<center>GARDEN
This is the area where all outdoor events (and exploring) shall take place.</center>
SETTING:
At this time of year, snow always covers the ground around the mansion. In front is a huge yard with ginormous piles of snow and a couple of enormous snowball trebuchets. Back behind the mansion are two important areas: first, a large, glass-like pond, frozen solid for ice-skating; second, a large hedge-maze, suitable for various activities.

Large fir trees line a gravel driveway, each decorated with a different color scheme. The driveway itself circles around a unicorn fountain in front of the mansion. No one knows exactly why…

Also parked in the driveway is a mysterious black car. It has an aura of danger... that is not precisely pleasent for Christmas...

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Married Artemis Fowl on July 16, 2007
[!+^$%=#?&]
The Seemingly Nice But Actually Really Nasty Nazgul
School ate my life. *sigh*

Goldleaf and Boromir walked up the driveway arm-in-arm, Goldleaf particularly admiring the unicorn fountain. They struck an elegant couple, both remarkably tall. No one else appeared to have arrived yet. “Do you think we’re a bit early?” Goldleaf queried as Boromir inspected the unusual fountain, bending down to scoop a handful of snow from the ground.
“We’re nearly always ridiculously early or fashionably late to these events,” he remarked, his back turned. Suddenly, a snow ball hit him in the back, and he cursed, turning round. Goldleaf collapsed into peals of laughter. Incredulously, Boromir stared at his wife.
“Have you suddenly turned into a four-year-old?” he demanded, not sure whether to laugh or march off in a huff. Goldleaf sidled up to him, laughing.
“Christmas always brings out the kid in me,” she said. “Come on, let’s do some exploring. I’m sure your tunic hasn’t been too badly damaged.” She watched as Boromir’s expression became considerably less grumpy; even he had to see the funny side of it.
“Alright,” he said, “I heard there would be ice skating. Problem is, I’ve never ice skated before.”
“There are first times for everything,” Goldleaf replied, as they set off further down the gravel driveway. They paused at the mysterious-looking black car. Goldleaf tugged at her husband’s arm. “Come on, it’s just a car.”

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~~Siggy by Lembas~~

Nerissa and Walter Blythe, having dismounted from their horses and handing them over to the slightly suspicious-looking attendant, set off merrily through the snow. Walter had a bit more bounce in his step than usual, and Neri, well, she was Neri. Even though she was clinging tightly to her husband's hand, she was still quite capable of reaching down with the other hand to gather up some lovely, fluffy snow. Glancing sidelong at Walter, she smiled mischievously before setting the handful of snow upon his shoulder.
"You're not getting a rise out of me, I'm telling you," Walter said, looking away.
"Oh, but you know I will, and sooner rather than later," Nerissa replied, pulling away. "But look who's here! I spy Goldleaf and Boromir!" Gleefully, she scampered off in the pair's direction, followed by the more somber-but-not-melancholy Walter. Really, he was trying his hardest to be cheerful.
"Helloooo!" Neri waved to Goldleaf and Boromir, and then threw some of the lovely white snow into the air. "We're here for the party! Does that party consist of the two of you at present?"

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Banner from Nellie

(You know Freya, I said I'd do this. I was actualy going to start it today along with the Ballroom thread...

And I'll post my official entering the ball post later.)

Edit:

The night was young, the stars were out with not a cloud in sight... at least on in the sky, yet magically around the Arwen-Undomiel mansion, it was lightly snowing fluffy white snow. From up the gravel rode lined with pink cherry blossom trees rode a golden chocobo, it's feathers glittering in the moon and starlight. The gold harnesses clinked as the big bird feet trotted on the gravel. Ontop of the great beasts back sat two figures. One was Cloud, a somewhat short, but very lean man with spikey blonde hair, and clear blue eyes and pail skin. He wore his usual black attire, his big sword strapped to his back as he steared the chocobo. Behind him, holding on tight to his waste, rode a woman with just as pale skin, orange hair back in a beautiful, elaborate bun, and an elegant red dress under a long red coat. Rain's hazel eyes looked on in wonder of Arwen-Undomiel's magic mansion. It was the wrong season for the cherry blossoms to bloom as they were now.

As they came up to the front of the mansion, Cloud brought the chocobo to a stop and expertly hopped off. He turned and helped Eruraina down from the chocobo as a stable hand came out and brought the chocobo away. Of course the boy had never seen a creature like that before, and was weary of it as he brought it away.

Now arm-in-arm Rain and Cloud walked around the unicorn statue. Rain glanced up at it then whispered to Cloud "I think that was a dragon last year, if I remember correctly," and then noticed Narissa, Goldleaf, and their dates. Excitedly Eruraina waved to them. "Goldleaf, Narissa, Boromir, Walter, good to see you here! Are you all that have come so far?"

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

"Ooooohhhh...." Nurr looked up at the large mansion in front of her. "It's a far cry from Camelot," came a voice from behind her. Nurr whirled to confront Arthur, who was giving her a cheeky smirk. It got wiped off soon enough. Snowballs tended to do that. "Now don't go being a royal prat again," Nurr warned. "You're above that now. Mat wasn't this much trouble." This wasn't entirely true, but it would certainly help him behave. Nurr pricked up her ears. "I think I hear 'Raina! Come on!" She took off towards the rear of the house, Arthur following behind.

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going on a journey through my old claims

Aerwyn and Firien walked up to the mansion, having been dropped off by his brother, Adrien, in a most extraordinary manner. Firien eyed it dubiously for a moment. "Come on!" she urged. "I know it doesn't look like the palaces in Ocirion. It's not supposed to."

After looking at her for a moment, he grinned and tossed back his light brown hair, clear grey eyes sparkling. "Very well," he said. She smiled at him. He looked remarkably well in his midnight blue coat, accented with gold, in the style of his people. The tux thing had not worked.

"I hear people already. I hope we're not late." She lifted her skirts and walked down the colonnade of fir trees. Reaching the unicorn fountain and glancing at it, just as everyone else, she then turned to the other guests. "Good evening, everyone," she said, smiling. Fancy dresses always made her sound a touch more...cultured in company. Not always the best thing. Firien made an ornate bow and she winced slightly. Kneeling by the snow, she took some in her hands, delighting in the coolness. "I trust you're all well?"

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^ Sig set by Goldy!

"Hello Aerwyn!" Nurr called. "Your dress is lovely. I'm so glad you could make it. And this is?" The words came out in a rush - she was still flushed from a brief snowball fight.

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going on a journey through my old claims

A beautiful midnight blue Ferrari F430 came to a steady stop at the end of the driveway of the beautiful Arwen-Undomiel mansion. The two doors of the car opened and two figures respectively followed. Sean Bean emerged out of the driver's side door in a black tux and tie. His blond hair was illuminated by the light spilling from the windows of the mansion. A valet walked up to him and offered to park the car. Sean handed the keys to the valet before joining the other that had emerged from the vehicle.
The other figure turned out to be Rinoa. Her light brown hair was in a slight up do. The back for the up do revealed her hair's natural curl while the side bangs in the front were straightened and in her face a little. The black corset dress she wore revealed just how fair her skin really was.
Rinoa could see other couples conversing across the driveway and a steady feeling of nervousness came over her. Sean stopped at her side as they both looked over the beauty in front of them. A layer of the whitest snow covered the ground and a unicorn fountain stood before them and behind that was the mansion itself. He looked down at Rinoa and found her to be biting on her bottom lip. "Are you alright?" Sean asked as Rinoa's green-hazel eyes met his. She gave a nervous laugh as a reply as she looked away from his green eyes and looked back at the mansion ahead of them.
"I'm just a bit nervous that's all. I'm not used to events like this. I never even went to any of my dances in high school..." She replied honestly.
"Really?" He asked rather amazed at that last piece of information. he quickly brushed that off and tried to comfort her a little. "There is no reason to be nervous at events like this, I promise. Besides, aren't the a lot of the people here your friends?"
"Yeah." Rinoa replied with a slight shrug.
"If you in a group of friends there is no reason to be nervous. Think of this as a get together in formal wear."
"I suppose you are right. Thank you Sean." Rinoa replied with a slight smile as she took the arm he offered her. As they walked arm in arm past the unicorn fountain Rinoa couldn't help but ask, "Sean? Are we late?"
"Fashionably late maybe?" He replied.
Rinoa gave a smile as they grew closer to the other couples. She had never seen everyone in formal outfits before and there was no denying that they all looked fantastic. "Hi everyone. We aren't late are we?" She asked looking around.

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Still happily married to Sean Bean! (05-Feb-2010)

Aerwyn turned, the snow in her hands, to flash a smile at Nurr. "Thanks!" she said, relaxing a little. "You look excellent as well. Though I notice Mat's not with you this time?" She gave a cordial curtsey to Arthur, nonetheless. Looking at Firien, she grinned. "This is Firien Ivorei Telarin so'Riadin, Prince of Flames...a Fire Elemental, and my friend." Firien glared at her a little, and she smiled mercilessly. "Only he's promised not to set anything on fire today, because I would hate to see this mansion go up in flames. It's so beautiful!"

She was distracted by the arrival of Rinoa and her date. "Good evening!" she said cheerily, brushing a strand of night-black hair behind her ear. "You look lovely. And no, I don't think you're late at all. We're just getting into the swing of things."

[OOC: Firien's the main male character in my book, but since he really is known to a fair amount of people in my acquaintance, I took the liberty of stealing him for this purpose. I could tell you a lot more if you really wanted me to...*Grins*]

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^ Sig set by Goldy!

"Yes, Mat's off saving the world," Nurr smiled, moving a bit to accommodate for Rinoa and Sean. "But Arthur has been a good companion for a while. Hello Rin!"

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going on a journey through my old claims

"Ooh, the party's growing so fast!" Neri clapped her hands and smiled at all the newcomers. "Hello everyone!" The softly falling snowflakes had begun to stand out on her forest green gown, and in her dark hair. Thoughts of a large snowball fight began to fill her head, most dangerous thoughts...
Walter gave a smile and a stiff little bow to everyone. It looked as though they were in the right place, after all!

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Banner from Nellie

In the midst of the excitement, the door to the black car clicked open and a large figure emerged. Paying no attention to the crowd around the fountain, the man opened the rear door of the car. The first figure to emerge was a young man, appearing about 18, but in actuallity 21, with black hair and pale skin. This was Artemis Fowl II. He then helped his wife out of the car behind. She was arrayed all in red and gold. As Butler closed the door to the car, one could get a glimse of the interior: purple... and a strange shadowy figure closed the door from the inside.

Freya, dragging her husband behind her, hurried over to the crowd. "Hey, sorry that the mansion isn't ready yet. Someone," She glared pointedly at Artemis, who shrugged dismissively,"forgot to tell me that there was a problem. Anyway, I should be getting the call about the mansion being ready any moment now. There was a freak accident involving exploding candy and a mouse in the kitchen last night, so it wasn't ready when we got here this morning."

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Married Artemis Fowl on July 16, 2007
[!+^$%=#?&]
The Seemingly Nice But Actually Really Nasty Nazgul
School ate my life. *sigh*

"Isn't he always?" said Aerwyn with a smile. It was a beautiful night, she thought as she looked up at the stars. The door of the black car then opened, and Artemis and Freya emerged. Firien bowed and Aerwyn even curtsied for the hostess. She had to grin at the first words out of Freya's mouth, though.

"You look lovely. Exploding candy?" she inquired, amused. For some reason odd things happened every time the A-U frequenters got together. Firien couldn't resist. "Sounds lovely," he said with a grin. "I'm sure all the ladies have an affinity for the mice. I'll incinerate them if you like." Aerwyn glared at him. "I'll tell Aria you weren't behaving, see if she'd like to have you then..." He shut up immediately, exciting a smile from her.

"Anyway," she said, turning back to Freya. "It's perfectly all right. We're enjoying being out here in the snow..." she surreptitiously packed a snowball just in case something happened.

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^ Sig set by Goldy!

Freya, relieved that no one was mad at her for making them wait, was about to respond, when Jingle Bells started playing in her purse. Whipping out her phone, she answered. "Hey... It's ready? Alright! I'll tell them." She closed her ruby-red phone with a snap.

"Ok! The mansion is now open and unlocked!" She smiled at the others and then dashed over the the mansion and flung wide the doors. Artemis gave an apologetic smile, then trailed after her, dread in his heart at what embarrassing thing his wife might do next...

(Meet me over at the Mansion Thread!)

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Married Artemis Fowl on July 16, 2007
[!+^$%=#?&]
The Seemingly Nice But Actually Really Nasty Nazgul
School ate my life. *sigh*

Nienna of Rohan, skipped, literally skipped up into the mansion. Eager, as usual, to join those who had already arrived on this absolutely amazing night.

Karl Urban, strode up behind her, looking rather tired as he muttered, "You just had to drag me up here didn't you."

"Oh yes." said his wife cheerfully as she bounded up to her cousins, Neri and Goldy, "Don't go all Bones McCoy on me deary, I can't have you like that when Christmas is so near."


He looked like he wanted to dump snow on her, but decided otherwise as he instead nodded to Boromir and Walter, muttering to them, "The wives not giving you any trouble are they? Mine is."

"I heard that." Nia said as she in turn, said hello to her cousins in law. She grinned at Goldy and Neri, "Wassup cousins?"

"Glad to hear." Rinoa said relieved that they weren't late. "You look lovely as well Aerwyn. Your dress complements you beautifully." Aerwyn then returned to her conversation with Nurr.
Everyone was soon joined by Nienna and Karl. "Hello Nienna." Rinoa said. "Karl." She gave a nod in his direction and a small smile. "Nienna you look stunning."
A black car pulled up in the driveway and from its doors, Freya and Artemis emerged. "You look beautiful Freya. Exploding candy?" Rinoa asked rather amused at the thought. Freya's phone rang shortly after, playing the well known jingle of the season "Jingle Bells." She announced that the mansion was now ready to receive guests and immediately went to open the doors. Rinoa and Sean followed her inside the hall of the mansion.

(Moving to the Mansion Thread)

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Still happily married to Sean Bean! (05-Feb-2010)