isleofavalon | EVENT ✨ Something (Celli)Wigged This Way Comes

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EVENT ✨ Something (Celli)Wigged This Way Comes

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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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sounds good. Call me dense or whatever, but I don't really know what I'm supposed to get out of these blank canvases.

[ She's always been more into sports than studies; even if Ritsuka doesn't strongly identify as either a jock or a nerd in the battle of high school society, she knows she leans more in one direction than the other. There's probably some deep artistic meaning to having an entire hall of these blank canvases, but she doesn't really get it.

So instead, she grabs Monika's sleeve and tugs. ]

C'mon, let's get out of here and get coffee or something. You can tell me more about horror tropes or something. I'd be happy to listen.

Maybe it's meant to evoke the emptiness of life. The dreams and aspirations of countless that are never fulfilled. The void that awaits all living beings after death...

[ Monika said those words without really thinking about it. First thing that came to her mind when it came to blank canvases... Maybe yet another remnant of her existence in a horror game. Hopefully that wouldn't come off as creepy.

No matter, she nodded. ]

Let's go~!

That's kinda grim...

[ But she's thoughtful about it, rather than put off. And she doesn't wait for more prompting; when Monika says let's go!, Ritsuka immediately starts walking. Every now and then, she feels like she sees something moving across those blank canvases... but that's probably just their shadows, right? ]

I guess, if I had to put something down, I'd rather think that it has to do with hope. You know, like how a blank page can become anything, and you don't have to be a professional artist to make something you like.

...Your idea probably fits better with the themes of the rest of the gallery, though.

[ She nodded. That was a really good interpretation... One she liked a lot more than the one she'd come up with. Coming from a horror game and going through a series of unfortunate and painful events in this world had really colored her worldview for the worst. She smiled gently and raised a finger. ]

Ahaha, but I like your interpretation better.

[ Especially as an artist, even if her art was limited to poems and music, it was nice to think about. ]

I guess recent events have kind of darkened my outlook on things...

[ She went silent and continued leading the way. Every now and then, she'd see Saturn nomming on his child, but only for a fraction of second. Probably just an illusion from this place. ]

[ By now, Ritsuka has heard some of what happened from Kipposhi--Kipposhi at his moping worst, but she's gotten reasonably good at gleaning the details out of a Servant's dramatic ramblings. She has no doubts it was bad, and more for Monika than him, though she still doubts that he needed to try and take himself out so dramatically.

If this were Mash, or the female Servants who turn to her for comfort and advice, Ritsuka thinks this would be where she tries to initiate some sort of contact. Some sort of friendly hand-hold, or a a shoulder bump, or something. But knowing more about the nature of what happened, that doesn't feel like the right choice, either. She does stick close, trying to not look too hard for too long at those white canvases. ]

...This is probably going to sound really trite, and maybe naive, but... even darkness passes. That's also part of being human. And it sucks while it's going on, and while you're recovering, but--it's not forever. It might feel like it, but it isn't.

[ Monika had been talking about her encounter with the "special" video game machine that had absorbed her and later caused a breakdown... But of course, Kipposhi was a factor too. And the way Ritsuka spoke about it... That was a bit of a weird way to speak of her breakdown with the video game cabinet, wasn't it?

She knew Kadoc came from a world with alternate histories. And she knew Kadoc. Could it be...? ]

.... Kipposhi talked to you, didn't he?

[ There was no need to hide her suspicion. ]

Not content just playing with me, he's decided on telling everyone I see. [She sighed and shook her head. Ritsuka wasn't the first person she'd found who knew of that. Somehow, she doubted she'd be the last.] But I was mostly referring to how you found me with the video game cabinet.

He told me, yeah.

[ She doesn't try to talk around it, just shrugs a little, apologetic. Her voice is gentle when she responds. ]

I don't know how much either he or Kadoc have told you about what it's like back home, but... he's technically working for me. So--I didn't know about what happened when I met you, but he told me about it when I found out he'd been injured. He didn't give me all the details, but I know enough to know he was a jackass.

...I'm not gonna apologize for him, or say that he's not that bad a guy. I'm sorry you went through that, though.

But what I said counts for the thing with the cabinet, too. I've had a lot of practice with dealing with that kind of thing lately.

He does? But... Isn't he like, a general from a past era?

[ Yeah, nobody had told her yet of the whole "Servant" and "Master" thing. They had spared her brain those kind of details. Because that was a rabbit hole that would most definitely keep bringing a lot more questions than answers. ]

It's not your fault. [She looked away.] Honestly, to do what he's done, I think you have to be either malevolent or stupid. And he doesn't strike me as either.

[ ... She didn't really want to speak about that much though. Rather than reply about the cabinet, she pointed at a light in the distance. ]

That's the exit, I think.

It's a long story. I can tell you more once we're out of here, if you wanna hear an amateur's take on things.

[ Unfortunately, having a smart Exposition Friend only does you any good if she's around to help explain things... and since she isn't, Ritsuka is just going to have to do her best. Her understanding is kind of limited and basic, but she is kind of (kind of!) getting a better hang on what to say. ]

And the thing about Kipposhi is that--he's actually really smart, but also an idiot. It's more common than you'd think.

[ The exit!! She starts to speed up a little, eager to be out. ]

Yeah, sure.

[ She nodded, but didn't really speed up. She wasn't that unsettled by their surroundings. ]

May I ask— [A beat.] What exactly he told you?

[ She as just curious how ashamed she should be and to what extent she should expect everyone in Avalon to look at her with pity. Doubles with giving her a new hatred scale for Kipposhi. ]

Nothing really in detail.

[ She shrugs, though she's looking at the canvases more than at Monika's face as they walk. There's definitely something weird about the way those shadows are moving... ]

Just that he took you on a date, and he kept ramping it up even when he knew he wouldn't be able to actually give you what you wanted. Mostly that he was an impulsive idiot who didn't know when to cut it out until it was too late. That's all.

An impulsive idiot is selling him short.

[ To say she was angry at him was an understatement. Monika went to one of the blank canvas and picked it up. That was what they had to do, right? Bring back something creepy from the gallery. That would do.

The strength with which she took the painting indicated just how much damage she would do to Kipposhi's skull right now if only she could. ]

Alright, let's head out.

"Impulsive idiot" covers a lot of ground, I think... but that's not really my call, in the end.

[ She'd promised she wouldn't try to soften Monika's feelings or make excuses for Kipposhi, and she meant it. What he did hits on something that Ritsuka has very little experience with, and while she can't turn her back on him--not now, not after everything--it's not her place to intervene for either of them in such a personal way. ]

Anyway, I dunno about you, but I could go for something really sugary right now... a snack and a drink, and I'll try and explain things, if you really want to know.

Yeah, sure! Just let me take care of this thing first.

[ Once outside, Monika placed the blank canvas she'd taken against a wall. She pulled her phone as if to take a picture of it and— As soon as it flashed, the painting lost its texture, instead turning blue with lines of codes all over it. With an electric sound, it soon faded away and disappeared. ]

There, sent it to them. Let's go~!

I hope whatever we get out of this is gonna be worth it... I'm not sure how I feel about that last option.

[ It's not that she's entirely opposed to the idea of tentacles in a vacuum, it's just that like with many things in her life, Ritsuka entertains a lot of ideas that she's "not opposed to" and then lets go without actually having any real desire to follow up on them. Maybe she'll just get the glasses and leave it at that.

For now, though, she's just eager to get out of this gallery. ]

Anyway, I'm thinking sugar. What kind of stuff do you like to eat?

Mm... It's a bit weird, yeah. I don't think I'll go for that option really. [She raised a finger.] I think you shouldn't, either. Just my opinion, ahaha!

[ While by now Monika is fairly certain Avalon is real and not just a video game, it is undeniable many characters and the setting itself draw heavily from tropes and cliches. And with Merlin's perverted spell a couple months ago... She just is way too trope-savvy to summon tentacles anywhere near herself, that spell can kindly go back where it came from. And seeing how Ritsuka seems to be the heroine-type, she most definitely should follow that advice.

Monika isn't going to elaborate on the why though. ]

Ah, I'm vegetarian. I'll be happy with anything that doesn't have meat in it.

Good news, sugar doesn't have meat!

[ Sometimes meat has sugar, but that's getting fancy.* But she perks up a little as soon as they're outside; this time, she doesn't hesitate to grab for Monika's hand as she starts walking.

* Fancy is just cooking to some degree, because Ritsuka barely knows how. ]

There's a cute little cafe near the gallery, unless we've gotten completely turned around. My treat, okay?

Mhm, did you know technically sugar got animal products in it? [She raised a finger.] Most sugar you'll find is filtered using charred and powdered animal bones. [Followed by a smile--] But only very picky vegans really cut sugar out. I limit myself to the non-consumption of meat.

[ Just a fun fact... Though arguably, it may not be fun knowing there are animal bones in your sugar. ]

Mmm, okie but next time it'll be my treat, ahaha!

Bones, huh... food is wild.

[ She's not put off by it, but she is mulling over the thought. After the past three years, she's become a lot less picky about what she puts in her mouth; as long as it can keep her going, it's fine. ]

--But that's fine with me. It's fine for friends to have a floating tab, I think. I did this with my friends at school.

[ In Chaldea, there wasn't really the opportunity for that; it was always either whatever was in the mess hall, or what was hunted on the field. It's a strange little moment of nostalgia for her to consider, as she leads Monika to the cafe in question. ]

Gosh, you have no idea.

[ As a general rule, it was for the best to not know too much about what was in your dish. The more you knew, the likelier you were to be disgusted by it. When they reach the cafe in question, Monika took a seat and smiled at her. ]

So, you wanted to tell me about yours and Kadoc's world?

Honestly, at this point, if it won't poison me, I don't worry about it that much.

[ And sometimes, even when it has poisoned her. It's not like the incident with Koyanskaya's poisoned cake has put her off them permanently or anything.

But she slouches in her seat, considering, drumming her fingers against the tabletop: a quick nervous little gesture. ]

Our world is kind of... I guess, on the big picture level, it's kind of like what you might read about in a story? There's ordinary humans and there are mages, and they live pretty separate lives. I mean, it's not like there's no overlapping entirely, but most people don't know that magic is real. I sure didn't, before I got involved with it.

...Honestly speaking, I still don't get a lot of it. There's a lot of theory and stuff that goes into how it works at all, and I mostly get by on stuff that's been set up for me in advance. I don't know how it works, I just know what I need to do to get the basic stuff done.

I see... [That lined up with what Kadoc had told her so far. That much, she could understand] Kadoc talked of Lostbelts. Basically potential timelines that lead into dead ends, resulting in the planet culling them out, right? [She tilted her head.] I have difficulty with that concept, ahaha! I mean, any course history follows will be a dead end sooner or later, whether it's because we ruin the environment or the sun goes supernova, right?

[ Of course, it'd take a few billion years for the sun to die, not to mention it probably wouldn't go supernova. But the point stood. Ultimately, there were no perfect timelines. ]

And the presence of so many people from many different worlds here is proof of the Many World Interpretation, so those timelines shouldn't have to be culled. [She sighed.] Even he didn't really manage to explain it...

[ Sounds like a video game plot really. ]

He brought that up, huh...

[ It both is and isn't a surprise. She already knows how much he's been stewing slowly in the guilt of his part in things, so it's not like she expected him to keep it bottled up forever... but she still hadn't entirely expected him to tell anyone just yet. But it does make the explanation easier. ]

You've got Lostbelts, and you've got what they call "Proper Human History." It's less about the whole, "all histories are dead ends because one day the sun's gonna go supernova" or anything like that, and more like, "what are the paths where the choices of humans led to a dead end sooner than later," I guess. Like--

[ Did he tell Monika about Russia? If he hasn't, she doesn't want to be the one who volunteers it. China, then, because it's the freshest in her mind. ]

Like, assume a world where first Emperor of China obtained true immortality, and as a result, there were thousands and thousands of years of prosperity... but all at the expense of human creativity or expression. A world where there was no such thing as innovation or invention--people who just kind of existed, without living.

[ She grimaces a little, drumming her fingers faster against the tabletop now. ]

I don't really know who makes the decision for these things. All I really know is that I can't just let a Lostbelt overwrite my own timeline. There's four left, and each one of them wants to take over.

Mhm. [She nodded.] I used the familiar symbiosis spell when we got attacked by that masked idiot... But it triggered memories of something painful for him.

[ He'd mentioned Russia and the Yaga, but hadn't gone into details. She wasn't going to recount their entire conversation... But it'd been pretty obviously a very painful topic. ]

What I find weird is that following the Many World Interpretation, such a world should be able to exist on its own. Quite literally any possible world, regardless of the outcome, can exist as its own little reality. Heck, I have friends who are ducks and come from a different Earth!

[ If an infinite number of parallel realities existed, then those "Lostbelts" should be able to exist as their own reality without overwriting another, even if they were bad endings for humanity. Quantum physics didn't really care about how things went on this little planet in a far-flung corner of the universe. Maybe she was missing a crucial detail...

Speaking of details, one didn't escape her-- ]

But so you really are the heroine of your story, ahaha~

I don't know why they can't exist, either. If I could, I'd leave them alone--everyone keeps telling me that there's no other choice, but... I keep hoping. I've been through three Lostbelts at this point, and I keep hoping.

[ It's not that she'd ever absolve herself of the guilt of what she's done. There are thousands of lives that no longer exist because of her, and because she refuses to give up on her own timeline. That's the true moral quandary, isn't it? In order to live, like she swore to the Beast, she has to make that choice again and again. ]

I really don't feel like a heroine, though. I'm just someone who really, really wants to live. Even if I have to erase another world to do it... I can't just give up on that. I promised people I wouldn't, and I don't want to for my own sake. It's not really noble at all.

EVENT ✨ Something (Celli)Wigged This Way Comes

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