Summer Event 2020 - Main Prompts

Today was sunny. In fact, it was probably a bit too bright for the browbird landing near the gates of Harara. She stares at the bright sky, rays of light illuminating the interior of her cockpit, while she stops the engines. The deep sound of everything shutting down wakes up the little creature sleeping on the seat next to her. It’s Ember, the companion of her adopted father, a tall satyr that she can hear coming in the room, the door sliding slowly.

"Oh, we arrived."

"Yep, and it’s too bright already."

Ebony laughs quietly, getting closer to her and putting his hand on her shoulder. He looks outside and smiles: a bit of sun will not hurt them.

"Rowan, you’re not made out of ice, the sun will not hurt you."

"Nah, but what’s the point of having such an incredible city if I can’t even see it?"

She raises her face to look at him, the big satyr towering her by several heads easily. She then smiles and gets up from her seat, to stretch. The travel through space was long.. Ebony smiles as well, and gets out of the room.

"I’ll go get Willow."

"Okay!"

The moth-like browbird looks again outside, observing the tall walls of the city, and the numerous airships and shuttles coming and leaving from those tall towers, looking like obelisks. A sunny day, but it seems like it’s gonna be a fun trip nonetheless.

The city is crowded, the streets filled with so many people of so many origins, with so many stories and so many homes. Willow looks at everything with a big smile on their face, adoring the colors they are greeted with.

"Let’s go to this big casino everyone’s talking about",

says Rowan, spotting it not far from where they are. The two satyrs agree, and here they are walking toward the gigantic building, casting a refreshing shadow on some streets. Once in front of it, they are greeted by a very kind browbird, with a fancy attire and such amazingly fluffy white hair, who greets them and tells them a bit about the casino and its history. While Ebony and Willow listen carefully to what Azimuth is saying, Rowan stares at the inside of this way too fancy looking place. Like the streets of this city, the place is crowded, but this time, the demographic is a tad less wide. Even if everyone can play here and try the many games of the place, many folks here seem to be used to this kind of life and luxury. This creates a fun scene with lost tourists and gullible people mixed with well-to-do folks trying to have fun and pay their next overpriced cocktail in a nearby pub. The three newcomers thank Azimuth for her explanations and directions, and immediately, Ebony loses a bit of his smile.

"Something’s wrong, Ebony?"

"No no, there are just a lot of people here."

"Ah, sadly money and gambling brings way more people than books."

Willow laughs at this comment, and grabs Ebony’s arm to hug him a bit.

"Your books are way more interesting, don’t worry, they don’t know what they are missing!" He looks at them with a gentle smile, and kisses their forehead before looking around.

"Okay, let’s have fun with those scary machines, I guess..?"

Their first encounter with one of the “scary machines” is a pretty classic slot machine. Like the rest of this place, this piece of technology is absolutely gorgeous, ornate with many drawings of fantastical creatures, shapes carved in marble and filled with gold, filled with incredible and unnecessary details. Rowan looks at it for a hot minute, trying to understand what was detailing and actual pushable buttons. At the center of the machine, the three slots were waiting for them to insert some stargold, to start this probably expensive day. Willow is the first to go, excited to see how those things work. They sit on the comfortable stool in front of it, and observe the machine. They put some stargold on the slit on the side, push a button to make the machine swallow it, and finally pull the lever, under the stare of the two behind them, curious as well. They aren’t the casino type, so those crazy machines were a bit new for them. The mechanism starts instantly, with a loud “CLUNK” when the lever reaches the end of its trajectory. Immediately a little music starts, very cheerful, making Willow’s head bounce in rhythm. The three big slots start moving, rapidly, very rapidly, creating a blurry image of what they once were. The family moves their faces closer, slowly, watching the thing doing its thing… The first picture arrives. A very colorful drawing of a crystal, an amethyst to be precise. Willow smiles a bit, and their eyes shine when the second slot is also an amethyst! Before that, Rowan was looking curiously but without any great attention, and Ebony was still a bit anxious about the amount of people here and around them. But now that two of the slots were the same picture, they were very, very cautious.

Three amethysts. Willow’s scream of surprise makes Rowan jump, and Ebony joins them suddenly, and the two start making a little dance to celebrate their win. Rowan smiles at them, and looks at the chart above the screen. Three amethysts, huh? She squints to search for them, and gasps a bit when finally she sees the result of their luck.

"Wow, we actually won enough to have fun the whole trip!!"

She joins them in their little dance, the two satyrs welcoming her in their arms to jump in round, under the stare of some amused folks and frustrated others, jealous of this luck.

"We are rich! Let’s spend it all on food and useless gadgets and goodies!!"

Ebony laughs at Rowan’s comment before putting his attention on the machine again. He takes the stargolds stored in it for them and looks around, spotting a very fancy bar near them.

"Let’s start now, shall we?"

Willow nods.

"Yeah, I actually didn’t drink a lot on the ship and I’m thirsty!"

They smile at the tall satyr, and take Rowan by the arm, all happy about their win of the day! Beginner’s luck is an amazing thing.

The counter is beautifully crafted, made out of a white rocky material and shining with the casino’s bright lights. Behind it, a smiling satyr looks at them.

"What such a loving looking trio like you will drink today?"

Rowan raises an eyebrow at this question, and sits on one of the stools, followed by the satyrs.

"Uhh… if you have beer, that’s good for me."

Ebony looks at her and shakes his head, amused.

"I’ll have tea."

He looks at Willow, and nods.

"Two tea. Black tea please."

The bartender laughs a bit.

"That’s an unusual order, I’m used to more… eccentric drinks! Beer and tea, coming right away!"

"Yeah, we’re clearly not from this place, as you can tell."

"I can tell, indeed. But don’t worry, the city of Harara is always filled with folks from all around the universe! It’s always interesting to discover such different faces and cultures coming to the same kind of place. Stargold really brings people together it seems!"

He winks at the trio, before starting the preparation of the two teas, Rowan’s beer is already done. He puts it on the counter, and the moth-like browbird smiles a bit, humming the smell of the beverage. It’s a beer of excellent quality, she can already tell from the scent, and the look. A very pleasant amber color, with small colonies of bubbles dancing around in the glass. She sips a bit of it, closing her eyes to appreciate this fine beer.

"This beer was crafted by a very reclusive group of monks, in their mountain monastery of Rallkor. Our kind and beloved pharaoh managed to get a restock from them yesterday, you arrived just in time! Nobody could miss on an occasion to try this wonder."

Rowan stopped listening long ago, and is just drinking quietly, while the bartender finally gives Ebony and Willow their tea.

"Thank you, sir!"

Willow smiles at him, before blowing lightly on the tea to cool it. Little leaf residues float in the liquid, in circles due to the sudden movement, and the satyr looks at them a bit.

"So, since you’re not from here, what do you plan to do in our magnificent city? Do you want to watch the incoming games, or even participate in them?"

"We are here to visit the place, mostly!" answer Willow, drinking their tea. "This is an amazing place, so colorful and full of life! You must be so, so lucky to live here and to work in such a beautiful building!"

"Ahah, yes I am quite lucky indeed. After all, luck is the blood of this place!"

"Yeah, and stargold too. You must be paid billions just to serve drinks, right?"

The bartender looks at Rowan, and his smile becomes more grin-like.

"I must admit the pay is another reason to love the place, yes. But I’m here to make my clients happy and to welcome newcomers like you like you should be!"

Rowan nods slowly, not believing at all that this satyr works here for the pleasure of serving drinks only, and finishes her beer rapidly. She looks at Ebony and Willow, and smiles slightly, loving to see those two so close and loving, drinking their tea quietly. She is very lucky to have them.

"I’ll go take a look at the rest of the place for a sec, stay here and enjoy your tea you two."

She kisses both on the cheek quickly before going in the sea of people, before Ebony can say anything. He looks at her disappearing in the crowd, a little anxious. Willow pats his arm.

"She knows how to take care of herself, Ebony, don’t worry."

"I know. But I’m always a bit scared, you know it."

"I know, I know."

They look at him in the eyes with a big smile.

"Your tea will be cold!"

"Oh, right…"

Rowan looks around, sometimes jumping when one wins a jackpot, other times grinning when one loses a life saving. The house always wins, and they got lucky earlier with their very first slot machine. But she knows that this place is filled with tricks and scams to make you lose everything in a second. She walks on the golden alleyways of the casino, dodging folks and searching for something fun to stare at. A single kitbull is trying his luck at a slot machine, and she decides to put herself on a pillar not far from him. One mango, two mango… ah, bad luck, he wins nothing this time. She chuckles slightly before continuing her visit. A visit that ends up being extremely boring. Nothing to see here except frustrated people and stargold flying around, fancy folks in extravagant outfits showing off to some power-thirsty others in the same kind of attire. Ridiculous, in the eye of the browbird, who makes sure no one touches her brown wing-like arms when she walks in the main path.

After long minutes walking around the casino, she finally gets back to her parents, talking and laughing. She smiles a bit.

"I swear, those two will kill me with their cuteness one day."

She shakes her head, amused, and finally sits next to them, Willow greeting her with a big smile.

"So, how is the casino, tell us!"

"Boring."

"Oh..."

Rowan laughs a bit.

"I mean, it’s the same thing again and again, it’s designed to make you lose stargold after all! It’s.. interesting to watch people losing their life savings in one try though."

"Rowan!"

Ebony frowns a bit.

"That’s not interesting, it’s tragic. It is not great to lose everything like that."

"They don’t have to play. It’s their choice, thus it’s their fault if they end up with nothing when they go out of this place."

Willow raise themselves a bit on their stool.

"Rowan, it’s maybe a desperate act, they are trying to win the jackpot so they can pay.. a debt maybe! Or a biiig house!"

"The house always wins."

The bartender listens carefully, and doesn’t react. Instead, he looks at Rowan when she stares at him, and smiles.

"See? Even he knows. Tell me, “sir”.. how many people end their day with the wallet empty after coming here?"

"It depends. The numbers always vary."

Rowan stares at him in the eyes, her deep and dark eyes stuck in his.

"But they are always high."

"That’s what I wanted to hear, thank you."

She grins, before raising her finger to keep his attention.

"Another one of your… uh.. monastery beer. T’was quite good."

"On it."

Ebony looks at Rowan with a kind smile. He was sure that this place would make her.. like this, but he still wanted to come. The whole universe was always talking about the wonders of Harara and their magnificent casino, and the curiosity is just too strong for the quiet bookseller and the ex-mercenary.

A good thing the rest of the city isn’t as tainted with stargold deals and frustration as this place is. They still have a lot of days ahead of them, and most importantly, they were here to watch the games!