[ORP] Under the Sun - Summer Beach Party 2010

[Yuurei-dono]

((Yuurei=sandcastle))

[Total: 10+10=20]

Yuurei grinned at Aphi. "Well you're lucky I'm not very good at this." she said with a smile, not exactly sure how he managed to get four towers with windows. This crazyness was beyond her.

So Yuurei set about building a BIG pile of wet sand. Saving her bucketfull and coconut for the top, Yuurei begin digging her hands in and dragging the sand into a big pile. When she had a mound about a foot high she stopped and took a break.

Getting up, she walked to her bag and grabbed another drink -- Malibu and pineapple juice. Taking a sip, Yuurei let out an "Ahhh--" as the sweet liquid barely tasted of booze.

Again she sat back down. Her fingers gently rubbed the sand in front of her. First, she wiped away her foot prints.

Then she got ready to place the only solidly packed bit of sand she had.  

[Yuurei-dono]

((Sorry for the double post, but I won't be around this weekend.))
((Yuurei=sandcastle))

[Total: 10+10+ =28 | DONE! ]

Yuurei had done it. She had placed the block of sand and the roof. And it was done. Well. It didn't look that good, but she didn't want to work on it anymore so she was done.

Stepping back, she looked at her creation:

The large pile of sand had a wide base -- about one foot across. It wasn't a full circle, as it was more flat in the back and definitely had a chunk missing out of it where Yuurei had accidentally kicked it. The sides were just sand, but all that had been placed there was very granular sand, that, with the breeze, was peeling away, slipping around, and being strewn elsewhere.

The large mound sloped upwards, but, rather than coming to a peek, it came to a rather lumpy top. The sand on the top was a mix of darker wet sand and lighter dry sand. The whole mound was something that would crumble at the smallest movement or brush of water.

In the middle of this lumpy top was a single solid (but maybe a little too watery) cylindrical pile -- from the bucket. On the top of the wet cylinder was the coconut. She had tried to shape the sand and push the coconut in enough that it was sticking out only half way, but it wound up being more 3/4s out once the wet sand started to fall apart. Really, it was mostly just a ball resting on top.

But it gave Yuurei an idea. Placing a small piece of bark -- remnants from driftwood on top of the hole in the coconut, the woman stepped back, took the handle of her shovel, and wrote a message, or title of the piece, in the sand.

Mountaintop Planetarium

It was okay it was just a shack with a round roof, because you flip the switch inside and the roof opens up. And you use your telescope to take pictures of the stars -- or something.

B.S. it enough until it works in your favor. Plopping down in front of her finished masterpiece, Yuurei sipped her malibu and pineapple juice. Yum.  

[Vyn -- LAB305]

[ Vyn. Near popsicle booth --> Oceanside.

Sandcastle rolls: 8 ]

Having noted that the sandcastle contest had begun, Vyn set about putting together her own entry... However, though she had living in the golden sanded town for a long time now she had never partaken in the hobby that so many joyful seaside visiting children seemed to enjoy. Therefore, as she floated next to Xuelian the rose was rather aimless – even considered by some to be listless – as she looked down at the sand... What to do? She hadn’t the foggiest. ‘Kneeling’, as best a raevan could, she cupped some of the soft dry sand with her hands and tried to mould it into some semblance of a hill. Other participants along the beach seemed to be doing really well – quickly making the sand form into recognisable shapes.

Her black eyes picked out the white headed guardian of her scorpion brother; he had towers whilst she had nothing more than a pitiful ridge... What was the secret to the human’s success? Frowning she tried to work it out, meanwhile her hand drifted up to her quaint companion – removing the bucket from Xuelian’s grasp with a polite “please may I use our family?” She figured that it would firstly give her something to base the castle around, a good concept, and secondly it would save her some time – all she needed for decoration was right there... If only she could make a more secure foundation.

Scrubbing out her worthless attempts she got back to her ‘feet’, before excusing herself from the teal haired girl’s company. Of course, the dainty frei was more than welcome to tag along and talk, but actually helping to construct the sandcastle might be against the rules. Settling down on the strip of beach closer to the water – parallel with Aphismet Vyn found that the damper sand was much more malleable. Smiling she dug her slender fingers into the wet sand and dug up a workable amount... However, rather than building her castle on the area she was extracting the sand from she floated a little distance away to a cleaner patch. Yes, the to and fro would make it slightly harder work... But it would make a better looking and cleaner castle as a result!

Pleased with this progress the shadow started work in earnest... She had a crab shell to incorporate into the house... But how would she do that? It took a few moments of looking between the husk of the crustacean and the wet sand before an idea struck but when it did she set about right away!

 

[Storei]

[[Sandcastles! ( 8+7=15 ) ]]

Eirdirsceol was lucky only in the fact that, out of all the people in the Delaran household (which was a lot), he was probably one of the most creative (which was hard to say and probably not true, considering that Aphi and Riv were both painters, Isi was a craftsman, and Alex was a sculptor), but he believed it anyway. That didn't really speak for his methodology, though. In organization, Eiry only had enough patience for it when it had to do with pranks that required thinking and planning ahead, or organization in the straightening of piles of books (not the actual alphabetizing of it, for he knew where all his books were and what they looked like without having to organize them by name and author). So, when it came down to planning his sand castle masterpiece, Eiry found himself sorely fresh out of a well laid out plan.

He was working mainly in the "now", besides.

Glancing over the mound of sand he had collected on the beach, his face perpetually pinned up in a perfect smile, Eiry spied on the other competitors of the event. They all had squares and moats and castles set up along the length of the beach, each one heavily focused and involved in their project. Some were nearing completion, while others were just beginning, and, as Eiry saw it, all the entries looked comparatively the same. They were all castles of some sort, forlorn half-dilapidated mounds of wet and dry sand that were, more or less, being shaped into buildings of varying detail.

It was then that Eiry decided to be different.

Forgetting the fact that the entry had to be of the castle variety, Eiry began giving more shape to his mound of sand. Using his deft and dexterous fingers, he quickly began to shove and push and pull the mound of sand until it had more shape to it. It was like an oblong teardrop shape, being made longer and thinner at the end pointed towards the ocean while it remained large and tall at the other end pointed towards Isi. Grinning at the brilliance of his plan, the wispy Sigel laughed to himself as he began to form and smooth out the details of a large muscled shape, digging his hands underneath the weight of it so that it looked to have mass, a lump of solid muscle lying detached from the sand on the beach.

Eiry was sure to astound with this entry!  

[Vyn -- LAB305]

[ Vyn. Oceanside.

Sandcastle rolls: 8+6= 14 ]

Compacting the sand she had gathered Vyn began making a shape. Considering the fact that her family had quite a few members she felt that it had to be rather large... but at the same time – the effect that she desired to make with the crab shell meant that there were restrictions on how large she could go... Thus, a medium sized loaf shape was born from her firm but steady hand movements. Taking the crab husk from the bucket she placed it delicately ontop of this cuboid of sand. A house. Perfect! Smiling she lowered herself so that she was mere centimetres above the sand and horizontally looking at the sandcastle. From this angle it did look rather like a small bungalow with the medium brown crab shell as a roof!

Pleased she carefully added a few detailed to the front of the house with the edge of her nails. First there needed to be a door... Sketching that in she proceeded to mark on windows and even managed to affix a tiny doorknob into the door via the use of a tiny chip of stone that she had pinched out of the wet sand nearer the ocean. Still observing the details on the first stage of creating a perfect family home she chewed on her bottom lip. What was missing from the roof? A chimney! Her penthouse home certainly didn’t have a chimney stack of any descriptions but quaint family homes like the one she was trying to produce in the sand needed one! Complete with a trail of puffy white smoke if possible...

Her family’s chimney came in the form of an oblong stone fetched from where the water licked the shore and – hit with a sudden boost of inspiration – Vyn cupped a little bit of the foamy residue on the sea’s edge to daub onto the stone for smoke... It would need refreshing by the time the judges came but it completed the basic picture for now and made her quite pleased with her simple but effective home...

Next... The garden!

 

[Vyn -- LAB305]

[ Vyn. Oceanside.

Sandcastle rolls: 14+5 = 19

(Sorry about the double post... I'm also going on holiday for the weekend..
I might be able to post in the morning... But I won't triple post now.
>> /already breaking the rules as it is...
Hope everyone else has fun with their sandcastles! :DD)]

The garden was much simpler than the house in its construction... Green seaweed had been the treasure she and the cloud girl had labelled as the garden and to apply it to her perfect little sandy home Vyn simply draped it across the sand in front of the house. A lawn for the children to pay on. Yet again it was a feature that Ethan’s expensive home did not have so Vyn drew on her knowledge of other people’s homes... And that alerted her that it wasn’t just grass that people had for gardens. There were flowers, and trees, and bushes too. How could she incorporate these into her garden? Well... She was pretty sure that a few pretty coloured stones and chips of shells would suffice as flowers and she set off on a little exploration to find them.

Drifting past Aphismet, she gave a cursory glance at his creation. Encouragingly she smiled at him. “Looks good.” She did not linger however and her keen amber eyes selected the brightest flecks she could spy against the bright sand... The sun had been dimmed by gathering clouds and the rose even felt a chill breeze against her arm and she hurried back to her entry once she had a small palm full of colourful specks; half fearing the rising wind would damage her family’s home.. Once returned she scattered the newly collected ornaments and looked upon the slightly more cheery looking front garden... However, what with other contestants having far more elaborate sand sculptures she couldn’t help but feel she needed to up the embellishment to make up for her simple sand skills.

Thus, she grabbed a piece of nearby debris – a twig probably blown onto the beach by the growing wind – and shoved it into the front garden. A tree. Picking off a few pieces of seaweed from the lawn she put them into the twig’s upper region as leaves fleshing it out slightly. It was quite a good piece of sand art thus far if she said so herself.

 

[Aphismet]

[[Beach SANDCASTLES!!! (Aphi) ]]

[total: 30]

Aphismet snickered at Yuurei's words and waved the woman off, hoping she would end up with something nice despite her admitted lack of sandcastle skills. Vyn's comment as she passed by was met with a grin and a happy reply of "Thank you!"

And perhaps it was Aphismet's overconfidence in his OWN building skills that he now found himself caaaarefully trying to maneuver around the large sandy structures, coiling up seaweed for the central castle's roofs, the final touch-...

"Ack!! Ohhhh, noooooo!!" A single gust of wind came just as Aphismet tried to geeeently grace the last tower with its green-hued roof, toppling the chef's balance. One hand reached out to grab himself, landing smack dab in one of his corner towers and crumbling it to a misshapen pile along with half the walls connecting to it. To add to the problem, that last roof had been dropped too hastily and the sudden hit dissolved the tower it was laying on... "Guh!" It didn't look so pristine anymore. Hells, it looked like an earthquake happened and destroyed the northern corner of the fortress. Or maybe some war occurred...

Ah! Aphismet could try to work with that... He scoured the nearby sands for empty crab shells, finding roughly half a dozen. These he arranged in a vaguely military-like pattern around the destroyed walls of his castle, hoping it might make the mistake look deliberate... No such luck, but at least he'd tried.

Sighing, Aphismet sat back to look over his finished "masterpiece".

Aphismet's Sandcastle Entry

Under Siege Castle

Four towers, connected by sandy parapet walls, surrounded the central Castle. Each tower was topped by a rolled-up, cone-shaped mass of dry seaweed, a makeshift "roof". A moat was dug around the entire walled structure, deep enough that Aphismet had reached the damp water-sand to make it look more "moat"-y. Flat black rocks were imbedded on their edge in the moat, to symbolize sharks patrolling the waterway. Where the "gate" of the wall stood, a hand-sized breach in the walls, Aphismet had placed down a driftwood drawbridge. The gate itself was also driftwood, currently shut.

The middle Castle was a three-tiered thing, like a wedding cake; a large rectangle for a base, with a medium one in the center and a smaller one on top. To break up the monotony of this layout, Aphismet had added three taller, thinner towers: one on the largest level's east corner, and two on the medium level's north and west corners. Each of these towers was topped with the same twisted-seaweed roofs as the guard towers of the outer walls. Small windows had been dug out of the Castle here and there, and a few pretty rocks decorated the bottom edge. From the closed gate of the wall to the large doors of the castle (also driftwood pieces of course), Aphismet had laid down a flat stone walkway.

It would have been a WONDERFUL castle... only an accident seemed to have happened at some point during all this! The Northern guard tower, as well as the north section of the Castle itself, seems to have crumbled into a pile of shapeless sand. Half the walls on either side of the guard tower were now gone as well, though there remained hints of where they should be. In an effort to make it look like it was perhaps war-time in his Kingdom, Aphismet placed a small army of crab shells towards the broken guard tower, like an attacking platoon of infantry. Sadly, it did nothing to hide the fast that Aphismet's castle was indeed ruined by some accident.

[[final tally of rolls: 30. Too enthusiastic!]]  

[Rapidashtrainer]

((Drinks booth: Xiu -> Lazarus ))

Xiu shook his head, looking a little put out that his book decided to go missing just then. It was hard enough trying to make proper hand gestures and facial expressions to convey his thoughts to people and (as Xiu realized) not everyone actually knew how to read hand signals so learning that was a little like a lost cause.

Sighing softly, Xiu relaxed against the counter of the drinks booth and watched as the sandcastle event took full swing. The gathering clouds overhead was a welcomed change to the bright sun as it meant that he’d have less chance of a sunburn later on. Motioning to Lazarus’ glass, Xiu raised his eyebrows in a familiar expression of “What’s that?”  

[Rown]

(( Ripley - SANDCASTLES!! ;; Rong Wei - Drink Booth TAG TO KYOU

Points: 21 ))

Once he actually got started and tried to shape things, Ripley found he wasn't having as much of a hard time as he'd thought. Ideas seemed to flow into his mind rather easily and his hands followed suite without too much trouble in communication. It bothered him that every now and then something sharp in the sand would nick at his hand and draw a faint p***k of blood (who'd left glass on the beach, seriously?!), but once he got past that it was growing easier and easier to create his own little world.

First he'd drawn on a memory of something he'd read about in a book since that would be easier and allow a bit of freedom in imagination on his part. He recalled a specific scene in one of the books he was fond of lately, the title escaping him at that exact moment but the sights and words that lined each page so fresh in his mind it was like he was holding the actual item in his hands with eyes glancing at the pages. A thin smile of being pleased at himself spread over dark lips, and quickly the pile was smashed down by eager hands for a new project to get started.

It would take some thought for him to figure out how to get it to stand and look realistic, but seeing as only a few others had finished and he was moving quickly in his time Ripley didn't seem to care. He made the tail first, setting it firmly on the ground and hollowing the area around it to make it look 3D and not simply something resting on the sand surface. Next came the task of sharpening the torso of this beast, and he ignored the fact that more glass shards seemed to be falling out of the sand he was working with. Eventually he would notice that in his excitement the layer of electricity that surrounded him was slowly turning the particles he touched into such pieces, but until then he silently worked.


"So...he really is going to keep growing after all. I wondered about that."

Whjat seemed like a twinge of fear, or perhaps hate, etched itself onto the corner of Rong Wei's words, her hand raising up her glass and the last of the contents rushing themselves down her throat. It hit her stomach like it was empty instead of full of alcohol and juice already, a sickening feeling creeping up her spine. Even though Ripely had been so calm, even though as of late nothing had happened, to think he could get larger and actually start to be more...humanish, the thoughts terrified her.

"How long does that normally take?"

Maybe she'd have many, many years to wait. By that time hopefully something might have changed between them for the better or for the worse.  

[Kyoupiruchi]

(( Drinks booth - Tag Rong Wei // Drinks booth - Tag Xiu ))

"Yeah, Ripley is going to grow one day." Unlike Rong Wei though, Kyou actually look at it as a happy thing, a celebration even! It was always so exciting when someone grow, Rivener, Eirdirsceol, Melisande, Roux, Xiu, Lazarus... well, maybe that one wasn't as happy. His golden eyes trailed towards his Sigel then, who had his back to him at the moment conversing with Xiu. A small smile graced his features. Yes, perhaps the memory of him growing wasn't very pleasant, but he was actually very glad that the incubus had grown so much since then, so matured, and kind.

His attention snapped back to Rong Wei as she asked the question. "Oh that." He pondered for a moment, trying to recall existing cases. "It depends on the individual Raevan I think, there had been cases where they grew in as soon as two years. But there are a lot more cases where they were much older than that, but haven't grew yet." He pointed at Vyn out on the beach as an example. Although he don't blame the poor rose on the issue, due to her previous owner's abandonment.

It did not cross his mind at all that Xiu may had a notebook with him, and that he had lost it. If he had, he'd probably help Xiu find it on the beach. Although the white Sigel shook his head, Lazarus still thought there must be something wrong. But with his lack of speech, perhaps it was just difficult to explain. He didn't want to press as Xiu sighed and relaxed against the counter, at least he wasn't worked up over it.

When Xiu motioned at his cup, his eyes lit up. "Oh this? This is sangria! It's a fruit punch-like red wine." His cup was almost drained though, so he took the pitcher from the counter top and showed it to Xiu. The dark red colored liquid swirled idly in the glass pitcher, with lots of yellow lemon and peach slices floating in the water, dotted with some black raspberries here and there. "I made it this morning, you want to try?" There was almost a child-like twinkle in his eyes as he showed off his mixed drinks proudly. He don't get the chance to let people outside of the Lab to try his drinks normally, so he will take every chance during this event to pimp out his drinks. Then suddenly something hit him that he never thought of before, his smile dropping. "Oh... but, this is alcoholic, I'm not sure if you like alcohol or not." He smiled sheepishly.

Rivener is totally forgotten now.  

[Rown]

(( Ripley - SANDCASTLES!!

Points: 28 ))

. . . .So after smashing his third attempt into the sand with fists of fury, Ripely had finally just given up trying to be super creative about anything and was set on simply building whatever it was he could. The sky was growing overcast, the wind was picking up and it looked as though the tide was coming in (whatever that meant - people were shouting it so he took some of it to heart). He would need to hurry if he were going to get this done enough for whatever reason he was actually doing it in the first place, so he'd settled for something overly typical and fairly easy to do. . . .but at least he'd decided to jazz it up. The shapes were easy enough to make, and he'd used shells to help with carving the line details, but otherwise he didn't add any decorations to help "spice up" the sand city. He'd rely on talent and skill alone, so once everything was finally built he raised his hand back and smashed one or two of the buildings, taking care to build them back up if he got a little too eager and destroyed more than he needed.

When all was said and done he floated back and looked at his masterpiece, pleased with what he'd completed in a short amount of time and without too much effort. Perhaps this art thing was easier than he thought?

Filling out one of the little cards (they had cards, right?), he wrote down what he'd made, just in case someone wasn't aware of the obviously and likely needed a better idea.

THE CITY OF RAMSES II - VER. SEVEN PLAGUES

Originally built by Hebrew slaves and started under Pharoh Seti, this city was nice but then some believe bad things happened.

It was a short enough description without going into full detail, and Ripley smiled - pleased.

THE CITY

Ripley had flattened most of the sand and packed it down to give himself even ground to work on, and he took great pains to ensure that whatever parts were uneven were only that way because of his design. Small buildings shaped like ancient Egyptian homes, mostly stacked against each other, border what looks to be a walk-way lined with miniature palm trees (that are sort of crumbling, but maybe that was on purpose). The houses appear to be hollowed out or at least he'd carved doors and windows deep enough to give that initial appearance, and makeshift steps help move from one level to another on the exteriors. A bit up from the houses is a tiny Sphinx, not likely the Great Sphinx that is so well known but more or less a common one for protection, and several pyramids dot the area as well. All in all it looks peaceful, lines having been carved onto the sand-pyramids to give the appearance that they are made of individual blocks rather than just one massive shape.

Everything looks neat and pristine...except for a few buildings have been crushed in what looks like could have been either an earthquake or falling rocks from the sky. Little sand-palms lay scattered in the streets, and several buildings have holes in their roofs or are partially collapsed. What looks to be a well is partially broken with several "bricks" missing, and there look to be destroyed fences for what was probably meant to be a corral for horses. It clearly is a path of destruction that seems to be moving on towards the cleaner parts of the city, as sand-rocks which represent the raining fire from the sky are positioned here and there on roofs as if they stopped mid attack.

 

[Vyn -- LAB305]

[ Vyn. Oceanside.

Sandcastle rolls: 19+5 = 24

( >> << >> My bro got wifi! )]

With her house and garden constructed Vyn decided it was time to start placing the residents in their newly built home.. First was mother and father – the identical shells could stand protectively at the threshold to the house... As Vyn positioned them she half imagined them as humans, smiling pleasantly as they looked out over their cheerful green grassed garden. Next could be the children; of course, they were going to go in the garden! The girl could go underneath the tree – she was pretty and Vyn imagined her with long blonde hair blowing in the breeze, picture perfect. The boy could be on the lawn. She paused and plucked out the pet and with a grin – a guilty pleasure forming within her at the thought of playing make-believe – and with a triumphant flourish she plopped it next to the younger boy child. The remaining members of the family were the grandparents... Not knowing via her own experiences Vyn wasn’t sure what to do with the remaining two shells but rather than beat around the bush she placed them at the edge of the garden around a collection of flowers... There was still something missing before she deemed the sculpture for her family complete...

 

[Storei]

[[Sandcastles! ( 8+7+7=22 )]]

Simplicity was the power to Eiry's endeavor.

It was so simple a plan, so genius, that Eiry had to take a metaphorical step (which was actually a float) back from his masterpiece. What he had so far was grand in size. In fact, it took most of his effort just to accumulate as much sand as he needed for his plan, but with the help of his weak telekinesis strength, it was easy to dig out and gather the sand from the nearby area until he had smoothed out a large ring of depth in the sand around his workspace. At the smaller end, he had fashioned a large curved tower, made of a weird triangular shape that extended up into the air and held it's precarious lopsided position because of the wet sand Eiry had used and then layered with dry. It held in place. Underneath it was another flat triangle that kind of folded against the sand, as if it were bent awkwardly because of the beach. Then, just a little more up the way, were two matching triangles of equal size on either side of the mass, both carefully carved so that they looked like they were actually lying on the beach. Eiry employed this technique a lot through the project. Just a couple of feet away from those small triangles were another huge pair, almost like a set of wings, that were jetted out from the widest area of the smoothed out mound. Above the largest pair of triangles, in the middle of the mound's back, was another large and dangerous triangle, curved ever so slightly to give the impression of movement. Carefully carved into crescent curves on the side of the mound, just in front of the large triangles, were four heavy slits opened at an angle as if they were gasping for air.

Coming into a blunt and fat angle was the front, where Eiry had been working with great care. He wasn't quite done yet, but what he had so far was a large gaping hole that burrowed down deep into the sand underneath and into the mound at such an angle that it wouldn't threaten the structure of the large mass above it. Curving the inside with carves so that it resembled an open gullet, Eiry had to slowly and carefully pull himself out from the hole, where he had been stuck head first for the majority of seven minutes, until he was able to sit back and see it in its grandeur.

It just needed some of the detail work in the bottle nosed face some smoothing out and careful carving until it was done! And...Eiry glanced with a glowering grin of malicious intent at his sleeping guardian...A bit of something else.  

[Anachrophobia]

The sky suddenly turned dark as a large patch of thick cloud drifted over the sun, shielding the warm sunlight from the beach. The wind picked up drastically as it assaulted the beach, hats were sent flying and the force is able to break umbrellas now. The coconut trees were bent in the strong wind, their leaves swaying wildly. A single wilted leaf was blown off as it fell near the popsicle booth, nearly knocking over a bowl of popsicles. The waves had picked up as well, large rolling waves hitting the beach angrily, making it impossible to swim now. People began to scatter from the waters as dark clouds could be seen forming in the far distance out in the ocean. A spark of lightning lit up, signifying a storm is a coming. Judging by the strong wind, it wouldn't be long now until the clouds reach the beach. And sure enough, in no time at all large raindrops started to fall from the sky, splattering on the sandy beach. Sparse at first, but quickly becoming heavy as the merciless water destroyed the sand castles before the judging could begin.

The only roofed structures on the beach was the drinks booth, which was a rented space. The popsicle booth was in open air as the rain came down onto all the tables and food items, ruining everything.