isleofavalon | EVENT ✨ The Answer is Always C

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EVENT ✨ The Answer is Always C

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This is the event log for IC comments only! Ask OOC questions/plot/view event notes HERE or use the FAQ for general questions. Click here to view top-level comments only. A poll to collect results of the trials will be posted this weekend and stay open until the end of the month to give people a little time to see how their threads are going.

KEY POINTS

Arthur announces the results of the polls and that he spoke to Celliwig's people, they will be testing Camelot the week of the full moon.

A series of choice-based enchanted scenarios is presented based loosely on a modernized seven sins/virtuous responses (power imbalance, cruelty or mercy, excess/greed or restraint, sloth or work ethic, desire/lust or self-control and bravery or cowardice, and sacrifice or self-preservation)

With the polls closed, the decision is made, and King Arthur takes the opportunity to address the kingdom via a streamed press conference. Though it is not an open post, anyone is welcome to comment on it and talk to each other about it. However, it is unlikely that Arthur himself will respond to comments. A notification does appear on everyone's smart devices to invite everyone to watch live; if they tap it too late, it'll still show the recorded stream.

"People of Camelot, I wish that we had better news that spoke of an easier path to the calamity that stands before us. Celliwig's charge is with protecting Avalon even in the face of protecting Camelot and those of you who chose to use your voices have shown that you choose to respect their way of handling things. However, it was only just over half of you who chose this path. I think it is important that with such a great portion of people believing that bypassing Celliwig and going directly to Elphame, as much as it may take patience, we take this action into consideration. There is no sense in ignoring the voices of so many when there is nothing to say we cannot approach from two fronts. As Camelot's king, I have issued our intent to accept Celliwig's challenge to a descendant of Glewlwyd, a man who was much trouble for my knights in our time. They have said after failing one, we shall be tested on multiple fronts, the week of the full moon's rise. Bear in mind that this is our final chance at this."

Merlin sidles up to Arthur in the video, one arm around his shoulders and leaning in to speak into the mics in a much-too-familiar manner. At least his sunglasses are off this time.

"Now then, anyone who wanted to go to Elphame, you'll want to head to the docks around, oh, say, the first of June. Step one to flirting with fae is to put on a good show before the traders leave. It's a good time whether the Celliwig's dooming us or not."

A wink accompanies that odd note, and Arthur orders him off stage before thanking everyone for their time.

With the consent of its people, Celliwig performs a ritual to place Camelot under a rather strange spell. Much is the same, but there's a sense that everything is just slightly off from what it should be. Fog covers the grounds throughout the entire city throughout the entire day. It's just a little too quiet, the usual hustle and bustle of the city falling just a little too distant on your ears. You can go about your day as normal, but feel as if something is simply off. And eventually, you'll walk through a door, and it will be. Part of the enchantment, however, includes a strange inability to connect these doors with being part of a test-- they seem real, regardless of how absurd the scenario would be were your characters thinking straight.

Day One: Power Imbalance
The door you walk through is into a club of some kind. It wasn't your intended destination and yet, here you are, and you're being handed a glass of your favorite drink and being ushered to your seat. The show is fantastical, some kind of circus-esque show with gymnasts and magical effects making it impossible to take your eyes off of. That is, until the spotlight falls upon you and urges you down to join the show. A volunteer! Well, one of two. Another volunteer is brought up along with yours, and the ring leader of the circus gives you both bracelets-- one with selenite embedded in it, another with andara. The ring leader explains that they're both known for creating high frequency connections, though one is known to spiritually be associated with finding one's path and the other with manifesting one's true self. When enchanted together, this makes it so that the person with the andara bracelet can order the person with the selenite bracelet to do anything they please-- making their true self the person's purpose. Very dangerous, very intruiging, very tempting, very morally wrong to do it for real, so please keep it to the stage! A quick demonstration of this dark use of magic as part of the show... and it seems that afterward, they forget to take the bracelets back. What will you do with your newfound control over your partner? The choice is, after all, yours. (Or theirs, if you're the unlucky partner with the selenite bracelet-- only the person with the andara can remove the bracelets, after all.)

Day Two: Schadenfreude
Yesterday seems like a dream, and you may even feel the need to write it off as such unless you run into the same person again and realize no, they too remember it. But if that's not the case, it doesn't matter. You'll be able to find yourself in your definitely normal and usual mideval city, where someone is in the stocks. Your memories seem a little fuzzy on whether or not you're supposed to be in medieval times or not, but this seems right, and there's a fruit vendor right next to you selling soft fruits to throw at the poor sap in the stocks. There are also a number of other ways to mess with the person, including feathers to tickle them, a riding crop, some ink if you want to grafitti the person.. a good number of ways just to humiliate the person without causing them permanent harm. The crowd is cheering you on, but you also see the keys to set them out just sitting on a table nearby. Do you engage in a little sadistic fun or do you embark in a daring rescue? (Or are you the punished in someone else's scenario?)

Day Three: Indulge Me
Back to the modern day like it didn't happen, you and a friend walk into a door to your favorite convenience store and as you finish up your purchase, you win an all expenses paid trip to the Black Knight's Castle, formerly the home of the Black Knight and turned into a lavish tourist attraction by Yvaine and Laudine's descendents, who have become worshippers of Dionysus. You're transported there in a puff of sparkling magic dust, right before an extravagant golden fountain in the middle of the lobby. The owners explain their policy for the Black Knight's Castle that you can have anything you desire, however much you desire. Anything at all, consequence free. The only thing that they ask is that you give a blood offering to their god to help feed his dead worshippers on the other side of the veil, which will ultimately tie your soul to him as well. Just a quick cut of the palm and you're welcome to come back any time, have anything you want, for the rest of your life. Taking the deal means you really will get what you want! ...For the day, anyway. (This is just a spell, after all, even if your character doesn't want it.) If you choose not to, you'll find yourself magically deposited back to the convenience store.

Day Four: What's the Meaning of Stongehenge?
This fourth day, there's certainly something to be said about a hard day's work. When you walk through today's door, you find yourself in the middle of a grassy field, strange markings on the ground, and surrounded by oddly shaped boulders. The markings on the ground seem to indicate where some the stones should be placed. There aren't really any directions, but there's always the option of waiting for someone else to solve this problem for you... There is a very comfortable looking patch of grass anyone able to relax in. So the choice is yours: wait for someone else to move the rocks or move them yourself?

Day Five: Pooling Desire
Day five is a trip to the pools. But not just any pools! These are special, underground pools hidden deep within a cave. You're sure whoever told you to head through this door mentioned something about them being a special relaxation package at the Red Springs. As you head into the pools, however, you find someone in there with you: the subject of your desires. Regardless of who or what they are, they seem to have a crown upon their head, aren't wearing anything in that water, and seem to have a lovely singing voice judging by the tune they're humming to lure you in before you even notice they're there. It is at that point they will try to seduce you, even if that same person is standing right there with you. The seduction, of course, needn't be sexual-- a strong lusting for a turkey leg wrapped in bacon may be just as powerful as a desire for a brand new Ninblendo Swatch or something you should definitely label as NSFW if you want to thread it that way. Give into them, or.. maybe listen to the person who came in with you that they're definitely some kind of weird half-otter bottomed monster under the water before they try to drown you. Or if you're the one trying to stop this, are you brave enough to get in between a stranger and a monster to try to snap them out of the siren's thrall, even if it means fighting both of them?

Day Six: #ChaliceChallenge
The sixth and final door sets you walking outside on a beach. There's nothing else there really except for nature. The sounds of the waves crashing against the sound is soothing, and real, and sharper than anything you've felt in the last five days of haze. There is no fog today. Clear, blue skies stretch forever above you, not a cloud in sight. The only man-made thing you see is a small woode table and two chairs. Upon that table, two chalices. Nothing will happen and there seems to be no way off of the beach until both parties sit down at the table, at which point a strange old man with huge, rippling muscles of at least 7 feet tall and a long, scraggly beard will appear. He informs your characters of the rules: in one chalice, deadly poison. In the other, water and bitter flavor. Each must drink from one cup, or you will both perish of starvation on this beach. Choose wisely.

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[Really, Darin? Really?]

[With the tops of her breasts still sitting at the water's surface, Darin will see enough to determine that this Allura does have a significantly different chest size than her doppelganger. But on the other hand, it's not as if Allura's completely flat-chested. In fact, considering how athletic Allura is, it's impressive that they're as full as they are.]

[Just don't think about it too hard, Darin, or you might start to realize that you're missing on the real sight beneath the surface.]

[Meanwhile... she hasn't missed how distracted he is, and clears her throat to draw his attention upwards.]

... so... yes. I'm comfortable with this arrangement if you are.

R-Right, sorry. I;m...yeah.

This is...

Fine.

[He sinks a little lower. Up to his chin.]

[...What do they talk about now? How is this not awkward for her???]

And just like that, he stops. Now he can look as disgruntled as he likes, glaring at the audience when they laugh. She could certainly have asked him to do worse but mockery is not something he enjoys. This unquestioning obedience is more cause for concern than he first thought. He isn't even afforded the dignity of trying to resist its compulsion.

"You think this is amusing, do you?" he snaps at the ringmaster. "You - and all the rest of you" - his arm sweeps out, gesturing to the audience - "will not laugh when the leash is broken."

The audience laughs at that. Some call out for her to sing that song for them. Emet-Selch would honestly rather end the ordeal there, and glances towards the ringmaster. But rather than pick up on his trepidation, they only smile widely.

"Is this not enough?" he asks.

"What better way to liven up a crowd than with a song?" the ringmaster says enthusiastically, sentiment echoed by several raucous woops. "Go on!"

Grimacing, Emet-Selch looks back to Maribelle. "Sing that song for us."

[Because she normally responds to awkwardness with anger. Now that she's decided to be exceptionally mindful of Darin's comfort levels...]

[Well, she's not sure how to act.]

All right. Well... then... should we start washing up? That should help us feel better, right...?

[Except... it's going to be a little hard, moving around while staying this low in the water. She takes a few steps, walking like a duck...]

[And boy, she feels even more silly and self-conscious. But it's a small pool. So she decides she's going to just swim over there quickly, stomach down. ~~... cheeks up.~~ It's very quick, thanks to the small size of the pool, so much that she's hardly even pushed off before she reaches her destination.]

[And he immediately presses his back to the wall to give her a wide berth. He averts his eyes pretty noticeably too.]

[This is anything but relaxing.]

L...Look, I really probably should just face the wall. We can take turns...! Because otherwise I'm having a hard time...um...being polite. And I made a promise to you...!

[Somehow, his need to fulfill a promise trumps even his libido. It's probably a little sweet.]

S-So...I'll just...turn. To avoid looking. Take all the time you need...

[He starts turning again, cheeks red, trying incredibly hard to not think about the image of her sculpted butt breaching the surface.]

[Poor guy, he's really trying.]

But... [... she says, not realizing that's exactly the problem. And she's running out of arguments here, especially since forcing him into a situation he doesn't want isn't exactly relaxing, either.]

[And truthfully, isn't this fairly chivalrous in its own way? Shouldn't she of all people respect that?]

[With a sigh, she concedes:] Very well. I'll try to be quick about it, at least...

[And so she stands up straight, so that her chest raises out of the water. She takes the bottle from the shore, pours it into her hand, and starts to rub it on her chest and shoulders. And while Darin can only hear the slick noise of something on her skin, there's not a lot of other areas it could be applied to.]

[After a moment, though...]

Wait, what is this?

[Say Darin, didn't that bottle look familiar? Maybe it wasn't a creation of the siren after all.]

What's what?

[He almost turns around out of reflex, but snaps his neck back so hard she can hear it pop.]

W...What is it? What did you find??

I don't believe this is soap. [In fact, there's not really any soap in the springs, is there? After all, wouldn't want to get suds in the water!]

It's not doing much to get me clean, and it feels... oily. But more than that, when I leave it on, it starts to get an almost pleasant warmth to it...

Some sort of ointment, perhaps?

... ... ...

Oh crap. Allura, I think that's the same weird oil the monster was trying to rub on me...

You have to get it off! We don't know what it'll do...!

[Aside from...make you feel good...?]

Shiro would be jealous? During Keith's whole flight, Allura has her eyes glued to the sky, watching his path with rapt fascination. For a moment, she seems to forget about the puzzle that prompted it, and instead finds her mind wandering back to the many times she's flown — not just in the Blue Lion, but the many other vehicles she's learned to pilot, from the tiny drop sled to the massive Castle-ship. As fond as she was of Blue, there was something incredibly liberating about flying under your own control, charting your own course...

She missed it. But what was there to be done about it? The magics were spread out in such a way to diversify their skillsets. In the end, there would always be abilities she missed — and not everyone would get to fly.

And then, Keith comes back to the ground. ... maybe a little harder than he meant to. It's fine. It happens. If he seems torn up about it, perhaps she'll share some of her stories about her early flying lessons to help him feel better.

"So, how did it go? Were you able to see it all well?" She hunches down to speak with him better in his transformed form. Which, of course, is ignoring the problem that he might not be able to speak in this form at all.

Wait... that dubious liquid?! [She turns the bottle in her hand, realizing that it's indeed the exact same design.]

H... hold on, let me see...! [She splashes around, trying to use the water to scrub it off her skin. But unfortunately, oil repels water, and so it mostly rolls off harmlessly, leaving her skin looking soft and radiant.]

It's not working! It's stuck! Are there any towels around here?!

Just your robe...!

[He starts circling around the edge of the pool to get to where she disrobed. He picks it up and holds it out behind him towards where he thinks she is.]

H-Here! Wipe off...!

[It's... surprisingly close, actually. He must have been paying close attention to her movements through the pool.]

[Luckily, Allura is too distracted by her own predicament to get suspicious about that.]

[Instead, she rubs the fabric on her skin... which stirs up some of the fragrance, letting her appreciate the aroma of flowers and herbs.]

It's still not working! Does that mean... it's already taken hold...?!

Allura, relax! I'm not going to let anything happen to you! I promise!

[Dammit, think. Think think think!]

Okay...okay, calm down. It might not be anything bad? What do you feel right now?

... That is comforting to hear, at the very least.

[ even if he's only saying that to placate her, she'll take it. ]

I feel... a warm, tingling sensation on my skin. It's quite pleasant... [Suspiciously pleasant!]

And it feels like it's sinking in. It's... relaxing. It still feels quite oily, but in a... hydrating way.

[Darin help, clearly she's being taken in by some sort of enchantment.]

That...

Doesn't sound bad.

...Maybe it was something that already existed in here? These are spa pools after all...

Maybe just...use some more. Let it sink in. See how you feel...?

...I won't let anything bad happen to you, I swear...I'll just...sit here and wait to see if you need me...

[That oil couldn't possibly have any weird side effects...right?]

[Not with the two of them there alone.]

If they ever had any sense to begin with!

[ With another "hmph!" she begins to walk off, nose in the air. ]

Izuku - !

[ She BOLTS around the table, grabbing him by the arms, trying to force in as much healing magic as she can give! ]

Hang on! I'm here!

You bet! I never break my promises! So, lay it on me. I'm ready and willing!

A deep sigh. Using every onze of her strength, Irhya attempts to hook him by the back of his top and hoist him up as high as she can, like a misbehaving cat.

"Why's that? You wanna tell me what's going to happen later?"

[She was about to retort given how long this had been going...until an idea popped in her head.]

Fine, if we gotta do this, we're doing it my way.

[She regrabs the bracelet she threw away, putting it on briefly and whispering.]

I hereby free you from this spell.

[She suddenly moved closer to Dust, just so no one else saw the exchange of said bracelets. That and to speak about her plan without prying eyes.]

Okay look: We're just gonna fool them. I got elemental and blood magic, so I can try to keep this stuck to me while you order me to do tricks. No free will violation or any of that shit, and they won't know any better.

[Fortunately that was all she needed. Watching it fall to the ground, she grinned. Time for some payback! Homura quickly rose up, surprising some of the people initially running to stop Ochako. She jumped into the middle of the two, spinning around and kicking the large men in the face, knocking the duo to the ground. Her head moved around, tacking care of any stiffness she had.]

Thanks for that, really. Don't suppose you got an escape plan, do ya?

[And as she said that, more people were crowding around. Though Homura just rose her hand, a wall of fire separating the duo from the angry mob; thank god for all that practice against those spiders.]

If your bad luck is truly bad we should be drinking the poison whatever you may choose. [He pauses briefly, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.] I do not understand what a black cat has to do with bad luck. The most logical explanation could be that a black cat is part of a bad luck belief that is known amongst Fossildwellers.

[So he slowly leans forward and takes the chalice out of Bennett's hand.]

The most logical thing to do is to not let you choose, in case it will trigger your bad luck. I cannot guarantee it will mean we are not going to die but it might lower our chances on a certain death.

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EVENT ✨ The Answer is Always C

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its ironic, but genshin ate me