OOC: This event is open for the Western Atlantic. I ask that anyone else interested attending please telegram me for an invite.
The Summer Palace
Imperial Preserve Island, Excalbia
Midsummer was a uniquely Excalbian holiday. For two days - Midsummer Eve, the day before the solstice, and the Midsummer, the day of the solstice, the country came to a stop. Most people abandoned the cities for the country and a people generally known for piety and sobriety held a 24-hour party awash with symbolism drawn from their pagan past. Men wore wreaths of oak leaves and women wore flowers woven into their hair. People who could barely cook tried their hand at making the traditional homemade cheese and brewing their own beer. In the brief night of the longest day, young men would try to impress their peers and young ladies by leaping over bonfires, and groups of young people and adult couples would go into the woods to hunt the mythical blooming fern.
In accordance with tradition, the Emperor and Empress were hosting a lavish Midsummer party at the Summer Palace. Situated on the Imperial Preserve Island, the Summer Palace had long served the Imperial Family as a private retreat within the boundaries of the capital. Accessible only by boat or helicopter, access to the Island was strictly limited and an invitation had long been seen as a sign of Imperial favor.
Being Joseph and Anna’s first Midsummer as Emperor and Empress, all the royal - and many of the noble - houses of the Western Atlantic had been invited along with the usual roster of local and diplomatic guests. It made for a much larger event than the Island had seen since the late Emperor David IV’s 60th birthday celebration in 2018.
As guests arrived, they were shown through the glass ceilinged Great Hall and out to the Palace’s large formal gardens. The Emperor, dressed in a white open collared shirt with traditional embroidery down the front over brown trousers and boots, wore the equally traditional wreath of oak leaves as he mingled with his guests.
Crown Princess Elizabeth, included as a cohost on the invitation to encourage younger guests to attend, stood next to a small pool at one end of the garden. She wore her hair down, as was the custom for young girls and unmarried women on Midsummer, and topped with a wreath of fresh flowers. She wore a traditional knee-length embroidered dress, cinched at the waist with a blue and gold sash. She was smiling and clearly excited for the day’s festivities.
