yinyangwizard | New Year's Party

Abe no Seimei's house resembles a typical Heian mansion, with its central south-facing hall and wings connected by bridges and walkways. The entire structure is raised above the ground on wooden pillars and topped with steep, cypress-shingled roofs. There are certain modern conveniences in the house, but most of these are tastefully hidden - except for the bathrooms which are, of necessity, fairly easy to recognize.

The house sits on a few acres of carefully manicured, wall-girded ground that include a pond and stream, a moon bridge, stands of bamboo, a rock garden, and a stunning variety of trees and flowering plants. Although it may be the middle of winter in the real world, the host has seen to it that the house and grounds themselves are in late spring. The air is comfortably cool and fragrant with various flowering plants. All the sliding screens and shutters that normally separate the inside of the main hall from the outside are open, allowing one to step directly from the wide verandah into the house itself. Both the house and grounds are lit with braziers and strings of colored lanterns.

The space within the main hall, rather than being divided up by screens and curtains in the typical way, has been left mostly open. Tatami mats, cushions, and low tables are clumped here and there about the room, as well as on the verandah itself. Spirit-servants in human shape stand ready to serve food and drinks. There are a couple of open hibachis and a sushi bar manned by excellent mortal chefs who will wake up tomorrow with memories of working at a fancy party and substantial payment for their work, but with no precise idea of who they were working for or who they were serving. In one corner of the main hall, a group of spirit musicians - some more human-looking than others - play music on stringed instruments, flutes and drums.

[OOC: Mingle! Threadhop! Explore the garden! I will be here tagging from the start of the party until at least midnight eastern time. After that, I will be tagging and threading intermittently here until January 5th.]
Once Seimei has brought his guests from Milliways through the torii gate that marks the entrance to his estate, he holds up his hands to get everyone's attention. "I am happy and honored that you have all come to join this New Year celebration at my humble house. The grounds and main hall are open to you. Should you require anything, please do not hesitate to ask me or my servants." He grins broadly. "This party is meant to help us begin the new year with a light heart and an enthusiastic spirit. So please do enjoy yourselves!"

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"My! That's quite a long time from when we met last," Seimei observes. "I am glad you still remember me, and I hope you will enjoy an old-fashioned place such as this. Such houses as these are only museums now."

"You might be surprised," he replies. "This time around, I was actually born in a house not too different from this."

He shrugs.

"My clan has always kept very traditional though."

"It is always good to meet someone who does. So few people now know the history of this land, or its traditions. But I suppose it is useless to mourn - change is the way of most things. And I must say, many interesting things have happened since the time I came from."

"You mean like the way humans continue to come up with more terrible and violent ways to kill each other, and tear apart nature?" Hao asks.

"Unfortunately, yes. They come up with some very fascinating things too, though. Our people have found new ways to tell stories, new and better ways to build things. And I can guarantee that you will see some startling transformations in the next decade or so, where you are from. I won't say any more about it than that."

Hao laughs.

"Don't worry about me; I can read the future as well as any onmyouji ever born. And I know for a fact that in five years, things will be very different."

Seimei chuckles. "Of course. Silly thing of me to forget. But there are so few who practice onmyodo these days, or any other kind of magic. More than most people would think, but still very few. I have forgotten what to expect."

"In my world, there are as many as there eve were, but the numbers of humans have increased by so many..." he says.

"Here, there are fewer people who wish to study such things. They don't believe any more. Those with an interest may not have the resources or guidance they need to learn. For the latter, at least, I can do something, and that is one of my ongoing projects."

"That is a pity," Hao murmurs. "But it's good that you're doing something about it."

"Demons don't appear as much as they used to, but they're still there. Teaching others to deal with such threats is a more effective way of performing my function than simply handling those problems myself. I'm not the kind of god that can be everywhere at once," he points out.

He laughs.

"Another difference then, between our worlds; in mine, demons are as frequent as they were the first time I was young."

"Well, part of the reason this world sees less of them than it used to is that there are fewer people setting them on one another. As you no doubt remember, cursing one's rivals, their children or their property was common practice in the old Imperial court. And in Sengoku. People don't do that very much anymore."

"Mmm. But there are other evils, to draw out the dark things in the world," Hao replies. "And humans can be worse than any demon."

"You don't need to tell me. I've seen it. At least when humans are dead and their spirits become tatare, one can exorcise them and send them wherever they're meant to go. The evil of living humans is more difficult to cope with..." Seimei shakes his head. "But these are inauspicious things to dwell on for the new year! Come inside - there's good food and drink to be had, and we can lift our spirits talking of happier things."

"I think I would prefer that" Hao replies with a smile.

It's very easy to get Hao dwelling on the evi of humanity.

"All right, then," Seimei says, waving for Hao to accompany him into the house. "Let us send off the old year and start the new one in proper fashion."

[OOC: Okay to wrap here?]

((ooc: works for me!))

New Year's Party

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