isleofavalon | EVENT ✨ Sun, Moon, Stone, Egg

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CONTENT WARNINGS:

1st Prompt: --
2nd Prompt: No snakes, despite an item being called "Serpent's Egg," but because of that we wanted to note it in case anyone was worried. Actual warning for the possibility of altered states (mild).

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POST TYPE: Event
DATES: Prismagic - July 19th, Into the Light - July 20
PROMPT BRIEFS

Prismagic

Paint Party - Everyone wears white or black, throws paint at each other. Have fun.
Channel magic to light mages, who funnel everything into the spheres gathered in the TDM. Mega light beams go into the sky, light everything up.
Ritual done? Total blackout time. Explore in the dark, try to get home, use magic.
Sun comes back at sunrise! So does the moon once night falls. First moon is full.

Into the Light

Characters go into the Dusklight Forest as familiars, which allows them to be pulled into the mirrorverse of Camelot called the Lightdusk.
Characters can find opposite versions of themselves to interact with (or other characters- players can play either version as they please).
Different types of familiars can complete different tasks- Water dives for cresses needed to see invisible herbs, flyers carry characters over golden sleepy herbs, landbounds burrow out with the eggs.

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PRISMAGIC

Part of the reason that the ritual to restore Avalon’s sun and moon is done during the time of the summer solstice is because it’s an auspicious time that ambient light magic is stronger than normal, which allows for the rituals to be done without a more drastic act to increase magical potency. The magical spheres that were collected at the start of the month are part of this, and will be distributed to anyone with light magic on what would be the night of the full moon. Light mages are the ones who will lead tonight’s event, which will lead to an increase in energy and therefore, an increase in magical output.
Everyone is invited to Camelot’s town square to participate in what is essentially a paint party under the glow of the Calamity. You MUST wear all white or all black– there will be a few vendors selling simple outfits, since you can keep them after the ritual anyway. The town square has been magically enchanted to be covered with a thick layer of room-temperature snow to protect the ground and buildings. All around, there are buckets of different, vibrant colors of paint. There are water balloons you can dip in and throw at other people, paint brushes with which to fling or apply paint to other characters going as wild as possible to create a fun/high energy party, or you can just use magic to spread it far and wide. There are neons, pastels, saturated colors, and more. Those who have gathered spells like Pigmentia will find they can enchant the paint to change colors as they please, even creating multi-colored pigments. The point is to get as many participants decorated in a variety of colors, which will represent the different varieties and perceptions of light. After a fun evening of throwing paint at each other, everyone should hold hands with another participant and whisper the name of the nearest light mage to channel their magic to them as they pour every ounce of energy they have into the spheres, which will grow as bright as the moon and, when powered, will shoot a beam of energy up into the sky. When they are all lit, it will be as bright as if it were daylight even without the sun or moon yet visible in the sky. Do not look directly into the beams for more than 3 seconds or you may find yourself magically blind for the next week or so. (Don’t worry– it’s magic, it’ll go away after that or sooner with the help of a good healer, which can bring it down to 2 days with a few heavy healing sessions.) The instructions from here are similar to the original Celliwig ritual, sans lava: Turn to the person next to you and offer them a piece of yourself. It can be tears, blood, hair, a whispered confession made tangible with magic-- anything that is yours. That person must then throw it into the sphere’s light beacon and do the same in exchange. By giving part of ourselves to the fire and weaving that energy through those around us, we share the light with all around us.. This is where things get a little weird. Once everyone has filled the needs of the sphere, they will unleash a blast of light that covers all of Camelot in white light for a moment, then all light disappears. A total blackout. No electronics, no lamps, all fires are extinguished, glow in the dark sticks stop working, everything! And it’ll stay that way throughout the night until sunrise, when the sun will finally rise again. But you… may want to be careful trying to get home. There’s definitely no way to see unless you use magic to light your way. --------------------------------- *INTO THE LIGHT*
	King Arthur and the Fairy Queen have worked together to compose a plan that requires three items of legend, long lost to time: The Serpent’s Egg, Lancelot’s Ring of Dispell, and The Lapis Exillis. The first item of these is the Serpent’s Egg, something that Merlin had once found– a totem of wisdom that though it cannot predict the future, grants the ability to immediately see and understand probabilities of each and every action, live. (Among a number of other things to a well-versed sorcerer who knows how to extract all manner of wisdom from it, but Merlin’s head is big enough that no one should ask for the brag fest that will ensue on all the uses he got out of his long ago.) This egg glows like the moon and is left behind by a creature known as an ouroboros that lives within the Lightdusk: a long, medieval-style dragon that frequently chews upon its own tail.
No, that wasn’t a typo. When one enters the Dusklight Forest as a familiar at a time of twilight, they’ll be pulled into the forest floor and released within the “upside-down” of the Dusklight Forest, a mirror version of Camelot. The buildings are the same, the people are physically the same, the trees and water and air is the same. Mostly. There are mirror versions of every person who lives in Camelot, but the mirror version will behave in the opposite manner of their original. For example: a character who is virtuous, brave, and true in the true Camelot may be a conniving, cowardly liar in the mirror verse– which can be difficult to detect, given they may lie to act like their original selves to get what they want out of you. Which could be anything– Lightdusk versions of oneself may still like the same things, hobbies, people, and so on. On the other hand, the Lightdusk versions of characters who are less virtuous may be a big help to your quest if you’re willing to admit you might be the “evil twin” in this scenario. Which leads us to the goal of this venture: Finding the Serpent’s Egg. Different types of familiars will be of different help for this quest. Those of an aquatic nature will be able to explore the waters of the Lightdusk in search of a special type of vibrant green cresses that grow at the bottom of waters frequented by ouroboros during nesting. Collect the green cresses and share with others, which will give each person who consumes them the ability to see an invisible herb. With the cresses consumed, the herb appears to be made of pure gold, sprouting from the ground. It emits a sort of happy feeling when you’re near it when it’s just one or two of them, but follow them to find a trail that eventually leads to a field of them. At the center of that field will be the ouroboros’s nest. Once you find the field, however, that is when familiars of the aerial persuasion will be necessary. After all, the golden herbs en-masse cause any who wander into the field to fall into a slumber, to be consumed as prey by the ouroboros. Oops. Those with flight will need to carry those without to the nest to avoid contact with the golden herbs. While that can be done to get in, magical creatures like the Ouroboros sometimes protect their nests with anti-traveling spells. Once you’re above the nest, the power of flight, levitation, teleportation (including personal magic, familiar magic, and totems) will be disabled. This means that the land-based familiars will need to use a special item Merlin will be providing to any who go on the quest– a special stone that will burrow into the ground and head out in a random direction, named after his trusty dog Glain who had found him his Serpent’s Egg back in the day. Glain Stones can’t really be directed, so while they will burrow under the golden herbs, they can’t be used to get into the nest as they just go down and out in a random direction. It should be large enough for most familiars to crawl through– but it’s recommended the land familiar go first, as many flying familiars don’t have good hands to clear the way if any debris is ahead. Be sure to help whichever friend flew you in get out safely! Especially be sure to watch out for Ouroboros barreling after you through the tunnels to get their egg back, as they are known to swallow more than just their tails whole and have a talent for nullification magic– meaning they can stop whatever spells you’ve got going just by being close, making them harder to fight in general. This is where some additional members to your party from the Lightdusk could come in handy, if you think you can trust them, as Lightdusk natives are immune to the Ouroboros’s nullification magic. Make it out safe and sound with a Serpent’s Egg and head back to bring your Serpent’s Egg to Merlin on the Edge of the Dusklight Forest. He can’t go in as his magic is bound to a familiar right now, so he’ll be collecting the Eggs to verify their authenticity and keep them safe until the other necessary materials are found. Oh, and don’t worry about accidentally activating their ability. It takes a lot of studying and time to figure out how to effectively use them, though you may get an inkling (thinking Spider-Man’s spidey sense) that something is about to happen while holding one.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah. I've got to say, this is less suspenseful than the underground trip last year.

[He's not complaining - the paint party was fun, and he generally feels more relaxed about rituals carried out in Camelot as opposed to Elphame or Celliwig. Well, Celliwig is gone, of course... his thoughts drift back to the Splendoured Court while more and more people offer their gifts to the light streams.]

I wonder if they'll ever rebuild Celliwig. It doesn't look like it, does it? They must've lost much of their population that night.

[Those who did want to return to the area probably moved to Zidane's township while others stayed in Camelot City. Even after so many months it still feels strange to have witnessed such a chain reaction of destruction.]

[There does seem to be a certain level of peril missing with the rituals not taking place in the middle of Celliwig or Elphame. He wonders if there's something to that, or if there's simply less magic here to create such complicated rituals, and if he should really be bothered about it as long as no one is actually at risk of imminently dying.

Eh, he's probably thinking about it too hard.]

As far as I know, there are some efforts going on over there... but I don't know how far along they've come. [It's a long trip, and while Red Wine would help out if he was called on he doesn't want to make the journey out there to find nothing but abandoned rubble.]

Let's be honest, circumstances haven't been the best as far as organising that kind of effort is concerned.

[He nods thoughtfully. Between the extent of devastation in the original site of Celliwig, the resources available, and the impending turn of the seasons at the time of the disaster it simply seemed more practical to rather expand Camelot City, but even afterwards there doesn't appear have been an urge to rebuild among the displaced.]

I wonder how many of them went to the new townships instead. There's a handful of them now. I'm honestly surprised at how many people are willing to shoulder that kind of responsibility.

[Managing the Shinsengumi back home is already a full-time job, he doesn't want to imagine what it takes to manage a whole town!]

Really? You haven't spent as much time as I have around humans, then.

[Red Wine has to laugh a little as he shakes his head and folds his arms loosely. Humans were just like that, in his experience. They would take on such projects without even batting an eye while simultaneously agonising over the most mundane of things.

Fascinating, by all accounts.]

I'm actually surprised more people haven't rallied to reconstruct the town. Or perhaps they don't realise it's an option.

[Hijikata feels like he should object to that first remark, being a human and all, but Red Wine has lived much longer than him! As for Celliwig, he does wonder.]

Maybe they lost their architects--

[The brightness around them had already surpassed daytime levels to the point where it had started feeling a bit surreal, as if someone changed the settings of the hypothetical video game they all live in, but in this moment it completely engulfs everything - the market square, the city centre, probably all of Camelot's lands, or even all of Avalon.

For a moment Hijikata fears that something went grievously wrong with the ritual and this is the end, but when the blast of white light dies away and leaves pitch black darkness in its wake everybody's voices show that they're still there. He summons a flame in his hand.]

So much for things being safer in Camelot!

[But already one of the ritual leaders loudly announces that there's no reason to panic and that this is indeed part of the process. No worries, the sun will rise again... tomorrow!]

Why do they never tell us these things up-front?!

[Maybe he would go and take a look at Celliwig himself one of these days just to see how things are coming along down there. He can't imagine that the entire population up and left their home because of the attack, and now that the dragon is gone there's nothing keeping them from returning save for the reconstruction work that's needed.

But then the light has him dipping his head, hissing between his teeth as the sudden brightness burns his eyes despite the fact he isn't looking directly at it--

Then it's dark, and he more than shares his companion's annoyance at the sudden change.]

Oh, for fuck's sake. [He mutters, the roughness of the curse entirely unlike him as he summons a flame to his hand as well and lifts his arm to try and peer into the dark around them. His eyesight can compensate quite well in the dark, but he'll need to blink the spots out of his vision first.]

I have no idea, it isn't as though it would have stopped us from taking part.

Seriously, as if we hadn't dealt with worse by now!

[They're not the only ones who are disgruntled, as the low background noise of mutters and grumbles suggests. Regardless, as elemental mages they can at least improve the situation.]

Let's look for lanterns or whatnot to light and hand out.

[Unless the organisers had the foresight to bring some... but surely that's too high an expectation!]

It looks like every light in town went out.

[He doesn't expect that they're going to find a convenient stock of lanterns here. When it comes to the native people, they often don't seem to consider how the results of their actions and rituals will affect the otherworlders living in Avalon.]

Until we can find something useful, it looks like we are the lanterns, Hijikata.

[Ugh, how inconvenient.]

I don't suppose you learned that candle spell from the last blackout?

[It probably would be more of a hassle for them to collect the extinguished lanterns all over town and reignite them with magical fire (if that'd even be possible; with any luck every light-carrying item on the island has been cursed or something!) than it would be to grow some candles. Hijikata makes an affirmative noise in response to Red Wine's question, takes a book titled 'Guide to Ghosts and Demons' out of his bag, sets it on the ground (after making sure the spot is decently clean) and crouches in front of it.]

It's not too hard to learn. You can chime in once you can follow; that should make it grow faster.

[He starts the chant, and before their eyes the wax flower starts blooming and growing until it eventually shapes itself into a candle. A flick of Hijikata's fire magic lights it, and he hands it to the first person in the small line that has started to build, attracted by the flames he left hanging in the air to signal their position.]

I guess we're a candle factory now.

EVENT ✨ Sun, Moon, Stone, Egg

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