EVENT ✨ Tournaments & Trust

[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.

SUMMARY: King Arthur needs to go meet with Queen Elphame. Celliwig holds a tournament to invite other people to come with during the communication and celebrate their newfound friendship. A temporary barrier was put up so the river is currently mostly impassible. After the departure from Celliwig last month, the people of Celliwig have been working hard to make the area around their town safe again from the angered specters. For now, there are makeshift barriers that are preventing anything from crossing the river, dead or alive, except over the Pure of Heart bridge. It will, at the very least, prevent more from coming over and overwhelming the land surrounding Celliwig again. The city is open and, while the Elphame traders have stuck around to help train people in the proper use and treatment of mounts, the safest way to speak to Elphame is through Celliwig's hall of mirrors. King Arthur, Merlin, and a couple of other members of the royal court entered to speak to Queen Elphame directly in order to find out what information she knew about the Calamity and to begin discussion of what it would take to reclaim Excalibur. With the magics of Avalon having recovered significantly enough to not be at risk of falling apart if some of the otherworlders leave while still maintaining the barrier to keep Avalon safe, they need to begin discussing action. At the same time, in celebration of King Arthur's arrival and a royal wedding within Celliwig, a tournament is underway! Celliwig's tournaments work a little differently, however, and focus on a little more than just combat skills-- a modern tournament for the modern person. (Though there is fighting as well, of course.) Celliwig's Top Talents Tourney hasn't been held in a good many years since it's been closed off, so everyone is invited to participate. Invitations have been sent to all of Camelot's residents. The tournament categories are as follows: Cutthroat Cooking - For the chef's out there! Compete against other chefs to show off who has the best culinary skills. All contestants start with 2,500,000G which will be theirs to lose through the course of the tournament. This money can be used to purchase sabotages to use on other chefs throughout the course of the competition. Vicious Vocals - Singing competition. Anyone may participate, there are no auditions. Each contestant will compete solo first, then have to do a competitive duet with another person who moved onto the second round. The final round involves performing and singing at the same time, so you may want to go find friends to give you tips between each round and help you come up with an awesome set-up that will wow the judges! Speed Sculpting - This one's for the artists! Celliwig is really big on art, in particular sculpture. Any decent sculpture can be sold whether it wins or loses. Sculpture form can be made with anything you want-- glass, sugar, and ice are popular choices in Celliwig because of the city's aesthetic, but any materials are possible-- plants, stones, clay, chocolate, fabric, whatever you want as long as it stands on its own after you're done creating. (You can use your magic to sculpt if that's what you want.) Melee Mania - Fight your fellow competitors one-on-one. Weapons and magic are both allowed. Healers will be paid generously for assisting after combat is finished. Familiar Feud - Let your familiar have a little fun and combat each other! They're the star of the show here and otherworlders are only there in a support role. Mario Party - It's literally a series of Mario Party games. If you win your block, you move onto the next round and so on. 4 max players per game. If you don't rage quit at any point, you get free energy drinks throughout the day because this party isn't stopping. Silent Assassin - This competition will take place throughout the course of the tournament. All competitors are kept confidential, but required to wear a hidden body cam so that the experience can be shared online for audience viewing later. All competitors are given fake weapons (paintball guns, rubber knives, and so on) with sensors in them and have to find and "kill" the other competitors throughout the tournament period. Anyone who shows up to either participate in or watch the tournament will receive 50% off a hotel room and a single (Potion) Counter-curse. How the tournament will be run is a little different from an OOC standpoint. Any characters can participate, but in order to determine a winner, we will need anyone who thinks their characters skill is great enough to win to comment to the name of the tournament they are entering HERE! If your character would have canon advantages in a category, write +1 advantage in your comment. (So if you are from an idol series, you'll have a leg up on singing, or if your character is a skilled assassin in their canon, they could gain a +1. It won't guarantee they win, but it will give them a leg up so we're not ignoring their skill!) If you do not think your character has any chance at winning, please do not comment. (Someone who's never cooked a day in their life isn't going to magically win the cooking competition, you know?) If you think/want your character to lose even if they may have skills, we do not need your information. This is only an RNG for potential winners. We will RNG the winners from those who comment for each competition as linked. ICly, anyone who wants to thread any part of it out, go for it! You can thread out watching, you can thread out participating, interfering, anything you want! Thread out having an intimate moment with a healer after a battle, a tearful failure and hurt/comfort consolation, buying a round of vodka flashes for your fellow losers. Whatever you want! Just have fun. SUMMARY: King Arthur & Co. are still in chambers. A woman shows up and claims they're in danger, argues with Glwelwyd that she saw it despite that those abilities are not possible right now. Players voted to determine the next course of this prompt. (This section may be skipped for prompts now, but is still posted for reference.) The day after the end of the tournament days, all seems well and peaceful as usual within the city of Celliwig. The mirror hall that King Arthur's party had gone into is still closed shut. The Hall is guarded by a 7 foot tall man with a long, scraggly beard and huge rippling muscles named Glewlwyd IV. (You may have seen him around at past events.) None may enter until negotiations are completed, and it is his sacred duty passed down by his ancestors to ensure that none shall pass his guard. Most in Celliwig won't even try, knowing the futility of such an action, which is why it is particularly peculiar that Gwion can be found yelling outside of the halls that they need to be let in. After an argument and a call to action, some other worlders chose to find Gwion and ask questions. "Listen to me, there's something wrong, you need to let someone in there! Look for yourself! I saw it!" "Time is frozen, the future cannot be seen. A dream is but a dream, not a prophecy. Disrespect from the people of Celliwig interrupting a meeting of the fae and King Arthur's party would spell much more certain fate. After one more failed attempt to get past him, the woman stomps off to a nearby bar to blow off some steam, and ends up posting to the AOL Network instead. The King's party is in danger. No one is allowed in or out, but they're going to die if you don't work together to get past Glewlwyd. You can ask how I know, but it's a real long story and we're real short on time, so I'm kind of going out on a limb here. I'll be at Celliwig's bar if anyone wants more details. SUMMARY: A very close battle ensues in front of the Hall of Mirrors, with the doors eventually being forced open to reveal a dark, possessed hall. Reflects prey on characters' deepest insecurities and anyone who falls victim to them are trapped within the reflections. King Arthur and the Pure of Heart and Brave of Soul Mirror used to communicate with Elphame are possessed by angry specters trapped on Celliwig's side after the river barrier was put up. After the drama caused by Gwion's warning, the city of Celliwig is rather unsettled. There's an air of tension thick enough that you could hear a pin drop, and enough people who thought it was more important to protect the integrity and wishes of the fae than to worry about the unlikely chance that a seer had a vision while time was stopped. A large number of people have shown up to stand by Glewlwyd's side and defend the Hall of Mirrors, a show which will not be forgotten by the people of Celliwig... However, the strength in both numbers and battle goes to those wishing to enter the Hall of Mirrors. The battle is strenuous, a mixture of both Celliwig citizens and Camelot's otherworlders, and anyone wishing to play out part of it should put either defense or offense indicators in their prompt title to clearly attract those wishing to play out the fight. Those who manage to break through the line will make it into the Hall of Mirrors. The first and most notable thing once the door is open is that it's as dark as night. Not at all conditions for a meeting. And it's cold, condensation and fog forming at the door where the freezing night of the hall and the summer heat outside. It is not at all like it was the first time visitors were allowed in to place their Pure of Heart and Brave of Soul crystals in the mirror to communicate with Elphame. There is absolutely something going on, and those on either side of the battle may want to redirect their attention to the Hall. None of the party seems to be seen. Those who dare to venture forward into the hall will find themselves rather quickly at a loss for where the door went. There is a dim light still visible from it, highlighting the other people in the room and the edges of glass and mirrors throughout the hall. An eerie blue glow reflects through the number of the mirrors, but it seems to move about as if passing impermenantly. Those who try to chase it will find themselves further lost from the entrance, until they find themselves face to face with a reflection that doesn't seem to follow their own movements. This reflection will begin to speak with the character's voice, then immediately target the character's deepest insecurities. Every bad thought that they've thought of themself is fair game. If the character can remain calm and keep moving forward, then they will not fall victim to the trap. However, should they react with a burst of emotion, argue, or be unable to move forward when faced with their own insecurities, they will find themselves trapped in the mirror, replacing the reflection. Those who manage to pass the mirrors will find themselves at the Pure of Heart and Brave of Soul Mirror. The communication is still open to what appears to be an ornately decorated, natural throne. The Queen is long since gone, having been escorted to safety to keep her safe from the cursed mirrors. Notably, every crystal lining the edge of this mirror seems to have been infected by the blue, almost spectral color. Approached, a chilling laughter echoes from the possessed mirror, but the laughter is finished by King Arthur himself, back turned and facing the mirror. He turns around and wields his sword, ready to defend the mirror, eyes filled with the same blue as the mirror. As more people approach, reflections of Arthur seem to walk out of the mirrors as well to fight more and more people. It's hard to tell which is the real one, so can you really kill him to get him out of the way and get to the mirror? Fight the small army of King Arthurs and gather enough death mages to exorcise the spirits out of the mirror.. or maybe just smash it. Did you think this was the last choice you'd make this week? Please refer to the plotting post for any additional plotting needs and to check added notes for the third prompt. Timeline-wise, the new/third prompt doesn't start until the 23rd. The poll for it is here.

Comments

[angel_of_death]

"No. He didn't." Walter hasn't asked much about their pasts in general, always focusing on mitigating the troubles of the present and, once catastrophe didn't seem to be hanging immediately over their heads, focusing on the problems of their future.

His gaze sweeps over the area ahead, ears listening for the footfalls around them. There are more people in the hall. They just haven't run into them yet.

[corpsewarblade]

[She wasn't on Peko's calibre as a swordswoman- but it didn't take her long to adapt to using the weapon, focusing on the increased range and using that to make up for the slower speed compared to a dagger strike.

Hijikata's chanting behind her- she focused on that to bolster her in battle. He trusted her to be his bodyguard. To keep him safe with her combat skill.

Mukuro... felt confident in herself. She wouldn't let him down.

And to that end, she began to move easily around him when the battle spilled out their way- One quick strike, then another, and another- Whatever unarmored locations she could reach that wouldn't be (immediately) fatal.

Finally, the next Arthur's sword clattered to the ground beside her as she drove Muramasha's into his armpit. She pressed forward, using momentum to knock him off his feet and sending him crashing to the ground. One more down-!]

[emet_sulk]

[ Damn this kid, he thinks with some grudging respect. For one so young, they seem to have a good instinct for combat.

He chooses to slap the bat aside with the flat of his weapon, although the resulting ring of metal causes him wince inwardly. He can only hope it hasn't damaged any of the glyphs carved on its surface. He had been careful to place them in spots which rarely see contact (such as close to the hilt) but...

In the brief opening, he creates a quick-rising pillar at his back to boost him quickly to his feet and lunges at Izuku with a rising slash - except his physical blade is nowhere near enough to strike Izuku physically: instead, it's a narrow rush of blue fire.

Following right behind it though is Emet-Selch himself, this time with every intention of swinging his blade down upon Izuku's head. ]

[kiss_it_better]

"Their official name is the Black Iron Camp because of the armour they wore. But they're also known as the Black Crows." Which is, he knows, not the kindest of names. Whether here or back home it seems like crows are birds of ill-omen. "For Great Liang's enemies, the Black Crows are symbols of destruction and omens of danger. The Heavy Armour unit of the Black Iron Camp under the previous Marquis had taken the Western regions in a matter of days, after all. Even within Great Liang which seems the Black Iron Camp as their protectors they are still talked about with fear though the awe outweighs it."

This seems to have nothing to do with their current situation, especially since Chang Geng never stops looking around as he says it. But then he adds, "But to me, the sight of that black armour has always been reassuring." The sight of the armour and the iron smell of them. There is a point here he's trying to make. That whether it was a Black Crow or an Angel of Death to him both are not terrifying but reassuring presences.

But of course, he's fully prepared to spell it out more clearly.

"A black crow, an angel of death and a star of ill omen...I'd say we're well-suited to each other's company."

[corpsewarblade]

[Did she just basically throw a table at her?! The fuck!

Mukuro leapt back, one hand shooting up to hold her hair in place as she moved as fast as she could backward, rolling behind a conveniently placed stand of water bottles nearby.

No way she could return fire under this heavy pummelling- wait- lie low for now-]

Continued from above!

[mayoninofukucho]

[Exorcising the mirror doesn't even occur to Hijikata at first, that's how focused on King Arthur he is.]

What do you mean, sneak around them? What for? They're all bunched together! We've got no hope of identifying the real king--

[And that's when he notices some other death mages making a break for the large mirror and starting to target the eerily glowing crystals in its frame. Oh.]

Okay, okay, I get it! Let's sneak around!

[snaccs]

Oh, that's...

( oof, well, Hastur's opponent just got knocked out so. )

... The one who just won.

( the strange, bipedal monster who barely acknowledges the victory announcement before it starts walking out of the arena. )

... He's not very outgoing.

( this is very much a test of strength for Hastur, nothing more. the announcements of his success don't matter, he's not looking for the ego boost from the crowd. )

[lastexit]

I'm not really used to her, not yet.

[Maya will just lead them away from the angry mimic in the mirror. Best to leave her to stew in how much she failed to break Junko.]

As for who I am now, I tried being who I was before, and failed so spectacularly I had to move onto being someone else. And- my friends accepted it, eventually.

[Only took nearly dying to be who she was for them to get it, but that's not really a topic to be had in the haunted mirror gallery.]

[mayoninofukucho]

[Their first(?) argument, and it's over this... well, it could have been worse. Probably. Hijikata will honestly have forgotten by the time he next sees Emet-Selch, but right now he huffily gathers his items and stalks off. Nothing can stop him from at least enjoying his creation (and he'll likely top it off with yet more mayonnaise).]

[mayoninofukucho]

[Congratulations, Darin. You did not only boost your guts' strength and resilience, but also your social link with Hijikata! Anyone who'll happily eat a spoonful of mayonnaise is a trustworthy friend.]

I'm really glad you like it. Now you understand, right?

[Why he wanted nothing but mayonnaise-themed equipment and all?]

[mayoninofukucho]

That'd be great! You know what they say, knowledge is power--

[There's a ghastly laughter rising up again, but this time it comes from another direction.]

...

We'd best get going.

[roseeclair]

[Uuuuuugh... Don't throw it at Bakugou don't throw it at Bakugou don't throw it at Bakugou]

What are you making, anyway?

[SUBJECT CHANGE!]

[roseeclair]

Oh nice~ Mina-chan's one of my friends from home, she's a new arrival too.

[Although there's a chance Machi already knows that part yet. Still, Makoto can't help a chuckle.]

Kinda wish I'd been there to see her try it.

[tantailizing]

[Aha! So Bennett does have a plan as Zidane catches him moving. Sneaky sneaky, but as the man goes down and Bennett gets back up to claim the victory, Zidane has to call out.]

Hey Bennett! Do you need help getting to a medic?

[Because even if he did pull that off, he still looks a little char-broiled himself. Not to mention, he's still bleeding.]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[No. No, he doesn't understand. It's just a big spoonful of goopy mayo. He didn't feel his stats increase. He didn't gain some newfound power. He just might have to use the bathroom sooner rather than later.]

[But you know what? This is clearly important to Hijikata. So instead of giving him endless crap, like he's sure others would and probably have done, he plants a reaffirming hand on Hijikata's shoulder.]

I understand now that I think you were robbed of the award! After all, a chef's only as good as his passion, and you clearly brought out the best of your ingredients.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[And with that, Darin gently drapes an arm around Marianne's shoulders. Darin rarely respects personal space but Marianne was always someone whose comfort was a priority to him. But now that she's given him the go ahead, he becomes like a doting brother, grinning all the while.]

Oh, absolutely! I think it's because the animals feel a connection they don't normally get from us. I mean, so many people think animals are just that. Servants. But they've got feelings too! And if you've got feelings, odds are at some point you've wanted a hug.

And I always say, the only greater things that come out of a forge other than top notch gear are arms made for hugging!

[It's a lame joke. But in that moment, it almost seems like all of the dark reflections grow weary of his optimism and levity and just...fade.]

[roseeclair]

[Oof... if it helps, it looks like Makoto landed on the same space.]

Hey, Keith...

[The other two players did much better, setting them up for a 2-on-2 minigame. A roll of the randomizer...]

Dash and Dine?

[forgeabettertomorrow]

...So, who gets to read your story when it's written?

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[As they move in, the reflections start to change subtly. Specifically, Darin's. It looks more sinister, a dark aura emanating from the reflection of his frame.]

...So hey, you think Celliwig will hold it against us if we bust up a few of these things?

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Yeah, that's a good idea. Scale shouldn't be an issue as long as the composition is tight.

...Something on your mind? You seem a little preoccupied.

[imperfectwish]

[Now she sort of feels bad for the sword.]

That must be tough.

[imperfectwish]

Is she usually so reckless?

[Not that eating too hot curry is like the epitome of reckless but...]

She ate the whole thing even after I told her it was too spicy.

[sighsheavily]

[she shrugs.]

That's part of what you give up when you take on this job. One of those obnoxious "for the greater good" situations - but as nauseating as the sense of martyrdom can be, the work is important. Necessary.

Someone else would do it wrong if not me.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Darin sighs.]

Well, I know you'd never let me read it on account of the fact that there's probably stuff I shouldn't be reading about in there but...

...Maybe we could meet every now and then and you can tell me about other places? Stories that have nothing to do with me or this?

They don't even have to be about you...it's just...

It's a shame to have so many volumes of an anthology and no one around to read or appreciate the work that went into it...

[colchismagecraft]

Well...if you insist. Thank you.

[That chocolate mousse really did look delicious. She took the plate it was being offered on, going to try a taste.]

...Have you been keeping well?