![[ten-year-anniversary-festival.png|banner]] > [!infobox|static wmed] > # `=this.file.name` > ![[ten-year-anniversary-festival.png|cover hsmall]] > > ###### 🎆 Event Identity > Type | Stat | > ---|---| > Event Type | `=this.eventtype` | > Status | `=this.status` | > Location | `=this.location` | > Region | `=this.region` | > Known Purpose | `=this.knownpurpose` | > Public Tone | `=this.publictone` | > > ###### ⛩️ Associated Places > Type | Stat | > ---|---| > Associated Locations | `=this.associatedlocations` | > > ###### 🌒 Related Events > Type | Stat | > ---|---| > Associated Events | `=this.associatedevents` | > > ###### 👥 Associated Groups > Type | Stat | > ---|---| > Associated Groups | `=this.associatedgroups` | ## Overview The Ten Year Anniversary Festival was the grand celebration held in [[Iga Ueno]] to honor a decade since the gates of [[Yureihara]] first opened to the [[Marebito]]. It brought players, locals, merchants, shrine attendants, performers, and adventurers together in [[Lodestone Plaza]] for a night of food, games, music, blessings, fireworks, and public excitement. For many, the festival was meant to be a joyful milestone. For the Marebito, it was also the beginning of a special anniversary event tied to the [[Trial of the Forgotten Code]]. Rumors spread that a rare prize waited within [[Torii Mori]], a shrine sealed since the launch of [[Eternal Night]]. The festival is now remembered as the final bright moment before the [[Twilight Fracture]] changed [[Iga Ueno]]. ## Festival Atmosphere Before the disaster, [[Lodestone Plaza]] was filled with warmth and color. Lanterns hung overhead in long glowing lines, banners rippled between buildings, and the sound of music carried through the streets. The scent of grilled food, sweet rice cakes, spiced tea, incense, and festival sweets drifted through the evening air. Crowds gathered around games, vendors, performance stages, shrine spaces, and the [[Lodestone Notice Board]]. Players from across [[Yureihara]] came to celebrate, compete, socialize, and pursue whatever reward waited beyond the announcement. The city felt alive, safe, and expectant. ## Festival Activities The festival offered many places for travelers to explore before the announcement at the Lodestone. ### [[Rin the Bath Attendant]] | Festival Fishing Game [[Rin the Bath Attendant]] hosted a cheerful fishing game near the outer ring of [[Lodestone Plaza]]. Players used delicate paper scoops to catch floating lacquered fish tokens, tiny chests, and glowing charms. Common prizes included: - Festival Candy - Charm of Good Fortune - Lantern Firecracker - Lucky Coin - Traveler's Dumpling - Festival Mask - Tea Voucher - Minor Charm of Protection - Glowing Festival Lantern - Golden Fish Token ### [[Madam Yuri]] | Festival Stage [[Madam Yuri]] oversaw the performance stage with calm authority and elegant precision. She welcomed guests, guided the evening's performances, and introduced [[Momoko the Grand Geisha]]. Her presence gave the festival a sense of refinement and meaning. She understood that public celebration was not only entertainment, but memory, reputation, and control. ### [[Momoko the Grand Geisha]] | Champion's Performance [[Momoko the Grand Geisha]] performed a short poetic piece honoring perseverance and victory. Her haiku was remembered as: > Steel feet strike the earth > Wind chases the final step > Victory breathes last The performance suggested that victory belonged not to those who began fastest, but to those who endured to the final step. ### [[Head Priestess Chiyo]] | Shrine Blessings [[Head Priestess Chiyo]] maintained a quiet shrine space along the edge of the plaza. She offered blessings to travelers who bowed respectfully, made offerings, or sought protection for the road ahead. Possible blessings included: - Blessing of Clarity - Blessing of Steady Hands - Blessing of Endurance - Blessing of Fortune ### [[Sister Aoi]] | Festival Wishes [[Sister Aoi]] helped visitors write festival wishes on prayer slips and tie them to the shrine rack. She treated the wishes with sincerity and told visitors: > The shrine remembers. The wish ritual offered a small blessing and reinforced the spiritual warmth of the festival before the world changed. ### [[Miyako Hashimoto]] | Lacquered Goods [[Miyako Hashimoto]] sold polished pottery, lacquered containers, travel goods, and finely crafted satchels. Her stall was elegant and carefully arranged, reflecting the trade culture of [[Iga Ueno]]. Among her goods was a special lacquered satchel with unusual enchantment, useful to travelers who knew how to recognize its value. ### [[Madam Yoshiko Kiyomizu]] | Salves and Healing Oils [[Madam Yoshiko Kiyomizu]] sold herbal salves, oils, and remedies for festivalgoers and adventurers. Her stall carried the quiet care of someone used to helping both locals and Marebito. Her goods included: - Herbal Recovery Salve - Traveler's Muscle Oil - Focus Oil - Calming Tea Oil ### [[Daigo Nobukata]] | Festival Fireworks [[Daigo Nobukata]] ran a lively fireworks stall filled with sky rockets, spark sticks, spinning festival wheels, and thunder pops. His laughter and demonstrations drew crowds throughout the evening. For a time, his fireworks represented the joy of celebration. After the [[Twilight Fracture]], his presence became tied to the anger and cost of who was saved, who was not, and who remembered. ### [[Goro Hashimoto]] | Festival Wares [[Goro Hashimoto]] sold festival masks, ribbons, bells, and keepsakes. He encouraged travelers to take something home from the celebration, believing that the best souvenirs were tied to good stories. Common goods included: - Fox Festival Mask - Oni Festival Mask - Ribbon Charm - Festival Bell - Lantern Keepsake ### [[Aya Nakahara]] | Festival Tea Booth [[Aya Nakahara]] served magical teas in a quieter corner of the plaza. Her booth offered a calm contrast to the noise of the festival. Her teas helped sharpen the body, mind, spirit, or senses. She also seemed aware that the rhythm of the plaza was about to change. ## The Announcement The festival's central public moment came when [[Hiroshi the Herald]] stepped beside the [[Lodestone Notice Board]] and delivered the anniversary proclamation. He announced the [[Trial of the Forgotten Code]], a challenge tied to [[Torii Mori]]. The shrine had stood sealed for ten years, visible to travelers but never open. On the night of the festival, its gates stood unbound. The crowd learned that: - [[Torii Mori]] had opened - The shrine contained a relic - Each party would walk its own path - The trial was not a simple race of speed - The first party to claim the relic would receive glory, reward, and recognition within the Lodestone Chronicle The announcement turned the festival from celebration into challenge. ## Connection to the Twilight Fracture The Ten Year Anniversary Festival is now inseparable from the [[Twilight Fracture]]. What began as public joy became the setting for public fear. Before the Fracture, [[Iga Ueno]] was bright with lanterns, songs, games, and masks. After the Fracture, [[Lodestone Plaza]] held smoke, wounds, damaged stalls, unstable system messages, and frightened people asking questions they could not yet understand. The festival did not cause the transformation by itself, but it became the moment everyone remembers. ## Public Memory To many citizens, the Ten Year Anniversary Festival is now remembered in two parts. There was the festival before. And there was the city after. Some remember the music, the masks, the food, and the warmth of the plaza. Others remember the panic, the smoke, and the terrifying realization that the [[Marebito]] were afraid. The event still carries beauty, but that beauty has become haunted by what followed. ## Adventure Role The Ten Year Anniversary Festival served as the opening movement of the campaign. It introduced [[Iga Ueno]], the major local NPCs, the public role of the [[Marebito]], the [[Lodestone Notice Board]], and the announcement that drew the party toward [[Torii Mori]]. It showed the world at its brightest so the [[Twilight Fracture]] could be felt as a true transformation. ## Current Status The Ten Year Anniversary Festival has ended. Its stalls, prizes, masks, and performances remain part of the party's memory, but [[Iga Ueno]] no longer feels like the same city that hosted it. The festival is over. Its consequences are not.