The Governor's Ball

[Pharlen]

Work had been going full shifts for several weeks, turning the derelict and likely to collapse Fiddler's Dome Arena into a Cal-Osha approved brutalist horror of a safe building which would not collapse. Beams were improved, the foundation was beefed up considerably, the wooden slats defining the dome were replaced with tough composite, the electrical and heating were updated, and most importantly, the plumbing was modernized.

The toilets were wondrous creations of porcelain which featured not only bidets, but heated water and seats. They auto-flushed, as well. Why? Because damn near every one of the attendees has ended up at a huge party only to find that the facilities were practically prehistoric, and no one wanted a repeat of the pi-rats.

Pharlen sat in the middle of the main dance floor, watching the preliminary set up, aggravated, her chin on her fist, Daisy the nightmare sprawled nearby on the floor like some week old offering of sundered flesh to a pissy goddess.

"I said, weather control, Miss Hexxer. Weather. We do not need ghastly hands reaching down from the rafters."

"Well what kind of weather?!" the hapless sorceress demanded, stamping her foot.

"It's a tropical party, Miss Hexxer, we would like tropical weather," Pharlen exhaled, rubbing her face and removing her glasses. She should have just called Mallory or shang hied Mist, but she was making an effort to spread her love around.

"That's not the kind of thing I do," Hexxer complained, aggrieved.

"I'm not even going to ask you why you answered the request for information," Pharlen responded, twitching, "Just go. And take your hands with you."

"FINE," Hexxer sniffed, tossing her head and stalking from the enormous building.

"Why am I not just conscripting Mist or Mallory again?" Pharlen inquired of the nightmare.

"Because Mist promised to bill you thrice his usual rate, and Mallory just got married," Daisy replied lazily, "Just put out an ad."

"Fine," Pharlen muttered, pushing to her feet, "Camera Person!"

Within a reasonable amount of time, Pharlen was all angelic smiles for the camera woman she'd borrowed from KRDN studio, with a backdrop of the half-finished dance floor. A few palm trees and some vines grew behind her.

"Hello, Lovely People of RhyDin! As the Governor's Ball approaches, and the Fiddler's Dome returns to its beautiful Pre-Bizzare Events of 2015 state (I'm looking at You, Elena), I find myself in need of a weather witch. All that is required is that a lovely balmy tropical summer night be spread over the property of Fiddler's Dome, which is about two acres in size." Pharlen announced with a twinkling good humor despite her aggravation, "Pay commiserate with experience, of course."

"Give me a Call, darlings, I'll be waiting breathlessly by my phone," she added as her phone number flashed onto the screen.

Schedule an appointment, and get a grab bag of Authentic Pokemon cards from the '80s- sealed! Old new stock! Flashed after the number.

The Governor was serious!

Walkin' on Sunshine...

[Rhiannon D Harker]

The number on screen was ringing and when it was answered, the caller said ...

"Hello Governor Von Tombs. This is Rhiannon Harker; I represent Harker and Hall Architecture Limited. As you may know, our company did the design and building for the city's botanical garden. With the help of a mix of tech and magic, the interior of the conservatory is maintained at a constant temperature. We can use those same techniques on a larger scale to help bring the tropics to Fiddler's Dome."

[Pharlen]

Excellent! Pharlen quickly took up the phone to work out details with Harker and Hall, quickly scribing down notes. As it happened that the company Rhiannon was representing was stable and already was familiar with the work, she offered them a contract to turn the interior of the Fiddler's Dome to a temperate and sultry tropical evening.

The outdoors effects were still open for the bidding.

Some persons might believe it was because the Governor, who was legally registered as Chaotic Neutral, was simply courting a little chaos to give the evening a little more oomph, but honestly, Pharlen just wanted to make sure she was giving as many spellcasters, technomancers, and other weather controllers a chance to put an official job on their resume as possible.

Pharlen was entirely at the service of the good people of RhyDin.

Also, Pharlen had a messenger deliver to Harker and Hall Architecture Limitied a paper bag with three packages of random Pokeman cards, published by the venerable Wizards of the Coast. There might be a few Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, too. She was in a hurry when she grabbed the packets.

[Pharlen]

And it's ON, ladies and gentlebeings!

The Setting:

Arriving at the doors to the dome, the guests will be met by smiling hula girls and get lei'd. The leis are all made from beautiful and fragrant flowers.



On the ground floor, the faint trickling sound of flowing water comes from shallow trays lining the walls. From those trays, straight shoots of bamboo-like growth rise upward, narrow leaves naturally interwoven to create a screen. From above, suspended troughs dangle similar cascades of narrow leaf, merging with the upright growth below to screen out the walls and create the illusion of dense bamboo jungle, surrounding the reception room.

A walkway circles the chamber, a space between the 'jungle' and the ridge of coral forming an island in the middle of the room. Lush tropical plants rise from inside that 'island', thick with flowers and exotic foliage, along with what looks like pale, driftwood trees extending from the floor to the ceiling, the main trunk branching partway up so that it looks very much like the limbs extend through the ceiling itself.

A walkway through the center of the planted 'island' offers access to elevators, framed on either side by two spiraling staircases. A few delicate vines climb from the floor to the ceiling on either side of each elevator's doors, but they're otherwise purely mechanical.

The stairs, however, are purely organic - with the coral wall extending to the front edge of each one, they're comprised of a thick stem prescribing a slow spiral upward from the floor, with flat limbs extending out from it to form steps at evenly spaced intervals. From the outer edge of each step, a thinner limb snakes upward, twisting with those from below to form a secure railing. Along that railing, long narrow leaves curve outward, riffling and rippling with every breath of air as they curve downward to form a thin 'screen' of foliage around the stairways.



Those stairs extend upward through the second floor, to the third. On the second floor, the jungle theme continues with bamboo-like growth marking out the same area as below, as though the screen continued upward unbroken. Similarly, the driftwood trees continue, branching low to maintain the illusion that they're growing through the floor, though here they are surrounded by low coral barriers holding in glittering sand, scattered here and there with seashells. The branches spread wider, extending all the way up to the ceiling.

On the third floor a coral wall surrounds a lush island of living growth, flowers in a tropical riot ranging from exotic water-hued mounds to the more familiar, brilliant trumpet shape of hibiscus, spilling over the edges. Looking up gives the first glimpse of the dome soaring overhead.



It's an enormous open space, gloriously warm and humid, tropical in every sense. Hidden projectors beam a beautiful summer sunset onto the inner curve of the dome, the vivid blue melting into the watercolor hues of night.

The area is opens up with a couple additional pathways through the growth, benches arranged to provide seating opportunities close to the flowers. Tiny, jeweled hummingbirds dart and hover among the flowers, serenely gliding from blossom to blossom to sip the nectar.

Long, gnarled branches rise from just behind the top of the stairs and the elevators, twisting massively up toward the edges of the dome, thick with trailing growths of moss and canopy foliage. Where each limb reaches small, private cabanas are formed, the inwardly curved walls above, a thick cascade of broad, heavy leaves drapes downward to the floor, forming several islands of dense growth around the edges of the chamber. Curtains of leaves and vines can be released from braided ropes to give privacy, if wanted.



Past the private cabanas, the seating area and kitchens are placed. Chairs and tables are covered in bright tropical print cloths, some intimate little spaces for couples, others with four and more seats, and long tables with benches give choices of seating.

Along the walls behind the eating area, curtains of flowering vine drape down from above, drooping leaves and flowers extending to the floor in some areas, where the restrooms are located. As promised, they are state of the art, and are attended by cheerful people ready to help out with wardrobe malfunctions, cosmetic and hair disasters, and of course, to assist with the effects of overindulgence. Also, they hand out warm towels.

Finally, there is the dance floor: a raised dais of bamboo, which takes up much of the floor space. A large DJ's coffin is off to the side, as tropical as the rest of the décor. The foliage grows all around the floor, where more of the private cabanas can be found. There are also secluded pathways leading into the tree boughs bending from the elevator shaft, places for those souls who like to watch the festivities from a safe elevation.

Here and there, one may find fat and lazy iguanas. They'll accept offerings of fruit. Illusions of jungle cats play randomly throughout the canopy of the enormous tree.



All along one side of the dance floor is a wide tropical bar, decorated with colorful flowers, tiki heads that light up and exhale steam now and then. The tenders all wear bright Hawaiian shirts or bikinis, and love to put on a show when they make up one of the many tropical drinks on offer. There are so many girly rum drinks, and stands of Zombies in test tubes ready to grab and go.

Pharlen has given the DJ her idea of tropical party music, but requests are gladly (and probably desperately) accepted. There will be lazar lights, bubbles, fog, confetti and glitter and petal bombs, and all sorts of shenanigans!

As the evening progresses, the evening sky projected onto the dome slowly darkens until it shows a velvet black filled with stars. And it is gloriously warm. The air is scented with greenery, flowers, and the sea. Just enough of the walls are left open so one can see the dreary cold outside!




The entire exterior of the Fiddler Building, which takes up a city block, has been offered to random contractors to keep that space warm and lovely for the evening. So upon parking one's vehicle or however one arrives, the walk between the parking lot and building is comfortable.

However.

Pharlen was in a bit of a tizzy when she had those contractors applying, so anything can happen weatherwise from that point – though it should remain warm enough for people to go car to building and building to car!

Buffet style dining features everything from pit roasted pig to ambrosia salad. There is a sushi bar, a desert and candy bar stacked high with all sorts of fruity delights and chocolates. Soft drinks are available in half-barrels of ice, and a large coffee and tea service is near the buffet.



Helpful wait staff can be asked to make up plates, or to bring on selections of appetizers from the buffet, as well.



Of course there are goodie bags! They are set out on tables and randomly through the setting. Each tropical print ditty bag holds high end suntan lotion, sunscreen, sunglasses, a vial of 'Joy' perfume, various dashboard hula figures, macadamia nut chocolates, 'Bounty' coconut chocolate bars, puka shell necklaces, and of course, Maui's hook necklaces. A thumb drive has a copy of Moana and several weird Fleisher Brother and Tex Avery beach and pirate cartoons.

(OOC! Weather oopsies outside the Dome are welcome – maybe your char got a call back from Pharlen, and the nice spell for a warm block wide area went out of control. Or the weather spell got away from them and now all of RhyDin's about to have a day long heat wave. Whatever's fun!

Also, Pharlen rarely drinks till she's drunk, but she will tonight. Maybe someone slipped her a Kat-a-tonic. SO. If you'd like a time-related event to happen to your character, just ping me! Otherwise, your char might randomly notice that time seems to be going very slowly or very quickly. Or possibly repeating itself. It's all good! Thanks so much to Sard and Eden and Katt for helping me bang this thing together!)

[Pharlen]

(Please post attire and anything else you'd like here, RP and the like if you can't make it to the ball. :3
It will be held on the Discord Server, from 6ish onwards, (that's PST, so if I can get here earlier, I will!) I'll get the link ASAP.

Of course there's a Spotify play list.)

[Lucy Mitford]

Lucy and August attended the ball together, arriving together thanks to Lucy's driver. They both arrived in warm winter coats, with Lucy wearing giant snow boots underneath. But once they were inside, they checked their coats revealing their tropical ball-wear beneath, and Lucy swapped her boots for sandals to enjoy the tropical heat for the rest of the night.



The pair of them were looking forward to spending a night meeting friends, sharing drinks, celebrating the new Governor, and dancing the night away.

[Pharlen]

Glorious warmth! Pharlen changed from work clothing to a vivid bit of silk, ready to party. She gaily greeted folks as they made their way upstairs and got the DJ rocking.

[JewellRavenlock]

Despite telling Lucy that she was pretty sure rompers were on their way out, Jewell couldn't resist wearing the one she had found that just seemed perfect for the governor's ball! She arrived alone (though who knows what the night will bring?) ready to dance, mingle, and have some fun. She was sure to seek out Ms. Mitford so she could meet the charming August she had heard so much about.

And if Jake attended (like she told him he should--for the sake of his business!) she was totally going to try and drag him onto the dance floor again.

[Max Lager]

Max didn't quite know what to expect when she heard about the Governor's Ball, but she did know that she wanted to attend. She wanted to keep with the theme (what she understood about it), and just did her best. So she showed up in a short midnight blue cocktail dress, but wore a swimsuit underneath it as she was uncertain how tropical the event might end up being.

[Dear Alice]

Eager for a taste of warm weather, it hadn't taken much convincing to lure the good doctor out of the lab and onto the dance floor. Alice arrived alone and left in much the same way, with a smile on her face and a night of fun, laughter, and dancing under her belt.

[Nat Candle]

With some help from a friend, Nat was looking both dapper and theme appropriate for the Ball.






And for the lovely ray of sunshine accompanying him:

[Bailey Raptis]

The tropical theme of the Governor's Ball fit perfectly with Roshie Armin-Zadeh's fashion ouevre: bright, airy, floral. Unfortunately for her, Bailey adamantly refused to wear any of the more garishly patterned dresses she had been working on in anticipation of the roll-out of her new line, Flora & Fauna. After some heated argument, they came to a compromise. There would be a nature motif on the dress he wore, but the colors would be his choice.

He wore a short-sleeved, midi-length black dress with a split neckline and fit-and-flare silhouette. Gold leaves had been carefully embroidered across the surface. He paired it with a similarly colored variation on his usual red knuckle duster clutch and black kitten heels. He stopped by a nail salon to get his nails done -- matte black with gold glitter -- and achieved a similar effect with black eyeshadow and gold leaf.

He divided his time rather suspiciously between the dance floor and the bathrooms, and frequently made mention of hitting up a club named The Callow after the Gala.

[Eden Parker]

Eden was super excited---if a little confused---about going to the Kokomo themed Governor's Ball with Nat!

It took her a while to nail down what Kokomo was. At first, she was pretty convinced it was a chocolate beverage, then decided it was a small Australian marsupial, before eventually being convinced that it was a maybe-made-up island on Earth. Ohhhhhhh! Thus armed with a better understanding of the event's theme, Eden hit Thrift City.

[Mist Gul]

Mist actually wore a suit. He carefully dressed, even to the tie, which was neatly and properly knotted, and brushed off a pair of matching shoes. Long blond hair combed out and shining, he made sure he was perfection in his mirror before heading out.

He took a taxi to the Fiddler's Dome and stepped out. A bright smile flickering at his lips and a lilt to his step, he made his way to the party. Enchanted with the lei, as well, bright pink and white, and pausing near the elevator to take in the warmth. Then he headed in, eager to try the exotic foods and of course, to dance.

[Alasdair Galloway]

Alasdair's wardrobe is limited, so he decided to grab some shorts and a shirt he thought would fit the bill for the description of the ball and accessorized to complete the summer look.



He felt a little underdressed compared to how beautiful Max looked in her dress. Though the best reaction would come when she decided to tell him about the swimsuit (or one half of it) worn underneath.