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

[zodiheart]

"Far be it from me to judge a man's preferences towards color and patterns," he admits truthfully. And whether they match, he does not say. Elidibus and Ardyn both know he thinks it, that's just a given at this point. "Especially considering I continue to don my robes of office each day, regardless of how they may stand out."

White remains a rarity, especially with how others would find it so difficult to keep clean. Thank goodness for enchanted fabrics.

"Have you thought much on what you intend to offer, then?"

[fatedfinality]

"I did wonder about those robes," he admits. The Ancients seemed fond of their garb from home. Ardyn didn't have any such attachment to his clothes, really, and why he didn't mind trying new things. They were a gift from the Emperor so it behooved him to wear them, but also they were convenient for shielding him from the sun.

"I have a few things in mind. It'd feel like cheating to offer them a body part when I could just grow a new one." He wouldn't tell them that, of course, but also wouldn't beyond them to find a way to fuck him over still so- That one is a bit too risky.

"A lot of them seem to want a lock of my hair for some probably nefarious reason, but I'm almost curious enough what it is that I may do that."

[zodiheart]

"You may always ask, you know, should you find yourself curious. I am always glad to answer questions. My robes are white due to my station - a symbol," it's said casually. If Ardyn wants to know more details he'll provide them, but that's a longer explanation and the conversation has clearly continued.

Particularly about body parts. Clearly Ardyn is not fool enough to offer too much for a potentially greedy fae, but you never know.

Like the hair, for instance. "I may think of several reasons that readily come to mind. Your hair contains your essence, be that magical or biological, and possessing such a thing will hold great power over you. One may influence another with such things combined with magicks - and the fae are nothing if not clever in their ways of magical utility. Using the essence of one, it is possible to create realistic facsimiles of the individual - clones, as it were. Though I am unsure if they have those facilities available to them in this world," he trails off, clearly giving it some thought.

Ah, but to continue. "By giving an intrinsic part of yourself, you hand over your whole wholly. There is a practice I am distantly familiar with - from another star - that may attach a lock of hair to a doll, and any motions or damage committed to the doll are reflected upon the donor."

His mouth thins, pressing his lips together in distaste.

"That includes physical control and manipulation."

[fatedfinality]

"I like to keep the mystery alive where I can, he counters, to Elidibus' offer. What he presumes also is sometimes far more entertaining than the reality. For example: He appreciates the clarification on the color of his robes, but it is a bit boring reasoning.

"I doubt anyone would want another me running around this place," he hums, almost thoughtfully and with no small amount of consideration at the possibility. "All the more reason I might allow them a lock or two." Anything others don't want, he's more inclined to do. That's certainly a running theme here it seems.

The other explanation though is just intriguing. "The doll would be an interesting bit of witchcraft though as well. I doubt they'd be able to do anything to me that would truly matter. If it even worked in the first place! I probably shouldn't find out and I probably won't, but I'm prepared to face whatever consequences if I do."

[zodiheart]

"My personal distaste falls along the loss of physical control," that distaste is quite present in his voice as he speaks. "Pain or physical injury is tolerable, but it is quite anathema for me to hand control of my body over to another that I do not trust."

Suffice to say, none of these fae are especially trustworthy. Why else would they search for deals? And furthermore, demand such an exacting price?

"Of course, you may think quite differently than myself. I detest being used as a tool by another." Says the former Ascian. But then, he had played all of his parts willingly from the very first, even the ones where he played the fool such as with Zenos.

"Still. For a lock of hair your ask should no doubt be steep indeed. They will no doubt attempt to give you less than is your worth."

[fatedfinality]

Perhaps he's just too desensitized to his own lack of autonomy in the grand scheme of things that letting someone else hold the reins wouldn't even be all that shocking. Sometimes, he feels like a passenger in his own body due to The Scourge intervening. That's been mitigated though slightly by this dragon in his head and he's not sure how to feel about that yet entirely.

"I don't like it, no, but I can't say it would be the first time." Nor is he confident it will be the last. "But it's also not the first time I've had to haggle with shady types. Quite literally, considering where we are! I'm sure I'll manage though I do appreciate the concern." Misplaced though it is.

[zodiheart]

A simple nod is what Elidibus gives Ardyn. His concern has been expressed, his advice given, and Ardyn remains a man who can and will make his own decisions. Far be it from Elidibus to attempt to coerce him one way or another. The man's had enough of that in his lifetime.

"How do you plan on finding a fae interested in your haggling? If you have not found any as of yet, you could risk going deeper, though, there appears to be less and less of a population for each level one descends."

[fatedfinality]

"That's part of the whole process, honestly," he says, overly confident as usual. "Building up a good rapport like a fun little lure. Then, you hook someone and reel them in. It can go both ways." He can be an interested, but naive patron- Or, he can be a knowledgeable man seasoned in the art of bargaining a Fae might take as a fun challenge.

"A good appeal can go a long way."

[zodiheart]

Elidibus looks considering, brows rising as he gives the argument the merit its' due. Well, not so much an argument, more of a statement of fact than anything else, but it was a sound strategy to use regardless.

"That is true, yes. Why allow yourself to be left to the mercy of one-sided deals when the both of you may gain from the transaction?" He smiles, then. Mutually beneficial arrangements are things he is quite familiar with, after all.

"Should I leave you to find your patron?"

&wrapping it here!!

[fatedfinality]

"That's probably wise," he admits. While he wouldn't mind Elidibus tagging along, adding another party might make negotiations a bit more complicated. It was easier when it was just him, historically, and would likely continue to be true as he found his so-called 'patron.'

"Though I do appreciate the company. Take care yourself out here." That's probably the closest to a 'well wish' from Ardyn that anyone would get, so Elidibus can take that brownie point if he wishes.