The afternoon had turned to even and the sun was now beginning to set, the sky painted a beautiful picture of blues, oranges, and reds. Magnus was delighted by this sight and as much as he'd like to keep starring at the sky as he walked he knew he was much too big for him to get lost in the skies beauty as he did so. After all, he was as big as a wall and weighed damn near as much as one. It was because of this reason that regardless of how much Magnus wanted to keep staring at the sky, or even grab a paintbrush and canvas that he resigned himself from looking at the beauty of the ever-changing sky above him and decided that it would be best if he watched where he was going, his sensory magic wasn't strong and in fact, it was dang near non-existent without direct touch so for him it was best to look ahead instead of up. Although he was sure he was tall and wide enough for others to see him coming, the same didn't apply to him vs them if he wasn't paying attention. Not to mention the large white stallion of a horse that he had trotting by his side, reigns in hand. The last thing he wanted was to crash into a group of bystanders simply moving their cart or going about their day... Again. Thankfully it hadn't happened today as of yet, nor had his costume been ruined. He was grateful for this costume and often thought about wearing it again for next year's festivities. He was sure that he could get a lot of usage out of it if he simply took care of it.

As he walked Magnus glanced around the crowds of happy children, energetic teens, and adults who were either chaperons or participants in the festival. Occasionally, the passing merchant would catch his gaze selling all manners of goods, but most primarily had costume pieces or candy befitting the Spirit Festivals colorful and macabre theme. It brought a smile to Magnus's face to see all the joy that littered the area in abundance. A breeze of crisp fall air blew through ruffling his hair slightly and untucking it from the ornate crown that ordained his head. He brought a single gloved hand up to comb through his gray hair, as he did a small the silver hue of his hair brought back memories of his fathers own when he was younger, however, in this memory, his father at the time was more salt and pepper than a full stark gray, he remembered his dad telling him stories about festivals they had when he was younger, and places he had visited. His father's stories of his travels were always something that Magnus was in awe of and practically worshipped. It was only even more evident that he had taken after his fathers traveling spirit and yearning for excitement even more than he had initially realized. Magnus could barely count the number of festivals and gatherings he had been to himself, often using the knowledge he had from his father's tales to his advantage. Though some of the information proved to be a bit outdated over the years. The Spirit Festival was one of the only traditional ones that remained from Magnus's knowledge. Although this was his first time attending one, any other time it had happened he had either been away on the family business or too poor to travel to the event even he wanted to, depending on the time frame.

He yearned to show the event, costumes, candy and smiles to the small little girl that used to cling to his leg or ride atop his shoulders, shouting with enthusiasm at anything that took her interest. He could practically hear her voice in his head still and occasionally would turn to look at things he thought she would be interested in the most. Imagining how she'd describe it and yearn to participate in all the events that took place around them. He knew for sure that there were a few she would've enjoyed right off the back. One of them has been the Locked In event. She would've had the chance to explore, hide, and let her imagination run rampant in the halls of such a large house. The thought brought a smile to his face, and he wondered what she would've picked next. He listed the events off in his mind, knowing for sure which order to rate them appropriately. He figured the next best thing she'd enjoy was pumpkin carving. He heard the event was taking place and he could only hope that he wasn't too late to join one. Though he was sure with the number of benefactors, stalls, and sponsors who had come to assist with the event that there would be numerous locations hosting the same event as to circumvent overcrowding. At least they would if they were smart and resourceful and the last event he had gone to had already proven that enough for him as is. All he had to do was find the area and possibly wait a bit. Even though there was no guarantee the event was still going, after all, someone could've easily had scheduled all the pumpkin carving events to happen at the same time, but he felt that would deprive too many out of an opportunity and simply would be a bad idea.

He made his way to a gated area, the wooden fence looked hastily built, but sturdy and was made out of simple 2 inches width planks as it outstretched across a large field that was littered with greens and oranges, from the pumpkins that grew from the soil with ease. If Magnus had to guess, he was sure this was due to the help of a plant mage of some sort. In front of the gate rested a small stall, and atop of it, read "pumpkin carving", underneath the stall two average-built people stood in the framed wooden stall with smiles on their faces a young adult woman with long curly black hair, and brown eyes who looked to be in charge, and a young enthusiastic teen boy with red hair and emerald green eyes who took her orders quickly and without question. Magnus walked toward the stall and in doing so seemed to draw attention to his self due to his large stature. Not to mention the fact that his noble steed for the remainder of the day trotting beside him, contempt with being able to rest most of the day while Magnus played games, and the added benefit of his weight not being pressed atop him. No, as far as the horse was concerned the more Magnus walked around this festival the better, and seeing the chipper mood the horse seemed to be in, he figured that it much preferred to walk alongside him rather than the have to hoist him around.

Magnus's eyes glanced over the stalls as he walked, and past a couple of children that would begin to gather before their parents would quickly move them back or get in front of them to block them off for their own perceived safety. Magnus would look down slightly as he made his way to the stall, having a now clear path made for him due to the nervous onlookers. The stall workers looked up at him with a bit of awe, but the woman quickly switched into work mode. She was polite and modest, she quickly told him the rules as he asked to participate, and handed him a signup sheet which he quickly signed, while leaving a small monetary contribution in the events donation jar that read "tips". He tied his horse reigns to the wooden fence and asked the stall workers if it was possible to leave the horse there. They obliged and in turn, he dug into his coin purse and pulled out a bit more money to pay them for their assistance and contribution.

The rules were simple he was only able to grab 1 pumpkin, he could use any magic he liked to design it, he was not to destroy or damage the area in the process, have fun, and last but not least any other waste matter than pumpkins that was created was to be cleaned up by the participant, a rule he was sure most nobles would gawk at, but not one that bothered him in the slightest. The rules were simple enough and Magnus found himself excited at the prospect of pumpkin carving. He was sure the event was something his daughter would enjoy, so now it just came time to figure out how he wanted to carve the pumpkin. What he wanted to do exactly, and as he thought about it, he realized that he was jumping ahead too many steps. The first step was also the first rule, the find a great canvas; to pick a pumpkin.

Magnus began to look around the impromptu pumpkin patch for the largest pumpkin he could find, after all, a big canvas was easier to work with considering his size and large hands. It meant that he could more easily carve the pumpkin without having to strain himself. So he looked, using the soil conditions as an indicator of where the best pumpkin was. For he knew that the dryer the soil, the more likely it was that the pumpkins in the area were taking more nutrients, and in turn that meant that the pumpkin itself grew larger, sturdier, and had more luster to it. As he searched he eventually stumbled upon a rather large pumpkin. One that was as orange as soothing sunset, its green leaves looked almost like emeralds, he enjoyed the color but quickly found that most of the other pumpkins also had such similar quality, this one however was just the exception of being on the bigger side of the spectrum of sizes compared to the other various pumpkins in the patch. There were small wagons one could use to transport their pumpkins and due to all the dirt and grim around them he was grateful for it as he didn't want any to get on his costume. He took the large pumpkin that was to his liking and placed it inside the red wagon. Hooking his index finger into the handle and letting his arm hang at it his side. After all, that was the only way he could carry it. If he were to lift it even a little the wagon would only be on two wheels instead of 4 due to it being made for people much smaller than him, and even now he was slightly crouched just to keep that from happening. With his awkward tug of the wagon, he began to move out of the pumpkin patch.

Magnus wanted his pumpkin to stand out, and besides being big he felt carving it just wouldn't be enough. So it was on to the next step, Magnus walked out of the patch, in which he was then directed by the stall workers to head the end of the fence where two more workers stood alongside an enclosed square area with one entrance. Upon entering he was directed to a lone wooden table, and atop it set numerous shop objects for carving the pumpkin alongside some dull child-safe ones. Of course in order to approach the tables altogether, one had to either be an adult or accompanied by one. Making his way to the wooden tables, he took his pumpkin out of his wagon and placed it in the center of the table. With his index finger and thumb outstretched he moved them further away from his face, lining them up with the pumpkin to take a measure of its size and shape. This was now his canvas, he had a thousand budding ideas of what to do with this pumpkin and for him, this was no different than working in the art studio. However, as the sky darkened above him, he knew it would become night soon. He knew if he wanted to participate in everything before the night was over he'd have to do this sooner rather than later, which meant coming to a decision all the more pressing matter. In moments like this, he liked to start organizing his idea by similarities, and patterns. He decided on a few patterns, and next came to the decision of color. After that, it was all about what technique to use. Magnus took a large serrated blade, with a wooden handle that rest on the table. In his right hand, he began to cut the top of the pumpkin off, just below the stim and only a few inches away from it in a perfect circle. Removing the top he grabbed the small dirt shovel to scoop out the innards, having no doubt that, it was there for that specific reason to keep some of the more clothing-conscious people from making a mess of things. He placed the innards into a glass jar that was sat at the end of the table that had a sign on it that read "scraps". After taking the innards out and being sure that there wasn't a single seed or amount of pumpkin "meat" left within the giant vegetable, Magnus began to carve in his design, some dramatic lines that were small, a few dots here in there in a few patterns, before he decided to add them to the crossing lines as well, and then the main attraction of the piece being multiple flowers carved within the side of the pumpkin with one of the smaller blades that he also used to add texture to the flowers.

Magnus took out his paintbrushes from his magical paintbrush set, the tip of the paintbrush became blue with just the focus of a little bit of mana without waiting and a flourish of brush strokes Magnus painted the pumpkin with event coats of blue. Letting them dry before painting onto the pumpkin once more with another coating of blue. After he finished, he let it dry for a bit, as he worked he eventually realized more and more people had gathered around him, some of the children whose parents grew more comfortable with the gentle giant even let him paint the pumpkins of some of their children's with their expressed permission of course. A bit of hearty laughter and cheer could be heard musing from the amazing crowd as one of the workers came over to soon begin the judging of the contest. Magnus felt his pumpkin's painted coat had now dried enough for him to add the final piece to the pumpkin. In the center of the pumpkin in a small circular groove that he had created, he placed a single wax candle. Taking a piece of flint, a stick with a piece of woodchip and hay bundled together on the end he lit the fire on the end of the stick with the flint. It burst into a small flame, and he gently tucked it into the pumpkin placing it on the candlewick. He placed the top of the pumpkin back atop it, and with that, he was done. He watched as besides the one ember of red in the center depending on where one looked at that the pumpkin gave off a purple glue due to the reds and oranges of the fire mixing with the blue shading of the pumpkin from where the light was allowed to leak out in his designs.



With a smile, Magnus waited for his pumpkin to be appraised in what was the supposed contest that was happening. Taking note of the other pumpkins around him, it was clear that Magnus was the only artist amongst them, however, the joy on everyone's faces is what he enjoyed more than the skill that went into the pumpkins, the budding imagination and ideas that he saw from most of the pumpkins made him want to spend the rest of the night helping others with theirs, however, he was on a time clock now and the night wasn't getting any younger. Eventually, the workers made their way to Magnus and with a bit of deliberation, Magnus was crowned the winner of the pumpkin carving contest for this interaction. Gaining his rewards and thanking them for their time, his pumpkin was offered a place on one of the winner's mantles which he obliged before grabbing his horse and heading to the next event.



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