In this world, Magic is Everything. All people, all races, are granted with the power to perform mystical and magical feats via grimories, mystical tomes granted to each and every child on their 15th birthday. Those blessed by the mana can have their names written down in legend.
Shattered Grimoires is the work of the mind(s) of Ardere & Shattered Grimoire's staff. All characters and content are copyright their creators, and may not be replicated without their creators' permission. Black Clover is owned by Yuki Tabata and published by Viz Shonen Jump. All images belong to their original owners. The theme you are currently viewing was made by Eliza of ElizaCodes exclusively for Shattered Grimoires.
Ozma moved thru the spirit festival with his spirit partner Iris on his shoulder, after the speech given by the captain of the green mantis knights the crowd had started to disperse and go about the events that were littered around the area as for the paint mage himself.”Ozma come on lets do something im rather bored” she complained thru the link as the mute noble sighed as he glanced around for something for them to do and then he caught sight of something that peaked his interest while it also caught Irises eye as well. It was a spot for carving pumpkins and it seemed any who were intrested in such a thing were told to be as creative as possible which made the crimson lion smirk a bit as he glanced at the colorful spirit on his shoulder.”how about it Iris shall we show them how pretty a pumpkin can be?” he asked thru the link as his partner nodded back.”Lets do it with your skills you got this in the bag” she encouraged as the noble stepped over to the station and a man smiled at him “intrested in carving a pumpkin sir we got all the tools needed and plenty of good sized pumpkins” he asked as Ozma nodded with a small smile.
Moving over to a spot the paint mage took a seat as he grabbed a pumpkin and the tools he would need before he mused for a few moments,'hmm a dragon..no to tough for this perhaps a nue.. wait I got a good one' he thought to himself before he grabbed a knife and instead of cutting the top and gutting it first the mage started to skin the front of the pumpkin taking off the shiny orange skin and revealing the flesh underneath it but not losing any of the meat of the pumpkin.”Oni are Symbol of evil a perfect specimen for this time of year” he told Iris thru the link as he started to carve the lines into the top of the pumpkin to mark the wrinkles in the onis face and his features were set in a determined look on his face the rest of the world falling away as the artist focused solely on his canvas and nothing else, even Iris fell quiet as she saw her partner work with a fervor she had only seen a handful of times and her colors seemed to become more vibrant as she was pleased at how dedicated her partner was the art that he made.”dont forget the fangs Ozma I recall Oni had a good number of them jutting out of their mouth” she observed thru the link as the male nodded having moved down as was working on eyebrows and eyes of the Oni on the orange fruit before him. He was trying to combine real and scary in one go which was a tough thing to pull off but it was becoming more and more easy as he focused on the task before him.
Mania had been walking for sometime now as he sifted through the crowd of costumed people. He himself was still sporting his kitsune mask and as he looked around he saw a man asking participants of the festival to join in on carving some pumpkins. Until now Mania had done little more than enjoy some of the festive food offered so he decided to approach the man who turned to him with a big smile.
"Step right on up sir, we got everything you could possibly need to make only the best pumpkins you could think of!"
"Sounds like fun!"
Mania would say as he took a sit. There were plenty of free tables available, but Mania would sit a table away from the black and white-haired man who sat silently with a spirit over his shoulder. It was the rogue's first time seeing a spirit up close or even at all and he couldn't help but steal glances at her. She was tiny with long, rainbow-colored hair and beautiful butterfly-like wings. He wondered about how he came to meet such a spirit, from what he could tell she was a lesser spirit though still very much impressive. As he would steal glances at the pair, Mania would grab the fairly sized carving knife and get to work on his pumpkin. This was Mania's first attempt at carving a pumpkin and he was still at a loss for what type of look he'd try his hand at.
Though he wasn't skilled, Mania would try to make his pumpkin spooky, but almost sad. A combination he thought would work well together, but he found himself having difficulty get his design the way he imagined in his mind. Mania was by no means a skilled artisan, but he had seen plenty of rare works and often sketched sometimes, though his renditions were pedestrian at best. The bustling passersby and the sound of the festival would drown out Mania's thoughts as he would look to his side again, taking note of well the man to his side carved his pumpkin. "You have a steady hand there and a pretty lady by your side." Mania would say as he turned to position himself facing the man. Mania smiled, only his mouth visible from beneath the decorative kitsune mask. He would display his work in progress by holding the pumpkin up for the man and spirit to see his work.
"Can't say mines is coming along too well."
Maina would say, half laughing as he buried the carving knife into the pumpkin. Attempting to fix the spooky smiling frown he tried to carve. Mania didn't usually attempt to make such nonsensical small talk, but with the mask covering his face he felt a bit more open and free to interact with others. It was a night for fun after all, so Mania thought why not indulge in some interactions while he was out during such a fabulous festival. It was after all Mania's first festival ever, in Spade Kingdom he hadn't experienced anything as the sort.
With the zombie hunt over and done, or at least this particular run of the zombie hunt being over and done, Griswold had returned to the festival terrain in order to look for something else that seemed interesting. Before he had more or less stumbled into the hunt by accident, he had already seen that there was a place where people could try their hand at some pumpkin carving. Truth be told, it was not something he knew for sure he’d be good at, though he knew he was at least good with a dagger. His dagger, which had aptly been called the “Skinner” was a blade he primarily used for the sake of skinning and gutting animals he had captured and killed when out in the field. Even though he would prefer not to have to kill animals to sustain himself, there were those times where he simply had no other choice.
The times spent far from the modern world where he only had his bedroll, his weapons, the clothing on his body and a duffle-bag which by that point probably no longer contained anymore food, just a flask of water. Thanks to his cosmic magic, it was not that had to conjure up some solar flames and light a fire, and finding water was often not that hard either, though finding edible things in nature such as nuts, berries, roots, vegetables, mushrooms or fruit was at times difficult. But the one constant in this world was that there were often deer, hare or rabbits around, which were easy to kill in a fairly humane manner, often by beheading them in one blow. While brutal, it ensured that they at the very least felt no pain when they died. It was likely one of the many reasons why he had been given the title of Solarian Wolf, seeing as he was quite a decent hunter.
That said, he could not imagine any kind of mage being bad at hunting, as killing an animal when one had access to something like magic was easy. The gutting and skinning part however had been a learning experience, as taking the guts out properly and cutting as close to the skin as possible without losing any meat or ruining the pelt had taken some time. But after all of these years spent in the great outdoors, he could honestly say that he had mastered it by now, and could probably make a fair amount of money just by selling pelts like the hunters in the forsaken and common regions did. But as that had never really been his cup of tea, nor could he really consider it becoming as much, being a knight would have to suffice. So regardless of the background of how he had obtained his skills, the time had come for him to see whether his hands and dagger would actually be able to create what he could picture in his mind.
Walking past a bunch of people he did not know, he just nodded as he entered into the area, he heard how one of the people there brought up that they had everything one might need to make a piece of art for themselves. Figuring it was all a bit of a self-serve, he took one of the pumpkins and walked towards a table. When the man tried to stop him as he hadn’t taken a knife, Griswold just pointed to the dagger hanging from his waist. Taking it out of the scabbard and placing it on the table, the man just raised his brow, shrugged and wandered towards the next person who wanted to have a try. It was clear that he did not think much of it, as someone without the proper tools was likely not going to amount to much. But that was fine, Griswold hadn’t come here today to show what he could do to other people, he had come to see what he could do for himself, simple as that.
So before he put his steel against the pumpkin, he thought long and heard about something he knew he could make, which was actually not something to come up with easily. He thought about making a dragon, even though he had never seen one and might not get all of the details right. He thought about making a starry sky, though that seemed like it would be too easy. Pondering for a good couple of minutes, he finally settled on something that shouldn’t be all that hard for him, as it was a creature he had encountered incredibly often, had been compared to on several occasions and actually had a depiction of on the pommel of his dagger. Having both his mental recollections and the image of his weapon to work with, Griswold settled on making a wolf-shaped carving into the pumpkin while hoping he would at least be somewhat unique in his attempt. And with that, he made the first incision.
Enter from blackclover-shatteredgrimoires.com/thread/3981/spirit-festival?page=1&scrollTo=20110 Connor was perusing the available stalls, one of which being a fashion contest did not excite him. The cryer was doing his best to draw attention towards the pumpkin carving contest, the feeble attempt maligned Connor’s thoughts and cast his gaze askew. He had only ever really handled a knife to rob somebody, or to peel and core an apple, never to actually carve a pumpkin. His only guess would be to apply a certain amount of finesse, allow the shape to take form; something simple and easy never went badly. Connor hoisted a pumpkin, it was lighter than he imagined, the size misleading him to believe it would be heavier. With his idle hand he carefully selected a carving knife and went to work.
Scooping out the insides was an arduous process, nicking himself plenty of times, Connor opted to make the flesh malleable and stretch what a pumpkin could become. Rifling through the props, he managed to successfully locate an unattended cauldron. Smirking with satisfaction, Connor filled the cauldron with the refuse and scraps from others’ carvings. Heaping the mountain of pumpkin innards into the iron cast pot, he struck a match and kindled the flame beneath it. In an attempt to make a pumpkin soup for the other festival goers, he pilfered and outright stole spices and herbs from nearby stalls. Some peppercorn for bite, something green; which they called basil, Connor was not a hermetic expert but the ingredients he used were fresh, the appetising smell lingered momentarily before he put the lid back on the cauldron. Heaping a colossal ton of the pumpkin’s outsides from the other pumpkin carver’s, he had enough rind to cover the outside of the cauldron, providing a buffer between the hot iron and the festivities. He heaped the rest of the insides and unused pumpkins into the cauldron, which now resembled a comically sized pumpkin itself.
The soup was ready, it was pourable, served with cream and had an appetising orange colour that pleased Connor immensely. His giant pumpkin cauldron of soup was probably Connor’s best idea at the time, he stood beside it proudly with a ladle and etched a spooky face into the side of it. Charring the edges of the marks he had made to give it a superficial horror theme feel was the proverbial cherry on top. The fire lit underneath the cauldron gave off a warm, bright glow as it radiated outwards from the centre of the pumpkin he had fashioned. He had scalded the tip of his tongue when he himself had tried the soup, it needed salt but figured everyone would probably bring their own any how. He left the pumpkin soup unattended and stood back to witness his creation, being pleased with his efforts he pragmatically shifted from being attentive to barely lucid in a mere few moments after recognition, and proceeded to amble through the festivities.
Mania was still hard at work creating his proverbial masterpiece. The rogue had gotten the aesthetic he desired in the spooky pumpkins expression. Now he had adorned it with a makeshift headdress made of sticks bound together. It splintered into a thorned crown. Mania was satisfied with his creation, but still he thought he could better improve the design, but what was missing? The young rogue would rhythmically tap his foot, lost in deep contemplation. What was the design that was ever so elusive? Mania would close his eyes beneath the decorative kitsune mask and sink into the darkness of his mind. He was really trying to home and zone in on his artistic sense - really bring out the beauty of his work.
Mania didn't know why he felt so compelled to apply effort for this little pumpkin carving event. Be it boredom or an artist high, he was enjoying himself. The atmosphere was just right and despite the plethora of festival attendees ambling about, Mania didn't feel as if he was suffocating. Usually so many people would make the rogue feel nervous, but tonight was different. For a few long moments Mania would stare at the ghoulish pumpkin king. That was the pieces name Mania had came up with while trying to think of ways to spice up his design. Lighting in a bottle - the thought struck Mania as if he was a rod atop a mountain. Perhaps that was exaggeration, though the young rogue thought his pumpkin aptly named. If only because it truly resembled a "ghoulish pumpkin king"
Taking a moment Mania would again observe some of the other people carving pumpkins, just as more would leave their finish work to explore the festival. One of the men stood out to Mania, he was a mysterious looking fellow with orange eyes and well trimmed build. Mania couldn't put his finger on it, but he looked to be a man who had walked the land, seen plenty of life. He didn't even appear old, it was just something deep down told Mania he was a person of significant character, perhaps unlike Mania who was whimsical and irreverent in nature. Making sure not to blatantly stare at the man, Mania would redirect his focus to his pumpkin design. "hmm... What are you missing my friend?" Mania would speak low, but loud enough for those within close earshot to hear. He couldn't quite figure it out, even after pondering it for a few minutes. There was still so much more of the festival to experience so Mania would not want to linger for much longer.
Reluctantly Mania would decide to simply stick some different color fall leaves on his pumpkin to make a collar. It was the last and final thing Mania would add before he lit the candle that would light and illuminate his pumpkin - really bring it to life. He would sit his piece amongst to others and admire it for a long moment. "Think I did well, if I say so myself. Looks spooky enough!" Musing to himself the rogue would steal a few more glances at his creation before departing into the sea of people. It was fun enough while it lasted, so with his artistic hunger now well fed Mania would meld with the crowd, wondering if anybody else would like his submission? Foolish, errant thoughts, but nonetheless he couldn't help but have them as he walked. Maybe the rogue had wasted his time? The self-satisfaction would be enough him, he smiled and looked up at the nights sky. Behind the happy, festive ambiance of the festival it felt as if Mania was melding everything around him. All the sounds and sights, bleeding into one another until only one remained.
"What should I do next? Though all that pumpkin carving rekindled my hunger..."
Would he grab something to eat or partake more of the festivities? He was leaning more towards a quick snack, but if something caught the young rouges he would be sure to stop and check it out first.
As he looked around, there was one thing that stood out in the fact that it did not stand out at all, namely the fact that the people who came here seemed to be really into their own creations and had seemingly no time to go about having conversations and the like. But that was fine, as Griswold had not exactly been throwing his words around either. While he always kept his eyes on his surroundings, at least in the broader sense of “keeping his wits about him”, he went all in on the carving. Ever since he made the first few strokes with his dagger, he felt that maybe it was a bit bigger than the knives people around him used to create their works of art, though he was confident enough in his own ability to know that he would make this work. And so he kept going at it for next couple of minutes.
At first, even he was having a tough time telling what exactly he had made, seeing as he had just been cutting some chunks and bits out before scrapping out the remnants to create a somewhat flat surface. Doing his best to think the “wall” of the pumpkin, he created a section that would allow light to breach to some extent, this being the effect he was aiming for as a means of establishing a background. In a way, he imagined that this was what painting was like, as there was more to it than just cutting out eyes, a nose and a scary mouth and being done with it. Sure, he could have gone with the generic carved pumpkin, though that would have hardly been a test of his skills with the carving tool. With the general outline of his work being done, he started carving out some of the most difficult portions, which were those of two wolves standing on a perch.
Wanting to create the image of the wolves looking down on the forest from an elevated position, he also made sure to carve out some branches on the left side of the “canvas”. While it was too difficult for him to actually make any leaves and the like, Griswold imagined the branches themselves would do the trick just fine. In comparison to the branches, the perch they would stand on was not really all that challenging, though he had to make sure not to carve too much away to the point where it would look like the wolves were floating, as that would ruin the entire thing. Outright refusing to start over, his mind began hyperfocusing on the nitpicky work that came into being when he began working on the wolves. Aiming to work out how one would somewhat stand in front of the other, several more minutes went by before he leaned back in his seat to have a look at his finished work.
With a few scrapes here and there to fix the lighting, Griswold was rather content with his work. Carving his name into the bottom, there was really nothing left to do here. Cleaning his dagger with his cloak to get the chunky bits and pumpkin fluid off of it, he put it back into the scabbard on his waist before picking up his finished work. Taking it to the table where the finished products were being kept and would likely be graded soon by a local jury, Griswold noticed how two of the other contestants were heading back to the festival grounds after turning in their own work. Being new to these kinds of social situations and contests, the black swordsman just decided to follow suit and do as the others did when they were done. Nodding at the person who initially handed him his pumpkin, he followed the other two back towards the main festival grounds in order to look for something else to do. He hoped that by the time the pumpkins were being judged, they’d let it be known who won a prize.
Post by Ozma Yuiee on Oct 20, 2021 18:40:04 GMT -5
Ozma blinked when he heard a voice call out and mentioned that he had a steady hand and a pretty lady at his side and the mute mage turned before looking at the one who spoke before nodded with Iris doing the same before they went back to their work, they had finished with the upper part of the onis face before starting to carve the eyes the paint mage was meticulous as he used the knife to sculpt them carefully before using a small twisted straight piece of metal and spun it into the center of the eyeballs to make the pupils before moving onto the next part of the face the cheeks and mouth and Ozmas features became more focused as he used the knife creating defined cheeks and then carved the mouth making very detailed teeth and fangs that curved upwards and some that curved downwards. “not bad Ozma thats a pretty terrifying visage”Iris commented as her partner would chuckle silently as he worked on his carving.
It seemed that multiple others had been starting on things as well though the spirit mage didnt bother when any of them as they were not focused on him either. Finishing up with his details Ozma picked up his pumpkin before talking it over to a table and putting a plaque with his name on it before it.”dang son that is a rather terrifying face you carved and the detail is so intricate ill be rooting for you” the helper at the station said as the paint mage nodded and bowed a bit as he and the colorful spirit departed to see what else they could do to entertain themselves at this festival, so far the man had been able to use his artistic skill which was already putting him in a good mood so there was bound to be even more to see and do.
Circe spotted an area where people were carving pumpkins. It seemed the custom was straight forward here: carve and clean the pumpkin and display it as art with a candle inside. Many of the ideas showcased simple and complicated designs, but they all played with the ideas of shapes and shadows. This appealed to her, reminding her of the ways her mother told her stories with shadows against the walls of their woodsy home. The witch wanted to do a design and join in: it would be a fun way to relax after the confusion of the event she had just left. She had been locked in a home with little guidance and no magic. It felt better than ever to feel that magic flowing about her again.
Circe gathered her supplies of knives, scooping spoons and a medium sized pumpkin and proceeded to an empty wooden table. Circe made sure to grab a bucket as well to place the seeds and goop into, hoping it would be used to plant next years pumpkins or make a delightfully large pumpkin casserole or soup for the people to share. The witch sat at the table, drumming her fingers against the wood, thinking to herself about what design to choose. She could do a portrait of one of the crows that hung around her home since her childhood, a profile of his feathered regal head and beak. That might be too simple, and she knew she could do more. She could do a carving of her late mother, as a memorial to her beautiful mother and her amazing powers. That would be too complicated and she doubted she could really do her mother's likeness in a way that would bring honor. Circe considered the dungeon she had first gone through, the giant monstrous tree with its wailing and stomping over the land.
A smile slid on to her face: it would be perfect! An image drawn from real life which was so natural in its build that she could surely replicate that. Circe lived in the woods, isolated her whole life, and if she couldn't carve out a tree monster, then who could!? With seriousness, her golden eyes focused hard and the witch went to work. Circe carved off the top at a slight angle, to be sure the little stem hat would be able to go back on. She removed her gallant crow-feather cloak and then got to work scraping out the pulp and seeds from within. Because the size of the pumpkin wasn't so large, Circe was able to finish quickly and place the contents into the bucket upon the table.
Last came the trickiest part: carving her intricate design. Circe grabbed a knife and carefully lined out the shape of the massive tree creature, its woeful semblance of a face, its enormous legs with curling roots. Then she started to cut and carve out the pieces with slow cautious movements. A long hour stretched on by and the witch hardly noticed. Spindly branches stuck out from the body of the creature and a little lantern was left to glow in the gap where the entrance to the dungeon had been. When Circe was finished, she shook her hands and got up from the table to find a candle. Someone helped her put it into the pumpkin and light it. She and they stepped back and admired the vision. "What a weird design, but with excellent craftsmanship," Circe's helper had commented before moving away. The witch nodded her agreement and then placed her lit pumpkins with the other finished pieces.
No matter where he might wonder off to during Spirit Festival the place was just full of people and joy. Although he wasn't much of a people person he had to admit that he did enjoy seeing so much vitality and frivolity in the Forsaken Region. With how harsh the lives of the citizens all were too many days had to be spent working from sun up to sun down on whatever small patch of earth they might have been able to carve out for themselves or in whatever shop front they had managed to keep. Having even a few hours where people could forget all that and take a break from the constant hard work was nice to see. Besides, all studies on the human mind had made it clear to Franklin that copious amounts of stress without any outlet to relieve it could result in ulcers, strokes, and other medical conditions that could easily lead to death if untreated. The people out here could barely afford the Healing magic for less serious conditions let alone such debilitating ones. The mad mage had to applaud whoever had originally designed this whole event, it was a stroke of genius.
Having completed all activities that might risk staining his costume Stein could now partake in those whose risk factor for spillage fell beyond an acceptable measure. Which is exactly why he had made his way over to the pumpkin carving station where everyone was busy whittling away at their own canvas, carving knife in hand. Franklin had crunched the numbers for the odds of getting pumpkin guts on himself whether during the carving process or merely standing too close to someone else and statistically he knew it was an inevitability. Now though, he could do so without a concern of the repercussions. He had no magic that would help him clean his outfit off so whatever might occur from here on out he would simply have to deal with for the rest of the night.
Before the meticulous wizard went and retrieved his own pumpkin he decided to take in all the other works that were already out on display. Although some people had no doubt left with their pumpkin once done, others had opted to leave theirs for any to enjoy. For the truly competitive types there was even a small table set aside where judging would occur at the end of the Festival. It was there that Franklin spent the majority of his time, as he reviewed each piece of work critically. He found five most impressive of all the pumpkins that were currently on the table for judging. Three of which were done in the design of some sort of monster or another. A pumpkin king, some arboreal behemoth, and a well defined face with terrible fangs and teeth. All three definitely did a good job of putting the fright in the Spirit Festival. He doubted any of younger children would venture too close to any of these pumpkins without a family member to provide courage. The other two pumpkins that caught his eye carried different themes. The first was more of a food then a display, an intriguing take on the whole affair. Stein helped himself to a bit of the soup as he inspected the pumpkin. The other had some decently anatomically correct wolves howling at the moon. Had Franklin been more in tune with his emotions he might have remarked on how majestic they looked. Instead he found himself trying to take measurements and work based off scale the size of the wolves would be if they were life sized.
Having now taken measure of his competition it was only fair that Franklin procure a pumpkin for himself and get to work on his own design. He would need to create something suitably impressive if he was going to have any hope to place even within the top three let alone win the whole thing. Frankie never did anything in half measure. If he was going to participate then he was going to do what he could to win the thing. He wasn't about to face the same fiasco as the fancy dress competition and have his award be robbed before his very eyes. Given what he had seen on display he knew he needed a design that was not only visually pleasing to the eye, but would also fit the theme of the Spirit Festival. Something that perhaps played with horror and the idea of the veil being thin around them. "Eureka!" He shouted to himself as he removed a scalpel from the folds of his costume. With surgical precision he maneuvered around the pumpkin, carving out small sections and slicing intricate shapes. Every now and again he would retrieve a candle and place it within the pumpkin to see how the light played against the current shapes before removing the candle and going back to work.
After a time he eventually stood back and took his art fully in. It was a masterpiece! What was more beautiful and horrifying then the human mind after all?! Only with the human mind could we interact and touch the infinity that was the possibilities with magic. Only during the Spirit Festival and that mind could we begin to recognize the veil which surrounded us at all times normally. It was both a simple and complex idea that he felt would move any self respecting judge! He couldn't see why anyone would look upon his pumpkin and not immediately connect those dots. So with casual pride he marched the pumpkin over to the judging table and gently placed it alongside the others for review. He took a step back to really take them all in side by side and was pleased that at the very least he would be giving the others a serious run for their money. Of course it was at that moment that he looked down at himself and realized that a glob of pumpkin ichors had attached itself to the front of his outfit. It must have fallen and attached itself while he had been absorbed in his carving and he never noticed. "Ah, crud!" He exclaimed to himself as he wiped it off and was simply left with an orangey wet stain where it had once been. Statistics never lie.
Having completed his pumpkin and having already obtained the inevitable stain Frankie couldn't help, but think now was a good time to go to another activity. Wouldn't be much longer now before the Spirit Festival ended, but if he was really lucky he might be able to join in on one last activity or another. The mansion had peeked his curiosity some time ago and he made his way in that direction curious as to what secrets may lie in the very inappropriate building for the area.
