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

[kiss_it_better]

"Of course."

He knows now isn't the time to address the things the mirror said, but he also doesn't trust this place not to throw more similar things at them. (And he just didn't want for Walter to suffer if he didn't have to.)

So he wouldn't hesitate to keep moving after, but he takes a moment to place a hand on Walter's shoulder. "Later, if you want to talk about this, we can. But for what it's worth, I'd trust you with my life."

He can't say that he doesn't think Walter is a killer because...he doesn't know. But Walter is a soldier like Gu Yun, like Shen Yi and it isn't strange for a soldier to kill.

[angel_of_death]

There is a delay in Walter's response that is perhaps telling. Search and Destroy has always been the mission assigned to him, what he was meant for. Protecting others in those harrowing circumstances... it wasn't ever easy, and things almost never turned out the way he'd hoped for when other humans were on the task.

"...I'll try not to disappoint."

Honestly, with so many people attempting to breach the room and the likelihood that more than a few of them have no clue what they're doing... there's a good chance they need to be concerned about friendly fire.

[kiss_it_better]

Chang Geng knows he can rely on people to do what is needed but that wasn't the same as trust. Trust was something deeper than that. And he trusted precious few people in this world and his own.

But saying that isn't necessarily going to help.

Instead, he squeezes Walter's shoulder briefly before letting go.

"Did Zi Xi ever tell you what the soldiers he led were called?"

[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.

[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."

[angel_of_death]

Even as he looks around, Walter listens. He'd always figured Gu Yun was a commanding officer of some sort; their first meeting had left that sort of impression on him. But that he should be someone of such import... it's strange, but Walter finds that he isn't really all that surprised.

Still, as focused as he is on their immediate situation, it is only as Chang Geng comes to his point that Walter understands what it is he is trying to say. It's enough to momentarily draw his gaze, he taking that quiet moment to hear and to internally acknowledge the sentiment. He nods, responding after. "...We are."

Lifting his arm, he briefly settles his hand on his friend's shoulder, giving it a light pat before dropping it back to his own front. They're deep enough into the hall that he should be readying to deploy his wires now.

[kiss_it_better]

As long as Walter understands and agrees then that's all he was aiming for. Their circumstances were unfortunate but at least they were in good company.

So he smiled at that touch on his shoulder, an acknowledgement of the gesture. Then he looks back ahead, his expression returning to something less friendly. It wasn't angry exactly, but perhaps that made it more unsettling, the sort of calm he fell into.

As they continue they eventually come to the room where they should find King Arthur. There are, of course, more mirrors but there are also King Arthurs stepping out of them.

He pulls out his bow. It's probably too much to hope for that things were going to end peacefully. "I can't tell which ones are real." After all, he doesn't know the King well enough to be able to recognize his blood.

[angel_of_death]

That is a problem. If they couldn't tell which were real, they would have to treat them all as potentially being real.

Feeling a lump settling in his chest, Walter takes an even breath. "...These are either illusions, or copies created by magic. We're going to have to test which it is."

The latter is less dangerous, if only because there is less a chance of them hitting the others who have stormed the room to help. But both are problematic. They could end up hurting the real King Arthur.

"It would be preferable if we didn't kill his Majesty. But we also can't let ourselves or the others be killed.... not just for our sakes, but for his."

He has the feeling his friend understands why.

Drawing the ten wires from his satchel, the space around them begins to fill with the unfurling filaments. But he leaves the way clear for Chang Geng to shoot, or to advance forward.

[kiss_it_better]

He nodded.

Naturally, he understood.

For the person doing the dying, things were really quite simple. But every death has other consequences and effects on the living.

It was best, then, to avoid it.

He drew the bowstring back, not even flinching as the wires spread out. If his words earlier weren't enough, the easy way he trusted this Angel of Death repeated the sentiment. Whatever Walter's done in the past, it doesn't change anything.

There was no arrow nocked on the string but there didn't need to be because from a cut on his palm that had been kept from bleeding by magic bled now. The blood snaked out and formed a straight line, stretching from the taut bowstring forward until it came to a point at the end, forming an arrow.

"If they're copies created by magic it might be possible for me to take control of them." If they were illusions then that plan wouldn't be possible. But for now, it was something to consider.