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 doubt it. When they want to stay out of sight, they make a particular effort to do so. They seem to take the 'dark web' moniker fairly seriously, and yet can be found well enough to get paid.

[he would find it odd that an otherwise peaceful city should have its underbelly but as of late his opinion on Arthur's ability to maintain law and order has soured. Now, the dark web isn't surprising in the least]

Of course, if you'd feel better with a bodyguard hanging around, I'm sure there's a few people who could use a steady job.

Would that I had the coin to spare. [but making enough to keep herself fed and dressed between her Ambassador duties doesn't leave her much spending money for such things. she shakes her head a little.] No, I'll just have to manage things on my own, so long as the circumstances remain safe enough to do so.

The moment one of those wretched lynchings appears silhouetted at my door, though... [she shivers.]

[hmm, he'd heard something about that, but where?]

Is that a major concern, still? I should hate to think anyone, particularly otherworlders, would be at risk from native assassins.

Our contingent of animal mages certainly were hard-targeted not too long ago. [she thinks of Keith, coming across him so haggard and barely able to stand. her expression darkens.]

It makes me wonder...whether the risks to outworlder safety will increase...as even a small percentage of them grow in strength.

Yeah, so I noticed. [with an unmistakeable undercurrent of discontent; anyone whose strategy is "idk just kill people until you get the right one!" is no one worth considering. If the bounty on this idiot goes on the board, Geddoe will step right up to collect] I want to think it's over, but you have a point. We don't really know.

It begs the question: if we need these powers against the calamity, how much is too much? Do they mean to control us by swapping our native magic for this, and is it going to backfire?

...all right that's two questions. Still. [you get what he's selling, right?]

[she gets it.

still looking ahead, her eyes follow the dim lines that the candlelight traces along buildings and their interwoven flora.]

I've begun to suspect this is an issue that may span the lifetimes of some here.

[the worst assessment possible. He might have to admit to something otherwise secret]

Some. As in...anyone who doesn't have an artificial means of eternal life, I take it. Which might be most of the young ones I see on the phone, who don't have magic where they come from.

[well, if she's really going to be sharing theories tonight:] No means at all? That's supposing the familiar system isn't designed with a means to prolong shorter lives.

What's a battery if it fails to keep charge long enough?

[first, a long "hmmm" of deep thoughts]

You know, I have yet to figure out the familiars at all. Mine doesn't even hang around much, which isn't exactly a complaint...

[even as he says it, he looks around. The floating purple furball is hard to miss, even though it's barely the size of a basketball, but it clearly isn't anywhere within sight. Which is fine, maybe? Geddoe has only ever fought them, he doesn't even know what they actually eat. If familiars need to eat...]

Though you're right, I guess. What else would be the point? The magic here being different entirely, that is. It has to work with whatever they have.

[she glances Geddoe's way briefly, frowning.]

You do not collaborate closely with it? How else do you cast your magic?

[beat.

wait. squint:] Do you cast magic at all, then?

Sometimes.

[casually. Apparently he's been super lucky in the limited times he's used his lightning coinciding with his purple idiot being somewhere behind him?]

I've managed to re-created most of the spells I was used to but to be quite honest, my sword has been of far more use than their idea of lightning. So far, anyway.

[...]

But that creature...still needs to aid you in those spells, yes? Don't tell me you've found a way to cast untethered. [because if he has, she needs the deets now.]

I hadn't thought about it...

[it is a little hilarious that he's gotten so lucky, the few times he's had to tear out a spell, but to be fair, he only ever uses magic in combat and the combat opportunities here have been so few and far between that, naturally, his furfly always catches up to him by the time he needs it. Contemplating this leaves Geddoe a little distracted as he wanders behind her, looking at his gloved Rune-hand in mystery.

And of course, as if on cue, the purple furball floats casually out of a nearby alley, about twenty feet ahead of them. So now it's harder to test that theory.]

I only hope they aren't some sort of manifestation of our inner selves or whatever. I'd hate to think my sense of direction was that bad. [as he looks up, spots it, and sighs] Of course, we summoned it after all.

We? [excuse you, don't hold her accountable for your own familiar woes! that said, seeing the oddity makes her stop in her tracks, apprehensive.]

[yeah yeah he's the one talking about it, so if the furfly came by because its ears were burning, that's on him. That is, if it even has ears. As it drifts closer, it's easy to see that it's just a floating ball of shaggy, purple fur and a pair of beady black eyes - nothing that resembles a mouth or literally anything else. Definitely not as cute as a furball ought to be.]

Every time I see the damn thing, I still have to squash down the instinct to attack it. They're persistent predators back home, not pets.

[now that the initial alarm has subsided, Cecelia quirks an eyebrow and peers sidelong Geddoe's way.]

Familiars are tied to things related to ourselves in broader or more detailed ways...what does it say that you've found yourself with one you find so distasteful?

[oh sure she just had to go there...]

I don't know. I've killed a lot of them, maybe it's haunting me on behalf of the spirits of its dead brethren?

[it probably does say a lot beyond mere humorous irony, and the look on his face dares her to try to analyze him to figure out what that might be.

All the while a purple furball floats around them, as if inspecting the new friend!]

[dryly:] The form of a shackle and chain would be less literal than this thing, then? [so this is a fuzzy, purple metaphor. right. fair enough. Cecelia eyeballs it with all the wariness of a disinterested cat before moving to evade it and continue on her walk.]

[that actually gets a chuckle out of him. Good work, Cecelia. The furfly swoops around but is easily left behind as they walk on - barely, it drifts a fair number of paces behind but there's no completely shaking it now that it knows where its master is]

Has anyone of a magical bent done any sort of survey to find out how familiars and their people relate to one another? In symbolic sense, I mean. I don't have time to indulge further curiosities but now I am somewhat curious.

[but he has time to idle chatting with her, hm? she'd point that out, but...engh. it'd be combativeness for little reward.]

Familiars are, from what I have seen, familiar. Native species, pets or favored creatures...something that might reflect an aspect of personality or title. As broad as it seems to be, it's also rather narrowed and relative to the person its attached to.

[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.]

[Cecelia feels a small flare of irritation at his words. so, what -- he's just putzing around, contributing nothing to the collective need for magical cultivation? gads.]

Dismissing such aspects does you no favors, if you were to ask me. Engaging in something of a dialogue with the familiar tethered to you may open up new avenues of thought or innovation previously not considered.

[hmm, he can't argue that. Private magic advice is always welcome.]

...can there be a dialogue if it doesn't have a mouth?

Have you no acquaintance with conversations of other natures, sir? Meetings of the minds don't always need words. [a touch airy:] I'd have assumed such things already understood, given your years and your own, withdrawn disposition.

Actually, no. Such magics aren't used where I'm from, I've only heard of them here.

[he's silent for a moment, as they stroll on. Thinking. What can he do with that information? Something in the future, not exactly now.]

I'll have to consider it. You're a real fount of knowledge, Miss Ardenbury. I appreciate it.

EVENT ✨ Fall Equinot

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