Chapter Seventeen: Selvadorada, Swordfighting, and the Starlight Accolades

 

On Thursday morning, we headed off on a trip to Selvadorada for a couple of nights. The weather was very warm, and I hoped the villa would have decent air con. Lush vegetation was all around, so different from San Myshuno.

Peter and I felt the children were mature enough to look after themselves for a while, so we went off to do some temple exploring. We'd been left a package of adventuring supplies at the villa, and Peter took it upon himself to clear the archway.

After a good deal of walking, we came across the Omiscan temple. It was large and impressive. 

"Right, let's go find some treasure!" Peter grinned. 

As we walked towards the entrance, he started humming the Simdiana Jones theme...

The temple was full of traps, and I set out trying to figure out how to disarm them. The interior was dark and cool after the heat of outside, which I appreciated.

After a while, we realised that it was later than we thought, so we headed back to the villa. There, we discovered that - for some odd reason - Xanthe had entered a Bear Phase, and had donned a bright green suit decorated with an avocado. Being the kind father that he was, Peter decided to join in. 

Back at the temple next day (Peter having mercifully ditched his Bear suit, which would've been a nightmare in the heat), I tried figuring out another trap. Sadly, this one went pretty badly...

"Eww! What the... oh man, I stink!"

Thank Plumbob for being a Spellcaster. With a simple wave of my hands and yelling "Scruberoo!", I was clean once more. 

Pretty soon...

"Wow, that must be the treasure!" I exclaimed. "Hopefully it'll be worth it."

I opened the chest and was nearly blinded by the light shining forth. I grabbed all I could and closed the lid again, blinking slightly. The bag of coins turned out to be worth over 3,000 Simoleons in total, not a bad sum. 

Not long after coming home, I headed over to Plumbob Pictures Studios for my latest gig, Tournament of Honour. I was given a long red dress to wear, which concerned me slightly as I had been told that there would be some sword-fighting involved. Surely a maxi dress would restrict my movement? 

Although I'd done a few stage combat classes, I still felt a little nervous. Despite those fears, though, the scene went well. 

Despite being told many times that I was surely due to get a Starlight Accolades nomination, I had not received any. I spoke to my agent, who informed me that I could just go along to the ceremony anyway, even if it was just for fun. So, I bought myself a new dress (blue, of course) and headed over to Studio PBP in Del Sol Valley, bringing Peter along.

And, amazingly...

"For her most recent performance, Caroline Masterson won the Starlight Accolade for Best Acting!"

I jumped up from my seat and held the statue in my hand.

"Wow, this is amazing!" I exclaimed. "Well. Umm. Thanks to my lovely husband Peter, who's always been so supportive. Thanks also to my four wonderful children who keep me grounded, and remind me that life isn't just about winning awards... although it's certainly fun to. And thanks to all my fans for enjoying my performances, you make it so worth it!"