⇨ 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

[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.

[drrdrrdrr]

"'S pretty easy to get ... drawn in by wiles or whatever if you feel like garbage," says Amethyst, equally dejectedly.

[periphrasing]

"No, I think it really just comes down to the fact that I was never meant to defend myself without the aid of technology, and no amount of magical training or whatever could have ever changed that."

Peridot is starting to sound a little irritated. She stares at her claws, clenching and unclenching them mindlessly. "I don't blame you at all, Amethyst. It's not your fault, I'm just... useless in dangerous situations."

[drrdrrdrr]

"What?" Amethyst stares at her. "Are you kidding me?" She holds up her arm again. "You did some damage, dude, Lapis got poofed before me and Steven even managed to tie you up -- which, y'know, we had to do because it's basically impossible to knock you out."

Wait, heck, wasn't she supposed to be downplaying how much anyone got hurt --

"Uh -- I mean..."

[periphrasing]

Fortunately for Amethyst, Peridot doesn't look too shaken by these details... though her brows knit, and she starts to frown before Amethyst cuts herself off.

"I'm sure you guys were holding back on me," she says dismissively, glancing away again. "That barely counts."

[drrdrrdrr]

"No way," says Amethyst. "You were tough. Like, we didn't want to hurt you, but..."

[periphrasing]

"But still not tough enough to fight off a bunch of vampires, apparently," she snorts. "Amethyst, I really appreciate your confidence in me and your efforts at cheering me up, but let's be honest: no one's responsible for what happened except for me."

[drrdrrdrr]

Amethyst slumps a little. "It wasn't your fault, Peri..."

[periphrasing]

"Neh," she grunts, obviously in disagreement but adamant about not pursuing this topic any further. She needs a subject change...

She's still glancing away, avoiding eye contact. "Do you still... really not want date anymore?" Peridot says quietly, after a moment.

[drrdrrdrr]

Nice subject change. Relaxing. Pleasant. Amethyst gives a start and looks up in guilty surprise.

"I... we never officially said we were dating, though, right?" She winces as soon as the words are out of her mouth.

[periphrasing]

Good job Amethyst. That's it. Just stick the knife in and twist it.

Peridot tenses, that nauseous feeling creeping over her again. "Well if we weren't, then what in the cosmos would you call it? Because from what I understand about 'dating', it seemed to match the definition pretty closely!"

[drrdrrdrr]

Amethyst grimaces. "Friends... with kissing...?"

[periphrasing]

Peridot lifts herself off of Amethyst's side, sitting up with a deadly serious expression on her face. That sounds like a load of crud to her, but fine, she'll roll with it just to get this thing resolved:

"Okay, fine. So do you really not want to be friends with kissing anymore?"

[drrdrrdrr]

Amethyst won't look her in the face. She's been thinking about this a lot -- but she was kind of figuring Peridot would just want to break it off after what happened.

"Look, it's just... it's complicated, OK?"

[periphrasing]

...Peridot just growls at her, a low, irritable rumbling in her throat. Apparently she does not find that to be an acceptable answer.

[drrdrrdrr]

Amethyst glances back at her nervously.

"I... kinda, yeah. Not 'cause of anything you did," she adds quickly, holding up her hands, "just... ugh. It's easier, if we don't gotta deal with this."

[periphrasing]

She stops growling. Her ears droop.

She looks downcast, glancing away at some fixed point under the table. "Well that's... not really what I was hoping to hear," Peridot says.

[drrdrrdrr]

She hugs her arms to her chest. "I know," she says.