New Year's Party

[yinyangwizard]

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!"

Comments

[yinyangwizard.livejournal.com]

Seimei's been going to and fro greeting various guests and giving some last-minute instructions to his staff. Eventually, he finds Teja and Carlotta. "Ah, hello! If you are interested in the grounds, I can give you a tour in a little bit. Carlotta, would you be so kind as to introduce me to your guest?"

[fiery_ring]

"Hallo Mr Abe. This is His Highness, King Teja." Carlotta says. "He's a... guardian of sorts."

[ostro_goth]

"Hajimemashite," Teja says politely, and in Japanese; he knows that much. "I have been to the lands of Japan before, and admire that which your people achieved. Carlotta is a good friend, whom I have taken under my wing, and who can make me laugh -- no mean feat!"

[yinyangwizard.livejournal.com]

"I am very pleased to meet you, King Teja," Seimei replies cheerfully. "I welcome you to my humble house. May I ask what time and place you come from?"

[fiery_ring]

Carlotta adjusts the unusually dainty frock she has on, a little self-consciously, and waits for her turn to speak.

[ostro_goth]

"I am Teja, son of Tagila; I was the last king of the Ostrogoths in Italy. I died in battle, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, in the year 552 of Christian reckoning."

That holds all that any need to know about him.

[yinyangwizard.livejournal.com]

Seimei's eyebrows lift. "552? That is ancient even by my standards - centuries before I was born, and even before the teachings of the Buddha came to this land."

[fiery_ring]

"Do all of your guests know about the bar?" Carlotta asks.

[ostro_goth]

"I am one of the oldest, in Milliways," Teja says.

[yinyangwizard.livejournal.com]

"All the people at this party have been to Milliways. And you don't need to worry about anyone serving at the party." His staff are fine with strange guests, and the mortals preparing food at the sushi bar and hibachi are under an enchantment.

[fiery_ring]

"That's all right then. I didn't want to get you in trouble for your kind invitation."

[ostro_goth]

"We would be truly strange to your people, one assumes?" Teja says.

[yinyangwizard.livejournal.com]

Seimei nods. "I wouldn't bring you out into the mortal world without considerable preparation. Here, you may be strange, but not in a way that would cause any difficulties."

[fiery_ring]

"It must have been awfully difficult to organise." Carlotta says. "Why, just smuggling his Highness and Demeter to my home was hard enough!"

[ostro_goth]

"If the door is within Abe-sama's house?" Teja says. "It would be manageable, as long as his servants ask no questions."

[yinyangwizard.livejournal.com]

"Indeed, I can connect directly to Milliways from here. That torii gate you passed through when you arrive can be used as a doorway there - and to other places. My servants, you do not need to worry about. They know where you come from and it does not bother them. To a denizen of the spirit world, not all that many things are strange."

[fiery_ring]

"This is a spirit world? I thought we were in Japan."

She looks around at the servents.

"You must be a very wealthy man, Mr... Abe-sama." she corrects herself, assuming that Teja is correct. "My grandmother has four, and that's considered rather a lot where I'm from."

[ostro_goth]

"In old times, one had more servants," Teja says. "All the work was done by hand!"

[yinyangwizard.livejournal.com]

"To answer your question, Carlotta-san, we are in a part of the spirit world that corresponds to Japan. If you were to step through the veil at my shrine in Kyoto, you would end up here.

"And your friend is correct," Seimei says, nodding to Teja. "In the tenth century, when I lived, it was customary for a nobleman of my station to have a large staff. I still do, but my servants are spirits, not humans, and they take very different payment. Most of them, for instance, are content with eating rice or fried tofu or other mortal foods on a regular basis. Others serve me to share my power and enjoy my protection. The musicians and performers here are not part of my regular staff, but I have a working relationship with them and they were glad to come here in exchange for appropriate offerings."

[fiery_ring]

"Does that mean that while I'm here I'm theoretically dead?"

[ostro_goth]

Teja looks at them both -- interesting question that she is asking!

[yinyangwizard.livejournal.com]

"No, no, nothing of the kind," Seimei says. "The spirit world is not the world of the dead. They generally go to other places. This is more like the realm called Faerie in some of your Western stories."

[fiery_ring]

"Oh, fairies I've heard of." Carlotta says, feeling on slightly more familiar ground.

[ostro_goth]

"The Otherworld," Teja says, thinking of darker things. "Utgard."

[yinyangwizard.livejournal.com]

"That I know less about. But to us, the spirit world and the mortal world are close, particularly in natural places or certain shrines and temples."