TELLING OF THE BEES FESTIVAL

[peckishmods]

the telling of the bees

what's up?

Sunny skies make an otherwise brisk late autumn day positively pleasant. The air is crisp and sweet, the smell of honey and baked goods mixing with the cold. Winter is coming, but it’s not quite here yet. Before it starts, it’s time for one last harvest hurrah as Elflock Falls celebrates its special relationship with the bees in its life. For the next three days the Telling of the Bees Festival is going on in town and Elflock Falls is decked out for the occasion. Lampposts are transfigured into bright shining beehives, large magimechanical bees bumble overhead cheerily, honeycomb patterns decorate storefronts and streets and the Riverwalk is dotted with all manner of stands, some simple, others magically enhanced, peddling snacks, handicrafts and other goods related to the autumn harvest. It’s a great time to pick up some handmade winter wear!

The Telling of the Bees Festival runs from Saturday to Monday, but the first day is by far the liveliest as it features both the meadery contest and the actual Telling of the Bees ritual. Peckenpaugh students can get discounts from food stands all weekend.

visuals!

volunteer slots!

Mr. Berzelius needs some help getting the Peckenpaugh hives ready for the celebration. Can't let the school's own bees feel left out of the celebration! He recruits 💯 [CHARACTER A] and 💯 [CHARACTER B] to do some decorating. They're tasked with decorating each hive with scarlet cloth and setting out a dessert of apple dumplings for the bees to enjoy. A good effort (a thread with 3 replies each) will earn each student 5 Points for their Houses while a damn fine job (6 replies each) will earn each student 10 Points. Good luck with those bees, guys! You have until the end of the month.

Valkyrie is just trying to be helpful when they noticed a knocked over trash can near the carousel, but they're surprised when an inordinately chubby raccoon pops out of it. The raccoon seems just as surprised to see Val, and gets tangled up on their feet trying to escape before it scampers off with just a mint tin and a paper plate, sticky with honey.

A few students make a game of trying to sneak samples during the mead contest:

• [CHARACTER D] and [CHARACTER E] can't get past the age line and wind up growing magnificent beards.
• 💯 Wyatt manages to get a sample, but their selection leaves them breathing actual fire for the next hour. It's not hard for Ms. Min to connect the dots when she spots them. They lose 5 Points for their House, but Ms. Min sends them off with a tums, too.

[CHARACTER G] spots Mr. Crockett arguing with Liquor Store Zed heatedly about ... fanfiction?

It's the last carousel ride of the night, and Lionel climbs aboard at the same time as all three Quackenbushes. The ride starts out fairly ordinary, but, predictably enough, goes downhill quick, and it starts spinning faster and faster and faster. It takes eight full minutes and four brave townsfolk to get the carousel to stop before it spins off into the stratosphere.

how this works!

⬥ The Telling of the Bees Festival is Elflock Falls’s late autumn harvest festival, the main draws of which are the traditional Telling of the Bees, various arts, handicrafts and tasty snacks being sold, and the annual meadery contest (but that’s for adults).

⬥ The Telling of the Bees Festival starts on Saturday morning and goes until Monday night. This IC/OOC focuses predominantly on Saturday, but feel free to thread multiple days by indicating which one in the subject line of your comment!

⬥ Saturday's Festival features include the actual Telling of the Bees around midday, as well as a Best Magical Mead of Elflock Falls contest. There are further county fair-styled food and craft contests throughout the weekend.

⬥ The Telling of the Bees is a tradition found throughout Europe and the United States wherein important life events are shared with the bees, who need to be included in such events or, it is said, they will despair and die or leave their hives. In Elflock Falls this tradition has taken on its own unique spin. The locals like to share how their years went, their secrets and their gossip all at once, once a year, with the magical bees of Elflock Falls.

⬥ Fill out the form under the Tell The Bees section and post it to that subheader to let us know what you told the bees. Bees are good secret keepers. :)

locations!

🍯 WHAT'S UP?: Did you get an apple dumpling with ice cream or without? Does the carousel look like a bit too much thrill for you? What’d you decide to wear when you told the bees your secrets, and did you pick up any new accessories from the local handicraft stands on the main street? Tell us all about your day!

🍯 TELL THE BEES: Around midday, the Telling of the Bees begins. Participants head off the Riverwalk path to a clearing where decorated wooden hives have been set up. It’s tradition, to tell the bees about your year, or your secrets, or any good gossip you happened to hear. They may be all abuzz, but you don’t need to worry about them spilling your secrets.

🍯 ANONBEEMOUS MESSAGING: You don't have to limit your secrets to just the bees! Want to send a nice note to a friend? Wish someone well this coming winter? Spill your secret affections to a crush? What better way to do it than by magimechanical bee?! For the magical equivalent of $1US, you can send a simple note to someone via those great big artificed bees floating around the festival area. They'll happily deliver your note to whomever you wish.

🍯 SHOPS & STALLS: The main street of Elflock Falls downtown is packed with stands and stalls. Everything is intricately decorated and welcoming, some of them are so fantastically designed that they resemble actual cottages and all of them are hoping to get your business. Stop by support local artists and craftspeople and grab any variety of sweet autumn treats. The main draw is all the bee-based products, honey-based potions in cute beehive bottles, and beeswax candles in designs running from simple to "spooky", cosmetics and soaps. There's plenty of stalls full of art, artifice and other handicrafts, too. Simple magical knick-knacks, handmade clothes and accessories, and even expensive artisan brooms and wands are being peddled. Food-wise, honey, apples, pumpkin and the local paw paw fruit feature heavily in most offered dishes, from sweet ice creams and preserves to savory and spicy dishes like pumpkin curry. There are spots to grab traditional greasy fair food, as well, if you're not up for experimenting, and plenty of places to pop a squat and people watch. There are a few different people busking: a one man magical band, a person in a bee costume on stilts, two girls juggling to violin music played by a third.

🍯 CAROUSEL, GAMES & SHOWCASE: The end of Elflock Falls's main downtown drag is a small midway with simple games like bobbing for apples and balloon popping. There're also stands showing off winning crops and crafts, including the biggest pumpkin, best honey (won this year by Mr. Berzelius and Peckenpaugh's bees) and of course best locally brewed mead. The main draw, though, is the large magical carousel that runs all day and well into the evening. This truly impressive black-and-yellow beehive-shaped merry-go-round is a triple decker ride featuring free floating single-rider worker bees, fuzzy multi-rider bumble bees and slightly more private honeycomb-shaped seating for two. The middle level moves opposite the bottom and top, and it all lights up at night, making it as entertaining to watch as it is to ride.

🍯 RIVERWALK & HAYRIDE: Down along the riverwalk where autumn colors still burn bright and beautiful, a horse-pulled trailer filled with hay trundles along the path. Wool blankets and glass jars of handheld, non-burning flames are available to help fight the cold. Early in the evening the hayride is very popular with local kids. As the night wears on and the air gets chillier, the trailer empties out and it's not a bad place to snuggle up with someone sweet.

🍯 ELSEWHERE & EVENING: This spot is for any scenes that don't take place at the festival. Did your student skip to hang out under the pitch bleachers? Want to do a late evening scene with your dormmates turning in for the night? Here's your spot!

🍯 OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

Comments

CAROUSEL: Val and Merlin and Not Carlotta

[sugarnspite]

Val accepts the help, but towers over Merlin by the time she's back on her feet. She wipes her eyes thoroughly before answering his question. Well, sort of answering it. "I saw her again and I just, like, wanted so badly to—I don't know!" Val gestures incoherently.

"It was definitely her! I saw her in that weird whatever place we got dumped in on Halloween. She even had Holland's mint tin!" Val's voice goes up an octave as she brings up the very important mint tin. "I mean, actually, this means a lot about where we went, but also... God, who's taking care of Carlotta?"

CAROUSEL: Val and Merlin and Not Carlotta

[merlinpletcher]

Merlin has never been adept at dealing with feelings -- not his and not other people's -- so he remains quiet as Val attempts to explain the situation, not knowing what to say but getting increasingly irate with this mystery girl who bailed on his housemate. Right up until the mention of the mint tin.

The raccoon, he realizes, dumbfounded. She's talking about the raccoon. He glances down at the mess of scattered trash that had come out of the toppled bin and then out toward the trees and then back again. Admittedly...this makes a lot more sense. He bristles a bit at his own misunderstanding, but pushes that faint embarrassment aside for now. There are at least a few more important things to think about.

"I mean...is the mint tin that distinct? Are you sure?" he asks, tone earnest. It's an actual question; he's not trying to prove a point. "...And for what it's worth, raccoons are pretty good at taking care of themselves. Resourceful as hell, you know?"

CAROUSEL: Val and Merlin and Not Carlotta

[sugarnspite]

"How many extremely adorable and fat raccoons carrying around mint tins do you see around here?!" Valkyrie demands, and then immediately looks plaintive again. "I bet she just eats junk food from trash cans. That's where I keep finding her! She needs a decent meal, Merlin. Humans are rapidly encroaching on the natural habitat of wild animals like raccoons!"

CAROUSEL: Val and Merlin and Not Carlotta

[merlinpletcher]

The expression on Merlin's face makes it clear that he's unconvinced. He's seen a lot of fat raccoons and people toss mint tins into the trash all the time; a coincidence like that is far from impossible. Before he can argue back, though, Val's expression takes a turn for the pitiful again and he feels a pang of...something that stops him. He sighs, looking toward the woods again and then back. She's not wrong about humans encroaching on natural habitats, at least. And while that's survivable for animals like raccoons, it's certainly not ideal.

"...So what do you want to do, then?" he returns, looking up at the girl expectantly, "Try to find her?"

CAROUSEL: Val and Merlin and Not Carlotta

[sugarnspite]

Val hops a little from foot to foot with newly found exciting. "Yes!"

And just like that, she hooks her arm through Merlin's and starts pulling him into the crowds. "We need to search all the trashcans! Maybe we could even come back tomorrow night when it's not as loud. I mean, the trashcans will still be full, but there'll probably be a lot less screaming."

CAROUSEL: Val and Merlin and Not Carlotta

[merlinpletcher]

Empathy for his friend or not, Val yanking him along and resolutely proposing that they dig through all of the trash cans is enough to make Merlin regret coming to check on her. Almost. He makes a groan of protest, but quickly falls into step to avoid being yanked off his feet. "We should get some food first," he returns begrudgingly, "So if we find her we have something to offer and she won't just run away again."