isleofavalon | 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

[He had to be sure. That a third party didn't sabotage their attempts to defend the city, that something else didn't go horribly wrong. In this case, it seems they simply weren't strong enough.

There's a shadowy, stag-like form following after Claude, which picks its way into the ruins, untouched by the flames... presumably looking to aid the souls of those already lost. Claude allows it to go on ahead without him.]

So even Byleth and Edelgard couldn't... [He mutters under his breath, more to himself than to Darin. He focuses back on the other man, and offers him a hand.]

Are you hurt? Can you stand?

[If Claude is observant, he might notice that the mention of Edelgard’s name makes Darin’s muscles tense up like steel cords despite showing no other outward emotion. He was just waiting for the Emperor to storm over and lay the blame at his feet.]

[Whatever. She wouldn’t be wrong. He’ll own to his mistakes, his crimes, when the time came for it. Honestly, maybe it would be best for everyone if he was just thrown in chains for the part he played in this catastrophe.]

[He looks at Claude’s offered hand like it was some kind of foreign object he’d never born witness to before.]

I’m not the one you should be helping. I’m alive. I’m not even wounded.

Tend to the people I can’t.

[Claude does notice that tension. He's seen it before in his soldiers who have encountered Edelgard on the battlefield and survived to tell the tale. He's not sure what the story is here, exactly, but now isn't the time to ask it.] You're the first survivor I've found.

[Tend to who? is what he wants to say, though he decides to phrase it in a way that's less blunt. Still, he drops his hand, steps back.]

I'm going to look around for others. I could use your help, if you'll come.

[Slowly, he gets to his feet.]

I wouldn’t call me a survivor. I wasn’t here when the city was razed to the ground. I was out there. Trying to stop the dragon.

I should have been here.

[Whether that means he believes he should have been here to help or…something far more ominous, it’s hard to say.]

…Are you hurt? I’m a healer. I can at least take away some of your exhaustion if you’re going to look…

Here? [He repeats that incredulously. Surely his efforts were better served trying to stop the dragon than--

Oh. Best not to go down whatever dark path that leads to, and focus instead on what they can do here and now.]

My wounds have already been seen to, but I could use a pick-me-up if you have the magic to spare. I used most of my energy against the giant.

[Darin’s eyes suddenly regain some fire. That’s right! There was more than just the dragon!]

[He clasps Claude’s shoulder in a firm grip and sends a powerful surge of soothing, healing energy through him to remove whatever fatigue he might have.]

That’s right! The giant! What happened to the giant!

And Lestari?! Is there any news on Lestari?!

[Oh gods Allura was there. Was she alright?!]

[Claude looks briefly startled when Darin seems to spring back to life, though he soon collects himself. The magic is at least a little reprieve from his exhaustion, and he can feel his energy beginning to return.]

Summoning the spirit guardians was a success. [He nods on to where the shadowy deer has gone on ahead.] But I'm afraid we couldn't stop the giant. We threw everything we had at it... but it only stopped after it absorbed all the spirits trapped in the Forest of the Felled. Now they're all-- gone.

[Not 'moved on', but gone. Perhaps why his shadowy companion is so keen to make sure any lost spirits here don't meet the same end.]

I haven't heard from Lestari yet. I saw the smoke, so I came here as fast as I could.

[If there was a quicker way for someone to completely destroy Darin, that was it. His eyes go wide and his hand falls from Claude's shoulder.]

No...

[Gods above...how could this have happened? After everything they'd done to try and secure peace, after everything they'd done to help.]

[Oh gods what about Allura? If nothing was known about Lestari, was she...? He could feel his heart grow cold and somewhere, deep down, that feeling he'd known when Caster cursed him was creeping into his awareness. That complete despair of losing everything he cared about. If Allura was gone...]

[What was the point...?]

[He could try and contact her but...what would happen if she didn't answer? Could he bear that right now?]

[He takes a wobbly step back, but his legs don't support him. He falls backwards onto his rear and just...sits there.]

[Where did he go wrong...? He should never have tried to save the dragon. If it weren't for him, the dragon wouldn't have gotten away. He could have helped shift the tide against the giant or...or better yet, put his healing to use in Lestari...! Then maybe...]

[He looks up at Claude...but he doesn't so much look at him as he looks through him.]

What have I done...?

[The guy's clearly not okay. Claude waves a hand in front of his face and addresses him in an uncharacteristically stern tone.]

Hey! Stay with me. Whatever you have or haven't done, there are people in these ruins right now whose lives still hang in the balance. Are you going to come help, or waste time feeling sorry for yourself?

[He doesn't wait for an answer, already moving to mount his horse.]

... ... ...

[Darin stares after Claude. He was right. Obviously. He can deal with his guilt later, once the ruins have been swept and survivors tended to. At least doing this will keep his mind off of the fear eating away at his gut.]

Wait up. I'll...I'll help.

I have to do something.

All right. Hop on.

[Claude pats the saddle behind him; they'll cover more ground this way than on foot, and he'd rather not lead the horse around by the reins should anything spook it.]

First, we'll do a quick sweep of area and see if we can spot anyone nearby. Do you have any magic that can put out flames?

[Wearily, Darin climbs atop the horse and rests in the saddle.]

No, I'm a healer and a blood mage. I can sense pulses and I've still enough stamina to heal anyone we find but if we can't get to them, then we'll have to work around that the hard way.

...Though, I imagine anyone still alive would likely have been found. That Empress had a whole contingent of blood mages with her.

EVENT ✨ Fall Equinot

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