⇨ HOME AGAIN

[ringleaders]

Who: Anyone!
When: Day 68 - Day 72
Where: Carnival grounds.
What: Everyone makes it back to the carnival after their adventure in hell. The Ringmaster makes a new lake to celebrate, apparently.
Warnings: A notable absence of torture.

TO HELL AND BACK↴ The rescuers and the liberated captives will emerge from the portal like bats out of hell. Much like their previous return, this arrival will be met with a flurry of medical activity as everyone gets their injuries seen to, particularly those that had been held prisoner within Morningstar's hell fortress. It will still be night when they arrive, and the rest of Day 68 will be clouded over completely, for the benefit of the new vampires as they get settled in. After the immediate panic is dealt with, the Ringmaster will disappear into the forest until the morning of Day 69. It will be raining off and on during her absence. ► RECOVERY: Unlike the last time, the Ringmaster will be supplying the carnival workers with some healing potions from her private hoard, given that most of the healers are already wounded or spent. Damage caused by iron poisoning will not be cured by healing magic or healing items though, unfortunately, and those who have spent a lot of time in contact with iron will take at least a week to fully recover. However, regular healing remedies like bandages and herbs may help speed things along if the patient is suited to them. ► A BRAND NEW LAKE: On the morning of Day 69, the Ringmaster will return the forest to announce that she's built a new lake into the carnival grounds, only a short trail's distance from the backyard. Unlike most of the forest, this area won't just lead you in circles when explored, meaning that it can actually be modified and developed as the workers see fit. The water is always clean and just the right temperature for swimming, though it gets a bit cooler the deeper you swim. At the far side of the lake, there is a warm, stone pathway leading up the side of the mountain, that will eventually take you to some bangin' hot springs. Brought to you mostly because the Ringmaster doesn't know how to say sorry with actual words. At least it gives you something to play with while you try to shake off the trauma. ► FRUITS OF VICTORY: On Day 70, all the workers who came to hell for the rescue mission will be given a gift from the Ringmaster. Each of them will receive a bright green, glowing seed, about the size of your thumbnail. She will tell you that, when planted, the seeds will swiftly grow into a small citrus tree, which will grow fruits with regenerative properties. More details about these plants will be written up in a separate post, but for now your characters can ogle them and decide if they are going to plant them or not. ► TAKE ME TO CHURCH: Staring on Day 71, the Ringmaster will be starting to work on removing the vampirism from those infected with it, which apparently involves a lot of... meditation? She will take the newbie vampires out into a shady area of the forest and encourage them to look inside themselves and attempt to separate themselves spiritually from their demonic beasts. How well you character masters her teachings over time will determine whether or not she is ultimately capable of stripping out your demon soul and returning you to life. Of course, not all demons are made equal, and some will be more difficult to separate than others...

Comments

[pipers_son]

No need for that. After an awkward moment, Joker slowly pokes his head back in while looking pretty sheepish for a guy with antlers and wings.

"Well... The thing is... I wasn't comin' in for a break or anythin'... My right's just been botherin' me, y'know?" As in, the empty right arm socket that, even after all these years, he still hasn't bothered to fill with any kind of prosthetic. This isn't the first time it's started to act up on him- sometimes when it's too cold, or he's slept a little wrong...

And, of course, it started bugging him after the last time the vampires attacked, too.

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

"Everything else is so messed
Up I'd call that a rest," Zecora said, beckoning him in with a hoof.

"Is it the socket or the 'limb'?
Phantom pain is more grim," she mused, though meaning it only in relative terms.

[pipers_son]

Inside the tent proper, Joker doesn't make any attempt to hide the way he holds himself gingerly, wings stretched out delicately in the best position he can manage that doesn't antagonize the wounds on his back. Pretty quickly he goes to find a seat, hunched forward so that his wings can just lay limp.

"Ah.... limb part. I mean-" He cracks a grim smile. "The socket ain't doin' so hot either, but that ain't surprisin'."

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

"I need some time
Somewhat longer than this rhyme," Zecora mused, looking him over thoughtfully.
"There are two brews
You could use.
But to do their tricks
They must be mixed.
Will you stay and chat
Or must you scat?"

Optimism that he was well, in her voice and attitude. He could be better, but nothing she saw immediately worried her -- she could let him leave the tent if he truly wished, without worry.

She hoped he'd stay though.

[pipers_son]

"Well, ain't like there's much work ta be done after all that's happened, huh?" First the Celebration, then Hell... It's not been a very 'work' kind of month. Or weeks. Whatever.

"I think I can stay a while, if ya really want the company."

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

"Please stay with me.
I would like to see
How you are faring.
These past weeks have been wearing."

To put it mildly. Zecora motioned him to a seat with a flick of her tail as she stepped back towards her wall of ingredients, the better to start picking some of the curious herbs and fruits and stranger substances off it.

[pipers_son]

Slumping in a way that's comfortable for his still healing back, Joker lets his chin rest in his good hand as he watches her. By now, it's not too much of a mystery, but he still likes watching her work. Something about it is mundanely soothing now, sort of like when a person cooks.

"So are ya feelin' better?"

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

"I am slowly healing
But still I'm feeling
Better each day
In some new way."

A large horn of some sort followed a swollen green fruit into the cauldron, as Zecora walked each one over to drop it in carefully.

"My own brews do not face
Harm with iron in their space."

[pipers_son]

“Well, that’s good ta hear.” Adjusting himself, Joker lets out a huff. “I always knew iron was nasty business for some of us, but that much…. Really. They must have been stockin’ up for a while, huh?” Stocking up, all to get back at the Ringmaster… Really, he hopes they don’t have to deal with that kind of thing for a long while. Or, preferably, never again, but he knows better with the Ringmaster at the helm of this operation.

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

"Living here you may forget
It is not so hard to get."

Especially since the vampires could clearly jump dimensions as easily as they could. All they had to do was go someplace reasonably modern.

[pipers_son]

Yeah… Depending on what world you went to, and how modern it was, iron could be horrifically simple to get, couldn’t it? He lets out a breath, more a whistle between his teeth than anything. Really, he thinks he could have gone a nice long while without being reminded of that little fact of life. But that’s not the way the world works.

“Well…. At least it’s done with for now, right? At least, that’s what I’ve been hearin’.”

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

"The demon troop
Must regroup
And without a boss
Are surely at a loss."

Not that she believed their troubles were over for good. That just felt painfully naive at this point.

[pipers_son]

“There are still a lot of those elder vampires around, right…” Just thinking about it makes his neck ache. In a time of upheaval and chaos, anyone savvy enough could make a power grab right now. All he can do is hope that even if those vampires have the smarts to pull something off, they don’t have the power to be quite the menace like their boss was.

Sighing, he ruffles his hair. “Guess I’ve gone and brought up a depressin’ thing, huh?”

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

"Consider, Joker, if you would:
The Ringmaster has showed how she could
Deal with those who cause us trouble.
Would you make haste on the double
To find a way to ignore
That to contend with us more?"

If she were an elder vampire, she'd cut her losses at this point. Revenge was sweet, but death was eternal.

[pipers_son]

At that, he has to laugh. “Now, I wouldn’t, but folks ain’t always smart even if they’ve lived for a long time!” Case in point: the very person they’re counting on to protect them. After all, how many of them had asked for her to leave the Matrix…?

Well, that’s in the past new. He rolls his neck. “Well, here ta some good years ahead of us instead of anymore trouble of this level. I’d even settle for a king wantin’ ta behead me again.”

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

Zecora shot him a wry look over her shoulder.
"Now, my friend, I feel
You are challenging me to heal."

Honestly, though, please don't make her try to heal that.

[pipers_son]

Playfully, he waggles his eyebrows at her. Now, he's starting to feel a bit better, so he gives his try at rhymes again.

"Now I'm sure it could be a quick fix!
Just some needle and thread for a lil' stitch~."

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

"If you plan to come to harm
Perhaps I should practice on your arm."

Zecora picked up a large spoon with her teeth, then leaned over the cauldron to stir the bubbling mixture within.

[pipers_son]

"What, this lil' ol' thing?
No need ta worry there!
It's growin' like it's spring
No worse for the wear~."

Well, that's not quite true. Obviously the very hand he's wiggling has been bandaged up because someone stabbed a dagger straight through it, like an asshole. But thanks to the fact that it's more vegetation than sensible flesh, he can still move it around, so it's fine.

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

"That one can't be beat.
But the one I seek to treat?
I do not mean to scare...
But I'm afraid it isn't there."

Zecora shot a smirk over her shoulder at him. Even now after all this time, she wasn't certain the healing magic she had learned from her time here would be enough to fix a loss like that. So she'd never offered, figuring Joker would say something if he really wanted it solved.

But if the man wanted his HEAD put back on...

[pipers_son]

Joker tries his best not to cackle much, because it is late at night and he does have some sense of decorum about other people.

“Now when did that happen!
I couldn’t imagine~.”

Still, he has wondered about what Zecora’s brews and magics could do for that particular problem. It’s something he’s shyed away from, he has to admit, just because of, well. Personal problems regarding his right arm and any replacements for it. That’s a question to ponder for another day- something he always tells himself as he puts it off.

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

The problem was Joker's to address in his own time, and perhaps that time was never. He knew by now that her tent and her trailer were always open to him.

"My skills are still steady," she said, looking over the rim of her cauldron with a satisfied nod,
"For this potion is ready.
This ladle, I think
Should be an adequate drink."

[pipers_son]

"Oh, is it now?" Hopping up to his feet, he comes over with his thumb hooked loosely into his pocket as he leans over the cauldron. "Gotta get the whole spoonful in me, huh?"

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

"Drink it all with no delay.
You know that is the only way."

He could get his own ladleful though.

"I can save what's left
So you are not bereft."

[pipers_son]

"Cheers, Zecora. Yer a peach." And with that, careful with the ladle, he takes a nice long gulp. It doesn't really taste like too much- not a lot does, these days, besides the only thing vampires care about- but that just makes it easier to swallow down in his opinion.

With that done, he waves the ladle. "So, where do ya want this?"