lostcarnival | ⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4

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⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4

Who: Anyone, anywhere in Portland.
When: October 22nd - 31st, 2017
Where: In Portland, for the last time.
What: The seasons change as the Winter Court seizes a surprise victory, claiming both the Tree of Life's pendant and the blood catalyst needed to take control of the Severing Ritual. Meanwhile, interdimensional problems are about to get more weird. Check out the conflict results for the attack on the Circle as well as the Beast's attack on the Summer Court here.
Warnings: Individually marked!

DAYS OF WINTER↴

As the end of October nears, so does the grasp of winter. On the night of the 22nd, it will freeze overnight, and the temperature will drop for the following days. As the night grow long, world-wide magic slowly reaches it apex, set to reach it on the night of Halloween. With so many factors at play, knowing what to do with that moment of power may be a challenge.

► FULL CIRCLE: The Angels succeed in their planned attack on the Circle, managing to get to the living quarters of the Council members with the help of Ashleigh Mischief. The plan goes without much resistance from the mages or from the demons attempting to claim the ritual object for their own. Of course, when the fae make a surprise attack on the Angels after they flee the scene, it has the surprise result of the Winter Court ended up with the pendant in their talons. Threads for this attack can be done in this log. If you need mod direction at all, let us know, but otherwise feel free to NPC demons, angels, or random Circle members as you require.

► THE QUEEN'S GARDEN: Realizing that the Rose Queen is distracted with attempting to claim the pendant, the Beast will summon her co-conspirators to raid the Queen's gardens. The ultimate plan seems to be to get the Beast far enough into the gardens to kill the Queen, while also rescuing as many changelings as possible along the way. As it turns out, this doesn't go well. While they do manage to penetrate the gardens with Childermass's help, the Rose Queen, Ignatius, and Nightshade happen to all be there. Seriously outnumbered, even by the Beast's terms, it will take everything the group has to just make it out alive, sustaining heavy injuries as they go. In the end they will manage to rescue Greg universe and four additional changelings that were imprisoned there, but any damage done to the Summer Court itself will be negligible. Threads for this can also be played out here!

► REFLECTIONS: As the ritual draws closer, the line between this reality and the one you came from will also be becoming less clear. Regaining memories is not required, but it will naturally become easier to occur, especially if you're already started receiving them. It's a good time to start making connections, while you still have the chance.

► THE SEVERING: One way or another, the Severing is going to make an impact on both this world and the lives of those trapped inside of it. The Angels are going to be making an attempt to interrupt the Winter Court's ritual, as will the Summer Court and Anath's forces. Whoever comes up on top will be the ones to decide what to be done with it. Yet, with news that the Severing continuing could cause irreversible damage to the planet's spirit, it could feel like there are no perfect options. There will be an event header put up for this by the mods closer to the end of July.

(NOTE: canon powers will returning while the ritual is in progress, so keep that in mind for planning - both sets of powers will be active.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yuya doesn't voice that he's worried Strange might be dead, but it's hard not to be worried that Strange might be dead. All three of them going to voicemail trying to reach him, and it's been days...

He glances around as Rita starts to undo the ward. "I can open the window outside." He points ahead. "I dunno if he has that warded too, but if you can get rid of the magic I can get us in."

Lambert is so lucky he managed to find the two people in Portland who know how to break and enter.

These kids are probably around the same age as Miko, so it makes Lambert distinctly unhappy in a big-brother sort of way to think about what they could have learned how to do this kind of thing, but right now, it sure is coming in handy...

"Let's try the door first," he says firmly. "We don't want extra attention if we can help it." Which, someone trying to jimmy open an apartment window looks real suspicious. If only they could count on Strange having left a key on top of the doorframe or something...

Your show, Rita.

Still holding her palms out, Rita closes her eyes as she explores and analyzes the magic wards meant to keep them out. She's trying to focus, but she can hear what the others are saying.

"The wards cover the whole interior. They'll trigger no matter how we go in. Of course, that won't be a problem once I... hm?" There's a mixture of surprise and intrigue in her tone. "Never seen this type before... so he combined those techniques, and... huh. Pretty clever, for an idiot." She's talking to herself as she works at dispelling the wards, and eventually, undoing the lock. It probably sounds like she's enjoying herself, like she's solving a puzzle, piece by piece.

That continues for a few minutes, but then she falls silent for a bit... and stops.

Stepping back, Rita looks to the others with a smirk. "Go ahead. Try the door."

Yuya isn't following Rita's murmuring at all. He trusts her, though, and when she's confident that she's gotten the ward down Yuya jumps at the chance to try the door, turning the knob.

He pulls the door open slowly, peeking inside before he pushes it to give them the space to look inside as well. It's definitely untouched for the past dew days, but given the state he usually keeps it in that's hard to tell.

"This is his apartment...?" He sniffs and wrinkles his nose. What is that smell?

The smell is probably coming from the remnants of whatever Strange brought home to eat before he disappeared, or that open bottle of rancid milk on the counter. Or it could be from the abundance of poisonous plant material littered around the place. Generally, despite Childermass's attempts to tidy up, the place is in even shittier condition than the last time Lambert saw it, which was already worse than the time he saw it before that.

Mostly, it's a place where a sad, friendless man has had a year to fully embrace what a disaster, with a bonus side of cat hair on the cushions. It's actually all a bit sad. However, one thing is clear:

"He's not here." Lambert exhales, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall by the light switches he's flicked on. "Great. Now what?"

The smell is pretty offensive, but Rita's attention is immediately drawn to the various piles of books and magic tools. She skims over them, her eyes widening when she sees a particular title among the tomes. "Hey, I've been looking for this one!" It's been out of print for a while. If Strange really is dead, she's totally coming back to have a go at his collection.

In the end, Rita's not that surprised that Strange isn't here. But it is pretty inconvenient, and Lambert's question prompts a contemplative hum from her. "Hmm... good question. My plans for dealing with the Winter Court were largely hinging on his involvement, but it looks like I'll have to scrap that strategy..." Maybe that's safer, anyway. If relying on Strange goes this badly on a good day, doing it while her life depends on it probably would have been a disaster.

"He was going after the Winter Court?" Yuya perks up as he steps into the apartment. That's the first he's heard of Strange caring about anything except the Severing and Summer Court.

He absent flips through some of the notes left about with a frown. "He was helping the Summer Court try and get the pendant, but I didn't see him at all when we entered her garden... do you think he's in trouble?"

No, he's almost certainly in trouble, isn't he?

"He's helping us get Jo -- Childermass back," Lambert says, looking concerned as well, but more annoyed.

"The way I see it, there are two possibilities. First," he holds up a finger, "He's a lying weasel who sold us out to the Summer Court, in which case we can certainly expect they're going after the necklace and the Winter Court too. Second..."

Strange didn't seem like he could lie worth a shit. "Second, they've figured out he's not exactly a hundred per cent on their side anymore." The possibility isn't a great one. Last time, even with the Beast's cockeyed plan, they'd barely managed to slip out of the faerie realm to begin with. And they're all still suffering from that, as his own bandages and pained wince every time he moves too sharply indicates. If he is in trouble, nothing they do can help.

"Can you try looking for him with magic?" This, he addresses to Rita or Yuya. "Assuming you haven't done that already."

"Tough call, considering he's both a weasel and a blabbermouth," Rita comments, rolling her eyes. His suggestion does make her wonder, though... the terms of that little alliance of theirs was technically a betrayal of the Summer Court. Maybe they did turn on him. Not like he's all that subtle about how quick he is to change sides.

Considering Lambert's question, she says, "What, like a scrying spell? Those aren't really my specialty..." Her eyes wander to the books on Strange's coffee table. "... but they are his. Give me a few minutes and I'll put something together." She lifts one of the books and immediately starts flipping through it.

Lifting the book, however, sends a few loose notes fluttering. Should anyone bother looking at them, they'll find short hand-written reminders to send an unnamed changeling on various menial errands.

"His name is John Childermass?" Huh. Learn something new. But really, that just makes him more concerned--just what were the terms of his contact with the Summer Court, anyway? Did they find out what he told Yuya? That he didn't stop him on during the fight for the relic? His gaze drifts down as a bit of guilt knots in his stomach.

He sits down on the couch (it squeaks strangely) and moves to gather the papers as they start to flutter around. Rita was probably much better for the job of putting together a scrying spell, anyway. "I don't know any spells, but I can try to help... huh?"

He squints at one of the papers. "'Send changeling to pick up milk'... did he hire a house maid before?" He frowns. "He could at least use their name..."

"I don't know," Lambert says tightly. "He's introduced himself by a lot of names to different people, apparently." Though John and Childermass have been the most consistent, and it just ... feels right, clicking into place in a way that John Uskglass hadn't.

As Rita goes around to prepare for her spell, Lambert's going to take the opportunity to see if there's any hope of moving some of the trash into the overflowing bin ... but when he hears what Yuya says next, he slams the trashcan shut a bit too forcefully. Of all the ...

"That would require him to see them as human," he snaps. "He's had John bound to his service for a year now. Apparently he's been having him play housemaid and stalk his wife."

When Yuya reads the note aloud, Rita's expression turns sour in an instant. She understood what it meant... but when Lambert offers the context, it includes a few tidbits that she didn't know about.

"A year...!?" She looks up from the book, seething. Being a changeling herself, it's not hard to see why Rita might find this infuriating. She knew there was a connection between the two, but she thought it must have started when Strange sided with the Summer Court. He's been using a changeling like his personal servant for this long!? He did mention his proficiency in summoning and binding spells... "That dirtbag...! Remind me again, why are we bothering to look for him?"

She just found a scrying spell that looks usable, but now she's having second thoughts about making the effort.

Yuya's attention snaps up at that. He wasn't too familiar with the ins and outs of summon and binding, but... the way Lambert says it and the nature of the word.

It wasn't a willing thing, was it? "He what?"

Yuya remembers something Strange told him when he first admitted to aligning with the Rose Queen. She's hurting changelings, not people. At the time he didn't know... just how deeply cold that statement really was.

"Mr. Strange is forcing him?" Yuya scowls, his grip on the paper tightening as he looks at it again.

"You didn't know about that?" Well, he supposes it's obvious they wouldn't. Lambert only just found out about it himself, being that Childermass is a secretive shady bastard and Strange is a secretive crazy mage, so why would a couple of kids know about it.

Rita brings up a good question, though. Why are they bothering to look for the man?

"And we're looking for him because he somehow managed to grow a conscience in the last few days." Or more accurately, he managed to regain some of his memories. "He doesn't seem that good an actor, so either he really believes it, or he's gotten crazy enough to convince himself. Either way..." He exhales.

"He's still our best bet for figuring out how to get into the Winter Court. Or what we can expect when we get there." At least, assuming they're getting there on their own power.

Edited 2017-07-28 19:23 (UTC)

Looks like Yuya's only now starting to see what kind of jerk Strange is. Rita's tempted to say she told him so, but that's probably not necessary.

Lambert has a point... or two. Rita sighs, her shoulders sagging, then sets the book down. It's true... for some reason, his concern for Childermass did seem oddly genuine. And it would be nice if the alliance they made didn't turn out to be a complete waste of time. Without a word, she abruptly storms off into the kitchen, but soon returns with a bowl full of water. It sloshes around as she sets it on the coffee table, unconcerned about a little spilling.

"I can use this to try and find him," she explains, perhaps belatedly, then holds her hands over the water, closes her eyes, and begins an incantation. When Rita moves her hands away, the water swirls on its own, and as it grows still, it begins to display an image, something dark and cloudy.

It looks like, perhaps, the image was supposed to grow clearer, maybe even actually show Strange, but no matter how long they wait, it remains just that: dark and cloudy.

"No, I didn't." Yuya balls up the note and throws it back on the table. He better have grown a conscious, because that's just beyond what Yuya can tolerate from a friend.

He lets out a short breath before he turns to Rita as he attempts to scry for him. It doesn't mean anything if they don't find Strange, after all. He leans over, waiting for it to clear up.

"Uh, it's not doing anything." Obviously.

For better or worse, at least this is a result Lambert's seen before, or something like it.

"He's probably somewhere warded," is his guess, lips tightening. They'd gotten similar results, attempting to look for Childermass. There's an ashtray on the counter, and Lambert stiffly hobbles to it, leaning his hip against him for support while he fishes a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of the inside of his jacket.

"So, wherever he is, it's not going to be easy to get to him," he says, tapping out one into his palm and sticking it between his lips, though he doesn't start smoking just yet. "Any other ideas?"

Seeing the failed spell, Rita swipes a hand over the bowl, erasing the image and returning the water to its normal colorless form. She nods at Lambert's guess; that's basically right. "He either ran back to his friends in the Summer Court, or one of the two courts captured him." He's made enough enemies at this point that Rita doesn't sound the slightest bit surprised.

As for what to do now... "We're almost out of time. If we're going to stop the Winter Court, we'll just have to do it without his help." She folds her arms. What other resources do they have...? "Yuya, you've been talking to the angels, right? Don't they have a plan to get into that realm?" Seems like something they wouldn't overlook.

Yuya frowns. He's not sure why the Winter Court would want Strange, aside from maybe binding Childermass. But the Summer Court probably had a lot of reasons to capture him by now.

He nods to Rita. "Yeah. They have a plan to get in there and do the ritual themselves, so they want to stop the Winter Court from using John just as much as we do. But I don't think any of us would say no to more help."

Lambert cups the cigarette with a hand and lights it, entirely disregarding the fact that they're indoors, while he mulls it over. He isn't certain of the magician's terms with the fae, only that he'd been unbelievably proud of it. Part of him, horrifyingly, feels the instinct to insist they continue to make every effort to look for Strange, but practicality wins out.

"You think their plan's going to get him out alive?" He's quite serious when he asks that question. Right now, he'd sign up for just anyone who could guarantee that, even... "Because I know the demons are planning something too."

While she considers the question, Rita seats herself on Strange's couch and leans back, gazing up at the ceiling. "Well... angels aren't exactly known for killing needlessly, or leaving people to die. But if the demons and the Summer Court show up..." She trails off, but it's obvious enough that such a situation could end badly for Childermass.

"If one faction wants to take control of the ritual, killing another faction's catalyst wouldn't be out of the question." Her gaze wanders, lingering pointedly on Yuya for a few seconds (that's a warning, by the way) before she shifts in her seat and looks back to Lambert. "The good news, I guess, is that the Winter Court won't let him get hurt until they're ready for the ritual. All bets are off once it starts, though."

Yuya frowns right back at Rita. "That's not going to happen! They're not going to just kill someone innocent... I'll tell them to make sure Childermass makes it out alive. They'll listen to me."

Hey, being the catalyst has to allow for some small amount of favor asking, right? He sighs. No trust at all... but he trusts Rita and Lambert, so he can give them a little more detail on the angel's plan.

"The plan is just to disrupt the Count's ritual, clear the area, and the do it ourselves. They think that'll be best if we go for the Count, since he's the caster."

He looks between the both of rhem. "Even if it's just to save Childermass, you can come with us! Anyone on our side helps."

Yuya, does Lambert look like he's in any state to help anyone right now? Bruised up, ribs bandaged under his shirt, arm still aching from a run-in with one of Childermass's sisters almost two weeks ago...

Oh, why the fuck not. Not like he's got any other ideas. He exhales smoke, tipping his head back against the wall.

"All right. I'm in." But as for how he's going to be of any use ... hm, now there's a good question. "Guess you can count Tamaki in, too." Just don't mind him casually volunteering the poor ghost, nope ...

Rita stares down at the coffee table, contemplating.

"I don't like the angels' plan," she says firmly to begin with. "But, at least until we save Childermass and put the brakes on the fae's plans, I can work with them." It's her best bet if she wants to get in and make it far enough to disrupt the ritual.

There's a pause. "Who's Tamaki?"

Honestly, none of them are in shape for a fight... but Yuya understands willing to go through anything, in any shape, to save someone. And he'd rather they try with the angels than just the two of them by himself.

He looks up at Lambert, raising his brows. "Tamaki's helping too?" He did become suddenly more mobile... although Yuya doesn't know just how tangible it is.

Still, help is help. He smiles. "Don't worry, we'll definitely save him."

⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4

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