⇨ THE CELEBRATION

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone, especially YOU.
When: Day 60 - Day 65
Where: The Celebration
What: The carnival workers are invited to spend the week within the realm of the Celebration, the grounds of a party that has been going on for centuries. Accommodations are luxurious, but those with keen instincts might notice something off about this whole arrangement... (Questions can go to the original setting post!)
Warnings: Booze, drugs, sex, and everything in between.

THE CELEBRATION↴ If you observe that the layout of the Celebration grounds seem inconsistent, then you would be correct. In reality, what lies at the end of each corridor depends largely on what the guests of the Celebration want at the time - if a few people find themselves craving a drink, a bar may appear. If a group finds themselves wanting to dance, a club will open up. This goes on at all hours of the night, and given how many dedicated partiers fill the building, the services are well used. It isn't instantaneous, and the Host has to consciously decide to provide that service, but the changes are fast none-the-less. ► ROOMS: Each trailer pair will be assigned a room to themselves - whether or not it has two double beds or a single king sized bed seems essentially random. Hopefully you aren't too sensitive about keeping that space to yourself. The curtains at the far side of the room don't actually lead outside, but instead to a walk-in closet filled with the Host's best guesses at the type of clothing you might like. They may not hit the nail on the head, but at the very least all the clothing will be in your size. The styles could be just about anything, from any universe, but they do tend to average out to clothing that is Earth-ish. Either that, or clothing that looks like they are meant for elves from a high fantasy novel to wear. ► SHOPPING: If none of your pre-picked outfits tickle your fancy, plenty of boutiques and clothing shops can also be found around the grounds - whatever you're thinking of, you'll probably be able to find a shop appropriate for it eventually. Though, maybe it doesn't really count as shopping if you don't have to pay for any of the things you take back to your room with you? Unfortunately, from the sounds of it, you won't be allowed to drag all of your haul back to the carnival with you, so you better enjoy it while you can. ► DINING: There is no daily schedule to follow, after you arrive. You are free to attend the dining room whenever you wish, and will be seated at large round tables with whoever else may be around at the time, and can either order from the menu or most dishes you may think of off the top of your head. If you don't like the fine dining experience, there are also a selection of smaller cafes and eateries that open and close at varying times of day - and, of course, you can always call for room service. ► ENTERTAINMENT: There is plenty of live music around the grounds (not that you can ever seem to remember who the performers were afterwards) whether it comes to harp music while you eat or a full set of DJs in the club you found. If you are inclined to look for them, you may also find some cozy lounges with big screen TVs, and access to a multi-universal quantity of films. What's there or isn't there is unpredictable, but if you come from a standard variety of Earth you probably recognize some of them. ► SUBSTANCES: You don't have to be coy about it - just ask one of your servers, and you'll be able to get whatever kind of vices you might be craving. Drugs, alcohol, ice cream... it's all good. If this sounds like a nightmare for potential addicts, you would be correct. It's not uncommon to see people clearly over-indulging in certain locations, though guests are usually escorted back to their rooms if they take ill - only to see them back at it again the next day. ► SPA DAY: If you'd like to take a swim, pools of various aesthetics are easy to find. So are hot tubs, and saunas, and Host servants who are willing to give you a massage or manicure. If the party crowd isn't your scene, there are plenty of more low-key opportunities to indulge. ► GREENSPACE: There is one park area on the grounds, which appears to be constructed on the rooftops of other parts of the complex. While there are trees and greenery, there is no real sky that you can see - only the illusion of one. It may start to occur to you over time that no window or rooftop actually leads to any kind of outdoors. The Celebration really is there only thing here. These are really just examples, and you can get creative with what kind of services you find offered while here, when it comes to generally mundane comforts. It really feels like the Host wants to win you over, as if you staying just a little longer has some sort of intrinsic appeal.

Comments

[atouts]

Strange is going to be damn lucky that Childermass can hold his drink with the best of them on that part, but there will be no promises on coherency. He's just as likely to get real answers as he is a lecture on some random magical topic he happens to know far too much about.

"Does it matter here?" Another card drawn, another cast away into the pile, and a chuckle of his own that has little to do with his hand, but the rest of the players are free to be mistaken. "I do not think this place even functions within our own idea of time. Have you seen any clocks? Any way to see what time it is outside? Or... or..." What else? He gestures vaguely in the air, grasping for what to say. "I wonder if there even is an outside?"

[kingsroads]

"I honestly don't know," Strange can't help but remark, with a little frown. He pauses for a moment, mulling over his cards as well as the idea of outside. There is that greenspace, but it doesn't even have a proper sky. Even that beach area felt like someone had painted a roof and thought it would serve as a sky.

How odd. Is there an outside to begin with? And where exactly were they?

"They won't let us leave," he grumbles, rolling his eyes as he takes a card. Obviously, this is a sore spot and one that he will gladly whine about. After all, they somehow arrived here, there had to be a way to leave as well. "All I want to do is return to the Carnival for a moment or two but no, apparently that's not allowed."

[atouts]

"You do?" That distracts him from his cards again, looking up and over at Strange. He gives an amused snort and turns again, this time towards the other players. "Did you hear that? Our good Mr. Strange only wants to leave for a moment or two."

Which is, it would seem, an occasion to laugh at poor Strange. It's not meant to be mean-spirited, it's only they all find it funny. Even Childermass laughs about it and moves to clap a hand on the other magician's shoulder.

"Come on, man, why ever would you want to leave? I thought you were meant to be the fun one!"

Which is definitely true when compared to both Norrell and Childermass and even he is well aware of it, his own habit of being grim (grim habit not appearing in this episode, but stay tuned).

[kingsroads]

Strange takes the laughing in stride, rolling his eyes slightly. Why would he ever want to leave. Certainly not due to the fact that he's got a contract he wants to ride out, a wife he eventually wants to see, and a small little jar of cursed ointment back at the Carnival that he just wants to verify is still there. But aside from all that, seeing Childermass like this is...worrying. He'd want to leave because seeing Childermass like this, laughing, mingling, being friendly is odder than any other aspect of the celebration he's seen so far.

Also, the fun one? Well, that's certainly something he's going to tease Childermass about later. As it is, he answers the question almost nonchalantly,

"For starters, I haven't seen hide nor hair of the Ringmaster since we arrived here. I've been meaning to pick her brain about a particular form of magic, I can't do that if she's vanished off to who knows where. Of course," he sighs, "I doubt the Celebration would let anyone die in the first place. It'd ruin the party."

But that does raise an interesting question. There's so much here that could potentially kill someone—but could someone even die here in the first place?

[atouts]

Mad and prone to recklessly throwing magic about, sure, but that qualifies as far more entertaining to the general public than gloom and doom and a bookworm. Though speaking of gloom and doom, Childermass continues to grasp Strange's shoulder and he'll give it a shake, leaning closer.

"If she's not around, she is no doubt busy. You aren't going to pester her about raising the dead, are you?" That much he'll ask with a sigh preceding it. It's comfortably less cheerful than the rest of how he's been tonight, even if chances are it'll also be short-lived. "I'm telling you, it will all be a complete waste of your time."

[kingsroads]

Wait, what? That gets Strange's interest and any protests of well actually, he's going to pester her about a set-up to help keep himself from dying fall dead in his throat. This is much more interesting and worrying than any knowledge of how Childermass broke away from Norrell or any doubts that they'll ever meet again.

"What do you mean 'a complete waste of my time?'" he asks, trying to keep his tone as light as he can, not wanting to give away just how confused he is by Childermass's statement. "I want to bring back my wife, I hardly think that's a waste of my time in the first place."

[atouts]

"Yes, yes, you want to bring her back from the dead," Childermass says it is so flippantly that it may as well be cruel and mocking, the way it comes out. He moves away again, hand leaving Strange's shoulder so he can attend the game again. "There is one issue with that, however, that you have completely overlooked."

He gives his current cards a brief, scrutinizing look, then discards and draw again. It's what he pulls from the deck that gets another laugh out of him.

"Well, there's some bad luck so soon into the round," he says, tossing the angel of death down — face up — onto the cluttered table and while he does glance around the table first, it will end, again, on Strange. It's a distant and rather sleepy look because lord knows what he's on right now, but whatever it is clearly does nothing for keeping secrets or at least choosing more proper times to reveal them. "Your wife was never dead in the first place, Mr. Strange. You've been fooled."

[kingsroads]

What?

Strange's first instinct is to brand the man a liar, say that he must be wrong, call him out on what must be a horrible joke. But this is Childermass. The man was many things but not a liar. Could he even think of lying right now, considering he's on...well, whatever he's on? No, he wouldn't say something like that unless it was true. Strange only grips his cards tighter, knuckles turning white as he looked over at Childermass.

A little part of him is downright angry at this revelation. This is what Childermass had been trying to keep from him? Damn the timeline, this was his wife they were talking about.

"If my wife was never dead then what did I bury?" Because he buried someone, someone who looked remarkably like Arabella, someone who he thought was his wife. "And where is she now?" he can't help but add. Strange is trying to keep his voice level, trying to keep everything calm, but he can't help that little bit of hope that rises in his tone.

[atouts]

A question he can only offer a shrug to. If he knew, he would surely tell him, but being from Strange's future sadly does not mean having every answer.

"Your guess would be as good as mine," Childermass says, turning back to the table proper to lay down his cards. In such a short round, he only has two matching suits, so yet another loss for him. "I am not so inclined to go graverobbing unless given a very good reason to. It's always been nasty work..."

How and why he knows that he won't say. It's just one more shady activity to add to the ever-expanding list of shadiness (though one shouldn't be too surprised where some rare books end up).

"But the where that much I can tell you. She is in Faerie, of course. Where else could she be, with all this nonsense with faeries you and Norrell both managed to stir up?"

[kingsroads]

Strange sets down his hand as well. He also has two matching suits, so it's a loss for him—not that he cares about the game anymore. The young elfin man sitting next to Strange who laid down four of the angels won that round. Chattering, the rest of the players pass their cards back to Childermass while Strange grapples with this revelation.

Arabella was in Faerie. The thing that he buried, it must be a changeling or something of that sort because she was alive. She was alive and here he was, wasting his time at the Carnival and playing card games instead of going out and freeing her from whoever put her there in the first place. How long had she been there and what sort of a husband could he call himself if he left her for that long? He's so lost in thought and regret that he almost misses that last important bit of information Childermass let slip. Him and Norrell? When had Norrell sought the help of faeries? Certainly not during any of his tenure as the man's student, he was far too dead set against the idea. No, the only person who had stirred up nonsense about faeries was himself—well, and Lady Pole, he supposed, with those stories she told Arabella to tell him.

The pieces all slowly start dropping into place. The faerie stories that Lady Pole felt so important that he know, perhaps it wasn't a sign of madness but a sign of magic. After all, he knew madness, he had been mad himself, madness wasn't babbling about faerie stories, launching into tales of tiny men waging war against carpets, it was something much more than that. And now that he was able to look back at her ramblings with the knowledge of what madness was...perhaps she wasn't mad at all.

"Childermass," Strange asks in a worryingly calm tone, "what sort of faerie nonsense has Norrell stirred up?" Cause oh he's got an idea. But it would be nice to have some confirmation before he flies off the handle.

[atouts]

"That mess?"

He starts out sounding amused by the whole damn situation. It isn't funny, though. He knows, but he can't help but feel like laughing. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong, words he remembers all too well when he himself tried prying that information out of his former master. Norrell had been terrified of anyone finding out, letting it go for so long that at the very end—

"That..."

That mess that no one was ever meant to know of. Oh, it comes out, all of it, by Childermass' own time and it is with that in mind and the uncharacteristic calm in which Strange asks that drives a spike of terror home through his own addled thoughts. He freezes partway through reshuffling the deck, head jerking up to look at Strange with the sudden realization. He can't conceal it, not how he is currently. What he can do is let out a long, unsteady breath to try and recenter his own mind (it doesn't work very well, but he tries), then slowly sets the cards down.

"Ah, I am afraid that," he begins again, addressing the people at the table this time rather than Strange as he pushes his chair back and surges unsteadily to his feet. "I am afraid that you must continue without me. Not feeling well, you see. I should... go."

Away, well away, before Strange can get anything else out of him.

[kingsroads]

Their eyes meet for a moment, Childermass's panic contrasted with Strange's steely resolve. And that lack of an answer is answer enough for Strange. After all, if it was something innocuous, then why would Childermass be so hesitant to say what it actually is?

"It's Lady Pole, isn't it?" Strange calls out, venom in his voice. "That hypocrite warned me against meddling with faeries when summoning one was how he gained his renown to begin with!" And now Arabella was trapped in Faerie, now Strange was ready to make a deal with that gentleman faerie back home...if he had just known sooner! Damn Gilbert Norrell, damn his pride and damn his secrecy.

He makes for his feet, but the other members of their card game are there to try and sit him back down. The elfin man at Strange's side places a hand on Strange's wrist, attempting to calm him. Why're you so ANGRY? Whatever it is, it can't be worth getting angry about. Just enjoy the celebration and come back to the game.

Needless to say, it looks like Childermass will be able to make his escape.

[atouts]

And yet he lingers a moment longer, even if he has steeled himself against answering anything else. Not that it matters. He's already given away too much, Strange coming to his own conclusions and quickly at that. Leaving remains the only option, but it rankles to simply turn tail and run. That's what Norrell would do and he is not Norrell, no matter how long he had served the man.

But what else is there to do here? Anything else he says will only make it worse and so it is with one final look, conflicted and distressed both, that he does depart.

Looks like the party's over, kids. Everyone go home (or don't, since they can't actually leave).