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

[snapp_crackle]

Someone who grew up in a city or even a good town probably would know this and know why. Popp's generally had the good fortune to be traveling either with a rich man who cooks as a hobby or with an actual princess who's willing to cover meals. Free food definitely is the best but he might have missed out on some street smarts.

"Because... they offload all the worst ingredients on what they're giving away so they can write it off on taxes?"

His dad would not skimp on his own products out of principle and especially not in a community where your business relies on word of mouth, but he sure does tend to grumble about other people. Sometimes the people he complains about are not even his son.

[firsteditionbfs]

that sure says something about the kind of life that Popp has lived here. Still, Angeal can't wholly say that's wrong for some...

"I mean, that's one way to do it." He shrugs, looking over the spread to decide on his next sample. "But some don't even get to the taxes part. It's far cheaper to get subpar or even bad food, and somehow still make a profit. And that's just the more honest bad goal behind some free food."

It gets worse? But of course.

"Depending on where you are, the food might be drugged."

[snapp_crackle]

For real?? Popp puts his fork down in a hurry. Slayd was pretty sure they wouldn't be doing any of that here, but it's not good for his appetite.

"For real? That's so underhanded! Who'd even pull something like that?"

Robbers, maybe, but you'd think they'd go for people who can afford to pay for their food?

[firsteditionbfs]

"The answer is pretty miserable and indicative of the kind of big city that I know." Angeal glances down to the food that Popp has now distinctly stopped eating. "And now I'm starting to wonder if maybe I've freaked you out just a little too much. That's no good. I don't know if the fae here have their own farms or what, but you should never waste food."

Angeal will sooner die than waste food, and he won't let anyone else do it either.

clicking all those links isn't required reading i just like thinking about food

[snapp_crackle]

Popp is against wasting food a little bit out of vague principle but mostly because he is at a life stage where he is a bottomless pit. And also because he has a hungry dragon in the back of his psyche at all times, which is a more recent development.

"Why don't you eat it, then? It'd take way more to knock you out."

He nudges Annie's arm with his plate. The only thing on it that isn't a distinct unit of finger food is the crumble. The abrupt loss of appetite here is more out of a general unease that there are people out there that will take advantage of people in need and not because he actually thinks this particular plate is a problem. He doesn't want to talk about the first one and ruin the mood at a perfectly good party, so he is deflecting.

[firsteditionbfs]

"I mean, I'd actually would say that's true in most cases, but here I'm unsure." Partially because he is well aware that his own body is no longer as sturdy as it naturally is... or, well, unnaturally, depending on who you ask. The other thing is because this is the Fae, and who knows what sort of nonsense they can pull?

But it's a party, and honestly he thinks he'd trust the Fae more than your average Midgar businessman.

So after a quick glance over Popp's plate, he's more than content with taking those delightful little pinwheels. "I really gotta know how they get it so thin," he reflects. "It'd be nice to have some tricks for the bakery..."

[snapp_crackle]

He's gonna watch him like a hawk to see if he turns purple or tips over or anything, just in case.

"Probably by having tiny pixie rolling pins the size of your little finger." Looks at Annie's hands. "Or the size of my little finger."

[firsteditionbfs]

No purple just yet as he pops one into his mouth! Just him being perfectly comfortable chewing it, taking in the flavors, before swallowing. No tipping over either, so he goes for another one.

"True," he chuckles. "It's probably a bit more work, unless they use magic, but the detail work they can do is probably out of this world. That's the tradeoff."

A brief grin to Popp. "So would you want to get that small?"

[snapp_crackle]

...Yeah, all right, watching other people eat delicious food is really good for the appetite. Popp starts in on the tiny pumpkin breads now that he has an excuse to do so. They're soft and rich and practically melt in his mouth.

"No way! I'm into combat magic, not any kind of crafting. At that size, I'd be fighting hungry frogs instead of the Dark Army!"

He'd have to ride around on Dai's shoulder or something... which wouldn't be terrible, but c'mon, his dignity!

[firsteditionbfs]

"The frogs might win. That's one heck of a spell, turning people into frogs." Yeah that's a thing he said, don't worry about it. "And you're still mostly yourself too." Don't worry about it.