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.

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[Hm. It was interesting, listening to the way Hijikata invoked his magic- calling on each of the elements to support his death magic. Come to think of it, she'd never used her two magic types in tandem like that, had she? Something to try for later, perhaps.

...Part of her was curious about what the man himself was like, having only really spoken to his familiar before now. Hm. Bad tempered, but serious, was what she could gather so far.]

Now which one of you is real I wonder...

[She had no real way of telling, despite her muttering. Sure she could cripple them with pain, but she didn't want to make her own shaky standing in Avalon even worse. So for now, she weaved her arms in a wide arc, the dark fog around them thickening as she infused it with blinding curses. Any Arthurs who did cross the threshold would at least be weakened.]

Edited 2021-08-08 18:37 (UTC)

Just focus on the cloaking, it's really helping!

[He's got one arm raised up, hand contorted into a claw as he's waging a tug-o-war with a glowing spectre that seems to be getting drawn out of the mirror frame bit by bit. When it's finally ripped from its crystal with a piercing shriek Hijikata smirks. This is amazing! Finally he can do something about these bodyless bastards!]

[A glance over her shoulder as he ripped the spirit out- hm. At least he was competent in what he was doing. She was half expecting him to send the thing out after her!

But no, he had it in hand, so she could focus on her work.

Just in time, too, as an Arthur-clone staggered his way blindly into the fog, confused and disorientated by the sudden weight of the curses weighing down upon him. Caster flicked her wrist, calling tendrils of darkness out to tug him away from them- back toward the battle proper.]

[Hijikata sees the Mirror Arthur getting dragged off by those ominous tendrils from the corner of his eye. Damn, he really doesn't want to get on this witch's bad side! Regardless, her willingness to protect him shows that she bears him no grudge for his interference with her villainous scheme the other month, or at least that she's willing to move past it in the severity of the current situation, so it looks like they're really on neutral ground with each other.

He quickly turns back to the mirror, starting his invocation back up to reactivate the exorcism spell for the next ghost. He's never felt more determined to delve deeper into all this gritty death magic business. He wants to be strong enough to cleanse the whole mirror with one crushing, blinding spell!]

[Caster felt no warmth toward Hijikata, but right now they were working toward the same goal- and that meant they had to fight on the same side. Well, that suited her just fine. After all, it would only cause her more problems if she stabbed him in the back here, and wouldn't serve her any purpose.

...They could talk about their grudge after this was all done.

For now, she focused on skilfully wielding the darkness around her, as if every shadow, every patch of darkness was an extension of her- a power she could weave into an inky blackness to carry out her will.

It looked like Hijikata wasn't wearing down...good. How many of those spirits were there? Would his stamina hold out, and what would she do if it didn't?

The cloak around them thickened, sending out a pulse into the room proper- an oppressive wave that repulsed the nearby fighters.]

[If this were a swordfight Caster could count on Hijikata to keep at it for hours if need be. He's a powerhouse of a man. Sadly his experience in offensive death magic leaves a lot to be desired in contrast. Regardless, he keeps going, grappling with spectre after spectre.

In the end it's thanks to the sheer number of participating death mages - there's a dozen of them - that the flow of replicas ebbs in good time, and as the battle noise gradually subsides the last ghost is forced from the crystal frame with an unearthly scream. Hijikata is grateful to see the commotion slow down; he's drained and has black spots dancing in front of his vision when he blinks. ]

I think we did it.

[He wants to sit down before he faints, but he doesn't want to appear feeble in front of Caster. Hell no. Where's King Arthur, anyway? He can't see anything through the shroud of darkness surrounding them. Ugh, damn it, he really isn't feeling good... he may appear pale and kind of out of it, but he's doing his best to keep himself together.]

Yes- I can't see any other strange glows on the mirror.

[The sounds of battle were winding down, too- but there was something else. She could hear worried voices calling for anyone with healing magic to come now, and people starting to rush around with urgency...what happened, out there?

With a deep breath and a wide sweep of her staff, the darkness began to dissolve into wisps- slowly clearing the air around them until the sight of healers shooing people away from the collapsed, wounded King finally came into view.

So someone had targeted him, after all...]

Oh, no!

[He pushes himself forward, even knowing that he can't heal the king - he just wants to ensure that nobody uses the opportunity to do him worse harm. He staggers, however, and ends up steadying himself against Caster's shoulder... not as planned.]

Shit-- sorry--

[Caster's footing faltered a bit as he suddenly grabbed onto her- she wasn't the strongest, after all- but after that she settled for reluctantly propping him up.]

Hmph...you've used a lot of your Mana. Sit down and let the healers do their job.

...For the record, I am not testing if the methods I knew from home to restore Mana will work the same way here. So don't ask.

[Not that Hijikata had actually said anything of the sort.]

Sure, sure.

[He's so close to fainting, his response is surprisingly obedient, shakily sitting down on the ground and lighthing himself a comforting cigarette. His unfazed reaction proves that he has no idea what the mana restoration of Caster's world entails, and he's fighting so hard to remain conscious, he's not about to ask for more information either. If he happens to learn more about it at some later point he'll probably understand.]

Hey... look after the king, okay? If any of the ghosts come back, cloak him from view.

[He didn't say "please", but his weak tone makes it apparent that it's a request rather than an attempt at ordering her around.]

You must be desperate to ask me for help.

[But... Caster did tend to reflect how others treated her. And so, rather than continuing to needle at him, she got to her feet once he was settled and kept her eyes out for any other dangers.

She could, at least, do that until Hijikata had recovered his strength.]

[He makes a displeased little sound - yes, he is desperate enough; no need to rub it in! With her keeping an eye on the scene he allows himself to focus on his breathing for a few minutes, just barely winning the battle against unconsciousness and gradually regaining some clear-headedness.

When Arthur is being transported out of the hall he uneasily gets back to his feet, ready to tail-guard the procession. Instead of any more words he simply gives Caster a small salute. He may still have plenty of misgivings about her, but she did her part in this battle, for both him and the king, and he's not going to downplay that.]

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EVENT ✨ Tournaments & Trust

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