EVENT #1: FAE FESTIVITIES

[diceofthegods]

INTO THE WOODS

Click Clock Wood (Spring) by Grant Kirkhope

2:05 / 4:59

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Click here to listen.

Grant Kirkhope is a Scottish composer and voice actor for video games and film. Some of his notable works include GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, and Perfect Dark, among many others.

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After making your way through the tiny farming town of Ich and out towards the rim of a massive raised crater, you will find yourself being led through a narrow split in the canyon wall. Inside, glow worms cling to the ceiling and create the illusion of a thousand twinkling stars above the moistened rocks.

When you finally emerge, it is into an impossibly lush landscape of massive, redwood-sized tangling trees and a soft moss carpet. Life abounds here. It feels like an oasis of birdsong and animal activity.

A short walk leads you to the prepared party-grounds. A large clearing with quaint huts all around decorated with strange flowers for partygoers to rest or otherwise entertain themselves.

There appear to be several games and stalls set up, the sweet and savory scents of delicious food fills the air, and so do the patrons of the forest. Seemingly hundreds of Fae folk zip around and greet the newcomers excitedly by placing garlands of vines and crowns of flowers atop their heads.

Glowing flowers and toadstools light your way here. It also seems that even the animals get in on the festivities! Really, just about everything talks here. Almost everything, anyways! Talking to a tree stump might not yield many results but you're welcome to try.

Each entrant is also provided upon arrival a copy of The Rules. A rolled parchment that resists water or any other damage. It also prevents you from writing on it so you can't just do what you want.

The rules read as follows:

DO:
⁂ Accept gifts from the Fae.
⁂ Sample the food provided at the party ONLY.
⁂ Play games with the Fae.
⁂ Feel at ease to rest in the provided huts.
⁂ Keep tabs on your shadow lest it wander.
DO NOT:
⁂ Make a TRADE with the Fae.
⁂ Provide any personal items as gifts or otherwise to the Fae.
⁂ Provide your true name to the Fae.
⁂ Wander away from the designated party area.
⁂ Ascend any staircases you find in the woods.
OTHER ITEMS TO NOTE:
⁂ If you see an old woman hiking through the area, feel free to stop her and lie to her. The more brazen and obvious the lie the better. She appreciates this!

GAMES & ENTERTAINMENT

Amongst the games and attractions are a variety of fun possibilities!

GAMES

⁂ Battleship! (Fae Style!) A number of Fae will be hiding on a large grid of flowers. You guess the locations and if you are correct then you will win a small prize! It is a cup of nectar that refills endlessly, and numbs any pains you may have. This works even outside of the forest and can be taken home.

Every time you miss though, you receive a small 'curse.' Nothing harmful! Maybe you’re just rotating in place for the next hour, your ears become daisies, or you grow a tree out of your head? (Feel free to come up with your own silly ideas!) All of the curses will dissipate after a time or upon leaving the forest and none will do any harm or cause pain. The Fae are all about fun tricks, not hurting anyone!

⁂ Dress Up Darlings! You enter a booth and allow the Fae to decide your outfit! Upon the agreement that you'll wear it the rest of the party, of course, no matter how silly or ridiculous it is.

⁂ Bobbing For Onions! Yes, you read that right. Bobbing for onions. There are onions floating around... in water. You have to catch them with your teeth. The prize for success is a Bag of Onions. This bag never runs out of onions. They are always fresh and always onions. Not always the same kind of onion, but always onions nonetheless. This bag works outside of the forest and can be taken home.

⁂ What's In The Box? There is a box. There is something in it. Maybe it's frogs. Maybe it's slugs. Possibly bugs? Maybe apples. We don’t know. Stick your hand in the box and take a guess at what you’re touching! If you’re right, you win the contents of the box!

We'll let players decide via coin flip, rolls, or however they want if their guess is correct! Any items won though will be common, every day items like mentioned and nothing especially exciting. Unless you're really into frogs. Then it's your lucky day, apparently!

ENTERTAINMENT

⁂ Slayd & The Possums! Slayd is here and he’s throwing down the banjo tunes with his possum pals. Feel free to join him if you are musically inclined! The Fae will provide any instrument your heart desires! They can't grant you the ability to play it though if you don't know how.

⁂ The Crowning of the King of Misrule! Randomly chosen by the Fae, enter a lottery to be chosen as the King of Misrule for the evening. You will be dressed in a stupid outfit and granted Fae wings for the night! You also have the insatiable urge to play harmless pranks on people. The Fae will also give you a "Special Gift" at the end of the party...

FOR THE FOOLISH

Ahh, but there are rule breakers amongst us aren't there? If you choose to sneak away from the party, chances are nobody will stop you; however, you are now on your own in the Talahee Forest.

FIRST LAYER

Rak'tika Greatwood Theme ( Civilizations ) by Masayoshi Soken

4:34 / 5:15

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Click here to listen.

"Civilizations" prominently features a female vocalist. The lyrics are in the Ronkan language, and has not been officially translated.

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The first layer of the forest is very much similar to what you have already seen. Everything is coated in a thick mat of moss and trees wind away like a massive birds nest to form the canopy above. The faint sounds of animals can still be heard. Up here, you may encounter Fae who did not attend the party. They'll ask you your name and other personal details.

Best that you lie.

SECOND LAYER

Click Clock Wood (Autumn) by Grant Kirkhope

1:12 / 4:11

▶︎

Click here to listen.

Grant Kirkhope is a Scottish composer and voice actor for video games and film. Some of his notable works include GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, and Perfect Dark, among many others.

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The further in that you head, the darker the forest gets. It seems you are following a downward slope. The trees get bigger here, as do the insects and toadstools. Bioluminescence rules down here it seems. You may encounter stranger creatures here. Ones that will try to make very tempting trades for your personal belongings. Things that will seem like an amazing deal to you. They offer magical items of great power, or even personal effects from home.

Don't be fooled though. These objects are cursed, and are not at all what they seem. You have the distinct feeling of being watched at all times here.

⁂ Possible Encounters: Owlbear, Displacer Beast, Giant Badger

THIRD LAYER

Saint Mocianne's Arboretum (Hard) by Masayoshi Soken

2:50 / 5:10

▶︎

Click here to listen.

...hordes of aggressive plant life exposed to the strange substance stand between you and the information you seek.

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Are you getting smaller or is everything else getting bigger? Were Slayd here, he would have told you about the concept of Deep Forest Gigantism. The deeper you go - just like the ocean - the larger that the flora and fauna get.

You are dwarfed by the mushrooms here in the pitch darkness and only guided by the latent glow of the creatures and fungi that dwell here. Bugs the size of house-cats skitter in your wake. Are you sure you want to be here? Should you encounter anything larger, you’d best stay silent. Or run!

⁂ Possible Encounters: Giant predatory Elk (RUN), Rodents of Unusual Size, Extra Large Bugs

FOURTH LAYER

Poison Tree by Grouper

0:30 / 3:16

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Click here to listen.

'Poison Tree' is a meditation on the complexities of anger and the internal conflict it causes. It draws inspiration from William Blake's poem of the same name.

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The trees seem to clear out here as you reach the bottom of the forest. There is no light here so hope you brought a match. The landscape down here is a blanket of moss dotted with countless shallow pools. Looking into one of these pools, you will see your reflection... though it may look different in some way.

You will feel extremely compelled to reach down and touch the reflection in the water. Should you give in, you feel as though your world is turning upside down. You could receive memories not quite your own. Memories of a different version of you, even! (CRAU, Canon Update, or Canon AU!)

Yet, you will be experiencing them as your own. A long time could pass in your mind while only seconds have only elapsed in reality. Upon waking, you will find that you have been ejected from the party and the forest entirely. You find yourself at the entrance to the crater. Disoriented, and compelled not to re-enter, you have only yourself to blame as you must shamble your way home with this burdensome knowledge.

Notes

⁂ For the game prizes, we're using the honor system here! So long as you clear the roll then you can receive a prize with no mod permission needed.

- Battleship: If you roll a d20 above a 13, you can receive one of the nectar cups.
- Bobbing For Onions: If you roll a d20 above a 10, you can receive one of the bag of onions. En...joy...?

⁂ To sign up for The Crowning of the King of Misrule, comment here! We'll RNG the winner likely within a few days to a week to give folks time to participate if they want!

⁂ The plotting post for this event/November is up!

⁂ Additionally, we have a state of the game post available to people read about updates, clarifications, and a poll to participate in!

⁂ If you have any further questions or feedback about this event specifically, please comment here!

⁂ Full Navigation ⁂

Comments

Wildcard | Foolish Encounter (Far reaches of Layer 1)

[relativefugue]

By the time Gaia catches up with Cloud, assuming she's made haste seeing him slinking off, she will find him at the edge border between the first and second layers of the woods, where things are beginning to darken. He walks with an aimless but focused manner, alert. The massive Buster Sword on his back glints with the occasional flash of what appears to be an abnormally large lightning bug- or perhaps a fae entity. Not that Cloud is afraid. This fae stuff is a load of crap. Fairy tales, easily.

Though weakened, Cloud still has his SOLDIER hearing to an extent, and perhaps something else changing within him that is enhancing his senses overall, as well. He hears the snap of a twig and whirls around, one hand instinctively reaching back to clutch his blade's handle.

"Who's there?"

[hammerbearer]

Gaia isn't being quiet, exactly. So Cloud will pick up on her presence pretty early.

Well, the teen isn't running either. One doesn't leave the bounds mentioned in the Rules without some caution in mind. Gaia hasn't summoned her weapon; not yet. Wandering around with a weapon in hand is practically inviting a figh--

Oh, there he is. Finally.

"Someone who's really annoyed at having to chase you down," says a voice. May be unfamiliar but definitely a young woman's even before she moves slowly into sight. Gaia looks very frustrated but that's only because she's concerned.

And because she had to really hustle to catch up to the blond.

"Are you an idiot? Or can you just not read?"

You know. The rules.

[relativefugue]

"The rules are a bunch of crap. As is all this fairy stuff. Only idiots here are the ones who buy it." Cloud shrugs, glowing eyes falling on the young woman who claims to have chased him down on purpose. She isn't familiar whatsoever. Maybe he saw her moving about Town here or there, but Cloud Strife isn't exactly the kind of outgoing soul who just talks to people and makes friends like others sometimes are.

"Bad idea to just tail a stranger around."

[hammerbearer]

Glowing eyes. You know who else she's seen with glowing eyes?

Ascians

....and Sephiroth.

Gaia plants her hands on her hips.

"You think I want to be following a stranger off into the forest? Especially one who doesn't understand the concept of at least common courtesy when you're visiting someone else's home."

Forget the whole fairy things, it is proper manners not to go trespassing off somewhere one was told not to. Particularly when that place is probably dangerous. You know, fae dangerous or not.

Gaia seems to be having none of his attitude that's brushing off the dangers of the Fae though. She believes because she knows they are real.

"As to whether you believe in the Fae or not, what do you think pixies are?" There she goes, crossing her arms again and turning her head away from Cloud. Clearly peturbed!

"If you're fool enough to keep crashing around out here, don't expect me to come and transplant you into a nice garden back in town when you end up a bit of shrubbery for your troubles."

That is a promise she's only going to make once. Mostly because that person didn't seem foolish enough to wander off into a faerie woods.

[relativefugue]

Common courtesy? He was practically dragged here by one Angeal Hewley. Then again, he does realize he's a guest. The rules, though, are simply fairy tales.

"Pixies? Annoying, that's what," Cloud says flatly, watching Gaia rather closely. She seems really wound up about this. Almost like she's had experience with these things. Hm.

"Wouldn't ask you to do that anyway. It's not happening. You seen them do that kind of thing before?"

[hammerbearer]

Sure the rules sound like fairy tale rules. But they were also posted at the festival grounds rather than related like an old wives' tale. There's got to be something said for that, right?

"They're a type of Fae," Gaia counters firmly. This guy seems even more clueless than Sephiroth and she's shaking her head a bit over it. Seeing that he's calmed down some, she starts to move closer to Cloud.

Only to pause and cross her arms.

"...Not personally, no. And not here on this world. But believe me when I say I've had trusted sources tell me accounts of what they've witnessed at the hands of Fae."

She's sounding a bit more firm than irritated this time at least even if she doesn't like having to admit she's never personally witnessed someone being turned into a bit of topiary.

"Look, where you come from these might just be stories. But where I'm from, Fae are very real. And you've only yourself to blame if you don't follow the rules or barrel headlong into the dangers."

[relativefugue]

Huh. The girl has some spunk, it seems. "...Trusted sources," Cloud says, the flat and unimpressed tone easily showing how much stock he puts in them from word alone. The blond is stubborn to a fault.

Now, what she says next does give him some pause. Lived somewhere where they were real, huh. It does seem everyone here is from just about anywhere or anywhen. This at the very least serves to slow Cloud's roll. A little.

"What, so they just turn people in to plants where you come from?"

[hammerbearer]

"Yes, as in people who had to deal with them a few weeks before we first met. So not just trusted, but recent." Gaia is not just talking about decades old urban legends here. She stands her ground, long dark hair to his blond spikes and just as stubborn an expression.

Then she heaves a sigh. "Some might. The stories of the leafmen... generally those people were victims of the fairies trying to save them from a worse fate. Or maybe just because someone trespassed. There's no guarantee unless you have the King's word you'll go out of their territory the way you came in. Others might just play tricks or games, close to the ones you've probably encountered already here."

So Gaia is going to admit that not every encounter is a disaster waiting to happen for mortalkind. But her tone and expression take on a far more sober air. "But those are the nicer group of pixies. Where I come from, there are others. Like the Fuath. Their tricks are more violent and deadly. And are prone to drawing you in to drown and join them in their lake forever. That sort of thing is why it's dangerous to go beyond the boundaries of a specific invite. Or list of rules."