[Event] Another Year, Another Gathering

Fifth Moon of 305 AC

Nestled near the docks, the Velaryon manse sat in the midst of a busy merchant street, a neighborhood that had grown and changed in the years since it was originally built, outpaced a solemn old home behind wrought iron gates. It was not particularly large nor particularly grand, but what it lacked there, the manse more than made up for in character. It was old- so old that the weathered stones were pockmarked and mossy, with deadened ivy creeping up its stately facade, brown and crackling in a winter wind. Its bone-white doors, carved from weirwood a century before, faced the cobblestoned city lane with austere grace, surrounded by juniper bushes that seemed just a bit too wild for their confines. Snow covered the yard, the bushes, the eaves of the house- it piled in the gutters, blew back and forth in dusty white drifts. The windows themselves were frosted, candlelight brightening the halls and chambers beyond. It was one spot of warmth in a sleepy, frigid city, welcoming and inviting as the faint strains of bards' songs carried through the night.

At the gates, a few guards stood shivering beneath fur cloaks, relieved by their fellows on the half-hour. It was crisp and clear, the stars bright above the black streets, and they kept alert as they could to ward off the cold. At the door stood four more of their fellows, relieving guests of their weapons before they entered the blissful warmth of the airy atrium.

The smell of cinnamon wafted throughout the manse- every inch of it was flawlessly decorated, with garlands of evergreen and holly curled around the banisters and eaves. Servants carried platters of light refreshments through the crowd- handpies of pork and apple and sage, herbed veal croquettes, roasted halved pears filled with goat cheese and pine nuts, puffed pastry surrounding bites of spiced lamb. Most notable were the desserts, plentiful and varied- tarts filled with cranberry and apple, apricots in sugared glaze, sorghum and molasses cookies crisp from the oven, orange cakes delicately iced (their lemon counterparts conspicuously absent). Wines from throughout Westeros flowed freely, as well as peary ale and spiced cider for the younger guests, and honeyed milk for one stubborn guest in particular.

[meta] Crownlander lords and their families are welcome (as well as those specifically invited), while anyone else will have guards to contend with. Mix and mingle!