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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[WELL, NOW HE FEELS BAD. And returns the favor with a water bottle!]

[And sighs.] Why are you even trying to move them? [Holds a hand up.] After you catch your breath.

[Oh, the flopping man. Right now, however, it's Sagi who feels like toppling over. Gratefully accepting the water, he immediately splashes some of it onto his face, chugs half of what's left in one gulp, and leans back against the boulder as he exhales.]

Ahh... Thanks. Owe you one.

[He obligingly waits to catch his breath before saying anything else.]

There's markings... on the ground. [He taps his foot against one of them, a curious dotted line in the dirt.] These ones.

[And rocks are meant to be pushed, right? That's self-evident, at least to him.]

Yeah, so?

[Nope. Rocks are meant to stay where they are until they become sand or at least buildings.]

[He waves the water bottle vaguely, splashing a little onto the grass.] I think... they want to be in place. Like they're lonely. Something might happen.

[That's it, that's the whole reason he got started in the first place. Let him just... screw the lid back on the water bottle, take his jacket off, scan around uncertainly for somewhere to dump both of them that won't get in the way of the markings...]

They're... lonely?

[He sits up and tries not to laugh. It's cute though!] Okay, what do you think will happen?

I don't know yet. Maybe these ones will talk too.

[Okay, this patch of grass over here seems like a decent place for Sagi to leave his jacket and the water bottle for now. It isn't far from where Nobunaga is sitting, but that doesn't worry him.]

Guess we'll see when it's done.

You've met talking rocks before?

[Okay, for all that Nobunaga was definitely no way going to pitch in, and he still thinks this is a trap, his curiosity is piqued!]

All right, I'll help. But I'm not doing this for them.

Hey, thanks! [He looks a bit surprised, but not unpleasantly so.] It'll go quicker for sure. These things are heavy.

[Alright, back to the boulder pushing. Will Nobunaga help push this one, or pick another? Either works for Sagi! He isn't anyone's boss.]

Yeah, sometimes people's... souls get stuck in them. But then they can't... go find each other...

[Inch by inch, the rock rolls along the trail, but not very fast. Up ahead, the markings start to converge into... the shape of the sun, kind of? And further than that, the shapes of a water droplet, a little plant sprout, a decidedly un-ancient looking medicine bottle. Mysterious. Sagi assumes it's just decoration.]

Wait, what? That's terrible! Why? How? [WHO DARE?!]

[Nobunaga paused in moving rocks, because he demands to know first!]

Magic, how else...? So I think... if they want to be together... should help.

[It's hard to talk and painstakingly roll the rock along at the same time. Almost there... for this particular rock, anyway.]

Ah... yeah. [Woops! He goes back to it, he's just human, but you'd never believe he was in his 40s the way he seems to be all muscle and soldier!]

Why would someone trap their souls like that? [Between breaths -- and he still thinks is a trap too!]

Long story. Someone took their bodies... left them as just souls. Left them nowhere to go. Just rocks.

[Sagi is making steady progress for such a heavy rock and such an unassuming-looking kid - well, unassuming-looking when his wings aren't out, which they usually aren't lately. His arms are maybe surprisingly toned under his jacket, but more than that, he's just plain determined. Inch by inch, he rolls the boulder onward until it finally reaches the terminus of this set of markings and slots into place.]

Whew...! [He has to stop to massage his own shoulders.] What a workout. I think I heard something click...

[He doesn't seem surprised to have heard it, though. That's how big blocks with weird markings on them work.]

That's messed up. Even by hell's standards. [He's not actually from hell. So dramatic...]

[And using his back to nudge it into place but just huffs.] Now what?

Now the rest, I guess. Just need to... sit down a sec...

[Which means trudging back to where he left that water bottle, and getting another look at those mysterious markings in the grass along the way. The sun symbol sticks out to him, if only because it looks more like a child's drawing than anything magical - just a circle with straight lines radiating outward.]

I wonder if there's more to it...

[Snorts and points to the door.] Somehow I doubt it. It's probably just using us for free labor, or "puzzle for puzzle's sake." [Eyeroll.] At least the rocks won't be lonely?

[Confused, Sagi turns to look after picking up the water bottle, and... huh. So it reappeared without even a light show. Maybe he was too hung up on the markings themselves.]

Whoa, you worked on the others super fast. How'd you do it? I should've picked an easier one to start...

[But now that he's noticed, he can relax a little, sit back and appreciate the view. There's no rush any more. Not that he thought there was much of one in the first place.]

You're right. I think they look happier like this after all.

[No trace of irony.]

[Super cute!]

[Nobunaga just stares briefly, but smiles in his usual smug attitude.] This isn't any different from setting up battle fortresses, but usually I don't have to do it personally. [Snorts.] Whatever. I guess candy is all the sweeter when it's earned.

[Sagi's satisfied grin fades just a little at that, but he leans back on the soft grass anyway, crossing his arms behind his head.]

I like these better than fortresses. I hope that's not what they're for.

No, these would make terrible buttresses! [He seems genuinely offended by that!] First of all, laying them upright is stupid: you can't see over them, and they would be way better all sideways, and you shouldn't even do that. You should have rows, and wood would be better than rocks, because you can shoot through holes. Secondly you would never lay them in a circle like this! Thirdly--

[His ears kind of flick at the sound of his own yelling, and he stops before even going into the next reason.]

[He holds up a hand, and moves to the other side of the setup entirely and while he's obviously talking, the sound doesn't carry. But when he runs to another point, even his whispers seem to.]

[So when he comes jogging back:] I think it's some sort of sound thing. [SHRUGS.] But don't ask for what. Maybe it's to magically channel the sound underground to wake up dragons. Since rocks do that. Or maybe a giant uses them as a musical instrument. [Pounds a fist into his open palm.] Or an early earthquake warning system! [Head tilt.] But hollow drums work better... [Headshake!] No, it's definitely for waking up something underground. Maybe with a giant, playing them like drums.

[He's running around with such fervour, Sagi feels compelled to sit up and watch, blankly. Once again, he's getting the weird sensation of lagging several paragraphs behind in someone else's monologue.]

If there are dragons underground, I guess we shouldn't rest here after all.

[So he picks himself up, tugging his jacket back on as he goes. That's too bad. It's a nice spot.]

[Someday Sagi should commiserate with Mitsuhide about the many flaws of Nobunaga.]

Yeah, no way it's not a trap.

[But he seems way more relaxed now than before, somehow!?]

[Well, if he seems that confident about the idea, Sagi figures he's probably right.]

Then I'll just head back. Thanks for all the help, seriously.

[And the water - which is in his hand as he heads for the doorway, but at this point he's drained enough of the bottle that Nobunaga probably doesn't want it back.]

[Laughs. And no, keep it. Seriously. Nobunaga just waves.] Only because if you keep working yourself that hard, you'll end up digging your own grave.

Take it easier!

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EVENT ✨ The Answer is Always C

day 3

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