EVENT #1: FAE FESTIVITIES

[diceofthegods]

INTO THE WOODS

Click Clock Wood (Spring) by Grant Kirkhope

2:05 / 4:59

▶︎

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

▶︎

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

[parer]

In Ignis's case, there's not even a point to watching for any minor course. One of the pixies, clearly quite familiar with the young man, seems to badger him over enough to the game to start with with promises of the prize, and that's enough for him to beeline over, and just...

Win.

Immediately.

It's like watching a heat-seeking missile go straight for its target. He seems to get them so easily in a row, no matter the little tricks the pixies play, that there's a chorus of complaints from them as they bestow the prize to him. There is also, admittedly, a small contingent of them which just land on his head, shoulders, and any other available part of him.

His hands are distinctly clawed and scaled already, although.... the claws seem to shine and catch the light in a way more like gemstones, crystal, than anything else. The pixies don't mind this.

Ignis may mind that, but not being watched, and he meets Sephiroth's stare quite plainly. "I'm unsure of how particularly helpful that may have been."

After all, watching people's mistakes is often a part of the learning process as well.

[miniroth]

It's absolutely certain Sephiroth has plenty of his own changes but his habit of wearing clothes that cover everything from the jawline down really interferes with that. The claws and scales are noted though, glittering green and sharp.

Other people are changing. That's a relief. "As helpful as anyone else's efforts have been." There's not a trace of disparagement. It really was. Some people bumbled through every effort, others like Ignis, succeeded with no hesitation.

At some point he intends to try it himself, once he has enough information. Nearly there. "They seem displeased with your lack of theatrics." The curses were part of the 'fun' obviously, and one of the reasons he was disinclined to participate just yet. Things designed specfically to humiliate aren't usually high on his to do list. But it's such a nice set of cups in the offering, having one would be ...

... Well, nice.

[parer]

"Well, that is good to hear then." With his own prize in hand, after all, Ignis sees no reason to hide anything that might be learned from his attempt. If it helps someone else in the end, then that is a good thing by his estimates.

It really is a nice set of cups.

At the commentary about his pixie companions', well, commentary, he huffs a bit and shakes his head. It does nothing to dislodge the pixies. Then again, that's not its purpose. "They are displeased with not getting to use all the interesting tricks they've thought up for this event," he says, as though he were sitting there on whatever pixie meeting happened. He wasn't. He just already has a good idea of their personalities. "I'm sure they spent quite a long time thinking them all up."

[miniroth]

"The goal seems to be primarily to amuse themselves, often at our expense." It did fit what he'd observed of the feisty little fae. They were here for a good time, and if it wasn't fun for them, what was the point?

He doesn't sound like he resents it. He .. wasn't sure if he was having fun when he played their games, but it seemed to be enjoyable so long as it was something they were mutually interested in. Embarrassment for the sake of someone else's laugh is not high on his list. "I'm afraid I'll likely disappoint them as well." He's watching the flowers again, but not quite ready to go for it himself. "...Perhaps I can make up for it later."

There were other things that could keep them amused, that wouldn't also come with a requirement of personal humiliation.

A flicker of the ambient lighting sends flashes of color across Ignis' hands again, drawing his attention back to the not-exactly-gemstone claws. And scales.

He's kept himself thoroughly under wraps, not a scale to be seen. It still unsettled him, even reassured repeatedly by his 'brother' that they weren't likely to just turn into slavering monsters. "...Are all the scales you're gaining green?"

[parer]

Frankly speaking, Ignis would also prefer to keep all instances of his transformation hidden away from people, and his own habit of dressing so completely in things like long-sleeved button-up shirts tends to help him with this goal. Certainly there are other transformations hidden beneath it all that he is loathe to show. But claws are... a different matter, something that could not even be hidden by gloves, and so he has forced himself to adjust.

There are no other alternatives, really, as far as he is concerned.

The question, shifted from the game as it is, makes him pause for a moment. "...Varying shades of them, but yes," he confirms. "At least, that is how it has been thus far, and if we aquisce to these being scales." By which he means the more jewel-like aspects of it. Maybe it will make more sense should he arrive at the full conclusion of this transformation.

[miniroth]

"Would you only be so lucky as to be unique amongst us in turning into something else. It would be an interesting case study." He's been watching all day now, for anyone who didn't look like a faerie or a native to this place.

See what he could spot, of scales or horns or claws and fangs.

Some hid it better than others, some sported the telltale patterning of whatever's going wrong with this place, transforming them into things they shouldn't be. "Mine are green too," is added quietly after a long moment, more than a little awkward. "In strong enough light."

A point of commonality? Such advances are strange and uncomfortable, but he hadn't seen green on anyone else so far.

[parer]

"I'm not sure lucky is how I would describe a scenario like that," Ignis comments wryly. At least with all of them roughly guaranteed to go through the same experience, there are others from who he can learn from. Experiences to watch out for and drawbacks to be wary of.

(Angeal's post will unfortunately come a little too late for him in this regard.)

At the comment, however, he stirs a bit more. "...Really? Then... The dragon you saw in your dreams was likely green as well. Or, certainly.... Mine was." Curiosity tugs at him, really, and he leans closer. "Bipedal for the most part, with smaller frontal claws. Feathering, along its skull, and a spotted pattern along most of its hide."

[miniroth]

After a moment, Sephiroth's concession to the point is the barest inclinations of his head. It's true enough, it's bad enough they're changing as it is, worse would be the only one doing it. There was a measure of comfort to be had in knowing there was a good dozen others similarly afflicted.

Based on description alone, the dragon in his dreams is not the same as Ignis', which.. was a relief in one way, for he spoke of things to that creature he'd rather not have people know about, but on the other ... "She is .. proportioned closer to a creature I know of as behemoths, but much longer in the neck and tail, with a more upright posture. A quadruped, with no feathering and instead a long crest from brow to tailtip. Mottled green, some could be called spotting, with heavy scales more like plates in some places."

[parer]

In some ways, it's - nicer, perhaps, maybe a word to describe the feeling. Nicer, to treat this with a sort of detachment that helps to settle the tension wound up tight in his chest. If he thinks of them in terms of animals, such as Elidibus suggested they could be as much as 'gods', then he can potentially look over them as such. Like talking about a new breed of animal.

"So I see your world has behemoths as well," he comments, mildly curious at this bit of coincidence. "Although I wonder if they share similarities in anything but name... After all, it appears that although both our dragons may be green, they could hardly be considered the same breed in most other scientific classifications. All they appear to share is coloration, perhaps a spotted pattern, and the designation as a dragon." Assuming that's what's really stuck inside of them and causing all these changes.

[miniroth]

He certainly couldn't think of the dragons as godlike, he didn't believe in gods. The problem with thinking of them as animals .. was the idea that they were going to become animals themselves. Powerful predatory monsters, which keep humans on the menu.

Since nobody's becoming a behemoth, that's fine to talk about, and he glances around briefly for something he can use, and then gives a slight shrug and heads for more packed earth nearby, crouching and beginning to doodle with one dulled claw the rough outline of a generic behemoth. Forward facing horns, mane down the neck, heavy built; Sephiroth is no artist but it's still recognizably a behemoth. "It's possible the designation 'dragon' is simply applied to a wide number of creatures. Mammal, reptile, bird, dragon.."

Even if the dragons aren't the same, behemoths are apparently similar enough. "If you wind up venomous, they share that as well. I don't.. yet have the teeth to support it, but the glands are there."

[parer]

All Ignis can hope for on the aspect of transformation is that, considering how Charlie and Slayd have talked about dragons, the creatures are far more sentient and intelligent than the average beast. If that's the case... Well, then they start to gain slightly different problems, but at least not being mindless. That is something.

Better to distract themselves with other talks, and Ignis follows Sephiroth, leaning over his shoulder curiously to watch as he draws along the ground. Even in the beginning, the shape is already known to him, and each detail is only further confirmation.

"It really is interesting, to see what animals are shared between what worlds... I mentioned Behemoths once before, to another woman-" Granted, back in the simulation, while he was waiting at the bakery. "-and they as a creature were unknown to her. But indeed... While I would have to see pictures of them side by side for better comparisons, that does appear to be the average shape of a Behemoth." Curious really.

Still... He reaches up, claws bracketing the lines of his throat. "I haven't noticed any immediately obvious venom glands, but... I will keep your words in mind."

They will, unfortunately, not help him too much later that night.

[miniroth]

"There's some things here that seem utterly ubiquitous, to the point where you get odd looks if you ask what they are. Like horses. But there isn't a single bird over forty pounds to be seen, never mind one big enough to ride." And to him, it's chocobos that should be everywhere and not horses.

Or mules. Or donkeys. Where are the avians?

He glances up as Ignis reaches for his own throat; if there's any such thing forming on the man, he can't tell at a glance. "I'd demonstrate, but it turns to gas on contact with most things and I'd rather not find out how dangerous it is in a crowded venue." Presumably it'll be more effective once he has the teeth to support it, though he wasn't much lookign forward to the changes that would mean.

Or any of it, really. If there was an option to simply hide away and wait for the inevitable, he'd probably take it.

[parer]

Where are the avians indeed. It isn't as though they were everywhere back in his homecountry either, granted, but they were a good deal more common and amiable to humans than anything else. Certainly you couldn't trust most things with hooves back in Lucis, on account of them being often outright violent. And those that weren't couldn't exactly be domesticated as far as he understands.

The simulation has gotten him a little more used to the idea, granted... but it's still absolutely boggling to walk down the road and see people just. using horses.

Really, the universe is quite expansive. "We may be proven wrong as more of this land becomes available to us and we learn, but... indeed, horses are far more common. I suppose one must adapt no matter what." And he can be said about missing his virtual chocobo on his own time.

In the meanwhile... "I agree with that assessment. There is a time and place for experimentation and demonstration, but a party isn't it." You know, so long as you have sense.

Some people here might not have it, but Ignis prefers to think better of himself.

Forcing his hand to settle down once again, he considers the drawing still there beneath them. "Although back to the similarities and differences between worlds... It is a shame that the sample number is so limited. Unbalanced, really. I am sure it would be fascinating to know if there are any connections between some of us. There must be an overarching thread, since we are all at least humanoid and can share enough concepts to not get vastly confused in most day to day conversations..."

They can all perceive in two dimensions, and whatnot, you know. It could be a lot weirder is what he's saying.