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avalonmods ([personal profile] avalonmods) wrote in [community profile] isleofavalon2021-09-22 01:13 am

EVENT ✨ Fall Equinot


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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: In the days leading up to the fall equinox, geese intended for eating escape and cause havoc around town, people share techniques to preserve plants for the winter, and Camelot's citizens compete to make the best light shows with traditional wax candles to draw spirits peacefully into Camelot.


With all the harder preparations gathered for the Fall Equinox, throughout the month people will notice that decorations start going up around town. The colors of fall seem to seep throughout Camelot, but more than that, so do more traditional sights and smells. In the days leading up to the equinox, traditional acts such as the sacrifice and consuming of flesh are performed. Well.. normally they would be. The fattened geese that are normally eaten in preparation for the equinox have escaped and are causing havoc around town. Geese are running around causing trouble for everyone-- stealing glasses, opening gates, putting up toilet seats when people try to sit down so they fall in the bowl... all kinds of madness! Even if you weren't intent on eating geese and were going to settle for the vegetarian option (pumpkin and nut soups are frequently served using the gourd itself as a bowl), you have to agree the general public needs to be rescued from these menaces. If you have the stomach for it, you are welcome to keep one of the geese you capture for your own table... but otherwise, please return the birds to the farm where they can be handled accordingly.

Birds are not the only sacrifice made to the autumnal equinox. As the flowers begin to reach the end of their life, there is a strong tradition of gathering flowers and herbs and preserving them for the upcoming winter, either to protect their beauty, scent, edibility, and sometimes magical properties. The simplest form of preservation is, of course, drying and pressing-- a technique you don't need magic for, but some of the locals will happily teach you. A more advanced technique can be learned to enchant glass bell jars to suspend the lifeforce of any living thing within its grasp for up to a year, if no one opens it. It's a technique used to preserve important or rare plants that may otherwise die out during the winter, such as herbs used in your favorite spell.. or dish. The glass bell jar will protect the plant, but each time it is picked up, a single petal or leaf will fall off of the plant. If all the leaves fall off, the plant becomes unrecoverable, and come spring the caster will find themselves cursed with a touch that wilts any plant they come in contact with. So if you choose to use this, be warned that there are consequences for misuse and a wide number of horror stories from people who have tried to use this spell for anything other than plants. Any type of mage can pour their magic into a bell jar to enchant it, and the type of magic will be reflected in a glass design that forms around the rim and handle. (An elemental mage may have glass flames form, or frosted etchings of your favorite animal may appear if you're an animal mage, and so on. Feel free to get creative.) Green mages may find this magic a little useless, since they can just replenish plants with their own magic, but it's still a good technique to know.. just in case!

Perhaps the most beautiful tradition that takes form leading up to the autumnal equinox is the candle pathway. Every street in Camelot will be lit up with thousands of candles for two nights leading up to the autumnal equinox, as a guiding light to help the spirits find their way to Avalon. The way the streets in Camelot are mapped out, the lights will form a path to the square where the fairy coins are being held until their release on September 22nd, the same area where the guardian egg ceremony had been performed. Some people get very creative with their lighting displays, which can sometimes result in beautifully lit streets and magnificent structures of flames. Accidents are quickly quelled by volunteer elemental mages throughout the city to prevent any structural damage. Some people might be compelled to make their own light display the most outstanding on the block, and it becomes a bit of a game to compete with your neighbors to see whose section of the candle pathway is the most extravagant.


SUMMARY: The autumn equinox ritual is interrupted by a huge earthquake caused by a Stone Giant bursting out of the Ash Mountains, bringing the closest Ash Mountain and Lestari to the ground. The purple dragon erupts from the ruins to attack Celliwig. The survivors of the collapse need help desperately. Characters must choose where they go to determine the fate of Avalon.


Calm and mundane preparations are a nice break from the sometimes stressful lives of Camelot's citizens and otherworlders, who often are asked to embark on life-threatening adventures and tasks. It's probably a good thing most of the month has been relatively peaceful, as things need to go a little bit differently this year on the fall equinox itself... but not as differently as they actually do.

In the town square, elaborate celtic-similar symbols are carved out into the ground and filled with mysterious glowing liquids. All of those who gained guardian tattoos and their attendants were asked to attend a ritual to release them on the night of the 22nd, along with anyone else who would like to witness. Everything is ready and as the witching hour approaches, several individuals dressed in flowing robes with their faces painted like skeletons approach. As the leader raises his voice to explain why they've come and what to do to make this night a success, a sudden shock-- Avalon itself shakes with the might of an earthquake... or at least, that's what it seems like for the first few minutes as everyone gathers themselves until they hear mass screaming in the distance. Though it's hard to see what's going on... there are still some very, very obvious problems.

A stone giant rises from the first of the Ash Mountains, crumbling the mountain around it as if the ancient being were holding the very mountain itself up... and it was. Those who visited Lestari will have seen its giant feet within the underground city. The former city. Lestari is now buried beneath the mountain, along with many of the other creatures living on and around the mountain. A huge storm of mixed weather forms above the giant's head, blizzard and lightning raging around it to no avail. As the people of Camelot watch what's only visible at a macro distance, they may not be as quick to notice that all of the fairy coins have begun glowing vibrantly, then suddenly burst out of the jars they've been held in, shattering right through them to fly off en-masse toward the stone giant. They embed themselves in it, fueling the giant with enough power to both begin to walk away from the rubble and for the spirits that have begun gathering in Avalon to head toward it, rather than where they had been intended.

As if that were not enough, after the Stone Giant takes two large steps through the Land of Rot, the gargantuan cloud of dust covering the ruins of the first of the Ash Mountain range rather suddenly lights up with a vibrant, ultra-violet burst of flames that illuminates the smoke. The gargantuan purple dragon that once took up residence in the mountain clambors out of the dust and shoots straight into the sky, enraged and furious, and able to sense where the magic came from that raised the stone giant. The reason it immediately begins flying toward Celliwig with the intent to raze it to the ground is likely not immediately apparent, but it is quite odd that it bypasses the much closer target of Camelot with its rage. As does the Stone Giant, though it does not head toward Celliwig and instead seems to absorb the souls of the dead that were intended to be guided by the fall equinox's rituals as it lumbers through the land. If someone does not stop it, it is headed for the Forest of the Felled.

King Arthur is immediately on the emergency broadcast system to implore people to join one of three groups:
  • Investigate and stop the Stone Giant

  • Slay the dragon and save Celliwig

  • Rescue survivors of Lestari and the Ash Mountain


  • The success of each of these missions is dependent on character participation. See the poll for details about how certain character types may affect the outcome of the missions.

    Please refer to Event Poll Notes for information about aftermath of this event and additional event info > Event Outcomes.
    colchismagecraft: (Anticipation)

    [personal profile] colchismagecraft 2021-09-28 06:55 pm (UTC)(link)
    "...I can't say I didn't expect something like this, but...this isn't the first time I've seen souls used in that way." Caster finally said, turning her attention to Kaoru.

    "As for the question, I don't know. If they can no longer reach the afterlife, that's..."

    She trailed off, then, the thought unsettling and unnatural.
    reloves: (♀ with a sigh the winds change)

    [personal profile] reloves 2021-09-28 06:56 pm (UTC)(link)
    .. yes, at least that answer sounds about accurate for a cat. Something about the smugness that is usually only implied through a cat's behaviour, since you usually can't actually hear it speak - but this one is a special case.

    "Thanks. I'm used to this stuff." It's her day job, after all. Sort of. Her secret day job. "But even I would have had a hard time trying to get that guy out from under all that rubble. There was so much of it.."
    colchismagecraft: (Agonising stare)

    [personal profile] colchismagecraft 2021-09-28 06:57 pm (UTC)(link)
    That sudden voice made her jump a little- perhaps that was the fatigue talking.

    "...It's not the first time I've seen souls used like this. To reinforce magic, a ritual- or the existence of a being dependant on Mana."
    dragongrrl: looking away sadly (sad dragon hours)

    [personal profile] dragongrrl 2021-09-28 06:58 pm (UTC)(link)
    [Barbara touches her forehead, which does still sting. It's not the only thing, either, this has been an overall bruising and battering experience.]

    Some hurt. Not much.

    [She's not refusing if he wants to heal her, but it could be worse than it is.]
    dragongrrl: glaring haughtily at the camera (grump grump grump)

    [personal profile] dragongrrl 2021-09-28 07:01 pm (UTC)(link)
    [Barbara runs her eyes over the man. She's got her share of cuts and bruises, but she's still walking around. He is obviously in need of that rubble he is resting on.]

    Wrong. Look hurt all over.
    eightfoldfiend: (Find the one you’re destined to destroy)

    [personal profile] eightfoldfiend 2021-09-28 07:08 pm (UTC)(link)
    Hah! A fighting chance or a fleeing chance?

    Whatever.

    [He turns his shoulder to her.]

    Grab hold of me and hang on tight. The trip will be ...unpleasant.
    colchismagecraft: (Yes I have blood on my hands)

    [personal profile] colchismagecraft 2021-09-28 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
    Oh...you're here as well.

    [She was 'delighted' to see him. Truly delighted. Especially with the branding on her back burning painfully- for just a moment, that was enough that she couldn't move.]

    ...A samurai I summoned to serve me in the Holy Grail War. My 'Assassin'.
    resistetmords: (As the Blitzkrieg’s pushing harder)

    [personal profile] resistetmords 2021-09-28 07:14 pm (UTC)(link)
    You have to outsmart them.

    [Outsmart a bird she says.]

    We can chase them from behind, on opposite sides of each other. Probably towards a closed alley.
    tantailizing: Artwork by: Hira (Otemoto84) (What the heck?)

    [personal profile] tantailizing 2021-09-28 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
    Well, holy shit, they came in fast.

    "Berry...! You wanna move there? Now!?"
    colchismagecraft: (Crazed smirk)

    [personal profile] colchismagecraft 2021-09-28 07:58 pm (UTC)(link)
    Caster tilted her head to face Allura, observing her cooly- the other woman sounded as tired as she felt, after combatting the Stone Giant. Well, that was for the best, even if they were both running on petty spite.

    "They should have just stepped aside to let it burn. If they chose to waste their time tying to protect that wretched city, then that's on them."

    Her smirk was no less twisted than her laugh had been- bolstered on by her bitter hatred of Celliwig.

    "...Those Fae deserved everything the dragon wrought on them."
    colchismagecraft: (Caster's power)

    [personal profile] colchismagecraft 2021-09-28 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
    I agree- I'm hoping to use it to store potion ingredients.

    [She rested a hand on the jar, taking a long, deep breath- curses seeped their way out her fingertips, weaving ominous dark sigils into the glass.]

    ...Just...like this?
    colchismagecraft: (Do you want me to burn you?)

    [personal profile] colchismagecraft 2021-09-28 08:21 pm (UTC)(link)
    Homura grabbing Medea's hand took her by surprise, snapping her out of her vindictive plotting for just a moment...not that it would stop her from arguing, of course.

    "...Come now, you'd deprive me of my chance to get revenge on the wretched Fae for all they did to me??"
    beewulf: (Default)

    [personal profile] beewulf 2021-09-28 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
    "Suppose a few here might get worked up over something like this."

    Others might not, it didn't matter to him, so long as everyone was simply enjoying themselves. He will, however, more than likely find something super manly and testosterones poisoned after this though like chasing a dragon.

    His familiar, one day Minako you'll finally accept that she's his familiar, smiles back at her nods her head. "Oh yes, the flowers help bring out his natural beauty quite nicely."

    There was probably something to be said about a giant, muscular guy having flowers braided in his hair. Especially when said giant was Beowulf, of all people. But he just sort of sits there and lets them do what they'd like. In the meantime he starts to finish his weave. "Do they now? I'll have to keep them in for a moment longer."

    With that he holds up the crown he'd been working on. Various shades of pinks, blues, and yellows. "Here, made one for you too."
    colchismagecraft: (Unimpressed)

    [personal profile] colchismagecraft 2021-09-28 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
    "...!" she was too drained to even realise that water was about to be splashed all over her, drenching the hood of her cloak. That, at least, was enough to snap her out of her evil laughter.

    "Hmph..."
    crimsongirl: (telling someone off)

    [personal profile] crimsongirl 2021-09-28 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
    The lack of a reaction seemed to make Homura even angrier. Just reminded her of a certain immovable giant, and the words kept slipping like a flood. Didn't even care if she was making a scene now.

    "I was afraid of your reaction the most, after I pulled you away from being part of this, like I failed you most of all. But I thought at least, at the very least, you could do your little petty laugh in private, and not when everyone's mood is total shit!"
    troubadamsel: (You Can Do It!)

    [personal profile] troubadamsel 2021-09-28 08:43 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ maribelle does not want to do this!!! ]

    R-right... that does sound wise... Shall we, ah, get going...?
    beewulf: (11)

    [personal profile] beewulf 2021-09-28 08:47 pm (UTC)(link)
    Swords aren't all that great for throwing, and something tells him Asterios' axe might not be great being thrown either. But... well anything was worth a shot.

    "Think you can throw something that far?"
    sighsheavily: (pic#14667798)

    [personal profile] sighsheavily 2021-09-28 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)
    [in a resigned sigh:] Wonderful.

    [indeed, this whole situation. just bloody wonderful, right? but it won't change much at all if she stands there grousing, so she takes hold of Yuber yet again, squeezing her eyes shut, bracing herself, quietly praying...]
    sighsheavily: (pic#14281458)

    [personal profile] sighsheavily 2021-09-28 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
    [Cecelia still hangs onto Barbara for balance, flinching a bit at the guttural noise Barbara gives. it's right next to her ear, after all!

    visceral fear fills Cecelia's blood when that eye fixes upon her. long ago, barely sixteen, the girl she once was found herself in the ashen pit of a dormant volcano, and before she could even wonder how to get out, the dragon sleeping in that place awoke and leered at her.

    there's dragon blood in her heritage, but it doesn't stave off the mortal fear of something so plainly seen as prey.

    but she swallows, straightening up as much as she dares, and calls out.]


    Tell me! [her draconic is rusty, but still eloquent. difficult to shout in, given some of the vowel sounds.] The reason for this madness! What could possibly have done your pride harm as to warrant this!
    resistetmords: (Gloria fortis miles)

    [personal profile] resistetmords 2021-09-28 09:12 pm (UTC)(link)
    [Well that didn't look creepy at all! But... well, she's pushing her mana into the jars, and that was really all there was to it....]

    Yes, just like that! Then all you need to do is place whatever plant you want inside and seal it.
    resistetmords: (Mere 40 rifles strong)

    [personal profile] resistetmords 2021-09-28 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
    [Maribelle. It's. Time. To. Work!]

    Lets! I'll take the left if you take the right.

    [And soon they can not only get paid, but also have some very tasty meals.]
    beaumains: art by chiamo (culture was the seed of proliferation)

    ii

    [personal profile] beaumains 2021-09-28 09:37 pm (UTC)(link)
    You look worse than I did after the tournament...

    [ Though most of her injuries had been internal, and made far worse than they looked by her pushing herself past pain in so many matches, but still...

    She'd come from the evacuation and rescue efforts as soon as she felt she could, wanting to check in on Kadoc and others she'd left to face off against the giant. And... it definitely looked like things had gone poorly, at best. She couldn't escape the painful familiarity of it, like coming to the infirmary tent after a losing battle. She counted her blessing that she wasn't being told to identify corpses...

    It was what little humor she could manage, given the situation, to make the remark she had, settling in beside Anri's bed. ]
    crimsongirl: (death glare)

    [personal profile] crimsongirl 2021-09-28 09:38 pm (UTC)(link)
    Good god, she might actually do it. Either that or have a front row seat for laughing. Hearing it, she glared at her mom. Hated doing this, but anger ruled out everything else. If a friend was going nuts, she'd do everything she could to snap them out of it. This included family, regardless of blood connection or not.

    "That's not vengeance, that's just laughing at a show! And in case you didn't notice, you weren't special in that case. We all went through it!"

    Some worse than others admittedly, but she wasn't going to risk her mom possibly making things worse, either for Ceillwig, or more likely, herself, again.
    reloves: (♥ and is in your name)

    [personal profile] reloves 2021-09-28 09:52 pm (UTC)(link)
    Beowulf.

    Oh, Beowulf. Do you not see the trap you are springing on yourself? Because there he is, holding up that crown, and Minako's eyes grow wider with surprise and joy. That part isn't the trap yet, oh no. The true trap is her obliviousness as she speaks up with:

    "You made that for your girlfriend? That's so sweet!"

    Minako sounds so genuine about it, too.. So very innocently genuine.
    resistetmords: (We will surprise them with the laugh)

    [personal profile] resistetmords 2021-09-28 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
    [The sudden, familiar voice got her eyes to crack open and sit up in surprise.]

    A-ah--

    [Gareth's appearance had caught her off guard, wasn't she elsewhere? Maybe that was her rattled head talking. Still Anri looked more than a little bashful, a smile on her lips. The painkiller arrived just in time it seemed! She sat up slowly, keeping the sheets covering her chest and body to help hide the rest of the damage.]

    I wouldn't go that far!

    [Probably, she did just have an explosion rip through her body, and was nearly crushed by a giant/mountain. And she still faced worse, could be artillery.]

    I'm sure I'll be up on my feet in no time.