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Who: Everyone!
What: January's welcome log. Oh also part one of the Ghost log.
When: Jan 1st-7th
Where: All over the place.
Warnings:
Notes: This is your January welcome log with Sphere New Year Traditions. Come in, go nuts.
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A New Year A New You

A new day has come.

So unlike many other places, the Sphere doesn’t celebrate New Years on New Year’s Eve. Instead they celebrate it in s three day festival commencing on January first to the third. The festival starts on the first at dawn with people waking up early to watch the first unofficial sunrise in the Sphere. Unlike most other days, this sunrise is universal, moving into each of the domes and filling them with such a bright light that it looks like an idealized version of a bright summer’s day. Groups of people join together to watch it in the dormitory dorms as well as in several public areas. The agriculture dome and the recreational domes are popular places for such activities and there are several places where there appear to be flowers blooming and almost the sound of birdsong.

Also in the more public places, there are large tables filled up with what seems to be a standard light breakfast of fruit, cheese and various loaves of bread, including a particular loaf of bread that everyone is given either in their attendance or in the dome itself. It’s a circular loaf with nuts on it that’s perfect for sharing. Indeed people keep trying to share a piece with the characters around them.

One thing that’s missing though? None of the places seem to have any sort of caffeine in any form. If questioned about it, someone knowledgeable will respond: “you can’t have caffeine until the sun sets!” The words come with a good natured laugh and characters are then handed a glass of fruit juice.

Out with the old and in with the new

As the sun is about to set on the first day, crowds gather in the rec dome. There in the middle of the area there’s a large bonfire set up. The smoke billows up towards the top of the dome before it disappears. People gathered around the fires are throwing old possessions into it, some of which are their own and some of them are the possessions of the people who had left. The idea is to unburden yourself of things to face the new year with a clean slate.

There are smaller fires around, and they burn different colors with the smoke being sweet smelling and light. Some people show the newcomers how to gather the smoke in their hands and release it over their heads, in order to clear out dark thoughts and whatever is troubling people. The smoke gives people a slight feeling of euphoria, and makes them feel as if whatever is happening isn’t quite as bad as they think it is.

And we’re dancing through life

On the second day, the public domes are fairly dead. The merchant dome is closed and only a few restaurants are open, and only those are for delivery. The entire city almost seems to be holding their breath and waiting for something. When the clock turns to eight pm, it’s almost as if the entire city is lit in a combination of stars and candlelight. In the gardens in the Rec dome, a large ball has been set up. Everyone in the city has been given their ideal fancy dress outfit, including mask in order to wear to it. The idea behind it is that the characters are in the middle of their transitional state. Day one was the day they put their old life behind them, and day three will be the day that they form their new selves for the year ahead. Which is why at the ball, people wear masks and have the option to give into some of the things that they wouldn’t normally do.

Wanna eat that there whole pint of ice cream? Go nuts. Wanna drink a bottle of vodka? Hey it’s your liver and it’s not like you can die! Wanna hook up in a dark corner with a stranger. It’s your life and there’s some nice velvet couches over there; out of sight and out of mind.

Dinner is in the form of an elaborate meal, sort of along the idea of Fat Tuesday in New Orleans, no expense is spared and everything is extremely well done and extravagant. Rich food, insane desserts, open bar, everything this night is too excess. At various points in the evening, the sky which has been showing stars shifts into things like fireworks, and glowy nebuleuses, causing people to burst into spontaneous bouts of applause.

All the while, there are various and shifting dance floors with an assortment of music to dance to, including classical, swing, fiddles, big band, pop, R&B, and basically anything that you can think of. The dances that people do there are as varied as the population, the drunkenness level and of course the all important dances of people's native Caucasia.

The party goes until dawn, at which point, the drunken revelries spill onto the streets, and people return to their personal domes singing loudly and off key.

A new day a new you

So despite however much you may have done the night before, or whatever else you may have engaged in, and however long you may have stayed awake for, when your head hits the pillow, you wake up feeling well great for lack of a better word. You have no hangover, you're not tired, you're not in pain, and any heavy or dark thoughts will suddenly seem not at all so bad. It may be better than you've felt in your entire time in the Sphere, or better than a long time depending on how things are at home.

Either way, when you wake up, day is late (even if your character doesn't normally sleep) and there is a crowd of people in the agriculture dome. People are there working together in order to plant new things in the greenhouse. They're planting baby plants that will grow to feed people in the new year, according to Annie, and it's all about breathing new life into the world.

Afterwards, there are different things like yoga and meditation classes, and people just spread out smiling among the flowers. No one is as pushy as normal, it's just kind of there. They're just kind of there, stretching, enjoying the sunshine and just kind of chilling.

Later, people set up a large sort of barbecue and outdoor kitchen. Food is cooked communally, and people will ask your character to come and cook. Even if you can't cook, passing out food or cleaning up. This is a community building activity people tell ya, so you can go with it or not. But the rest of the city is, so please enjoy some delicious food your characters may or may not have a hand in cooking or giving out. Wine and fruit juice is in a wide abundance here, as is water and caffeinated drinks. A few people can even be found having some harder stuff (vodka and whiskey) if your character looks to be in need of it.

And the end of the night, the sky above the dome lights up with aurora borealis, in brilliant lights and hues, and there are what appear to be a smattering of actual, living fireflies buzzing lazily around. People who are here longer than the characters seem puzzled, and more than a few children and adults are out catching them between their palms.

Ghosts of years ago.

So, for the past three months or so now, there have been ghosts intermittently showing up in the Sphere. Some ghosts are ones you know, some ghosts aren't, but for the most part there has been very little lasting interaction. Until now. As there's introspection happening, the ghosts are more and more drawn to it, but only now there's something less intelligent in their eyes: there's a hunger. Ghosts are trying to leech off the life forces of everyone in the Sphere, and the best way to stop them is not to be alone. But either way, death is stalking the feast, and it's haunting you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Jon is dressed in the sort of thing he would have worn to a feast in Westeros if he had been allowed to attend one. A tunic of deep, iridescent red over a shirt and trousers, and the usual boots. It's all topped off with a wolf mask.

"I would ask if you would like to dance, but that's a skill I never picked up."

Sansa, beneath her mask, gives Jon a bit of a look.

"You should know me better- I'll make you dance all the same." She holds her hand out to him, a bemused smile playing at her lips. Of course he hadn't paid any sort of attention during their lessons. Robb had, she remembered, and he'd let her practice with him, soaring through the great hall as he counted out the beats for his younger sister.

"I knew you would." She just won't get a very good partner out of it. He hadn't expected that it was a skill he would get much use out of, and had never put together the connection between footwork on the dance floor and footwork on the battlefield.

He takes her hand to head out to the dance floor. "Just don't complain if I step on your feet."

"Were we home, I believe stepping on my toes would be considered treason," she teases, letting him lead the way to the dance floor. It's a song she doesn't recognize, but she can count the beats, finding it familiar enough for dancing.

"I suppose that's a family tradition by now." If what Sansa told him is true -- and he has no reason to doubt that is -- then he'll be lucky to make it out with his head intact. "I'll just have to be glad we're not at home."

“Like father like son, as they say.” Her father hadn’t committed treason. He stood by the King’s orders. Joffrey was just a shit and was looking for an excuse to show his powers.

“And if you did, what’s the worst I could do? Have you sent to the wall?”

"I learned from the best." His father -- his true father -- hadn't either, although he had been killed by a man who had. Which is a thought that Jon is still trying to get used to.

"I have heard that that is an acceptable punishment for traitors."

"Just not the dancing." She'd danced with her father before, letting her stand on the tops of his boots as Ned had whirled his eldest daughter around the Great Hall of Winterfell.

"But do they accept true knights?"

"I suppose I have to be a disappointment in something." That's his job as her brother, right? Give her something to try and improve about him?

"They accept anyone who will take the oath. Which could be a problem sometimes, when expecting loyalty."

"I'd offer to give you more lessons, but I can't see you needing those at the Wall. Unless, of course, you're looking for more Wildling girls..." She doesn't know the whole story with Ygritte yet. But she can tease him anyway.

"You're a good leader, Ser Jon. They will learn to follow you again."

"Wildlings don't dance. Not this sort of cultured dancing, anyway. It would just give me away as being from the south." Which is fairly apparent anyway.

"To what purpose, though? With the wights gone, what are the watchers on the Wall meant to be watching?"

"They don't!" That was fascinating. They were truly missing out. "You're a Northern- right. Their South. Some of them said as much." It was odd to think them South of anything.

Honestly, he had a very good point. "You would have to tell me. I've never seen the Wall or what lies beyond."

"They don't need the social aspect of it. They don't tend to stay in one place long enough, either." It's a completely different world, north of the Wall.

"The wildlings aren't a threat either. They never were. It might be time for the Watch to have a new purpose."

"I suppose that makes sense." To try to find food and shelter. She was happy to stay in one place for a time, on the other hand.

"And you are a good friend to them- I'm sure you'll be able to come up with something. Just know you have the North's support." She trusted Jon's judgement. For the most part.

"It's a different life up there. It has its merits." That's probably blasphemy, but he doesn't care. It hadn't been an easy decision to leave that life behind, but he knew that he had to.

"Having the support of the North would be a boon."

"I do not believe it is the life for me, but if it fits others, I suppose I should not judge. So long as they are free to do what it is they wish, and seek out a different life should they want." She would not turn away any Wildlings that came to Winterfell, she decided. If they wished to work, and seek a life South of the Wall, she would welcome them.

"We owe the Night's Watch a great deal. Without their aid, surely we would not have won."

"I doubt that any of them want it." He'd seen more cases of men of the Night's Watch deserting to join the wildlings than cases of the reverse, and even what he had seen was rare. But he supposes it is possible that one day there might be wildlings who decide to swear fealty to one ruler or another.

"Defending Westeros from the threat north of the Wall is the Night Watch's purpose."

"Of course not. But should anyone decide, know it is a possibility." She was not closing her borders to the Wildlings, nor her doors.

"That does not make the sacrifice mean any less."

"I will be sure to pass that along." Even if none of them decide to take up the offer, it might help to know that they have an ally in the North, if they ever need one.

"I wonder if Westeros knows just how much they owe to a group of outcasts and exiles."

His words hit her with surprising gravity. They were outcasts and exiles, every last one of them. From Daenerys herself to Tyrion and absolutely everyone in between. They'd made choices that brought them to Winterfell. Perhaps the wrong choices, but they had all come together in the end to defeat something far bigger and older than them.

It didn't hurt to notice that those who had gathered in the dragon pit to choose a new king had mostly been close to her own age, either. They were young adults who had lived most of their lives in peace, and longed for it. The elder generation had thrived in wars, unsure what to do with peace. Now with so few of them left, it was time to return to that peace.

"I don't suppose they do. But when our songs are sung and stories told, they will learn."

They'd all been brought there by one of the biggest outcasts among them, although he hadn't known it at the time. As a bastard, he'd been one kind of outcast, and certainly not the only one ever to wear it. As the secret heir to the throne whose life had depended on that truth remaining secret, he'd been a different kind of outcast, one that no one else knew anything about. Even now that he knows the truth, he doesn't think he'll ever truly stop being an outcast in some way.

"It's a bit strange though, thinking about the stories and songs living on forever."

"It is. But that's what history is. Stories. They've already started writing songs about us all. I'll be sure to tell you when I hear yours. Great stories of dragon riding and returning to life. You're already a hero from a story, Jon."

"I just did what I had to do." Which is strange to say. Whatever it is that songs are being written about, he hasn't done it yet.

It seems that he doesn't even have to use his true name to end up in the history books.

"Doing what you have to is not always an easy choice. But I'm proud of you." It's still so strange he doesn't know what happens to him, only what she's told him has happened.

"It was the only choice to make." He's a Stark. Doing what needs to be done is what Starks do.