lostcarnival | ⇨ EVERYTHING STAYS [CLOSED NOW]

Who: The Summer Maiden, the Ringmaster, and possibly you!
When: Day 146 - Day 152
Where: The Summer Maiden's garden, in the Summerlands.
What: Just some gals being pals. The perfect opportunity to both snoop and hassle some fae.
Warnings: Nothing specific.

THE SUMMER MAIDEN↴

The Ringmaster is reborn without much fanfare. One day her egg is resting in the egg tent, and the next she's out and around the carnival, back to normal - or mostly, at least. She takes the same humanoid shape as she did before Portland ever happened, but now instead of appearing totally human, she's retained a set of curved horns, and longer, sharper nails.

She personally offers no explanation for it, without being asked. Otherwise, she does her very best to settling back into the old routine, acknowledging what they all just went through as little as possible. After the first few days of getting the carnival up and running again, she disappears off into the summer cities. People who were here for the last visit to the Summerlands probably have a pretty good idea of what she's doing.

They are few restrictions as to where you can go, in the mountain top cities. One particularly majestic mountain supposedly contains the home of the Summer Maiden herself - a plant filled temple that would be considered unassuming by fae standards. There are no guards blocking the entrance, or locked gates keeping you out. Once you find it, you are free to explore.

Free enough that you may stumble upon the sound of a familiar voice, and private discussions. Are you going to be polite, or are you going to listen in?

[OOC: Tag in with your character entering the temple and heaving the Ringmaster talking to someone, or the sound of an unfamiliar voice singing. Each of my replies will be a bit different. I'll do my best to keep up with as many threads as possible, but priority will go on a first come first serve basis, in the event I get overloaded.

Indicate whether you'd like to talk mostly to the Ringmaster or mostly to the Summer Maiden in your top level.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's only been in recent days that Rita's been willing to venture deeper in the cities of the Summerlands. She's suspicious of the fae, and while she's been given good reasons to relax and tolerate them, it's difficult to shake a first impression like the one she got in Portland.

Still, now that she knows they aren't hostile, the next step to understanding more about them is going out and meeting them and seeing their homeland, which leads to her wandering into places like this temple, taking in the unfamiliar views and looking to see what it is that people do around here.

She pauses when she hears a familiar voice. The Ringmaster? Rita stops moving, standing still in the shade of a flowering arch. She isn't going out of her way to hide herself, but she doesn't move to announce herself, either.

While Rita is standing there, she'll hear the edge of a few whispered words back and forth between two people, and then the sound of plants stirring as one of the figures seems to stand up. A loud yawn is soon to follow, as the Ringmaster strides right out onto view, wearing nothing but a silky looking blanket hanging over her shoulders, which only barely manages to cover her lower portions and one of her breasts.

As she finishes yawning and stretching, she stops and stares for a moment, seeing Rita there. The Ringmaster blinks, looking puzzled. Her hair is ruffled, tangled around her new horns.

"Oh," she says. "Hello Rita."

When it looks like someone's approaching, Rita stays where she is. Maybe she'll get to talk to the Ringmaster, maybe get some straight answers about a few things...

But when the woman in question steps into view, one sloppily-draped blanket away from being naked, Rita completely forgets what she was about to say. Dumbstruck, she stares for a moment, then hastily turns her head to the side, red-faced and flustered. "Wh-what the hell were you... wait, don't answer that. I don't want to know."

This is the first thing she does after reviving?

Well, obviously. What would you do, Rita? However, the Ringmaster goes on with zero shame about any of the things she might have been doing, though she takes a moment to look down at her partly naked form.

"Ah, yes. Well." She removed the blanket from her shoulders, and then swirls it around her body. A moment later, it's magically formed into a toga-like dress, in shades of red and gold. "Never mind all that, then. Did you need something? I'm in the middle of an important diplomatic situation."

"Diplomatic... right." The flatness in her voice is impossible to miss. But at least, with the change in attire, the redness is starting to fade from Rita's face, and she can look the Ringmaster in the eyes before rolling her own at that description of her activities.

"You're not just hiding away from us so you don't have to hear our complaints, are you?" It's more of an accusation than an actual question. "That last stop was a serious disaster."

"Well... Not entirely, no," the Ringmaster says after hedging for a moment, failing to actually refute that accusation outright. "But you always have SO MANY complaints! It's exhausting, and I just went through all that hatching business... my problem solving schedule is booked right up!"

So many complaints? "Maybe there's a good reason for that," Rita retorts, looking a bit tired herself. She's got complaints, and the Ringmaster's here complaining about people complaining, and it looks like this is liable to turn into one big stupid circle of whining. In which case...

"Fine. I won't say anything about what's over and done with. But we made a lot of powerful enemies back there, and if they come after us, we're not prepared to handle them. Even with your power." If the Beast couldn't handle three true fae, Rita doubts the Ringmaster will fare that much better. After all, they're the same person... in a sense... right?

Oh... wow. Really? She's actually dropping it now? That was so easy! The Ringmaster is extremely pleased with herself, having avoided having to hear more complaints just by saying that she didn't want to.

...Though how Rita continues isn't nearly as nice. The Ringmaster exhales heavily and then sweeps back her hair.

"I actually already had those enemies," she says loftily, rolling her eyes a little. "So it's actually nothing new. Really, all I did was remind them that I exist. I don't see why I should be of any more interest than I was several centuries ago!"

"You... what!?" Rita's eyes widen, her teeth clenching. "You think you could try telling us that sort of thing before we sign on to a year-and-a-day contract and make ourselves targets in your old feuds!?"

So much for not complaining about what's already done. But after that outburst, Rita takes a moment to think, and asks, "Who'd you piss off, anyway? The Rose Queen? Someone else in Arcadia?" All of the above and more?

The Ringmaster looks confused by Rita's question as if she doesn't even comprehend what she's asking her, or how that assumption could be made in the first place.

"The entire Court system...? Really, you don't know enough about this subject to comprehend the specifics. The Rose Queen is practically a nobody!"

She's not actually a nobody but to the Ringmaster anything less than the ruling class of fae are nobodies.

"The... entire Court." There's a look of disbelief, and perhaps dread, on her face. It's true, Rita doesn't have enough of a foundation to fully comprehend what that means. But what she does know is enough for that utterance to carry a fair amount of gravity.

That, and for her to call the Rose Queen a nobody... If a nobody could do that much harm to them, what's going to happen if a somebody sets their sights on the carnival? Maybe there's a reason the Ringmaster and those around her have survived this long with those kinds of enemies... but it could just be dumb luck. Rita's not sure she trusts that there's an actual plan in motion here.

That aside... Strange mentioned a few things about the Court hierarchies before, and it brings another question to mind. "What about the Summer Maiden? I thought she was supposed to be some high-ranking big shot in the Court." But she sure doesn't seem to be an enemy of the Ringmaster. Does that mean she's an exception?

The Ringmaster immediately groans, as if she's been arguing with someone about something as simple as the colour of the sky.

"Have you been listening at all?" she demands, raising hair hands dramatically. "The Summer Maiden... the Summer Fae... they're not part of the Courts anymore!"

Though, she stops mid outrage to add: "Though, she is still incredibly powerful, much like myself."

Rita grits her teeth through that outburst. Since when does the Ringmaster ever explain things about the fae courts, or, well... anything? She's got no right to be this exasperated!

"Great. So we've got one strong ally, and how many against us?" Rita folds her arms, giving an indignant huff at the whole situation. But then, with how one-sided this conflict seems, and the Summer Maiden being equivalent to royalty in her rank...

"...Why separate from the Courts?" It's easy to see how the Ringmaster wouldn't get on well with the Courts, but the Summer Maiden seems to have passed up a pretty sweet deal for herself.

⇨ EVERYTHING STAYS [CLOSED NOW]

mostly for ringmaster

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