EVENT ✨ Unnamed Event

[avalonmods]

QUICK NAV: LOGS ⚔️️ NETWORK ⚔️️ MEMES ⚔️️ OOC ⚔️️ NAVIGATION This is the event log. If you have questions about the event, reply to this comment HERE. Click here to view top-level comments only. There is a poll available here until 11:59pm PST on 4/29.

At least one of the guests to the Unnamed Marsh who encountered the Will O Wisps had the right idea: get all of the candles lit at the same time. (Thank Emet-Selch!) Once the candles are lit, the Unnamed Marsh seems to warm up quite a bit-- which means it is very muggy and uncomfortable, but it also means the bugs that were underground that hatch a little later in the year are warm enough to start hatching and increase the food supply for the waning population. It's a temporary measure, but with the help of Otherworlders, the Unnamed Marshes have been given an extended chance at life with this little plan of the Wisps.

CONTENT WARNINGS:

• 1st Prompt: --
• 2nd Prompt: Drowning, poison, skinning, beheading.
  
• 3rd Prompt: --

This part of the event takes place on April 18th.

With the Unnamed Marshes' stay of execution, the Wisps head to Camelot and any townships nearby late at night, sneaking through window sills, door locks, any little crevices they can to break into the homes of Otherworlders and flitter around them as if to say 'Hey, Listen!' They are absolutely demanding attention and that people come with them. Though you may be able to resist after some time and shoo them off, it won't be without dealing with the will o' wisps rather... mischievous attempt to get your attention. The will o' wisps are causing all manner of trouble. They're possessing objects in homes and making them tease, taunt, and generally harass just about anyone who refuses to follow the leader wisp. If your house wasn't haunted before, it sure seems like it is now until you listen to that little wisp of light.
But if that doesn't work, perhaps cartoon-level possession will help get your character's ass in gear. Look in the mirror and see your ears have turned the size of Dumbo's! Pick your jaw up off the floor (literally) and go help those will o' wisps! (Or maybe find a death mage to exorcise them if you're really that against helping.) Regardless, these domestic disasters will continue for the first day until they've got a fair number of people on board with following them, whether your character is interested in adventuring or not. There's a group of those staying behind to help clean up these disasters too, so feel free to help with the clean-up efforts! This part of the event takes place any time April 18th through April 20th.
	Those who follow, however, will be led to the Unnamed Marshes. This time, there is a fleet of elemental mage-powered airboats. Those with elemental magic are welcome to drive their own (and may in fact use them at any time in the future to explore the marshes), but for those who don't, this one time they will be escorted by the elemental mages of the Unnamed Marshes. Where the airboats go? To the one and only village in the Unnamed Marshes, Malous. (Mal-us, not mallows- They don't appreciate the mispronounced pun and will attempt to push anyone who makes it into the marsh water). Only those who are both given permission by the marshes and have guides to get them through (like the Will o' Wisps, who are now willing to lead Otherworlders through as long as they don't do anything to cause harm to the marshes) are able to find Malous. The Malous mages will explain that the Unnamed Marshes are experiencing an
unprecedented loss of life ever since a newcomer- the Fisher King- had come to their settlement. He's since gone into hiding, but they need help to find him, as they cannot leave Malous unguarded for long. Anyone who offers to help will be provided with the recipe for Malous totems (which will later be available for purchase via rewards for anyone who does not participate). That said, unless your character is a master of their magic, they should not be wandering apart from the group. Beginner-level mages will be in big trouble here given the number of unfriendly creatures. As you travel to Malous, you are warned not to make eye contact with anything you may see in the water. They will leave you alone as long as you don't look at them. You're likely to get dragged to hell if you do. The Unnamed Marshes are known for their close connection with elemental magic, so each of the creatures within it have an opposite element that can be used to defeat them. None of the creatures explicitly have names (it is the Unnamed Marshes), so you'll have to use clues obtained from other travelers or prior research to figure out what to use. Be wary of what looks like a drowning woman with long, black hair. She will scream for help, but if you look at her or try to help her out, she'll pull you into the water and the last thing you'll see is her wicked grin, sharp teeth from ear to ear and hollow eyes. She seems to be able to control the water, so even if you swim, she'll move a tower of water above your head until your lungs burn from lack of air. They are weak against electricity/lightning. The lantern men can only see you if you meet eyes with them. These men, only called lantern men for lack of a better name, wander about the marshes looking for new lantern shells. Some have pumpkins, some have the skulls of those who have fallen under them. Their goal is to maintain the fire of the single coal lit said to have been illuminated by the fires of hell themselves. The fresher the kill, the brighter the coat shall burn, so they are always looking to find new heads to contain them. They are able to wield fire from the coals in battle. The best tactic here is the air element-- they can wield the fire, but it will get caught up in the gases of the swamp, so finding a way to blow their attacks back at them is the key! Mysterious, glowing herons with beaks and talons that glow an eery, unworldly phosphorescent color will go after anyone who wanders off alone-- which is why it's very important to stick together this entire trip. These herons eat bioluminescent fish that contain a toxin that makes the very touch of these herons poisonous, giving them their status as omens of death. Don't worry though- they're scared of fire. You don't even have to kill them, just scare them off. They do like to steal things though, so be careful you don't lose track of something if you accidentally spare them a glance! The last most dangerous thing you'll need to avoid are a variant of creatures known as nasnas, and are composed of half a human body split down the middle. The insides are entirely visible, it hops around on one leg, and there is a horrendous tail that trashes about behind it to maintain balance. Kill them before they use electrical impulses to paralyze you. These creatures eat their victims by slowly skinning them alive while they're paralyzed. At.. least you can still scream for help? It seems they rather like their victims' vocal cords in tact, which varies from one of their cousins that spends mere seconds getting the job done. What the fuck. You'll want to find earth/ground/rock magic means to defeat this guy- get them out of the water where their electricity can travel freely and you'll stand a much better chance as long as you avoid contact.

This portion of the event takes place after the previous prompt, whenever characters give in to the will o' wisps' demands.

There's a reason that people don't get very far in the swamps past a certain point without guides. But those who either follow directions not to look at anything or stray from the boats, or otherwise expertly fight off whatever they've drawn the attention of, will end up in Malous: a village built floating entirely on the water out of reeds harvested from the marsh itself and woven together with the intricacy of baskets. The people of the village itself, including the mages that had been taking human form to greet you, are clearly not human... rather, Malous are fairies of the mushroom variety. Taking a wide variety of forms, all of these fae seem to resemble different types of mushrooms. Large caps, fibrous beards or hair, frilled bottoms that look like dresses but are in fact fungal, even some stranger ones whose heads look like intricate up-dos that are, in fact, mushroom caps. The younger they are, the further from human form they are, so it's certainly possible to see some of the children fae running around looking like portabellas with arms, legs, and beady little eyes. The older fae have a much more humanoid look.
The Malous act very serious and delight in chasing and terrifying others.. but they are secretly a kind folk. They may chase you through a haunted house pretending they're going to devour your soul, but if you get stuck behind a rusty gate they'll step past you and open it before proceeding to chase you again. Much like their name sounding like the word malice, but being a word that means "loveable" or "beautiful," they act differently than they actually are... you know, unless you say something along the lines of "They're actually pretty fungis." Yet another push into the water for you. Hope you haven't accidentally looked at anything you shouldn't be while you're in there. Their people actually seem to be thriving at the moment despite the rest of the marsh being in harsh circumstances because of the slow decay of all of its food. Mushrooms eat dead things, after all, and yet these kind hearted creatures are not intent on increasing their food supply so much as helping the rest of the swamp survive. They'll take care of things here, but the Otherworlders need to clean up the mess one of theirs wrought by awakening the Fisher King. Take some time to explore the city, gather supplies, ask the villagers around but do not cause a panic, and search the Unnamed Marsh up and down. The Malous don't have food as most humans would eat it, but they'll teach you how to catch and cook edible bugs and fish in the area-- but they do have a variety of herbs, melee weapons that are built to channel magic, tools, bioluminescent lanterns, and so on. Please note that Malous technology levels are well below modern day, so while you will still have a phone signal, you're going to have to deal with what amounts to technology from actual Arthurian times. Given the way the Unnamed Marsh works, intentionally confusing and making travelers lose their way, it will take a little while to gather information... especially since another tribe in the Unnamed Marshes specializes in Animal magic and is 100% behind the Princess and the Frog-style stories. Anyone who runs into these reed-clothed people will be turned into an animal of your choosing until they can convince someone to give them a smooch (of any variety) to turn them back. It's unclear exactly where they're hanging out and it's theorized they're nomadic as there is not another known settlement within the marshes. In the end, the intel gets around that the Fisher King has gone to Bermuda Station: an underwater train that is normally capable of traveling across universes underneath the waters of Avalon and through Otherworlders. With the Calamity closer than ever, it's extremely dangerous to approach this unstable area and is heavily guarded at this time... so the plans are put on pause for now and the people are called to a meeting at Malous to vote on the path forward.

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