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

"Tch."

Of course he avoided the issue. Archimedes pinches the bridge of his nose for a moment, his frown deepening (almost impossibly - a person shouldn't be able to frown that hard) before he looks up.

"You're no good to anyone if you push yourself too hard, wizard." It could be mistaken for caring, really, if not for the thick layer of annoyance over his words. "The king needs you able to function."

"Careful there, you almost sound like you care about me", Merlin said with a chuckle. Though he's pretty sure Archimedes does care, but just doesn't like showing it. Most likely because Merlin would be annoying about it.

"You worry too much, I'm completely fine. We had plenty of help here, after all." If he had been him and a just a few Otherworlders, things might be a little different. "But I never say no to a ride back."

Archimedes cares in his own way. A gruff, abrupt, rough kind of way that makes it clear he far prefers animals over people, but hasn't quite dismissed people entirely. He glances around with a speculative expression when Merlin comments on the help, and presses his lips together for a moment.

"Surprised to see this many of them here." He makes that comment without further explanation, then shrugs stiffly.

"Brought you a horse. Outside." Then he frowns again. "Knew you'd be working yourself to the bone like a fool down here."

"I was a bit surprised too, admittedly." Whatever else he wants to say about the situation he would say to Arthur. Once he settled down a bit. No doubt Arthur would be working himself exhausted, especially after fighting a dragon. He'd have to keep an eye on the King.

Merlin would comment on his frown staying on his face if he kept that up, but he's pretty sure it's too late for that. "Thanks Archie. I think we're good to go. There's a lot to do in Camelot now."

"Mm."

Taciturn as always, what little Archimedes decides to say often speaks volumes more to someone who knows how to read it. Merlin, though the horsemaster would immediately refute such a claim, is unfortunately one such person. It isn't that he's unbothered by what happened here, only that... it was painfully inevitable, in a way.

"I'll come back with you." He may have a few words for the king, himself. "Come on. Had to leave them alone and they'll be getting skittish."

"Let's hope no one is stupid enough to try and steal your horses. They wouldn't know what hit them." Not that Archimedes' horses would be easy to steal, but one could always try. He'd rather not deal with the consequences though.

Merlin turns to face the right direction and starts walking away.

"And that would be before I got to them," Archimedes mutters as he follows, clearly disliking the very idea of someone messing with the mounts he left tied up outside the half-collapsed entrance to the city.

He walks a few steps behind Merlin, watching the man's back carefully for any signs that he had overworked himself while he was down here. If there's any sign of it at all, he'll place the palm of his hand lightly against the back of the wizard's shoulder to steady him up.

"Most people got out?"

Despite saying he's fine, he did go a little overboard. Those giant boulders didn't lift themselves, after all. So Archimedes is right in supporting him and Merlin is grateful, even if he doesn't say anything. Not right now at least.

"Yeah. We succeeded as well as we could have. Camelot will be hosting a lot of refugees now... especially with the ones from Celliwig joining us as well."

Better to not draw attention to such things. Let small kindnesses be what what they are and nothing more than that.

"It's going to be crowded," he says thoughtfully. "No preparation for this kind of thing."

Archimedes chooses to live away from Camelot, but he's well aware of its infrastructure and the availabilty of living space. With the refugees from two towns heading into it, the city would quickly become busier than it ever had been before.

"Expecting some friction, I'd imagine." It doesn't really sound like a question to be answered, rather an idle observation. "Isn't going to be easy."

"Especially when new arrivals from other worlds will be arriving as usual." They couldn't afford to stop that from happening, they needed all they could get.

"Might be a good idea to inform the newcomers next month that it's a bit crowded and rooming together is likely required so they can try and make friends on their way to Camelot."

Sigh...

He's already irritable enough about being the welcome wagon, don't give him the job of explaining all these events to every bedraggled newcomer who drags their sorry self up the cliff. As far as he's concerned that's not within the scope of his responsibilities.

"Sounds like you're volunteering for that job, Merlin. How kind of you."

"Well, I can write you a speech that you just have to recite to everyone you meet", Merlin said with a light grin, knowing how much Archimedes hates talking to people.

"I'll record a message and apply it on every phone, so when they're opened it plays out. That works, right? Most people check their phones."

He visibly resists the urge to roll his eyes.

"If you don't, I'm just going to put up a sign." Archimedes does not have the time - nor the inclination, in any way - to rattle off the same speech to fifteen or more people as well as answering all the normal questions that they have.

"And I'm not taking anyone on at the stables. There isn't the room."

"You know, that would work too. Maybe we should put both, in case some don't open their phones", Merlin says with a thoughtful hum.

At least then no one can say they didn't try to warn them.

"No one's expecting you to."

Archimedes shoots Merlin a speculative look as they walk. From the expression it's abundantly clear that he does not quite trust Merlin's sudden altruism.

"No one's expecting me to yet," he corrects gruffly, shaking his head. "Going to need shelters setting up. I'll come and lend help with that."

Be that help in the form of horses to move supplies, or his own two hands. He doesn't intend to be stingy while there are multiple crises going on. Still, he doesn't have to like it. The large man sighs, then glances across at the wizard and thinks for a moment before speaking again.

"... Sure you're all right, Merlin?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

EVENT ✨ Fall Equinot

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