The Fall Premiere: A Gala to Open the Season

[Keeper of Stories]

Orktoberfest Fall Premiere

The Old Ballroom
The Old Ballroom of Orktoberfest stands at the edge of the festival grounds, a lonely monument to what was once a grand manor house in the misty moors of Battlefield Park, that burned to the ground on a moonless autumn night. The ballroom is a great stone octagon, its old slate roof draped in ivy that has turned to all the fiery shades of fall. The ivy hangs like curtains over the tall windows that have no glass or panes, open to the cool autumn air; but torches ensconced on the stone walls and a large brass brazier in the center are there to keep guests warm.

A band has set up in what remains of the archway that connected to the old manor house; while a well-stocked bar and a coat check have been set up to either side of the ornate wooden doors that lead outside. Servers dressed in frilly shirts and frock coats move gracefully across the ballroom with trays of ale, wine, and spirits, offering drinks to guests - free, though tips and donations are suggested.

The ball will ring in the season and benefit care for the monuments and graves of Battlefield Park, in hopes of placating its spirits — and behind the bar may not be the only spirits present. The curtains of ivy rustle when there is no breeze, strange shapes rise out of the mist blowing across the fields, and the smoke from the torches and brazier moves as gracefully as the dancers of yore, as the old ballroom returns to life for one night.

Hosted by Batty Bloodblade (Keeper of Stories) on Sunday, October 18th at 9PM ET.

The Fall Premiere is a live event happening in the #Orktoberfest channel on Sunday, October 18th starting at 9PM ET. Feel free to post your outfits or vapour in this thread!

((Huge thanks to Mallory Maeda's player for developing the poster and description!))

[Jaycy Ashleana]

It shouldn't be any surprise that Jaycy was going to be at the Fall Premiere! With white flats under her dress, hand jewelry, and a wide diamond-studded headband (not exactly a tiara) holding up silver-streaked red curls, she was ready to mingle the night away on the arm of her Overlady, Hope.

Hope (though with shorter hair) for the evening:

[Josette Wheeler]

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

- Emily Dickinson



In the spirit of hope in placating the spirits of Battlefield Park, Josette looked like quite the ethereal apparition herself in a diaphanous gown of feathers that seemed to mystically float along with the ballerina’s slightest movement. Perhaps due to a mysterious lingering bit of pixie dust!

Highly sensitive to the energy that still lingered, she darted occasional glances to the moving curtains of ivy and strange shapes rising out of the mists. Nevertheless, she was undaunted in her desire to dance the night away with friends and contribute to a good cause.

[Neekylah Lang]

Neekylah had never been to the Fall Premiere and wasn't sure just how dressy one should be. However, she never missed a chance to dress up when she could! Stunning in a chrome like bronze gown that rested on thin straps on her shoulders and hugged curves in a mermaid style, Neekylah showed up in style, ready to dance and laugh and simply welcome fall.

[Regina Wellston]

The musician would never turn down a chance to dance and hear music and spend the night with friends. Choosing to keep to the colors of fall, she wore a ball gown of glimmering copper with golden leaves adorning the collar and the sleeves of the long dress. Somehow, she had convinced JJ to come along too and it was on his arm she showed up with a brilliant smile ready to enjoy a fun evening.

[JewellRavenlock]

The Empress may be spotted between the dancers and revelers in a dress fit for a Faerie Queen. It was difficult to determine if it was really her, though, as her signature colored hair was black for the evening and she was spirited away before confirmation of her attendance could ever be made.

[Anya de la Rose]

Anya chose to honor the season with a black, off the shoulder gown. Of course, she was careful to choose a skirt that would twirl, it wasn't often that she had a reason to wear a dress anymore after all.

She accented the dress with a diamond solitaire pendant in a very respectable carat and matching diamond stud earrings. Her long blonde hair, usually tied back in a bun or braids, was instead loosely pinned and left mostly free.

[Mallory]

The witch picked out a flowy burgundy dress to wear to the gala, with a sheer layer to the skirt adorned with leaves and vines, and a plunging neckline that proudly showed her tattoos of Abraxas, a horned heart, and a crow in flight.

She made a little time for the mysterious mists that crept up to the edge of the ballroom, making small talk with the faces that rose out of them as if they were old friends -- and a few of them were. Battlefield Park had a special place in her heart, after all.

[Strawberry]

The veil between the living and the dead was less a line she toed and more a drunkard's sobriety test for her, bobbing and weaving between the two with haphazard care for just where her nimble feet ended up. With Battlefield Park on the line quite literally for her that evening, Karma still made an appearance at the gala, likely with some handsome arm candy in tow, clad in a dress reminiscent of gauzy drapes billowing in dark hallways lit only by slivers of harvest moonlight, or perhaps a grove's last leaf left to drift down, down, down to a silent ground to leave the land as still as the grave until the awakening of spring. For its length and excessive amount of material, the dress seemed to not get caught under foot or on those around her, a blessing in and of itself that promised she would wear it up until the final moment that she had to change before the challenge. Her hair, white for the night, had been pulled into an artfully messy braided updo, pinned with a hair stick pin made of wickedly sharp bone.






Before she left to the Arena, she changed into something a little less flashy and little more flexible, donning an ethereal, tattered dress that evoked whispers of the grave and a girl gone too soon, made of wispy layers of lightweight fabric, artfully torn and cobbled together in shades of deep maroon and midnight blue-black.

[Ebon Ilnaren]

Phen and Ebon attended the Gala together, naturally. She wore a deep bronze-colored gown with jewelry that, for once, she had not crafted herself; instead, the chainmaille earrings and bracelet had been aniversary gifts from Sylva.



Meanwhile, Ebon wore a well-tailored black suit, with a vest, tie, and kerchief patterbed with bronze highlights to match his wife's gown.

[Lilith Anderson]

The Lilith dropped by for a brief spell, clad in a ghastly ensemble made by herself in tones of white and black and bruise blue, capped with red gemstones patterned to look like garish drips down her shoulders and torso.

[Vaeluthil Whitevale]

Though she had all but disappeared from the public eye for the better part of the year, a slip of a faerie made an appearance at the gala. It was close to home after all.

[Juniper]

Juniper and Nicklaus

[BardGallant]

Dris attended the Gala with the most magnificently handsome man on his arm, his boyfriend Rhys Germain! Rhydin's finest former Governor looked especially dashing in a chocolate colored suit coat tailored to fit his lean frame. Golden champagne slacks were worn to compliment the accents of swirls in his waist coat, as well as the extra splash of cravat tucked within it and the handkerchief peering out neatly from its fold in his breast pocket. Overall he embraced the colors of Autumn and came prepared to dance the night away among beauty and splendor.


( Close-up of the waist coat details. )


And as promised, he and Rhys brought a pair of Jack-O-Friends to share bar space with Eden's. (The winky one is Rhys'.)

[Rhys Germain]

Rhys attended the gala on the arm of Rhydin’s loveliest former governor, his darling S. Driscol. His suit was similar in cut to his paramour’s, his coat single-breasted with a patterned champagne waistcoat beneath. Instead of his usual black, however, he had chosen navy blue for the occasion, painting him the night sky to Dris’ autumn leaves. The warm colors in his tie and pocket square harmonized with similar hues in Dris’ ensemble, tying them tenuously together. Gold jewelry, including tigers eye studs in his ears, and a whiskey-hued belt and pair of oxfords rounded out his outfit.