounted and one could see her stopping for a moment, taking a deep breath before she turned to the High Priestess, stepping forward.
"Greetings, High Priestess, and may Lodan Lir be with you!", she spoke in Selkie - and despite her singular, unamplified voice, the entire square heard her, a pin could drop and would be heard.
"Envoy, Greetings to you.", the High Priestess replied with a deep bow of her head, smiling as she rose again. Mona had grown up, not a nervous little girl anymore, but a young woman worthy of respect, not squirming under her eyes. And she had already claimed the shortened skirt for the Geansai, as it was usual for adults to wear.
Mona led the colt up the stairs, onto the stage as a song started to be sung, a song of Spring and joy, a song of love and good harvests, the lyrics flowing like the rivers, which made Cuan so important, sung in the language of the Selkie.
By the bowl, the High Priestess fed a few herbs to the horse, which calmed considerably. The song reached a crescendo.
And in one, swift move, everything was over: The High Priestess had slit the horse's throat, the magnificent beast's blood pouring into the bowl as the horse went calmly into eternal sleep, guided down by the High Priestess.
Silence reigned as the High Priestess stepped forward, blood still dripping from the dagger.
"Our offering to the Gods is given, we will commit it to the flames by twilight. May this brave steed serve well in Arallfyd.", she spoke, her voice heard over the entire square, "For now, let's celebrate!"
Loud cheers rose up - for the Spring Festival had begun!

[Deutschess Kaiserreich]

Rudolf Eisenmann
Cuan, Láir Square.

---

Rudolf Eisenmann felt the sun on his face. The air was slightly warm but there was the occasional chilly wind. But this was nothing to Rudolf. This was nothing compared to the freezing wastes of Russia. The noise of the crowd was far better than the screams of Katusha rockets and your men. He stood among the crowd wearing your average vacation clothes. A plain red buttoned up shirt and some black trousers. If one were to glance at him they would see nothing more than an average tourist. If they looked closer they would have noticed the military regulation haircut of his brown hair. The slight scar on his right cheek caused by the explosion of a nearby Russian tank. His unusually straight posture and no trouble carrying his heavy backpack. His feet impatiently tapping the stone-slabbed ground. All these would have given away that he was not the average tourist. But then again. Who would pay close attention to a random stranger?

All of this had been done on purpose. Rudolf had been trying his best to seem normal. But that does not come easy when this was the first vacation he had taken for… for… actually looking back he had never taken a vacation or break ever since he joined the Whermact. And that had been in 2002 at the height of the cold war. For sixteen years he had worked without taking something that resembled a break. In fact, he didn’t even want to be here. He would have preferred to still be in Russia. Leading his men on to help the ruined Russian land recover and crush the occasional communist uprising in the far east. He had actually been told by his personal therapist, required by the Whermact for all high ranking officers, to take this vacation. According to his therapist, he had to take this to “blow off some steam” and take a break from the “stress”. What stress? He had been a soldier for two years and an officer for the rest. He knew no fear. At least that's what he thought until he woke up screaming in the hospital screaming during a mental breakdown. He sighed loudly. He needed this, he told himself. But there was always that feeling that his men needed him. That the Kaiserriech needed him to return to Germania and defend her from the godless commie hordes of the east. But Rudolf fought his inner desires and just told himself to enjoy the moment and stop thinking about the Whermact.

The sound of the blade entering flesh made many in the crowd wince in disgust but Rudolf felt nothing. He had seen men burned alive, roads whose pavement was littered with “capitalists pigs” crucified for many miles, massive burial pits, and cities completely destroyed with nuclear hellfire. No, this was nothing to a man with a lifetime of war under his belt. He chased away his thoughts to the darkest parts of his mind and told himself, enjoy yourself, you’re on vacation.

[Lillorainen]

Láir Square, Cuan, Free Lands of the Selkie.
It had felt like a long time since Christopher Riescheid had seen his one-and-only last time, and to be quite honest, half a year could definitely become a long time. Even though he and Cel had stayed in contact (the classic way - letters!) ever since they had said and kissed each other goodbye back in Shella, when there had been no way for Chris to avoid going back home any longer, he had quite missed her.
When the 19-year-old student from Elverholm's lovely North Shore (whom the Studies of International Relations, originally planned for collecting waiting semesters for something he had decided to leave his hands off after the Purgatio Trip, had brought more south, to Kerkenich, though) had heard about a Spring Festival in Cuan taking place, he hadn't lost any more time - he had dropped another visa application for the Free Lands, his third one already, and booked a flight from Pontrath/Kerkenich International to Traverse International, as he had known, that there would be a hopper going to Cuan, Lodan Lir's Pearl, the city Cel hailed from.
She didn't know about this. It was a surprise.
However, he was sure, that she couldn't be very far away.
Yeah, a lot of things had happened in the previous year ... that school exchange in that ... spooky, to say the very least, place called Purgatio, where he had met Celina Treoraí of the Tribe of Louth, and made a couple of other good friends - then the stay in Dumhach, where it had quickly became obvious, that Cel and he loved each other, and the Shella Harvest Festival in September, where they had met their friends from Purgatio again.
And there he was now, half a year later, on Láir Square in Cuan, at 9AM, watching the Spring Sacrifice which introduced the Selkie's collective birthday. Under the morning sun, he listened to the song of love and good harvests that was being sung and sounded very familiar to him, and joined the general cheer which followed the sacrifice.

On the other side of Láir Square.
Another returnee to the Free Lands was Hilda Leverdal.
The 17-year-old, blonde and blue-eyed young woman from the metropolis of Lysköping, who had suddenly become reasonably famous last summer for winning one of Lillorainen's most renowned horse riding tournaments, which she had quickly learned at the Shella Harvest Festival, had decided to come back again quite soon after that - her own affiliation with horses was quite not the only part of Selkie-Culture she had learned about back then, but, quite certainly, a damn good one.
Contrary to the last time, Hilda did not arrive by ship, but by plane - following the general recommendation by her homeland's authorities, as shipping was announced to not be the best plan in this week due to a certain meteorological particularity Lillos generally referred to as either Schietwetter, or Drisswetter, depending on which part of the Federation they hailed from. It would most certainly get better by the weekend, though, as Spring was also a thing in the Lillöer-Archipelago.
Another difference was her company - whereas her older brother Frederik had come with her to Shella, he now was too busy studying for his final exam in school, Hilda having picked two friends instead as a result.
One of them was Sophus Andresen, a bit less than three years older than Hilda, a quite good-looking guy with dark-blonde hair and ice-blue eyes, a size of 179 and three quarters - not a Nordic Hulk, but still with a broad back. For the purpose of studying 'Something With Media', he had left his original hometown, Preetz in Rigesöer, for Lysköping, where he had met Hilda some time ago. And not only her.
Mia Boserup was almost 22, thus the oldest one amongst the three of them, which brought her into the position of being the natural caretaker for the other two - at least in theory, and mostly also in practice, until the situation was uncontrollable - which was projected to happen in around twelve hours, read, four hours after the opening of the taps. Until then, the brunette with the green eyes, who studied City Development in Lysköping, where she called herself 'half a native' despite actually being from the nearby city of Bentesröd (for a given definition of the term 'nearby'), had at least a good intention.
While Hilda was sure, that there was a bit more than just friendship going on between Sophus and Mia, this was so far denied by both of them.
Hilda and Mia knew each other primarily from the Stable, and while Sophus could hardly be called a regular there, he was familiar enough with the art of moving forward on an equine to not be embarrassed too much - neither in said stable, nor on the way from Silverport to Cuan, which the three of them had decided to make on horseback, taking the Feadhain Road and the Lake Iasc-Cuan ferry, for some adventure.
Now that they were here, they watched the Spring Sacrifice, and although especially Hilda and Mia, but also Sophus quite much, pitied the colt a bit for having to die now, they were aware, that it was for the Gods and therefore in Their sense. And it was only once a year. Therefore, they joined the general cheer.

[Mediama]

Miranda awkwardly tried to hide her grimace at the equine sacrifice. Though her imagination ran at a mile a minute at what kind of stories she can make regarding Aztecs and Greek sacrifices, she had to admit she was a bit squeamish about blood. As the ceremony came to an end, Miranda’s school group began to move away from the crowds as they had a whole day of touring ahead of them before they settled in at the Gléas Inn for the night. Day one had already consisted of the Lodan Lir Temple complex and the Grand Temple. Thus they had time to wander around Láir Square before they went to the historic city hall for the tour before they went to the inn to settle down in their rooms, then back out to the square to enjoy the rest of the festivities, in groups of two of course.

Miranda was dazed in daydream before a voice broke into her concentrated discombobulation. “Eh, Miranda, you aren’t already tryin’ ta cook somethin’ up in that head of yours, are ya?”

Miranda shook her head and said, “I-I’m fine.”

“Not sure I can say the same with the rest of the group, some of ‘em had ta go to the toilet ta recover.” The uniquely Scottish voice said. The voice belonged to one Kathleen Mcdougall, one of Miranda’s close friends in the often lonely boarding school that was Queen Victoria.

“Well we are a school for young ladies for a reason.”

“I know, but still we all can’t be that uptight. Wonder if they’d let us have a go at archery?”

“Probably not, too much of a safety liability, even if they did allow it you might’ve easily crushed them, I know I’m not completely thick with the bow, but even you put me to shame.”

“You and your writer’s mind Miranda. If you just let yourself loose and don’t let the rules from Queen Vic’s worry ya, you can be as free as I am.”

“Pretty sure I don’t want to be ‘accidentally’ hit someone in the head with a polo mallet levels of free. Besides, I bend the rules.”

“She totally deserved it, she faffed up the ball and hit me first, and then got away with it, too. Second, that may be so Miranda, but you’re still formin’ that hard exterior that all the Queen Vic’s students have.”

“Look, I’m fine, really.” The Irish Mediaman girl said.

“Whatever, looks like they’re getting ready to split us into groups to look around the square, let’s go.” And soon, the two plaid skirt-clad schoolgirls ran into the crowd back to their group to get ready to split up.

---

Katherine looked around as she walked through the crowds at the square. She had some really decent pictures to post online later, but she was here to have fun, not collect pictures.

Due to some sort of freak accident in the chemistry department, Katherine’s college had to shut down for repairs for a few weeks. It was there that she, and a few of the other people from their previous study abroad group to Selkie, decided to pool some money to go on a second trip before they went back to school. Currently, since they pooled a decent amount of pounds, they were staying at Stoc Inn.

For now though, everyone was doing their own thing.

Katherine looked around at the various shops and attractions, it was a lot to take in.

She wished Liv could’ve been with her to see it.

Since her last trip, they had left on good terms, they talked, they danced.

They kissed.

Katherine blushed at that memory. Yes the two of them had grown close during those two or three days they were there. Since then, they had kept in touch through social media, e-mail, and surprisingly, snail mail. Well, at least the postal service still has some purpose. Katherine mused.

Recently though, because of college and other stuff in their lives, they weren’t able to keep up with a long distance relationship and keep in touch.

As Katherine walked past the site where the opening sacrifice was held she couldn’t help but wonder whether or not Liv was somewhere out there in the crowd. She did mention she was some sort of priestess in training or something... Katherine thought. With her rhetorical question left unanswered, she continued to slowly walk around to take in the sights, unaware of anything immediately near her.

[New Visayan Islands]

Domingo O. Hasegawa, AAV
Aboard the Diamantine Heart, en route to Selkie territory
0054 NVT

Domingo couldn't sleep; he had been working on a personal project while underway. When he told his father that he was coming to the Free Lands for vacation, Antonio suggested he join the crew of the Diamantine Heart; since the success of Samuel's trip onboard the lead yacht, it had been tradition for yachts of the Indomitable Spirit-class to set sail for Selkie shores to assess their seaworthiness across long distances prior to delivery. In fact, after the Unbreakable Mind made her trip the previous year, Victoria Shipyards opened a branch in the Free Lands for precisely this reason; the Diamantine Heart would be the third yacht to visit the Free Lands since then, after the Spirit of Iron and the Adamantine Soul.

Domingo was among five passengers sailing to the Free Lands; the other four were employees headed to the Selkie Branch to assist with operations. As he made his way to the deck, he saw two of the employees having a snack and some soda on the observation deck--wine was out of the question this close to Selkie waters, it seemed to him, and he was told that he would drop off by the port before the Heart made the short trip to the Selkie Branch. Overall, he expected the trip to come by without incident.

Some time after
Láir Square
0900 Local

Domingo thouht he had seen everything. The Spring Sacrifice proved him wrong; the ritual sacrifice had him fixed in awe as he saw steel pierce flesh; he had read about the cultural norms of the Free Lands during the trip. Needless to say, it was one thing to read about the Spring Festival and another to witness it firsthand.

He took a look at his surroundings; the architecture was entirely different from what he was no stranger to. I wonder if I could find a way to incorporate Selkie design into my next project, he wondered as he started to take pictures. The scenery was, without a doubt, breathtaking, and he was enjoying every moment he had in Láir.

[Foxfound]

People say the journey is more memorable than the destination, and while that hopefully wouldn't be the case here, the trip was certainly a wild one for three girls who had spent their lives isolated in the Arctic.

The ocean trip to Beal was nothing special to most, on board an old steamer that had no distinguishing features other than its low ticket price, but it was still an amazing few days for three youngsters who had never been at sea or, in Kiri's case, not been at sea for many years. Then it was a boat ride along the scenic Imeall to Cuan itself.

Z, a self-proclaimed explorer and researcher, had spent much of the journey taking questionably coherent notes, playing music for the steamer's fellow passengers on her balalaika, and trying not to lose their passports. Ren, the younger and quieter of the two sisters she had been charged with watching, contented herself with a drawing of the mouth of the Imeall River and another of Cuan from the water. Kiri, the older sister and someone who hoped to be a journalist, made some amateur attempts at photography, with much help from Z. It was rather hard to operate a camera when one was incorporeal.

Z,wearing a heavy backpack and holding her instrument in her hands, seemed ready to take anything the city could throw at her as she stepped ashore. Her and Ren likely looked out of place with their somewhat inhuman features, though for obvious reasons the third member of the party was attracting more attention, something that made her very nervous.

"Cheer up, Kiri, we're on vacation!" bellowed Z. This was easy for the carefree yōkai to say; she treated most days of her life like a vacation. "Come on, the main festivities should start at the square any minute!"

What followed was an adventuresome trek through the cobbled and wooden streets, glancing in the windows of shops taller than most buildings back home. Z purchased a map of the area from a street vendor, which quickly led them to the center of town, shortly before the sacrifice that was to kick off the season.

Kiri had calmed down considerably, and was enjoying the sights. She watched the spectacle at the square intently. Z, who had read a thing or two about how these festivals went, suddenly took on a more serious face befitting a chaperone.

"Kiri, you might not want to - "

It was too late. In one fluid motion, the lady at the center of the scene slit the throat of the horse she had led. Kiri's eyes went wide. She managed to keep from screaming, thankfully, but she covered her eyes for several minutes. Death was not a pleasant subject for anyone, but especially not for her. Z did much to calm her down; usually hopelessly immature, she could be a good guiding figure when the situation called for it, and to Kiri often seemed like a strong older sibling even though they weren't related.

"See, it's alright, pal. Say, why don't we try to find one of your internet buddies who said they were attendin' the festival? Didn't some of them say they wanted to meet you?"

Kiri looked around, and decided that would be an impossibility. Before they arrived, it hadn't really registered with her that this single town had more people in it than her entire island. It certainly struck home now, in this crowded square.

[The Chuck]

Láir Square

Jeremiah Colton sat lazily on his wagon with Maude, his Clydesdale, in the middle of Láir Square in Cuan. From his high perch, Jeremiah had a clear view of the Spring Sacrifice taking place before him. As he watched, he took a moment to think back on his short time in The Free Lands of the Selkie.

Earlier in the week, he had arrived at the port town of Beal via a tramp steamer. In Beal he had went through customs and had met up with the bargemen that were going to let him hitch a ride up to Cuan. Earlier in the year, Jeremiah had made sure to plan his journey to Cuan for the spring festival celebrations. As such, he had contacted a local barge company to get a spot on a trip up the Imeall river. Taking a couple days to journey up the Imeall, Jeremiah had used a disposable camera to take photos of the landscape and scenery. Compared to the polluted and belching factories of The Chuck, The Free Lands was a pristine balance of industry and natural beauty. Breathing in the fresh river air, there was no hint of caustic chemicals in the air nor any copious amounts of pollutants. Compared to The Chuck, the Free Lands was a slice of heaven on Earth.

After the few short days on the Imeall river, the barge pulled in to the docks of Cuan while Jeremiah looked on. Before him laid a beautiful town situated at the meeting of two rivers. Departing the barge, he waved goodbye to the bargemen that had transported him here and rode into town on his cart being pulled by Maude. As he rode deeper into Cuan, he had approached Láir Square and now here he was, waiting for the Spring Sacrifice to happen.

[Folaisia]

20 March 2019
Láir Square

After settling in their rooms, the four students walked and stood observing the astounding spectacle of thousands of people observing the horse riders in exotic appeal. Even then, the prepossessing decorations that embellished the square left a wide impression in their eyes; together with the crowd, it gave each of them a vibe that made them feel like a winter breeze was breathing on their skin. Until, the throat of the horse was slit.

"Damn, that was fuckin' fast the way slit it," commented Gordon, the plump male with glasses.

"You're makin' it worse for the lassies, Gordon," replied Alpin, the skinny male also with glasses.

"Oh, sorry," Gordon turned to Marie, the blonde girl digging her head onto him who returned a soft reply with her palm rising up and shaking side to side.

"Dinnon worry. I can handle myself. But damn...," shuddered Fiona, the Asian female with an exquisite, wavy hair that makes her look like she came from a rich family.

"Oh mon Dieu, why the horse," asked Marie, peeking her head from Gordon's shoulder.

"It's a sacrifice to their gods and goddesses from what I've read. They do it once a year at this season," answered Alpin.

"Good thin' Linda's non here yet. She'd scream like hell," chuckled Gordon as if holding something back within his throat.

"Mate, that be awfy embarassin'," Fiona shakes her head.

"It'd actually be pretty funny, though," Alpin chuckled, restraining himself by hand.

Then, the final announcement bellowed from the High Priestess and the crowd roared in an exhilarating commotion.

"Shall we head down, guys," asked Alpin.

The three agreed, especially for Marie, who wanted to get the image of the horse being slain off of her mind. There, they sauntered deeper into the square, seeking for anything that can get their attention as they traversed through the forest of people.

[The Selkie]

Rudolf Eisenmann
Cuan, Láir Square.

---

Rudolf Eisenmann felt the sun on his face. The air was slightly warm but there was the occasional chilly wind. But this was nothing to Rudolf. This was nothing compared to the freezing wastes of Russia. The noise of the crowd was far better than the screams of Katusha rockets and your men. He stood among the crowd wearing your average vacation clothes. A plain red buttoned up shirt and some black trousers. If one were to glance at him they would see nothing more than an average tourist. If they looked closer they would have noticed the military regulation haircut of his brown hair. The slight scar on his right cheek caused by the explosion of a nearby Russian tank. His unusually straight posture and no trouble carrying his heavy backpack. His feet impatiently tapping the stone-slabbed ground. All these would have given away that he was not the average tourist. But then again. Who would pay close attention to a random stranger?

All of this had been done on purpose. Rudolf had been trying his best to seem normal. But that does not come easy when this was the first vacation he had taken for… for… actually looking back he had never taken a vacation or break ever since he joined the Whermact. And that had been in 2002 at the height of the cold war. For sixteen years he had worked without taking something that resembled a break. In fact, he didn’t even want to be here. He would have preferred to still be in Russia. Leading his men on to help the ruined Russian land recover and crush the occasional communist uprising in the far east. He had actually been told by his personal therapist, required by the Whermact for all high ranking officers, to take this vacation. According to his therapist, he had to take this to “blow off some steam” and take a break from the “stress”. What stress? He had been a soldier for two years and an officer for the rest. He knew no fear. At least that's what he thought until he woke up screaming in the hospital screaming during a mental breakdown. He sighed loudly. He needed this, he told himself. But there was always that feeling that his men needed him. That the Kaiserriech needed him to return to Germania and defend her from the godless commie hordes of the east. But Rudolf fought his inner desires and just told himself to enjoy the moment and stop thinking about the Whermact.

The sound of the blade entering flesh made many in the crowd wince in disgust but Rudolf felt nothing. He had seen men burned alive, roads whose pavement was littered with “capitalists pigs” crucified for many miles, massive burial pits, and cities completely destroyed with nuclear hellfire. No, this was nothing to a man with a lifetime of war under his belt. He chased away his thoughts to the darkest parts of his mind and told himself, enjoy yourself, you’re on vacation.

From where Rudolf was standing, quite a few people saw him – many, indeed, ignored him. Many figured, that he was military, maybe not SDF, but military nonetheless.
Quite a few people avoided him. They did not want anything to do with the SDF, so why would they want anything to do with foreign soldiers? Pacifism was on the rise in the Free Lands like never before, which was surprising for a culture, which defined itself as People of Song and Dance.
Some of them were interested, though.
Although they did not know, that his name was Rudolf, some people saw, that he was troubled, some wishing him luck with finding his peace.
Someone decided to take matters into her own hands.
She was light blonde, blue eyes, sharp and without revealing anything – although one saw, that she, too, had her own little inner demons. And that those had found balm. She wore heavy, green pants, a dark red shirt, as well as heavy boots, which screamed Army.
And as the cheers died down and the people began to stream into the streets searching for entertainment of the Festival, visiting hawkers, Travelling People, their favourite stalls, that woman found herself, by sheer and utter coincidence, next to Rudolf, looking up to him a bit, quite literally, as she was shorter then him.
Then she nodded.
“Good morning.”, she greeted, using a more informal tone because she saw, that she was quite a few years older then him, “Say, wanna earn a few Gils? We need, quite surprisingly...” She rolled her eyes, indicating, that this was something, that happened every year. “...a few more pairs of hands at the Petting Zoo.” She raised a hand. “Don't worry, you won't have anything to do with animals unless you want to!”

People say the journey is more memorable than the destination, and while that hopefully wouldn't be the case here, the trip was certainly a wild one for three girls who had spent their lives isolated in the Arctic.

The ocean trip to Beal was nothing special to most, on board an old steamer that had no distinguishing features other than its low ticket price, but it was still an amazing few days for three youngsters who had never been at sea or, in Kiri's case, not been at sea for many years. Then it was a boat ride along the scenic Imeall to Cuan itself.

Z, a self-proclaimed explorer and researcher, had spent much of the journey taking questionably coherent notes, playing music for the steamer's fellow passengers on her balalaika, and trying not to lose their passports. Ren, the younger and quieter of the two sisters she had been charged with watching, contented herself with a drawing of the mouth of the Imeall River and another of Cuan from the water. Kiri, the older sister and someone who hoped to be a journalist, made some amateur attempts at photography, with much help from Z. It was rather hard to operate a camera when one was incorporeal.

Z,wearing a heavy backpack and holding her instrument in her hands, seemed ready to take anything the city could throw at her as she stepped ashore. Her and Ren likely looked out of place with their somewhat inhuman features, though for obvious reasons the third member of the party was attracting more attention, something that made her very nervous.

"Cheer up, Kiri, we're on vacation!" bellowed Z. This was easy for the carefree yōkai to say; she treated most days of her life like a vacation. "Come on, the main festivities should start at the square any minute!"

What followed was an adventuresome trek through the cobbled and wooden streets, glancing in the windows of shops taller than most buildings back home. Z purchased a map of the area from a street vendor, which quickly led them to the center of town, shortly before the sacrifice that was to kick off the season.

Kiri had calmed down considerably, and was enjoying the sights. She watched the spectacle at the square intently. Z, who had read a thing or two about how these festivals went, suddenly took on a more serious face befitting a chaperone.

"Kiri, you might not want to - "

It was too late. In one fluid motion, the lady at the center of the scene slit the throat of the horse she had led. Kiri's eyes went wide. She managed to keep from screaming, thankfully, but she covered her eyes for several minutes. Death was not a pleasant subject for anyone, but especially not for her. Z did much to calm her down; usually hopelessly immature, she could be a good guiding figure when the situation called for it, and to Kiri often seemed like a strong older sibling even though they weren't related.

"See, it's alright, pal. Say, why don't we try to find one of your internet buddies who said they were attendin' the festival? Didn't some of them say they wanted to meet you?"

Kiri looked around, and decided that would be an impossibility. Before they arrived, it hadn't really registered with her that this single town had more people in it than her entire island. It certainly struck home now, in this crowded square.

Ren and Z did not raise much alarm.
Seeing a young Spiorad happened rarely, but it happened, and that was, what most Selkie were seeing in two of the group of three, when they looked at them. Quite a few even considered themselves lucky, due to old superstitions according to which seeing a young Spiorad was a sign of good fortune.
Kiri, the ghost... caused different reactions.
Not fear, not hate, but unease, a bit of squirmishness. No one could tell, why that was, Kiri and her attempts at photography were received well and as cute, but... it was there.
Still, the three of them had a few centimetres more to every side and when the horse was sacrificed, her covering of her eyes went mostly unnoticed.
Moving through the crowd was a familiar face to the three of them, violet, bright and happy eyes, blonde hair and the ears of a fox on her head, which twitched happily and with excitement. She even waved and when she was there, she grinned.
“Kiri, Ren and Z, right?”, she asked, grinning widely, “I'm Macha – we met on Piffle! I'm so glad and excited to see you! You three had a nice trip to here?” She looked at all three, especially at Kiri. “You... don't look too happy...”

Miranda awkwardly tried to hide her grimace at the equine sacrifice. Though her imagination ran at a mile a minute at what kind of stories she can make regarding Aztecs and Greek sacrifices, she had to admit she was a bit squeamish about blood. As the ceremony came to an end, Miranda’s school group began to move away from the crowds as they had a whole day of touring ahead of them before they settled in at the Gléas Inn for the night. Day one had already consisted of the Lodan Lir Temple complex and the Grand Temple. Thus they had time to wander around Láir Square before they went to the historic city hall for the tour before they went to the inn to settle down in their rooms, then back out to the square to enjoy the rest of the festivities, in groups of two of course.

Miranda was dazed in daydream before a voice broke into her concentrated discombobulation. “Eh, Miranda, you aren’t already tryin’ ta cook somethin’ up in that head of yours, are ya?”

Miranda shook her head and said, “I-I’m fine.”

“Not sure I can say the same with the rest of the group, some of ‘em had ta go to the toilet ta recover.” The uniquely Scottish voice said. The voice belonged to one Kathleen Mcdougall, one of Miranda’s close friends in the often lonely boarding school that was Queen Victoria.

“Well we are a school for young ladies for a reason.”

“I know, but still we all can’t be that uptight. Wonder if they’d let us have a go at archery?”

“Probably not, too much of a safety liability, even if they did allow it you might’ve easily crushed them, I know I’m not completely thick with the bow, but even you put me to shame.”

“You and your writer’s mind Miranda. If you just let yourself loose and don’t let the rules from Queen Vic’s worry ya, you can be as free as I am.”

“Pretty sure I don’t want to be ‘accidentally’ hit someone in the head with a polo mallet levels of free. Besides, I bend the rules.”

“She totally deserved it, she faffed up the ball and hit me first, and then got away with it, too. Second, that may be so Miranda, but you’re still formin’ that hard exterior that all the Queen Vic’s students have.”

“Look, I’m fine, really.” The Irish Mediaman girl said.

“Whatever, looks like they’re getting ready to split us into groups to look around the square, let’s go.” And soon, the two plaid skirt-clad schoolgirls ran into the crowd back to their group to get ready to split up.

---

Katherine looked around as she walked through the crowds at the square. She had some really decent pictures to post online later, but she was here to have fun, not collect pictures.

Due to some sort of freak accident in the chemistry department, Katherine’s college had to shut down for repairs for a few weeks. It was there that she, and a few of the other people from their previous study abroad group to Selkie, decided to pool some money to go on a second trip before they went back to school. Currently, since they pooled a decent amount of pounds, they were staying at Stoc Inn.

For now though, everyone was doing their own thing.

Katherine looked around at the various shops and attractions, it was a lot to take in.

She wished Liv could’ve been with her to see it.

Since her last trip, they had left on good terms, they talked, they danced.

They kissed.

Katherine blushed at that memory. Yes the two of them had grown close during those two or three days they were there. Since then, they had kept in touch through social media, e-mail, and surprisingly, snail mail. Well, at least the postal service still has some purpose. Katherine mused.

Recently though, because of college and other stuff in their lives, they weren’t able to keep up with a long distance relationship and keep in touch.

As Katherine walked past the site where the opening sacrifice was held she couldn’t help but wonder whether or not Liv was somewhere out there in the crowd. She did mention she was some sort of priestess in training or something... Katherine thought. With her rhetorical question left unanswered, she continued to slowly walk around to take in the sights, unaware of anything immediately near her.

The group of plaid-skirt dressed girls was quickly met by a group of young women in white shirts, brown blazers above that, green plaid skirts and red-white ties. School uniforms, in this case of the Póraitheoir High School of Cuan.
After the tour of students of the Educational Tour Programme was such a good success, the Selkie-Side of things, on recommendation of Professor Celina Ollamh of the University of Leuda, had agreed to formalize things a bit and agreed to not only allow the students to come, but also to give them the chance of meeting girls of the same age and experience things with them.
And that was, why the girls of the Póraitheoir were there, roughly of the same age, from the city and with time on their hands. They were to be guides and to find friends amongst the Mediaman Girls, their teacher standing with the leader of the guests.
By a simple glance over the assembled Selkie-Students, one saw, that they were not exactly all honour roll students, but there were quite a few prim and proper students amongst them. One of them was a brunette, brown-red eyes, blazer closed, dark stockings, her hair properly brushed and a cascade over her back, held back by a hairband.
She was Fiona Eas of the Tribe of Monaghan, member of the Fidchell-Club, Mender of Buttons Fallen Off (she even had a joking certificate of that in her room back home, made by her class due to her saving their rear ends) and, when there was Younger Militia Training, engaged in training the Cubs in things they would definitely need.
An ideal pick, really.
She even smiled slightly as she listened to the introductory words of the teachers and, when everything was said and done, approached Miranda and her group.
“Hi.”, she greeted, “As they said, I'm Fiona. If you want, Fi's fine, too... but please, no 'Miss Eas'. It's bad enough, that the cubs call me that!”
She showed a small grin at that, too.

Meanwhile, the Delegations of the Cults were spreading a bit as well, the first part of the day for them was over. One of the Delegations, escorted by the Shieldmaidens of Ladra, was of the Cult of Ladra, the largest of the delegations in Lodan Lir's Pearl.
Of course it was that way: Ladra and Lodan Lir were closely related, one guarding the Seas and Rivers, the other guarding those, who drove on them, the two of them being brothers in many Myths and stories, or at least closely related.
Part of that Delegation was a young woman, dirty-blonde hair and blue eyes, fresh eighteen Springs old... in autumn, for the Harvest Festival, she had been in Shella and had met the most amazing woman, with the exception of her Mam and of the Priestess in her hometown's Temple, in the whole world.
The name of the Selkie was Liv Tine of the Tribe of Wicklow and her friend was Katherine.
They had stayed in touch, the Selkie and the Mediaman, by every means they could find, but as of late, the letters had become fewer and far inbetween... the reason was simple: They were both busy. Liv would soon graduate and finish her training as a Priestess of Ladra and Katherine was in a similar situation.
Liv, remembering the dances and the kissing, had a small smile on her lips as she departed her Delegation. They would meet again before the Bainis, but until then, they were mostly free.
And that meant, in this context, that she could take a few minutes to look over the Festival. And what a Festival it was! Cuan, once again, had pulled all stops!
Something in the back of her mind wondered, how much sponsorship of the Cabhair Group had to do with it, but that was another question... in any case, she was not looking where she went as she bumped into someone.
This someone was not wearing Geansai or a school uniform she recognized – so, most likely, a foreigner.
“Ah, I'm very sorry, Miss, I...”, Liv began and trailed off, looking closely at the young woman she had bumped into, “...Kat?”
The singular name, word, three letters, was spoken with such a strong desire, love and still in a whisper, that the young woman might have even missed it herself.

Domingo O. Hasegawa, AAV
Aboard the Diamantine Heart, en route to Selkie territory
0054 NVT

Domingo couldn't sleep; he had been working on a personal project while underway. When he told his father that he was coming to the Free Lands for vacation, Antonio suggested he join the crew of the Diamantine Heart; since the success of Samuel's trip onboard the lead yacht, it had been tradition for yachts of the Indomitable Spirit-class to set sail for Selkie shores to assess their seaworthiness across long distances prior to delivery. In fact, after the Unbreakable Mind made her trip the previous year, Victoria Shipyards opened a branch in the Free Lands for precisely this reason; the Diamantine Heart would be the third yacht to visit the Free Lands since then, after the Spirit of Iron and the Adamantine Soul.

Domingo was among five passengers sailing to the Free Lands; the other four were employees headed to the Selkie Branch to assist with operations. As he made his way to the deck, he saw two of the employees having a snack and some soda on the observation deck--wine was out of the question this close to Selkie waters, it seemed to him, and he was told that he would drop off by the port before the Heart made the short trip to the Selkie Branch. Overall, he expected the trip to come by without incident.

Some time after
Láir Square
0900 Local

Domingo thouht he had seen everything. The Spring Sacrifice proved him wrong; the ritual sacrifice had him fixed in awe as he saw steel pierce flesh; he had read about the cultural norms of the Free Lands during the trip. Needless to say, it was one thing to read about the Spring Festival and another to witness it firsthand.

He took a look at his surroundings; the architecture was entirely different from what he was no stranger to. I wonder if I could find a way to incorporate Selkie design into my next project, he wondered as he started to take pictures. The scenery was, without a doubt, breathtaking, and he was enjoying every moment he had in Láir.

Selkie-Architecture was interesting, especially in the cities.
Many of the buildings were, to this day, built in the half-timber style their ancestors had used, with frames of timber and the walls themselves of stone as infill. That was the case with most buildings in rich Cuan, the profit of trading plainly visible in the architecture.
The plaster on the infill was richly decorated in quite a few cases, murals and sculptures, which depicted scenes of story and myth, but also a lot of flower pots under windows, some even integrated into the sculpting. Of course, as Spring was just beginning, the hanging flower pots only had small flowers, but flowers in all colours of the rainbow.
The most colourful ones hung in the pots high, high up.
And there, Domingo was able to witness Selkie-Culture in its purest form: A lad, maybe ten or eleven Springs in age, from a small crowd of kids of the same age, began to scale one of the houses, bravely up, up and ever up, never looking down, as more and more people began to watch. Curiously enough, despite the kid clinging to the wall ten metres above their heads, no one called for the City Guard or something to get him the bloody hell down there and that five minutes ago!
No, they watched, some reminiscing, some watching curiously, some with grins.
And he nearly fell twice.
Once he was up, he reached for the flower in one of the pots, a bright red one, got it off under usage of a small dagger, and, with the flower in his mouth, scaled down, carefully, as up was usually easier then down, and, when he arrived on solid ground, he breathed a big sigh of relief, as cheers came up.
Cheers, which quickly shushed as the lad turned to one of the girls on the group, a redhead with bright, blue eyes, took the flower and put it into her hair with soft, tender, if shaking hands – soon, his face was of a colour similar to the one of the flower.
The girl, blushing herself, softly pecked him onto the cheek and then ran off into the crowd, her face of the same hue as the flower in her hair.
The lad smiled as if he was in a different world as there were more cheers and even a bit of applause.

20 March 2019
Láir Square

After settling in their rooms, the four students walked and stood observing the astounding spectacle of thousands of people observing the horse riders in exotic appeal. Even then, the prepossessing decorations that embellished the square left a wide impression in their eyes; together with the crowd, it gave each of them a vibe that made them feel like a winter breeze was breathing on their skin. Until, the throat of the horse was slit.

"Damn, that was fuckin' fast the way slit it," commented Gordon, the plump male with glasses.

"You're makin' it worse for the lassies, Gordon," replied Alpin, the skinny male also with glasses.

"Oh, sorry," Gordon turned to Marie, the blonde girl digging her head onto him who returned a soft reply with her palm rising up and shaking side to side.

"Dinnon worry. I can handle myself. But damn...," shuddered Fiona, the Asian female with an exquisite, wavy hair that makes her look like she came from a rich family.

"Oh mon Dieu, why the horse," asked Marie, peeking her head from Gordon's shoulder.

"It's a sacrifice to their gods and goddesses from what I've read. They do it once a year at this season," answered Alpin.

"Good thin' Linda's non here yet. She'd scream like hell," chuckled Gordon as if holding something back within his throat.

"Mate, that be awfy embarassin'," Fiona shakes her head.

"It'd actually be pretty funny, though," Alpin chuckled, restraining himself by hand.

Then, the final announcement bellowed from the High Priestess and the crowd roared in an exhilarating commotion.

"Shall we head down, guys," asked Alpin.

The three agreed, especially for Marie, who wanted to get the image of the horse being slain off of her mind. There, they sauntered deeper into the square, seeking for anything that can get their attention as they traversed through the forest of people.

If the three Folaisians thought, that they would find something exciting to gather their attention, they might find it on the square or the surrounding streets. Certainly, however, there were a lot of people, a lot of them wearing the characteristic fur dresses of the Selkie, the Geansai, some in the woolen Eadach Obaire, few in the half-cuirasses of the Selkie-Horsemen, the Marcach, polished to a sheen.
There was, also, however, a young woman, blonde hair in twin tails and blue eyes, with an excited and happy grin on her face as she walked, almost danced, in front of two other women, both of them older then the first blonde and her sisters, one of them a platinum blonde with a strict face and the other a tower of a woman with a smile. While both of them were excited as well, they did not wear it on their sleeves as much as the youngest. The youngest was of nineteen Springs, the oldest of 25.
However, what might gather the attention most was the dress of the three, which could be best described in two words: Not Selkie. A bodice of white cloth, a blouse of a low-cut (which also offered an excellent view of the 'argumentation amplifiers', which indeed gave the argumentation of all three much more weight) and with short puff-sleeves, an ankle-length skirt and an apron with a lace trimming.
They looked so completely out of place, that even the Selkie themselves could not help but glance over, in the least. They did not care – but they did care as the youngest almost skipped into Gordon.
She smiled apologetically and bowed her head.
“Sorry, my mistake!”, she said and was almost off, until one of her older sisters gave her a light bob on the head. She asked a question in Selkie, a bit angrily, someone knowledgeable in dialects being able to identify it as a dialect spoken in the region of Fortham. The oldest sister gave a deadpan reply, after which the youngest nodded, blushed and turned to Gordon. Bowing a bit deeper, which gave an even better view, she reiterated, less hurried: “My apologies, Sir, I did not see you. Can we help you with anything?”
For them, it was obvious, that they identified these people as tourists.

Láir Square

Jeremiah Colton sat lazily on his wagon with Maude, his Clydesdale, in the middle of Láir Square in Cuan. From his high perch, Jeremiah had a clear view of the Spring Sacrifice taking place before him. As he watched, he took a moment to think back on his short time in The Free Lands of the Selkie.

Earlier in the week, he had arrived at the port town of Beal via a tramp steamer. In Beal he had went through customs and had met up with the bargemen that were going to let him hitch a ride up to Cuan. Earlier in the year, Jeremiah had made sure to plan his journey to Cuan for the spring festival celebrations. As such, he had contacted a local barge company to get a spot on a trip up the Imeall river. Taking a couple days to journey up the Imeall, Jeremiah had used a disposable camera to take photos of the landscape and scenery. Compared to the polluted and belching factories of The Chuck, The Free Lands was a pristine balance of industry and natural beauty. Breathing in the fresh river air, there was no hint of caustic chemicals in the air nor any copious amounts of pollutants. Compared to The Chuck, the Free Lands was a slice of heaven on Earth.

After the few short days on the Imeall river, the barge pulled in to the docks of Cuan while Jeremiah looked on. Before him laid a beautiful town situated at the meeting of two rivers. Departing the barge, he waved goodbye to the bargemen that had transported him here and rode into town on his cart being pulled by Maude. As he rode deeper into Cuan, he had approached Láir Square and now here he was, waiting for the Spring Sacrifice to happen.

After the Spring Sacrifice, the Lair Square was emptying a bit, people not giving much thought about the cart drawn by a singular horse. Maybe one of the travelling people, who got a bit lost in the Festival Mood?
No one knew. And as he wasn't harming anyone, no one bothered with where he stood.
Once the ceremony was over, even the Envoy was allowed to have a few minutes to herself before her Big Day began, her wedding to the God Lodan Lir. And she used those minutes by spurring her little colt Bromach a small bit – not to make him gallop over the square, she was a responsible young woman and that could lead to injuries, but to have him trot a bit.
People did not give her a berth, but many of them left her alone, greetings and waves floating through the air.
And then, the red-haired Mona Beag of the Tribe of Louth found herself next to Jeremiah and his cart, smiling at him.
“Good morning, Sir.”, she asked, looking to Maude, a small smile on her lips, “If I may say so, that's a nice horse... what's her name?”

Láir Square, Cuan, Free Lands of the Selkie.
It had felt like a long time since Christopher Riescheid had seen his one-and-only last time, and to be quite honest, half a year could definitely become a long time. Even though he and Cel had stayed in contact (the classic way - letters!) ever since they had said and kissed each other goodbye back in Shella, when there had been no way for Chris to avoid going back home any longer, he had quite missed her.
When the 19-year-old student from Elverholm's lovely North Shore (whom the Studies of International Relations, originally planned for collecting waiting semesters for something he had decided to leave his hands off after the Purgatio Trip, had brought more south, to Kerkenich, though) had heard about a Spring Festival in Cuan taking place, he hadn't lost any more time - he had dropped another visa application for the Free Lands, his third one already, and booked a flight from Pontrath/Kerkenich International to Traverse International, as he had known, that there would be a hopper going to Cuan, Lodan Lir's Pearl, the city Cel hailed from.
She didn't know about this. It was a surprise.
However, he was sure, that she couldn't be very far away.
Yeah, a lot of things had happened in the previous year ... that school exchange in that ... spooky, to say the very least, place called Purgatio, where he had met Celina Treoraí of the Tribe of Louth, and made a couple of other good friends - then the stay in Dumhach, where it had quickly became obvious, that Cel and he loved each other, and the Shella Harvest Festival in September, where they had met their friends from Purgatio again.
And there he was now, half a year later, on Láir Square in Cuan, at 9AM, watching the Spring Sacrifice which introduced the Selkie's collective birthday. Under the morning sun, he listened to the song of love and good harvests that was being sung and sounded very familiar to him, and joined the general cheer which followed the sacrifice.

On the other side of Láir Square.
Another returnee to the Free Lands was Hilda Leverdal.
The 17-year-old, blonde and blue-eyed young woman from the metropolis of Lysköping, who had suddenly become reasonably famous last summer for winning one of Lillorainen's most renowned horse riding tournaments, which she had quickly learned at the Shella Harvest Festival, had decided to come back again quite soon after that - her own affiliation with horses was quite not the only part of Selkie-Culture she had learned about back then, but, quite certainly, a damn good one.
Contrary to the last time, Hilda did not arrive by ship, but by plane - following the general recommendation by her homeland's authorities, as shipping was announced to not be the best plan in this week due to a certain meteorological particularity Lillos generally referred to as either Schietwetter, or Drisswetter, depending on which part of the Federation they hailed from. It would most certainly get better by the weekend, though, as Spring was also a thing in the Lillöer-Archipelago.
Another difference was her company - whereas her older brother Frederik had come with her to Shella, he now was too busy studying for his final exam in school, Hilda having picked two friends instead as a result.
One of them was Sophus Andresen, a bit less than three years older than Hilda, a quite good-looking guy with dark-blonde hair and ice-blue eyes, a size of 179 and three quarters - not a Nordic Hulk, but still with a broad back. For the purpose of studying 'Something With Media', he had left his original hometown, Preetz in Rigesöer, for Lysköping, where he had met Hilda some time ago. And not only her.
Mia Boserup was almost 22, thus the oldest one amongst the three of them, which brought her into the position of being the natural caretaker for the other two - at least in theory, and mostly also in practice, until the situation was uncontrollable - which was projected to happen in around twelve hours, read, four hours after the opening of the taps. Until then, the brunette with the green eyes, who studied City Development in Lysköping, where she called herself 'half a native' despite actually being from the nearby city of Bentesröd (for a given definition of the term 'nearby'), had at least a good intention.
While Hilda was sure, that there was a bit more than just friendship going on between Sophus and Mia, this was so far denied by both of them.
Hilda and Mia knew each other primarily from the Stable, and while Sophus could hardly be called a regular there, he was familiar enough with the art of moving forward on an equine to not be embarrassed too much - neither in said stable, nor on the way from Silverport to Cuan, which the three of them had decided to make on horseback, taking the Feadhain Road and the Lake Iasc-Cuan ferry, for some adventure.
Now that they were here, they watched the Spring Sacrifice, and although especially Hilda and Mia, but also Sophus quite much, pitied the colt a bit for having to die now, they were aware, that it was for the Gods and therefore in Their sense. And it was only once a year. Therefore, they joined the general cheer.

Detective Soiprigh was investigating.
He had caught a whiff of a familiar smell, where there should be no familiar smell: Chris was not in Cuan, he was in Dumhach or Shella, but not in their hometown! His smell was on his Mistress', or rather Mother's clothes, but not in her hometown!
But still, he had caught the scent, his little, sensitive vulpine nose hopefully not playing tricks on him. He liked the man from Lillorainen, after all!
And as he weaved through the crowd, most not seeing him and almost all who did see him thinking of him as a pest or something, the little black-grey vulpine with red highlights and shining blue eyes the scent got stronger!
He was a Little Black Fox, protected by Abhcan, the Vixen, Herself, and although this was a city of Lodan Lir and his followers, the Vixen still had followers here – his Mistress, for example.
And there was the source.
A young human male, which stood tall, seemingly thinking about something or the other, his scent revealing, that he was excited. Indeed, this could only be one!
Soiprigh gave a yipp to make him aware of his presence.

[Foxfound]

People say the journey is more memorable than the destination, and while that hopefully wouldn't be the case here, the trip was certainly a wild one for three girls who had spent their lives isolated in the Arctic.

The ocean trip to Beal was nothing special to most, on board an old steamer that had no distinguishing features other than its low ticket price, but it was still an amazing few days for three youngsters who had never been at sea or, in Kiri's case, not been at sea for many years. Then it was a boat ride along the scenic Imeall to Cuan itself.

Z, a self-proclaimed explorer and researcher, had spent much of the journey taking questionably coherent notes, playing music for the steamer's fellow passengers on her balalaika, and trying not to lose their passports. Ren, the younger and quieter of the two sisters she had been charged with watching, contented herself with a drawing of the mouth of the Imeall River and another of Cuan from the water. Kiri, the older sister and someone who hoped to be a journalist, made some amateur attempts at photography, with much help from Z. It was rather hard to operate a camera when one was incorporeal.

Z,wearing a heavy backpack and holding her instrument in her hands, seemed ready to take anything the city could throw at her as she stepped ashore. Her and Ren likely looked out of place with their somewhat inhuman features, though for obvious reasons the third member of the party was attracting more attention, something that made her very nervous.

"Cheer up, Kiri, we're on vacation!" bellowed Z. This was easy for the carefree yōkai to say; she treated most days of her life like a vacation. "Come on, the main festivities should start at the square any minute!"

What followed was an adventuresome trek through the cobbled and wooden streets, glancing in the windows of shops taller than most buildings back home. Z purchased a map of the area from a street vendor, which quickly led them to the center of town, shortly before the sacrifice that was to kick off the season.

Kiri had calmed down considerably, and was enjoying the sights. She watched the spectacle at the square intently. Z, who had read a thing or two about how these festivals went, suddenly took on a more serious face befitting a chaperone.

"Kiri, you might not want to - "

It was too late. In one fluid motion, the lady at the center of the scene slit the throat of the horse she had led. Kiri's eyes went wide. She managed to keep from screaming, thankfully, but she covered her eyes for several minutes. Death was not a pleasant subject for anyone, but especially not for her. Z did much to calm her down; usually hopelessly immature, she could be a good guiding figure when the situation called for it, and to Kiri often seemed like a strong older sibling even though they weren't related.

"See, it's alright, pal. Say, why don't we try to find one of your internet buddies who said they were attendin' the festival? Didn't some of them say they wanted to meet you?"

Kiri looked around, and decided that would be an impossibility. Before they arrived, it hadn't really registered with her that this single town had more people in it than her entire island. It certainly struck home now, in this crowded square.

Ren and Z did not raise much alarm.
Seeing a young Spiorad happened rarely, but it happened, and that was, what most Selkie were seeing in two of the group of three, when they looked at them. Quite a few even considered themselves lucky, due to old superstitions according to which seeing a young Spiorad was a sign of good fortune.
Kiri, the ghost... caused different reactions.
Not fear, not hate, but unease, a bit of squirmishness. No one could tell, why that was, Kiri and her attempts at photography were received well and as cute, but... it was there.
Still, the three of them had a few centimetres more to every side and when the horse was sacrificed, her covering of her eyes went mostly unnoticed.
Moving through the crowd was a familiar face to the three of them, violet, bright and happy eyes, blonde hair and the ears of a fox on her head, which twitched happily and with excitement. She even waved and when she was there, she grinned.
“Kiri, Ren and Z, right?”, she asked, grinning widely, “I'm Macha – we met on Piffle! I'm so glad and excited to see you! You three had a nice trip to here?” She looked at all three, especially at Kiri. “You... don't look too happy...”

"Good to see you!" Z said with a smile, before glancing at Kiri. Ren, meanwhile, managed a shy but friendly "Hello."

"Yeah... I guess she hadn't expected the whole sacrifice thing, and it kind of freaked her out... she'll be fine, though. She's a tough girl."

Kiri nodded. "Sorry. I'm just... not used to that sort of thing..."

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Cuan, Láir Square
Amid the cheering and merrymaking, there was one young woman, wearing a brown-and-white dress that seemed like something out of the 19th century, who stuck out like a sore thumb-and not just through her clothing(how about you try staying up for 48 hours straight doing all of your homework for Spring Break so you can spend the rest of the time free, and then get your sleep on the plane interrupted by turbulence?).
She forced her eyes open. That was only the...fortieth(fiftieth? Sixtieth?) time she had nearly fallen asleep within the last 48 hours.
'Goddamn it, Marie...' she muttered to herself. 'Stay awake. If Karl's insane squadmate who accidentally took acid, went into a tunnel under inspection, and came out a week later with 50 thumbs attached to his belt as trophies could stay awake all that time, you can keep up for another 12 hours...'
She took a gulp from her canteen, which was filled with lukewarm coffee.
Every fiber of her body yelled at her to go to sleep. At 12 hours, loud music stopped working. At 24, applying pain lost it's effectiveness. The fact that coffee still managed to make get her to stay somewhere within driving distance of alert and awake was a testament it's high caffeine content and bitterness.
Now that she could pass as roughly, more or less almost-halfway awake, she capped her canteen and began to wander through the city, ignoring the sound of cheering and merrymaking.

She looked around. She had been in the Free Lands before, but never in the capital. And she had met Selkie-folk before even that-a certain lass by the name of Cel, to be exact, in Purgatario. Thankfully she hadn't seen the nitty-gritty side. Irene and Karl(now Her Majesty, Irene I of Wittelsbach, Queen of Bavaria, and Gefreiter Stortebeker, respectively), two of her other friends from the homeland, had gone, and it had left them with a long-lasting hate of the nation of Purgatario and all of it's works. With Irene, she wouldn't be surprised, but Karl-the most reasonable and levelheaded(if slightly mischievous of people)-if what they did could move him to rage...she didn't want to think about it.
In any case, soon after Purgatario, Cel had invited her, Karl, and Irene over to the Free Lands, where she met Yven.
'Ah, Yven of the House of Barriall...' she thought. 'Never a finer man than him, not since Gaius Mucius or Jan III Sobeski...still, we were kids playing at love. Perhaps it's better that we agreed to be friends. And even then...even if we wanted to turn back the clock, I doubt I'd be able to continue my studies here. Goddamn, if I'm already pulling all-nighters in freshman year, then what hope do I have in graduate school?'

[AHSCA]

Haru and Hina Miki - Gléas Inn - First Morning

The end of March was a special time for Hina she was soon turning another age, slowly progressing towards womanhood, well at least by islander standards. No better way to really celebrate her coming birthday than to be with her mom on a trip abroad. Her mom, Haru, a skilled sailor had planned a trip abroad a while ago but things didn't quite work out. Haru had no regrets, she wanted to make sure her daughter would make it through the storm. Not something Hina should dwell on but still she couldn't help but do so. Hina wasn't the seafarer her mother was, even if classic tradition dictated she should be!

In the early morning at the Gléas Inn, Hina stirred a little waking up. She crept out of bed to not disturb her mother and relieve herself noticing a little sunlight streaming through she peaked out the windows noticing morning had come. Haru let out a rather loud yawn "ooooh, Hina, you're already up?"

"It's already morning, mama." She jumped back on the bed. "Thinking we should get started and see whats out there."

"You're right, you're right....Just give me a moment." Haru seemed to have some trouble getting going but it had been a rather long and difficult voyage for the both of them. So difficult in fact it lead to a few overly close calls leaving its mark, a mark on Hina's only pair of glasses, a small crack in her lens. She sighed a little examining them, maybe if she were a better sailor she could at least have stayed on her feet easier when being tossed around by an angry sea.

"Mama, know that I love you a lot but if you don't get up soon, I'm gonna have to splash cold water on your face!"

"oh heaven's what am I a pig? All right, all right I'm up." Haru slumped out of bed giving her cheeks a little light slap with her hands. "Gee, you're tired," Hina remarked getting dressed. "I'm not THAT restless of a sleeper, am I?"

"No, dear, just the long trip and time difference, I'm getting used to it all still." They had only arrived a day before. "Be good to get out into the sun then! They say that's the best cure for lag they say. Actually think that's what Anna said helped her when she came to AHSCA."

"All right, I'll get there, don't you worry." Haru went for the door like she was ready to walk right out, despite being ill dressed for it. "M-mama, maybe you want to get dressed first."

"Oh... right...." As the minutes drew on and on Haru gradually became more awake and aware getting her hair tied in a very long ponytail helping Hina out with tying her hair into her signature twin braids. Once finished, she frowned seeing her girl's cracked lens. "Mmm your glasses, dear, I think we should get them replaced and maybe another pair."

"I just need a lens fixed we don't need to blow all our cash on that."

"We have plenty of money, I swear you're getting your father's money pinching habits!"

"Aww well I guess that's why papa didn't come along."

"Well it's for the best, he can care for the farm while we're here and you can actually celebrate your birthday....Don't give me that look, little lady, I didn't forget."

"It's still a week away. It's no big deal really."

"It is, don't be so silly. Well first thing is first, breakfast. Let's find somewhere in town we can eat."

"All right." Both women set off into town to find a good place to feast.

---

Shizuka Gozen - Láir Square - First Morning

Shizuka may be in government but she wasn't going to make a fuss. She was hear as a tourist nothing more. She didn't call in anyone at the embassy no arrangements made nothing. Honestly there wasn't much point in someone wanting to hurt her, one she was cute as a button and two her role was super limited as someone who helped in media matters which in a largely primitive environment wasn't much. But moreover she felt it was time to write something again and coming to a place she had always wanted to visit felt like a good way to get her creative juices flowing. Her work did keep her busy, sometimes too busy to get back to what she started off doing, writing. She was a rather "accomplished" novelist, well "accomplished" within her home country, it was unlikely much of her work made it out of the islands, even if the Kyrenian and Selkie people shared and swapped works of each other's cultures with the Islanders. Well either way it was sure to be a good trip, she might get some ideas or at least she gets to experience a foreign land as rich in history and tradition as this one. And first thing this morning she got her firsthand experience seeing a woman identified as The High Priestess go about a ritualistic animal sacrifice. Well a bit much for her but she wasn't going to think ill of it, certainly there likely many things foreigners found strange about AHSCA already.

"Mmm maybe I won't write about that...." She muttered to herself. Violence wasn't really her style but who knows something else could spark. Getting a look around at all the attendees, this festival drew quite a crowd from near and far. The Gensais were indicative of whom was likely a Selkie person and they were always nice to look at.

[Kuronami]

The Varden Family + One Lang

A rustic farming family had made a pilgrimage to The Freelands back during their harvest and then the family was a bit on hard times, losing much of their crop to a sudden hailstorm. Now the fortunes had changed and things were going well, so well they felt perhaps their visit was blessed by any divinity looking over them. Joey though was more of a tag along, rather at Billie's pleas and insistence to her folks. Joey's own parents thought it would be a good idea, with her two big sisters away and her best friend going overseas it would be rather lonely on the little girl. Early cold weather in Kuronami had already brought an end to the growing and harvesting so work was light and the family had enough help.

The family took to camping this time, the inn ran them quite a bit of money but it was fun either way. The two little ones were having the times of their lives, Charlie put up with it, Jamie was fine with anything. With the early morning chill growing warmer and nicer both the young ones could shed their jackets and keep playing as long as they could.

"Billie, you think your BOYFRIEND will be here?"

"I told ya, Joey he's not my boyfriend, okay! We only just met during the Harvest Festival and now who knows whats gonna happen now that we've been apart so long!"

"Ya should have asked him to come back to Kuronami with ya."

"Not sure his ma and pa would have let him. Not sure they'd have moved out either. Hey maybe I'll see him, maybe I won't. Lots a people seem to come to these festivals."

"Well ya do like him, don'cha?"

Billie hiding her blushing face "C-come on, I told ya, it aint like that!"

Jamie seeing the two little girls playing and chatting needed to get them along so they could move out already. Speaking in a gruff aggressive voice to play a little game on them, "Hey you two! What are you doing!?"

"Aaah, we're sorry sir!" They both yelped in surprise turning around

"Gotcha."

"Ooooh, it's only your papa!" Joey chuckled letting off a cathartic sigh.

"Papa, don't scare us like that!" Billie scolded her father

"Hehe, come on you two, we're ready to head on into town now, don't wanna leave you two behind." he ruffled up his daughter's red hair and moved on back to his wife. Billie took Joey by the hand "All right, come on Joey, I'll show you what I saw when I was here and we might see new stuff too."

---

Mei Aihara Tsukasa Kamijo

When their plane landed at Silverport the other day the two girls were tired but no worse for the wear, Tsukasa the nervous flier made it through another trip. Mei was the traveler, Tsukasa would be more content with just staying in the village they called home. But Tsukasa put on a good face for her girlfriend. The ferry was more Tsukasa's speed (literally and figuratively) a pleasant trip over water to Cuan their final destination. "Tsu-chan." Mei came over to Tsukasa who was looking over at the horizion feeling the breeze against her skin. "Seems like we're close."

"Ah finally, felt like we'd never get here. This place is pretty, Mei, this was a good idea."

"Oh thanks. It seemed like it'd be a fun trip for the both of us to go to."

"Still, not sure you needed to bring along your Erhu" She motioned to the music case Mei was carrying along.

"Well I figured I do have a recital when I get back. Plus if we flew through a storm I could play it to keep you calm. But this time we had a rather easy trip."

"Tch, practice," Tsukasa scoffed a little "You're the best player I know, I doubt you need any more."

"I'm glad you think I'm so talented but even I need to practice. Oh well, I doubt it will bother anyone so long as I don't play it off hours. Maybe I can play for a crowd even! Well maybe..."

"I guess we'll see but let's maybe keep it at the Inn so you aren't lugging it around town all day."

It was a short while later the ferry docked and the two found their Inn, also the Gléas Inn. Mei ensured their reservations were kept and signed off any needed papers and agreements. Their single bedroom, perfect for the two love birds. Actually the two kissed often and held hands but neither had really gotten truly aquainted. Something Tsukasa was hoping to finally do soon if Mei would be okay with it that was. But she wasn't going to worry about that now, maybe over tea she could broach the subject. Once check in was all said and done the next matter was settling into their room getting their things unpacked, they traveled light hoping to take a few gifts home with them.

"What a lovely room!" Mei praised feeling up the bed.

"Mmmm yeah it is nice." Tsukasa plainly replied. Actually she kind of had her own sights on the Raithneach Village Inn, being a country girl herself it was more up her alley plus for once she could afford to treat Mei. But Mei was such a proper young lady of high class and noble caliber it might actually be hard to convince her to ride. "Well, Mei, you want to play first or go out?"

"I can practice later, let's go out, we did just get here after all, be a shame to waste a beautiful day like this!" Mei grabbed Tsukasa by the hand to gently pull her along. . "Shopping or just sight seeing first?" Tsukasa asked Mei. "Let's sight see for a bit huh?"

"Good idea."

[Deutschess Kaiserreich]

Rudolf never did like animals as a child. He hated the stray dog his sister had bought home and the fact that his parents let her. They were smelly and noisy. Just like his men. Why was the woman offering him cash? He was an officer of the Wehrmacht and the Whermact took care of their men. Still, it couldn't hurt to pet a few goats? Could it?

"Sure lead the way."

[The Chuck]

Cuan, Láir Square

Jeremiah watched the sacrifice take place and winced a little bit when the young colt was sacrificed. As a blacksmith, usually he shod horses instead of sacrificing them. As such, he wasn't surprised when Maude whinnied and he reached forward and stroked her mane to calm her down. As the crowd cheered, he held the reins tight so Maude wouldn't accidentally step on any bystanders. As Jeremiah waited for the crowd to disperse, a red-haired lass rode up next to him on a little colt. From where he sat on the spring seat of his blacksmith's wagon, he towered over the lady. Looking down at her he smiled before uttering,

"Dia dhuit."

As he spoke the Gaelic greeting, Jeremiah was careful to enunciate it correctly even though he had a thick accented drawl. Changing over to English he continued.

"Good day ma'am. She's named Maude and she's my draught horse. If you would be so kind as to let me know your horse's name too?"

If Mona was paying careful attention while Jeremiah spoke, she might have been able to catch a whiff of worn leather, quenching oil, and anthracite coal. Although the back of the wagon was covered where she couldn't see, if she took careful notice of Jeremiah's beard and calloused hands, she could discern that he was a craftsman of sorts.

[Mediama]

The group of plaid-skirt dressed girls was quickly met by a group of young women in white shirts, brown blazers above that, green plaid skirts and red-white ties. School uniforms, in this case of the Póraitheoir High School of Cuan.
After the tour of students of the Educational Tour Programme was such a good success, the Selkie-Side of things, on recommendation of Professor Celina Ollamh of the University of Leuda, had agreed to formalize things a bit and agreed to not only allow the students to come, but also to give them the chance of meeting girls of the same age and experience things with them.
And that was, why the girls of the Póraitheoir were there, roughly of the same age, from the city and with time on their hands. They were to be guides and to find friends amongst the Mediaman Girls, their teacher standing with the leader of the guests.
By a simple glance over the assembled Selkie-Students, one saw, that they were not exactly all honour roll students, but there were quite a few prim and proper students amongst them. One of them was a brunette, brown-red eyes, blazer closed, dark stockings, her hair properly brushed and a cascade over her back, held back by a hairband.
She was Fiona Eas of the Tribe of Monaghan, member of the Fidchell-Club, Mender of Buttons Fallen Off (she even had a joking certificate of that in her room back home, made by her class due to her saving their rear ends) and, when there was Younger Militia Training, engaged in training the Cubs in things they would definitely need.
An ideal pick, really.
She even smiled slightly as she listened to the introductory words of the teachers and, when everything was said and done, approached Miranda and her group.
“Hi.”, she greeted, “As they said, I'm Fiona. If you want, Fi's fine, too... but please, no 'Miss Eas'. It's bad enough, that the cubs call me that!”
She showed a small grin at that, too.

Miranda moved to say something, but Kathleen butted in "Aye, we're not that uptight an' formal." Miranda glared at Miranda, who raised her hands and in denial.

"I already told you that I'm coming out of my shell... kind of." Miranda turned back towards Fiona, "My name's Miranda Mulligan," She nodded towards Kathleen, "That loud one over there is my Scottish friend, Kathleen Mcdougall." Miranda patted their school coat of arms on their navy blue blazer, with white trimmings and silver buttons. " We're from the Queen Victoria's Academy for Young Ladies, so we're kind of held at higher standards. It can get pretty suffocating sometimes-"

"More like all the time..."

"Kathleen!"

"Right, right, mind my manners and all of that."

Miranda turned back to Fiona, blushing and flustered. "D-Don't worry, not all of us are loud and rowdy. You're from the local high school, right? We've got time before we go to city hall, but none of us has any idea on what interestin' things are in the square. I-I bought a few Dorling Kindersley travel guides about Selkie, but it doesn't cover Cuan in full detail." Miranda offered her hand out to Fiona “We’d be happy to meet you and show us your city.”

Meanwhile, the Delegations of the Cults were spreading a bit as well, the first part of the day for them was over. One of the Delegations, escorted by the Shieldmaidens of Ladra, was of the Cult of Ladra, the largest of the delegations in Lodan Lir's Pearl.
Of course it was that way: Ladra and Lodan Lir were closely related, one guarding the Seas and Rivers, the other guarding those, who drove on them, the two of them being brothers in many Myths and stories, or at least closely related.
Part of that Delegation was a young woman, dirty-blonde hair and blue eyes, fresh eighteen Springs old... in autumn, for the Harvest Festival, she had been in Shella and had met the most amazing woman, with the exception of her Mam and of the Priestess in her hometown's Temple, in the whole world.
The name of the Selkie was Liv Tine of the Tribe of Wicklow and her friend was Katherine.
They had stayed in touch, the Selkie and the Mediaman, by every means they could find, but as of late, the letters had become fewer and far inbetween... the reason was simple: They were both busy. Liv would soon graduate and finish her training as a Priestess of Ladra and Katherine was in a similar situation.
Liv, remembering the dances and the kissing, had a small smile on her lips as she departed her Delegation. They would meet again before the Bainis, but until then, they were mostly free.
And that meant, in this context, that she could take a few minutes to look over the Festival. And what a Festival it was! Cuan, once again, had pulled all stops!
Something in the back of her mind wondered, how much sponsorship of the Cabhair Group had to do with it, but that was another question... in any case, she was not looking where she went as she bumped into someone.
This someone was not wearing Geansai or a school uniform she recognized – so, most likely, a foreigner.
“Ah, I'm very sorry, Miss, I...”, Liv began and trailed off, looking closely at the young woman she had bumped into, “...Kat?”
The singular name, word, three letters, was spoken with such a strong desire, love and still in a whisper, that the young woman might have even missed it herself.

Katherine, with fate kicking her in the arse, and with complete disregard to physics, fell with the slightest bump. She yelped, then groaned as she recovered from the fall. She didn’t pay attention to the exclamation, at least, not until she looked up, and her vision cleared.

Is that? No, it can’t be. Katherine waited for her vision to clear up, only to have her suspicions confirmed, she widened her eyes in surprise.

“Liv? Aw bloody hell! What are you doing here?” Kat asked. Not waiting for an immediate answer, she quickly got up, dusted herself off, and moved to hug Liv and pull her into a kiss. Briefly regretting the wooziness she felt from the quick, sudden movement.

[Folaisia]

If the three Folaisians thought, that they would find something exciting to gather their attention, they might find it on the square or the surrounding streets. Certainly, however, there were a lot of people, a lot of them wearing the characteristic fur dresses of the Selkie, the Geansai, some in the woolen Eadach Obaire, few in the half-cuirasses of the Selkie-Horsemen, the Marcach, polished to a sheen.
There was, also, however, a young woman, blonde hair in twin tails and blue eyes, with an excited and happy grin on her face as she walked, almost danced, in front of two other women, both of them older then the first blonde and her sisters, one of them a platinum blonde with a strict face and the other a tower of a woman with a smile. While both of them were excited as well, they did not wear it on their sleeves as much as the youngest. The youngest was of nineteen Springs, the oldest of 25.
However, what might gather the attention most was the dress of the three, which could be best described in two words: Not Selkie. A bodice of white cloth, a blouse of a low-cut (which also offered an excellent view of the 'argumentation amplifiers', which indeed gave the argumentation of all three much more weight) and with short puff-sleeves, an ankle-length skirt and an apron with a lace trimming.
They looked so completely out of place, that even the Selkie themselves could not help but glance over, in the least. They did not care – but they did care as the youngest almost skipped into Gordon.
She smiled apologetically and bowed her head.
“Sorry, my mistake!”, she said and was almost off, until one of her older sisters gave her a light bob on the head. She asked a question in Selkie, a bit angrily, someone knowledgeable in dialects being able to identify it as a dialect spoken in the region of Fortham. The oldest sister gave a deadpan reply, after which the youngest nodded, blushed and turned to Gordon. Bowing a bit deeper, which gave an even better view, she reiterated, less hurried: “My apologies, Sir, I did not see you. Can we help you with anything?”
For them, it was obvious, that they identified these people as tourists.

Gordon jostled through the crowd, following Alpin and Fiona as he held the hand of Marie. His eyes kept their lock on him, ignorant of his ears swallowing the commotion, and he moved smoothly like a dancer on a stage. Marie one time chuckled to herself when she saw him switch hands as he turned on his right foot to give himself space. Gordon was about to catch up Alpin at a quick pace, until somebody, a girl, made him recoil. The sudden appearance almost made his glasses drop on the ground, as Gordon leaped. After turning to girl, he put up both of his hands as if to block her voice.

"Uh...Tha e ceart gu leòr, caileagan (It's alright, lassie)," Gordon said in Scottish Gaelic, before staying silent and switching to English, all composed in tone and nodding, "Just be careful where you're skippin' to, alright? Anyways, we're headin' a set of shops over there towards the left. My friend Alpin here suggested them. Well, Fiona, actually," he shrugged to the Asian girl.

[Lillorainen]

Detective Soiprigh was investigating.
He had caught a whiff of a familiar smell, where there should be no familiar smell: Chris was not in Cuan, he was in Dumhach or Shella, but not in their hometown! His smell was on his Mistress', or rather Mother's clothes, but not in her hometown!
But still, he had caught the scent, his little, sensitive vulpine nose hopefully not playing tricks on him. He liked the man from Lillorainen, after all!
And as he weaved through the crowd, most not seeing him and almost all who did see him thinking of him as a pest or something, the little black-grey vulpine with red highlights and shining blue eyes the scent got stronger!
He was a Little Black Fox, protected by Abhcan, the Vixen, Herself, and although this was a city of Lodan Lir and his followers, the Vixen still had followers here – his Mistress, for example.
And there was the source.
A young human male, which stood tall, seemingly thinking about something or the other, his scent revealing, that he was excited. Indeed, this could only be one!
Soiprigh gave a yipp to make him aware of his presence.

As the cheer ended, and all the people were starting to move around, towards the stalls or other ways to have some entertainment, Chris looked around - at the other side of the square, he spotted someone he knew, not too well, but met quite a few times, mostly in and around Nienhagen, but also in some apple wine pubs in and around Lechelen.
And once in Shella.
He considered, at least, saying hello to Hilda Leverdal, given that he was one of the few persons who knew her two other names and especially the background behind them - but she seemed too busy debating with her two friends on what to do now.
The reunion back then in Shella had been the first time for a long, that they had met, just like Fred, who, after a mysterious incident involving a close friend of his own and Chris', had run out of good reasons to go to Nienhagen a bit. All three had been extremely surprised to meet again, especially in foreign lands ...

Somewhere in Shella, September 23, 2018, in the evening.
With a quick "Be right back, gotta bring something away!", and the obligatory peck on Cel's cheek, Chris had announced to leave the place for a few minutes. Contrary to previous assumptions and predictions, he was not fully loaded, but the whiskey and other spirits were, indeed, pressing on his bladder a tiny bit.
Having successfully done his business, he left the public facility again - and kept standing, for he thought he was having hallucinations already.
A blonde and blue-eyed guy with a glass of whiskey in one hand and something to smoke in the other was talking to a girl who could easily be his sister - and Chris knew, that she indeed was.
He tried to remember how long it had been ago since Fred and Hilda had shown up in Chris' home city the last time. Quite a few years ago it had been, with lads and lassies like Jupp, Ralle, Saskia, Dragan Jojić, Dragan Šubić ... all in some pub in the workers' district in Nienhagen-Maschenich. Remembering this was already hard enough ...
He joined them, catching a few Danish phrases meaning something along the lines of, '... good guys in here' - 'Indeed.'
"Long time no see, eh?" - Chris said in German (with a Rhenish dialect, of course), grinning.
Both Leverdals turned to him, quite surprised for a moment, then grinning back. "Mister Riescheid - what a rare view!" - Fred said, laughing. "What are you doing here?"
"I know, right? The same as you, I suppose."
Fred nodded and took a drag. "I've heard about this from a friend, and I wanted to see what it's like in here, and in the Free Lands in general - just to learn, that I've obviously had a famous sister all the time being without knowing."
Hilda nodded. "I haven't been aware myself ... seems like a lot of important people have watched that tournament in Düvenich."
"Was a few weeks before I left for the Oileánra-Archipelago, if I'm not entirely mistaken, right? In June?"
Hilda nodded again. "Correct. And apparently, the Marcach know about this, too - and they're all very nice folks!"
"So you've already been around these parts?" - Fred asked.
"I've been here since July, due to a girl I've met during a student exchange prior to that" - Chris replied. "In another place I'm ... very unlikely to visit ever again. The Dominion of Purgatio."
"Purgatio ..." Fred had to think about that for a moment. "I've met some guy from there during another exchange ... Ansel was his name, I think."
"Ansel De Lussan, by any chance?" - Chris wondered.
Fred raised his eyebrows. "Yes, that guy was it. How was it in that place?"
"Well ..." Chris began to tell about what he had seen there, the server room Ansel worked in, the concentration camps, De La Fayette, how he had met Cel and the other friends he had made there, out of which Fred even knew some, how horrifying this all had been, how he had gone to Dumhach afterwards, and finally come together with Cel.
Fred and Hilda had kept their eyebrows raised.
"So let me get this straight" - Fred said, "You've been to that horrible place - and met Ansel, a Selkie-Girl, a deep Catholic Portuguese girl who wants to become a pole dancer, Svala Björk, Helena's cousin, and the President of San Prospero?"
Chris nodded. "Not to mention the Hitler cosplayer."
Fred shook his head. "Unbelievable."
"Yet true."
"I think we have to go back" - Hilda said. "They're already wondering where we are."
Chris nodded. "As do I. Maybe we'll see each other later on, or someday back home, eh?"
"Assumable. Uh, hang on - they haven't found Miri back, eh?"
Chris shook his head. "Still lost, from what I know."
"Still a pity."
And there, their ways separated again. For now ...

Chris was just lost in memories - then, he heard a well-known yipp.
He recognized the Little Black Fox at once.
"Soiprigh!" - he said, grinning. "Nice to see you again, old boy! How are you doing - and any idea where Mommy could be?"

[The Selkie]

"Good to see you!" Z said with a smile, before glancing at Kiri. Ren, meanwhile, managed a shy but friendly "Hello."

"Yeah... I guess she hadn't expected the whole sacrifice thing, and it kind of freaked her out... she'll be fine, though. She's a tough girl."

Kiri nodded. "Sorry. I'm just... not used to that sort of thing..."

Waving to Ren, Macha quickly turned to Kiri.
"Don't worry. Tourists sometimes get a bit squirmish at the sight.", she said and gave a comforting smile, "When I first attended such a Spring Festival, I actually had to throw up!" She smiled at the memory. "Caused a few problems back in the day, but... it's not for nothing, that is for sure."
She motioned to the stage, where a large, linen cloth had been erected. By the bowl, a line of adolescents, kids of fourteen Springs, lined up, the first one putting his hand into the bowl with the horse blood, just enough so that his palm was red, and then placed it onto the cloth, leaving a handprint.
"They are turning into adults this year.", Macha explained, "And they make themselves known to the Gods. Tonight, when the horse is burned, the cloth will be burned as well - express-delivery."
She smiled at the three of them.
"I know, it must seem strange to you, but it all has its meaning and all is for a purpose.", she said, then extended her arms, "Now, come here, all three of you! Gimme a hug!"

Cuan, Láir Square
Amid the cheering and merrymaking, there was one young woman, wearing a brown-and-white dress that seemed like something out of the 19th century, who stuck out like a sore thumb-and not just through her clothing(Although...well, how about you try staying up for 48 hours straight doing all of your homework for Spring Break so you can spend the rest of the time free, and then get your sleep on the plane interrupted by turbulence?).
She forced her eyes open. That was only the...fortieth(fiftieth? Sixtieth?) time she had nearly fallen asleep within the last 48 hours.
'Goddamn it, Marie...' she muttered to herself. 'Stay awake. If Karl's insane squadmate who accidentally took acid, went into a tunnel under inspection, and came out a week later with 50 thumbs attached to his belt as trophies could stay awake all that time, you can keep up for another 12 hours...'
She took a gulp from her canteen, which was filled with lukewarm coffee.
Every fiber of her body yelled at her to go to sleep. At 12 hours, loud music stopped working. At 24, applying pain lost it's effectiveness. The fact that coffee still managed to make get her to stay somewhere within driving distance of alert and awake was a testament it's high caffeine content and bitterness.
Now that she could pass as roughly, more or less almost-halfway awake, she capped her canteen and began to wander through the city, ignoring the sound of cheering and merrymaking.

She looked around. She had been in the Free Lands before, but never in the capital. And she had met Selkie before even that-a certain lass by the name of Cel, to be exact, in Purgatario. Thankfully she hadn't seen the nitty-gritty side. Irene and Karl(now Her Majesty, Irene I of Wittelsbach, Queen of Bavaria, and Gefreiter Stortebeker, respectively), two of her other friends from the homeland, had gone, and it had left them with a long-lasting hate of the nation of Purgatario and all of it's works. With Irene, she wouldn't be surprised, but Karl-the most reasonable and levelheaded(if slightly mischievous of people)-if what they did could move him to rage...she didn't want to think about it.
In any case, soon after Purgatario, Cel had invited her, Karl, and Irene over to the Free Lands, where she met Yven.
'Ah, Yven of the House of Barriall...' she thought. 'Never a finer man than him, not since Gaius Mucius or Jan III Sobeski...still, we were kids playing at love. Perhaps it's better that we agreed to be friends. And even then...even if we wanted to turn back the clock, I doubt I'd be able to continue my studies here. Goddamn, if I'm already pulling all-nighters in freshman year, then what hope do I have in graduate school?'

Sometime in her wandering, half-asleep and seemingly aimless, someone became acutely aware of Marie's state. That someone was a she.
She had red-brown eyes, red hair and was a few years younger then Marie, still going to school. She was dressed in Geansai, in Lodan Lir's Two Blues, which marked her as a Servant to that God of the Sea and the Rivers.
She approached Marie and, straight-up, spoke: "Hey, you alright? You don't look too healthy..."
By her side was a canine, a guarding fox, orange and beige furred and with black stripes, his eyes wide and attentive - these animals were known for their intelligence and the fierce defense they put up for their young.
Obviously, it was the young woman's pet.

Rudolf never did like animals as a child. He hated the stray dog his sister had bought home and the fact that his parents let her. They were smelly and noisy. Just like his men. Why was the woman offering him cash? He was an officer of the Wehrmacht and the Whermact took care of their men. Still, it couldn't hurt to pet a few goats? Could it?

"Sure lead the way."

Unaware of his thoughts, but knowing, that the time he would have to pet goats would be rather limited, the woman nodded.
"Alright, come with me.", she said and motioned for him to follow her. "I am Kiah, by the way. Kiah Eitil. Who are you? And if I may ask, where are you from?"
She led him to the side of the Square, onto one of the wide main streets, which was packed full with people and lined with peddlers and hawkers, as well as more regular stores. From people selling hand-crafted toys to tools, even an instrument maker, who had his house-own fiddler playing up, to watercolour artists selling their works or, in at least two cases, were painting them right there for interested customers.

Cuan, Láir Square

Jeremiah watched the sacrifice take place and winced a little bit when the young colt was sacrificed. As a blacksmith, usually he shod horses instead of sacrificing them. As such, he wasn't surprised when Maude whinnied and he reached forward and stroked her mane to calm her down. As the crowd cheered, he held the reins tight so Maude wouldn't accidentally step on any bystanders. As Jeremiah waited for the crowd to disperse, a red-haired lass rode up next to him on a little colt. From where he sat on the spring seat of his blacksmith's wagon, he towered over the lady. Looking down at her he smiled before uttering,

"Dia dhuit."

As he spoke the Gaelic greeting, Jeremiah was careful to enunciate it correctly even though he had a thick accented drawl. Changing over to English he continued.

"Good day ma'am. She's named Maude and she's my draught horse. If you would be so kind as to let me know your horse's name too?"

If Mona was paying careful attention while Jeremiah spoke, she might have been able to catch a whiff of worn leather, quenching oil, and anthracite coal. Although the back of the wagon was covered where she couldn't see, if she took careful notice of Jeremiah's beard and calloused hands, she could discern that he was a craftsman of sorts.

Mona nodded with a smile, which widened at being called a Ma'am.
She was turning into an adult today, so being called that boosted her self-confidence... which she quickly reigned in. She figured, that he was a hard-working man, his hands said so, and if she would be asked, she would say, that he was not a leatherworker. Instead, she would bet a craftsman, maybe a carpenter or a smith.
Didn't matter as she reached forward to pet her own horse's side.
"This lad?", she asked with a grin, "His name's Bromach, he is a Bratach Ríoga - Royal Standard, as the race is known internationally." He gave a soft whinny, his large, kind eyes looking at his surroundings with interest. "He's a good lad."
Jeremiah might notice, that Mona's saddle was a heavy model, of good materials, but not overly decorated. On the contrary, it was almost a simple model, which had saddlebags behind her and, to her left side, the clasps for hanging a sword-belt, which were currently empty.

Haru and Hina Miki - Gléas Inn - First Morning

The end of March was a special time for Hina she was soon turning another age, slowly progressing towards womanhood, well at least by islander standards. No better way to really celebrate her coming birthday than to be with her mom on a trip abroad. Her mom, Haru, a skilled sailor had planned a trip abroad a while ago but things didn't quite work out. Haru had no regrets, she wanted to make sure her daughter would make it through the storm. Not something Hina should dwell on but still she couldn't help but do so. Hina wasn't the seafarer her mother was, even if classic tradition dictated she should be!

In the early morning at the Gléas Inn, Hina stirred a little waking up. She crept out of bed to not disturb her mother and relieve herself noticing a little sunlight streaming through she peaked out the windows noticing morning had come. Haru let out a rather loud yawn "ooooh, Hina, you're already up?"

"It's already morning, mama." She jumped back on the bed. "Thinking we should get started and see whats out there."

"You're right, you're right....Just give me a moment." Haru seemed to have some trouble getting going but it had been a rather long and difficult voyage for the both of them. So difficult in fact it lead to a few overly close calls leaving its mark, a mark on Hina's only pair of glasses, a small crack in her lens. She sighed a little examining them, maybe if she were a better sailor she could at least have stayed on her feet easier when being tossed around by an angry sea.

"Mama, know that I love you a lot but if you don't get up soon, I'm gonna have to splash cold water on your face!"

"oh heaven's what am I a pig? All right, all right I'm up." Haru slumped out of bed giving her cheeks a little light slap with her hands. "Gee, you're tired," Hina remarked getting dressed. "I'm not THAT restless of a sleeper, am I?"

"No, dear, just the long trip and time difference, I'm getting used to it all still." They had only arrived a day before. "Be good to get out into the sun then! They say that's the best cure for lag they say. Actually think that's what Anna said helped her when she came to AHSCA."

"All right, I'll get there, don't you worry." Haru went for the door like she was ready to walk right out, despite being ill dressed for it. "M-mama, maybe you want to get dressed first."

"Oh... right...." As the minutes drew on and on Haru gradually became more awake and aware getting her hair tied in a very long ponytail helping Hina out with tying her hair into her signature twin braids. Once finished, she frowned seeing her girl's cracked lens. "Mmm your glasses, dear, I think we should get them replaced and maybe another pair."

"I just need a lens fixed we don't need to blow all our cash on that."

"We have plenty of money, I swear you're getting your father's money pinching habits!"

"Aww well I guess that's why papa didn't come along."

"Well it's for the best, he can care for the farm while we're here and you can actually celebrate your birthday....Don't give me that look, little lady, I didn't forget."

"It's still a week away. It's no big deal really."

"It is, don't be so silly. Well first thing is first, breakfast. Let's find somewhere in town we can eat."

"All right." Both women set off into town to find a good place to feast.

---

Shizuka Gozen - Láir Square - First Morning

Shizuka may be in government but she wasn't going to make a fuss. She was hear as a tourist nothing more. She didn't call in anyone at the embassy no arrangements made nothing. Honestly there wasn't much point in someone wanting to hurt her, one she was cute as a button and two her role was super limited as someone who helped in media matters which in a largely primitive environment wasn't much. But moreover she felt it was time to write something again and coming to a place she had always wanted to visit felt like a good way to get her creative juices flowing. Her work did keep her busy, sometimes too busy to get back to what she started off doing, writing. She was a rather "accomplished" novelist, well "accomplished" within her home country, it was unlikely much of her work made it out of the islands, even if the Kyrenian and Selkie people shared and swapped works of each other's cultures with the Islanders. Well either way it was sure to be a good trip, she might get some ideas or at least she gets to experience a foreign land as rich in history and tradition as this one. And first thing this morning she got her firsthand experience seeing a woman identified as The High Priestess go about a ritualistic animal sacrifice. Well a bit much for her but she wasn't going to think ill of it, certainly there likely many things foreigners found strange about AHSCA already.

"Mmm maybe I won't write about that...." She muttered to herself. Violence wasn't really her style but who knows something else could spark. Getting a look around at all the attendees, this festival drew quite a crowd from near and far. The Gensais were indicative of whom was likely a Selkie person and they were always nice to look at.

For eateries in Cuan, there were many options. Famed for its Riverfood, the Pearl of Lodan Lir could bring a good mixture of shore-food and sea-food onto the tables and usually, for days such as this, that was to be done.
Sadly, the Gléas Inn, although decent in all regards, was already full, no spot available for tourists anymore.
That would not be able to stop anyone, though, as there were many other places to eat, usually signified by delicious smells and tables, out, as well as swarms of waiters and waitresses running around.
One recommendation near the Gléas Inn was the Lann Tavern, belonging to a man named Finnegan Lann of the Tribe of Wicklow. He was a decent man, who liked his food high-quality and still for decent prices, which was reflected in his restaurant.
Another one, a bit down the main street towards the Lair Square, was the Laoch Inn, one of the regular haunts of the local SDF-Army Garrison, good food and drink, but good prices as well - it might not be the best place to go with a little girl, though, as the place was packed full.
A more secretive tip was one, which one needed to know Cuan for... or to be very lucky. It was the Cluanaire Inn, the Vixen's Inn, hidden in the side-street of a side-street. The building it was in was a square building with an inner courtyard, the entrance to said being out of the way for most tourists. Only a few people were in this rather secretive little inn, which had used the opportunity to put out tables into the inner courtyard, around a dozen of them, with three or four waiters flittering around.
However, the smells coming from the food they carried were delicious.
Whereever Haru and Hina would decide to go, though, a feast would await them!

Meanwhile, only a few people even took notice of Shizuka and most of those did not recognize her, neither due to her political work nor due to her work as a novelist.
But two people recognized her for the latter.
Both looked like their nineteen Springs and a whole lot like twins: Black hair, one long in an open cascade over her back, the other long and in a high ponytail, both golden eyes and both with small noses in their mature faces - but while one had a cheeky and perky maturity dancing in her eyes, the other was a serious and stoic young woman. Both, also, had a pair of dog ears on their heads, the stoic one having them folded down, while the cheeky one had them high and alert.
"Uhm, excuse me, Miss...", the serious one began, a bit uncomfortable, but pushing through with a blush while around them, the entire hubbub of a festival going on, "...I hope you don't mind me asking, but are you, by any chance, Shizuka Gozen? The novelist from AHSCA?"
She smiled, slightly hopefully, that she was right and that she wasn't making a fool out of herself.

The Varden Family + One Lang

A rustic farming family had made a pilgrimage to The Freelands back during their harvest and then the family was a bit on hard times, losing much of their crop to a sudden hailstorm. Now the fortunes had changed and things were going well, so well they felt perhaps their visit was blessed by any divinity looking over them. Joey though was more of a tag along, rather at Billie's pleas and insistence to her folks. Joey's own parents thought it would be a good idea, with her two big sisters away and her best friend going overseas it would be rather lonely on the little girl. Early cold weather in Kuronami had already brought an end to the growing and harvesting so work was light and the family had enough help.

The family took to camping this time, the inn ran them quite a bit of money but it was fun either way. The two little ones were having the times of their lives, Charlie put up with it, Jamie was fine with anything. With the early morning chill growing warmer and nicer both the young ones could shed their jackets and keep playing as long as they could.

"Billie, you think your BOYFRIEND will be here?"

"I told ya, Joey he's not my boyfriend, okay! We only just met during the Harvest Festival and now who knows whats gonna happen now that we've been apart so long!"

"Ya should have asked him to come back to Kuronami with ya."

"Not sure his ma and pa would have let him. Not sure they'd have moved out either. Hey maybe I'll see him, maybe I won't. Lots a people seem to come to these festivals."

"Well ya do like him, don'cha?"

Billie hiding her blushing face "C-come on, I told ya, it aint like that!"

Jamie seeing the two little girls playing and chatting needed to get them along so they could move out already. Speaking in a gruff aggressive voice to play a little game on them, "Hey you two! What are you doing!?"

"Aaah, we're sorry sir!" They both yelped in surprise turning around

"Gotcha."

"Ooooh, it's only your papa!" Joey chuckled letting off a cathartic sigh.

"Papa, don't scare us like that!" Billie scolded her father

"Hehe, come on you two, we're ready to head on into town now, don't wanna leave you two behind." he ruffled up his daughter's red hair and moved on back to his wife. Billie took Joey by the hand "All right, come on Joey, I'll show you what I saw when I was here and we might see new stuff too."

---

Mei Aihara Tsukasa Kamijo

When their plane landed at Silverport the other day the two girls were tired but no worse for the wear, Tsukasa the nervous flier made it through another trip. Mei was the traveler, Tsukasa would be more content with just staying in the village they called home. But Tsukasa put on a good face for her girlfriend. The ferry was more Tsukasa's speed (literally and figuratively) a pleasant trip over water to Cuan their final destination. "Tsu-chan." Mei came over to Tsukasa who was looking over at the horizion feeling the breeze against her skin. "Seems like we're close."

"Ah finally, felt like we'd never get here. This place is pretty, Mei, this was a good idea."

"Oh thanks. It seemed like it'd be a fun trip for the both of us to go to."

"Still, not sure you needed to bring along your Erhu" She motioned to the music case Mei was carrying along.

"Well I figured I do have a recital when I get back. Plus if we flew through a storm I could play it to keep you calm. But this time we had a rather easy trip."

"Tch, practice," Tsukasa scoffed a little "You're the best player I know, I doubt you need any more."

"I'm glad you think I'm so talented but even I need to practice. Oh well, I doubt it will bother anyone so long as I don't play it off hours. Maybe I can play for a crowd even! Well maybe..."

"I guess we'll see but let's maybe keep it at the Inn so you aren't lugging it around town all day."

It was a short while later the ferry docked and the two found their Inn, also the Gléas Inn. Mei ensured their reservations were kept and signed off any needed papers and agreements. Their single bedroom, perfect for the two love birds. Actually the two kissed often and held hands but neither had really gotten truly aquainted. Something Tsukasa was hoping to finally do soon if Mei would be okay with it that was. But she wasn't going to worry about that now, maybe over tea she could broach the subject. Once check in was all said and done the next matter was settling into their room getting their things unpacked, they traveled light hoping to take a few gifts home with them.

"What a lovely room!" Mei praised feeling up the bed.

"Mmmm yeah it is nice." Tsukasa plainly replied. Actually she kind of had her own sights on the Raithneach Village Inn, being a country girl herself it was more up her alley plus for once she could afford to treat Mei. But Mei was such a proper young lady of high class and noble caliber it might actually be hard to convince her to ride. "Well, Mei, you want to play first or go out?"

"I can practice later, let's go out, we did just get here after all, be a shame to waste a beautiful day like this!" Mei grabbed Tsukasa by the hand to gently pull her along. . "Shopping or just sight seeing first?" Tsukasa asked Mei. "Let's sight see for a bit huh?"

"Good idea."

Cuan still maintained both the three bastions, which secured the northern approaches, as well as the old city wall - their defensive effectiveness in case of armed confrontation was doubtful these days, but for Cuan, that mattered little. They were points of pride... and, in case of the city wall, quite useful during large festivities such as this.
The high gates of Lodan Lir's Pearl were ideally suited to establish checkpoints - one could not go past them from the camping spots. Luckily, the officers of the City Guard manning them were nice and quick with their checks, then let them in.
And Cuan, in all of its glory, was before them: Houses of timber and stone, centuries old, the flower boxes already filled, peddlers, hawkers and stalls, as well as regular shops showing off their wares and skills, inns and taverns with food and drink prepared or being prepared and everywhere, hundreds and thousands of people, horses, other animals.
And one of the latter was a grey canine, not a Grey Wolf, as one saw at the scheme: The canine in question had a mane of dark grey hair sprouting from the back of the head, his body was mostly of a similar colour, but the stomach and paws, as well as the underside of the tail and a stripe on his side.
He dragged a young woman, who held the leash, silver hair going a bit past the shoulder, grey-blue eyes and sportly built with a very feminine touch, which was only emphasized by the leather jacket and black, knee-high boots she wore in addition to the black garrison cap with the red stripe. She smiled apologetically, as the canine approached, began to sniff the girls.
"I'm very sorry about this!", she told the parents of the two girls (although she, quite honestly, doubted, that the black-haired one belonged to the family, but that was another story). "Lorgaire is my boyfriend's and he sometimes doesn't know how to behave and... well, I am very sorry!"
She bowed her head deep.

If one started, like Mei and Tsukasa, from the Gléas Inn (where they caught literally the last room), one had a number of spots, which one could visit for sight seeing:
Of course, one could go down the Main Streets, watch the peddler, hawkers, stalls and shops, including four blacksmith shops, at work. All four of them were merrily hammering away against red-hot iron and steel and other materials, forming their works and products.
One could also walk along the city walls, even climb them and the towers, for a better view of the city.
One could go down hidden paths to the actual Main Temple of the Cult of Lodan Lir, which was not advertised in many tourist guides, as usually, the Grand Temple (in front of which many of the ceremonies were held today, where the opening had been) was the main attraction.
They could also go to the Ceol Square and the music stage there, as soon, it would start. The three lads of Mórbhileog were already prepping themselves.
And those were only spots, which would easily come to mind - Cuan had much to offer for the curious mind!

The group of plaid-skirt dressed girls was quickly met by a group of young women in white shirts, brown blazers above that, green plaid skirts and red-white ties. School uniforms, in this case of the Póraitheoir High School of Cuan.
After the tour of students of the Educational Tour Programme was such a good success, the Selkie-Side of things, on recommendation of Professor Celina Ollamh of the University of Leuda, had agreed to formalize things a bit and agreed to not only allow the students to come, but also to give them the chance of meeting girls of the same age and experience things with them.
And that was, why the girls of the Póraitheoir were there, roughly of the same age, from the city and with time on their hands. They were to be guides and to find friends amongst the Mediaman Girls, their teacher standing with the leader of the guests.
By a simple glance over the assembled Selkie-Students, one saw, that they were not exactly all honour roll students, but there were quite a few prim and proper students amongst them. One of them was a brunette, brown-red eyes, blazer closed, dark stockings, her hair properly brushed and a cascade over her back, held back by a hairband.
She was Fiona Eas of the Tribe of Monaghan, member of the Fidchell-Club, Mender of Buttons Fallen Off (she even had a joking certificate of that in her room back home, made by her class due to her saving their rear ends) and, when there was Younger Militia Training, engaged in training the Cubs in things they would definitely need.
An ideal pick, really.
She even smiled slightly as she listened to the introductory words of the teachers and, when everything was said and done, approached Miranda and her group.
“Hi.”, she greeted, “As they said, I'm Fiona. If you want, Fi's fine, too... but please, no 'Miss Eas'. It's bad enough, that the cubs call me that!”
She showed a small grin at that, too.

Miranda moved to say something, but Kathleen butted in "Aye, we're not that uptight an' formal." Miranda glared at Miranda, who raised her hands and in denial.

"I already told you that I'm coming out of my shell... kind of." Miranda turned back towards Fiona, "My name's Miranda Mulligan," She nodded towards Kathleen, "That loud one over there is my Scottish friend, Kathleen Mcdougall." Miranda patted their school coat of arms on their navy blue blazer, with white trimmings and silver buttons. " We're from the Queen Victoria's Academy for Young Ladies, so we're kind of held at higher standards. It can get pretty suffocating sometimes-"

"More like all the time..."

"Kathleen!"

"Right, right, mind my manners and all of that."

Miranda turned back to Fiona, blushing and flustered. "D-Don't worry, not all of us are loud and rowdy. You're from the local high school, right? We've got time before we go to city hall, but none of us has any idea on what interestin' things are in the square. I-I bought a few Dorling Kindersley travel guides on Selkie, but it doesn't cover Cuan in full detail." Miranda offered her hand out to Fiona “We’d be happy to meet you and show us your city.”

Meanwhile, the Delegations of the Cults were spreading a bit as well, the first part of the day for them was over. One of the Delegations, escorted by the Shieldmaidens of Ladra, was of the Cult of Ladra, the largest of the delegations in Lodan Lir's Pearl.
Of course it was that way: Ladra and Lodan Lir were closely related, one guarding the Seas and Rivers, the other guarding those, who drove on them, the two of them being brothers in many Myths and stories, or at least closely related.
Part of that Delegation was a young woman, dirty-blonde hair and blue eyes, fresh eighteen Springs old... in autumn, for the Harvest Festival, she had been in Shella and had met the most amazing woman, with the exception of her Mam and of the Priestess in her hometown's Temple, in the whole world.
The name of the Selkie was Liv Tine of the Tribe of Wicklow and her friend was Katherine.
They had stayed in touch, the Selkie and the Mediaman, by every means they could find, but as of late, the letters had become fewer and far inbetween... the reason was simple: They were both busy. Liv would soon graduate and finish her training as a Priestess of Ladra and Katherine was in a similar situation.
Liv, remembering the dances and the kissing, had a small smile on her lips as she departed her Delegation. They would meet again before the Bainis, but until then, they were mostly free.
And that meant, in this context, that she could take a few minutes to look over the Festival. And what a Festival it was! Cuan, once again, had pulled all stops!
Something in the back of her mind wondered, how much sponsorship of the Cabhair Group had to do with it, but that was another question... in any case, she was not looking where she went as she bumped into someone.
This someone was not wearing Geansai or a school uniform she recognized – so, most likely, a foreigner.
“Ah, I'm very sorry, Miss, I...”, Liv began and trailed off, looking closely at the young woman she had bumped into, “...Kat?”
The singular name, word, three letters, was spoken with such a strong desire, love and still in a whisper, that the young woman might have even missed it herself.

Katherine, with fate kicking her in the arse, fell with the slightest bump. She yelped, then groaned as she recovered from the fall. She didn’t pay attention to the exclamation, at least, not until she looked up, and her vision cleared.

Is that? No, it can’t be. Katherine waited for her vision to clear up, only to have her suspicions confirmed, she widened her eyes in surprise.

“Liv? Aw bloody hell! What are you doing here?” Kat asked. Not waiting for an immediate answer, she quickly got up, dusted herself off, and moved to hug Liv and pull her into a kiss. Briefly regretting the wooziness she felt from the quick, sudden movement.

Fiona smiled at the introductions.
"Alright, I can show you Lovely Cuan, Lodan Lir's Pearl.", she said and thought for a moment, "I indeed am from the Póraitheoir - one of three in Cuan, not counting the Boarding School. And if those tour guides don't cover Cuan, you should demand your money back!"
She smiled a bit, adjusted her tie slightly.
"So, uhm... what could we do...?", she asked herself, then snapped her fingers, "Say, did you have breakfast already? I know a very good baker, where we could grab a bite!"

Liv was, for a moment, surprised by the kiss, then leaned in, wrapped her arms around Kat.
Let's leave them a bit of privacy and say, that there was a lot of tongue involved.
When she had to stop to get a bit of fresh air into her lungs, Liv's face, mere inches away from Kat's, was deep scarlet, her breathing a bit heavy, but her smile wide and happy.
"Gods, Kat...", she began, then the words died on her lips, words of joy and of longing, words of happiness and of surprise. Then she decided to bugger it all and to bring her lips onto Kat's once more, letting deed speak more then words.

Gordon jostled through the crowd, following Alpin and Fiona as he held the hand of Marie. His eyes kept their lock on him, ignorant of his ears swallowing the commotion, and he moved smoothly like a dancer on a stage. Marie one time chuckled to herself when she saw him switch hands as he turned on his right foot to give himself space. Gordon was about to catch up Alpin at a quick pace, until somebody, a girl, made him recoil. The sudden appearance almost made his glasses drop on the ground, as Gordon leaped. After turning to girl, he put up both of his hands as if to block her voice.

"Uh...Tha e ceart gu leòr, caileagan (It's alright, lassie)," Gordon said in Scottish Gaelic, before staying silent and switching to English, all composed in tone and nodding, "Just be careful where you're skippin' to, alright? Anyways, we're headin' a set of shops over there towards the left. My friend Alpin here suggested them. Well, Fiona, actually," he shrugged to the Asian girl.

The oldest of the three and the tower of a woman had their eyebrows twitch at the phrase in Gaelic - to their surprise, it sounded a lot like Selkie, even in a weird accent... in any case, their youngest sister blushed even deeper.
"Sorry...", she repeated, then perked up quite a bit, "Those shops are nice... Kiah, Ida?" She turned to her sisters. "Would you be interested in visiting them, too?"
The tower of a woman looked to the oldest, who gave a small shrug. "If they allow us to come along, sure, why not?", she said and turned to Gordon and his friends, "So, lads and lassies, what do you think?"

As the cheer ended, and all the people were starting to move around, towards the stalls or other ways to have some entertainment, Chris looked around - at the other side of the square, he spotted someone he knew, not too well, but met quite a few times, mostly in and around Nienhagen, but also in some apple wine pubs in and around Lechelen.
And once in Shella.
He considered, at least, saying hello to Hilda Leverdal, given that he was one of the few persons who knew her two other names and especially the background behind them - but she seemed too busy debating with her two friends on what to do now.
The reunion back then in Shella had been the first time for a long, that they had met, just like Fred, who, after a mysterious incident involving a close friend of his own and Chris', had run out of good reasons to go to Nienhagen a bit. All three had been extremely surprised to meet again, especially in foreign lands ...

Somewhere in Shella, September 23, 2018, in the evening.
With a quick "Be right back, gotta bring something away!", and the obligatory peck on Cel's cheek, Chris had announced to leave the place for a few minutes. Contrary to previous assumptions and predictions, he was not fully loaded, but the whiskey and other spirits were, indeed, pressing on his bladder a tiny bit.
Having successfully done his business, he left the public facility again - and kept standing, for he thought he was having hallucinations already.
A blonde and blue-eyed guy with a glass of whiskey in one hand and something to smoke in the other was talking to a girl who could easily be his sister - and Chris knew, that she indeed was.
He tried to remember how long it had been ago since Fred and Hilda had shown up in Chris' home city the last time. Quite a few years ago it had been, with lads and lassies like Jupp, Ralle, Saskia, Dragan Jojić, Dragan Šubić ... all in some pub in the workers' district in Nienhagen-Maschenich. Remembering this was already hard enough ...
He joined them, catching a few Danish phrases meaning something in the lines of, '... good guys in here' - 'Indeed.'
"Long time no see, eh?" - Chris said in German (with a Rhenish dialect, of course), grinning.
Both Leverdals turned to him, quite surprised for a moment, then grinning back. "Mister Riescheid - what a rare view!" - Fred said, laughing. "What are you doing here?"
"I know, right? The same as you, I suppose."
Fred nodded and took a drag. "I've heard about this from a friend, and I wanted to see what it's like in here, and in the Free Lands in general - just to learn, that I've obviously had a famous sister all the time being without knowing."
Hilda nodded. "I haven't been aware myself ... seems like a lot of important people have watched that tournament in Düvenich."
"Was a few weeks before I left for the Oileánra-Archipelago, if I'm not entirely mistaken, right? In June?"
Hilda nodded again. "Correct. And apparently, the Marcach know about this, too - and they're all very nice folks!"
"So you've already been around these parts?" - Fred asked.
"I've been here since July, due to a girl I've met during a student exchange prior to that" - Chris replied. "In another place I'm ... very unlikely to visit ever again. The Dominion of Purgatio."
"Purgatio ..." Fred had to think about that for a moment. "I've met some guy from there during another exchange ... Ansel was his name, I think."
"Ansel De Lussan, by any chance?" - Chris wondered.
Fred raised his eyebrows. "Yes, that guy was it. How was it in that place?"
"Well ..." Chris began to tell about what he had seen there, the server room Ansel worked in, the concentration camps, De La Fayette, how he had met Cel and the other friends he had made there, out of which Fred even knew some, how horrifying this all had been, how he had gone to Dumhach afterwards, and finally come together with Cel.
Fred and Hilda had kept their eyebrows raised.
"So let me get this straight" - Fred said, "You've been to that horrible place - and met Ansel, a Selkie-Girl, a deep Catholic Portuguese girl who wants to become a pole dancer, Svala Björk, Helena's cousin, and the President of San Prospero?"
Chris nodded. "Not to mention the Hitler cosplayer."
Fred shook his head. "Unbelievable."
"Yet true."
"I think we have to go back" - Hilda said. "They're already wondering where we are."
Chris nodded. "As do I. Maybe we'll see each other later on, or someday back home, eh?"
"Assumable. Uh, hang on - they haven't found Miri back, eh?"
Chris shook his head. "Still lost, from what I know."
"Still a pity."
And there, their ways separated again. For now ...

Chris was just lost in memories - then, he heard a well-known yipp.
He recognized the Little Black Fox at once.
"Soiprigh!" - he said, grinning. "Nice to see you again, old boy! How are you doing - and any idea where Mommy could be?"

Soiprigh gave an affirmative yipp - he not only had an idea as to where his Mommy was, he knew, where she was.
And he knew, where she would be, too!
But first things first: He turned, swishing his tail as if to tell Chris to follow him, then gave him a moment... and moved forward. Not with his usual speed, he had a human behind him, who would have to follow him through a tight crowd, but he was relatively fast.
And it did not take long, until he spotted a young woman, black, long hair and blue eyes, deep as the Ocean itself, a wide, happy grin on her face, wearing the Geansai in the natural colours of the fur - Mommy stood at the side of the Square, with a few friends, and was smiling and conversing as she heard his yipp.
Her attention was drawn by that yipp and not by the young man following the giver of that yipp, mainly because she had to catch said giver in her arms as he jumped up and landed spot on, making her laugh as she hugged him, especially as he snuggled into her chest, making himself comfortable.
The Mommy of the Fox, a Vixen herself, bowed her head to kiss him onto the head, her friends laughing at her expression. She still had a lot of the tan from Shella and Dumhach, her hair bound back with a blue ribbon, her smile and laugh beautiful, like silver bells.

[Deutschess Kaiserreich]

Rudolf Eisenmann
Unkown Location

---

Rudolf looked around at the bright colors of the street. He turned his head as children played with toys at the side of the street with their parents showing tourists their many hands made items. The walls of the building were decorated with sprawling murals with beautiful combinations of color. Flowers were hung from lamposts and the sound of music and dancing could be heard over the noise of the crowd.

Upon hearing the question from... from... ah. Kiah. Interesting name. If one translated it using German-Ukrainian it meant flower blooms. He looked at her for a moment. She didn't have the sharp jawline of a Ukrainian nor the stride of a German, as silly as that sounds but all Germans walked as if they were in the army like they were marching. I guess a hundred and a half years of war does that to your people. But, Nah, impossible.

"Name's Rudolf Einsenmann. I'm from the Kaiserriech though you may know it better as Germany. From your boots and stride, I can tell you ain't-a normal civilian. So I guess the question for me would be, who exactly are you?"

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Sometime in her wandering, half-asleep and seemingly aimless, someone became acutely aware of Marie's state. That someone was a she.
She had red-brown eyes, red hair and was a few years younger then Marie, still going to school. She was dressed in Geansai, in Lodan Lir's Two Blues, which marked her as a Servant to that God of the Sea and the Rivers.
She approached Marie and, straight-up, spoke: "Hey, you alright? You don't look too healthy..."
By her side was a canine, a guarding fox, orange and beige furred and with black stripes, his eyes wide and attentive - these animals were known for their intelligence and the fierce defense they put up for their young.
Obviously, it was the young woman's pet.

Marie took a glance at the girl. Some sort of clergy-and likely of a sea, if the association of blue with deep water still held true in the Free Lands. Next to her was her fox. Marie didn't give it too much thought-seeing a group of drunken seniors attempting to hijack a Main Battle Tank typically made other things mundane in comparison.
She rubbed her eyes a little. "Aye...didn't get much sleep on the flight in. Flying in a metal can's bad enough, but flying in the death trap that is a 737 Max...not my idea of fun. Why are you asking, anyway, and who are you?"

[AHSCA]

For eateries in Cuan, there were many options. Famed for its Riverfood, the Pearl of Lodan Lir could bring a good mixture of shore-food and sea-food onto the tables and usually, for days such as this, that was to be done.
Sadly, the Gléas Inn, although decent in all regards, was already full, no spot available for tourists anymore.
That would not be able to stop anyone, though, as there were many other places to eat, usually signified by delicious smells and tables, out, as well as swarms of waiters and waitresses running around.
One recommendation near the Gléas Inn was the Lann Tavern, belonging to a man named Finnegan Lann of the Tribe of Wicklow. He was a decent man, who liked his food high-quality and still for decent prices, which was reflected in his restaurant.
Another one, a bit down the main street towards the Lair Square, was the Laoch Inn, one of the regular haunts of the local SDF-Army Garrison, good food and drink, but good prices as well - it might not be the best place to go with a little girl, though, as the place was packed full.
A more secretive tip was one, which one needed to know Cuan for... or to be very lucky. It was the Cluanaire Inn, the Vixen's Inn, hidden in the side-street of a side-street. The building it was in was a square building with an inner courtyard, the entrance to said being out of the way for most tourists. Only a few people were in this rather secretive little inn, which had used the opportunity to put out tables into the inner courtyard, around a dozen of them, with three or four waiters flittering around.
However, the smells coming from the food they carried were delicious.
Whereever Haru and Hina would decide to go, though, a feast would await them!

The most convenient spot looked full and both were pretty hungry eager for a first meal so they set off quickly finding a good place. "This place has so much class!" Hina remarked giddy at everything. It was quaint and old fashioned, it was no wonder Selkies and AHSCAians got along as well as they did. "I like it too" Her mother responded. "Rather rustic like home."

"Mmmm I smell something cooking." Hina got whif of a delectable scent taking them down a series of side-streets which were long and windy and a little maze like to the two women but at long last they found a good place that seemed open and able to eat at. "Well, seems we found a good spot so let's eat here." Haru nodded.

"Sure!" Hina agreed. Both took the liberty to take a seat at a free table.

Meanwhile, only a few people even took notice of Shizuka and most of those did not recognize her, neither due to her political work nor due to her work as a novelist.
But two people recognized her for the latter.
Both looked like their nineteen Springs and a whole lot like twins: Black hair, one long in an open cascade over her back, the other long and in a high ponytail, both golden eyes and both with small noses in their mature faces - but while one had a cheeky and perky maturity dancing in her eyes, the other was a serious and stoic young woman. Both, also, had a pair of dog ears on their heads, the stoic one having them folded down, while the cheeky one had them high and alert.
"Uhm, excuse me, Miss...", the serious one began, a bit uncomfortable, but pushing through with a blush while around them, the entire hubbub of a festival going on, "...I hope you don't mind me asking, but are you, by any chance, Shizuka Gozen? The novelist from AHSCA?"
She smiled, slightly hopefully, that she was right and that she wasn't making a fool out of herself.

Shizuka turned when two people approached her and the most surprising aspect was they recognized her as a novelist. "Why...Yes I am!" She replied really again at a loss for words. She really didn't think much of her work made it out of AHSCA and if it did it probably was only niche appeal. So much of her work really revolved around the intricacies of island life and culture. Really she expected to be recognized as a Government Officer before a novelist but she couldn't complain. "I'm so surprised, not many would be able to recognize me off the bat just like that! How nice it is to meet you both!" she bowed slightly as a proper greeting.

[Mediama]

Fiona smiled at the introductions.
"Alright, I can show you Lovely Cuan, Lodan Lir's Pearl.", she said and thought for a moment, "I indeed am from the Póraitheoir - one of three in Cuan, not counting the Boarding School. And if those tour guides don't cover Cuan, you should demand your money back!"
She smiled a bit, adjusted her tie slightly.
"So, uhm... what could we do...?", she asked herself, then snapped her fingers, "Say, did you have breakfast already? I know a very good baker, where we could grab a bite!"

Miranda lowered her arm theatrically and nodded, "Oh that's wonderful! Some freshly baked morsels to feed the malnourished soul as we celebrate the spring coming into blo-"

Kathleen elbowed Miranda. "O-Oh, sorry, lunch would be lovely."

Kathleen chuckled, "Miranda here can have quite a way with words, she has such a huge imagination. You should see our dorm, manuscripts and paper everywhere!"

"I-I swear, it doesn't get that out of hand." Miranda said. Blushing furiously as she remembered that along with her basic necessities and her Irish step dancing shoes, in addition to phrasebooks and DK travel books, she had also brought her diary and several notebooks, hoping to get inspired by the festival to write something, anything, short stories, full blown sagas, it didn't matter.

Kathleen playfully punched her, "If it really wasn't 'that bad', then you wouldn't have won the Victoria Invitational Writing competition."

Miranda turned to Kathleen to say something, but could only open her mouth and paused, before she closed it and looked in a random direction, hiding her deeper blush. "It wasn't that big of a deal."

"Alright, alright, I'll stop pickin' on ya, but I'm serious, don't sell yourself short." Kathleen said, she then affectionately pat Miranda on her head.

Miranda turned back towards Fiona with a small, flustered smile, "We can go when you're ready. Pretty sure we'd get lost if we went on our own, we'd lose your company, too. That would be a lot more worse then getting lost." Miranda said with a closed smile afterwards.

Liv was, for a moment, surprised by the kiss, then leaned in, wrapped her arms around Kat.
Let's leave them a bit of privacy and say, that there was a lot of tongue involved.
When she had to stop to get a bit of fresh air into her lungs, Liv's face, mere inches away from Kat's, was deep scarlet, her breathing a bit heavy, but her smile wide and happy.
"Gods, Kat...", she began, then the words died on her lips, words of joy and of longing, words of happiness and of surprise. Then she decided to bugger it all and to bring her lips onto Kat's once more, letting deed speak more then words.

Kat couldn't describe how pleasurable it was to feel Liv's soft lips again against hers, both of them finally reunited after so long. They remained in the renewed, passionate lip lock for a few minutes before each of them stopped for air, both of them were breathing heavily, and both had crimson cheeks from more than just exertion.

Kat took a good look at Liv for a few minutes, sure, they had sent pictures to each other, but it had been so long since they were able to see and feel each other. All she wanted to do was take it in. She didn't feel the same when she returned back to Mediama from their trip. Sure, she was able to move on and do what she needed to do for college, but she had always felt some sort of presence missing. Even if they were able to keep in touch, nothing felt better then to actually be with her.

Backing out from her musings, Kat leaned back in again and wrapped her arms around Liv in a nuzzling hug, before she leaned her head back out to give distance. "You still haven't answered my question Liv. What are you doing here? I know you mentioned you were doing some sort of religious work, but I'm pretty sure this is far from home for you."

[Folaisia]

The oldest of the three and the tower of a woman had their eyebrows twitch at the phrase in Gaelic - to their surprise, it sounded a lot like Selkie, even in a weird accent... in any case, their youngest sister blushed even deeper.
"Sorry...", she repeated, then perked up quite a bit, "Those shops are nice... Kiah, Ida?" She turned to her sisters. "Would you be interested in visiting them, too?"
The tower of a woman looked to the oldest, who gave a small shrug. "If they allow us to come along, sure, why not?", she said and turned to Gordon and his friends, "So, lads and lassies, what do you think?"

"Yeah. We'd be awfy happy to let you lassies all come along," Alpin nodded quickly, "Hop on in," he then bobbed his head back as if he were hitting on them.

After waiting for the girls to join in, the four students walk towards the shops that were mentioned earlier.

"So, lassies, care to introduce yourselves," asked Gordon as he let Marie be at his side.

[Foxfound]

"Good to see you!" Z said with a smile, before glancing at Kiri. Ren, meanwhile, managed a shy but friendly "Hello."

"Yeah... I guess she hadn't expected the whole sacrifice thing, and it kind of freaked her out... she'll be fine, though. She's a tough girl."

Kiri nodded. "Sorry. I'm just... not used to that sort of thing..."

Waving to Ren, Macha quickly turned to Kiri.
"Don't worry. Tourists sometimes get a bit squirmish at the sight.", she said and gave a comforting smile, "When I first attended such a Spring Festival, I actually had to throw up!" She smiled at the memory. "Caused a few problems back in the day, but... it's not for nothing, that is for sure."
She motioned to the stage, where a large, linen cloth had been erected. By the bowl, a line of adolescents, kids of fourteen Springs, lined up, the first one putting his hand into the bowl with the horse blood, just enough so that his palm was red, and then placed it onto the cloth, leaving a handprint.
"They are turning into adults this year.", Macha explained, "And they make themselves known to the Gods. Tonight, when the horse is burned, the cloth will be burned as well - express-delivery."
She smiled at the three of them.
"I know, it must seem strange to you, but it all has its meaning and all is for a purpose.", she said, then extended her arms, "Now, come here, all three of you! Gimme a hug!"

They happily accepted the hug, though Kiri ended up sort of excluded as Macha's arms went right through her.

"I know it has meaning... I wouldn't have been so scared if I knew it was going to happen. I guess I should have read more about the rituals involved with the festival," she said.

Z's mind had already moved on to another topic. "So! What do you suggest we do first? A city this big's bound to have some things to do," she said, rubbing her hands together eagerly. Of course, Cuan wasn't that big by most people's standards, but it must have seemed truly massive to someone who grew up on an Arctic island east of nowhere.

Ren was probably the most interested in the religious aspects Macha was discussing; though quiet, she was more intellectual for such a small child than most realized. "What does it mean when they make themselves known to the gods? I'm curious."