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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I need another minute!"

Surely she could buy that much time. The injuries aren't that extensive, but it takes longer to mend bones. This one was lucky it was only their hand crushed considering their previous concussion.

Guiding another bone into its place beneath the skin, Naomi chances a look back to see what the other woman was dealing with. Ah, a skeleton; yes, she would be able to handle that once the index finger was reconstructed.

"Well — hurry! If we don't get away from here soon, you'll be patching up far worse injuries than that one!"

But despite the warning, Allura takes a sharp breath in to steady her focus, preparing to fight for as long as it takes — and hoping that the skeleton is the only undead that they'll need to worry about.

She cracks her energy whip, hoping that there might be some response from the monster to the light and sound. That had proven an effective way to scare off animals, and a fight avoided is energy saved for the next fight.

But fear tactics don't work well on abominations. It continues its approach, and so Allura swings the whip up and around, before swinging it forward towards the skeleton. The metal tip strikes a rib, shattering it with a distinctive crack.

Hopefully, Naomi won't panic at the sound while she's setting delicate bone.

Fortunately for the two of them, Naomi's worked under stressful situations perhaps too often. The index finger is delicate, but Naomi puzzles the bone back together and can finally heal the hand completely. The survivor flexes their fingers upon a trembling hand, and looks surprised. Naomi found it took more healing magic when one was trying to treat to the best of their ability without really centralizing where the magic should go. Putting bones back together was nothing new.

"Go take cover. We'll talk in a moment..."

Her patient doesn't take too long to scramble to their feet and move, leaving Naomi to stand and join Allura.

"Sorry about the wait..." she sighs and raises a hand to her neck, nudging her familiar awake. "Eve, do you mind?"

The snake familiar's tongue flicks and she raises herself enough to look at the skeleton. There's always an unpleasantness when it comes to this magic, mainly the smell which Naomi can't quite place her finger on. Either way, once Eve's up and focused, the skeleton is forced to stop.

It takes Allura by surprise to see the enemy stop so suddenly. Her own experience with death magic has been incredibly limited, and none of the other controlling magics seem to be so directly and immediately effective — which might speak to the nature of the unliving, or the nature of death magic.

Her last attack continues on its trajectory, snapping part of the arm off. But she hesitates, looking to Naomi.

"We should get moving." Then, on second thought: "Will it stay like that? It's going to be trouble if it follows after us."

And if she needs to finish it off, she has an idea that will work quicker than whipping it.

Naomi can look over at Allura, but Eve keeps her attention trained on the skeleton.

"Eve can keep it immobilized for a few minutes which should be long enough for us to vacate this area. If we're lucky, someone else will deal with it, too."

Fortunately, there weren't any more people that needed to be rescued here. The next zone they needed to check should be west of here.

"If we're unlucky, the next one to come across it will be a survivor that we've missed."

She gives a small huff, determined but resigned — this is going to be a strain, and a waste of time if there's more undead approaching. But her sense of responsibility demands that she take care of it.

And with that thought in mind, she starts to approach the skeleton. As she does, she shifts her bayard from its whip form back into a handle, and pockets it. If this is going to work, she'll need to actually touch the creature.

"If you let me get close enough and drop your spell, I should be able to siphon away its power and reduce it to a pile of bones."

If your first thought is that this is a risky plan that will put Allura in danger, then congratulations — you're absolutely right.

"If it wasn't secondary magic, I might be able to do more, but I need to reserve my magic for healing."

Eve would have to handle the heavy lifting should they have anymore undead encounters, but overcoming the Land of Rot's enchantments were almost too much even for the native familiar. Blinking, she watches the other woman approach the skeleton just by a few steps.

"Hm... she should be able to hold it until you're ready..."

Naomi doesn't like the plan, but it's a plan to have. And if it dealt with the skeleton, it would be better than trusting someone to appear and dismantle it.

She nods firmly. Her own magic doesn't need to be kept in reserve — all the more reason to use it, even if this requires her own difficult secondary magic.

"This is more than enough. ... all right, Naomi. Release it!"

And she waits until the skeleton moves again, so she doesn't accidentally drain some of the healer's magic. Swiftly, she grabs the monster from behind, grabbing the remaining arm in a shoulder lock — and pushes the rest of the body against the ground, just in case the lack of muscle makes the hold ineffective.

From this position, she starts draining the energy out of the creature, drawing it in through the palms of her hands. And thankfully, whether it's because she's dealing with a mindless thing or some sort of weakling, it doesn't take as long as draining a person might. It only takes moments before the skeleton starts to crumble, falling apart piece by piece into a pile of dried-out bones.

It also provides a surprising amount of energy, as much as absorbing a tremendous curse might. Right away, she can feel the energy burning in her muscles, and Allura shudders slightly as she rises back up on her feet.

Naomi herself doesn't do anything, but at Allura's call, Eve lets go.

It doesn't take long for the skeleton to start trying to move again, Allura grabs its just in time before it can swing around. Down it goes, and once it's drained, it ceases movement. Naomi remains a distance to avoid accidentally drawn by the magic herself, but she doesn't think - since Allura's in contact with the skeleton - that it would be an issue.

Only when Allura seems to be finished does Naomi approach, raising an eyebrow. The other woman had shuddered. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

It's not the most convincing response. In fact, it's almost dismissive — as if she's not fine in the sense that there's nothing wrong, but that the problem is nothing beyond what she can handle. I'm fine — so please, save your concern for others.

But thankfully, she's not too cagey about the specifics. Especially since she's stretching to pull and flex the muscles in her forearm, as if trying to help the blood circulation.

"It does take me a moment to adjust after siphoning energy, particularly from something as rich in magic as that undead. But it will make me stronger, too... for a while, at least."

She would be right, it isn't the most convincing response, but Naomi says nothing about it anyway. However, she would keep a closer eye on Allura now, and that wouldn't change until they separated or departed from Lestari.

And yes, at least she isn't hiding what's the cause.

"I see. Well, let's try putting that new strength to use. There's still a few areas that need to be searched."

The only problem was there was a higher chance of encountering something hostile.

"Right. Let's start making our way towards the center of the site. There's far more rubble to dig through, and likely more people to be found."

And with any luck, that way would also have less undead wandering in, since they would have to navigate the rubble first. It's one of the advantages in dealing with monsters, which act opportunistically rather than with a tactical plan.

In fact, if they had more time to plan their response, she would have suggested they set up something to bait animals and undead away from the area. It would be far more effective than battling them as they came in. But the whole situation was a scramble, and spending that sort of time could mean more lives lost.

They would simply have to make up the difference with effort.

So, while she's still listening for Naomi's response, she doesn't wait for agreement before starting to move.

Naomi doesn't need to respond. She merely nods, and moves towards the center alongside Allura.

The issue with responding to any emergency situation were conditions would be less-than ideal to work in. But whether still under siege or anticipating further pending disaster, all they could do now was try. If their extra hands could find the time to bait or deter any of the faes or monsters that continued to trouble them, it would be great, but their assistance was needed for the debris and fallen rocks.

... At least those could serve as projectiles to a few people.

"How do you think the other groups are fairing?"

Her heart twists a little at the thought.

"I believe that they're capable. I truly, sincerely do. ... but... by dividing like this, our strength has been stretched to its thinnest. And yet, it sounds as though the plan is for both teams to fight back with brute force. I can only hope they have sounder tactics prepared..."

But not being sure is enough to doubt her own choices. After all, she knows a lot about leading a small team against a tremendous enemy. Even on the way here, she was discussing the larger situation, and formulating the best strategy in her mind to protect both locations.

Sure, she's pulling her weight here... but would she have been more useful on another team? It's not something she wants to dwell on. Those doubts would always be there, no matter which choice she made.

"Regardless, the most we can do now is keep our faith in them, and stay focused on our own mission."

"Hmm..."

Though Naomi wasn't well-versed in the realm of all things fantastic, it'd be hard not to know dragons were always considered difficult to fight. As well, one needn't be versed to know a Stone Giant may require alternate solutions to manage than brute force.

Should Naomi decided to go for either, it would be unwise - emergency rescue missions were her element. Seeing doctors tend to the wounded and stay focused, ordering those who could not heal on how to move and maintain patients that required attention, but not immediate; yes, this was her place.

"... Yes, I agree. Now then, which pile do we want to search first?"

Which one, indeed? Was it possible to deduce anything about the piles from the outside? There were larger ones, smaller ones... one might have more people, but might have been more lethal.

"Unless we find a blood mage, I don't think we have a way to sense anyone. Not unless your magic can help us find spots with the most deceased, and hope that there's more survivors there as well." A morbid plan, and not the most accurate.

"I could also try to use astral projection to search beneath the rubble, before we move it... though it's not something I've had much practice with, yet."

"Or, failing that, we could simply pick one at random and hope for the best."

"The best I can offer is Eve..." And at her name again, the snake on her neck shifts. "She's a familiar, but she's still a snake. Traversing through rubble and detecting heat should be simple enough. However, that would take time..."

And they probably wouldn't have enough time.

"... all I could offer besides that would mean the survivor we're looking for may require another practiced mage so they can be among the living again. And I might not be able to use healing magic for some time." Which wouldn't be beneficial. "What about your familiar?"

"My familiar? It's right over there."

She points at... something that's blending in quite well with the rubble. A rock, about the size of the melon, which has been discretely rolling around nearby. There are some jagged parts on it that almost look like the quills of a rolled-up hedgehog.

"It has some empathic abilities, but those are strongest for beings that touch it. I'm not sure if it could be much use in this scenario..."

Or most scenarios, if Allura is being honest. But it does seem to make up for that with magical potential.

"Still, if you have your familiar... between the two of us, we could each start searching through a pile. That way, the first one to find something can alert the other, and we can dig them out."

... Naomi wasn't sure what sort of creature she was looking at. Maybe it was a hedgehog; a rocky hedgehog, but there was still something off enough that she could figure it wasn't.

"Hm... there's no harm in seeing if they could still be useful."

Or not. What was it doing right now anyway besides following along?

"Yes, that might be our best option for now."

It's fine, Naomi. It's not a creature you would normally see on the surface of a planet, so the confusion is normal. At the moment, it seems to be... slowly rolling its way through the rubble. It's not clear if it's simply following whatever paths were made by the debris, or if it's being drawn towards particular piles by its empathic powers.

Though it does seem to be moving towards one larger pile in particular.

Allura fails to notice this, because she's trying to find a safe spot to set up for astral projection. "While the spell is active, I won't be in my body — but my spirit should be within earshot. So if you see danger approaching, call out to me."

Naomi does notice the odd creature's movements as does Eve. Neither of them have any idea if the other familiar does have a lead, but it wasn't like they knew where to start either. So, the doctor lets her familiar slither to the ground and follow the other to the pile it seems headed towards. Any potential lead was a good lead.

And with that done, Naomi turns back to Allura. "I can do that..."

Though, now she wonders if she'd see Allura as a projection anyway as it would be her spirit.

As it so happens, that could be possible, if Naomi attempts to spot her beyond the veil.

What she does see is Allura taking a seat in a meditative pose, and an image of herself rising from the spot, an ethereal image seemingly made of light, which soon dissipates into sparkling motes of magic energy. From there, she goes walking — and if Naomi does keep watching her, she'll see the projection of Allura approach a different pile, and hesitate as she tries to figure out how to descend. She's been moving along the ground, but that must just be a trick of her own perception, right?

And then she starts to sink into the rubble, slowly but steadily. Part of the reason for pacing herself is to give herself a chance to look around and search her surroundings. But more importantly, she wants to maintain control of herself, as if there's reason to worry that she might start falling down below the surface of the planet.

It's an improvement over her previous times using this technique, allowing her to travel further and hold the state for longer. Which is why it's a shame she doesn't seem to be finding much of anything.

However, given that Allura's familiar was indeed picking up a faint trail as if it were a magnetic field, Naomi's familiar might have better luck as it descends through the gaps between pieces of rubble.

It takes a little effort on Naomi's part, but she does see Allura leaving her body - but then stops paying attention for a moment to keep an eye out. Without her familiar - and with Allura's doing... whatever it was - she has to keep guard. Still, when nothing appears present that is hostile, she focuses again.

... And now what's Allura doing? Sinking into the ground? She could just walk through the rubble unabated and search without worrying about going through the floor. Or maybe she's making sure she doesn't go through the ground. Huh, that would be a problem taking on an incorporeal form she guesses - and perhaps more so when done via magic unlike dead spirits.

Stopping her powers again when a voice echos in the back of her mind, Naomi turns her head.

"... Seems our familiars may have located something. Try searching by them."

The voice comes through to Allura, but soft and distorted, with most of the sound absorbed by the rubble itself. After all, her astral self hadn't left with just her sense of sight, but all which could conceivably still apply to an incorporeal body.

In fact, the disconnect with her physical body is great enough that rather than reply verbally, she finds it easier to send her response telepathically:

"All right. Let me go take a look."

It's again quite a strange experience, moving through so much solid matter again. But she takes that option anyway, since it seems conceptually easier than having to go up and then back down. But before she can see what the familiars have found (or much of anything, really), she discovers it herself by finding something that she can't pass through.

After all, an astral projection cannot possess other living things.

And so, it's only shortly after that she breaks the astral projection, briefly reeling back as if her spirit had slingshotted back into her body. "There's someone in there. They're trapped, but it shouldn't take long to uncover them." As she explains, she rises to her feet, and makes a beeline towards the location to start removing the top pieces.

If Allura didn't send her message telepathically, Naomi would be concerned that she hadn't heard. And if that turned out to be the case, would've attempted talking to her body directly to see if her astral body would hear better that way.

But that message is clear, and Naomi stands... guard (she really shouldn't be the one standing guard) while Allura has a look.

The doctor snaps her attention when she hears Allura speak, back in her body again. Ah, so, the familiars had discovered someone. Good job on their part, and now the digging out was up to them. Joining in removing the rubble from this survivor, Eve would at least be with them while they dug and taking care of any injuries that might need immediate attention.

EVENT ✨ Fall Equinot

B-2

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here, have a helpful icon of the familiar

yay

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