Satori smiles at the warmer and supporting words from her fellow Dynast. This time, it appears as genuine as the look she gave Asuna earlier in the day, when she received the pair of razors.
"Thank you, Fel." she says.
The two of them return to the city with Satori's bodyguards, after which the satrap takes her leave of Fel, presumably to attend to affairs of state and preparations for the gala.
Back in the city, Larissa and Xandra are able to return to Satori's palace without any further trouble following the near-riot. Elsewhere, Harun gets out of bed and - leaving Manato to his own devices - picks out the attire she'll wear for the gala, before leaving to attend the meeting held by Asuna.
Besides the Water Aspect, Harun's the only Dynast there; the other attendees are a group of twelve particularly wealthy or influential patricians, each of which House Sesus holds some degree of leverage over. As planned, Asuna poses as a mortal representative of a Dynast hoping to marry Satori, with Harun feeling little need to contradict this falsified backstory. She and the other attendees are soon convinced to assist Asuna with her planned festival, seeing it as both a way to soothe tensions within the city, and increase the levels of wealth in their own coffers. The fact that Asuna's supposed client is both exceedingly wealthy and ignorant of prices in Kandara doesn't hurt matters.
In terms of which god to honour with the festival, popular opinion soon turns towards Mazarie, the unofficial goddess of agriculture for the region. As pointed out by a number of the meeting's attendees, food is somewhat of an issue within Kandara, and all the local field guardians owe fealty to Mazarie. With Asuna's blessing, they will devote the festivities towards her, and aim to launch them within the next week or two. With the meeting resolved, Harun returns to her manor to finish her own preparations for the gala.
Present moment in time...
By the middle of the evening, the gala is truly getting underway. The entirety of the palace's ground floor and grounds are open to partygoers, with a good deal of activity concentrated within the hall where the five travellers first encountered Satori and Sengon. The tables from earlier are now laden with food served on gold plates, with the hellboar killed by Fel and Satori in a place of pride, while a band performs upon the now assembled stage, playing relaxing music on sanxian, erhu and other instruments for the benefit of all who can hear.
A similar setup exists within the palace grounds, only the stage that was set up here is currently being used for martial arts; demonstrations by various dojos based within the city, interspersed with duels and sparring matches. Other areas of the palace set aside for the gala include a gaming lounge where one can fritter away time - and jade - at Gateway, dice and cards, a selection of rooms in which guests can smoke opium.
And of course, at least a few dozen extravagantly dressed Dragon-blooded can be found throughout the palace and grounds, a small army of servants attending to their every need. In terms of attire, there is a clear distinction between the Dynastic fashions worn by those belonging to the Great Houses, and the turbans, kaftans and more exotic attire choices of the outcastes.
What has everyone done prior to the start of the gala? What do you all wish to do now?