Walking through the streets of Sol City, Perrath’s armor clinks together rhythmically with each step. Events like these are always bound to have something interesting happening at them. No, it isn’t the food or festivities necessarily, but they rather have a propensity for shenanigans of the drunkardly type. They provide the opportunity for Perrath to sweep in and deliver a quick blow to knock men unconscious and drag them to the guards. In his opinion, it quite helps his reputation. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen. Regardless, he keeps his eyes peeled while festival goers enjoy the activities in the streets.

As the dragon, standing over seven feet in height, peers across the crowd, he spots a rather familiar figure of white hair and pale skin: the dragoness Einheria. How curious to find her here in the height of summer. It’s been some time since they ran into each other at a similar festival for Hearth Day. Without hesitation, Perrath approaches her.

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Quest details:

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Enjoy the Festival!
Participants: Two or more
Location: Sol City
Post Requirements: 4 posts per person, 150 words per post
Reward: +1 Renown, +1 Mystical Archive Ticket
Description: The festival is booming, and all that is required of you is to have fun! Stroll through Sol City partaking in any kind of festival-like activity. You can attend the joust, or participate in a sword duel. Maybe watch some jugglers or Bardic Virtuoso's perform in the city square. Enjoy some of the rare cuisines found across Charon at local vendors and markets. The choice is up to you, as long as you enjoy the festival!

For all that summer offers a wealth of new and unique experiences, the one thing Einheria has yet to get entirely used to is the heat.

She had briefly endured it in the deserts of Zeinav, in the blistering daylight; but even then, she had made her best attempt to dress appropriately for the weather and venture out only when the sun hung low in the sky, in the early morning or the onset of night, when the chill of the desert evening still lingered. She has yet to brave the bitter torridity of the Ash Lands, even knowing the chill carved into her bones will stave it off [1], but warmer climates are still not her… first choice.

Which, of course, is why she had waited until the later weeks of the Summer Festival to take her chance to experience it, waited until some of the warmth had waned and the early autumn chill had started to creep in; it is not as though the heat troubles her, but she takes infinitely more comfort as the temperatures drop further. Even so, perhaps it is… not so bad to set aside her usual Frost Gale-ready garb for something a bit more liberated– lighter fabrics in lighter colors, her hair swept up off her neck in a high ponytail, her insulated boots traded out for simpler, easier footwear. It is a surprisingly nice change in pace.

Einheria hums to herself as she wanders the streets, dazzled by the banners and stalls and glistening decorations, by myriad scents and sounds and Sir Perrath and sights– pardon, Sir Perrath? She blinks, jerking her head in the direction she had just glanced, brightening immediately as she recognizes the armored dragon making his way toward her.

“Oh!” she exclaims, lavender eyes alight with excitement. “Sir Perrath! What brings you here– besides the festival itself, of course?”

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[1] Frozen Solid

“Good afternoon, Miss Einheria,” Perrath says, pausing his approach to offer a respectful bow to a fellow dragon. “It’s very good to see you.” Standing straight again, Perrath looks around at the festivities, hiding what is a tired look behind a false smile. “Mostly, the festival brings me here. My mentor thought having a proper paladin of the moon goddess making a show at a festival in Sol City would be both a show of good faith and a slap in the face to the sun elves.”

He lets out one haughty, “HAH!” and places his hands on his hips. “As if the denizens of the capitol could see past their own noses long enough to notice a shadow lurking amongst them.”

Returning his attention to Einheria, he gives her a once-over. “You seem to be adapting to the summer as well as ever. Care to join me to make this festival a little more interesting?”

“Just as it is lovely to see you.”

As soon as Sir Perrath dips into a bow, Einheria is quick to answer with a proper curtsy of her own, her ankles crossed, fingers curled into the pastel-dyed layers of her skirts. In the time she has spent traveling, her formal greetings have warranted all manner of different responses; some are quick to discourage it, insisting formalities are unnecessary, others scoff at the gesture, where others welcome it openly. Sir Perrath seems largely unbothered by her antiquated linguistics and formal greetings, mercifully; if anything, as far as she can tell, he quite likes them. Perhaps it is a mere commonality shared between two as long-lived as they are– the blood of dragons does flow freely through their veins, after all.

“Aha, I see,” she politely lifts a hand to her lips to muffle a quiet giggle at Perrath’s outburst, amusement flickering in her eyes. Sir Perrath truly does have such distaste for the capitol, does he not? “Well, as blind and pompous as they may be, at least you are here in a time of fun and celebration.”

Einheria tilts her head a little at Perrath’s offer to make the festival “a little more interesting” – she is uncertain as to what that warrants, but… oh, she hardly cares what it warrants, she is certainly interested! Whether it is truly just enjoying what the festival has to offer or something more in the vein of her friend Shaa’s idea of interesting, she is more than open to whatever idea Perrath may be offering, and she is quick to offer a bright smile and a perhaps too-eager nod.

“Why, of course,” she says, her tone enthusiastic. “I would be happy to. What do you have in mind?”

Perhaps she should ask before she agrees, but…

Oh well.

Perrath quite likes his interactions with Einheria. If he did not, he would not make time for her. Hm, make time. Is that what he’s doing? There’s little pause in conversation to dwell on the thought. All dragons worth their salt deserve attention; it’s nothing more than that.

Admittedly, a time of fun for Perrath would be any opportunity to cleave enemies of his faith asunder. Being here as a participant in a simple festival seems and feels beneath him. But if Miss Einheria is here to do the same, then perhaps he could give it an opportunity. The humanoids seem to be enjoying themselves, at least. Still, he cannot help his craving for violence. Perhaps there is some activity to help quell it?

“Very good,” the dragon says with a small but genuine smile. “Were you already enroute to your preferred activity? I will join you if so. Otherwise, we could perhaps take to the skies and rain terror on the peasants?” There's a certain charm and inclination in his voice that insinuates his words are said in jest, but they're only a joke if she thinks as much. He would gladly remind the denizens of the capital of the might of dragons if given the opportunity.

In all honesty, Einheria has never stepped foot into a festival quite like this.

Celebrations are the sort of thing she had read much of in the days she had spent confined to her father’s cavern, back when she was young and could only experience the world through shadows, through woven words, through ink and outlines and delicate paintings on ancient parchment. She had read of summer festivals, of lady’s favors and jousting and dances, of quiet war tucked into moments of relief– all the things she had come to expect from her fairy tales with the countless years she had been given.

A real summer festival is both the same and not at all; there are shades of similarity, ghosts of things she knows, but there is more breadth of culture and experience, less weight, more… joy. It is a lovely thing, but oh, it certainly makes her feel like a bird navigating the sea, wings weighted down by water, able to see only faint outlines of all the beauty around it, choking on the unnavigable and new strangenesses.

So when Sir Perrath asks her about a preferred activity, she falters.

“To tell you the truth, Sir Perrath,” she says softly, a little uncertain. “I have never actually been to a summer festival before. I am quite unfamiliar with what they have– though I do know of jousting! Ah, but perhaps that is a tad antiquated… do you believe they may have ceremonial duels of some sort? I would not be opposed to such a thing.”

“You have never been to a festival before?” Perrath echoes in surprise. An unexpected warmth crosses his face when he smiles and laughs, unable to contain it. His laughter isn't intended to be demeaning but rather he finds himself amused at her almost childish wonder. “We can peruse the activities. The mortals seem to quite enjoy them. From my understanding, they quite look forward to these things. I suppose when one is so short lived, taking pleasure in the little things like this must bring some great joy to them.” Though he wouldn’t dare to admit it directly, Perrath has rarely been to events such as this either. Often he views them as beneath him, meaningless dribble to keep the masses happy. Of course, he would find himself at any celebration of dragon kind without hesitation, but these seasonal events don’t typically tend to be that.

“Jousting… hm… I would take pleasure in watching them injure each other for the entertainment of others,” he says after contemplating it for a moment. The paladin does quite like watching others suffer and beat themselves senseless all for a quick solar. Yes, they sound like perfect afternoon activities. “This is something of interest to me. Ceremonial duels as well. Of course, were we to participate in either events by some happenstance, none would be able to compare to us. Very well, let us proceed to the arena where we may watch legal violent displays!”

The faintest flush blooms across Einheria’s face as soon as Perrath starts to laugh– oh, she doubts he means to come across as condescending, certainly not, but she cannot help but be embarrassed all the same. As much as she wishes she could be more… world-wise, the fact remains that she still has much to learn about the people and cultures of the world outside her tower. There is quite the dissonance between stories about Charon and the truth of its nature, in the end, and dividing the two is… difficult.

Regardless, her embarrassment ebbs away just so as excitement takes center stage, her eyes glittering with interest as Perrath agrees to venture out to where the jousting and dueling are all taking place, though she does have to bite back a bit of a giggle over the other dragon’s enthusiasm about such things. Einheria hardly considers herself someone to have a penchant for violence, but… there is always excitement in a fight, whether she is a part of it or not. She may lack the prominent sadistic streak Perrath seems to champion, but she will never say no to watching a battle unfold.

Especially one with knights and lances, even if it is… staged. It is still like something out of a storybook, and Einheria, however she tries to divide reality from her stories, cannot help but feel the thrill of seeing those tales spring to life.

“Then, if you are so inclined, shall we?” she chirps, moving to take Perrath’s hand in hers, gently starting to pull him along in the direction of the arena. “I also cannot wait to witness legal violent displays!”

When Perrath notices Einheria’s twinge of embarrassment, he clears his throat and wraps up his laughter with haste. “Very good,” he says quickly, though the smile still pulls at the corner of his mouth as she expresses her interest in the event nonetheless.

“Let’s be off then.” Whether or not he thoroughly thinks it through, Perrath regally offers his arm for Einheria to take should she choose before he makes his way through the crowd towards the more violent of the sports. With his opposite shoulder, he muscles his way through more densely packed droves of people, ensuring that the young dragoness with him has a clear path to walk unimpeded. When they finally make it to the stands, Perrath finds them the best seats, which might include taking advantage of someone leaving their ideal seats to go get a drink or two and swiping it before they can return.

Not long after seating, the next round of jousts begins. The arena is froth with cheers and clatters and clangs as the tournament continues. Perrath at first finds himself judgemental of the event. To him, it seems so clearly fake, but once one of the participants ends up with a sizeable shard of wood embedded through their armor and into his shoulder, he is instantly enamored as much as the rest of the crowd.

The jousting tournament eventually gives way to a melee fighting tournament with a variety of weapons used by the various warriors. He is evidently partial to the singular greatsword user, quietly murmuring over techniques and seeing if there is anything he can learn from them.

Of course, through all of this, Perrath makes conversation with Einheria. He checks to ensure she is enjoying herself, asks her opinions of the events, and procures drinks and mutton for each of them. Throughout the day, the black dragon becomes likely the most relaxed Einheria has seen him, having fully given in to the chaotic but joyous energy of the festival. Suddenly, this is not so beneath him after all.

Einheria is not quite sure when her feelings towards Perrath came to be as they are.

He is an… aloof sort of man– prideful, a bit standoffish, the noble sort, the very template of a dragon they speak of in the dreams of hatchlings and the storybooks of humans. Really, it is a little funny to see just how much he aligns with the sort of dragons her father spoke to her of when she was still small, when she would eagerly cling to his side after his return from the cold and not let go until he left once more. One could call it a little nostalgic.

Their meeting had not been particularly special, but Einheria is coming to find that special meetings are rare and that mundane meetings are really the most special thing of all– mere partners in a quest, working together on a rescue mission. But oh, even if the quest itself is a bit forgettable– had they even completed it? Oh, who cares–, Einheria still remembers the rockslide, still remembers Perrath shielding her from falling stones and fussing over her once it had all been over. She had been… new to the world, still, back then, and that was one of the first grand acts of kindness she had gotten to see.

She will not forget it– and perhaps that is one of many reasons she cannot help but think of a parent with a daughter as she takes Perrath’s arm.

She has to bite back a laugh as the other dragon shoves through the crowd to clear a path for her, but as humorous as it is, she cannot help but feel touched, too– she feels at least a little special being led through the streets like a princess, this way, especially as Perrath quickly zips over to the arena stands and secures them the prime seating, the sort that can only be savored after the glorious battle of waiting for someone to get hungry enough to fetch a snack and surrendering their prideful throne in the meantime.

Admittedly, though the jousting and fighting is gripping, Einheria finds herself more invested in Perrath’s amusement and commentary, happily chattering along with him, cheering as the other dragon’s chosen champion manages to secure victory– the feverish energy of the festival is truly contagious, infectious, spreading throughout the other attendees to even the two of them with ease. It is wonderful, joyous– but nothing is quite as joyous as seeing Perrath so happy as he seems today, even as they pass from one festivity to another.

“It seems you have had a lovely day, Sir Perrath,” she chirps, face aglow in a way it has not been since the last time she saw her father by blood open-eyed and breathing by her side. “As have I.”

Perrath cannot particularly recall what exactly about Einheria he enjoys so much. Since their first meeting, she has simply had his respect. He has always decided that it is for the simple fact that Einheria, like him, is a true dragon. There are so few who choose to walk amongst humanity, for whatever reason. While Perrath finds humanity to be beneath him, his interactions with the dragoness have given him a slightly altered perspective. She does not possess the cynicism that he does, none of the disdain, and much less of the pride. This shouldn’t be refreshing, but perhaps it does remind him that dragons, while powerful, are not invincible, loathe as he is to admit it.

Everyone has something to fight for. Perrath chooses to fight for the glory and prestige of dragonkind, and, in some ways, doing that includes fighting for this dragon child who is curious to the world.

Fine, he will admit that today was pleasant.

With a scoff and the hint of a smile playing on his dragon mouth, Perrath says, “I will admit that our chance encounter played a large part in that. It was much easier to get invested in these competitions while not on my own.” He looks at her, a certain respect and gratitude written between the lines of his expression. “I am pleased you also enjoyed your day.”