isleofavalon | EVENT ✨ The Answer is Always C

Entry tags:

EVENT ✨ The Answer is Always C

QUICK NAV: LOGS ⚔️️ NETWORK ⚔️️ MEMES ⚔️️ OOC ⚔️️ NAVIGATION

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

[There's something not quite right about the idea that he doesn't know what happened, but Flayn can't put her finger on it, and soon enough Claude's moving on and the uncertainty slips from her mind.

She laughs quietly.]

Oh, a million is so very many! If I am to answer that many questions, I shall require something in return. But as you say - we must leave here at once.

[She reaches up and takes his hand, pulling herself to her feet. She takes a steadying breath and shakes her head.]

Thank you, but I believe I will be all right walking for now. I shall follow your lead, Claude.

We did make a deal, didn't we? If you told me about yourself, I'd come clean about my own identity, too. Though I'd prefer if it stayed between us, for now.

[There are plenty of people from Fodlan here, and if any of them decide to treat him differently for it, it could be a pain later down the line. Better to keep things simple when his past isn't relevant here.]

Let's stay off the roads. I don't recognise this area, so we'll just have to figure out a route as we go. [Little does he realise they won't have far to go, as they're leaving the trial area now Flayn has completed it.]

That is correct! Worry not, I understand completely. After all, I kept my own identity carefully hidden as well, did I not?

[So carefully. Flayn is the best at keeping secrets, definitely.

She nods.]

This place is unfamiliar to me, as well.

[They stray from the road to turn down a narrow path between buildings, only to come out the other side in Camelot with fog swirling at their feet.]

[Claude looks around at the sudden change of scenery, startled.]

Wait, we're -- huh?

[Turns out they were here all along, and not living in a medieval town, the surrounding buildings now all as modern as he remembers.]

Don't tell me... Was that an illusion? Celliwig's doing, I suppose.

Ah...a trial, then.

[She frowns.]

What a cruel test! Surely there was some other way to assess us than to put you through such an ordeal. Ooh, it's enough to make me wish to give them a piece of my mind!

The saying "be careful what you wish for" springs to mind. [He was one of the people most vocally advocating for peaceful relations with Celliwig, after all, so it's only apt he'd get the brunt of it.]

Anyway, it looks like they got what they wanted out of us, and we're free to go. It's safe to assume they're testing others in a similar way.

But should we not help them, as well?...I suppose that would not make for much of a trial, but it pains me to know that others are suffering the same fate and we must simply leave them to it until another appears to aid them.

[She sighs.]

But as you say, it seems that you and I are finished with these tests, at least for today. If you have a moment, would you like to discuss our respective secrets over tea?

If they're being held by magic, there's not much we could do to interfere. [And as she says, it would ruin the purpose of the trials, wouldn't it? He doubts anyone is in any real peril.]

Ah, a date where we can discuss each others' secret crushes! I'm all for it. Do you have somewhere in mind?

[She giggles.]

I am afraid I have not explored this area of the city very much, so I shall defer to your judgment. Or perhaps we can simply walk until we find a suitable place - I know how fond you are of new discoveries, and I am certainly willing to make one as well if you like!

Finding somewhere new certainly sounds nice to me.

[Not that they have to go far, which is a small blessing given he's going to be aching for a while from the thrashing he took. After only a few blocks they come across what Claude mistakes for a garden first, but as is so often the style of Avalon, it's a building hidden away amongst trees and an abundance of flowers, with a small seating area outside. If not for the sign, he would have missed altogether that it was a cafe.]

Oh! This is a sneaky little find. Quiet, too. [Which is a blessing, given he doesn't want eavesdroppers if they're going to be discussing secrets.] What do you say to trying this place?

I say, let us try it! It is lovely, is it not?

[Flayn makes her way to the outdoor seating and chooses a table in the shade of a tree blossoming with little white flowers.]

Are there new beverages to be sampled in Avalon that we know nothing of at home? I do so love to try new things!

[Claude joins her in taking a seat, considering.]

Weeeell... Have you ever tried coffee? We actually have that back home, but it's expensive and rare to find in Fódlan, because it's made from a plant that grows in Dagda. Here, it's much more commonplace.

[He can't imagine someone like Seteth buying her lots of fancy exotic things with how sheltered she's been, but who knows.]

No, I have not! I shall try some now - whatever sort you recommend, as you are the coffee expert of the two of us.

The thing is, coffee on its own can be very strong and bitter. It's an acquired taste for the uninitiated. I can handle that, since it's a popular drink where I'm from, but maybe you'd like sweeter coffee to start with?

[Then again, Flayn's tastes veer wildly between fish and... whatever her cooking is. Maybe her tastebuds are so weird she'd actually like strong coffee off the bat.]

[Flayn gives him a bit of a shrewd look - where he's from, huh? Well, she supposes she's about to find out. Then she nods.]

If there is a sweeter kind of coffee, yes, I believe I would prefer that.

[She giggles a little.]

You say 'the uninitiated' as though those who drink coffee are some sort of exclusive cabal! Imagine, gathering secretly in secluded dens to taste the forbidden beverage.

Your imagination really loves to ruin riot, doesn't it?

[He laughs. Not that he's one to talk, with the places his mind often ventures to, but it's amusing all the same.]

Well, dear Flayn, you're about to taste that forbidden beverage. [When a waiter arrives, he orders a regular black coffee for himself without any sweeteners, and after asking for suggestions for Flayn, settles on a caramel latte, which is sweet but still enough to give her a taste of what coffee is like.

That done, his attention is back on her.]

While we wait... I suppose fair is fair. You told me about who you are first, so go ahead and ask me whatever you want to know.

Yes, I am quite practiced with it. Spending so much time on my own, I had only storybooks and my own imagination to supply me with knowledge of what the world had become. Ah, but I am getting quite ahead of myself, am I not?

[She nods, folding her hands on the table and leaning forward a little.]

I am not so naive as to have missed the signs that you are not originally from Fodlan, and I must assume that when you flew off to leave us after the war, you were returning home. It was...

[Her face falls.]

It was really quite vexing, Claude! We had all come to feel as though we were a family, and that when the war was won we could step forward together into that future you spoke of so dearly. And yet, you vanished just as mysteriously as you had arrived!

[She sighs.]

So I suppose I would like to know where you came from, and why you left us.

Flayn... [Family is a strong word, but he can't deny it's an appropriate one. After all they went through together, he feels the same way -- not just about Byleth, but all the Golden Deer who helped see them through.]

I told you before that the last I remember, the war wasn't quite over. But I can't deny that I was already thinking ahead on how to proceed when things were over, and what Fódlan's new ruling system might look like.

[Oh, but he's waffling on, and this time he promised he'd answer her without deflecting. So he continues:]

If things turn out like you said they would, you're right. I went home. I know Fódlan's in safe hands, and ready to change for the better... but my dream won't ever work if I don't use my influence across the border to change things, too. So, I went back to Almyra.

Almyra...I see.

[She tilts her head, thinking.]

I am afraid I know very little of your homeland, then. My father rarely spoke of places beyond our borders, and certainly never allowed me to visit any of them. I do hope you will tell me all about it, but first, I wish to know what sort of influence, exactly, you have there. You are already the sovereign duke of the Alliance - or at least, you were - so how did you come to be born in Almyra instead?

[Claude's watching her reaction closely, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief when he doesn't detect any of the confusion or hostility he might've seen from -- well, Lorenz, perhaps, or even Hilda.]

My mother was a noble of House Riegan. She fell in love with a man across the border, and left Fódlan to be with him. For most of my life, I didn't even know where exactly in Fódlan she came from, or even that I had a Crest, because she was determined to leave her old life behind. It was only when my grandfather -- the late Duke Riegan -- went looking for an heir that I was suddenly introduced to a world I knew barely anything about.

[Hence his sudden and inexplicable appearance to resolve the Alliance's succession crisis, as if from nowhere. He shrugs and continues.]

On the other side of Fódlan's Throat, I have royal blood. How far that'll get me remains to be seen, but I'm determined to try to put it to use.

[As Flayn listens to his story, her eyes widen. When he finishes, a beaming smile spreads across her face.]

Oh, Claude, what an incredible tale! Your mother leaving her old life behind to follow her heart, and indeed, to marry royalty! It is as though you have emerged straight from the pages of a fairy tale, the secret prince who mysteriously appears to save the day. And...

[She considers further.]

If you truly knew nothing of Fodlan before you arrived, you must be even more remarkable than I knew you to be, to have taken on so much responsibility at such a young age, and during a war, at that, all in an unfamiliar land...and still you excelled.

[She smiles warmly.]

I have no doubt at all that you shall succeed in Almyra as you did in Fodlan, and change the world.

[He looks taken aback for a second, before letting out a laugh.]

Flattery will get you nowhere, Flayn! Though I thank you for basking in my greatness. [... That's right about when the coffees he ordered them both arrive, so he adds, voice dry:] Actually, it does seem to have gotten you somewhere, or at least as far as a drink.

[He'll let his cool for a few minutes before he gives his a try.]

But I hope you understand why I had to leave... and why I had to keep all those secrets to begin with. If the truth ever got out about where I was from, my dreams would be finished before they even started. Even using Nader and his army like I did was risky, but I had no choice.

[Flayn's eyebrows lift and she prepares to tell him that she is most certainly not flattering him - but then the coffees arrive and she can't help chuckling instead. She breathes in the delicious smells from the drinks, but she can see that they're still steaming, and she waits for hers to cool as well.]

I do understand. You know, of course, that I too was obliged to keep my own identity a secret. If my people still resided in our original homeland, I hope that I would do everything in my power to forge peace between our lands as well, just as you will do.

[She sighs.] And yet I cannot help but be just a tiny bit selfish, in wishing that you could have stayed with us. Still, I have the opportunity to see you now, so I shall certainly make the best of it. And perhaps someday, I shall visit you in Almyra! --ah, the smell of this beverage is too tempting, I simply must try it immediately.

[She picks up the mug and blows gently on the drink's surface to cool it a fraction more before taking a careful sip. Her eyes light up.]

Oh, it is quite delicious! It possesses a dark and earthy flavor, mingled with a rich, creamy sweetness. Are there other flavors as well? If so, I most certainly intend to try them all.

Ah-- well, don't try them all at once. One cup of coffee at a time is plenty, otherwise you'll be bouncing around the city with energy!

[Still he passes her the menu so she can read through all the different kinds; there's plenty here Claude isn't familiar with himself.]

And believe me, I would have liked to have stayed and helped Teach with rebuilding Fódlan. But to be honest, I planned for things to turn out the way they did all along. Making Teach the figurehead of the Resistance Army, bringing her to round table conferences and teaching her diplomacy... It was her leadership everyone rallied around. I just sped up my own plots by making sure Almyra helped in the efforts to bring peace to Fódlan.

[He smiles and pauses to sip his coffee.]

You're right though! While we're here, you'll have all this quality, uninterrupted Claude time. Hopefully that'll make amends for the disappearing act I pulled?

Ah, it is that sort of beverage? I see. Yes, perhaps it is best that I try only this one today. However, that most certainly means that you have agreed to accompany me for more coffee tomorrow!

[Flayn hums noncommittally, taking another sip of her drink.]

Oh, but the Professor was not the only one we all rallied behind. I say this not as one of the Golden Deer, but as one who has spent time among the soldiers, healing their wounds and hearing them speak to one another. Your leadership was quite important to them as well, Claude. I suppose, if you will excuse a moment of pithiness: the Professor certainly brought them faith, but you brought them hope.

[She smiles broadly.]

Yes, I would say that makes amends quite nicely. I shall enjoy this Claude time while it lasts. Now, I believe you had questions for me, also?

EVENT ✨ The Answer is Always C

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)