⇨ 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

[periphrasing]

Peridot nods curtly. She's still staring. Trying to make sense of the situation.

"Yeah... I heard... that I have you to thank as well. For getting me out of there, I mean."

[drrdrrdrr]

"Oh," she says. "Yeah. I... do you remember any of that stuff?"

[periphrasing]

"Not really," she admits, wilting a little. "Lapis just told me that the three of you came after me, and that she was the one who found me first." She shrugs again. Pressing for more details hadn't seemed like a priority at the time...

Peridot frowns a little, as a troubling thought occurs. "Why? Did I say something weird?"

[drrdrrdrr]

"What? Oh, no – you actually didn't say much of anything, you just, like, attacked us." She rubs the back of her neck. "It was kinda messed up. I'm... really glad you're OK now."

[periphrasing]

"I-- I did what???"

If it weren't for her lack of blood-- the same trait that kept her from getting turned into a vampire along with nearly everyone else who was captured-- Peridot's would be running cold at that.

"Why did... I..." She swallows. "No one said anything to me about this at all," she says faintly.

[drrdrrdrr]

Oh. Oh. WHOOPS....

"No one said--?"

Amethyst takes a step towards Peridot without thinking, but stops herself from going any further and mutters a word she would not typically say in front of Steven.

"I... I dunno, the Ringmaster said they were controlling people... I mean, we knew it wasn't you--"

[periphrasing]

For a second, she thinks that maybe Amethyst is going to come over and comfort her, or even just provide some kind of grounding contact. She just assumes, like it's a benefit that she's always accustomed to having.

...And then that notably doesn't happen, and it makes the situation all that more distressing. Peridot lets out a prolonged moan, sinking her face into her claws. "Why didn't anyone tell me," she mumbles, voice muffled. "I didn't hurt anyone, did I?"

[drrdrrdrr]

"What?" says Amethyst. "No! I mean..." She grimaces guiltily. ACTUALLY, KIND OF? "Not, like, badly." This is also kind of a lie??

"Like... you totally took a chunk out of my arm? But it's okay now! I just have this gnarly bruise." Amethyst holds up her arm. She does, at least, seem pretty pleased with it.

[periphrasing]

Peridot dares to peek between her claws to look at that... And then she groans again, sinking her face down onto the table.

"I'm sorry," she just gurgles miserably, without looking up.

[drrdrrdrr]

Amethyst raises her hands -- she does actually come over now, but she keeps her hands to herself. "No! No way! It's not like it was your fault, dude."

[periphrasing]

Peridot just continues to groan inarticulately into the table for a few more seconds. "This is not how I was hoping my first conversation with you would go," she mutters after a moment, dejected.

[drrdrrdrr]

Amethyst doesn't reply for a second. She bites her lip again. "... How were you hopin' it was gonna go?"

[periphrasing]

She finally looks up again at that, expression guarded. "I don't know," she says, huffing a sigh and running a hand wearily through her hair. "For starters, I guess ideally I wouldn't be just waking up from a fatigue induced slumber session."

[drrdrrdrr]

"Heh." Amethyst leans, sideways, against whatever furniture is opposite the table Peridot's sat at. She looks a little relieved – she thought this might be where they had to Talk About Stuff, and if it's not then she can relax a little.

Just a little, though. It doesn't mean that tension isn't still making her tail twitch a little.

"Yeah, I gotta say... when Steven told me you'd woke up I figured when I got here you'd be... y'know. Awake."

[periphrasing]

"It's been like this ever since I woke up," Peridot grumbles, propping her elbows back up and putting her face back in her hands. "I just keep wanting to shut back down. It's Infuriating."

[drrdrrdrr]

"Sheesh," says Amethyst, "really? I mean, I get days like that... heck, sometimes I get decades like that, but you, like never sleep..." She scratches her cheek. "I dunno. Maybe you just need to rest? That whole thing was... kind of a lot."

[periphrasing]

"That's what Steven said, too," she sighs, shifting restlessly and flopping down on the table with her arms stretched straight out across the surface. "But I don't like it. It just makes me feel... Useless."

And she already has enough trouble with feeling useless thanks to her poor performance in fighting off the vampires, thanks.

[drrdrrdrr]

"What?" Amethyst straightens up a little; she can see how crummy Peridot feels about this. "No way, you know if that happened to me I'd be sleeping for, like, a week."

She glances down the trailer uncertainly. Lapis had really better not be hiding somewhere.

"... You, uh... D'you need, like, a hug or something...?"

[periphrasing]

Peridot finally looks up at her, blinking with surprise. There's a moment of hesitation there, of uncertainty... but then she nods without a word.

[drrdrrdrr]

Amethyst blinks back at her, because she was earnestly expecting a no, or at least a more substantial hesitation.

She smiles a little, though, and scoots over to draw Peridot up into a hug. Her arms are soft and sturdy and it is only a bit awkward.

[periphrasing]

Peridot lets out a soft sigh through her nose, and leans lightly into Amethyst's hold. It's nice. This is nice.

They really should talk. They need to, at some point. But trying to work up to it is just making Peridot's eyes droop. She might fall asleep on her, if they're both not careful enough...

[drrdrrdrr]

Amethyst exhales tightly, staring ahead of her. This is nice. Peridot is an extremely good shape to put her arms around, although, she thinks, she might just be biased about that because she's gotten so used to it.

"Hey, um..." She glances sideways at the polygonal mass of Peridot's hair. "I'm sorry." She bites her lip. "I didn't mean to, like... I mean, if I'd known it was gonna be... Ugh, geez, what am I talking about, that's so dumb, if I'd known you were gonna get kidnapped by vampires I wouldn't have done that stuff?" She drops her head against Peridot's shoulder and groans. "Uuuuuuuuuuggghhhh. I just... I didn't even figure you were missing, I just thought you were upset about that crud."

[periphrasing]

Peridot stays quiet for a moment, taking that all in. Then she snorts incredulously, a little sad but. Mostly just amused. She rests a cheek in Amethyst's mane, tail flicking.

"I mean, I was pretty upset," she points out. You know, JUST SO THERE'S NO CONFUSION. On that matter.

[drrdrrdrr]

"I know," mumbles Amethyst. "But, like, also you got vampire kidnapped and I didn't even think about what if you were in trouble? And then when we figured it out it was like, what if they wouldn't have gotten you if I hadn't done that, and... Ugh." She hasn't lifted her head. "I messed up."

[periphrasing]

"I don't think it would have made much of a difference," Peridot says bluntly, without missing a beat. "Arguably, if anyone here messed up it was me, I mean, I was the one who allowed myself to be drawn in by their stupid vampiric wiles," she says dejectedly.