⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 1

[ringleaders]

Who: Anyone, anywhere in Portland.
When: October 1st - 7th, 2017
Where: Portland area, in the new reality.
What: Memories begin returning to the displaced as the fall gets chillier. How the hell did we end up here, again? Also, apparently, the fair is in town.
Warnings: Individually marked!

PORTLAND BY NIGHT↴ Memory regains will come into effect at the beginning of October, to whatever degree you've decided upon, and may be regained at whatever pace you desire from then on. For those with their full carnival memories, it will be like waking up in the body of someone else - for those with half and half, it will be like rapidly recalling sets of memories from a totally different life. Those with full amnesia will simply feel as if this is how it's always been. Unfortunately for you, memories aren't the only thing you have to deal with. The supernatural community of Portland is bustling all of a sudden - could your presence and these events somehow be related? ► THE OUTER CIRCLE: As of the start of the month, the Portland Circle of Enlightenment will find itself starting to get swarmed with members from other chapters. Most notably, it would seem that a small cabal of top mages from the North American Enlightenment Council will be making their home in Portland's HQ. For anyone but the highest of ranks, the purpose behind their visit will be unclear, but it seems like something is definitely up on a metaphysical level. The Circle will be buzzing with rumours of unique planar activity and threatening omens. It seems that it all started with an unusual flare of activity in the planetary ley-lines, starting approximately a week ago. However, even if you would usually be the type to keep tabs on such things, you will find that you oddly have no memory of observing this phenomenon yourself. ► THE ANIMAL FAIR: Good news, the fair is in town! Or, at least, it would be good news... if this was a regular fair. Instead, what's being observed is a bunch of nearly identical flyers, spread all around Portland - each of which bears only the words "THE ANIMAL FAIR", a seemingly bloody paw-print of unknown origin, and the directions to a vague forested location outside of the city. It's dated for October 7th, and all instances of its posting having been discovered with a scattering of rose petals, crow feathers, and pre-burnt matches laying on the ground around them. Most are taking this to be some kind of bizarre viral marketing campaign, but others may know better. ► THE EARTH SPIRIT: If you have connections to The Pack or any of its many variations, you'll probably hear whispers of something very odd that occurred last week - according to the elders, it sounds as if the Earth Spirit, the magical and spiritual center of the planet, has suddenly taken a wound. It's not clear why or how, but there is a fair bit of concern among spiritual types, as it is werebeast belief and nebulous magical fact that the magical forces within the earth are the source of all magic here, as well as the source of life. While many werebeasts claim to have felt the Spirit succumb, you strangely have no memory of such an event occurring. Though things do feel strange, if you know how to tap into the Spirit yourself. ► THE WAR CRY: Though Anath's rain of terror across North America lasted for the first fifteen years or so of the Severing, most independent demons have had enough time to start taking the arch-demon's relative inactivity for granted. For that first while, the warrior queen had seemed determine to rebuild an army on earth by forcing her scattered brethren into service - only for her to gradually settle down in a fortress somewhere in Texas and dig in her heels. Of course, this was too good to last - it sounds as if she and her demonic legion have begun tearing their way up the west coast, their goals remaining a mystery. Their destination, however, is almost certainly Portland.

Comments

[puddingemote]

He thinks she knows he's there, but he's not sure. Well, it's not like it really matters if she can see him or not. He laughs at her comment, swirling around her in a way that stirs some autumn leaves to blow up in the air.

This is probably the spookiest his haunting gets, and it's really more annoying than anything. Tamaki doesn't really want to scare anyone - just mess with them.

[myownpearl]

She shivers -- definitely a spirit then. She is not a fan of ghosts--nothing against them really, just they tend to be more annoying than anything. It's especially tricky since she can't interact with them much. If she had enough time she could probably create an amulet or charm to help with that--but it had never been an interest of hers so she'd then have to do a ton of research.

And it just wasn't worth it to get some papers out of tree and then give the spirit a stern talking to. Though she supposes she can still do that last one, it just won't mean anything.

Pearl eyes the tree and realizes there is no way around it and she's just trying to avoid the inevitable. She drops her bag on the ground, rolls up the sleeves of her jacket, and proceeds to start climbing the tree.

[puddingemote]

Unseen, but probably felt as a cold gust of wind, Tamaki floats up alongside her, occasionally blowing a paper further away. He wonders if he can get her to climb all the way to the top. That would be something.

As he messes with the papers, he can't help but glance at them every now and then. Just school notes, so they don't interest Tamaki all that much. He can't even tell what most of these are supposed to be for. Different languages? Stuff about words? This is probably the most boring field of study ever.

He thinks, if he were going to study something, it would probably be astronomy. But he's not really sure where that thought comes from. Oh well, it doesn't really matter when you're dead.

[myownpearl]

Eventually she'll call it a wash. The notes aren't that important. She snatches what she can, holding it firmly so no gust of wind or ghost can take them back. She grumbles as she does this, muttering something about bratty spirits. She balances on a branch, reaching to get one last piece of paper--but it's grabbed from her reach and swept up to the top of the tree.

"Fine!" She huffs before turning around and jumping down from the branch. She lands lightly on her feet, turning her back to the tree.

[puddingemote]

Aww, she stopped. That's no fun.

Tamaki watches her turn away, then, with a sigh, waves his hand and knocks all the remaining papers back out of the tree. They swoop down and collide unceremoniously with Pearl's back.

[myownpearl]

Pearl tenses up when she feels something hit her back. She turns and looks down at the notes, now drifting to the ground. She frowns, then looks back towards the tree. She squints, trying to 'see' the spirit--but it's just not really in her wheelhouse. All she can make out is a smudge or a shift in the color around the tree and if she blinks it disappears again.

She sighs, picking up the paper, "I know you must be bored. But I really can't stay right now. I wouldn't be able to do much more for you anyway--I can barely tell you're even there." She looks at the spot near the tree again, "You should see if you can make it to the religious studies building--that major tends to attract the types that would actually be able to interact with you."