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

"Kinetic and Death magic."

He covers ground quickly. He hasn't only been training his magic here, but his body as well; obsessed with keeping in top form.

"The fires will spread if left unchecked. How much, I don't know." He's not too clear on the specifics of the building materials used in the city. "But if you want to limit the damage, or help get people to safety, I recommend you work with someone that uses elemental magic."

"Cool. What's Death Magic like anyway?"

They're probably heading on into chaos again, but they can have a discussion until they get there.

"The buildings in Celliwig weren't made of the usual materials. Might change how intense the fires are too." Like, he doesn't think the Hall has been destroyed or Diamond Falls, but the rest? Questionable - and it would speak to how dangerous dragons could be. "Yeah, I'll see who I can find to help with that."

"It's not glamourous. You can reanimate the dead, control the undead like puppets, or exorcise spirits and talk to ghosts."

He doesn't ask what bargaining magic is like. He remembers enough of the old fairy tales to imagine he can make a good guess.

"Huh... Have any good conversations with a ghost before?"

Yeah, he already had the right idea of what bargaining magic was like. Zidane would only be verifying that.

"I have." He actually finds them easier to talk to than the living, most of the time, but refrains from articulating this particular point.

Continuing towards the river, he thinks of the souls trapped in Loch Manor. Did they escape the pull of that enormous golem, he wonders? Or were they dragged in like the rest?

"And you? Make any interesting bargains?"

Maybe Zidane wants to hear about what conversations he's had... but maybe not. Or he just knows now isn't the time to ask for details. Yeah, it's likely the latter going on.

"The fire lions were still the coolest I think. Short, but worth it."

"Perhaps we can trade stories some other time." Just not now. What with cities collapsing and burning and all.

Fortunately, their journey to the river does not take too long. Yet, they're still north of where they need to be; the bridge lies to the south.

"Sure! What's your name?"

Because that would help him either contact him or just remember this for later. And that would be the river coming up. Good start, but they're still off from the bridge.

"Walter. And yours?"

A name for a name. It would be odd if they talked later and only one of them knew what to call the other.

"Zidane. Nice to meet you!"

Walter would be easy enough to remember. Also, that would finally be the bridge coming in sight.

"As nice as meeting someone under these circumstances can be."

And there. That's the bridge.

"You go on ahead and cross the bridge. I'll cross here and meet you on the other side."

"Hah, true!"

The circumstances could be better, but take what you can get sometimes.

"Alright, see you there."

Everyone's got their secrets to hide he supposed. He headed across the bridge alone.

While Zidane makes for the bridge, Walter makes to cross at the point upriver that, while not narrower, is less likely to have the magic-nullifying warding that the bridge has. But, just to be sure, he gets a good running start before pushing off to throw himself forward with his kinetic magic; something he expected to be able to manage for himself, but not as likely for the both of them, given how much energy he'd used before.

Once across, he gives himself a spare few seconds to catch his breath before making to meet the other boy as agreed.

Zidane crosses the bridge as usual, but he wonders if it's been affected by the destruction of Celliwig. Something just felt different crossing it, but he's not going to think about it right now. When he sees Walter appear and coming over, he nods. Once met up, they can head on to the city proper - or at least, what remains.

As Walter approaches, he pulls two things from his satchel; the totem magically linked to the statue in Celliwig, and a simple chrome lighter, the lid of which he flips open without ceremony before striking the flint wheel to catch the wick alight.

"Once this burns, we'll walk through the smoke and it should take us directly to the city."

That small direction given, he touches the flame to the totem, waiting for the fire to catch and spread.

He nods, looking between the totem... and with a little more interest at the lighter. Oh... he should get one of those.

"I've used a totem or two before. Let's just be ready for anything."

Even if the dragon might be gone, there'd be fires, rubble, and the usual destruction.

"Right."

It's not his first burning city, but there's bound to be one or two things he hasn't experienced there before; a dragon is involved, and there's bound to be one or two places with potions in them. Who knows how those react to fire.

The totem burns, filling the air with smoke.

"Let's go."

EVENT ✨ Fall Equinot

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I am so late, work and life ate me...;;

You're all good!

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