Lily's Memoirs

Before the Party

The months leading up to the engagement party, once it had been decided that we were doing that, were busy and full of things to do.

As those months turned into days, however, things started to unravel. Between Swanky getting anxious and worried about what would happen if an old flame was going to stab him in his gullet to my friendship with Fretty being brought into question with hateful, stabbing accusations, these few days could not have gotten much worse.

As the day of the party began, I suddenly realized the rather long list of things that we had not handled. In my mad dash to the brewery, I cursed and swore at myself for not handling these things days before.

Of all the things to forget to officially handle, food and alcohol was, as I was told, most of the point of a party. Of course, I had the excuse that Fretty had been working hard to find and hire available brewers and bakers, but it was just too late for that. Excuses for procrastination are convenient, but I have to stop letting myself get comfortable.

Swanky met me in the Brewery and was honestly not all that helpful. He even suggested buying the brewery out entirely and not worrying about it. I had to “gently” remind him that no one could carry that much alcohol, and if they could, there’d be no room for food.

However, he did give me the money and called the Eghorus Rising clerk, miss Lyrale, to help out with storing the alcohol and food we procured. This was my first time meeting miss Lyrale, and she was very soft-spoken. However, she seemed to be good at organizing and storing things.

After miss Lyrale had retired, overflowing with goodies for the party, Swanky mentioned his trouble obtaining an albino maha shirt, even on loan, for the party. He still wants to get one for himself permanently, but he desperately wanted to out-do his orange outfit for the party. I believe miss Jeanne supplied a shirt near the last second, though, so many many thanks to her for that!

Talking about his outfit made me realize that I still hadn’t even contemplated my own. I asked for Swanky’s opinion, we experimented for a while, he completely ruled out a skirted outfit. To be honest, while possibly more festive.. Whoever designs skirts do not take into account female Fen’neko anatomy. Perhaps it fits to some tastes, but I definitely do not look flattering in it.

Anyway! Enough about the skirts. After looking through my available wardrobe, he suggested my light blue shirt with my dark dark green pants. It looked good enough that I’ve been wearing it since he suggested it. Ma’ta Phiros even said it looked cute, which was quite a compliment given his critiquing of my other outfits.

Once outfits were sorted, I spent some time trading pep-talks with Swanky and periodically double-checking to make sure the Ethereal Plane hadn’t decided to swallow Gaia’s Garden whole. While we were doing this, Ma’ta Phiros was working on his setlist for the event. After a couple hours of talking and checking, I decided to drop in on Ma’ta Phiros in an attempt to calm my own nerves. He graciously accepted my company and I got to listen as he rehearsed and composed for the party. It was soothing in its own way. I’ve since been considering ser Slyph’s demand that I become a bard a bit more seriously.

While we were there, Frothy made a reappearance. I quickly invited him to join us, along with Swanky. After a bit of a mishap which ended in Swanky, miss Macmaggie and myself falling.. And miss Azel appearing to help us out.. We were all assembled in the bard’s field. Ma’ta Phiros announced that Frothy was an honorary member of Eghorus Rising! I was really happy about this, and maybe when Frothy makes a full return, it will be made official. I think he’s been looking for a good home since he left the Llehn. I suspect we’ll be analyzing his progress and deciding whether to make it official a little after his return.

We spent a good amount of time with Frothy before he had to go, and before he left I took him to see mister Dyaus and miss Astoria. They had a pleasant conversation and then all three took to their studies again. By that time, it was almost time for the party, and the people involved with the preparations were gathering in the garden.

Last minute preparations and the party

In attendance at the pre-party meeting were (in order) mister Ojesi, Ma’ta Phiros, myself, Swanky, ser Slyph, and finally Fretty. Ma’ta Phiros expressed concern with how crowded the garden was going to get prior to the party, and I explained that the place held a great significance for the happy couple. After that, ser Slyph started going on about having the party in the morning. I nearly had a conniption fit with how much complaining she had. Her inability to see the significance bothered me greatly. Fretty did step in and say that it would be afternoon by the time we got started. It was a bit of a lie, but it seemed to calm her down.

After running everyone through the plan for the party, I took to myself. My last shred of confidence gone after my laying out what would happen. I won’t even get into how the efforts put into preparation felt stomped on by ser Slyph and Swanky, though I wonder if some of their requests weren’t specifically designed in order to do that.

Ma’ta Phiros followed me and started yelling at me. I wasn’t proud of myself enough, I wasn’t confident enough, I’ve been letting my studies slip, on and on he went for a while. Nearly brought me to tears, but I managed to hold it together.

After he left, I had about an hour to regain myself before miss Lyrale appeared and I called for people to help me handle refreshments. miss Jeanne and Bulky kindly volunteered and came with plenty of space in their packs to handle the entire load. I think I forgot to tell them ahead of time that they would be considered employees and were entitled to payment for their help. They seemed unprepared for their payment when I finally did pay them. I had to reassure both that the help was invaluable. I couldn’t handle it myself.

I shouldn’t have had to face handling it myself, but Fretty and I weren’t exactly.. Communicating. I was too overwhelmed to really stop him when I realized he was making trips back and forth to the brewery, and as a result, he ended up doing more work than he really needed to. In retrospect, I’m not too sorry for that. He treated me pretty poorly a few days before the party. I really am vindictive, aren’t I?

I spent most of the party in a trance. I’m surprised my sungem didn’t wear down from all the use it saw during the party. Questions left and right, so many people who likely felt ignored because I was unable to keep up with all of the sunstones.

Some things I probably need to clear up:
– This was NOT the wedding
– The one presiding was NOT present, she hasn’t actually confirmed nor denied the request to preside at this point
– The maid of honor is NOT a figment of our imaginations, and I am not in charge of speaking to her

The party was a success, though. I even got compliments from Swanky and ser Slyph. When all was said and done, we’d done a fine job of bringing people together to celebrate the engagement. Excellent music provided by mister Ojesi and Ma’ta Phiros. I even got a visionstone of mister Ojesi’s dedication to the couple. The finale of the casino was exciting and entertaining for all of the people present.

I just have to top this for the wedding, which I believe I can do.

I’d like to make a note of all who attended :
Airlea, Articna, Athl, Aye’Cha, BluePheonix, Chopper, Connie Crete, Creed, D’Ead, Eirian Caldwell, Feodoric, Fiona, Gremlins, Han, Hel, Jeanne, Kaitlyn, Katrina, Leyenda, Lorikeet, Maeght, Mondegreen, Naferu, Natas, Noivad, Ojesi, Phaos, Phiros, Raul, Salazar, Semie, Sos, Stinkfist, Stora, and Var

Not a bad turnout in the least, and I’m sure we’re overlooking people.. But this was the list Swanky was able to make while I was so overwhelmed. Gifts, music, gambling, food, and booze. It was a good time, and I’m glad so many were able to attend! This party is truly an example of how, despite differences, we can come together as a community.

Brief followup, after-the-party
It took me almost a whole day to clean up Gaia’s Garden and the Golden Butterfly. I was sore and tired for the next day.
Things with Fretty have been discussed and we seem to be more communicative and friendly than prior to our argument.
I’ve had a heart-to-heart with Ma’ta Phiros and things are a bit clearer on that front, as well.