⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 138 - Day 152
Where: The Summerlands
What: The Ringmaster brings the carnival to the Summerlands immediately after being freed from Portland so that everyone can take a fucking nap. Her included.
Warnings: Individually marked! Most likely discussion of torture and trauma in here.

DAYS OF SUMMER↴ You made it! And things are back to normal... more or less. Upon waking, you will be greeted with a clear blue sky and gentle breeze – the carnival has found itself situated between a pair of mountain peaks, with great fields of flowers extending in the distance. In the other direction, you’ll see mountain-top cities and tall waterfalls accenting vast swaths of forest. Some of you will already know this place. It’s the Summerlands. You game here once to rest in safety nearly a year ago, and now you’ve come to rest once again. ► WAKING UP: Shortly after the carnival arrives, the Ringmaster will send out a somewhat cryptic radio message - but her immediate location won't be clear. Whatever items you had on your person at the time the Severing was broken will still be on your person, including whatever clothing. All of the animals and pets of the carnival will have returned to the grounds as well, though they are currently free from their designated living spaces. Things in the carnival will appeared to have naturally aged a month, as if the carnival was been sitting here empty and waiting while everyone was in Portland. The lawn needs mowing. ► SUMMER CITY: After the Summer Fae become aware of everyone's presence, they will welcome you into their city. There are stairs that lead up the sides of the mountains, but thankfully there are also magical means of getting up there as well. The Summer Fae will be willing to help workers with the injured as needed, offering herbal remedies and healing magic to those that want it. You'll also be invited to join them for dinner, but they will not be particularly offended if they are turned down, for now. ► SUMMER PEOPLE: The fae here will mostly enjoy the company of any carnival members that offer it - it doesn't seem that much happens here besides day after day of peaceful meditation and relaxation. It is not uncommon to see Summer Fae spent days doing exactly the same thing, whether that be enjoying the weather, listening to music, or dancing - the day and night periods may be similar to earth, but when you don't need rest it can all blur together just the same. Some of the fae work on feats of agriculture or craftsmanship, and while there is no particularly need to work in this place, they take pride in the fact that they do. ► NEW ARRIVALS: Though the Ringmaster will not be offering much guidance for the first week or so, eventually the carnival will begin running for a few small performance sessions, off and on, as a thank you to their fae hosts. The carnival will also be open to receiving new arrivals during that period, and so there will likely be some newbies to train and get orientated as well.

Comments

[kingsroads]

The entertaining spell in question consisted of a magical replica of a fancy goldfish held together by sand, lake water, and magic. It 'swam' through the air, lazily swimming around Strange, weaving through his outstretched arms, before the magic fish vanished back in the lake.

And oh. He has a visitor. As he hears Susan clap, Strange turns to look for the source, downright confused for a moment, before he spots Susan and visibly relaxes. Really, he enjoys Susan's company and any sort of conversation with the kid is going to end up with both of them having a grant time.

"Thank you!" Strange responds, with a small little bow of his head and a wide smile of his own. "I do take requests if there's anything in particular you'd like to see me do."

[wild_magic]

"Hm..." He has to think about that one, not sure of what there even is to be completely honest. He knows his own magic, and his brother's, but past that he's never seen much magic cast that wasn't just small useful spells.

"I don't really know... What's the coolest looking one you can do?" Not that he even could answer that question himself if someone asked him, but still. He wants to see something amazing if he's allowed to make requests.

[kingsroads]

The coolest looking spell he can do...now that's interesting. Because Strange, despite being a show-off who spends too much time messing about with magic, he hasn't really thought about which of his magic would be the most impressive looking. Though, one spell does come to mind...

"Have I shown you my trick with mirrors yet? Of course, there aren't any mirrors out here, but I can do something similar with water."

Considering that Strange is a show-off who travels between mirrors whenever he gets the opportunity, it's entirely possible that Susan's seen that spell already. But considering that traveling between mirrors only works when one's inside, it's entirely possible that Susan hasn't seen the spell at all.

[wild_magic]

Susan takes a moment to think about that before shaking his head.

"I don't think I've seen it..." And even if he has, he honestly wouldn't mind seeing it again, if it's supposedly impressive. Maybe it would even be something he could try and do, or at least tell Lauren about (which is just as impressive in his opinion).

[kingsroads]

"Then the water trick it is!" He's explaining the spell as he casts the magic. It's a bit of an unfortunate habit picked up from the fact that he has to fill time somehow during his performance while he gets some things set up for the trick. Before he talks, Strange mutters a few words under his breath. A tendril of water rises up from the lake and splashes at Strange's feet, forming a medium-sized puddle.

"Like I said, this works best with mirrors. But it's hard enough to drag one mirror into a performance space as is, I wouldn't want to impose on anyone and have them bring in multiple mirrors." Another tendril of water rises from the lake and splashes two or so feet behind Susan, forming a puddle of the same size before retreating back into the lake. "So, I've made do."

There's a second or two while Strange mutters an incantation before he steps forward...and then just vanishes into the puddle. A few seconds later, he reappears from the puddle behind Susan. And if Susan's not looking in his direction, then Strange will lean in and quickly whisper "Boo!"

Because he's a goddamn adult and isn't above giving the kid a little jump.

[wild_magic]

Susan watches excitedly, unable to stay still as he waits impatiently to see the spell itself. Other than it being something to do with mirrors or water he doesn't even know what to expect, and that just makes the excitement worse as he thinks about what he could possibly be doing. He may just be making puddles at first but it's still just working up to the spell, he knows, and it's still cool on its own - he can't do things like make water move, it's not how his magic works at all, so it's still neat to watch. It's more like Lauren's magic, manipulating nature and stuff.

When Strange is done and takes a step forward, Susan watches with a wide grin - but then he disappears and his eyes widen as he leans forward to try and look into the puddle, assuming he must be in it or something. Maybe he can turn himself into water? That seems like the kind of thing you could do with magic -

Which means that when Strange pops out from the other puddle, Susan is definitely not looking in his direction, and he jumps with a start before whirling around to face him. After a moment though he laughs with a huge grin as he looks down into the second puddle.

"How did you do that?!"

[kingsroads]

Susan's mood is contagious. Stepping out of the puddle, Strange matches Susan's huge grin with one of his own. Because this? This look of amazement mixed with wonder is exactly the sort of feeling he gets whenever he sees impressive magic in the first place. Astonishment, excitement, and then a strong desire to learn how to copy it himself.

"Back in my world, there is a series of faerie roads behind the mirrors. Unfortunately, there aren't any of the roads behind the mirrors in the carnival, so I've helped modify the spell to travel from reflection to reflection. I prefer mirrors but puddles can do in a pinch--perhaps one day, if I figure out how, I could even use the rain itself as a doorway."

Strange takes a few steps towards Susan, so that he's not standing right next to a damn puddle anymore. And really, that tone of excitement in Susan's voice only firmly cements what Strange decides to do next. "I know that different worlds have different strains of magic--there was some magic in Portland that I couldn't even think of performing now. But if you wish, I'd be happy to teach you the spell I use to travel. Perhaps we could modify it in a way that would best fit your magic?"

He has no idea how English magic would mesh with Susan's magic, but there's no harm in at least giving it a try. Likewise, Strange knows that Lauren probably won't like that he's offering this. But who cares what Lauren thinks in the first place?

[wild_magic]

"The rain itself...?" He just says it in wonder after Strange mentions it; sure, teleportation magic or magic that lets you go to the other planes exists in his world, but this makes it sound so much cooler, so much more interesting than any of that other magic. The fact that Strange is an adult who's actually fun to talk to only adds to his interest in the subject.

Which means that when he gets to the offer, Susan's eyes light up and he eagerly nods.

"D'you really think we can?! That would be so cool, I hope we can make it work! And if we find a way to make the magics work together then you can teach me even more spells! Or maybe I could even teach you some!" This is way better than stupid wizard school. He doesn't know how Strange does his magic exactly, but he's sure it's more interesting, just because it's Strange doing it.

[kingsroads]

Already Strange is planning a course of study in his mind. Because his normal methods for trying to get someone to understand English magic (make 'em read a whole bunch of books) won't exactly work here: Susan's far too young to understand some of his texts. It's not a slight on the boy's intelligence, just a statement of fact with regards to England and Strange's reeeeally lengthy books.

"I do think we can," Strange admits, with a little nod. "I believe that anyone who wants to be a magician or learn English magic should have the opportunity to do so. And, considering that we're in a realm full of magic, what better place to learn than the carnival?"

So much of here was conducive to magical study and practice...and Strange loved it.

"I would like to learn some of your magic as well, by the way. If only so we can compare the two."

[wild_magic]

Reading a whole bunch of books is definitely not the way to get through to Susan, so it's a good thing it's not even a possibility; there's a reason Susan complains so much about the magic school he went to, and about the way wizards cast spells, and it all comes down to books. Why read a book when you can just do it instead?

His excitement only continues as Strange keeps talking, honestly excited to have the opportunity to learn from someone that isn't from his world, someone whose magic he might actually be able to do. He's not sure exactly how it works or anything, but he's still looking forward to it.

He nods when Strange mentions his own magic, slightly less enthused but still smiling.

"I'm not sure how much you can do of it, but I can try. I don't think most people where I'm from can do it my way... I guess it's too different, from the normal ways of doing magic." He shrugs a little, not really upset by it but it's obviously something that's caused a bit of trouble for him before.