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

"Sure, you drop one behind your desk, why do you think you never see it again?"

He turned his hand and offered it palm-up. In a flare of light, the Bargain is made, and off the dust bunnies skitter to start making good on their promise -- and recruiting others to their cause, as per Appendix D.

Morgan didn't move for a moment, and when he did, it was more of a sway than anything deliberate. "Woo, whoa, hello we're suddenly in the waterless wave pool..."

"I think the last time I used a pen not tied to a clipboard was high school." She stares at the tent wall, thinking about trying to remember when that was. No actual remembering of any kind occurs.

She looks down at him when he speaks up, trying to avoid swaying herself.

"Mmm. I can't help you up. I might be able to help me down. I might be going down either way."

"No, no, I got this." Hands out a little for balance, he managed to stand up. "How about we go sleep together?"

It's not much of a joke, considering the state both of them are in.

Such a poor joke that it goes over Steph's tired head. She nods briefly, stopping when she realizes it's making her dizzy. Was she this tired half an hour ago?

"Sounds good."

Morgan scooped one arm around her waist, the better for them to lean on each other a little. Just as they did so, a blanket came running up -- apparently of its own accord, right till the dust bunnies tossed it down and ran off.

"Already hard at work, huh?"

She loops her arm over his shoulder in turn. If they can just reach a point to designate as a bed, she can finally lay down.

"Thanks," she calls after the bunnies, watching as they bounce away. She eyes the blanket they left behind, calculating how much it would hurt if she just literally collapsed onto it. Too much, probably.

"They're kinda cute up close," she notes, "even if they make me think of sneezes."

"Yeah, I try and Bargain with 'em for lost stuff..." Morgan's eyes squeezed shut of their own accord, and he took a moment to wrench them back open again. At least he didn't have to pick up the blanket, though tugging it into his hand with kinesis looked more like a very depressed ghost was considering a haunting.

"Ha ha, we're a wreck, huh?"

Steph sways a little, even leaning against Morgan. They are not in good shape. She gives a single, tired laugh.

"Been worse. C'mon. There's work to do when we wake up."

"Yeah. Time to take care of us."

Which he intended to make certain they do. Laughing, because he was tired and that was what his brain asked him to do, he pointed them at a clear corner of former street. One place was as good as another, right? And the blanket felt nice and thick and comfy...

"Mmm-huh," she agrees, a mumble more than anything else. The moment the blanket is in place she takes what she thinks of as a 'controlled fall', dropping first to her knees and then to her hands, then slides her arms up and out from under her until she's completely horizontal. The discomfort wakes her up enough to roll over to make room for Morgan.

He dropped down much like a cannonball plunking to earth, wasting no time in splaying himself out vigorously. "C'mere," he said, more as a warning than a suggestion as he started wiggling an arm underneath her to tug her on over.

Steph is happy to make his job easier, rolling back into him and nestling in close. She sighs contentedly, already drifting off.

"Thanks," she manages to murmur, "for being here."

He was probably more comfy than the ground, and she was welcome to use as much of him as a mattress as she wanted.

"I'm glad I found you." Really glad, because who knows what shape she would've been in if he hadn't?

She probably would have fallen asleep in that corner, and woken up either with a terrible crick in her neck or under attack by monsters. This is much better.

The only response she can manage is a quiet hum, and then she's fast asleep. Within an hour she's half on top of him and wrapped around him like an octopus.

She means to sleep for just 2 or 3 hours and get back to work. She doesn't so much as stir for the next 8.

Morgan turned out to be a pretty aggressive snuggler too, especially in Avalon, especially after all of this. And when he woke up, six or so hours into their repose, he found himself fiercely startled when she was still there.

And grateful. He'd expected, and planned, for her to sleep poorly and then try to make a break for it a couple hours in. He'd anticipated a rather sharp argument about taking care of herself. But instead... he just got to get more sleep. So he tucked his head back against hers, shut his eyes, and went back to sleep for a couple more glorious hours.

Strangely enough, this might be some of the best sleep he'd gotten since his arrival.

Peaceful sleep or no, when Steph finally does wake up she feels like she's been run over by a bus. She groans as she untangles herself, escape the farthest thing from her mind. Actually, after the impression that her brain is made of fog, the first thing she notices is how bright it is.

"Heywhoaheywhat?" Right out of a sound sleep came Morgan, as suddenly a peaceful sleep partner began moving and trying to get away. He flailed the arm he could most easily get free as he woke up. "Hrva? Bzuaghs?"

Hey, ordinarily he'd be much more coherent. Circumstances being what they are, though...

Steph just groans louder in answer as she struggles to pull some part of herself upright. She manages to get her head a foot or two into the air, looks blearily around, then drops back down on top of Morgan. There's work to do, and she definitely slept, but she almost feels hungover. She's not sure she can do what's needed.

She groans one more time into Morgan's chest.

"Oh yeah."

Now he remembered stuff, including -- with that groan as a prompt -- a forgotten promise from last night. Ideally, he'd have a better angle at this, but he had enough strength in his arms and fingers to make this work even now.

Guided by feel, Morgan ran one finger up her spine, then shifted it to one side and matched it on the other side with his other hand. Then he pressed, firm but not hard, to begin acupressure.

Now, if things were right in the world, this technique would be more useful -- a conduit to help smooth and orient her chi, with the help of his own. Lacking his magick, though, all he could do was deliver it for its strictly physiological benefits, which luckily weren't shabby. Relaxation and release, primarily, to soothe aches and pains.

She tenses at first, but soon relaxes into the massage. The rest of her doesn't move, her arms still akimbo and her legs twined with his, but her neck and shoulders smooth as he works. After a moment she lets out a long, slow moan of releasing tension rather than pain.

"Ow," she says quietly, twitching when he presses on the edge of a large bruise on her back.

Morgan flinched slightly, just the littlest motion. "Sorry," he said, and meant it. Without being able to see, he couldn't help such mistakes, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

Focus on the shoulders, first; he figured she'd probably done herself a bit of damage lifting and shoving things she shouldn't have tried to take on, at least not alone. Then down her back, working on the big muscles on the side of her spine, because he was willing to bet she was sore as hell all through there.

He'd never given a massage quite like this. Honestly, if not for the situation, he'd like it. Especially since she was all lean muscle beneath his fingers.

She knows it's not intentional, but she has to protest again whenever he starts moving down from her shoulders with that same dull, disconnected "ow". Some of that lifting had involved holding, and the result of using her back as a wedge was a bruise some 6 inches wide centered right under the bottom of her shoulder blades. She doesn't know it's there, of course, or she would have healed herself before she ran out of power.

"Sorry," he murmured again, reflexive. Avoid that area, then. Hate the fact that he can't heal, here. What was the point of nearly breaking himself to learn how to do that if it was just gonna get taken away?

Morgan tried not to regret the loss of his magick too much, but sometimes, when stresses and tensions ran high and the need felt great, he couldn't help but feel it. What he wouldn't give to just fix her up, and himself as well, and then get back to work making a difference in their full flush of vigor...

But he was helping, here and now, he reminded himself sternly. And he was gonna keep doing that, giving Steph the best he could right now.

Fortunately that's the only bad bruise on her back, though there are plenty all over the rest of her. She almost falls right back asleep before he's finished. Her body doesn't ache like it did before, but she her head still seems oddly fuzzy and she's still feeling drained. The light keeps her awake, along with the knowledge that there's still work to be done.

She gives another short groan to indicate that she hasn't fallen asleep.

"I'd love to do more," he said, quietly -- meaning acupressure, not anything else, for perhaps the only time ever -- "but I think that's what I can do for the here and now. Let's book a Red Spring session when all this is done, huh?"

He moved slightly, beneath her, with a little grimace. Blanket or not, a couple of rocks had definitely left his back sore and dented after hours of not moving. "I've heard of kidney stones, but this is ridiculous."

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