Ask Confetti and Serpentine

[Senin Ravelo]

Another year and another Carnival. Lay Pa-Sidian, the capital of G'wenee, was once again full of tourists wanting to participate in the festivities. An entire week of parties, drinks, food and other carnal pleasures. For these people, it was as if they had found paradise.

While some were going to watch the famous parades during the night, most of them were going to stay all the time on the streets, participating in what the locals called as bloco. In these events, vehicles with speakers playing music would move around the streets, while large crowds followed them.

All the people participating in it were wearing costumes, and it was at these moments that you could identify a G’weneen from a tourist. The people of the planet were wearing costumes that could be considered indecent in other parts of the Galaxy. There was only enough cloth to cover their important parts, while the rest was made of colorful feathers.

As a G’weneen, Senin had chosen a typical outfit to participate in the bloco in the street near the main beach of Lay Pa-Sidian. It was inspired by the ceremonial clothes that the Arandu warriors used. Due to that, it was less revealing.

While he danced in the street with the rest of the crowd, the Acolyte could see how some tourists seemed to be feeling tired with their outfits. While many would think that the people of G’wenee liked to wear shameless costumes, the truth was that the Carnival always happened during the summer, when the temperature could reach nearly 48 degrees. The G’weneens learned to wear the minimum amount of cloth possible if they wanted to continue partying during the entire week.

Today was especially hot and it was not even past noon. Due to that, Senin decided to have a pause to buy a drink from a nearby vendor. While he walked toward it, the Acolyte would look around the crowd. This year seemed to have more people visiting than the normal. He wondered if they weren’t afraid of the Sith presence on the planet.

@vamp

 

[Veles]

The entire antidote fiasco was almost over. The concoction was back on his ship, brewing for the next day, which gave Veles some time to kill. He landed on G'wenee because it was the closest Sith planet, hoping to restock before flying back to Dromund Kaas, or Taris, or wherever he had to, but his plans were dashed from the moment the shuttle landed to a shuddering stop.

The Sith stepped off the ship lazily, having just woken up from a nap. Dressed normally, covered by a dark cloak, he strode through the spaceport to look for the nearest shop, but spotted a moving mass of color through the window. His attention was drawn outside, where the people seemed to be participating in some sort of festival. He knew nothing about the planet’s culture, but he supposed it would help to do something to get his mind off things and off the withdrawals he felt more deeply every day, so he made for the exit of the port.

He’d stand out, yes, but he also didn’t have any clothing colorful or revealing enough to actually stand in, so there wasn’t any point in changing. This was an Imperial world, so he doubted a Sith prowling the streets during a carnival would be very suspicious.

Veles weaved through the dark with ease, twisting and turning his body to avoid clashing into the scantily clad natives until he reached a free patch of sidewalk on the side of a building where he could actually breathe. A hand dug instinctively into the satchel on his belt and pulled out a pack of cigarette, one finding his mouth reflexively. His habit was growing more frequent, but he deserved a break from being the most hated man in the Galaxy.

His eyes darted across the men and women who were just barely clothed, and he slowly came to the decision that this had been a good idea. If anything, at least he got to watch some enjoyable sights. Until his eyes fell on someone he vaguely recognized.

Is that Senin? Oh, the Acolyte was from G’wenee. How could he have forgotten?

He’d never actually spoken to him for more than five minutes, and Veles was completely convinced that Senin likely despised him just as much as everyone else, so he simply watched as he approached, not expecting him to come too near.

@LouJoVi

 

[Senin Ravelo]

After he bought a bottle of cold beer, Senin walked back to the bloco. The crowd seemed to be growing, with more and more people arriving. They were dancing and drinking, while their bodies moved against each other. Due to the constant pushes there, the Acolyte decided to stay out of the street and make a pause for a time.

He would stay sipping his beer at the sidewalk while watching the crowd moving through the street. The thing that Senin always loved in the Carnival, beyond the entire week of non-stop partying, was the outfits. They were always so colorful and seemed to demonstrate the happiness of those wearing it. It was wonderful to see the city so full of these colors.

While he looked around, Senin saw someone that he never expected that would be in a place like that. Darth Veles, in all his paleness and dark clothes. Then he remembered that the other man was demoted by the Empress due to messing up something, now he was only the Champion Veles. For him it was a surprise that the other Sith were still alive, failures weren’t well accepted by the Sith.

Senin had heard how Veles was talented with Sith Alchemy and Sorcery. He always wanted to learn these abilities, but avoided it because of the damage that it could cause to his appearance. Looking at the demoted Sith, anyone could see that his experiences with the Dark Side were already affecting. Still, the Acolyte thought that he wasn’t that terrible to look at. He wondered how the Champion could be under these dark clothes. A smirk appeared at the G’weneen’s lips because of this thought.

Due to his fear of becoming ugly and deformed due to Sith sorcery, Senin had started to study the rituals of the Arandu. There was the possibility that they could have used some type of alchemy too, which could be less damaging than the one used by the Order. The Acolyte wondered if Veles would like to study it too. Being an expert on this area, the Champion could help the young man understand some concepts of it.

Under normal circumstances, people that saw Veles on the streets would run away in fear. However, in the middle of the Carnival, everyone was thinking that he was wearing some type of costume. The somewhat sad look on his face didn’t match the spirit of the festivities, though.

Taking one last sip of his drink, Senin walked toward the Champion. “Hello, Lor-” he made a pause, uncertain of how to calm the man. They only interacted for a few minutes in a party, not being close enough to call themselves by their first name. “Mr. Veles. Welcome to the Carnaval of Gwenee!” the Acolyte smiled while stretching his arms in a welcoming way. This action also allowed Veles to see the red-head costume.

“Are you having fun?” Senin said, before sipping more of his beer. “I can show you around if you want.” since Veles was only a champion, the Acolyte had no duty to please him like he would do with a Lord. However, being polite could give him a new ally.

@vamp

 

[Veles]

A couple drags of nicotine later, Senin had turned to look at him and was actually approaching. Veles finished up the cigarette and put it out, the smoke dispersing quickly in the blowing wind. He wasn’t sure what to make of the Acolyte’s costume. It was not surprising in the least, as it seemed people on this world were more open to showing a little skin. Perhaps more than that.

A group in the distance kept counting down and then cheering, their hands clapping and laughter echoing down the street, through all the noise of the parade, along with other sounds from the rest of the partygoers, from whistling to just yelling. Veles could hear drums somewhere far away beating with enthusiasm. He almost inhaled a bunch of confetti as it exploded right next to them with a deafening boom that was harsher than most field artillery.

Before he could open his mouth to greet Senin, he started the conversation, a bit clumsily but successful. ”Just Veles is fine, Senin,” he replied with a slight smile. Oh, if only he knew. ”Thank you! Very beautiful world. I was just passing through on the way somewhere and thought I’ll spend a day here.” His eyes darted to Senin’s drink. That’s right — there were probably a multitude of bars here.

”I would certainly appreciate it. Are there any places to get a drink around here?”

@LouJoVi

 

[Senin Ravelo]

”Oh, so you arrived at the best time of the year!” Senin said, while smiling at the man. “As you can see, we are in the middle of Carnival week. It’s the best moment to visit G’wenee.” of course, his homeworld had many other interesting festivals. However, it was this celebration that made the planet so famous across the Galaxy.

“Since you are going to stay here for only a day, I’ll certify that you will have a perfect G’wennen Carnival experience.” he winked playfully at Veles. “I’ll start by showing you where the best drinks on the planet are sold.” he gestured to the Champion to follow him. With the large crowd on the street, it would be easy to get lost.

While they walked in the street, some masked people would pass near the two Sith. By the way that they were dressed, Senin deduced that they were tourists. No G’weneen would wear these latex masks during Carnival. One of them was wearing one of the Zombies stopped next to Veles. “Dude! Your mask is so well done!” the Acolyte could notice by the guy's voice that he was drunk. “It’s even scarier than mine! Good work with it!” he gave a thumbs up to the Champion before walking away.

Senin had watched the entire scene in silence. While the tourist walked away with his friends, the Acolyte felt a bit apprehensive. He didn’t know how Veles would react to this comment. Some Sith would probably kill anyone that said something like that, even if it was sort of a praise. He wondered if the Champion would consider it as a joke and laugh. After all, not all the members of Order were like Draugr.

However, he didn’t want to take risks. If Veles decides to kill that tourist in the middle of the day, Senin was going to be the one that would need to solve this mess, like that time when Ashla stole the party bus. He could imagine that covering up an assassination would be even worse.

Due to that, before Veles could react to what the tourist had said, Senin placed his right hand over the man’s shoulder. “Look! The place that I told you about is right there!” he pointed toward a fancy bar. “They have several drinks made with fruits of G’wenee. You will love it!” if the other allowed, the Acolyte would guide him there. “They also make excellent food. I think that since we are going there I can eat something. Did you already eat? I can pay for you.”

@vamp