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.

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They would, but Naomi doesn't need to voice that.

Looking Nanaki's way when she felt his eyes, she nods once. "I'm fine. I'll try to rest on the return to Camelot, but I'll need to return to the hospital and help process any new patients. What about you?"

Nanaki shakes out his mane once more, his ear flicking as he looks down at his own body. "I'll be fine. My paws may be sore, but they've felt worse." Truthfully, he's got several scratches and injuries suffered from when he was digging up survivors, but they're all surface injuries compared to what others had suffered.

"Do not overdo it yourself. You will be of no help to anyone if you collapse."

"Mmm, well, if you find one bleeding, I can bandage it." She hadn't been only using her healing magic while here - that would be ridiculous and, not to mention, overtaxing. It was best saved for those who needed to be stabilized.

"I'll be fine. Working in a hospital, hectic situations are not unfamiliar... It hasn't been that long since one passed in my world before coming here."

"Mm... I should be fine." Nanaki sits down and lifts a paw to look at it. It definitely looks worn and sore, with a few scrapes on it, but it's much less serious than other injuries he's seen here.

Lowering his paw, he turns back to Naomi. "So, you're a healer, then? No wonder you handled things so calmly..."

She catches him glancing, and notices his paw too. It looks fine - worn, but fine. He should just take it easy for a while.

Looking ahead again at the people being transported out, she nods. "No matter the situation, a calm mind and steady hand are required. When you're a doctor, you can be the final person who stands between someone living or dying."

"That is a heavy burden to bear." Nanaki admits. Holding one's life in your very hands... it's not an easy thing to handle, and not many can handle such a responsibility.

"Still, I commend you. Being a doctor must be very difficult."

"It can be..." But she can only remember one instant in recent memory that actually made her almost panic.

"In the beginning, it was. But... even in my profession, you can become desensitized. I suppose you could say it help in certain ways... Others might say I'm unsympathetic at this point. Who knows? Maybe I am."

"Hmm. Sometimes, that is necessary. Sometimes, one needs to close off their emotions to do what's needed." It was like when he hunted; he knew he was taking a life, but he also knew he needed to eat. Maybe it was because he wasn't human, but he just saw things differently sometimes.

"But, so long as you still have your heart, that's not always a bad thing. Not all doctors work with their heart."

"Hm... You may have a point. Though, there are some doctors who could work less with their heart."

And maybe take a break because he got an infection in his heart, but that's neither here nor there. "... Are you ready to try moving again?" Since their talk was a good time to rest for a moment.

Nanaki nods his head once, rising to his paws. He takes a moment to stretch in a cat-like way, before he straightens out and shakes out his fur.

"Yes, I am ready. Lead the way."

Nodding, Naomi takes a quick glance around. There's still a decent amount of area for them all to cover so... they may as well examine that building that's barely in tact to the point it might come down within due time.

She begins walking towards it.

And Nanaki will follow her, looking up at the structure with a suspicious look. He pads beside her, sniffing at the ground. He snorts a bit; there's a lot of dirt, and a lot of dust, and the scent of blood in the air... it's a little hard to tell if it's live blood or stale blood.

"Be careful. This could collapse at any time."

"What do you think the chances are for someone being here?"

Since the structure was compromised, she'd rather neither of them go in yet. If Nanaki thinks there's a chance of someone being there, her familiar would be better to enter first and verify. Should there be a survivor present, then they would begin working on extraction.

"Hmm..."

Nanaki steps forward, sniffing at the ground. He takes in the scents, snorting at the dust, but... there's something in the air. Something faint, but different. It makes his ears angle to the sides and his tail swish.

"...it couldn't hurt to look. I smell something, but it's hard to tell for sure with all this rubble."

"Hm... alright."

That's enough reasonable assumption to send Eve in to look. And as expected, the snake familiar barely disturbs anything as she begins searching around to see if any survivors were present and in need of aid.

It couldn't hurt to look, especially when he can't tell for certain if the scent inside these ruins is fresh or... well, dead. So he waits as the snake familiar goes in, looking to see what's in the ruins.

It might take a while, but Eve will eventually come across a deep crevice underneath the rubble, and within? A pair of huddled children, covered in dirt and scuffs. They are hurt, but definitely alive.

It's fortunate that their link is telepathic. Otherwise, they might be waiting for Eve's return.

"... Two kids. There's a crevice they've taken refuge in beneath the rubble." So, they were going to have to figure out a way to go in themselves. "Eve could heal them, but we still have to provide a safe way out."

And she says 'could' because, if the children didn't like snakes, that would complicate the process.

Nanaki lets out a low growl, his tail swishing. Two kids... it's good that they're safe, but they need to get out soon.

"Does Eve see any way that they can escape from, or ways we could dig in from?"

"One moment..."

Focusing on the building again, listening, there's a bit of slinking around. Another minute, and Naomi nods. "The front is dangerous, but it looks like there's a route closer to the backside on the left."

"Hmm... is there room for us to squeeze through? Or will only one of us be able to?"

Nanaki could squeeze through a lot of spaces, but was it safe for them to go through? And should one of them remain outside here?

"... It's not safe for my size, but she believes you have a chance of fitting through."

Which might actually be fine. Kids wouldn't mind a dog... cat? Hm, seeing a creature like him come to their rescue.

"Hmm... alright. I will go. Just tell me where it is."

Nanaki nods, taking a few steps forward towards the rubble. Around the back, right..? Hmm...

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EVENT ✨ Fall Equinot

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