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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If anyone would do it, then how come no one did before you?

[He offers a teasing smile.]

What made you go against that mob anyway? I mean...we don't know each other.

...Do we?

I'm pretty sure I'd remember you.

[It was probably too much to hope that he'd just accept her attempt at side-stepping his question.

Marianne shrinks back a bit at shakes her head.]

No, we've never met before.

[Deep breath.]

It's just... I've had people say those kinds of things about me. I couldn't stand to watch it happen to someone else.

[She fights the urge to let her head fall, although she can't look him in the face when she speaks either. Marianne has never been locked up to be physically assaulted like Darin had been, but she's been pursued, dogged, made to hide and feel ashamed. She's still working to undo that damage.]

I couldn't have forgiven myself if I left you there.

Why would they ever say anything like that about you?

[Darin's shocked. Who in the world would say such terrible things about such a pretty woman?]

Is it because...the color your hair?

[Her pale blue locks were literally the only thing he could think of considering how his own blue mane marks him as one with tainted blood.]

Oh, no, it's not anything like that.

[Vividly-colored hair isn't uncommon in Fódlan, particularly among the nobility, so his bright blue hair doesn't strike Marianne as especially unusual.]

It's... well, some people where I come from have a power within them, a gift from the Goddess that's passed on by bloodlines. Most of the time, it's considered a great honor to have it.

But not for me. What I have is called the Crest of the Beast, and it's been considered a curse for a long, long time. Rumors that I'm some... monster... have followed me for as long as I remember.

[She's not entirely sure why she's opening up this much. Maybe because she feels it's fair, hearing what the people back in town called him when they were throwing food and rocks. Maybe Claude's and everyone's insistence that she learn to share herself and her burdens more is finally taking hold.

Or maybe it's because she hopes that he'll understand in a way that many wouldn't.]

What I saw happening to you is my worst nightmare.

That's...

[He's absolutely gobsmacked. Because, while the nomenclature might differ, everything she just said was basically his own story.]

Where...Where I come from...hair like mine is considered a brand. A mark of tainted blood. It usually indicates that someone in my ancestry is demonkin or beastkin.

But...in my case...it's because I'm the reincarnation of an Archfiend. The lord of all Archfiends. Prophesied to destroy my world.

My mother died giving birth to me and my twin brother and...I've spent my life being told I was cursed. When I lost my father and brother, no one wanted me because they were afraid I'd bring death to their household.

[He would normally never divulge this much but...her story sounded so much like his...]

All your life...did you grow up just wanting to...to find a place where you could be...

...well, yourself...? To not be afraid any more...?

[So he does understand. Marianne's heart breaks for him--at least Margrave Edmund had taken her in after her parents disappeared. Self-serving and ambitious as the Margrave is, he at least made sure she was taken care of and her Crest remained as much of a secret as possible. Poor Darin didn't even have that much.

She gives him a sad, knowing smile.]

Desperately. I came close to running away a few times in hopes that I could find it.

[Or... other solutions that were equally ill advised.]

My friends and I... we're trying to build that place, back in Fódlan where I'm from. I wish I could bring you there to see it, when we do.

Yeah...me too...

[He laughs sheepishly.]

It's...it's okay. Everything I am now, I owe to my adopted father and the master who trained me in my craft. He alone saw potential in me when I thought I was a waste of a life.

But...Fódlan sounds nice. I'd love to go but...I intend to stay in Avalon, I think.

[They really are so similar, right down to the adopted father part. At least he did eventually find someone to care for him--despite only knowing him this little while, Marianne's relieved to know that.]

We're still working on Fódlan. But I'm glad that Avalon has been kind to you and that you've found a home here.

[She can't blame him in the slightest. There was a time where she would have said the same.]

What craft is it that you learned from your adopted father?

I'm a smith. Youngest in my guild to earn the title of 'master' at the age of twenty four.

[He puffs his chest out proudly.]

...What about you? What do you do back in Fódlan?

That's amazing. Congratulations.

[He should be proud! It's quite an accomplishment.

Marianne pauses for a moment before she answers, thinking.]

I suppose right now I could be considered a soldier. Fódlan is in the middle of a war, and I'm among the people fighting in it.

Otherwise, I'm part of an important noble house in the Leicester Alliance. My adoptive father is planning to train me to be his political heir.

[Which is a BIG improvement over "my adoptive father is going to marry me off to someone else in order to find a political heir." Her life really has changed drastically since Byleth returned and joined the war efforts.]

You're a soldier?

And a noble??

S...Sorry. I don't mean to doubt you but...you're not like any soldier or noble I've ever met. You're far too kind and gentle...

[Despite herself, Marianne laughs a little. There's a nervous tinge to it, but she doesn't really hold Darin's reaction against him.]

No, you have no need to be sorry. I'm... not well-equipped to be either, honestly. But I'm doing my best, for the good of everyone else.

[At that last bit, she smiles shyly and bites down the urge to dismiss the compliment.]

And thank you. That's very kind of you to say.

How about here in Avalon? Do you do anything here?

[Marianne shakes her head.]

Not yet, no. I only just arrived, so I've been gathering my bearings. Avalon is so different from what I'm used to, so it's taking time to adjust.

[She's still not there yet. She's not sure she ever will be, honestly. It's a lot.]

Are you a blacksmith in Avalon as well?

Really? It's actually somewhat similar to my own home.

And...actually, yes. I just opened up a forge a few weeks ago. It's called "Forge Ahead" and it's just outside Camelot. It's where I live too.

That must be nice. I'm glad that it's been easier for you.

[She means that sincerely.]

Especially being able to take up your trade here, as well. I'll have to come see it sometime, when things are... more normal.

I'd...really like that.

In fact, I'll make you anything you'd like, free of charge.

After all, you saved my life and...

Well, us blueberries need to stick together, right?

[Out of instinct, Marianne starts to refuse. But it clearly means a lot to him, and the protest dies in her throat. So instead, she smiles and nods.]

We do. Thank you, Darin.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

EVENT ✨ The Answer is Always C

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okay to wrap here?