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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Mm. [He nods in agreement. It does sound like the most likely scenario.]

But where did we take him to?

Hi Mona! It’s really nice to see you again.

(Oh thank Merlin, there’s another person in the challenge who could help him! He’s currently surveying the puzzle area and the markers of where the boulders might go into.)

So you’re also here for the stonehenge challenge too? Maybe I can help you out with it.

We... I just remember a door, but I don't know the building. Did we get there?

Well, some do keep frogs for various reasons, usually as pets and familiars. One of my friends has a frog named Trevor from a relative of his and he, Trevor, has a tendency to wander off without him noticing most of the time but my friend always finds a way to catch him.

Also, what are kappas by the way?

[ ah yes, the timeshare spiel.. alisaie just wanted to buy some tweese's peanut butter cups!! to her credit she sits through it without too much trouble, if only to keep from embarrassing sagi, but there's certainly much arm-crossing and eye-rolling. it sounds like a great offer, were there not so many strings attached..

so clearly they're not gonna go through with it, right? right. alisaie opens her mouth to respond, but sagi beats her to it, leaving her working her mouth like a fish out of water. ]

Wait, what?

Honestly, Harry doesn’t know why he is asked to throw fruits at that poor fellow trapped in the stocks, but there is now way that he can’t ignore a person’s plea for help. So when he sees Claire going towards the front row to get a closer look, he goes after her to check on the poor stranger.

“Hey, do you think we can something to help that poor man?” he asks her as he joins her at the front row.

[ it doesn't sit right with her.

alisaie has never been the sort to enjoy the torment of others, and she does not understand those who do - she gives people the benefit of the doubt, usually, and assumes that most people would not enjoy it either, that most people are, at heart, just trying to be good and do their best. so the crowd this has drawn is a little disheartening, for there are certainly some people throwing vegetables and fruits..

.. but there are also some who are not, including monkey boy, here. alisaie follows his line of sight to find the keys he is espying, and she crosses her arms casually, so as not to draw attention. ]

I shall cover you.

(Meanwhile, the kinda ‘dead’ Harry didn’t move at all when the muscled man picks him up from the sand and takes him to who knows where.

It oddly reminds him of when he was playing dead after his trip to Limbo and Hagrid was ordered to carry his unconscious body back to Hogwarts so Voldemort can gloat about ‘killing’ him to everyone in the school but obviously this is different: he just hopes that someone doesn’t go after the muscled man and attack him for whatever reason.)

Klaudia looks up at the familiar voice, pausing in her digging to blink--and then smile at Caster, when she recognizes her friend. The stick gets tossed aside for the moment. It doesn't seem to be doing much for her, anyway.

"Oh, plenty. And by plenty I mean nothing; but that something of interest, I guess."

She heads over to Caster, but stops short to lean against the closest boulder.

"There are a bunch of suspiciously-devoid-of-grass spots over there... And a bunch of these suspiciously shaped rocks over here. I figured they were related, and I was hoping that I could find some sort of mechanism in the dirt, but there's absolutely nothing." She huffs in irritation. "Someone puts some kind of puzzle, and they expect someone with brawn to solve it? Ridiculous."

[ it's painful to watch. he doesn't deserve this. no one does. there's no such things as curses of misfortune, only accidents, bell curves, superstitions and scapegoats. tormenting bennett won't change anyone's fate, it won't keep bad things from happening, it will only alleviate the peoples' fears.

for a time. soon more bad things will happen, and they will find someone or something else to blame.

well. alisaie, at least, will not stand by. she has seen those keys lying nearby, unguarded, but she will be seen if she brazenly walks up to release him, and then they'll both end up in those stocks. no, she has another idea. alisaie purchases a few soft fruits for herself, and the moment the next citizen takes aim for bennett - a tall man in a canvas brown vest - alisaie throws her own nice, juicy tomato, catching the man right in the side of the head. all she needs to do is duck quickly behind the man beside her to cause chaos. the tall man in the vest blames the other man, naturally, and it is not long before the entire square is erupting in argument, and the fruits and veggies are flying.

food fight!! ]

This woman gets something of a deadpan stare from Klaudia. How could she not be paying attention? There was cool magic going on! This is an absolute travesty... One that Klaudia is about to correct.

She looks down at the bracelet that she's tugging on, then puts both her hands up, palms facing out away from her, like she's going to give this woman a double-high-five. "Hands up like this, please~ Sit up straight and don't fidget. We're going to have a round two."

[ despite her own.. experience in these pools, alisaie nevertheless continues to enjoy herself here. what's one siren, anyway, in the face of some time spent relaxing? alisaie works hard, and there's little she enjoys more than a lovely dip in nice hot water. maybe the scent of fresh ginger cookies might lure her out, but..

well, anyroad, she is settling in again, comfortably cradled by a nice smooth stone, when the sound of crashing water catches her attention, and her eyes snap open just in time to see a young girl rushing past, urgent and hurried, like the hounds of hells are snapping at her heels. alisaie's heart kicks into her throat. ]

No! Wait!

[ on her feet immediately, she charges through the water beside her, reaching for the girl's arm. ]

Stop!

Hmm...

[She's definitely still looking over that bracelet. Then she looks up at Gaius.]

How hard were you trying? I mean, if you really had to move on your own, do you think you'd be able to? Or if your life depended on it?

"You could wait just a few seconds!" Klaudia retorts, as he reaches for that chalice again. "You're not even giving us a chance to think about this!"

But for the moment, she's stumbled across something interesting. Even if they knock over the chalices, the drinks see to right and refill themselves again. Which just means she has endless ammunition.

She grabs the chalice again and chucks it with a flourish at the other one before he even has time to grab it again.

"Don't touch it. I'm warning you."

[Hey, he doesn't know either, but ya don't know until ya have to try and Zidane is ready to try.]

[Walking over to the Weirdest Mark™, there's good news: he already knows which is the Weirdest Boulder™ to match. But talking for a moment comes first.]

What can Light magic do anyway? [Though, maybe now wasn't the time to be asking that? He'd shrug.] Sounds good, and even better, I already know where this one is. I'll go get it so you wanna go look for the next one?

[Archer is a little tempted to join in on the fruit tossing, but at the same time, it's wasting food so he doesn't really get behind that. There are the other things, too, of course, but... nah. He's one of Saber's.

~~Now if this was Cu or someone he dislikes, he would immediately get a drawing on his face.~~]

So, what did you even do to end up there?

Oh, does she want to ask about that. Entire towns hidden with magic? Sign her up. But there's more pressing matters to worry about at the moment.

"There's definitely enough sand here to hide some kind of trap door." She wanders some paces away from their overseer, and glances around... And then lowers her voice to say: "After all, he needs a way back out of here. He's not drinking a chalice; and if neither of us drinks, then he's stuck here, too."

That said, there's no way they're going to get him to talk--and Klaudia has no intention of attempting. Zelgadis on the other hand... "...Do you think you can take him? If we have to pry the exit out of him?"

[He grimaces a little at Jasper's sharp laughter, but remains steadfast in where his mind is focused.

...Of course, the reality of the situation is a little more difficult to think about.]

I do not like it. I do not like putting you in unnecessary danger.

Wonderful! [ Mona perks up, rising from her haunches rearing forth with a whirl of water magics. A small circle like globe of water, with lights beaming inside. Although she was not good with illusion magic yet, she learned to craft her lights in a certain way. INSIDE of water, to make shapes inside of it.

As such what he will see is light in the form of stones lined up in how she thinks it should be. ]

I spent quite a bit of time on it, I believe the stones should be aligned like this? What do you think?

... I just punched this guy who was being annoying. I didn't know he was one of the knights.

[There's a boo coming from somewhere. A quiet one, but it's there.] He deserved it.

Have we not been in danger all our lives? Think, Hendrik. What would have happened had we remained on Erdrea?

[For not the first time in this scenario, Jasper is focused on keeping everything well. On keeping one man calm. He feels his heart beat painfully at what he is about to say - and attempts masking it by making a noise deep in his throat.]

This is no more dangerous than if we had encoutered one another.

[Lucky for Yuber, it seems they get taken to a quiet part of Camelot. No one seems to be around at the moment to question the "corpse" However, very soon after they show up a black hawk flies in and lands right on hawk's head. It's his annoying as hell familiar that is overly fond of perching on his head, of course and he can't even grumble about it. Of course the stupid bird would take this opportunity to show itself and piss him off.

However, this is a good thing for them because Hawk's annoying familiar can actually speak telepathically and read his annoying human's thoughts to be able to communicate to Yuber. Of course the bird is a troll as well, so that is going to have mixed results.]

Just leave my stupid human here. He'll get himself home and can sleep it off then. It's what he deserves for being a reckless idiot yet again and forcing me to play messenger to whatever you are.

[ Gawain rises seeing the lad before him find themselves in an amalgamation of thought. He is deterred by the sincerity of the woman's voice calling to him, he knows who she is. Another servant from Chaldea, a lovely Princess whom he had gotten the pleasure to know himself. A darling thing that often froze over when he came near, fearing that those who say they pledge loyalty unto the Royal Household they serve. Are false things, and that Gawain's heart lurched knowing that she were betrayed by the people who were suppose to protect her.

That is why he grips the other in solidarity. Says nothing, as the other tries to reconcile with their thoughts. Stepping into the waters as he comes closer to the woman laying there bleeding seemingly dying. Her voice trembles, and she looks over the Knight who comes closer. The Siren guised as the phantom of Kadoc's finds them self trembling not because they are in pain, but because they know Gawain means what it is he says next.]

If you do not stop this insolence, I will kill you without hesitance.

I had laid with a lovely lass, and then some. As it were I had obliged them because each woman had asked, but it would seem the town did not take to liking of that. So I am now under their reprimand! Fret not, they are well.

[ He is sparkling over at archer. ]

[He smiled and cocked his head, but clearly his patience was thin with this creature. He was familiar with Fae from his world, in particular Fae adept at illusions with a penchant for drowning their victims.]

Yes, an unbiased stranger, or the familiar face that just so happened to be squatting in a pool with flowers on the off-chance you'd eventually show up.

So either he's an imposter, or if I am wrong-- which I am not-- he was waiting for any lovely young woman to show up. Either way, it's better to walk away.

Edited (a /small mistake) 2021-05-25 21:08 (UTC)

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EVENT ✨ The Answer is Always C

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