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

▶︎

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

[orbicularis]

Paradoxically (at least given Sephiroth's understandable and partially accurate read of the situation), Mithrun's ears drop even further.

...Any potential confusion is probably not helped by his verbal response: A quiet, flat, but apparently not insincere "That's... good."

[silver_soldier]

Ah. Sephiroth has miscalculated. This is normal for him in social situations, but he still feels the familiar sinking feeling in his stomach, that feeling of being out of his depth and ill-equipped that he rarely experiences anywhere else. He hates it.

All the more so when it means making a mistake with someone whose opinion and feelings matter deeply to him.

He pauses, trying to work out what might have upset Mithrun. In Mithrun's place, why would this upset him? He hazards a guess. "Did you...want to win it for Angeal yourself?"

[orbicularis]

Mithrun hesitates, then nods - almost guiltily, like a child admitting to some small wrongdoing. It's stupid, he knows; Angeal will be receiving an onion bag, which is the important part, so why does it matter who it's coming from? Sephiroth just happens to have succeeded where Mithrun failed.

Which is fine.

"It doesn't matter. It's good that you got one - so he'll have it. That was the point."

[silver_soldier]

Sephiroth doesn't think twice about it. In fact, he barely thinks once. He simply holds out the bag to Mithrun.

"Would you like to give it to him? If it doesn't matter who he gets it from, then he doesn't have to get it from me."

[orbicularis]

An entirely reasonable suggestion, given what Sephiroth is working with - and one met with an immediate "No." that borders on bristling.

At the very least, Mithrun seems to recognize his own response as... disproportionate. He breathes out, shoulders slumping as that momentary tension drops. "No, it... you won it, you should give it to him. I am... not happy that I failed, but I don't need to be appeased like a child."

[silver_soldier]

Sephiroth pulls back the proffered bag of onions at that snapped 'no'; there's a faint hint that, if he had elf ears of his own, now his would be drooping. His efforts here just seem to be going from bad to worse in terms of results. He's not sure which feels worse - not knowing what he's doing wrong, or having no idea what would be right.

"I...wasn't trying to talk down to you," he says, after a moment's pause. Mithrun's trying to soften his response belatedly at least assures him the elf isn't angry with him, but he's still become more upset rather than less so the feelings that Sephiroth is failing haven't abated at all. "I simply thought that...perhaps both you and Angeal could be made happy. That's objectively better than only making Angeal happy, isn't it?"

A beat. "Though if you wished to win for competitive reasons, then I suppose that I can't help with that."

[orbicularis]

"...No. Of course you weren't. I see what you meant to do, and... that would be better, yes." Another sigh. "Unfortunately, while it isn't quite a matter of competition - well, you're close. I do not... handle failure well, if it's something I care about."

Even something as minor as getting his partner a bag of onions, apparently. Funny, how overwhelming every desire can be, after so long feeling so little.

[silver_soldier]

"I'm sorry," Sephiroth says - not so much apologizing for any of his own actions, Mithrun's been clear enough that he hasn't really misstepped here, but for his inability to help Mithrun with what's distressing him. Because he really doesn't think there's anything he can do here, exactly. Even his own success felt less like a product of his enhanced abilities - which are far less enhanced here than they have ever been at any other point in his life - and more just luck. He can't exactly offer Mithrun tips or advice, and he isn't sure that wouldn't just make Mithrun gloomier.

Well, if he doesn't know what he could possibly do here...perhaps Mithrun does. "Is there anything I can do?"

[orbicularis]

"I don't know. And I'm sorry for that." He should be embarrassed, he suspects, to be so affected by something so small. Fortunately, the whole thing has yet to tap into that particular emotional well. A harder to reach offshoot of the deeper-seated shame that sometimes overwhelms him.

Suddenly, he gives a little shake of his head, flicking water droplets from his bangs. "Not worth worrying about, anyway. I'll live, and, like you said, Angeal will get a bag anyway. That's what matters."

[silver_soldier]

"Why wouldn't it be worth worrying about?" Sephiroth asks, frowning. "You are."

Sephiroth isn't particularly gifted in emotional expression, but every now and then his own earnestness and lack of social filters has him stumble into eloquence.

He considers. This situation...he supposes it's not too dissimilar from how Genesis sometimes is - although at the same time the mind does struggle to conceive of Genesis, passion embodied, and Mithrun, stoic cryptid, as having any commonalities at all. But certainly Genesis is no stranger to a competitive nature, and Sephiroth thinks it wouldn't be so much of a stretch for him to act like this. (All the more so if it was for Angeal's sake, and Angeal's favor - a love of Angeal is another thing Genesis and Mithrun definitely do have in common.) So if this was Genesis, someone Sephiroth is far more accustomed to, how would he handle this...?

Ah.

He cocks an eyebrow at Mithrun. "Perhaps you could earn it by taking it from me?"

[orbicularis]

Mithrun just... stares at him for a moment. It's likely hard to tell if he's been thrown off by Sephiroth's insistence that he's worth worrying about, or that his being generally worthwhile means there's a point to worrying about the onion situation.

In truth, it's a little of both - though mostly the latter. The former is still odd to hear, certainly, but it's really the latter where he's stuck.

And then there's Sephiroth's suggested solution. "What?"

[silver_soldier]

"If your concern is that you didn't earn the prize," Sephiroth explains patiently, "then perhaps you can earn it by playing a different game. One that is skill-based rather than luck-based, where your opponent is me." His lips quirk slightly. "Most would find taking something from me challenging. If you're able to do that, then the prize can be yours, fairly won."