EVENT ✨ Something (Celli)Wigged This Way Comes

[avalonmods]

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Autumn, despite the chillier weather, is a season of warmth and gathering. Perhaps moreso this year than normal, given the rather unplanned gathering of Celliwig and Lestari underneath Camelot's roofs. Though significant contributions from otherworlders have made food, shelter, clothes and other productions and donations, medical care, security and protection, and childcare an amazing group effort, typical individual celebrations for the departure of the dead from Avalon aren't being held, like Lestari's Death Ball. After looking at all the support they've been given, Lestari and Celliwig have looked at what they have to offer to help both their own people and the people of Camelot and other worlds.

The people of Lestari excel in cognitive magic, and while there are those who use it for mind-altering magics, there is a good portion who dedicate their studies to emotional and psychological support. One such method is the enchantment of origami paper into something affectionately called Worry Monsters: an specialized counseling technique used to help form support bonds between people with negative emotions. Having spent a portion of the month enchanting paper, two square sheets of paper are handed out to anyone the encounter. The first paper says: "Personifying your emotions can give them a tangible form and make them easier to face. Write down something that causes you worry, stress, fear, or sadness. This is your Worry Monster." The second paper says: "When your Worry Monster is present, how does it make you feel? Any reaction is valid."
When both papers are written on, the writing on both will disappear as if absorbed by the paper, then the pages will animate and fuse, then begin to fold into a monster! Halloween is this month, is it not? There is no sense in not having a little fun. These little Worry Monsters will stomp off and begin roaming Camelot until they find a match-- someone who shares those feelings. Once they find an emotional matching Worry Monster, the monsters will return to their creator and grow to the size of kaiju. They are very light, enchanted paper, so even if someone or something gets stepped on, they won't be hurt or damaged. However, they are strong enough to pick their makers up and carry them to the matching monster who will do the same. Don't worry-- characters will be invisible while being carried by their monster, so their identities will be protected until they are brought to their match. The paper monster will turn to butterflies and fly away once their task is complete. What matches do after they are brought to each other is up to them-- but they will know, undoubtedly, that they share the same worries-- they are with someone who understands. Do it as many times as you'd like, for as many negative emotions as your character wants. For finding something to do, Celliwig offers a solution. While Lestari's people have spent their efforts this month enchanting papers, the people of Celliwig are less apt to share so openly. Instead, they take their time learning about a variety of holidays from other worlds, and come to find one they can apply their particular talents to. While most of their showcase in the past has been on light magic, a holiday such as Halloween plays in particular to their talents in dark magic. A number of locations that have opted in and won't interfere with other relief efforts have been enchanted with dark magics for brave souls to venture into and test their courage! What's more, each of these locations will yield tokens for the victors that can be used to gain prizes. All courage tests must be performed with partners. Costumes are encouraged but not required.
	The library has been converted into a haunted art gallery, many of which have had their paints and other implements enchanted. Some paintings will seem like they're watching you, others will seem like a small figure in the background is following you throughout the library in different paintings. A painting of fruit may start throwing the fruit at you and materializing it into real fruit, so you may find yourself pelted with tomatoes if you don't run fast! A single painting filled with black paint might start leaking and filling the room you're in, pulling you into shadow until you're stuck in the library's underground labyrinth. (Reference monthly quests here and here for more info about the labyrinth.)
There are a variety of paintings with different curses applied. Navigate through the library and escape the haunted paintings-- pairs who make it through without turning back will gain a Celliwig Token.
Another token can be gained via scavenger hunt in the Broceliande. Find cursed dolls from within tree hollows. The dolls will giggle and try to run away, may move when they're only visible in the corner of your eye if you set them down. What's perhaps a little spookier is that they take on the appearance of the first person to touch them, though they will never exceed three inches in height. Beware during your search, however, as there are a good many trees that have been transfigured into mimics. Though the mimics are not going to attack anyone, they do have giant hidden, wriggling tongues that will reach up and wrap the unalert up above the ground for capture. The only way down is if a partner fights the mimic, so don't go alone! Find a doll of both you and a partner and make it back to Camelot to obtain your token. The curse will break once they're exchanged for a token, so you can keep the cute little doll for yourself if you'd like.

The last test of courage invokes a temporary blindness hex on one of the partners. Both partners are walked into a soundproofed room, entirely silent in a way that truly seems to mess with one's head. The unblinded partner is only allowed to answer "yes" or "no" questions, though no one will fault them for giggling as long as they give no clues otherwise. The blind partner is to stick their hands into a tank of water with mystery items hidden within. These items may be mere objects like peeled grapes in soggy noodles, or perhaps the tank is filled with chicken bones and those tiny garra that eat dead cells and are sometimes used for pedicures. All the items are set up to feel spooky, but ultimately are unharmful. As long as the partner who can give clues doesn't break the yes/no rules and the item is guessed within 3 guesses, a token will be rewarded!

Bring tokens to the inn where a stall has been set up, with Gwion working the booth to exchange tokens for the following prizes: 1 Token: Celliwig glasswork glass set of 4-- spooky themed! It's filled with candy upon receiving, so they are friendly for everyone. 2 Tokens: Recipe: Smokescreen - Cast this spell on any liquid to make it billow plumes of fog. The smaller the water surface, the smaller the billow. A shot glass might just create a small whisp, but two mop buckets would be enough to fill up a medium room. Will not effect the contents of the liquid. Cannot be used on water bodies larger than a swimming pool (could screen about half a block). 3 Tokens: Recipe: From the Void - Summons a disembodied tentacle from the shadows. It takes a lot of energy, so you could probably manage up to three casts a day at most before becoming exhausted. Great for binding enemies, sneaking in small spaces, and reaching places you might not be able to otherwise. The tentacle will follow whatever command you have in mind upon summoning, so be sure to concentrate on the task at hand!

Comments

C~!

[resistetmords]

I mean... I wish I could say I haven't... but. It does sort of remind me of a few things that comes from Mr. Japan's house.

[And she hates that she knows exactly what the girl was talking about. With that in mind she kind of... tries to shuffle Ritsuka behind her and away from said trees. No hentai tonight. Probably.]

[fujimaru]

Ah, yes, my proud and noble heritage...

[ She's not protesting being moved out of the way. Just seeing it once was bad enough; having to keep looking at it is just worse.

And on some level she's noticed the phrasing--"Mr. Japan's house"?--but files that away for later for the moment. For now, escaping before this becomes tentacle porn. ]

[resistetmords]

[Don't look Guda! Save your precious, virgin sight!]

I mean it's not all bad? Okay it's still kind of weird. But not all entirely bad?

[Look, she ain't about to kink shame here! She is going to kind of... start leading them away from said trees though. Would green magic even work on these things??? Did she even want to know what might happen should she try?]

But... Anyway let's just find the dolls and get back to safety.

[And away from the drooling tongue trees.]

[fujimaru]

I think that depends on your definition of bad, here...

[ It's too late. She glances back over her shoulder, winces, and looks forward again. ]

I don't even know if I want any of those prizes. I just kind of felt compelled to give it a shot. Guess I must've been more bored than I thought... thanks for the help, miss.

[resistetmords]

They could be more... well, explicit.

[Nooo! Poor Ritsuka, now that image is probably going to be burnt into her mind for quite some time. Tongue wagging, slimy, tentacle trees.

Oh dear. Belgium just kind of keeps walking. And stays clear of the more seedy-looking trees.]

Oh, but you're welcome. I don't think I want any of the prizes myself either. But I was getting pretty bored too, and this all seemed really fun.

[What's not to like about Halloween events~?]

Anyway, let's do our best!

[fujimaru]

...Yeah...

[ It's a toss-up whether this is better or worse than the Halloweens she's been through in the past couple of years. On the one hand, it's a huge plus that there's no gauntlet through a ridiculous castle-pyramid-castle-god knows what else amalgamation; on the other hand... hentai trees. Augh. ]

I saw one like a minute ago, but that's kind of how I ran into that weird tree. They're pretty fast--the dolls, I mean.

[resistetmords]

A-anyway....

[At least ero trees don't have endless stairs to climb? Or tone deaf lizard girls for that matter. Though they do have Nero here now, thankfully she's not very Halloween-y though.]

Mm, and they're real small too. Which means we'll just have to put our heads together and try and trap them. While avoiding those... things.

[She glances towards a tree that she was pretty sure was a mimic.]

But first, where did you see it last?

[fujimaru]

Once was really enough for me, to be honest. I don't really know what they wanted, but I don't think I really want to.

[ She follows that gaze, automatically shrinking away from the tree. It looks mostly normal to her, but as already proven, she's not exactly good at telling them apart.

And then she points the way they'd come. ]

Last I saw, it was actually going that way, so we're gonna have to backtrack a little.

[resistetmords]

They probably won't do anything to horrible, right? After all they were made to add a bit of fun here.

[Everything would be fine, right!? They wouldn't do anything strange, would they? In either case Belgium is completely with Ritsuka on the matter of not really wanting to know what they want. Granted she was still holding onto the hopefulness that this was all part of the fun.

A really strange part of the fun.]

Oh, but good! At least then we know most of which trunks to avoid. [Which was good! It'd make things easier and simple and give them less of a chance to be grabbed by one of those... things. She glances at another tree before stepping ahead of the other girl. Just in case.]

You know I don't think I ever got your name.

[fujimaru]

I don't know, I think some people have some weird ideas of what counts as "fun"... I'm Ritsuka. Hi.

[ She still has her (extreme) doubts about how benign or not those trees are actually meant to be, but there's no point in worrying about it right now. Better to use that energy in dodging any other trees that might be getting any funny ideas. ]

This isn't even the weirdest way I've met someone, but I appreciate the help.

[resistetmords]

I'm... going to still give 'em the benefit of the doubt with this one. If only because I want to believe they don't have any hidden cameras anywhere filming us.

[They must not have thought about what this would like, right? Right??? Yeah, that's right; they would probably be let go after a bit. There absolutely wouldn't be anything strange that would happen either.

Nope!]

I suppose I could say the same. And I'm Belgium, it's nice to meet you.

[A smile, things were probably going to get more weird for poor Guda....]

[fujimaru]

...

[ You know what, she's just going to pretend that the cursed suggestion of they might be filming us just pass without comment. If she doesn't acknowledge it, then maybe she keeps it from being real. Ritsuka is just superstitious enough to lean into that, even as a possibility. ]

Belgium, huh? Were your parents really big into geography?

[ It's not even that meeting a personified country is going to be the strangest thing that has ever happened to Ritsuka. It's just she also knows how weird parents can be about naming their kids. ]

[resistetmords]

Ah-- right....

[She don't know nothin' about no anthropomorphized nations. Probably, most of everyone so far has pretty much just shrugged and said, "That's pretty freakin' weird". And then promptly moved on. Which was good! It's nice to be around people with open minds and not prone to asking potentially embarrassing questions!]

No, I am Belgium.

[Could be even weirder, she could be Dantès in disguise. Anyway, yeah tongue trees! She goes ahead and picks up a rock and lightly chucks it at a tree in front of them. Only to watch a maw suddenly open itself up and slurrrppss the stone inside.

Shudders.]

[fujimaru]

...

I'm sorry if this is rude, but--honestly, I think that's the weirder thing that's happened to me today.

[ She points to the tree, which is still doing something with that rock. To be honest, she doesn't particularly want to think about what it might be. ]

[resistetmords]

Honestly I'd be more put off if you thought I was more weird than those things.

[Things being the mimics, especially that one that was busily doing unspeakable things (probably) to that poor rock. It was beset not think about. Nope, so totally not thinking about it at all!]

Um... so what did the doll look like?

[fujimaru]

Kind of like me, actually.

[ Time to give that tree a wide, wide berth, though Ritsuka keeps stealing glances at it just to make sure it's not done with the rock and getting any ideas about them. ]

Or, I guess, it was kind of like me? It had my hair and everything, but button eyes and stuff. Like if you made a kid's doll of me.

[resistetmords]

[Mimic probably does a little tongue wave for her before going back to looking like a regular tree. Mothertruckin' creepy!]

Mm, got it, like you, red hair, cute ponytail, and button eyes. [Nods her head, right! Shouldn't be too hard to find. Orange hair kind of stands out after all. Especially if it found itself another tree hollow to hide in. Speaking of...!]

Wanna give that one a try?

[Pointing to a nearby tree. Should they take the risk after passing a mimic???]

[fujimaru]

...

[ Ritsuka considers the tree for a moment, then looks around. Surely in a forest there should be--aha.

She goes for a stick near their feet. It's not quite as long as she'd like, but it makes a pretty satisfying whistling sound when she gives it a few test swings--like a bat, though, rather than a sword. Ritsuka's noodle arms are no good with swords. ]

Okay. Let's do this. --Sorry in advance, if you're not a weird tree.

[ She says this as she approaches, then whacks the tree as hard as she can from (what she hopes is) a safe distance away.

Nothing happens. This one, at least, seems to be a perfectly ordinary tree. ]

[resistetmords]

[Whoa, what a hero! Belgium feels the need to stop her for a moment, but there was no stopping the girl when she was already in motion getting ready to beat some arboreal butt!

So instead she stops and holds her breath. Watching as Ritsuka thwacks that tree mightily! And then... nothing? She goes ahead and lets out her breath slowly.]

That... was quite worrying. For a moment I thought it might come alive and get you!

[Thank goodness it didn't though!]

[fujimaru]

If we wanna find that doll, we've gotta do our best about approaching the trees, right?

[ She approaches the tree properly now, peeking around the trunk to see if there are any hollows where a doll could hide, and then up into the empty branches. ]

We can't just throw a rock at every tree. If they all get eaten, we're stuck. I don't see it here, though, so let's move on.