isleofavalon | EVENT ✨ Fall Equinot

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EVENT ✨ Fall Equinot

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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.

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"Oh ye of little faith, you ain't seen nothin' yet!" Lina chides him as Geddoe pulls his arm back. Man, hope he doesn't take that the wrong way because of the eyepatch.

As he tosses the gourd, Lina outstretches her hand and then makes a sweeping motion with it. In the air, the gourd suddenly accelerates, it's trajectory continuing to rise as it zooms diagonally through the air, up and up towards the back of the Stone Giant's knee. It connects, and instead of smooshing, the magic Lina charged it with goes off and it explodes, raining some bits of stone and, yes, gourd matter down on the ground. There's no visible reaction from the giant, but the impact site does smoke, giving a visual indicator the gourd did some damage.

Lina looks up, and frowns. "Damn it. Not quite as much as I was hoping for. Okay, guess we need something a little bigger, then. Here." She reaches into her pouch and produces a coconut this time, taking just a moment to charge it. Glowing cracks appear over the shell, pulse, and then fade away, leaving a normal-seeming coconut, which she tosses to Geddoe. "Okay, time for the shrapnel bomb." She tosses it to Geddoe. "Toss it, and this time you might wanna duck!"

Musse is somewhat relieved to see Robin doesn't put much of a fight. She'll have to remember that tactic works for a later occasion.

"Yes, absolutely. You were kind enough to open your home and clear space for us, so the least we can do is help around the house."

The Cat watches this process with some interest. He still has so much to learn about the magic of this world, and being a cat he's less disturbed by the current events than humans might be.

The child seems just as intrigued by the magic, and much calmer. It's hard to say if that's the magic, Li Min's calm, or shock, but it's more helpful than not.

"There are tents nearby where you may rest."

Steph had been waiting on one knee, ready to help as soon as it was needed. The sound, loud enough to be unusual and too different to be settling rubble, has her on her feet with her staff at the ready in a matter of seconds. The weapon had been fastened at her back in its retracted form, but the press of a button extended it to full length.

"Wait there," Steph orders, her voice low. "Something's coming."

[hey in the merc business we call this intelligence-gathering, or something]

Well, native is right. I'll leave it to others who know me to weigh in on whether it reflects an aspect of me. [not that they know him that well so...the mystery remains]

I've had other things on my mind, I haven't been paying attention to it. From now on, I'll be more diligent just in case. Magic hasn't been as useful to me here compared to back home, though if I end up in combat that might change.

[it won't work on the stone giant though so good luck there. Against Yuber? We shall all see.]

"You got anything worse than a scrape?" Morgan asked that casually, but his eyes flicked over to lock on her. Go on. Lie to him, see how well you can get away with it!

Hell, from what he'd seen so far, Morgan would lay money on Steph being the sort who'd ignore bone breaks as much as physiologically possible, if the pressure was on. Which it sure had been.

"...I don't think so..." She doesn't meet his gaze, because she has to actually think about that. Any acute injuries she would remember, but anything gradual would definitely have been ignored, and she's so tired now that her whole body aches a bit.

She slows as she takes inventory, then shakes her head. If she has muscle injuries she'll find out in the morning.

"No, just scrapes."

We may meet again on one of those occasions, then.

[His expression turns grim again... if he's allowed to go after Kymbyr he'll frankly want blood, and his forgiving commander isn't here to hold him back if push comes to shove. He turns to leave, partly to hide his murderous expression from Somnus.]

Take care in the meanwhile.

[Barbara doesn't speak again until her feet touch the ground. It's a bumpier landing than usual, and if the situation were different, she'd be aggravated with herself for such a sloppy showing. But holding herself and another person in the air for that long is tough, and she needs a breather before she tries again.]

Ardenbury, magic make fast? Barbara magic need rest.

Edited 2021-10-12 21:03 (UTC)

[ as the note of incense smoke becomes more intense, caster might be able to identify poppy, hyacinth, pomegranate—all signs of death and rebirth, as if burning at an absent grave. frost begins to form here and there on the outside of the glass, which the girl rubs away as it does.

at last, the patterns on the glass settle into a translucent pinkish layer as the smoke dissipates, an interwoven pattern of bones and butterfly wings spreading almost like a strange craquelure etched into its surface. she seems almost wary of the imagery left, but nods at last. it's very pretty in its way, she thinks. ]

... I thought they were fitting, y'know? It's kind of like what we're trying to do here in the first place. [ it's something of an obvious dodge, she knows. ]

[Ryouma is right to be cautious. While Hijikata bears him no ill will he's still a warrior first and foremost, and one with a violent temper to boot. Right now he can't help but keep grinning, though. Given Ryouma's demonstrated pacifism he could hardly have gotten a more suitable combination of magic types.]

Looks like Avalon gave you magic that'll suit you well! Can't go wrong with healing magic, and being able to understand one's horse is worth a lot, if my experiences are anything to go by. As a Rider you'll want one, right?

"Hm... alright."

That's enough reasonable assumption to send Eve in to look. And as expected, the snake familiar barely disturbs anything as she begins searching around to see if any survivors were present and in need of aid.

No idea on either count, but I'm sure it'll find its way back home.

[He pats the dazed goose on the head again and turns to leave, now needing even more of a cleaning. The damn bird gets to live another day... if nobody else snatches it up for their own oven. Or is Maribelle going to feel responsible for this goose now?]

I told you, serving the common good is all the reward I need.

[Sure, he said that, but who would take that seriously coming from a man like him?! He puts on a sombre face, though, as he does take a couple of dried leaves for his mixture.]

If you need help, then I'll help you. That's what a knight is there for.

...

Unless it's some bullshit. Don't make me clean your rabbit cages or something.

[There's always a caveat!]

"Small miracles." Morgan huffed a wayward strand of hair out of his face -- this had not exactly been a good day to maintain a mane like his. Maybe he was a little vain.
"I'm gonna teach you just how good an acupressure massage can be for muscle aches and pains, as soon as we can find a place to... stop moving, a bit."

[That question actually makes him go quiet for a surprisingly long time. It's almost like he never thought about it before. His eventual response comes without hesitation, though.]

...

It's been good. The work is dirty, but someone's got to do it, and better for it to be me than someone else.

[He doesn't consider himself a good man, but at the very least he's not the kind of civil servant who'd take bribes or abuse his authority in sadistic ways.]

It stands and falls with the company, though. You need a good group of comrades.

[He pauses for a moment to complete his first totem, then he glances at Naomi.]

How about you? What's it like to be a medical examiner?

She makes a face.

"It's not a miracle, it's training."

A massage sounds amazing though. Is there anywhere within 500 feet that they can stop moving and make that happen?

No, food. It isn't hard to spot, with only a few fires still lit so late. Steph steers in that direction.

"Technically we could just stop moving now. We'd definitely regret it in the morning, though."

If you have the mental fortitude for it, it's an occupation to take.

[And she's not going to judge. An officer has to make decisions sometimes... whether good or not.]

Yes, that makes sense.

[Closing her own pages, in the pressing process, she shrugs.]

Usually, it's a quiet occupation. Autopsies are usually formalities - to verify the cause of death, make sure it isn't anything that may potentially spread in a community, things like that. Still, I've worked with the police and FBI when they've needed another outside source.

Morgan made a face right back. He didn't doubt for a second that Steph wouldn't snap an arm or something if she thought she could rescue one more person.

"You might. I still got some left in the tank, remember?"

He wasn't exaggerating. Dude's endurance was about 'Arkham Asylum and then still having enough energy left to go stop Two-Face' level. But lest she think he was all special or anything... she had to do the steering for sure. Morgan would've just kept walking straight forever now that his adrenaline was draining out of his system. Body had energy left, brain rapidly futzing out.

"Uh huh. And how much have you had to eat today?" He did say he needed food. Going hungry, sleeping in the open and lying on broken stones would be miserable even in the best of circumstances.

She manages to steer them all the way into a tent, though she nearly knocks the front of it down going through the flap. The woman inside is grumpy and reticent, but the stew she hands them is warm and only minimally burnt from being cooked far too long.

There are several folding chairs open, with almost everyone else in the area fast asleep. Steph falls into one and immediately starts shoveling the food into her mouth. She didn't realize how hungry she was.

[It's not the most satisfying answer. But not in him continuing to take to heart the things she's said — it's something in his voice, something in the way he clearly doesn't want to say it. There's a blockage there that remains unbroken, a barrier that she cannot force him to cross. And until that falls, there's no sense in trying to convince him any further. It would only be an attempt at seizing control of his will.]

[And the thought of doing such a thing — of becoming someone who would do such a thing — sickens her to the core.]

[So, she releases her disappointment in one last, quiet sigh, and shifts to a more supportive standpoint.]

Of course. That's the most I'd ever ask of you — and just hearing it is reassuring enough.

[Not that she had been seeking reassurance, but it makes the conversation that lead them to this point more palatable.]

[Besides, it's not a lie that she's not one to lean on him needlessly. For example, she's found a good supply of wood for the fire, and is carrying it back herself. There's too much to hold in one armful, and attempting to do so would risk her dropping it all on the way back. But she can always make a few trips back and forth.]

Lina chuckles humourlessly. Kind of irritated. Count on Mister Greywords to say a lot without actually saying a lot. "Yeah. Yeah, think that's going around lately." She does nod appreciatively as he lays his cloak out. Her own is already laid out next to her.

She goes picking at the treasures in front of her for a bit more before speaking up again. "It just kind of burns me is all. If I was at the top of my game, you know? That giant wouldn't have gotten anywhere near the forest. Hell, I probably wouldn't have even had to resort to Dragon Slave-ing it. My repertoire is pretty darn vast." A pause, before sighing in frustration. "Was vast. Damn it." She rubs her hair angrily. "I hate this being kicked back to the start, you know? Having to start from scratch. I did my time at the Atlas City Sorcerer's Guild, I would be quite happy not to set foot in a classroom again, thank you!"

She picks up a gold coin between two fingers, examines it glumly, and then tosses it back in the pile. "And we wouldn't have another two Sairaags on our hands." At least Copy Rezo stuck around for a fight afterwards. But the giant was inert and the dragon high-tailed it outta Avalon, near as anyone could tell.

"Just burns me, is all."

The sarcasm flows past Edelgard; compared to his moralizing it's much easier to take, and she has far more pressing concerns than trying to assuage his guilt. She continues moving in the direction indicated, reaching out with her blood magic to cast as wide a net as possible, looking for any signs of life. Her concentration is only slightly spoiled by Darin's question.

"A few. Not many." She answers in a clipped voice, trying to focus. "At this point we're just trying to save who we can. We can tally them up when all the other groups are back." What she doesn't say is that even with care being provided to at the medical tent that's been set up just outside the city, it's unlikely all the Fey they rescue will make it through the night. Decisions are having to be made, and Edelgard doesn't envy the medics their work.

"Anything?" She asks, once again not actually turning to address Darin, but this time she at least has the excuse of being focused on her magic.

"I will. Thank you." She slides into the room once Beowulf clears the way, taking her time to do so carefully; the building is likely unstable and there's little light to be had.

She bows her head and closes her eyes, once she's found a spot she thinks is stable enough to work. "One moment. I need to concentrate."

Edelgard lets her senses extend outward, upwards above the ceiling, like red tendrils emanating from her body, looking for a specific source; blood, pulsing with life, flowing through veins, spilling out from cuts or wounds...anything that might indicate life. She pushes through the sensations of Beowulf's blood, trying to filter the obvious out. This building had been some sort of tenement...five, maybe six floors. At each new floor, the tendrils split running down long hallways, splitting again to search through doors and rooms, and further, further up.

Her brow knits in concentration, and sweat beads her forehead, not just from the heat. Edelgard makes a mental note to try to refine this process to be less taxing, she's never done this before but she can already tell this method is far to waste—

The tendrils make contact, blood pulsing with life, but weak...old blood, dead blood staining the ground. An injury. Edelgard's eyes open, and she looks up.

"Fourth floor. Someone's up there. Alive, but wounded. We need to get up there fast."

[...delightful.

she sighs softly.]

Well, you may stay as long as you deem necessary. For your safety. Myself, I have no interest in engaging with such creatures for a few hours.

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EVENT ✨ Fall Equinot

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