ic Ren Faire: Royal Court (IC)

[Thevshi]

Fair Grounds (near Ocean Heights Amusement Park)

Port Regal, Freedom City, New Jersey

Friday September 27, 2024. 3:00 PM

 
As had been the case for well over a decade, the last full week of September had the fairgrounds near Ocean Heights Amusement Park was host to the Freedom City Renaissance Faire. The faire was spread out across the grounds, with various areas each offering a different experience.

 

One of the areas available was the "Royal Court," a pre-fab structure made to look like a small castle which sat at one end of the fairgrounds. The interior of the building was designed to resemble a throne room, where there were various staff acting out various court functions and interacting with visitors.

 

With the faire soon to wrap up at the end of the weekend, Claremont Academy had arranged for students that wished to attend to be excused from their last class of the day and had provided buses to transport the students to the fairgrounds. After the buses arrived at the parking area, the students were free to go where they wished for the next several hours.

 

Lynn Conners had made her way down the main street to the Royal Court, walking along with her roommate Mattie Hooper. Like several guests at the faire, the blonde teen was in costume. In this case it was a dark green dress, with a corset, under which she wore a white blouse with somewhat billowy sleeves and brown leather gloves.

 

The last few weeks since classes had started at Claremont had been a bit of a whirlwind. At times Lynn had almost felt a bit overwhelmed, by things, but had generally managed to keep herself from having a breakdown. Mattie's regular presence had been a big help with that, as well as her weekly counseling sessions. "There it is up ahead." The blonde said to her roommate, noting the small castle ahead of them.

[Poncho]

(King Cole III)

 

Renee had been quiet and withdrawn for as long as she was at . She was doing fine in her classes, but she wasn't hanging out with her classmates most of the time; she was just hiding in her room and sometimes appearing for dinner or similar. She was a bit mysterious, but she was also clearly just not much of a people person currently, and for a lot of the time she just wanted to be left alone.

 

Which made it somewhat strange to anyone who hadn't been part of her combat training (Harper Hale, Jack Davydov, Daphen Celeste, and Sarah Thatcher), when Renee had gotten on the bus to the Ren Faire, as it seemed like she was the sort of person who'd be excited to go to a Renaissance Faire. But she'd disappeared not long after the students had arrived.

 

It was instead King Cole who wanted to have fun at the Renaissance Faire, so the young heroine was in costume running around the Royal Court, looking as much like the princess or queen of the faire as it's actual royalty, cackling in joy as she participated. It wasn't like King Cole was currently very well known, so she really just looked like someone with a far too elaborate costume! She currently was watching the proceedings with a critical eye, judging the actors doing them as much as the material they were working with. A good actor can salvage bad material, while bad actors couldn't handle good material, after all!

Which is when she sort of halfway ran into Lynn and Mattie.

"Helllooooooo~"she said excitedly.

[Kaede Kimura]

Harlequin

 

Alden had been quite confused when first told about the Faire, given the luxury the modern day humans lived with he had to question why they would willingly degrade their living standards to those of the earlier time periods? Further reading and discussion revealed that this was not what they were actually doing, instead dressing up and acting as a recreational activity without losing the comforts they had access to. Apparently many people also 'cosplayed' as different 'fantastical' creatures like Centaurs and Elves.

 

It was frankly hilarious. As such Alden had considered wearing his normal skin to this event, but due to the presence of his classmates decided against such a risk, as if something later were to cause his glamour to fail it would then raise questions.

 

Still, he had been unable to resist the idea of dressing up. He wore a pure white silk shirt and velvet near-black green breeches with a leaf pattern and black leather riding boots beneath a dark forest green royal mantle, lined with moss instead of fur. A large pair of antlers sprang from his forehead, his pointed ears were undisguised and his skin was covered in thin white fur. Completing the look was a variety of jewellery, earrings, dangling chains from the antlers, rings and brooches of golds and silvers decorated his form. He had even made himself taller. Had he put more thought into it, he may have noted that this 'costume' he had formed from his glamour was probably a bit elaborate and would be beyond the practicalities of physical construction.

 

But he had not done so.

 

The Goblin Prince pretending to be a Human pretending to be a different Fae royal so strode down the path towards the castle, pondering how he wished to play his character when he saw three of his classmates. He had not spoken with Renee before, but had of course been assessed alongside Mattie and fought the Avant Guard with Lynn. He thought it might be fun to accompany the trio, but a strange hesitance possessed him. Deciding to analyse that feeling later, Alden approached. "<Greetings friends! It is a fine day for such a faire, no?>"

[FlyingFresh]

Gookgak

 

A pointy-eared green head peaks out from behind a barrel and surreptitiously calls out to the small assemblage of teen superheroes.

 

"Psst, psst! Hey, Claremont friends! Hey, over here. Oh, wow!" Gookgak looks surprised as he sees Harlequin's form. "I didn't know that Cernunnos went to Claremont! Or are you Herne the Hunter? I could never really keep you two straight. Anyway, look what I stole from the King of Ren Faire!"

 

And the little gobbelyn whips out a tacky looking treasure box. "Ha! Him so stupid! It was so easy to steal!" Gookgak fiddles with the lid for just a moment, and then it pops open.

 

His face drops, and he shows the contents to the rest of the students with a pained expression. "What the? All the jewels and stuff are just fake! Hmm . . . maybe King of Ren Faire not so stupid after all . . . ."

[Poncho]

(King Cole III)

 

"Wooooah!' Renee King Cole pointed at Aiden, clapping enthusiastically at the overdone Fae joining her in elaborate costumery. Her sheer excitement unleashed forth in a torrent as she bowed dramatically and swung her cape.

 

"Oh great horned Lord Cernunnos, mighty and ancient God! Might you bless this festival and the people within it, bless my lineage with strength and resilience, and bless our land with a great harvest!" she said as she kneeled, then rose and clapped. "It's excelllent! Great Costume! Great Costume!"

 

Then a goblin behind a barrel offered them gems. She was only vaguely aware that there was an actual goblin at Claremont, and she was glad the goblin had also agreed that this was clearly Cernunnos. When he opened the box of gems she gleefully stuck her fingers in and grabbed a handful to play with. 

 

"No no, my Gobwyn friend! Look, look! They may not be real outside this place, but inside this place, for truth, they are what we imagine them, and you have made an incredible heist! A truly incredible thing to have stolen from the King on his Throne! Do not be upset!"

[RocketLord]

BOUNCE!

 

"This'll be so much fun!" Mattie exclaims, as she walks alongside Lynn. "Just look at everything! Everyone looks so awesome!" 

 

Mattie is, for her part, dressed in a very elaborate light purple princess style dress, complete with garlands, a small silver crown and a veil over her face. The dress wouldn't look out of place in a Disney movie. She is not quite putting in the effort to act like a princess, though, instead walking briskly alongside Lynn while holding the long dress slightly lifted in the front.

 

"Oh, hey Renee! Sounds like you're having fun! And Alden, you look awesome! What's the deal with the horns? It looks great, but..." She didn't have a chance to respond before Gookgak pops up with the stolen chest of fake gems, which Renee quickly latches onto. "Gookgak! You shouldn't steal! We're supposed to be the good guys, and good guys don't steal unless they're, like, fighting against some big, evil guy that they need to steal from to give money to the poor or somethin'!"

[FlyingFresh]

Gookgak

 

Gookgak scowls at the fistfulls of fake jewels. "These fake treasures are what I imagine them to be?" He scrunches up his his face in concentration. "Nope. Them still fake. Guess I wasn't imagining hard enough."

 

The little gobbelyn's eyebrows shoot up at Mattie's revelations. "So . . . What you are saying . . . If I am understanding you correctly, is that the King of Ren Faire . . . is actually some big evil guy! Very tricky! Heh, thanks for letting me know, Mattie!"

 

And the little gobbelyn sneaks off to do . . . something.

[Thevshi]

Slipstream

 

Lynn could not help but have a slight smile at Mattie’s excitement. Her roommate’s enthusiasm to…pretty much everything was a bit infectious, helping keep some of the blonde teen’s dark thoughts at a distance. It certainly helped make this outing more bearable for the teen.

 

As Renee almost collided with her the sixteen-year-old sidestepped the other girl with a slight blur of motion. But the blond teen offered Renee a faint smile. "Hey Renee, nice costume." She commented, noting the seemingly change in the other girl’s typically more subdued demeanor.

 

But she had barely responded to Renee's appearance when Alden came up to the three girls, also in a rather detailed costume complete with antlers. "Oh, hi Alden." Lynn said with another slight smile. "Mattie is right, that is a really amazing costume." She replied, before Gookgak appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

Having been in one in a Doom Room assessment with the small gobbeyln, the blonde teen was somewhat accustomed to his slipping in and out of view. But she was a bit taken aback when he reveled he had swiped some of the fake gems from the throne. "No….wait, that is not what Mattie meant!" Lynn tried to add as Gookgak slipped away again.

[Poncho]

(King Cole III)

 

"Haha! Well, there he goes!" Renee laughed cheerfully as Gookgak ran off. "I don't know what he's going to do, but I suppose we should stop him?" she didn't seem particularly bothered despite saying that, rolling some of the fake jewels in between her fingers. "Or we could let him do some robin-hoodery. I mean, what's a Renissance Faire without a Robin Hood and his Merry Men? As long as it's all in good fun, what's the problem? It helps the immersion!" she grins.

 

"We could just go ask the King- or the person running the show- to let us join in and let Gookgak have some fun taking some fake jewelry. It'll add to the show."

[EternalPhoenix]

Stormchild

 

Striding boldly onto the scene from the Markets was Kadene Estime. Three other girls of varying ages, appearances, and dispositions straggled (relatively speaking) behind her. "I wanted to pretend to take the King for ransom, but Mademoiselle Iris declined to join me. Anyway, the Market was duller than brick making. Anything interesting happening here?"

[RocketLord]

BOUNCE!

 

"Gookgak! That's so not what I meant!" Mattie shouts after the goblin as he disappears.

 

Renee finds the entire situation hilarious, and honestly, Mattie has to agree. She turns back to Lynn with a sigh and starts laughing at herself. "We really oughta teach that boy some manners some day, don't we?" she asks no one in particular.

 

Kadene showing up throws her off for a second, before she resumes her usual bright smile. She hadn't really talked much with the other girl, but she was supposed to be from some other world. Kinda like Lynn. "Hey Kadene. I, uh, I might have accidentally sent Gookgak out to do some Robin Hoodin', and he thinks the King's some evil guy now. I didn't do it on purpose, he completely misunderstood what I meant, right Lynn?"

 

 

[Kaede Kimura]

Harlequin 

 

Alden grinned as both Renee and the little goblin spy 'Gookgak' identified him as Cernunnos, he was sure the Horned God would not mind him adopting the mantle during the festivities. So Cernunnos bowed his head as the supplicant asked for his favour.

 

... Although he noted he should probably warn her off asking any fae or gods to bless her lineage in the future...

 

"<My blessing is already upon þee my friend, arise! It is not for kings to kneel.>" Alden then grinned, breaking character. "<I am quite pleased with my disguise. You ladies look wonderful as well.>"

 

He had been about to enter the discussion with Gookgak when the small goblin slunk off to parts unknown. He considered pursuing him to weasel out which vassal he was in the employ of, but decided that such overt measures would be much less entertaining. Instead he chose to remain with the ladies, chuckling as they all reacted with varying levels of dismay and amusement.

 

He was rewarded nearly instantly with the arrival of more interesting folks, a pirate and her crew. Holding a king for ransom sounded quite thrilling, and besides, he was sure the assembled crew could prove more interesting than brick making. Especially when Mattie left herself open to being teased so well!

 

"<She lies! It was quite terrible.  She told the wee creature that stealing was fine as long as the person can't stop you and gave him directions to the nearest nunnery! Someone must stop this villain before she inspires more heinous crimes!>" Alden held his hands out to the pirate in a supplicating gesture as his eyes twinkle with glee, "<Surely a noble sailor such as thee can stop her before it's too late!>"

Edited October 7 by Kaede Kimura

[Spacefurry]

Seraphim

 

Kadene had an easy 8 inches height on her which gave her a longer stride, and the pace Sarah had to nearly jog at to keep up with the motivated girl made it feel like twice what it should. She nearly thought she may have to stop and catch her breath before they reached the castle.

She was thankful when the pirate lass finally seemed to stop for a moment. Sarah glanced around the square as she took several deep breaths. Perhaps she needed more time exercising, the coach would agree she feared.

 

21 hours ago, EternalPhoenix said:

Stormchild

 

"I wanted to pretend to take the King for ransom, but Mademoiselle Iris declined to join me. Anyway, the Market was duller than brick making. Anything interesting happening here?"

 

“I think doing that without their consent would be rather rude, and possibly illegal.”

She offered.

 

She wasn’t sure what to make of the energetic Mattie or the stoic Lynn, like with Iris, staying on a different floor and being on a different squad Sarah hadn’t interacted with either of them much more then in passing. Sarah thought she remembered they were actually roommates and she wondered just how the two got along with such contrasting personalities. She’d seen the boy around campus too, but again another squad and, well,  different dormitory altogether.

 

Sarah spotted Renee and at least recognized her from the student assessment. She gave her a small wave.

“Hey, enjoying the faire?”

She asked.

Edited October 8 by Spacefurry

[FlyingFresh]

Gookgak

 

There is a muffled yelp, then the King of Ren Faire's throne sits empty. 

[Thevshi]

Slipstream

 

Lynn was interrupted in her attempt to follow after Gookgak by the sudden appearance of a group of Claremont students. Kaede, Iris and Carmen had made their way into the makeshift building, accompanied by another teenage girl who Lynn believed was named Sarah.

 

"No, that is not what Mattie was trying to say at all." The blonde teen said in response to Alden's playful casting of Mattie as the villain in Gookgak's mischief. "We need to try to find him before he causes even more trouble!" She stated to the group, wondering where he could have gotten off to.

[Poncho]

(King Cole III)

 

"Ah! The throne is open, the crown is gone!!! I could assume my rightful throne!" King Cole said excitedly, clappong her hands together. But then a flash of seriousness crossed her face, and she sighed.

 

"Is what I would like to say. But I guess we should find Googak and avoid us getting the school banned from the festival." she kicked a rock, dour and realistic instead of fantastical and joking. 

 

"Some of us should spread out to try and find him, others should stay here and try to avoid making the scene any larger than it needs to be. I'll go take a look around." she said before heading off.

[Kaede Kimura]

Harlequin

 

The disguised Ogre Prince smiled wordlessly as Lynn defended Mattie from his accusation. He found the idea of trouble quite entertaining, and had quickly noticed the disappearance of the King, doubtless the work of more fae mischief. He nearly crowed with laughter as Renee seemed to leap at the chance to usurp the now empty throne, before his triumph crumbled to ash at her sudden switch to seriousness.

 

Seriousness which proved infectious as she mentioned the school being barred from the festival in the future. That, he could not abide. To rob the future of joy would be a far greater crime than any pilfered jewels or empty thrones, it was the very thing he had become Harlequin to stop (mostly by his own hand, but it had grown from there). Sobered and serious he turned to his classmate. "<I will come as well. I might be able to assist in drawing him out and catching him. Where do you want to start?>"