⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 2

[ringleaders]

Who: Anyone, anywhere in Portland.
When: October 7st - 14th, 2017
Where: Portland area, in the new reality.
What: The week begins as the time of the Animal Fair finally arrives! Meanwhile, the truth of this reality starts to be revealed, and forces both human and celestial alike attempt to take advantage of a rare opportunity.
Warnings: Individually marked!

BY ANY OTHER NAME↴ Tensions thicken as various supernaturally forces react to the events of the previous week. Something critical is afoot, and it's only a matter of time before things start coming to a head. It's time to find out more about what's happened to this world, and what will happen in its future. ► A NIGHT AT THE FAIR: From the night of the 7th to the morning of the 8th, the Animal Fair is officially in town. There is a top level down below with more information, though you can also RP content from this elsewhere if you wish. The host, who is very likely something called a Wyld Fae (if you discovered that ICly), will be present, but they will only be appearing to you of their own accord and attempting to track them down by force will be ineffective. Just kick back and relax! Fairs are supposed to be fun. ► THORNS IN YOUR SIDE: Culminating in a full fledged attack against the Sanctuary, it would seem that The Rose Queen is declaring war on the changeling population of Portland. Though the vicious attack of thorns against the safe house was eventually stopped, it wasn't without damage, and the black roses that caused it are still popping up around the city and threatening the places where homeless and lost changelings would be likely to congregate. It's obvious now that this is a serious threat - will it ever stop without an intervention? ► HELL ON EARTH: As Anath's march draws near, the first waves of her demons will be entering the city. Primarily acting as scouts and foot soldiers, these demons will be attempting to secure loyalty from the local demon populace, as well as taking out any angels they can manage to catch. It's a level of aggressiveness against heaven's forces that hasn't been seen for years, and it's a foreboding hint of things to come. These demons can be NPCed by anyone, and will mostly be thugs or manipulators who don't know much about Anath's plans but do know that you need to join their side. They are also rowdier than most of the demons in Portland, and are a threat to the innocent mortal populace as well, if they decide to try to get their kicks here. ► THE WIZARD POLICE: The Enlightenment Council seems to have demanded control of the local Circle chapter, and now backup has arrived. These mages are being sent out into the city as if they are a police force, and will be attempting to demand control of various common supernatural areas, as well as questioning community members that they run into. Whatever is going on, it seems to have resulted in the Council instituting what is essentially martial law... of course, not everyone sees any need to heed their demands. If you are a demon, warlock, or other rogue element, expect to be harassed or even attacked by them. These character can be NPCed, and if you need additional information you can ask the mods.

Comments

[periphrasing]

She looks surprised. "Oh. Uh... Thanks? I mean. She's pretty great, when she's not giving me a heart attack by running away from me." UTTERLY REMORSELESS for the grief she just caused her owner, Pumpkin starts yapping again, her pompom tail beating against Peridot's hip; Peridot glances to the side and scowls at her, with mingling irritation and weary fondness. "Apparently she likes you too, for some reason."

Actually... She squints at the kid, in that way where you can almost see the gears turning in her head, but something still isn't quite clicking.

"Hey... Do I know you from somewhere?" It'd sure explain why her dog is acting so familiar, if she did.

[starseedling]

He flushes a little, looking down at the pavement. Well... it's unlikely. He's been locked away for years, and before that... well, actually. It's true that he doesn't remember a lot of stuff about his life before.

"Um..." He has to think about that for a moment. What's the right answer to give?' "Maybe? But... if it was more than a few years ago I probably don't remember."

Realistically you'd assume it'd be because he was like six years old then, but the real reason is much more complicated.

Hey can he touch your dog again.

[periphrasing]

Luckily(?) for Steven, by this point, Peridot's pretty certain that the source of Pumpkin's weird behavior, and motivation for bolting on her like that, comes back to this kid; plus her arm is getting tired already, so she sets the little dog back down. She rushes back over to him immediately, and puts her front paws up on his knees.

Peridot cocks her head; those gears are still grinding, struggling to turn-- And then her eyes fall on those thorns at Steven's hairline, really registering them for the first time and the gears click, and AT LAST she understands, everything comes rushing together TO FORM... the entirely wrong conclusion.

She gasps too loudly, eyes widening. "Oh my god," she says in a hushed tone, glancing up and down the street to make sure no one else is standing nearby. Then she moves a little closer and crouches, expression intense. "Are you also, a werebeast?"

[starseedling]

Steven starts giving Pumpkin a rub, settled down enough that he can do it less cautiously this time. It seems pretty obvious that Peridot isn't going to attack him, at least. Maybe she's genuinely confused, or... maybe she did actually know him from somewhere and he's just forgotten everything.

That idea makes him sad. How much of his life has he lost? He remembered his dad, at least, but even people like Matt had...

Wait, what?

"Werebeast?" he asks back, though he does know what that is at this point. It got explained while he was at the Sanctuary. He has no idea where she just got that impression, but it also sort of does him the favour of letting him know she's a werebeast, even if he isn't. "N-No? I'm just..."

He tugs down on his hood hoping it will hide whatever she sees about him that makes her think that, and looks away. Only for another thorn to visibly pop up on his cheek bone, reacting to his stress.

He flushes even more deeply, startling and trying to cover his face in his hands.

[periphrasing]

Peridot sure isn’t going to be of much help, what with the way she gawks at him. “Yikes,” she says, not entirely unsympathetic, because she’s definitely been in that kind of situation before, with stress making her changes accelerate at an unmanageable level.

“Hey! Hey. It’s all cool, 'dude'. You don’t have to hide anything from me,” she says, though her tone is probably more patronizing than reassuring. “I’m an old hand at this stuff. Let me guess: You still haven’t quite figured out how to master your transformations yet, huh.”

She's very convinced of this theory of hers. Meanwhile, Pumpkin simply cocks her head at Steven, whining quietly with concern.

[starseedling]

Thank you, sweet Pumpkin. You are an angel.

Meanwhile, Steven is peeking out between his fingers, looking pretty darn confused. He's not sure whats she's talking about at first, because he's obviously not a werebeast, but then it starts to occur to him whats he's implying.

"Well, no, but..." He trails off, tugging on his coat as he wraps his arms around himself. "...I'm not like you."

He wants to tell her that he's a changeling, but he can't manage to make himself say it. What if she gets mad?

[periphrasing]

She wouldn’t get mad, for the record, but it’s not like Steven has any way of knowing that.

“Sure you’re not,” Peridot says smoothly. “Every werebeast is different, after all... except for the ways in which we’re not different. Like with transformations! Everyone has trouble with them at first, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”