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

( He doesn't think much of it — why would he, after all? — but Century Egg knows one thing intimately:

The tension in her. That tightness in her shoulders and the strangled sound of her voice. It's like seeing the way total darkness makes him feel written across the body of another.

It's strange, startling enough that he listens to her words without thinking, magic cutting off and the vine stilling in the fake snow. )

...

( He doesn't say anything, but his eyes fix on her, unblinking, as though trying to work out the reaction he unleashed. )

[Despite the removal of the danger (or her mind's perception of it) it still takes a little while for her heart to stop pounding and her muscles to relax enough for her to move. She keeps her eyes slanted towards the prone vine in the snow as she steps away from it.]

... Thank you.

[Well. That reaction could have been worse. Last time a plant moved towards her like that she ran straight out of the town and slept in a field all night.]

I don't--... When vines move towards me like that, it...

[She doesn't really have the words to explain it. Someone called it 'PTSD' once, but she doesn't entirely understand what that is.]

( Yes. He definitely recognises this reaction. He can almost feel it, in his own chest.

That panic. )

... Did something... happen to you?

( Well, he has to ask, right? )

Uhm... yeah. It's been a few years but I'm still not over it, I guess...

[It doesn't tend to come up a lot, because how often are you really going to come across moving plant life? When it does, though, it feels like she's trapped in a vice and can't move.]

I got badly hurt, in another place before here. [She rubs her face vigorously and shakes her head as if trying to reset herself. Poison hates this kind of weakness and hates showing it, even if she's made many steps towards being more open about her mental health over the years.]

By some plants that moved like that. Vines.

( Century Egg doesn't show much in the way of emotion, but he's a quiet sort. And attentive, stepping closer to Poison as she speaks, allowing her to lower her voice if she wants.

There are still plenty of people around, splattering paint everywhere (droplets hit his hair as he stands at her side). )

... It can... take a long time for the crazy thoughts to disappear. ( He's always having to control them, too. The ones that say he's going to be left. Betrayed. Placed back underground. ) They're... very powerful.

[It does seem to be an unspoken rule in this mess of paint flying about that when people stop moving and appear to be having a conversation, most others avoid deliberately trying to interrupt them. At least there's that.

Poison looks up at him when he approaches her, her violet eyes fixed on his face. He's hard to read, but she doesn't get an immediate bad feeling off him.]

Crazy thoughts... heh, yeah. [It does feel like that sometimes.] You, uhm... you know how it feels, I guess? To be scared of something that it feels stupid to be scared of?

( The unintentional benefit of talking to a food soul, Poison? Nothing you say can be weirder than their existence. ... Probably. )

...Yes. ( He nods the affirmation, because Century Egg doesn't really know how to lie or why he would in the first place. She seems as nice as any of the other humans here. )

I... don't like complete darkness.

( This dusk is manageable, there's still a touch of light. But deep, pitch blackness which reminds him of the tomb? That's a different story. )

That's not so strange. Lots of people are scared of the dark.

[She doesn't mean to sound as dismissive as that probably comes out, and rubs her face a little bit immediately after the words leave her.] Sorry. I guess it's not really the same thing.

[Lots of people are afraid of the dark, but not everyone has an emotional meltdown when they end up in it. She's guessing that was more the angle that this guy was going for.]

Erm, why don't you like it?

( There's not so much as a blink at the way Poison initially chooses to phrase things; he's heard worse things. She's simply honest.

And so is Century Egg. )

My master had me encased in his tomb... after his death.

( Perhaps a bit too much so, because that's just what you should drop on a first meeting, right? )

[Poison almost chokes on air.]

He did what? That's horrible!

[At least she doesn't look like she's scared of him all of a sudden. She looks angry, if anything. Angry and horrified all at once. It took her mind very quickly off her own fears, at least.]

Why would he do something like that?

( That's a difficult question to answer. One Century Egg has mulled over more since arriving in Avalon, trying to put the pieces of broken memories back together.

He knows why now. But is it something he can explain? )

He wanted me by his side, even in death.

( Kind of like you might want a diary kept private from others. )

... My kind... are not "people". We were... not supposed to have a purpose without our masters.

( He doesn't know if that makes sense, if he's properly conveying the idea that burying him alongside Xuan Wu was considered no different than burying the man with his most prized possessions. )

[Ah, no, she doesn't like that. They're not really in the best place to be having a lengthy conversation, but she ushers Century Egg carefully off to one side so that they don't end up getting in the way of any stray missiles while they're talking.]

That's--...

[Stupid. She bites back saying it out loud.]

If you're not supposed to have a purpose without a master, then why don't you disappear when your master dies?

EVENT ✨ Sun, Moon, Stone, Egg

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