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.

---

Comments

[emet_sulk]

The shoebill stamps one of its slender feet and rattles off another call. Emet-Selch knows not to waste breath on trying to 'speak'. All he can do is use body language. Somehow.

He starts pacing restlessly. Or as restlessly as a large bird can pace - which is not very quick. Every movement has to be carefully considered of he'll simply fall over into the brackish water. Two clacks answers Floyd's question about company; obviously there is no way for him to express his current desires.

At length, he lifts one leg and tries to use his long toes to write in the mud. This proves to be exceptionally difficult as shoebills were not really made to balance on one leg for all that long. Any writing ends up as literal chicken-scratch stamped all over with his large feet.

[over_the_sea]

This was fun and all, but, well, it's a bird, and Floyd is starting to get bored, especially as the bird itself seems to be getting impatient with him. Ehh, maybe he should just leave it and head off, which in fact Floyd starts to do as the bird looks like it's going to start ignoring him.

Though he pauses a few steps into leaving as he looks back at that scratching sound. Was... it trying to write? "Eeehh? You trying to write something? You're not made to do that." A look around to see if there was anything better to use, heading off a few more feet to try and find something like a branch of similar that wasn't rotted through and would take some impact. Finding something that seems to have a bit of strength to it, a reed or something, Floyd flexes it between his hands to test it before returning it and moving to shove it towards the bird's beak.

"Here, try this. Don't break it."

[emet_sulk]

He stares at the reed for a moment then carefully takes it in his beak. Writing with it proves to be almost as awkward as making letters with his feet. However, some rudimentary letters appear:



After he's done, he stares at Floyd with the reed still in his beak, as if expecting some kind of understanding.

[over_the_sea]

Oh look! He's actually doing it! That's kinda cool. Floyd is excited to see what this bird will write or draw or... just scratch and...

He's disappointed. "I can't read that... What even is that?!" Floyd moving in closer with little thought at how dangerous this could be, turning his head this way and that way to try and understand it from different angles. "Hey, bird, you need to learn other languages." No comment on the fact this bird is actually writing... just that it's the wrong writing.

[emet_sulk]

Luckily for Floyd, Emet-Selch can't bite his head with the reed in his beak. Instead, he gives the boy a death stare before shifting to a clear patch of mud and writing the same thing but in Allagan script instead.

...He's just being petty at this point. But these letters look even more unrecognisable, being blocky, almost hieroglyphic shapes. After that, he finally writes in the common fae language used around Camelot (whatever that may be) - which is likely when Floyd can finally read his writing:

Emet-Selch

I apologize for this idiot child...

[over_the_sea]

No doubt it wouldn't had turned out good for either of them. Floyd would had gotten bit, Emet-Selch would had gotten kicked or magic away. No one would had left this happy. Emet-Selch also possibly wouldn't enjoy knowing that Floyd was not picking up any of this hatred sent his way, more trying to figure out just what was being said.

As that new writing was scratched in Floyd waited to see what this would say, and... "I still donno what that means..." At least he can recognize the letters. "...OH! Is that you? Emet?" At least he got that, right? "Hiii~." Not that it helped much.

it's fine I love him LMAO

[emet_sulk]

Finally, some progress. He ducks his head and the annoyance in his gaze turns less so - although that is probably still difficult to tell for those not adept at reading bird expressions. CAN birds have expressions? He has no idea.

He continues writing:

Fae magic.

[over_the_sea]

Fae magic.... huh....

Oh! "Did the gross mushroom faes make you a super smart bird?" That's... not quite the right answer, was it? But hey, that clearly makes more sense than a person being turned into an animal, right?

"That's cool! I guess..." Actually it's kinda lame. In fact, "Actually that's lame. And weird. Why make a super smart animal? Unless it's like Sealy who's not really a cat but looks like a cat." No explaining who 'Sealy' is, not that it would help anyway since Grim wasn't here. "But you can't talk!" So clearly less entertaining than Grim.

[emet_sulk]

Another death stare. Then he uses the stick to try and jab the boy's arm.

How are they even more oblivious than Hythlodaeus?? Maybe he should switch tactics and get them to lead him to civilisation.

[over_the_sea]

"Hey!" Hey! That's not nice, Floyd making a grab for the stick and attempting to pull it from the bird's beak. "Don't be mean!" Don't make him hit you back, bird...

Or maybe this was a perfect chance to use as a leash and drag Floyd along to said civilization, and hopefully others who know what is going on. Cause clearly Floyd has no clue at all. He's just having a good time!

[emet_sulk]

He clamps down harder on the stick and starts tugging back. He is...not particularly strong like this, however. And that beak doesn't exactly have much by way of traction.

But what he does have are fairly large wings, which he beats in an attempt to give himself more force.

[over_the_sea]

Whaaat? "Wait, wait, wait waitwait!" Floyd keeping his grip on the stick as he gets pulled along. Sure, he could just, you know, let go, or even maybe pull that stick from the bird's beak, but he seems he's going along for the ride, even if it's mostly under his own will to do so. It's too much fun not to!

"Where we goinnngggg?" He whines out, trying to keep out of the way with those wings and to not get hit by them.

[emet_sulk]

Tug tug tug--

The shoebill does not answer. He makes some noises as he drags the boy along but mostly he is focused on getting them both to the village of Mallous.

When they finally catch sight of it, he'll abruptly let go of the stick and utter that loud rattling sound again. Assuming Floyd hasn't yet gotten bored of being escorted at least...

now need a thread in future where Floyd meets Emet-Selch in person and still has no clue it's him

[over_the_sea]

Floyd actually did follow along, but as the village came into view, "Ohhh... this is where you wanna go?" Huh... wait.

"Then why did you need me if you knew where it was?!" Silly bird. "Ehhh~ well... I guess it was fun. And weird." Both of those.

...anyway.

"Okay bird, hope you find what you want!" Maybe this bird thing will find whoever made it a smart bird, or whatever had happened. "See ya!" Before wandering off to continue doing whatever he had been distracted from upon finding Emet-Selch in the first place.

we can absolutely make that happen >:3

[emet_sulk]

Hey, wait--

The shoebill rattles loudly, taking a step forward as if to pursue the boy. But in the end, it settles back, shaking its head in disgust. Nevermind - he'll find someone more reliable to help him communicate.

After glaring at Floyd's departing back, he stalks off to find someone else to harass. If birds could sigh, this one would be right now.