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avalaughs2022-03-17 02:25 am
EVENT ✨ Nightmare on Elph Street
QUICK NAV: LOGS ⚔️️ NETWORK ⚔️️ MEMES ⚔️️ OOC ⚔️️ NAVIGATION This is the event log for IC comments only! Ask questions in response to this comment HERE or use the FAQ for general questions. Click here to view top-level comments only. |
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| The ritual-wiping ritual wasn't the best news for Avalon and magic has been wacky for everyone since it was performed. However, if there was a time for it to happen, it happening before the Spring Equinox was just about the best time it could happen. The Spring Equinox, after all, is a time of renewal and rebirth. It's what you'd call a silver lining. As long as enough people participate in the Spring Equinox rituals, it should be fine... right? |
CONTENT WARNINGS:
- 1st Prompt: --
- 2nd Prompt: --
- 3rd Prompt: --
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This part of the event takes place on March 20th.
Though there is no Spring Masquerade this year as there had bene the last, there is a much smaller token of appreciation from the castle of Camelot to all of those who live within its borders: a gift basket with a salad of edible flowers, eggs, breakfast sausages, and a small bottle of champagne (or sparkling seltzer for those underage) and a bottle of orange juice to make mimosas with. Those of the vegetarian through vegan persuasions will receive vegan white chocolate eggs filled with coconut cream frosting and a mango puree 'yolk' and Avalon's best plant-based sausages. It's not quite a feast, but no one should go hungry on this day of celebration! Brownies will help to deliver these overnight, so you'll find them on your doorstep in the morning with a special spell to keep everything fresh through most of the early afternoon. |
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Those who saw it last year or locals who are normally residents of Avalon will tell you not to fear, this happens every spring. The plants grow around and not through structures, the buildings still safe and sound beneath large vines and leaves and pools and flowers. Most notably, huge beds of vines, open seed pools, and giantic flowers large enough to take a bath in have started cropping up around town, and they all seem to be filled with a vibrant, glowing liquid of some kind. Each of these floral wonders, locals will tell you, is called a vernal soul pool. Upon entering one, you'll enter a lucid sleep state that connects you to everyone else in Avalon and the island itself. Doing so will cause your magic to be amplified and grow and stabilize, but also allow you to be cleansed and refreshed as a person. How much detail the person you're talking to gives is up to you (in case your characters would back off of it if they had the following details but you still want to experience it). Once someone enters, they will immediately feel as if they are at home and the pod will close over them gently, leaving them in a pool of that mysterious glowing substance-- vines grow further to encase, the pool closes, flowers close into buds instead of open blossoms. Under normal circumstances, the pools would remain closed and in this state until the witching hour and slowly and gently awaken those within. However, even the magics of the spring aren't stable right now, and what ends up happening is the pools suddenly spill open before anyone's dream sharing can truly get underway, dumping their passengers out onto the ground into a state of jarring awakeness. With them, they will find they are unable to access their Avalon magics but instead have one of the following:
 This part of the event takes place late night on March 20th through slightly past midnight on March 21st. | ||
| The fairy queen's envoy, Princess Bluebell, sends out a panicked emergency message (complete with the obnoxious alarm that sets off phones even on silent) after a couple of hours of this, and casts a mirror-travel spell to Nicnevin so that any may quickly arrive just outside of its borders, next to the river. The message states that the dream world and reality have melted together due to the majority of magic being funneled into the time freeze spell or the equinox ritual, which uses Queen Mab as a vessel through which the vernal soul pools channel everyone's magic. The Spring Equinox renewal did NOT go as planned, needless to say. Otherworlders must head to Mab's Cavern to locate Queen Mab and absorb some of her energy by touching her to stabilize their magics and drain the spring equinox's out of her before even bigger disaster strikes! | |
Mab's Cavern is typically a place forbidden to enter under normal circumstances. It is the world of dreams and nightmares takes from our subconscious what we most desire and what we most fear and our memories and turns them into reality. This is what your character will have to face without their Avalonian magic and the above either unstable or beginner-level powers. Mab normally goes into a slumber and connects herself to the whole of Avalon during the Spring Equinox to allow the vernal soul pools to utilize her magic, so she cannot let everyone in or help anyone navigate her realm. Mab's Cavern looks like a normal mountain from the outside, covered from head to toe in pink cherry and plum blossoms trees, shrouded in a fog that's pink itself from reflecting the petals. The entrance to the inside of the cavern is an ancient door, carved from white marble and enchanted to be impassible without an offering and engraved says: "Offer me your most secret dream and enter this forbidden realm. Dream with me for eternity." The offering, in this case, is simple: speak your most secret dream out loud for the door. The open door will allow one person to pass through per offering, and leads into a hall entirely coated in flowers of a variety of colors. These flowers speak, and will ask you how you are, warn you to turn back, tell you and whoever you're walking with that you make a cute couple, sing the national anthem of their people, whatever. They seem to get more and more chatterbox-y as you head inward and the lights grow dimmer until there is no light left. Even if you light one, it seems as if you are in a black space where nothing exists but you and whoever you walk with (if anyone), and voices. | ||
This portion of the event contains a FOURTH WALL EVENT element and takes place on March 21st.
That is, until you hear a new voice and the chatterbox flowers hush. Anyone from any canon can appear and team up with you within Mab's Cavern as this is a fourth wall event. Guest characters will have access to their canon abilities, but cannot leave Mab's Cavern or affect the environment outside of it. |
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interpretation again, but be sure to ask permission if it involves another character who is in the game or a part of the fourth wall) and their new party member may need to convince them to leave instead of staying in the dream world forever. If you've trusted the flowers, you'll find yourself in trouble. These are actually souls who crossed Queen Mab and attempted to steal their desires away from her cavern and bring them into reality. Their curse? They can escape if they trade another soul for theirs. Now would be a good time for a partner to help pull you out because as soon as you touch one of the flowers, they will turn into vines and attempt to wrap around you to pull you under the water and drown you! The "water" itself is the same liquid used within the vernal soul pools, so you'll find your life literally flashing before your eyes as this happens, making it very difficult to escape without someone else's help. If you die in the water, the flowers who did it will transform back into their original selves and flee, and you will be transformed into a talking flower yourself. If you make it to Queen Mab, you'll need to place a hand on her and all dreams and reality will sort themselves out within you-- that is, your broken powers will disappear and your Avalonian magics will return. As you head out again, the guest character brought in to help you will begin to fade away slowly enough that you can say your goodbye before they are gone. There is no way to stop this. All memories of fourth wall visitors will be retained as part of game canon. After enough people have come to take Mab's powers enough to deplete the effects of the Vernal Pools, the Fairy Queen herself will come to Mab and run a strange-looking dagger through her heart. All of the Spring Equinox magic that was being filtered through her will be released into the land and stabilize magic for everyone, and a flower will blossom out of Mab's heart around the dagger. Within the center of the bud glows a small child version of Mab, and anyone still in the cavern will find themself just wandering around in a dark cave. The Fairy Queen glows in the dark and will lead them out with little magic glow bubbles that try to make them follow if they get separated from her vicinity, but is still not speaking to anyone. She will also transport anyone who has been turned into a talking flower out of the cave via some kind of levitation spell and give them to someone they know-- whether they know them in a positive or negative light is up to you, she can only register connection on sight with magic, not emotion.
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II
The monster emerges from the wing of the stage, and the theater erupts into gasps and shouts of panic. In the commotion, the prima dancer flees with the beast in pursuit, its flames causing the curtains and stage to erupt into flame. Somnus draws his sword, rushing after the source of the embers and smoke into winding catacombs.
The fiery lance raises as if to strike, only for the monster to stumble forward instead, struck from behind. Somnus leaps over the staggered beast, positioning himself in the narrow hall between her and it, blade poised to strike again. His stance is wide and secure, his free hand outstretched as if caution her from coming too close. His heel slides behind him, backing up further to create more distance. The smoke is stifling, and his voice is like gravel.
He asks her one question, prioritizing safety above a greeting: ]
Is there an escape? An atrium to which these tunnels lead?
[ Anything would be more strategic to fight a flaming monster than in such a narrow corridor. ]
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She's nearly ready to fall prey to her own inaction a second time-- but the final blow never comes. She watches with wide eyes as Somnus sails over her assailant, sword wielded with practiced ease. How strange, to see the man she was only just fearing the same way come to her rescue...
But first things first. Rinea gasps out--]
Yes! The c-castle-- or the tower basement!
[-- but do these magically-conjured corridors even connect there? Rinea's memories of the catacombs are hazy, drenched in fear and dread; this could hardly be a perfect copy. Still, even the wider rooms of the tunnels could be worthwhile, so Rinea wipes her eyes and prepares to run again.
Her monster growls as it sizes up its new adversary, grip on its lance tightening. It's not Berkut, but it isn't not him, either; readjusting its jaw, the creature goads her over Somnus's shoulder with the young man's voice, raising the sound above the crackling flames.]
You're running? Leaving? After everything you've done to me... To think my Empress was a LIAR!
[It lunges.]
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[ —before forcing the lance’s point to the ground, pinning it with his blade, and using the leverage to kick it squarely in the chest.
Smoke erupts from the hit, billowing outward in dangerous, dark plumes— and simultaneously providing them some coverage and time. Covering his mouth, he follows after her. As they navigate the corridors, the clang of metal and the rush of heat remains close behind, not a corner-turn away. Yes, they have time…. But not by much.
My Empress, it had called her.
Somnus chances a glance at her profile as they sprint, noting her expression. The monster’s visage had been strikingly young, like a boy made to go to war, forced to adulthood; and Rinea… she, too, is young. They are Emperor and Empress, and while he knows not of the former’s fate, he does know of hers. To what will this dream culminate? ]
There— doors.
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But then-- doors! They slam the doors shut behind them, barring them for good measure; Rinea feels a wave of relief, even if the solace is temporary.
But when she turns around to see the eerie, riblike ceiling and roaring bonfire altar of the room they'd stepped into...]
N-No, not here. Not here. [Her face is ashen.] Anywhere but--
[Berkut's twisted facsimile smashes against the doors with a loud BANG that makes her shriek.]
RINEA!
[She turns desperately to Somnus, terrified.]
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[ The doors buckle with the next impact, splinting wood and iron. Somnus' blade remains ready, knuckles white upon the handle of his sword, his focus set. He inhales, then exhales slowly through his nose, and he complies what he knows: long ago, the hall of mirrors had revealed a flaming silhouette of Rinea that taunted her; a month ago, she had pleaded "How small must I make myself to satisfy you?", speaking not to Somnus' then-cursed state himself, but as if he were this young emperor. Therefore her fear is not only the beast that chases them, but the inferno behind them. ]
...I cannot conquer your fears for you, but I shall subdue them. [ His words are even and calm, assured and steely in a way that cuts above the roar of the fire. Somnus takes a few steady steps forward, positioning himself between Rinea and the doors. His free hand goes to his cloak, unclasping the golden fastening that sets it together, and tosses the raiment aside. ]
But tell me this, O Daughter of Rigel. [ Another collision between monster and door causes the barrier to break further. On the next hit, the tip of the lance juts through like wolf teeth against leather. ]
Do you wish to show him mercy?
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I do! [That much won't change, no matter what.
The doors give way with one final impact, wood splintering with an agonizing groan. Berkut's monstrous likeness staggers in, one rotted wing limp, grinning through its hard breath as it sizes up its prey.]
You're hiding behind another man, now? So you really were just part of Uncle's act. Ruinous woman.
[Hearing that insult a second time is enough for her. Hands clenched into fists, Rinea screams back.]
Stop it! Why are you so determined to suffer!
[Has she ever raised her voice this much? Rinea can't stop herself, voice ragged from the smoke but words tearing free from her throat.] How am I supposed to help you when you don't even help yourself?! If you would just let go of that accursed pride and listen and trust me--!
[Berkut roars with rage, leaping to the attack.]
cw: fantasy fighting, blood, etc
If his own suspicions hadn't been enough, that this chimera of Rinea's fear and pain repeats Somnus' accursed words is: she yet bleeds. Forgiveness had never truly been an option, for him creating a wound so deep.
Somnus' blade answers the beast's attack, parrying it then proceeding with another oblique strike. Metal against metal creates a cacophony of bellowing, hollow thunder within the chamber, rattling the cage-like ceiling as the two exchange blows. Without armor or magic, Somnus is at a disadvantage, but it is one for which he accounts by the swiftness of his greatsword. His expression remains severe, focused, and dark as he rushes against their opponent, and he fights against the facsimile forcing them back towards the altar, which would very well spell her doom. Injury goes ignored by either man, but blood trails the pattern of their steps. Until finally-- ]
On your knees-- [ --upon the dias, Somnus rounds on the monster, sidestepping the reach of the halberd and striking against its forearm, intending to maim it, or at the very least cause it to fall. He follows through with the blade leveled against its neck, but doesn't strike. Mercy: of she had asked for, of which he will grant; but he will not stand for her compassion to be taken advantage of. ] --and beg for your empress' forgiveness.
[ Can the boy relinquish his pride and make peace as she suggests, or is this simply wishful thinking on her part, the other half of "desire" of this fae-cavern? As he had said, he cannot face this for her. ]
sasuga somnus....
The creature spits.]
I would rather take my end at the point of your blade. My pride is all I have left! You would have me cast it away?!
[Rinea finally approaches, pausing at Somnus's elbow. She's trembling, but her expression is resolute.]
My lord Berkut... [She kneels too, to be at face-height.] That's not true. What of your relationship with the Rigelian people? What of Sir Fernand? What of... of me?
[The chimera seems surprised to be so frankly addressed. The fey magic stitching it together vibrates, shifting focus from physical danger to emotional; the rotted wings dissipate, the embers quiet. Still, the boy is not easily dissuaded from his furor.]
What use is any of that? They all hinge on power. Everyone, everything will betray me now that I've lost the throne. Now that my throne was stolen! That's why... That's why I've given it all to Duma. Because you, you knew--
I didn't! [Rinea raises her voice again, sharp enough to stop Berkut short.] How could you think that of me? I only wanted to be with you in everything. And yet you say you would rather die than find out what that looks like? You trust a god you've never worshipped over your own-- your own Empress?
[The chimera-- barely a chimera now-- stares at her, confused. Guilty. This isn't the fearful Rinea it was made from: it's an anguished one.
She stands again, wiping her frustrated tears. The chimera watches her go.]
I miss you, you foolish boy. I wish you had understood so I didn't have to say goodbye.
[The bonfire's crackling goes steadily silent. The surroundings of the memory grow fuzzy. The theater stage fades into view around them, stage lights turned harshly upon them, faceless audience greeting them with applause.
They're safe, but all Rinea can do is weep.]
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”—What use is any of that? They all hinge on power. Everyone…”
Somnus’ blade lowers, allowing her to say her piece. Steel may no longer necessary to keep the facsimile in its place, but he remains ready in case as Rinea expresses herself. He fetches his raiment from the floor, and when he straightens, the image of them blurs at the periphery of his vision. Somnus places his sword tip-down upon the ground as a crutch.
“..to be with you in everything……… …you say you would rather die than find out what that looks like?”
Her words echo in the theater as the image of her fiancé appears more human than it had been before. As Somnus has suspected, he is of Rinea’s age, little more than two decades; their history is apparent.
”I miss you, you foolish boy.”
…What tragedy, this. It is obvious from her words that they could have had something grand together, something precious. Indeed, mayhap they did in a realm torn by war. Now they are but two souls lost to their world, never to help usher their empire into a new age. Perhaps they could have made a world kinder to whatever children they may have had together. Now, the opportunity is lost.
(All too briefly, he thinks of the Oracle and the Chosen. Like them, the future is not theirs. Something pains deep within his chest.)
”I wish you had understood so I didn't have to say goodbye.”
As applause engulfs the chamber, Somnus’ head turns from the monster-turned-man to the woman as she weeps. Even in death, she has not known peace, chased by this horror. The fey are cruel, but… would that this trial offers her some closure. ]
…Empress. [ Somnus approaches her, but not before giving one last glance towards the subdued Berkut. Addressing her by title seems only appropriate, given the company with whom he stands and the accusation of the mirror-fae of last time.
But he does offer his hand. If and when she gives hers, he bring his other to place it atop of hers. The touch is not gripping, should she wish to withdraw, but meaningful. He searches her expression, finding nothing but mourning within it, then holds her tearful gaze. At last he speaks, his voice low and somber, words spoken for not their audience but only for her to hear. ] You have done well.
Rest, now, …so that you may live.
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[Rinea's fingers curl desperately in his, her other hand still trying and failing to stem her tears. The facsimile of her once-fiancé fades away as her gaze shifts from it to her companion; it has played its part.]
You were hurt! [With the tunnel vision of such a tense situation wearing off, everything else comes rushing out of her. Rinea sobs.] Because of me! I hate this. I hate that it still claims power over my friendships. I'm so sorry! I-I...
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Instead of responding outright, Somnus lifts the hand atop of hers off of her knuckles raising his hand. He moves it slightly towards her cheek, finger crooked modestly as if he had been about to wipe a tear from the curve of her face, but stops. His pause is not in hesitation, but a mindfulness of permission. ]
...May I?
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...Thank you. [She lowers her gaze, somehow unable to bring herself to meet his.]
Sir Somnus... You have aided me so many times. [Certainly they haven't had it easy in recent times... but still, Rinea owes him deep gratitude.] I consider myself lucky to know you.
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The words I said to you that day... they haunt you still, do they not? [ A rhetorical question, for of course they do-- otherwise they would not have been repeated within this cavern in a way typical for the fae to torture their victims by their vulnerabilities. ]
You are not to blame.
[ Perhaps she will not accept that she isn't overnight, for her troubles with guilt clearly go deeper; however, he means this not just for that day, but what is obvious in her past. She is not to blame for her fiancé's fall to pride, his wrath, her own death, or even how Somnus had been injured. It will take time to release herself from her misplaced guilt. Until that day dawns, he will say she ought be free of it however many times it takes. For all the good she has done, this is the least he may do. ]
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[The question cause Rinea to look up again, surprised-- and a bit embarrassed. So he noticed... well, Somnus is an observant man. Of course.]
Well, yes. [She smiles despite herself, a little sadly.] But perhaps... not quite in the way you expect.
[Keeping his gaze is difficult, as much as Rinea would like to. After a moment's thought she turns slightly to stand beside him, hand still held in his as if to be escorted.]
Would you care to continue searching for Queen Mab while we speak?
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As Rinea turns and suggests that they continue on the path, Somnus raises his head. ] Indeed.
[ Aware of how their hands remain united, he releases her palm and instead offers his arm. ]
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Rinea keeps her face turned to their surroundings as they walk through the now-deserted halls of the theater, though her mind remains on their tumultuous encounter. It's easier, somehow, to talk side by side; when she speaks again, it's soft, mostly recovered from her miserable outburst.]
Do you.. place trust in other people, sir Somnus?
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At her question, so softly spoken, Somnus glances at her, but his gaze doesn’t linger. ]
How do you mean?
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I mean, taking the behavior of those you know in good faith. Do you?
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With discretion.
[ He looks at her again, head canted a degree to the side. No doubt she has a point to this line of questioning? ]
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I see. [Said with fondness, before she continues on.] As for myself, I prefer to extend it whenever possible. Rigel was always such a bleak place, and as tensions heightened in its power struggle... my constitution wore very thin. Nurturing trust with those I cherished was my own defense against it.
[Rinea smiles again, though her eyes are drawn to the polished marble floors.]
Of course, trust comes with an inherent risk. The vulnerability associated with kindness, the advantages that can be stolen-- I am aware of that much. [It is not naivety that drives Rinea's behavior; it's a value held with clear eyes.]
But to be accused of such treachery myself, well...
[...well, Somnus can intuit the rest. Berkut's accusations left a deep groove upon her psyche. Somnus's were simply an echo of it.]
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Never is it wise to assign blame to those who believe in the goodness and veracity of others. [ Rather, all the more important to shield them from the horrors of mankind, and punish those who trespass.
Somnus looks ahead of them. ]
Your betrothed insulted your character.
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That... is true. [She still manages to sound a little unsure about it. Is she allowed to say as much? That she was hurt?]
But even if I've been pained so... Even if there is something I should learn from this, from curses and fae trials... I do not wish to stop. Trusting in people, I mean.
[Rinea takes in a breath, finally brave enough to look back up at Somnus's face.]
Do you find that foolish?
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Thus he concludes, ] No.
[ At an intersection of two halls, he stops in their walk, turning slightly to face her. The expression he wears relaxes the sharp features of his face, both thoughtful and solemn. ]
Rather, you are all the more beautiful because of it.
[ It is an nigh untouchable sort of goodness she has. ]
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[Rinea is genuinely stunned for a moment, only barely able to stop herself from gaping up at him. Her cheeks go pink. It's an unexpected compliment from the stoic Somnus, sure, but more than that-- it's an affirmation. Even as she'd said it, even as she'd expected Somnus to be understanding, Rinea still felt like the answer was yes, she is foolish. But he means it.
The gravity of such a gift takes her breath away.]
You... have a way of saying things that makes one want to believe it.
[Actually, it makes her feel a little silly for worrying what he might think in the first place. She can't help the smile--grateful, embarrassed, but deeply glad-- that blooms on her face.]
Thank you.
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Would that the world could be better to her. Avalon, with all of its cruel tricks and fae-trials, is a far cry from that ideal. She needn't change, but the world with all of its strife and those who would use such kindness to their advantage does. If only there was a way to make it so...
The storm breaks with her smile, and there's a pause on his part before he's unable to behold its radiance any longer. Somnus head tips slightly in acknowledgement of her thanks, then turns to look down the intersecting halls. ]
We are at a crossing. Which way will you step towards the future?
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cw for corpses
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