As the moon rises on the 21st, all non-emergency businesses will be closing early as the Winter Solstice celebrations are of the utmost importance. Those who participated in the ritual will feel the night is different in their very being. Anyone who participated in the Winter Ritual preparations will be immortal for the next 24 hours. No harm may come to them, they will not be affected by the cold, and their magic will be amplified significantly as they are currently a conduit for the world's magic. Everyone, regardless of whether they participated in the preparations or not, is welcome to partake in tonight's festivities as there are many ways in which the Winter Solstice is celebrated.
The most significant event of the night is the Solstice Night Run. If you didn't participate in the ritual, you may be able to get a hit off of someone's Everwarm to participate. At the edge of the City of Camelot, heading into the Brocéliande, characters will be asked to remove their clothing (or if they aren't comfortable with that, change into very light robes provided by local donations) to return as close to a natural state as possible, then run through the forest. As characters run through the forest, despite everything being covered in ice and snow, the woods will begin to come alive. Will-o-wisps sprout out of the snow and shake the frost off, floating in the air to provide lights throughout the forest. The trees seem to move and dance as you pass by, flurries pick up, and even some animals will start running alongside you. It's a celebration for all, as magic flows through your body as becomes part of the forest.
Inevitably, somehow, someway, those participating in the run all end up reaching what seems to be a crack in the ground, slabs of rock surrounding a stream of water flowing through the crack. This is the fairy fountain of Barenton, a crack in the fabric of Avalon that connects its waters to other worlds. Though it's currently unable to connect now due to the time freeze, some of the fairy folk running with you will happily let you know that some of its powers are still in tact-- try sprinkling some water on the stone slab nearby. As the waters trail down the slab and form a puddle on the floor, the drops from your hand will open a vision of a treasured memory. Anyone near you will be able to see it, so only do it if you're willing to share. There are many other uses, but since you're still very new, this is the only one they're willing to share for the moment. Regardless of whether you choose to use that form of magic or not, as you approach the fountain, it will begin to bubble and glow, and lights like an aurora borealis will begin to glow around you as your connection to Avalon deepens. You'll be able to feel the life of the forest, a connectedness to the world you've likely never felt before. Every leaf, the wind, every living being, the magic in the fabric of the world, is a part of you and you are a part of it.
As the night presses on, a large number of fairies begin to form fairy circles, both in the forest and back in the City-- so you needn't have participated in the run to find one. Toadstools and flowers sprout up through the snow that hadn't been there before, forming near-perfect circles in nature. Stepping into one, whether on purpose or on accident, will shrink you down to the pixies' size so you can dance with them, if you promise to keep going for the whole dance. The dance lasts about 20 minutes straight and there don't seem to be any rules besides keep moving around the fairy circle, even if you bump into someone. In the last minute of the dance, pixies will fly above the circle and sprinkle dust over the whole party. Anyone who completed the dance will be returned to their normal size and granted the ability to fly for the duration of the witching hour of 2-3am. You'll be invited to drink with them afterward, if that's your thing, but will not be offended if it isn't.
Not completing the dance despite stepping into their circle, being rude to the pixies, or attempting to stop anyone who is dancing will anger the pixies. Pixies are a tricksy bunch, so you'd be better off avoiding this, but if a character happens to get on their bad side, there are a few different types of pixie curses they may be inflicted with:
Small Soul: They simply won't return you to your normal size. You may need to find some other way to remedy this, or else you may be spending some time quite small. This can be fixed by a person with healing magic and a simple healing spell, as the spell wasn't originally meant to last this long to begin with.
Pixy-led: The pixies will upset your center of gravity for the rest of the night. Though in reality, there's nothing going on, you may have a huge sense of Spinning Vertigo for the next hour or so. Good luck getting home! You may want to find help. The way to break this spell is to put your coat on inside out, so you'll have to find someone willing to share that with you- the pixies might if you promise to give them something good.
Bellbark: Until broken by anti-magic, any time your character hears a bell, they will mentally act like a dog for the next half-hour. This will last beyond the span of the event until your character is able to get their hands on a counter-curse potion, so be wary if you choose this one for your character. As the night winds down, anyone who had participated in the ritual will find themselves rather suddenly sleepy regardless of where they are and may fall asleep as if under a spell right there out in the snow. They'll wake up normally in the morning, the land having used their slumber as time to finish off its work using you as a conduit. Don't worry, those under the influence of the ritual's effects won't catch cold or anything... though, we can't guarantee anything with those pixie effects-- they weren't really harmful, after all, just irritating. Anyone who fell asleep outside will find that the snow has melted in their area for about 5 feet and bright green plants have started sprouting around them on the ground, some vines growing around their limbs but ultimately nothing that can't be brushed off easily.
It would appear that while it was a permitted act during the Winter Solstice, the fae who may have told you about that little trick with the fountain and the pedestal may not have shared the whole story. As it turns out, the slab that everyone was trickling water onto is a stone known as Merlin's Step. Merlin's Step, when a little bit of water is sprinkled upon it, summons rain. When a lot of people put water on it, it summons a huge thunder storm. It is certain to, as many of the fairies are happy to attest, wash away the freezing snow so they can move about freely during the winter again. Fae often have ulterior motives, even if they're often coupled with good intentions. This may have gone a little beyond their expectations, however, as enough people have done it that the storm has brought about torrential rains and hail, frequent zaps of lightning, and strong winds. Most people are being urged and ushered into cellars throughout the city as the hail has been causing injuries, breaking windows, and the lightning is strong enough that it's been striking the ground frequently. You may end up crammed together in a small, dark room while a storm rages outside with little to do except what's in the cellar-- eat canned foods, play old board games, dust of a.. uh oh, is that a Ouija board? Get creative and have fun with what you think could be in the cellar you end up in.
After what seems like most of the day, the storm is still raging on, but the next moment you find still water, the Lady of the Lake's face shows up, with another woman beside her. The Lady of the Lake's ability to communicate via water is being used to reach everyone at once. The Lady doesn't say anything, once she's got it live, well aware that they're short on time as the lake surface is choppy and dangerous right now. They have a limited time above the surface to speak, so she leaves it to the woman with her. |
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isleofavalon2020-12-20 12:32 am
B
[It probably wasn't her place to intrude, but Caster had entered the clearing just in time to see this stranger's vision - and more importantly, his reaction to said vision.
The nakedness was not so much a concern at this point - although she had chosen to wear the thin robe, herself - but the mutterings of the fairies that she could see a treasured memory held a both a very strong temptation and a fear that one could become lost in it.]
1/2
...
Ah.
He's crouching down, so his curtain of long hair does offer him a little "cover," as it were, but this is still a young woman. Restoring the universe through magic is one thing, inflicting his scarred, naked body on an unwilling observer is quite another.
He'd set his robe down to cup the water in his hands, but now he reaches for it. Sensing his discomfort, his qilin bounds towards the stranger, on cloven hooves wreathed in cloud (its feet never touch the ground), with its fishscales catching the light of the will-o-wisps. It stops before her and bows its dragon head to her. In that moment of distraction, Gu Yun smoothly slips his robe on and turns. ]
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My son.
[ In the memory, Chang Geng hardly looks like Gu Yun's son: they're too close in years. ]
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At his awkwardness, Caster too found herself pulling the robes a little closer around her. She usually wandered around in a heavy cloak that concealed most of her face and body, so even with the robe she still felt somewhat exposed.]
Your son? I thought him your brother, at first.
[Judging from their ages anyway...but she hailed from the Age of Gods, stranger things had happened there.
Still, family was a complicated topic for her.]
...I hope you can see him again, soon.
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Meanwhile, Gu Yun answers: ]
I'm his yifu.
[ It's a word that doesn't translate well; it means something like foster father or guardian. ]
As for seeing him again...
[ He grins. ]
...I'm sure that will be tomorrow if not sooner.
[ Meanwhile, the little scene in the vision expands. Not only Gu Yun and Chang Geng, but another man about Gu Yun's age, and two younger children, a girl and a boy. In the background is a life-sized iron puppet. The thing is clearly a martial device and has a fearsome look... or it would, except this one has rouge painted on its "cheeks" and is draped in bright silks. Its vast iron limbs sway back and forth in a slow dance.
All in all, it's quite the festive occasion. ]
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'Yifu' wasn't a word she'd come across before, but somehow she was still able to understand the connotations - something of this world's power, perhaps.]
So he's in this world with you? How lucky for you.
[Truth be told, that made her a little jealous, and she couldn't help a bitterness creep into her voice...but that was something she could dwell on later. For the time being, she headed closer to her a better look at the vision. What was that odd martial puppet?]
...That is certainly an odd construct.
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Hm! It's a sword valet, intended for teaching martial skills, before those kids got to it and removed all its dignity.
[ The vision changes focus, to the man standing next to Gu Yun, watching the proceedings. At the time, he hadn't said this out loud, but in this version of Gu Yun's memory, he speaks outright:
"You liar, are you feeling guilty yet?" ]
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That sounds like something a child would do.
[Guilty, hm?]
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Gu Yun reaches forward with his hand, to try to dispel the vision. The man's face scowls at him, before fading away. Gu Yun feels a little guilty about that, but he can't have Shen Yi spilling all his secrets to a stranger, after all.
He clears his throat. ]
That's quite... an entertaining little spell, do you want to try it?
[ He nods towards the spring. ]
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Still, there was only so much she could press him on what he saw, especially if she was to show him one of her own.]
...I see no harm in it. At least it seems you can dispel it, should it go too far.
[Cupping some water in her hands, she crouched down beside the stone slab, and took a deep breath as if to gather her thoughts. Although she tried to hide it in her words, she was desperate to see something of either her homeland or her beloved in her visions...but wasn't there a risk, then, that she would be lost in it? Besides, she couldn't let a near stranger see her treasured memories so easily-
No. Her yearning won out in the end, as it always did.
With a deep breath, she let the water fall, and pool onto the stone as she'd seen him do.
For a supposedly treasured memory, it began a little strangely. A woman in dark, all concealing robes staggered her way through the rain, stumbling her way through the dense woodland in the dead of night with a twisted ceremonial dagger held tight in one hand. She gave a bitter, tired laugh as she forced her body to keep moving through its exhaustion.]
Oh...this was...