EVENT ✨ Sugar and Siege

[avalonmods]

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The fairy queen is less than pleased, but not angry, with how her quest went. She has Princess Bluebell of the Guinea Pig Nation speak, and Princess Bluebell also has a favor to ask... which seems to be the calm before the storm, as an unknown third party who made off with the Fisher King earlier this month have performed a ritual to resurrect him and left the veil open, letting in untold forces that have engaged in a Wild Hunt... and the prey is Camelot.

CONTENT WARNINGS:

• 1st Prompt: --
• 2nd Prompt: Active: Battle, disease, famine, living death, rage; Historical/Not active in prompt: mentions of serial killers, murder, biological warfare, god/human love affair
  
• 3rd Prompt: --

This prompt is backdated slightly and takes place on February 18th.

A live broadcast comes to everyone's devices, featuring a rather peculiar speaker. "Attenchun, kindly o-otherwowders! Tis I, Pwincess Guacachia Bluebell of the Guinea Pig Nation of Nowth Elphame. Though our home is too small to be noted on the Laage Neighbow's maps, I asschuwe you I am caulified as Ambassadow for Chween Elphame. Though you had failed her chwuest, many of you have shown the twust she asked fow even if not the bwains. Those who have will be shown gweat gwatichude, but she does feel [squeaking sound of dismay that cannot be translated out of guinea pig adequately] as the Fishaa King's body was pawt of hew pwans to dishmanchle the Cawamidy and didn' want to speach chuday because of it. Evewyone send good wibes and wikes, she won't speak when she's not
[again: squeaking sound of dismay that cannot be translated out of guinea pig adequately]... the Cawamichy won't be ended if you all don't wowk with the Chween, King Awfur's gwaces or notch, you know! But that's none of myyy busy-ness! Elphame offews a rewawd fow the Fishaa King's body now, much to keep you "fat and happy" for many yeaws!    I also have a favew to ask on behaaf of my people. Our Festiva of Life is next week and the usuaw souwce of one of the chey ingwediench of our festiva cakes was a Leschawian, bwessings to them!" As it turns out, the Guinea Pig Nation (all talking guinea pigs who like to dress up in various outfits- in style now in particular is old western themed outfits, but the Princess must always wear her crown) are in a pinch because their Lestari hook-up for the feathers died in the fall of Lestari. They need help to pluck feathers from a bird called the Prism Tweeter! Their people love to decorate the outside of their Festival of Life cakes with their feathers, which are made of finely spun sugar in a variety of colors. These birds are typically found in the first Ash Mountain, but upon its fall, migrated to live in the Forest of the Felled as one of its new, more colorful residents. It only takes one feather to cover a cake, so pluck no more than one feather per bird and the whole flock will go unharmed... the only trick is catching these delectably sweet aviators: The birds can magically phase through physical, non-enchanted objects, so you have to surprise them to grab them. The plus side is, they really love vanilla beans, so they're easy to lure out of the trees.. you don't have to be George of the Jungle to help out the pigs.   More of a stay-at-home kind of helper? That's fine too. They need bakers to make as many tiny cakes as they need for the festival since it's so last minute this year! Hurry up and grab a friend to get to baking 3-layer 1 inch cakes wrapped in rainbow feathers to help these little guys out. The Elphame Traders will make a special trip to Camelot to pick up all of these cakes as a favor to the Guinea Pig Nation, so you can stay at home and bake with your friends no matter where you live. This prompt takes place on February 22nd and February 23rd.
	A few days after the fun and fancy-free stylings of the Guinea Pig Nation ahead of their Festival of Life (you weren't invited, sorry, too big you would destroy their homes- but they appreciate the help!) things are going pretty mundanely. That is, until what sounds like a battle cry is heard approaching New Camelot. On the horizon, what appears to be a massive cavalcade of demon horse-riding wraiths lead by four knights in what appears to be ancient armor rush toward the city. A few of the locals who hear the sound and come out to see what all the fuss is about immediately seem to spook, shouting something about the Wild Hunt. Usually it's something preserved for earth and those who find it will be taken along and dumped either in Avalon itself or taken straight to the underworld, but their presence here in Avalon.. well, that can't be good. The shouting seems to alert the castle, which seems to alert more people, and within a matter of minutes people are being rushed to take cover within the castle walls for siege.
All of Camelot's gates are closed and people are directed to a couple of different places: knights and those who wish to fight are to prepare for battle at each of the gates. Healers who wish to stay and help the wounded are to gather in the citadel, where the injured will be taken. Those who wish to battle and heal will act as field medics to get people into a state enough fit to be taken to the citadel. Those who wish to offer other support may be asked to hand out food and water within the citadel or fetch supplies around the city, or to rush to the library to try to figure out what the hell is leading this hunting party toward them. King Arthur will lead the knights into battle. Merlin will also be assisting in battle, using a variety of magic from atop the castle. If your character gets into a pinch and you aren't sure how to get them out, feel free to have him send a magic spell to block an enemy. Knights given the authority to direct other fighting characters as they see fit (though your non-knight fighter's compliance is, as always, depending on your choice as a player).  Those who wish to opt out of this event entirely will be whisked away by some of the Fairy Queen's spies to Nicnevin for safekeeping. If you do not want your character to remember or acknowledge any portion of this event, we can handwave that the Fairy Queen arbitrarily found your character annoying and put them under a sleeping spell for the duration of their stay. This will be done before the outer city gates are broken through, so your character can be safe the whole time and just chill in a hotel room in Nicnevin. Those who stay will be fighting wraiths (unkillable enemies) lead by four beings called the Knights of the Veil. Those who have rushed to the library to find answers will be able to spread the following information regarding the enemies, though first-hand experience may also be how your character finds out some of it: The Knights of the Veil live in the void between the world of the living and the dead and escaped when the veil was not closed during a ritual to raise a heavily cursed and protected corpse back to life. Though there's no way to know which corpse, recent news of the Fisher King's body going missing leaves some speculation and fear about who it was that was raised, but no one has any idea who did it. The Knights of the Veil have touch-based magic in addition to weaponry which you may have your character afflicted by at your behest. The four knights are as follows: Carlea: Once a proud Queen, she sold her soul to the darkness after her husband was killed by enemies and the prince of the enemy nation forced her to marry him. She used this ability to brutally murder every last citizen of her enemy's kingdom over time in secret and feed them to a pet bear she was gifted by her new husband, saving him for last. Carlea's touch will invoke a curse of famine, causing all food and drink to turn to ash in the touched individual's mouth. Rubion: Rubion was a serial killer in his world known for killing over a hundred people, though the exact number is not known. Who he was before that isn't particularly known, but as a killer, he was known for brutally killing anyone who crossed him in a fit of rage. He was from a time before forensics and tended to kill witnesses, so he was never caught. That is, until he missed seeing a small child hiding under his bed during one of his rampages. The child's grandfather took him in and killed Rubion himself after he found out why the child would not speak for a month straight. It is thought that his own god cursed Rubion to stay in the void where he could not torment his victims in the afterlife too. Rubion's touch will invoke uncontrollable, violent rage and turn even the smallest slight into a mountainous anger. Augusto: Augusto was the general of an army who used the blood of his people's sickly to spread disease in conquering nations. He did not choose to become one of the Knights, instead being cursed to eternal damnation by a priestess in one of the villages he wrought destruction upon. Augusto's touch will inflict a disease of the player's choosing upon their character, at full height of symptoms within 30 minutes of touch.  Pien: Pien is a god of an older religion who was banished from the heavenly kingdoms for loving a human so much she attempted to give her eternal life despite that it was forbidden to grant eternity to mortals. She has a high-and-mighty attitude, and if disrespected will disrespect you right back with dignity-obliterating consequences. Her followers tended to be on the M side of things. Her touch will invoke conscious zombieism, meaning that your body will die and begin to rot despite still being able to move, and you will be aware and able to communicate and feel during this experience.    The Knights and Wraiths cannot be killed by any means as long as the ritual remains in effect and their tie to the underworld is stable, so for the time being this is a heavily unwinnable battle. Thankfully, wraiths are not very coordinated even if they are aggressive in battle so it's easy to dodge, flee, or take cover.

On the second day of the Siege, devices will flicker with a face we haven't seen in some time. She is this world's mother goddess, after all, so if threatened she will come to offer reprieve. Morganna looks almost amused at how much destruction had been wrought by the actions of, truly, one man and those he had strung along. Morganna will not punish nor reveal them, but she will speak on the matter: "Those wishing for this to end, rejoice. I have birthed verbena upon your doorsteps. Take another's hand, light a candle and burn the flowers. Whisper 'lights out' three times together, and pray to send some of your magic to me. I need as many of you to do it as possible, or else I will not be able to freeze time fast enough to stop the calamity from engulfing this place afterward when I complete the ritual shutter."
That is all she says. The ritual won't do much if only one person does it outside of today as Morganna is keeping secret what she does on her end to complete it. If your character's name is possessed by the fairy queen, they will be forced to participate in this ritual so they may notice something odd if they weren't intending to do it. After the ritual is complete, all personal rituals will be voided and need to be recast. (This includes things like brownie summoning spells or the banishing of lesser frost fairies if your character was doing that from last year to keep their house warm.) This will also cause both the sun and moon to black out for about a day afterward, so you may want to get on board with artificial lighting or spells until a party heading to Celliwig to repair that ritual can get out there in about a day's time. The most dangerous ritual that has been broken will be the time freeze. Morganna uses everyone's magic to give herself superspeed to recomplete the ritual to recast it, along with a significant portion of the Isle of Avalon's itself that had been built up in surplus having everyone here for so long. However, there are still 2 seconds in which the massive event that threatens the multiverse can move forward. It is now visible in the sky to the north during the night even without being at the End of the World, and will stay that way for the duration of isleofavalon until the multiverse is saved. It is outright terrifying if you travel to the End of the World now, taking up the majority of the sky. For a month afterward, those who participated may find themselves fatigued without clear cause... but in general, magic will be misbehaving and causing accidents for everyone for about the next month.

Comments

D

[sulit]

[In the aftermath of this siege and the ritual that ended it, Klaudia is... hanging in there. Barely.]

[She's exhausted--from running around with messages and information and pulling the wounded back to safety, to giving her energy to Morganna for the ritual to end this fight. The sort of exhaustion that permeates both physically and mentally... and emotionally, after seeing that new feature hanging in the sky. It might have been frightening to see it from here, if she had anything left in her to be frighten with.]

[But she does overhear someone comment on it; looks over to see "Junko" looking up at the reminder of why they're all here. And Klaudia pauses, holding a small light cupped in both hands, flickering like a candle illuminating her surroundings. It's the best she can do right now.]

...It's all of the frozen places. The... calamity, or whatever they're calling it. Did you not see it before?

[corpsewarblade]

No, never.

[A glance as she heard Klaudia nearby. Seeing the light in her hands, Mukuro held out her own, letting out a soft glow from her bandaged fingertips- Not as strong as Klaudia's, but it would do the job.

Perhaps it was the weird way the light shone on her face, but an uncharacteristically serious expression had come into her face. Perhaps that was actually more genuine than the fake, exaggerated expressions she usually wore.]

...So that's the end of the world. It looks...different, to how I imagined it.

[sulit]

[If she's going to provide light, then Klaudia is going to drop hers. It's too troubling to keep up. It was likely to go out soon anyway.]

End of the world is a bit of a misnomer, I think. They didn't end. Everything is still there. It's just frozen. [She sounds like she's being a little pedantic about it, but she frowns at the thought, like she's trying to say something more meaningful and can't find the words.]

...It's only an end if we can't fix it. If it gets to us, too. [Which might or might not be a comforting thought. It sure did move a lot closer in those few seconds... but it's not here yet, and Klaudia is choosing to focus on that.]

[corpsewarblade]

I wonder what would happen if it did...

[It wouldn't be anything like what she saw at home. That despair was driven by people- this was something else entirely.]

...Hey...why do you think we were chosen to stop it to begin with? Why us?

[sulit]

[What would happen if it did... That's something that Klaudia has thought about more than she wants to admit. What happens if they fail? Then... they'll probably be frozen in time too. Everything will be stopped, and there won't be anyone to start it again. They'll just keep existing in frozen time forever... probably without even realizing it. It's a scary, sobering thought--and not one that she wants to voice, but the worry manifests in the crease of her brow and the downturn of her lips as she stares up at that distant chaos in the sky.]

[That 'hey' snaps her out of her thoughts, and she blinks with a startled expression for two seconds before registering the question. Why... us?]

... I don't know. [For someone who feigns confidence at every opportunity, it's a surprisingly unsure and honest answer. Having been caught off-guard by the question, it leaves her sounding smaller--closer to how she feels.] Random chance, maybe. There's a lot of people here who don't belong here. They're not... the sort of people who you'd expect to be saving the world.

[Herself included.]

Maybe the familiars don't realize that they picked the wrong ones. Maybe they don't pick at all. Maybe it's just a feeling, and they don't actually know what they're going to get. Or that there's better options at all.

[corpsewarblade]

[Thankfully, Mukuro hadn't fallen into the spiral of despair- of thoughts of exactly what would await them. It was too big, too much to wrap her head around, so each time she tried she ended up feeling nothing more than the pricking of a chill at her heart.]

Yeah...it probably is random, I guess. A lot of the people I've met here have been pretty heroic sorts, but I've often wondered if I got pulled in by mistake. I'm not like that at all. Hijikata said maybe it was because I could fight...Fenrir hasn't been able to really tell me.

...Why, do you think your familiar picked the wrong person, too?

[sulit]

[Hijikata again... Like that idiot would know what he's talking about. What's he even doing, giving advice on why people are or aren't chosen? Does he think he has half a brain to figure that out if she can't? Out of all the people who shouldn't be here, he's in the half that's too stupid to do anything useful. A knot of annoyance builds in her chest just thinking about him, but snuffs out again as the other girl's question moves directly to her.]

[It's uncomfortable, hearing someone pick out what she really meant. Not just that there were others that didn't belong here, but that she was one of them. Who would choose a tiefling to save the world? To be the sole representative meant to save her world? Not anyone that lived there, that's for sure. She was trying hard to deserve the responsibility--to be heroic in the face of everything she'd been taught, but the fact still remained that it was a bad choice. She didn't feel that capable. There were better options. Better heroes.]

...She says she didn't. But I don't think she'd tell me if she thought she picked wrong. She's cagey like that. But I don't think she knows anymore than anyone else does.

[Which says nothing of what Klaudia thinks--only her familiar's opinion, but maybe that's enough to satisfy the question.]

[corpsewarblade]

I wonder if they really don't know.

[Even for Mukuro's resounding lack of people skills, she got the unspoken implication there. That the answer to her question was a 'yes'.]

I don't know what you did back home. But for me, it just feels wrong to put the whole fate of what's left of my world on one person- someone who helped end it.

...You worked it out already, didn't you?

[That the 'Mukuro' she spoke of in her broadcast was her real self.]

[sulit]

An idiot could work it out.

[She mumbles the words, more grudging than anything else. Had she been certain? No. But she had guessed as much... That the person "Junko" had been warning everyone about was actually her. Mukuro. Though how much of that story was true was also questionable. Obsessed with weapons and stuff? Sure. Capable of ushering in the end the world? Doubtful. She had to be competent for that.]

[Though hearing the admission is harder to shake this time than it was before. It's such a stupid thing to bring up... Ending the world? Who would even want something like that? Why would she want something like that? It was insane... And for all of her many faults, she didn't seem insane. Just stupid.]

I'm not saying that I believe you--because I don't. But why would you want to end your world? You lived there, too. That's like setting your own house on fire. People don't just do that unless they're out of their mind. Or possessed. Or... I don't know.

[Evil, maybe. But that word feels sour on her tongue, and she doesn't say it.]

[corpsewarblade]

...Junko wanted to see the world fall into despair, that's all. I was her enforcer, her bodyguard and right hand.

I...loved her more than anything else. I wanted her to get the despair she wanted.

[More than that world. More than anyone else in it, including herself. The relationship between the despair sisters was distinctly one sided- with Junko on the better side of the power balance.]

[sulit]

[Klaudia presses her lips into a deep frown, her shoulders hiking a little. Her words come out sharper than she means them to:]

What, and she didn't live in that world too? Does she have an excuse for being crazy?

[She can't understand it. What does someone get from that? If the whole world is suffering, then that would mean her too. Who wants to suffer? Who wants everything to end like that? Even in her worst moments, she never wanted to see the world burn so badly. She only wanted it to leave her alone.]

[But trying to express her feelings on that and on this idiot girl's devotion to her sister are hard... She hasn't had much luck on that front before. Even if she detests whatever the actual Junko was up to before, it's not going to do anything but make this fake Junko angry all over again.]

[The bitter line of Klaudia's mouth smooths out a little, more thoughtful and less snappish though still grudgingly so. She looks down at the ground as she thinks.]

...I'm supposed to tell you that family is complicated.

tw killing games

[corpsewarblade]

She was bored. Despair was one of the few things she couldn't predict, so she craved it. Junko organised killing games for the same reason.

[A small shrug. Mukuro had helped Junko in that regard- she'd wanted to help her more than anything else in the world. But there wasn't much in Mukuro's tone then. She was too tired to argue about her sister's motivations, and it wasn't like she was under any illusions how cruel her sister could be.

Complicated, though?]

...I only had her. That made it easier. Even if there are things I was too stupid to understand in the end.

[Her cold gaze turned back up to the end of the world, high up in the sky. And, well...despair or not, she could at least work something out in all this.]

I don't...want Avalon to disappear.

[sulit]

Probably the first sane thing you've said. Good job.

[Her tone is flat, though whether that's from exhaustion or exasperation, it's hard to tell. The more Klaudia hears about this Junko, the less she likes her. Killing games? Because she was bored? That honestly sounds like the crazy stuff that some rich noble might get up to, just because they didn't have any worth outside of controlling people. It reminds her vaguely of some of the dark web requests, too, though that's a more uncomfortable train of thought.]

... But you're still not getting it. [What does she have to do to get the right thoughts across to this girl? This is so much harder than she thought it would ever be.]

If it was just her, doesn't that actually make it more complicated? How are you supposed to tell if she's even any good? You don't have anyone else to compare to. You just listen to whatever she says because she's the best and worst and only person you have, and there's no telling if you'll have anyone else ever again... Right?

[There's frustration that leaks through, and she struggles to find better words than the ones she's given before.] ... What if you had a choice, and there was someone better? Someone who didn't want everyone to die for the sake of their boredom? Can you imagine a person like that?

[corpsewarblade]

I don't know. It didn't matter if she was good or not.

[That was the first thing that came out- the kneejerk reaction when it was all too big and complicated to make any sense of.

But at least one person from home started to float to the front of her mind, along with some of the people she'd met since coming to Avalon- and the light in her hands flickered.]

...I guess. I've met a few people like that. Since coming here more so...I've been fighting at their side for a while. But there was a guy back home who was Junko's complete opposite.

It's not like it never crossed my mind to side with him. But it never worked out that way.

[sulit]

[It didn't matter if she was good or not. What a familiar and deeply uncomfortable sentiment. Hadn't she said nearly the exact same thing before? With that creature she had thought was her father... It hadn't mattered if he'd treated her poorly, scoffed at her, disrespected her--just so long as he accepted her at the end. She'd thought that having something was better than nothing at all, and she was willing to do anything... until someone had stopped her, too.]

Someone told me... Don't beg for what you're owed. [She pauses after that, voice smaller than normal.] Do you understand? I don't-- [--know what a family is like. But the words get caught on her lips.] Family is... complicated. But if she's your sister, then she owes you...something. Right? At least respect. And if she doesn't give you that, then don't beg for it. Don't crawl around hoping that she'll suddenly change and treat you better--because she won't, and you shouldn't have to endure that.

[That was a lesson that was easily learned, but so hard to apply. When the want was so large, it was had to ignore. Hard to pass up even the smallest chance. But Lan Wangji was right... She deserves someone who will do better. And as obnoxious and stupid as this girl is at times, she does too.]

You should find someone else instead. Someone that gives you what you're looking for. Like that guy that's the opposite of her, or the people you've met here. They don't have to be real family that you were born with. They just have to be good for you.

tw sororicide

[corpsewarblade]

"Don't beg for what you're owed"... I guess. I'm disappointing. I don't think I deserve more than that.

[She wanted to try and understand though. What was she owed? What did Junko really owe her? ...It made her think back to the conversations she'd had before, about how Junko's plan may have been to kill her from the start.

Was that what she deserved? If it wasn't because she'd messed up...did she deserve to be thrown to her death, for her loyalty?

...She didn't know, but her face scrunched up in concentration.]

It's...okay, to think...of people here as family, even if they weren't born that way?

[She replied after thinking on it for a good few minutes, managing to at least distil something from the clouded thoughts rattling around in her head.]