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

Be glad your human nose can only imagine.

[Nanaki hums, taking another whiff.]

...blood, and iron. And... I think ash. And...?

[He pauses, leaning in to sniff deeper.]

Have you found something?

[Or gods forbid, someone?]

[Nanaki sniffs a bit more, but then lifts his head. He knows that smell. The unpleasant pungent scent of sweat and blood... and it's fresh. His lone eye widens.]

I smell... blood. It's fresh.

[He begins to dig under the rubble pile before them.]

[Din moves in to help, clearing out the larger pieces and making room for Nanaki]

Is someone there? Can you say anything?

[Nanaki digs further, and with Din's help he's able to dig a little deeper under the rubble, sticking his paws into an opening. Then, his ears perk as he hears something.]

--lp..! --lp me..!

I hear someone..!

Are they close, do you think?

[There's a part of him that wants to rush but given the mess they're working with, that's a bad idea.]

We'll need to start stabilizing the rubble.

[Nanaki lowers his ear to the ground, listening.]

...Not terribly, but not too far down. The dirt may be muffling them.

[He looks up at the rubble, frowning.]

If we can get it stable, I can squeeze in and under.

I can try to find something...or would kinetic magic work?

[If he can hold things stable for long enough, it might just work.]

Hmm... that could work. I have kinetic magic as well... perhaps if we try together?

Together then. The rubble in front of us.

[And he extends his hand out to begin using the magic. It's still something he struggles with doing voluntarily.]

Right.

[Nanaki has an easier time with the magic, after likening it to Materia use. Together, the two of them are able to slowly, but surely, move enough of the rubble to open up a wide enough space for Nanaki to slip under.]

[Din's eyes are closed in focus, still not entirely sure how he's doing this (and maybe remembering how Grogu would channel the Force). It's all he can really do at the moment, not wanting the rubble to fall.]

[Nanaki will go in as quick as he can, digging under the rubble. It's dark under here, but he doesn't want to risk lighting a fire in case he accidentally hits whoever is down here. So he relies on scent and hearing as he digs a little deeper, before finally coming to a small opening underneath. And finally, he sees a figure in the darkness.]

It's alright! I am here to help you.

[It'll take some struggling, and some tricky maneuvering. But soon, Din will hear some scrambling.]

We're coming up!

[If Din peeks into that hole, he'll see Nanaki slowly climbing back up, the collar of a shirt in his mouth as he pulls a small child up with him.]

[Din holds the rubble up for as long as he can, at least until Nanaki is in a place where he can get out without having to worry about anything falling on him, before letting go of the magic and coming over to help.

He's trying his best not to panic too much but it's still a bit of a shock to his system. He'd been that kid, in a roundabout way, so it hits a little closer to home. And twice in one day is more than enough.]

Get a first aid kit. I got them.

[Now that they're not in danger of being crushed under rubble, Nanaki is able to pull the child over to Din for inspection. He can smell blood, sweat, fear... but the child is alive, at least. He nods.]

Wait here. I will return with one.

[He runs back to the relief site as quickly as he can, and after some time will return with a first aid kit clutched between his teeth.]

[While Nanaki is gone, Din is doing what he can for the kid. Doing his best to stay calm and keep them stable. His magic can't help much in this situation, but he can check them over and try and reassure them.

Once he has the first aid kit, he'll start cleaning and bandaging wounds.]

I think they'll be okay.

[He's going to make sure of that.]

[Nanaki hands the first aid kit to Din, and looks over the child as well. They look shaken up, and definitely injured, but alive. He lets out a small breath.]

Good. I feared the worst for a moment.

[He might not have been able to handle it well if the child had been found dead. He lays down beside the child, watching as Din goes about bandaging the child up.]

We can take them back to the base camp.

[Din feels the same. But he pushes the thought aside and focuses on the present.]

I think I've done enough that they should be able to make it there if we move at a good pace. I can carry them.

Alright. And I can carry whatever you can't right now. Let's go.

[They did some good work here. And Nanaki can help carry the medical supplies or Din's pack, if he needs it.]

[Din is used to carrying a lot, and most of it is secure.]

Grab the kit, and anything that drops.

EVENT ✨ Fall Equinot

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