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

Morgan nodded.

"Part of my philosophy is... that there is always a right answer, but you aren't always able to achieve the right answers. So you have to settle for the least wrong one. And then, and this is the important part, analyze what it would take to achieve the right answer. Where you can grow, work to do so. Where you can't, accept it, and understand that sometimes choosing the least wrong answer is the only thing you can do."

Shifting slightly, Morgan looked up at nothing in particular.

"Like in this case, the right answer was to stop the dragon, prevent the collapse, and stop the stone golem before it ever caused trouble. That's not within our power at all! I find it helps to think of it that way, because it puts in perspective what you did do, and how much it was."

She tries to think that idea through for herself. What would it have taken here, in Lestari, to save everyone? Hold the entire city up with magic? Even magic has limits. The stone giant, that was what set this all off. But why did the giant move? She hasn't been able to really look into that, if anybody even knows. And why was there a city built under a giant holding up a ton of rocks, anyway? She just doesn't get it.

She shifts as well, wrapping her arms around Morgan's middle and tucking her head into his chin.

"It's so stupid," she begins quietly, feeling tears finally start to prick at her eyes.

"So many people hurt and killed, for nothing. It's so pointless. None of this should have happened. None of it had to happen." She doubts it would be any easier to take if it was a natural disaster like an earthquake, but it adds an extra sting.

"Saying 'it sucks' is kind of mild." Though he doesn't have much more for a description, so that would have to do. His other arm went around her in turn, tugging her a little closer. "But there's no purpose to it, there's no determinant. Bad things happen, same as good. That's just life."

"Life is stupid," she declares childishly.

She knows. She knows the world isn't just, or even logical, and she doesn't really expect it to be. It just emphasizes how powerless she really is against this kind of thing, and right now she doesn't have the energy to set her own strength against that thought.

Instead she clings to Morgan's strength, letting herself feel protected in his arms. She holds him tighter, crying silently into his shirt. She's too tired to sob.

These were the worst moments.

Someone he cares about was hurting, and he could do nothing himself to alleviate it. He held her, let her work it out of her system, and did what he could to share her burden, and rationally he knew that was all he could do. But it sucked. He wanted to do more. Make it better. Make the pain stop.

For all that he was better, these days, than he once had been, this was still one place where he had a lot to learn.

"I'm glad you care," he finally murmured.

Edited (someone told me, "this tag would be better without u") 2021-09-29 14:09 (UTC)

She cries herself out, nearly falling asleep on his shoulder. When he speaks again she sniffles and rubs her face on one arm. At least she didn't get his shirt too wet. God, but her head hurts now.

"You too," she answers, tight throat making her voice squeak. She turns her head to rest against his chest, giving herself a little more room to breathe. She sniffles again.

"I need to restock. My magic's tapped out and I don't know when it'll be back." She raises a hand to demonstrate, producing a single spark of light that flickers out immediately.

"I've still got a little in the tank." Morgan was pretty strong and pretty quick, but sheer endurance was where he truly shined. Times like this left him grateful for that, when he really had to go all-out for such long periods that anything less would leave him exhausted and immobile. "Plus it's not like I even touched my Bargaining. Guess that's coming in once we need to take care of everyone longer term."

Steph's never had to use so much magic before, so she's only just discovered her limit. And since her familiar was asleep, there was nobody to warn her that she was getting close to it. She has yet to realize how much it's contributing to her exhaustion.

"I have medical training," she notes, then yawns. "As long as we have supplies I can keep working."

"You need a break," Morgan said, immediately. "Physically and emotionally both."

No way would she break down the way she just had if she had any strength left to hold it together, he's sure of that much. "And don't even start arguing with me, because I have a valid counterargument for everything you could possibly say. When's the last time you had something to eat?"

She jolts upright, already starting to protest. It takes her a second to remember when her last meal was.

"Umm... 7." So, only a handful of hours ago! Of course, it was just a granola bar, but he doesn't need to know that.

Sitting properly face-to-face, though, it may be rather obvious that she's only had a few hours of real sleep over the last few days.

Look, he wasn't even gonna ask about sleep. He figures if he can get her to slow down just a bit, her body will do the rest of the work.

"Then you need a meal, and so do I. Let's see what we can do towards finding one, huh?"

And privately, he sure hoped she didn't think to call him out on how he's now pushing on through tiredness and a need for a rest to take care of her, because he didn't really have a good answer for that one!

Luckily for him, she's too out of it to think of asking just now. Food shouldn't take too long, and then she can restock on supplies and head back to work. Maybe an hour or two of sleep by the ruins. She hasn't been able to sleep much more than that at a time since the mountain fell.

"Okay. I've got granola bars in my backpack, but that's it."

"There's a bunch of spots where people are cooking for whoever shows up. We'll just hit up one of those."

With a grunt, he got back to his feet, then stuck down a hand to help her in turn.

She takes the offered hand and heaves herself up with much more difficulty than she would like. She needs to build up some momentum again.

"Has anyone set up supply tents? I don't want to raid the hospital tents but-" She yawns hugely, then grimaces in disgust at herself. She was planning to nap, really! Stupid body.

"-I don't want to go all the way back to town either."

He's just gonna keep ahold of that hand. If nothing else, that'll keep her from escaping till he can make sure she's in better shape.

"Yeah, there's stations for both rescuers and rescuees, not that anyone's really counting which is which right now. And people actually doing some cooking, because they can contribute that if nothing else."

Easier to admire people like that than himself and Steph, really. When you're physically fit and mentally used to dealing with disaster, pitching in to help doesn't take a lot of effort. But people who don't have those skills and still find the will and a way to help are admirable.

She keeps hold of his hand herself, still feeling vulnerable and drained. Even if she thought of trying to escape she wouldn't make it very far.

The thought of all that civilian support makes her smile, though it's small. In Gotham you tend to see the worst in people when a crisis hits. Every time someone sticks around to help it warms her heart.

"Mmm, maybe they're sharing tents. Save us a trip."

Avalon was literally built out of heroic ideals, wasn't it? It had certain advantages, when it came to influencing its residents.

"Hell, I could probably sleep wherever I sat. If the tents are full, I don't care."

"I more meant the bandages and stuff, but that too." She yawns again. Falling asleep is not going to be a problem. It's staying asleep that she's been having trouble with, between roughing it and nightmares about dead and dying bodies.

"You got anything worse than a scrape?" Morgan asked that casually, but his eyes flicked over to lock on her. Go on. Lie to him, see how well you can get away with it!

Hell, from what he'd seen so far, Morgan would lay money on Steph being the sort who'd ignore bone breaks as much as physiologically possible, if the pressure was on. Which it sure had been.

"...I don't think so..." She doesn't meet his gaze, because she has to actually think about that. Any acute injuries she would remember, but anything gradual would definitely have been ignored, and she's so tired now that her whole body aches a bit.

She slows as she takes inventory, then shakes her head. If she has muscle injuries she'll find out in the morning.

"No, just scrapes."

"Small miracles." Morgan huffed a wayward strand of hair out of his face -- this had not exactly been a good day to maintain a mane like his. Maybe he was a little vain.
"I'm gonna teach you just how good an acupressure massage can be for muscle aches and pains, as soon as we can find a place to... stop moving, a bit."

She makes a face.

"It's not a miracle, it's training."

A massage sounds amazing though. Is there anywhere within 500 feet that they can stop moving and make that happen?

No, food. It isn't hard to spot, with only a few fires still lit so late. Steph steers in that direction.

"Technically we could just stop moving now. We'd definitely regret it in the morning, though."

Morgan made a face right back. He didn't doubt for a second that Steph wouldn't snap an arm or something if she thought she could rescue one more person.

"You might. I still got some left in the tank, remember?"

He wasn't exaggerating. Dude's endurance was about 'Arkham Asylum and then still having enough energy left to go stop Two-Face' level. But lest she think he was all special or anything... she had to do the steering for sure. Morgan would've just kept walking straight forever now that his adrenaline was draining out of his system. Body had energy left, brain rapidly futzing out.

"Uh huh. And how much have you had to eat today?" He did say he needed food. Going hungry, sleeping in the open and lying on broken stones would be miserable even in the best of circumstances.

She manages to steer them all the way into a tent, though she nearly knocks the front of it down going through the flap. The woman inside is grumpy and reticent, but the stew she hands them is warm and only minimally burnt from being cooked far too long.

There are several folding chairs open, with almost everyone else in the area fast asleep. Steph falls into one and immediately starts shoveling the food into her mouth. She didn't realize how hungry she was.

"I had an actual meal like seven hours ago," Morgan protested as he dropped into his chair, hoping she wouldn't put together how high his baseline intake needed to be with how much effort he'd been pouring out today. The fact that he stopped speaking to practically inhale the stew ought to be something of a hint, though.

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