isleofavalon | EVENT ✨ Sugar and Siege

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EVENT ✨ Sugar and Siege

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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."

verbena flower

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.

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Lights out. Lights out. Lights out.

[Most of the lights in the house are already off, but the ritual candle and fire pit sputter and die as well, leaving them entirely in the dark. Rinea lets out the breath she was holding, the loss of mana leaving her empty.

She sits there a moment in silence, grasping onto the remains of her composure. Then,]

Um. Sir Hijikata... may I ask you a strange question?

[Her fingers curl in his grip, not yet letting go.]

During your time fighting the siege ...did you happen to encounter sir Somnus?

[Hijikata tries to summon a new flame to re-light the fire pit, but nothing happens... so much for retaining some magical energy! Whatever Morganna's plan is, she either really needs every little bit of mana she can get, or she took it all simply because she could.

He might have gotten flustered at Rinea not letting go of his hand, but her question suddenly brings back a flood of memories from immediately before his long unconsciousness, and while she can't see his smile in the darkness she can likely hear the gratitude and fondness in his voice.]

That's not a strange question. I did encounter him, and he saved my life.

[Her question sounded apprehensive, though... his smile fades into concern.]

I last saw him in the citadel after he brought me there. Is he not accounted for?

[So then, Somnus had been well before? That is a relief to hear alongside the gladness with which Hijikata speaks of him. Still, it makes her encounter all the more distressing. The cognitive dissonance hurts. She didn't really deserve what he said, did she...?

Rinea shakes her head, hair swishing quietly with the motion.]

...No. I saw him mere hours before you were brought to my home. But-- my second question is... have we any news of the wraiths casting illusions or impersonating citizens? Because...

[She realizes her voice has faded to a whisper, and pauses. She swallows.]

When I saw Sir Somnus, he.. He threatened me.

He threatened you?

[That seems unlike Somnus, but he'll need more context.]

What exactly did he say?

[Perhaps the other man wanted Rinea off the battlefield at all costs and got harsh with her because of that? It's the only reasonable scenario that readily comes to his mind. Regardless, he takes out his phone and starts scrolling. Since he was only in combat for less than an hour - a fact that still stings him; he accomplished so little! - he didn't have time to take breaks, gather with others, and exchange information. While Rinea tells him more he'll look for any helpful wraith lore dumps.]

Well... [Rinea returns her hands to her lap, watching Hijikata's expression in the glow of the phone screen. Explaining feels suddenly so shameful, like reliving a moment of weakness. She is glad for the darkness that hides the minutia of her reaction, though she cannot disguise her voice.]

I--I only wanted to bind his wounds sustained in the siege. But he was enraged, somehow, about an enchantment we'd experienced the month before. I have never seen him so angry. He tried to--

[There is something deeply humiliating about being slapped, specifically. It is an attack not meant to maim or kill, but to punish. Rinea's throat closes around the phrase.]

--to, to strike me.

[Rinea feels the pressure of tears behind her eyes, suddenly disgusted with herself. What is she doing?] --You must understand, I do not want to believe it was him! I would never want to besmirch his reputation. But if it was truly sir Somnus, and I ran from him, then...

[then... has she done wrong by preserving herself-- and subsequently Hijikata-- instead?]

[Losing Rinea's touch makes Hijikata feels a regretful tinge for a brief moment, despite his earlier hesitation. He works with ghosts, after all, and doesn't have much physical contact with other living people. But he immediately focuses back on the conversation.]

What did that enchantment entail?

[If it happened a month ago, then why should Somnus only air his grievances about it now, and at such an inopportune time? While he listens further he finds some valuable information on AOL. So the leaders of the Wild Hunt - apparently that's who those wraiths are - are known as the Knights of the Veil... as he reads on his expression turns into a frown. He may have found the answer for what happened to Somnus, but he'll let Rinea elaborate first.]

[Hijikata's all-business attitude could be seen as unfeeling, but Rinea finds herself a little grateful for it. It keeps her on task, rather than spiraling away before her explanation is out. Wiping her eyes, she continues:]

Earlier this year, did you hear of the creature called an aurora bear? Its spell causes the afflicted persons to act as a family unit and ensure its survival. Sir Somnus and I came upon one together, and raised it for the duration. [They even named it...]

I had thought the incident behind us, but to think that sir Somnus was harboring resentment that I replaced his real family... I don't want to believe it.

[He can tell how much the incident is affecting her, but sadly he's bad at offering emotional support to others, so he simply does what he does best: be a policeman about it and investigate, step after step.]

I remember those strange little bears. They hatched from the eggs, right? I didn't end up taking care of one, but I accompanied the escort mission to release them in the wild. Somnus didn't show any upset about taking care of it with you up until now?

[Rinea's eyes slowly adjust to the darkness the longer they sit in it. She shakes her head, gaze dropping to the extinguished coals in the fire pit.]

He was perhaps... embarrassed, after the fact. [Insofar as a man like Somnus can feel that emotion, anyway.] But I daresay his attitude during it was the most human I have seen him.

[There was the concern Somnus had about his brother getting to her, but that conversation was more out of kindness than discomfort or anger. And it doesn't seem like the kind of information she should share unless she has to... even if Somnus used it to rake her over the coals, as far as she can tell.]

You... don't think it was really him, do you?

I think it was him, but he wasn't "himself", so to speak. I think what happened is that he encountered Rubion.

[He shows Rinea the AOL post on his phone as he sums it up.]

He's one of the leaders of that legion of wraiths, a man who was a mass murderer in life. Apparently he possesses the ability to imbue anyone he touches with inhuman rage at the tiniest provocation.

[The post also sheds light on what happened to himself: the wraith king he engaged in combat must have been Augusto. While it's good to finally understand where his painful affliction came from it comes with some connotations he doesn't want to think too deeply about right now.]

When I encountered Somnus he wasn't afflicted yet, I'm sure of that. I hope that a siphoner took care of him and that he's back to normal now, but let's hold off from reaching out to him for now, just to be on the safe side. I'm sure he'll get in contact with you as soon as he's in control of his senses again. I know him as a good man.

I... I see. [So it still takes a provocation? The thought of Somnus harboring some sort of underlying resentment like that makes her feel a little ill.] Then I can only pray that Lady Morganna will banish the blight with all speed.

[Her expression collapses in on itself, miserable. Being forced to sit and wait is a kind of torture all of its own, and she's been doing a lot of it lately.]

At least I can keep you safe, sir Hijikata. [She's so thankful he didn't immediately jump up and try to go out again!] When you first arrived, I was so frightened...

[Hijikata summarised the effect of Rubion's curse without putting much thought into his phrasing, and the particulars of Rinea's worry go unnoticed on his part. He, too, feels restless, unused to sitting and hiding while a battle is raging - but he couldn't even summon his intuitive fire magic, so how should he carry out exorcisms that require far more mana? He still has his death-magic-imbued sword, but he feels physically unwell.

He can only assume that a siphoning mage looked after him while he was unconscious, given that he can breathe without pain and doesn't feel feverish anymore, but between the exertion, the after-effects of the illness, and the hogweed potion affecting his health he bitterly has to accept that he wouldn't be able to contribute much value on the battlefield right now. That acceptance allows him to smile at Rinea's words, albeit resignedly, and take the time to reflect on how she's been going out of her way to ensure his safety for the second time now.]

I'm sorry I gave you a scare. This is already the second time you take care of me, Lady Rinea. I'm in your debt.

Please, think nothing of it. [She does manage to smile at that, even if it's a little weak.] Rather, I hope you will allow me to look after you until you are well.

[That's a pretty big ask, she knows. Hijikata is the fussy sort, if his de-amnesiafied blustering was anything to go by... But still, she's gonna insist.]

If I am being honest... it distresses me to think of what might happen if you leave too hastily. [Wuh oh, she looks upset again.] So much has happened to you in so little time! I don't want you to depart merely out of concern for overstaying your welcome. You understand, don't you?

[He was just really disoriented when he suddenly found himself in her home with no memories of the past 2 days... but he could certainly have handled it more gracefully. It is difficult for him to stay by her side now; that incident still leaves a lingering feeling of mortification in his chest.

Why is she so kind to him?! He was pretty rude to her! He didn't even return to thank her later, nor did he write her a letter or even a text message... yet she took him in again in this new crisis. His feelings of embarrassment and flusteredness make him hurriedly try to ease her obvious concern for him.]

Ah, lots of sh-- stuff happens in this kind of job. It's almost normal, I guess, in a place like Avalon. The criminals of Camelot have plenty of reason to want me out of their hair, and fighting on the frontlines in a siege like this comes with its own obvious risks. So really, it's pretty much nothing out of the ordinary.

[rinea just can't forget puppy-kata like he can... he's in there somewhere...]

I-Is that not even worse? [OH NO. SHE'S MORE UPSET] That makes community support all the more important, doesn't it?

I do admire your dedication, but... [Hijikata obviously doesn't fight alone when he's got a platoon of specters, but... well, non-corporeal companions can't really protect him physically, can they.] Out of the ordinary or not, I still can't bear having a hand in this risk. So please, grant me the favor of recovering here for a little longer. Won't you, Sir Hijikata?

[Puppykata will probably only return during another full moon + amnesia double whammy. With his memories intact this man is just too much of an extension of his sword otherwise, even as a weredog.

Seeing how alarmed Rinea is he makes a calming gesture with his hands, but stops in bafflement as she continues. Community support? He's a knight and a commander! His fellow swordsmen and -women and his subordinates are his community! As she entreats him to let her take care of him for a while longer it takes him a moment to muster a response.]

I-- I will. But I've got to point out that it's really you doing me a favour.

[She even made sure that no light would come into the guest room... she's too kind for her own good. He'll need to be especially careful to avoid detection in this house by any unsavoury parties. Otherwise his presence might endanger her!]

I promise I won't trouble you.

[He won't do anything reckless... unless there's a really nefarious quest on the dark web... No, no!! Delegate, Toshirou, delegate! He'll absolutely have to. He's in no shape to do his work, much as it pains him.]

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EVENT ✨ Sugar and Siege

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