NEFERTARI
We've Become Disillusioned
So We Run Towards Anything Glimmering
Few things could bring people together like the turn of the seasons. Since the conception of ‘community’ there have been gatherings to celebrate the various cycles of life. Births, unions, a good harvest, the first frosts; any excuse intelligent beings could devise there would be some elaborate event to bring joy and excitement to the participants.
Novus had been through a veritable hell the last few years, depending upon who you asked. Sovereigns had changed more times than many would care to count, a troubling occurrence of leadership vanishing into the ether to be replaced by fresh faces. Something was stirring, and the bonds between the realms had been tenuous at best. But the changing of hands brought about a change within the inner workings of the courts themselves, though if you were to ask any common citizen they couldn’t tell you why. The shift was within the atmosphere in a way that one could tell a storm was coming without there being a cloud in the sky.
Spring, however, had a way of washing away past sins and breathing new life into anything. It seemed only fitting as court alliances and relationships were being built anew there would be a grand gathering with the intent to bring the denizens of the often solitary realms together. If you spoke to a Solterran they might say that their fearless leader, Leviathan, had been the one to speak out first, to forge stronger bonds with his neighbors. If you asked a Denoctian they would say that the combined efforts of Israfel and her compassionate partner Luvena brought about the festival, as a way to quell any lingering fears or misconceptions about the outcast court. Those belonging to Terrastella might be the first to tell you that Liam, ever a peacekeeper, put forth the idea so that the long-held rift between the courts might finally begin to mend. Though, if you spoke with a Deluminian, they would posit that Callynite, the only Sovereign who was not equine in nature, had opened up her court lands to the festival as an olive branch to her fellow leaders.
Any of these assumptions could be true or false, but regardless of their validity, one truth remained: the Spring Festival was open to all, and intended to bring even the most disparate members of each court closer together. The invitations that had been sent out among the people advertised a sort of pop-up marketplace for vendors to peddle their wares, where artisans and specialists from each land could showcase their talents. There was even to be a bonfire dance reminiscent of some folk traditions, where sharing stolen moments with exciting new faces seemed to be encouraged.
Though the dance certainly intrigued Nefertari, she had intended to keep her interactions with the denizens of the different courts a largely professional one. She was placing the finishing touches on the tent that she had been so graciously provided. The small frame was draped in rich purple silks that shone with accents in gold, tassels depicting suns and moons hanging from each of the high points. In the center a small table was situated, across which lay a black silk cloth, a deck of gilded cards set to one side. The entrance to the tent had a plush patchwork cushion and a hand painted sign in a swirling gold script that proclaimed ’Tarot Readings, a glimpse into the Universe’. At the bottom of the placard as a delicate aside there also read the note ‘Donations appreciated’.
As the mare stepped back to admire her work, she took the time to watch as the other vendors of the inaugural event went about setting up their own displays. It was still morning, though quickly approaching midday and several of the stalls were well underway to being fully stocked. Just within the handful of tents the Solterran could easily observe along her own row she saw several jewelers, leather workers and in the distance she could hear the telltale signs of a blacksmith at work, though she couldn’t fathom how they managed with the inherently temporary stay that the festival provided.
The Illuster Meadow provided a pleasant backdrop to the activities, beautiful poppies and wildflowers dotting the terrain and a softness to the ground that meant traversing from tent to tent and back again was easy on even the oldest in attendance. The day promised to be clear and mild, and the clairvoyant was grateful to see a stall not too far away setting out various baked goods.
Nefertari settled herself inside the tent, reflecting on the recent events of her winter season. She had fled Denocte as a child, wandered the unclaimed lands for a handful of years before finally claiming Solterra as her home. Last fall she’d felt a pull, a call to her birthplace, and traveling at such a time had proven to be rather a divisive choice. The Arma had prevented her from returning to her cherished desert lands, and so she had chosen instead to educate herself on some family history. That experience had been less informative than she would have liked, and some part of her took it as a sign to not dig any further. Why go snooping around a past that she had deliberately run from? What possible good would that have to her now? The invitation to the debut festival had been an intriguing one, and not ever a woman to pass up an opportunity when it so loudly came knocking, she had made the trip to Delumine once the snow had cleared.
Bright gold orbs watched as attendees meandered past, a soft smile to her sooty maw, wondering whose fortune she might read, who she might provide guidance to even as she struggled to understand her own signs from the gods. Interpreting the will of deities and the universe always seemed much more simple when it was for anyone but yourself.
art by pacificdash character by scapeh table by sunny
