EVENT ✨ The Summer Solstice

[avalonmods]

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This is the event log for IC comments only! Ask OOC questions/plot/view event notes HERE or use the FAQ for general questions. Click here to view top-level comments only. A poll to collect results of the trials will be posted this weekend and stay open until the end of the month to give people a little time to see how their threads are going.

KEY POINTS

Celliwig responds-- y'all barely passed, so they kidnapped everyone and brought them to Celliwig for the summer solstice.

The summer solstice ritual is about renewing the sun and moon within a sacred fountain called Diamond Falls within Celliwig, which requires large-scale magics to essentially create a sun and moon cycle for the following year for Avalon, which exists outside of normal space and time.

Not everyone is happy about Celliwig opening back up, and some cursed spirits cross the river to attack the homecoming trip.

There have been some whispers about the summer solstice, but for some reason, Camelot doesn't seem to have put in as much effort for the summer solstice as they do for the other solstice and equinoxes. If anyone had asked around town, they'll say that the sun always seems to come out after they banish the water spirits, so there isn't much to do for it. A few of the more elderly fae around town seem to say there's a lot to do about it, but not to worry about it and just enjoy the time off. Even more silent has been the results of the trials. It seems as though it's bound to be a quiet June, relative to the last couple of months. At least until the morning of the 20th. The sun has yet to rise, though birds have started their morning rounds and chirping. Rather suddenly, the entire atmosphere goes completely white, as if everyone has been enveloped by the sun itself. It's too bright to keep your eyes open, though if you'll try to squint through it you'll notice the entire ground is enveloped in shadow despite the impossible blinding light all around before you're pulled down into the darkness within a matter of seconds. Regardless, when you open your eyes next, everyone has been teleported to a strange-looking park. The trees seem to be made of ceramic, blossoming strange, pure black leaves. Those with green magic will be able to tell the trees are alive and well, despite their odd appearance, and once out of the park, it may become more apparent where everyone is: A city beautiful and glistening, its buildings made of crystal and glass. Welcome to Celliwig, the Splendored Court. And this time? Their doors are open. Explore: Celliwig Celliwig is a city that's hidden with a large-scale glamour that causes it to look like a shanty-town from the outside. Those with permission to enter, however, will find that the city is actually a splendorous city made entirely of crystals and glass of all kinds. At its center is the Hall of Mirrors, which is typically closed to the public and guarded by a strange old man with huge, rippling muscles of at least 7 feet tall and a long, scraggly beard. Some may recognize him as the man from the #ChaliceChallenge trial, but he'll mostly ask you to call him Glewlwyd (the IV, but you can drop the number.) Everything in the city appears to be open now, in contrast to the city mostly hiding away during the first visit. It isn't too crowded, but there are people out and about, and they seem to be less wary. The popular fashion seems to be styles similar to gothic lolita/aristocrat and cyber lolita/aristocrat, largely in black, white, or gray with sparks of color for accent that make each outfit unique to its wearer, and each person seems to have an almost airy, ethereal nature to them. They seem humanoid, and yet distinctively not human, gliding around rather than walking. There aren't too many typical dogs and cats around as pets, but snow-white ferrets and owls seem to be the popular animal companion of choice, often being carried around with their owners. There are also wild hamsters with tiny, useless wings that seem to run around during the day, so please watch your step. (They are fairies who used to be able to fly, but their wings seem to have gone the way of the appendix.) Music seems to be largely string in nature, though it can range from calm and peaceful to sometimes more familiar music styles. It is played more openly in areas like the park or shopping centers by musicians who simply wish to share their sound, but outside of those designated areas it is mostly quiet in nature, save for the clamor of the newly transported guests from Camelot. Celliwig's restaurants typically serve molecular gastronomy versions of food, and alcoholic drinks seem to come in vapor form and flashes of light if ordered, but seem effective nonetheless. Stores in general are open now, though except for a singular general store, seem to be very specific in nature. If you're going to a magic store, there is one specific store for crystals, one specific store for hand-crafted woodcrafts (wands, staffs) to better direct magical energy, a store for vegetables that's peculiarly separate from the store for fruit and the store for fish and the store for cooking supplies (which again, are all oriented toward molecular gastronomy-- good luck finding a whisk, enjoy your nitro whip canister), and so on. Of note toward the entrance of town is a very large waterfall fountain that seems to be made of massive amounts of diamond, with inscriptions and a plaque toward the front. The plaque reads "Those who walk only in the light miss the truths hidden in the dark." This is of particular note given the invitation extended to all devices in the area: Welcome to Celliwig. Tonight we celebrate the summer solstice. Having Barely Passed your trials, we ask you to participate in this sacred ritual before we grant safe passage and open communication with Queen Elphame. To the north of the park you arrived in, a hotel is prepared for your stay free of charge for the night. At sundown, come to the Diamond Falls. Be warned, thieves: The Diamond Falls are sacred, and thus cursed. Those who try will experience a curse that causes food and drink to turn to ash in their mouth and an inability to experience pleasure, heal from injuries, or die. While they appear normal in the sun, the moonlight will reveal their true nature-- no matter how gruesome that gets, and will only be lifted when the sacred diamond is returned. Drinking water from the fountain is fine though, and if drunk can heal all wounds, regrow limbs, and get rid of scars so long as the drinker stays within the walls of Celliwig. The sacred water's effects wear off outside of the Splendored Court, unfortunately. Characters can ask around and Celliwigians will tell them this information freely, as they are quite proud of their splendor. Those who choose to participate in the summer solstice rituals and show up at the Diamond Falls on time will first be offered a drink from the fountain, though it is not necessary to take the sip. (You may choose whether or not your character was informed of the effects of drinking the water ahead of this decision, if you want them to do so but they would not on their own.) After the drinking, a number of Celliwig's citizens will engage in a dance that rapidly picks up pace until they go into a trance, glowing magical energy starting to flow out of their bodies and create an almost solar flare-esque glow before they collapse to the ground. Not a moment later, the earth shakes and the ground begins to open up beneath the fountain, the waters draining down over a staircase that opens up beneath the floor of Celliwig to a large crystal cavern. The crystals within are huge, some easily surpassing twenty feet in length, and burst out from both the floor and ceiling. At the bottom of the staircase, the ground itself is covered entirely in at least half a foot of water save for raised platforms that those performing the ritual will be expected to jump across instead of disrupting the waters. At the end of this long passageway, there is a door made of stained glass. On the other side, a room carved out in stone, lit in vibrant orange and heated by a scorching heat. The stone forms a circle that flows around a large pool of lava. One of the Celliwig leaders reads some sacred texts, then offers the following instructions: "Turn to the person next to you and offer them a piece of yourself. It can be tears, blood, hair, a whispered confession made tangible with magic-- anything that is yours. That person must then throw it into the lava and do the same in exchange. By giving part of ourselves to the fire and weaving that energy through those around us, we share the light with all around us. We fuel the sun of Avalon." Once this portion is done, water will rain down from the ceiling and the entire room will be filled with steam, and then darkness as the lava's flames are rapidly put out. It's blinding and almost unbearably hot, and you'll have to find your partner-- or maybe someone else, by wandering around carefully and blindly. It may help to use a little magic at this point to see or guide yourself or others, either by cognitive suggestion or something more physical like creating vines to catch someone from falling on the still-rather-hot solid substance created by the water hitting the lava. Regardless, there seem to be giggles and screams and all manner of unnerving sounds as people try to find each other in the dark and look for the exit, which... doesn't seem to be where it started. Eventually, the steam seems to get hot enough and shatters the stained glass door, which reveals a different room than before. The temperature drops rapidly, the air fresh and much easier to breathe as the steam spills out over the surface of the cool water. Light spills out from the ceiling, dim from the moon, and it becomes apparent that everyone has been let out into a massive cenote. It seems as if it's now time to relax and swim for a little while and just enjoy the cool release of no longer being trapped in the hot Diamond Fall's underground. Eventually, everyone will find that regardless of how they felt when they got in, anyone in the cenote will feel their mood lift, until eventually they find a song in their heart that cannot be contained. People start bursting into songs that express part of who they are. For some, it will be songs they know. For others, it may be a song they've never heard but matches who they are to a tee or shares something they hadn't intended to about themselves with whoever is there. It's also possible two people could end up in a duet and end up swim-dancing together through a musical number. With each song that finds its way into the cenote, crystals seem to light up in the walls, as if they're reacting to the music itself. Once the entire cenote is lit up, the water begins to rise within the cenote much as the tide might, finally raising high enough to bring the people within back to the surface, the small pond within the park that everyone started in. "The tides can feel your hearts and souls and raise with your spirits, and the Moon of Avalon in turn finds its will to dance with the Sun, providing light for the dark as the sun rests." the same leader speaks, before finishing, "Thank you for your assistance. With so much more energy than normal, even with the world as strained as it is now, Avalon's day and night cycle will remain as it should be. Rest now, and stay as long as you like. We will speak to Elphame and arrange a meeting. This shall not be forgotten, and you are welcome in Celliwig so long as you remember that light and darkness exist in tandem." With the stay in Celliwig over, a special squad designed to help use a large-scale dark magic spell to pull everyone back to Camelot has come to greet everyone at the entrance to the city. However, the sudden increase in noise and flow of magic has attracted spirits from the Forest of the Felled to start crossing the nearby stream. The Forest of the Felled is a haunted forest, filled with spectral creatures alike of all manner that are often trapped in a labyrinth of spells and wards that were once put up by Camelot's finest. This haunted forest is part of the reason that Celliwig had cut ties with Camelot to begin with, after a group of people from particularly morally strict times had decided that the dead and cursed should not wander among the human witches and wizards that, at the time, had largely populated Camelot and sealed them off in the Forest of the Felled. Enraged by Celliwig's reacceptance of Camelot citizens into its borders, a wave of specters has rushed across the white waters without concern for the Pure of Heart bridge to attempt to possess and attack the citizens of Camelot and prevent them from easily getting home. Ultimately, those with death magic are going to be most effective in this case, particularly at stopping possessions. However, green mages, alchemists, and elementalists are going to be important for staving off the death-like state of freezing that specters passing through your physical body can cause by creating means to rewarm people before they succumb to freezing temperatures and die. It seems as though light magic is very good at hiding people from the specters as well as temporarily warding them off with large blasts, and they seem particularly fearful of dark mages who are willing to curse the dead, given they've already lead a miserable existence. There are plenty of ways for each type of magic to find themselves useful in this battle, whether it's to help others escape or to fight on the frontlines. Be particularly cautious as some of the will-o-wisps joining in the battle can transform into the visages of the deceased that they sense are close to your heart and draw you into the white rapids of the river. In the end, it will be a fierce battle.. or a fierce retreat, for those who don't have fight in them. Regardless of your solution for getting home, this time, you're going to have to walk home after escaping instead of relying on Celliwig's shadow transportation ritual.

Comments

Shinjiro Aragaki | Persona 3 Portable

[fruitknife]

A (open)

Well, the good news for Shinji's state of dress is he was having a restless night and figured he might as well be up anyway. (Getting to sleep before midnight is a thing that doesn't happen to him anymore, but this was a 'sleep isn't happening after midnight either' kind of night.) On the other hand, it means he's awake (ish) for the abrupt change of scenery.

...Is this a jaunt? This is a jaunt, isn't it.

Except his head's still too quiet for this to be Liminal Space's kind of bullshit, and certainly, by the time he's achieved a little sleep in that hotel, someone would've started up a check-in already. So no, it's just Avalon's kind of bullshit.

The crystal shops are interesting, at least, and so are the cooking supplies. If you can really call this kind of shit 'cooking.'

B (open)

All right, fine, he'll help with the ritual. But don't expect him to take any of that water - his remaining scars are ones he plans to keep - or do any dancing.

And then they ask for 'a piece of yourself.'

They can't have his beanie - it's about the oldest thing Shinji owns, at this point. They can't have his watch, either, not when that's the reminder to do better that doesn't destroy his immune system. And he doesn't really feel like bleeding all over everything, or spilling secrets.

"Hair it is, then."

C (open)

Shinji is pretty resistant to good moods - no longer supernaturally so (thanks, Questing Country), but he's tended toward depression for several years now and isn't likely to stop any time soon. Even when he does give in, it's much more humming than singing (not least because he doesn't know the fucking song), and it's not exactly cheerful.

But there it is regardless.

D (open)

...Of course they're being attacked on the way out the door. He's not even really surprised. Shinji sighs, and... doesn't call on any magic.

Instead, he pulls a sleek, matte-black baton out of a pocket and gives it a solid shake. The baton snaps open into a battle axe with a bright red edge (it looks like an LED strip, and that's because it is).

E (closed to SEES, Shiro or Nobunaga)

Mostly the fight goes all right for Shinji. At least, until one of the damn will-o-wisps tries to get his attention.

Then he goes completely still before slowly lowering the axe, looking angrier than pretty much anyone would have seen before and glaring at... a child, or at least the ghost of one. She can't be more than six. For those who know Akihiko, she looks a little bit like him around the face.

"Who the fuck gave you the right to use her face?"

[kirijo]

"Aragaki-san!"

Entangled in her own skirmish, Mitsuru couldn't see the entire picture at first. All she initially saw was the shift in his posture, the lowering of his axe, him beginning to stalk towards something obscured from her sight by some of the growth along the riverbank ... she heard him snarl something, but the din of the battle around them drowned out the words themselves.

She took a step towards him, but before she could close the distance, one of the circling specters lunged towards her. She lifted a hand, conjuring a brilliant flash of lightning that momentarily stunned the attacking spirit. The hesitation gives her a moment to channel her kinetic magic into her legs and launch herself clear.

When she lands, now much closer to the riverbank, she has an unobstructed view of Shinjiro and the object of his ire and it's ...

It's a young girl. A young girl whose face she recognizes instantly even though she'd only ever seen it in pictures.

"... Miki ...?"

[fruitknife]

"Not. Really," Shinji bites out, still incandescently pissed. He hasn't been this angry in a long time.

(Not as himself, anyway. Helios probably managed it.)

"You have no right. You have no fucking right. Leave her out of this!"

There are two pieces of good news here. First, Aki's not here to see it; he probably would have charged right into the water and damn the consequences. Shinji's not that reckless. Second, he can get a hand on the little fucker without actually wading into the river.

Why he reaches for it rather than take a swing with his axe is anybody's guess (though Mitsuru could probably get to the right answer: fake or not, he can't bring himself to hit something with Miki's face). But he does, and when he gets a hold of it he... can only describe the sensation as pulling, even though he's not pulling it physically closer.

Miki abruptly disappears, replaced with a glowing ball. And now Shinji does shove it away, the action sending it a lot farther than it should, even with a little kinetic magic behind it.

"...huh. That was new."

[kirijo]

Mitsuru hadn't believed the apparition to be Miki - not truly at least - but whatever questions she had were quickly replaced by an entirely new set.

"Aragaki-san ...?"

She knew that he had an affinity for kinetic magic, but kinetic magic didn't explain what he'd just done. In fact, she wasn't entirely sure what exactly it was that he'd done.

[fruitknife]

Well, he's not entirely sure either, so they're on an even footing.

"What? Just because I don't try to punch all my problems doesn't mean I'm not as angry about that as Aki."

[kirijo]

"You have every right to be."

That was never in question. Using the image of a deceased loved one to manipulate an opponent was as cruel as it was reprehensible.

"I'm just glad that you were able to temper it."

That being said ...

"What did you do ...?"

[fruitknife]

"Good question. If this was Liminal Space I'd have a guess, but here? Probably a different type of magic."

Fuck if he knows or really cares. It worked.

[kirijo]

"Presumably." Mitsuru nods. "And unless I'm mistaken, you've yet to manifest your secondary magic until now."

[fruitknife]

"Wouldn't've been all that surprised to not have one." But hell, he'll take it.

D

[tookashirototheknee]

Ok, but that weapon looks amazing. Matt's a bit jealous, to be honest. However, he jumps in, grabbing a baton off of his own belt, which expands to an electrified staff.

"Hey! Need some help with those assholes?"

[fruitknife]

"Won't say no."

He's not going to ask if Matt can keep up. If Liminal Space was anything to go by, the answer's yes anyway.

[tookashirototheknee]

"Alright." Matt eyes one of the creatures coming up to them and swats it solidly in the mid-section. Sure, it's not as effective as magic would be, but he doesn't have the time to turn it into goop.

[fruitknife]

Who cares if it's effective as magic if it still slows them down? Shinji just prefers giving things a solid whack whenever possible.

And that's what he's doing here. It at least beats them back long enough to advance.

[tookashirototheknee]

Once they've gotten through the main thrust of the creatures, Matt pauses for a moment, glancing back to make sure that no one is in immediate danger.

Turning to Shinji, he gives him a bit of a shy grin. "I have to ask. Where in the entire multiverse did you get that freaking amazing axe?"

[fruitknife]

...Ah. No wonder Shiro's backslid so hard on admitting when he's having a bad day.

"Last place I was stuck, kinda. It's a long story." That he's not against telling, but it's gonna take some explaining.

Especially since Matt doesn't have the context.

[tookashirototheknee]

"There's more than one place... wait." Matt thinks for a moment. "Is this the same place that Shiro was stuck, or a different one?" There's a thought running around his head. He's not sure if he wants to follow that thought or not.

[fruitknife]

"Same place, yeah." Well, that cuts out some of the explanation.

A

[lunarchain]

Mona notices shes not the only one up and around in the late night hours. Her interest of the stars in Celliwig grow when she is out and about in the late nights. Wandering the hotel, making her way outside so that she can view the celestial bodies there. When her eyes catch the sight of someone seemingly both exhuasted and also frequently(?) out and about in the late hours.

Although she isnt a sociable individual herself, she cannot help but say blunt things when they come about her,"I don't think someone with bags under their eyes should be out and about like you are."

[fruitknife]

Oh no not bluntness whatever shall he do. (Be blunt himself, that's what.)

Shinji shrugs. "Ain't gonna get to sleep before midnight anyway. No point in trying until then."

Besides, this isn't remotely the most exhausted he's ever been.

[lunarchain]

That is good! Mona welcomes equal response with such straight regard. Not everyone can handle her bluntness, "I see, its not every day I see someone willing to stay up this late and not star gaze. Normally those who do have thoughts and things locked deep in a closet. Rather unfun if you ask me, want to join me in star gazing? The night is young, as they say."

[fruitknife]

"...I guess. Not like I have anything better to do." Except, you know, sleep, but he's already established that won't be happening.

"Name's Shinji."

[lunarchain]

"Mona Megistus, the Great Astrologist. Through truthfully I have a lot to learn about the constellations of this world. What system do you have, if you don't mind my asking?" Mona retorts, leading the other outside where the cool air greets them both.

[fruitknife]

"...Earth?"

Look, constellations and astrology weren't as important to his life as some other things, so he doesn't really care.

[lunarchain]

"Ah Earth... That means... Leo. Right?" Mona asks adjusting the warm jacket over her shoulders.

[fruitknife]

"Maybe? I think that's one of the Western ones."