isleofavalon | EVENT ✨ Tournaments & Trust

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EVENT ✨ Tournaments & Trust

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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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ah--

[another voice cutting in catches her off-guard -- so invested in engaging with this farce as she was, she didn't hear him draw near, let alone come into view before an arm was around her.

she catches glimpse of him over her shoulder at the greeting, but she's cut off from saying anything by the specter:] Care and forget! Be quick about it. Come--

[Cecelia scoffs, peeling grabby fingers off her shoulder and out of her hair:] I'd sooner...forget this than anything, thank you!

Oh bitch, bitch, bitch. Our time together is written into the fabric of existence. [Morgan slaps at the face of Cecelia's reflection, not hard but enough to make a mockery of the thing.] In ten trillion years when everything that ever was or will be is nothing, the fact won't change that I care. And even when time takes us apart, we'll have the time we spent together. So cut it out.

[the audacity makes Cecelia scoff, almost laughing, while the specter itself seems completely taken aback. all well and good: Cecelia-proper can wrench free at last and get her head out from under an arm, using Morgan as leverage to pull away and get behind him.

without missing a beat:] Shatter it, if you don't mind!

...I hope this is a good idea.

[If this is part of her psyche or something, it could snap back on her alarmingly, or maybe even cause physical damage to her brain. But -- there are healers, and -- ugh, here's hoping.]

[Morgan slaps the glass again, but this time with kinesis behind it. The glass shatters, his magic keeping it from bursting outwards towards them. As the pieces slide down to form a pile, Morgan quickly turns to look into her eyes, checking for stuff like 'is there any life in them', 'are the pupils different sizes', and whatnot.]

[funny, that: usually she's the one hesitating to do something drastic with a magical unknown. but then, this one was a bit too personal to let stand and drivel on as it was, and so there was quite an urgency behind getting rid of it quickly.

that said, she holds a breath until all pieces have fallen, bracing for some other shoe to drop, whatever it may be. but it doesn't come. and after a beat, her eyes flick up to Morgan, whose intense scrutiny she had been inadvertently ignoring in that moment.

she's sure she can't blame him for that intensity, but it doesn't mean she has to like it.]

...Well done. That may be the end of it.

[Oh boy. Morgan slides his fingers into his hair, rubbing at the muscles of his neck.]

Miss Ardenbury, I am about to say something you are not going to like but I think you must acknowledge the wisdom of anyway, which is that you probably need to address those internal feelings of yours before it's 'the end of it'. Avalon is particularly good at exploiting those, after all.

I'll put it on the list.

[what list? some list. whatever, now's not the time. she moves away from him and the remains of the mirror, surveying the directions she can take.]

For now, let's see to this matter of the King's likely peril.

...Miss Ardenbury.

[Morgan doesn't speak sharply to her as a rule, despite everything they've gone through. Battles at night and adventuring in dungeons and stupid rituals and dances and all, and thus far everything has come in good spirits and good cheer.]

[But that total brush-off, that pretense that all is well, in the middle of a maze that's like as not to ensnare her again? That gets him to snap. Just a little. Just a moment, because his next word is far gentler.]

Please.

[she stops, bristled, and turns to sharply glare over her shoulder - a look that remains even as his own tone softens. part of her expects an obnoxious, near-parental lecture -- a juvenile part that stands on years of experience to back up the expectation.]

Morgan, we do not have time for this. Either I get to the bottom of this, or I excise myself entirely from the space. Either way, there is little time for unknotting of that quality right now.

[A flick of a finger has a mirror shard spinning up into the air. He catches it, spinning it between two fingers so the flat faces her.]

You couldn't get through this alone. You needed help. Please let yourself be helped, because right now, you need that so you can help others. It's all tied together, all of it.

[Is that obnoxious, near-parental? He'd like to think it isn't, that it's just a sincere plea from a man -- from a friend, who has the bigger picture in mind. Because Avalon is a land of symbolism. Dance to change the seasons, exchange parts of each other to open a ritual door, and now smooth the fabric of their existence before the brush sweeping across the tapestry snags and rips the tangles.]

[Behind him, another mirror flickers, a pair of emerald green eyes peering out.]

You know she doesn't actually give a shit about you or what you th--

[Morgan's knuckles slam into it, a backhand blow over his shoulder without looking. The mirror shatters before the other Morgan can finish its words, leaving silence and the slow trickle of blood down towards his wrist. Yeah, he shoulda used kinesis again.]

[Cecelia turns halfway back to him and freezes like a startled deer at the punch, uncertain as to whether she is going to have to fight or flee rather quickly.

after a beat of inaction and silence, she exhales.]

Then help me get to the bottom of this abduction, yes?

...And perhaps spare your hands next time. Doubtless they'll be needed in something more extreme.

I am trying to help you. What I'm trying to tell you is that helping you help yourself is the best way I see to help you. We can walk and talk if moving forward will make you feel like you're not wasting time, but if this place keeps hitting emotionally below the belt, then we need to take away its power.

[Being a very mature person, Morgan brings his knuckles to his mouth, as if that'll somehow stop the bleeding.]

[she softly clicks her tongue, digging into her satchel and procuring a handkerchief. when she approaches, she means to wipe his hand, but will concede and let him do it himself if he has more a mind to.

either way, as she does so:] Once bitten, thrice shy, Morgan. I'll be quite keen to evade now, and if I can't, well. You're here as well.

[Oh. Thanks, that will help him a little bit better than impromptu self-vampirism. Much appreciated.]

At least you believe that much. I consider that a win.

[flatly:] I may not be as strong as I ought to be here, but I'm not going to be a fool in my weakness, best I can.

[Well, call him crazy, but doesn't that mean learning from and improving on that weakness to overcome it?]

[Sigh.]

Would this be so easy to handle in the full flower of your strength? [In his experience, no measure of power protects the psyche, not when something can hit your weak points hard.]

Indeed. Simply being able to detect the ambient maliciousness of the place would go a long way, wouldn't it? Yet I have yet to reclaim the ability, despite trying.

Is it malicious, if it's only reflecting what's in our heads? And even knowing it's malicious now, does that stop us from walking into another mirror? I mean, c'mon.

[Morgan twitches his head back at the one he'd just punched. Let that be a lesson to him about switching to hard styles...]

If it was only doing that, then I wouldn't have been in danger of getting phased through glass, right? I think it's well within reason to assume ill intent in this case.

Is protective security ill-intent? And like I said, even knowing its intent or what we're up against, is it really so easy to ward off now?

[with a scoffed breath:] Alertness itself makes one a less viable target in most any circumstance, Morgan. It's not foolproof, but it's about all I can work with until I've got some proper explanations in-hand, yes?

[Morgan exhales a long, low breath, rubbing at his forehead briefly. This is like discovering a pit of spikes, then very carefully climbing down and balancing on the spikes to cross...]

I'm failing to speak well, so let me just say my piece and be done with it, I'll shut up and we can continue onwards. I value your friendship, I like you, and everything said by that mirror concerns me. I hope at some point you'll talk to me more about this, because damned if I'm going to like seeing you upset or thinking you're not cared about. Moreover, I'd like you to be happy in general, and double-damned if I can't help but try to meddle to achieve that dream. So for all that, I can only beg your forgiveness and patience. And I will try my best to look out for you, in here and elsewhere.

[Hand dropped, eyes up. That's that. Shall they go on?]

[he would do less harm by simply slapping her at this rate. Cecelia draws and holds her next breath throughout, almost counter to him exhaling, and fixes him with a hard stare, stubbornly forcing herself to face forward when it would be far, far more comfortable to look elsewhere.

this is irritating. mortifying. and, frustratingly enough, not even the first time she's heard appeals like this.

it's just a different voice this time.

it's over fast enough, though, and he finally meets her stony stare.]

...I've heard you. And if there's no more, we can carry on.

[That's the bitch of life, really. He has the power to change reality itself, at least back home, but he isn't anything special. Nothing more or less than any other person, and he knows that.]

[Doesn't mean he has to like it.]

[Morgan nods his agreement. Let's go.]

[on they go with no more word on it, though it's likely not the last word. that's how it goes.

for now, though...]

Hold on.

[at the latest intersection, Cecelia stops, brow furrowing as she listens, slowly turning her head this way and that.]

...Others may have beaten us there. I hear conflict. [pointing:] That way.

yay c:

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