World Tree MUSH

  While closer to summer than spring, that doesn't stop the residents of Polyuchyn from preparing for their annual spring festival, which is really more between spring and summer. All week the townfolk have been making preparations, and bit by bit the town square has been transformed into a festival ground.

  There's a bit of everything here: Food, drink, entertainment, and a whole lot of happy festival-goers. Throughout the square there are craftsmen hawking wares, cooks and brewers advertising their newest creations, musicians playing songs about as old as the distant hills, and barkers cheerfully badgering visitors into festival games.

  A series of carnival-style games and rides are also here. To one side of the spacious square, a rickety wooden roller coster has been lovingly assembled, checked, and double-checked; despite all the clacking its operators assure doubters that it's perfectly safe. On the other side, there are stalls with local handcrafted goods, including blouses, skirts, and men's shirts embroidered in the local fashion.

  Today Anneka Stojespal has traded her agency suit for festival raiment. She wears a white blouse boldly embroidered with floral designs in red, turquoise, and yellow thread, and the matching long skirt blends so smoothly it's almost hard to tell they're separate garments. Her fiery red hair is tied up into an intricate braid and plaited with fresh white flowers, but she still wears the eyepatch. Many here wear similar festival raiment, but hers is much more ornate. She's here as a representative of House Stojespal.

  Anneka is... not in the town square. She's standing with the Stojespal family on the riverbank, as they conclude a yearly folk ritual, as stoic beside Rusalka's mother as Irja Grigorievna herself is. Once she's sure Rusalka notices, she flings an arm up in an enthusiastic wave.

  "Grandmother Dragana. Irja Grigorievna. Sally Petrovna. Our esteemed guests should be arriving soon."

    From one bank of the river, a small crowd of locals has formed. There's nothing much to look at at the moment, although everyone seems to be staring at the surface of the water. There's a ripple, then another, and then Rusalka's head breaks the surface. A wooden flute comes next, and rises to her lips. The melody played is a folk tune, probably one heard played by other musicians in the festival. There's a weird, almost fey breathiness to this particular flute however, perhaps from its being submerged.

    Those near the shore can see her head duck back underwater, her attire flaring out as she twirls three times before finally surfacing for air, and struggling her way out of the water. The vyshyvanka she wears, the white embroidered blouse, and the scarlet tunic vest over it is completely soaked through, as is the knee-length skirt. Her shoes are partly blackened by the riverbottom mud. She bends over for a moment, catching her breath with her hands on her knees and dripping water all over anything nearby. Then she stands, gratefully accepting a towel with a smile, and wraps it around her head.

    The crowd applauds as she does so, though Rusalka can only cringe a little in embarrassment as Anneka waves and a small cheer comes from the crowd. Stupid tradition she can't help but think. The group of family members standing there parts respectfully as an old woman makes her way to the Sokovian girl and stands before her. A curiously thick cane helps keep the nonagenarian's walk steady and sure. One gnarled hand reaches up to stroke the girl's hair, brushing the towel away as she whispers something secret between the two of them. Traditional magic, a blessing perhaps, in this case an approval of a job well done.

    The Stojespals are strange people.

    Meanwhile the drenched scion of the family finds her way to a changing tent set up for just this sort of occasion. Taking just a couple minutes to towel off and return to the festival dressed in a dry copy of her former outfit, the scarlet and white clothing decorated with no small amount of floral embroidery. Any of the offworlders she recognizes that happen to be nearby will get a wave in greeting.

    Circe is not always up for interacting with the biggest crowds, but she'd been particular invited here. Or, well, at least one of her identities had; Circe has shown up without bothering with the hair dye this time, though she is wearing flower in her hair, which will hopefully make up for it. Her appearance can be rather stubborn, or at least anti-hair dye, tending to go back to normal after only a brief period...

    As for what the red-eyed goddess is doing, she's hanging around the drink supply. The good news is that she's not planning on maliciously poisoning the drinks for this festival!

    No, she's planning on doing it in a 'good' way, her little nanite poison already prepared to help people... relax, not worry about their inhibitions too much, and have a good time. So it's a non-malicious poisoning that could have all kinds of unintended consequences, like removing the judgement of people to not spend too much money at a festival, or to not take part in dunk tanks or that kind of think. She's not obvious about what she's doing, only needing to hang out near the drink supply to work her psuedo-magic.

    One of the nice things about exploring the Tree is that you get to see so much culture. Big-city, small-city, rural, familial, there are so many things to see, so many cultures to take in. Lian has delighted in it every single time; and she's spent the day in Polyuchyn delighting in it once again. Food, festival games, performances, it's all been a delight. But following her instincts has led the elder Jedi to just the right place at just the right time, to see Rusalka Petronova dunk herself in a river.

    Lian is polite enough to keep her distance, but the whole affair is certainly entertaining to watch. When Rusalka finally spots her, though, the seer cheerfully lifts up her staff in greeting, then turns to head towards the town square.

Holly's quite happy to be done with college finals, at least for now. It's time to go celebrate and get ready for summer vacation. She's ended up in Sokovia on the way back to Belgium. Of course the sign she saw saying "Welcome to Sokovia" has the witch a bit confused, surely they mean Slovakia right? Never mind, she should have been heading in the other direction to get to Belgium from New York.

 As far as flowers go, she already has one in her hat. Just ignore the fact that there's bones growing out of it. At least there's several familar faces present, including Circe. She did want to chat with her fellow witch again after all. She eagerly waves at the goddess as she approaches the festival.

    The last thing Talia expected to see here was a dunking contest. She has brought wine from the raid on the vineyard, just passing out bottles to people! Wearing a red and white dress with gold filigree, a much more feminine and classy garment she must've purchased earlier given how new it looks.

    Upon meeting Rusalka's gaze, Talia smiles and raises a glass to her as she stands beside Lian. "An odd tradition. I think I did this to my master once at a fair, he was in a tank and there was this button we threw balls at." She says with amusement all over her face, wistful over the memory. "I got it dead-on the first try."

  Anneka waits with the other Stojespals, as though she's one of them, even though there don't seem to be any other redheads in the gaggle of family. In fact, she's close to Irja, close enough that she has to backpedal to allow the old woman space to get by. As Grandmother Dragana pronounces her approval, Anneka leans over to murmur something to Irja Grigorievna, Rusalka's mother.

  As Rusalka heads for the changing tent, Anneka follows, embroidered skirt billowing. Yeah, she's still wearing the eyepatch.

  ...She hasn't had any of the drinks, yet.

  Honestly, she looks different in festival attire. She's keeping half her attention on the arrivals, though, with a wave and a smile to those she recognises. For now she stays close to Rusalka -- close enough to suggest she's looking out for the youngest Stojespal as much as anything else. There's a protectiveness in her hovering. Irja would be proud if she weren't busy.

  "Thank you for coming, friends! Welcome! Help yourself to the food, the drink; the Sokovian culture!" The pilot grins. "A dunk tank, tak? Hmmm, that almost sounds like less trouble, Sally Petrovna..."

    Lian's wave of her staff gets a returned wave from the Stojespal scion, as Rusalka makes her way back to the town square. Her job is done, the past is honored, and she is...mostly dry. If she knew what had happened to her hairband, she'd be able to see straight; as it is she flicks damp and clingy bangs back out of the way. They mostly stay.

    She hadn't expected to see the Jedi but doesn't mind her presence one bit. "Master Lian. Welcome, welcome." She'll never get rid of the soft accent, no matter how much she practices. "This is our spring harvest festival, and I'm told it was a good harvest. So there is much to celebrate."

    "And Master Talia as well. An odd tradition," the Sokovian echoes, snatching a cup of wine for herself and completely unaware of Circe's prank. A sip of the fruit of the vine, and she nods appreciatively.

    Anneka's comment on the dunk tank gets a snort. "We have had such things in the past; I did not see one this year. Besides, it would not be dignified." Hmpf. "This tradition is the one I dislike the most, simply because there is no escaping it. The rusalka, the mermaid, once saved the life of a prince of these lands long ago, luring his assassins to drown with music and dance. Naturally this means I have to do it."

    It's not the way that the story is typically told, anyway, but it's concise and gets the point across. And explains why she has such a strange name for a modern girl.

    The wine gets another drink, cobalt-blue eyes watching carefully for the Baroness herself, Sally's own mother. She might be able to sneak a drink past Anneka easily enough, but her mother's disapproval is a little more frightful.

    "Goodness," Lian replies to Talia, "That must have been quite a sight. A stuffy old Master taking a dunk by his Padawan." The Jedi don't loosen up and enjoy themselves nearly as often as they ought, as far as the Battlemaster's concerned. A bit of relaxation like that every now and then would be good for them. When the Stojespals finally arrive at the town square, the elder of the two Jedi greets Rusalka and Anneka both with a polite bow. "Sally, Anneka. It's good to see you both. And please, Lian is fine," she adds to Rusalka in specific. "I haven't walked a dozen worlds just to get saddled with old responsibilities." It's a playful answer.

    Straightening her cloak, she adds a curious, "I see, I see. A ritual of gratitude. And with your name, that would make you a natural for the role." Though Lian doesn't have wine, she has taken up some other form of refreshment. Something fruit-based, most likely. "Do you have to do it every year...?"

    Circe would probably dispute calling it a prank, even though that's more or less what it is. Just... en masse. She's able to make a LOT of poison, though at least she's being restrained about what it does. It's not just the alcohol getting it, though, but every non-water drink being provided, at least from that part of the festival.

    She'll be totally fair this time, since it's mostly harmless, and take a deep drink herself, returning the wave and moving over towards Holly, before seeming to stop short as she realizes Holly probably recognizes her for her. Oh well.

    She leans in and kisses the top of the snake bracelet on her head, which then drops off her arm and wonders off for some fun of its own, before resuming heading towards Holly and probably getting noticed by various others who might recognize her from past encounters. "Hi! I hardly expected to run into you all the way out here." Circe will say, poking at her internal chip to actually remember Holly's name.

    "The look on his face was priceless." Talia said with a sigh, caught up in the nostalgia of the moment. It was a rare moment that Gareth Furiel actually let the guise of stoicism and wisdom slip, as he took Talia and her sibling padawans to celebrate on Coruscant. She forgets the occasion, it was a long time ago...

    The distraction from Rusalka and ANneka is welcome, as Talia bows before them in a curtsy. "Please, it's just Talia to you two. I don't even have a padawan yet. It's good to see you both, I hope I'm not too presumptuous in dressing locally. I figured I'd learn the culture." She's had some elders talking her ear off all day about the traditions, and Talia's been absorbing it all like a sponge. People here are surprisingly welcoming, considering Talia's a literal alien. "How do I look?" She does a twirl, a black and gold trimmed vest over her dress as she does a little twirl.

"Maybe you should go change into something more fitting for the event, Holly?" Servis can't help note that she sticks out like a sore thumb. Granted, it's kind of hard not to when you have two ghosts floating next to you. At least to those who see them.

 "I see someone else wearing black and orange!" Holly's quick to point out. "I think there's more to it then just wearing the same colors." Even Lavaux could figure out that much.

 "This is why I like fall harvest festivals more!" Her attention then turns towards Rusalka, "You're named after a water spirit? Neat!" She then hears Circe's voice, "I end up in a lot of different places! All these different vines can get kind of confusing at times!" Of course she doesn't notice what Circe's doing to the drinks either.

  As she follows Rusalka back, Anneka helps herself to what looks like a glass of vodka, lifting it neatly from a nearby tray. She grins as the younger Stojespal scans the crowd. "I will warn you if I see her," she murmurs. "Just do not take too long with your drink."

  Nobody notices Circe's well-intentioned tinkering. At least, not yet, anyway. She's totally in the clear!

  "It is good to... Great God what is that." Anneka trails off, looking down at the ground. A snake bracelet goes slithering between feet, there and gone quick enough to second-guess ever seeing it. She stares a moment at the empty ground it had been in a moment before, before shaking her head and swinging her focus back around to the two Jedi women. "Uh. What was I saying? It is good to see you again, Lian; Talia." The pilot nods to each. "Welcome back to Polyuchyn. Enjoy yourselves."

  She grins at Lian's assessment. "Something like that. I am glad I do not have the responsibility." To Talia, "Not at all." That single blue eye looks the Jedi over, red brow arching. "Hunh. It suits you, I think."

  Holly's statement earns a glance over her shoulder, as Anneka turns to face the witch. The statement itself brings the pilot to pull a sour face. "Wait until you are trying to go through one, and instead you wind up somewhere else entirely. That was fun to explain, the last time I was late for a meeting, tak. Yes. There is not always any rhyme or reason to those things..."

    The bow gets a wave of protest. "Nothing like that, please. At least not before I am saddled with the title, if that ever happens." It will, sooner than Rusalka would like - which, to be fair, she would rather pass on to some undeserving cousin of hers. "We are friends here."

    A dunk tank for Jedi...there are many paths to the Dark Side of the Force, and that might just be one of the easier ones. Talia's outfit gets a thumbs-up, the green-skinned Jedi getting an approval from Rusalka on her outfit. "You are free to celebrate with us, and if that includes dressing up, then the more the merrier." An easy thing to say when you've got wine this...relaxing.

    "And yes. Ever since then, there has always been a Rusalka in the Stojespal family; I just so happen to have been fortunate," she adds with a stretched-down face, "to have been born at the right time to inherit it. And the tradition. Every year, at spring," she adds to Lian.

    Holly, meanwhile, gets a nod before the Belgian witch makes her way over to Circe. Yes, it's tradition, and unfortunately Rusalka is a modern girl stuck with it.

    Anneka's promise of warning gets a thumbs-up in return. "And I will do the same. Besides, it is a celebration, I am sure mother would not mind so much." Right? Right. 

    And Circe's poisoning of the drink supply might be starting to take effect, or else Rusalka is simply a lightweight when it comes to alcohol. Probably a bit of both; she's not the kind of person to deliberately dull her senses and reflexes. But something about Lian's question echoes in her mind, and a Good Idea forms as she takes another drink.

    "Do you think if I jumped back in the river right now, they would count that as next year's tribute, and I would not have to do it?" She turns to look back speculatively at the river, toes digging in the dirt back and forth as she contemplates the thought.

    Circe's going to just keep sipping at the drink as she meets up with Holly, her own dress rather... all-black other than the flowers in her hair. She looks a little like either a deranged tourist or a stage hand, particularly with her eye color.

    "I usually tried to stick closer to home, but people there started trying really hard to kill me, so I've left for a time." She'll say, looking for just a moment annoyed at herself for admitting to something she hadn't really been planning to talk about, then visibly brightening.

    Admitting to things she wasn't talking about was exactly sort of effect that was intended, after all! Must be working. "..Have you had any of the food or drink here yet?"

"Yeah, I've been late to class more than once! I don't know, would a real rusalka show up and starting drowning men if you don't do it? That would be bad." Holly figures she should keep doing it if that's the case. "Nope, now they you mention it. I'm kind of hungry! Flying burns a lot of energy. I would if they have breakfast, I forgot to eat it this morning!" She starts to look over what they're serving.

    "I don't exactly have much in the way of folksy clothing!" Talia says, beaming a little as she gets positive feedback regarding her outfit. "Thank you for the hospitality, your people have been very welcoming far as I've seen." She says with a smile.

    She can't help but get some 'tipsy' vibes from Rusalka, "I'm unsure if they'd accept it." She says tentatively.

  Rusalka makes a big deal of protesting the formal treatment, and that's the sound of Anneka Stojespal coughing, and not snickering at the younger Stojespal's misfortune. Not at all. The woman grins, though, at Rusalka's statement. "She is right. Absolutely we are all friends, here, today."

  "Every year," Anneka states, cheerfully, throwing an arm around Rusalka's shoulders companionably. Pat, pat. "And every year I am waiting with a glass of wine once Irja Grigorievna has turned her attention elsewhere. Oh, give me that, she's looking this way." The pilot makes a deft grab for Rusalka's wine glass.

  Would she be able to double-dip and not do this again next year?

  Anneka throws her head back and starts cackling.

  "No."

  The vodka in her hand is eyed speculatively, before she grins, lifting it in salute. "Bud'mo!" Cheers! Taking a shot, she grimaces a little, eyeing the glass. Woo, that kind of packs a kick, doesn't it? "This is good. Grandmother Dragana has outdone herself, this year." Another sip. "

  The Jedi is eyed a moment, before she gestures toward Polyuchyn. "I have not had much luck in investigating Valentina Maximova's case, but Agent Philip Coulson tells me we are close to something." There is a flicker of warmth beneath the surface. Progress, finally, after so long. Some closure for Valentina's immediate family, hopefully. "Hopefully something useful. Actually, we are not acting as SHIELD agents, this time. This is not within our jurisdiction, but Agent Philip Coulson is helping me as a favour." What about her? "I am pursuing this because something about this does not smell right. There was no reason for anyone to kill Valentina Maximova. No motive."

    Holly's question is one she'd never considered before, but it's one of those things that never really comes up. It requires the assumption that an actual rusalka exists, and inhabits their particular riverfront. "I don't...honestly know. I would not like to find out the hard way, however," she adds after a little more thought. "That would indeed be bad, though I suppose there are ways to placate such things."

    Like dunking yourself and playing the flute and dancing like the legend says happened.

    Talia gets a grin. "It was...difficult at first; Polyuchyn is a small place. It is not easy to make such a change, but we have had visitors from around the Tree's worlds since. Even rabbit-people," she adds.

    "You think so?" Hm...maybe Talia's right, after all. "But I'm already dry...and I don't have a change of clothes, still. Maybe if I just stick my foot in the water?" No, that will do nothing but give her a wet shoe, and she doesn't have dry ones to change into this time.

    Anneka can't help but find it the funniest thing in the world, and Rusalka gives her aunt a dirty, treasonous glance - before yelping in protest as her delicious, delicious boozeahol is taken away.

    "Crap, mother is watching. If she comes over here..." And that is precisely what her mother Irja does - dressed in her own embroidered attire, with an enameled brooch at her throat depicting the coat of arms of House Stojespal. With a Terminator's graceful movement, she plucks the glass of wine out of Anneka's hand and permits herself a sample of the contents.

    Eyes the same color as Rusalka's take in Talia's foreign looks, and the woman gives a small smile in greeting. "I see you are discussing business. Permit me to join you three?"

    Yeah, Rusalka's not going to get to test her Double Dunking theory this time...

    Rabbit people? Talia thinks of lepi for a moment, before Anneka mentions the case. "That's at least some news. I imagine you want to keep this on the downlow much as possible." She muses. The sudden appearance of Irja Stojespal certainly catches Talia by surprise. The woman is alarmingly good at not being noticed until Irja makes her presence known.

    She'd make a fantastic Jedi Shadow.

    "Of course. Major Stojespal, is it?" Talia says with a polite, practiced smile, curtsying to Irja. "Talia Kyras, Jedi Knight. My colleague Master Lian and I have been aiding in an 'investigation'." Talia won't insult Irja's intelligence and think Irja doesn't know anything about Valentina. "I have enhanced senses, the kind that let me experience other people's memories. You might consider it a form of ESP, of sort." She explains for Rusalka's mother's benefit. "And before you ask, no it doesn't have anything to do with my species. It's a rare talent even for Jedi."

Holly hears the words rabbit-people and twitches a bit at that. She starts to feel a bit tipsy herself even though she hasn't been drinking alcohol, "Wait, someone was murdered here?" She doesn't sense any paranormal activity besides Servis and Lavaux. Still, it could be troublesome if an upset ghost suddenly showed up. Either the murder victim or a rusalka. "They didn't drown her did they? Hi, Rusalka's mom!" She greets the woman as she joins them. "I wonder what my mom would think of this party? She doesn't have the chance to get out much."

    "Try the wine, too! Or the fruit juice, there's no alcohol in it!" Circe will call off after Holly, seeming to remember that she doesn't drink from their prior meeting. She'll take the opportunity after that to wonder off herself, and the witch will head over towards the main gathering, wanting to give her greetings if she can.

    "Hello! It's a wonderful festival here, isn't it?" Anneka will PROBABLY recognize her, even with wildly different hair, but Talia certainly should. "I assume there haven't been anymore problems with anything? No murders, or assassinations?" ...Okay, she's had too much, she decides. Not that she'll stop actually drinking at this point or anything, but she recognizes that she should! And she'll not even hesitate about joining, whether or not they really want her. She was part of the investigation after all...

  Rabbit-people? Anneka's eye slides over to Rusalka, eyeing the girl somewhat flatly. Who on earth has she been meeting while the pilot's been away with work? Maybe she's going to have to spend more time with the girl, for the girl's own safety...

  The wine is smoothly scooped up and handed off to Irja as the other woman approaches; the pilot takes a drink of the house vodka, side-stepping to allow the woman a place to join the loose circle. "You are always welcome, Irja Grigorievna." The glass of vodka is tipped. "The next time you see her, please tell Grandmother Dragana she has outdone herself with this year's vintage."

  "Tak--yes--I would prefer to." Anneka lowers her voice, dipping into a low and resonant growl. "Irja Grigorievna is aware of the details. Meanwhile, I will see this through. Whoever has murdered Valentina Maximova has declared war on House Stojespal, and I have some suspicion of who they are. I cannot prove it, so I will not rely on conjecture. Agent Philip Coulson is working on that; I think maybe soon he will have an answer. If my suspicions are confirmed..."

  She shakes her head. "I have to see this through." Turning, the pilot glances Holly's way. "Not here. Further in town." A hand flicks dismissively towards a more densely-populated neighbourhood. She sighs, exasperated. "No, they did not drown her."

  Oh there's a Circe. Anneka squints at the goddess incognito, as though she were furiously trying to place a half-familiar face. "No. As it is, this case happened years ago. It has been marked as a cold case, since a body was never found." She shakes her head, shrugging. After a moment she stops and stares at Circe some more, frowning slightly. "Sorry, excuse me, do I know you? Absolutely you look familiar to me..."

    Anneka brings up business, and Irja nods quietly with a simple "I shall do so," before Rusalka clears her throat. "Mother, this is Talia Kyras. She was with us the night we, ah...acquired the wine. She and the others have been helping with the investigation into Valentina's disappearance."

    As Circe and Holly gather, it's up to a slightly tipsy Rusalka to give introductions. "My mother, the baroness Irja Grigorievna Stojespal." Oh right, curtsey properly. Said baroness takes in the group that's gathered, and simply raises a hand. "Such things, I believe, are best left in boardroom meetings. Official places for official business, as it were."

    She continues after Anneka speaks, never quite taking a watchful eye off of Rusalka. For Holly, there's a moment of polite explanation. "There was a recent series of ghost sightings, culminating in the discovery of a murder of one of the family. The good Jedi and my cousin," she adds with a gesture to the pilot, "are leading the investigation into the incident. I see their progress has been at least partially successful," she adds with an eyebrow raised in question. "Though I would simply suggest that we table such discussion for now, and enjoy ourselves." She finishes Rusalka's glass of wine, taking a deep breath. "This is, after all, a festival, is it not?"

    Rusalka, meanwhile, has kept her mouth shut this entire time since introducing her. Instead, her attention was elsewhere - and it didn't take long for a full bowl of some kind of food to slip its way into her fingers. "Varenyky? It's a boiled meat dumpling," she adds, offering the bowl to the people of the tree. Surely they're hungry as well, right?

    "Rusalka Petrovna." Hearing her name is enough to get a startled squeak out of her. Breaking protocol in such an uncouth manner, even among friends? "Yes, mother..." Though, the bowl is still held out before her, free to sample for the others. It seemed like a good idea at the time...

"Oh, maybe I can help with that! I'm friends with most ghosts!" That certainly gets Holly's attention as she takes one of the offered dumplings to go with her fruit juice. "Protocol?" She sounds kind of confused when it comes to that. "Wait, she was murdered years ago but her ghost didn't show up until recently?" She tries to piece this all together. It didn't help that she was feeling kind of light headed at the moment.

    "Aquired" reminds Talia. She was told broadly what Garo had done, insulting the Stojespal family and making thinly veiled threats, the second Garo felt his position of strength threatened. Sounded about right for that boastful fool. "Your daughter and Anneka handled themselves admirably." She says, with a wink to Rusalka. Irja definitely gives off a steely edge, befitting a family of spies and freedom fighters.

    "She also has taken to driving speeders like a duck to water, as you Terrans say." Talia says with a beaming smile. "That hovervan might not have been the most elegant of vehicles but she managed to make my allies look like rank amateurs handling what we had on hand. I'd love to see her behind the wheel of a properly fitted speeder..." She might be considering raiding a garage and letting Sally drive something out, that might be a fun night.

    Holly draws an arched brow, but Talia lets the witch continue. "You might be pretty useful, actually." The mirialan muses, before sideeying Irja. "Does your family happen to have any old rivalries? Old grudges and the like?" Talia wonders, just a question that's been bugging her ever since she got roped into this investigation.

    Circe will offer Anneka a vague smile, and say. "I'm one of your consultants on the investigation! The computer expert and nanotechnologist." Wait, that last part wasn't something she'd claimed before... but she smiles and just keeps it clear. "I'm.. ah, Adrienne, let's go with that!"

    That's a name she's used before, but it's not actually the one she'd used on the paperwork with SHIELD. It might be soon enough if it needs to be, though.

    "But just relaxing here. I like the local outfits; they're a really nice combination of colors. And the food is incredible. It's good to meet you when we're not looking for a dead body or anything though!"

  ...Cousin. Yes.

  For some inexplicable reason, the two Jedi might pick up on a spike of disproportionate amusement from Anneka at that word. Must be the vodka. The timing is odd, though, and may raise a few suspicions.

  Anneka is quick to focus again. She thins her lips as she considers. "I do not know about leading. I am not able to do most of the work. I do not see her, or anything else like that." The woman shrugs, tipping her head slightly to one side. That vodka, or rather its Special Party Additive, must be getting to her. Her body language is much looser; more relaxed. "I only fly the quinjets."

  Folding her arms as the matter of business is tossed aside, she half-closes her eye, the corner of her mouth twitching in amusement as Rusalka seizes some food and gets Full Name'd for it. "Ah, let her go, today, Irja Grigorievna," the pilot mutters under her breath to the woman, grinning. "It is a once-a-year festival."

  To Holly, she frowns, thoughtful. "I will... think on it. Already I am having to pull strings to do this at all. Adding one more person into the mix will complicate things, and I cannot rely on Agent Philip Coulson to smooth things over forever; it is not fair to him, and irresponsible of me."

  To the question, she just shakes her head. "No. I do not want to speak of this now. We are here to celebrate life, not death."

  Does the family have old grudges? "Absolutely. Are there any large families with old histories and blue blood that do not have enemies?" The red-headed woman grins.

  Circe earns a long and thoughtful look. It's really more of a squint. It isn't that Anneka finds anything particularly suspicious with the information given to her; it's more that she finds everyone's information suspicious, because she doesn't actually trust anybody except for the local aristocracy. She's probably considering whether she really wants to open this can of worms.

  "Tak. I remember you now." Her eye narrows. "You were the one talking to Sally Petrovna. About gods, I think, though I did not hear well what you were saying. Adrienne, was it? Welcome to Sokovia." A shrug. "The clothing? Festivals, for the most part, though some people do wear them all the time." She examines her own blouse and skirt with a half-smile. "Fine craftsmanship. Tak, it is good to meet you under better circumstances."

    Oh good, someone accepted the food. Rusalka manages to sigh a little in relief, that she hadn't been completely hung out to dry, giving a small huff in surprise when she's bumped by another girl buying varenyky herself. Apparently the brunette who'd bumped her liked apples as well, from the small basket full of them she'd was carrying - and gets a equal basket full of the dumplings to go with, before disappearing back into the crowd. A strange, faint ripple in the Force, that one.

    Friends with ghosts? One dark eyebrow lifts in surprise on Irja's face as Holly explains, and her question gets a curt nod. "Yes. Although at the time, we did not know of her murder - only her disappearance."

    Rusalka can't help but blush at the praise from Talia, while Irja merely nods. "I am pleased her hobbies have borne fruit. And to know that she has good friends." This to the Jedi, a rare direct compliment. It feels as if she's one to hold others to a high standard, as if Irja were an advanced teacher perfecting the work of her students.

    It just so happens her students happen to be the ones gathered in front of her.

    The question of families, and Anneka's reply to it, get a rare smile. Circe's poisoned alcohol is taking its effect, and without thinking it through there's a moment of rare honesty from the air force officer. "Stojespal has several branches of the family. They do not all see eye to eye. And funerals are places of the greatest lies," she adds, with a flick of a glance to Anneka. A slip like that has a dark story behind it, one shared between the two women.

"Okay, it does sound complicated! I've never met any of my extended family!" Of course there's a reason for that but Holly's unaware of it. "Yes, I tend to attract ghosts!" She explains to Rusalka. "Circe's a goddess!" She wonders if the witch would regret poisoning the food upon hearing her saying that out-loud. The little sense of subtly she normally has is gone at this point.

    Circe will try not to wince at Holly blowing up her spot, particularly what with her legend being kind of.. centered around poisoning people. And pigs. "Oh, that too! I just like to use other names when I go out, y'know, among the people! But even a goddess has to earn a living these days, so.. investigations and the like."

    She'll pause, and then add, probably in a way she'll regret later. "...Also there's a pretty enormous bounty on my head and I need to outrun some of my world's assassins. It's fine."

    A family of secrets. That doesn't surprise Talia in the least. At least they're good hosts! She takes an apple, floating it over to her, and takes a bite out of it. "I wouldn't know. I never knew my birth parents. I remember brief flashes, I think my mother raised me alone on the streets until she died." Talia murmurs, shrugging a shoulder. Topic for another time, not appropriate for a celebration of the spring. She does feel a tinge of envy of Rusalka, being able to know her parents like that, having a family network.

    She had something like that once, until they all died except one. That one...she doesn't like to talk about. Not that she'll bring up how her sibling padawans and master were all slaughtered openly and eagerly to anybody who'll listen, mind.

    "Your daughter's sharp, and she's eager to make you proud. I can tell that much." Talia offers a smile, a slightly forced one but one regardless.

    Rusalka can't help but interject to Holly's admission. "Absolutely complicated is the word to use. Mother, please, even you would admit this." Irja stays silent, but her stoic expression manages to say enough. Whatever Circe put in that wine, it's definitely loosened a few lips. 

    And then Holly outs Circe something fierce, and even Irja blinks in surprise. She's heard stories of them from her own traditions, and has come to allow that they exist in other worlds, but to actually see one? Perhaps it's simply the wine speaking, as far as Holly goes, but...

    ...but perhaps not, as Circe accepts the title given to her. "Well. Now that is truly exceptional." How does one behave before a goddess? Well, they outrank you, so her immediate impulse is to salute. Since she's not in uniform, Irja does the next best thing, and drops into a respectful curtsey, allowing Circe to recieve her social dues.

    "Polyuchyn is not a land without gods, old ones and new together. I pray you may find it to your liking," she adds to the legendary poisoner. "And may your enemies find solace in Hell," she adds pointedly.

    Rusalka winces a little as Talia explains further, and she wonders what that would be like. Growing up alone, getting her wish in a way - not being bound to traditions as old as the world, not having a hundred cousins across three countries...not having a mother like hers. Between the two women, the Sokovian heiress can't help but feel a little guilty...even if Talia's case did give her Force powers and the coolness that is a lightsaber. She'd rather have the family, she realizes, and can't help a little frown at her companion's past.

    "She has done so," Irja simply says, returning Talia's smile. It's faint, but something more emotive than the stoic commander's mien she typically wears.

    If Talia could give anything, she'd sacrifice the awesome might of the Force and the lightsaber and all of her training if it meant having her friends, no, her family back. Her smile is a tired, pained one, and she goes to grab a glass and pours herself a bottle of wine.

    Then she chugs it like it's cheap beer. An uncouth and brazen gesture, but Talia gives off the air of someone who desperately needs a drink. A gag and a gasp, and Talia maintains as much composure a she can once she's finished. "I'm so sorry about that...I don't normally go into that sort of thing publicly. I've lost a lot of people I care about in a short time."

"Holly, are you sure that's just fruit juice you're drinking? You seem even more bubbly then usual?" Servis sounds a bit concerned for her well-being.

 "Wow, that's really unforunate, Talia! I can't imagine what I would do without my parents! Though they want me to stay away from them for some reason...I just want to become a great witch and make them proud! Why can't I do it?" Holly's trying to steady herself at this point but she seems to be having trouble doing so.

    Circe will seem more than a little uncomfortable as Rusalka mentions that. "Well. Hopefully not too many of them." She'll say, though whether she's simply jealous of other gods or just doesn't want to be around them is unclear. She'll seem to fade out a little at that point, and her golden snake will climb back up onto her arm as she rather obviously withdraws from the conversation.

    Maybe it wasn't a deep enough bow? But more likely she's just slightly drunk and kind of surly.