lostcarnival | ⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 3

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⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 3

Who: Anyone, anywhere in Portland.
When: October 15st - 22th, 2017
Where: Still in Portland
What: As all sides of the struggle gradually become informed, and the awareness of outsiders begins to spread, Portland faces a critical question - what should be done with them? And who gets to decide?
Warnings: Individually marked!

THE WOLVES AMONG US↴

► WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS: It's fairly common knowledge that October is a special month - Halloween has always been an excitable time in the supernatural community, because its during this month that the magical energies of Earth seem to disproportionately swell in power. This peeks on the 31st, and has every year for as long as anyone can remember. The holiday of Halloween is a byproduct of this, because the magical phenomenon has gone on for ages past. It's also a pretty common time for wizards to attempt bullshit shenanigans, and also when the Severing first came into effect.

► TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL: Towards the end of the week, Prudence Jaeger will be asking her angelic contacts for a pretty huge favour - she wants them to help her and some of her associates break into the Circle stronghold that the visiting Council members are staying at. It seems that they have some kind of macguffin item that will be needed to crack the barrier cutting off the Earth from the cosmos - and, to that end, allow the angels and mysterious outsiders to return to wherever they call home.

► THE PATH TO HELL: Perhaps unsurprisingly, Team Heaven isn't the only group to clue into the fact that the Circle has what they need. On the same night that the angels go in, so will Anath's army, as the arch demon finally arrives in the city just in time to join the party. Whether the angels and demons fight each other all the way or cooperate to achieve a mutual goal is up to them.

► WITH GOOD INTENTIONS: The Circle and Torchlight aren't all bad, okay? It's entirely possible that they are just acting in the best interest of humanity - unfortunately, that has resulted in them being pretty massive pricks recently, and now the payback for that is arriving on their doorstep. If you're a member of the Circle, you may or may not realize that anything is coming in time for you to prepare. (That will depend on your threads up to the end of the week.) However, once the fight starts, you'll be charge with defending the Councillors whether you like it or not, and Torchlight is getting pulled in as an unexpected ally to ensure their safety as well. Are you going to heed their call? Or is it time to split from the pack?

► BLOOD OF ICE AND FIRE: It's been made no secret that the Rose Queen isn't the only fae trying to pull back her lost changelings - now the Winter Court appears to be doing it, as well. More than a handful of changelings have gone missing over the last couple weeks, lost to both the thorns and agents of the Count. Whatever they're doing, it's also in competition with each other - Winter and Summer will be biting at each other's heels far more than normal, to the degree that it becomes clear they must have some competing objective in mind. Unfortunately for everyone else, that objective happens to conflict with the desires of just about everyone else. Fae are, by nature, opportunists.

- ✪ -
These are the major conflicts that will be coming to a head towards the end of Week 3. In the meantime, your actions will decide how certain elements are set up, and what the likelihood of success is for each group.

Dice rolling handily won the opinion poll where we asked for the preferred method of conflict resolution, so that will be coming into effect a bit later on to determine who actually wins and loses, with advantages based on the choices made.

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Iuliael settles uneasily in the chair and hesitates. There are a lot of questions in him, or maybe just one huge one, but getting them out! Maybe talking around it will help.

"So I started to remember things and thought for a while maybe I was human once, and ascended, and the Dove took me unto its breast," he tries, completely unaware of the fact that no one uses 'breast' like that anymore. "And that was great, because it meant... uh, you know, If I am worth anything later, I am worth something now. For wheat is wheat, even if people think it is a grass in the beginning."

He quotes it like scripture, then realizes both that he has no idea where the quote is from but it's definitely not scripture, and that he has the whole point of the quote backwards. Hence the later and the complete lack of was. Wow, he's not good at anything, is he? Iuliael's hands flutter across the surface of the table like wings before clasping together as he gets hold of himself. "But that's not how it was at all. I was a werebeast in communion with the Earthmind and I don't even know if that's a name for the Earth Spirit, but I had a cell phone? So nothing makes sense."

The trouble with explaining things is that it requires some idea of where to begin. Lambert doesn't, really -- he's irritable that Peridot's here at all in the first place, that he got talked into bringing her along, yet if she hadn't been there he supposes they wouldn't have gotten as much information as they did.

He folds his arms, leaning against the tree behind him, and tiredly reaches up to rub at his chin. "Which part do you want to know about first?" he leads with, instead, directly.

Rita doesn't move once the dog's free, her feathers ruffling a bit in apprehension. Fortunately, it doesn't look like it'll attack her suddenly this time, with Greg there to calm it down. Too bad Rita's not so easily calmed.

"I told you I didn't," she huffs at him. But, no, that's not what's important here. He can't just brush off everything she said like that! "Are you even listening to me!? Look, you're gonna tell me right now, what happens to changelings after she takes them?"

Greg takes a deep breath, finally looking up from Lil. The dog hasn't taken his eyes off of her.

"I dunno who told you to come here," He's willing to bet Pearl mentioned it even if she wasn't directly responsible, "but I don't really get called in on the Queen's changeling business. We don't see eye to eye on the subject."

He straightens up, properly sizing up Rita now that he's taken a moment to breathe. He's still annoyed, but she's just a kid, and she didn't break in here for fun. "You've probably got a pretty good idea of what she gets up to in there already. What do you need to ask me for?"

They don't see eye to eye on the subject of changelings... Rita's gaze wanders to one of the photos in the room, of Greg and his son. She can probably believe him when he says that. He wouldn't keep so many pictures if he didn't care about Steven, or what happened to him.

Rita shakes her head. "When I was in the Summer Court, I was in someone else's care. I never saw much of how the Court operates, or even met other changelings, usually." Steven had been the first one in years. "But more importantly... your name's come up a few times in my investigations. What can you tell me about a rescue operation involving an angel, and someone named Amethyst?"

Rita raises her weapon to strike again, but when he surrenders, she relents, allowing it to dissipate into smoke. "Dirty!? I was going easy on you, old man!" Despite that, she's drenched in sweat, both from exertion and from the near-constant heat of her flames. She can still feel the adrenaline, the exhilaration...

But she's not here for recreation. Actually, she probably shouldn't have gotten so caught up in this in the first place...

Rita shakes her head. "Yeah, no. It's time for you to go. Or do you want to wait for the angels to come and throw you out?" At least, there should be a few of those around. There's no doubt that their battle's drawn somebody's attention by now.

Yeah neither of them are going to be particularly good at this... but both of them are too damn stubborn to give in right there, so they're definitely still trying. Miko has been called in to assist as well. Three heads are better than two?

Following her conversation with The Beast, and the NUMEROUS questions it left Peridot with, she's absolutely determined to make this work, even willing to entertain spiritual trains of thought that she would outright scoff at otherwise. It takes a lot of idiotic animal shenanigans to get more in touch with their beastly sides (for Peridot specifically that means: eating fig newtons out of the trash, making tents out of leaves, hanging upside down... you know. BAT STUFF), but Peridot, at the very least, will eventually manage to induce a tentative trance.

"Why don't we start with, 'what the hell have you been up to for the last two weeks'!?" she snaps, exposing an anger that she hadn't even quite been aware was there, prior to this moment. "You've been giving me crap this whole time about getting too involved with the supernatural, and you've been, what... Encountering demons? Fighting off more fae?!"

That makes him visibly nervous. No one's supposed to know he was involved in any of that. "Wh, what, some angel saved some girl? I dunno, I don't--I didn't hear anything about it." He sometimes really wishes he were better at lying.

"But... you know, just, guessing, based on, uh, context, uh... if someone tried breaking in to the Summer Court to rescue a kidnappee..." Hypothetically, and definitely not him, "Well, they sure wouldn't want to go around bragging about it."

That is definitely a plant. And if demons, angels and mortals have spells that let them track things..

"I think it'd be a very good idea that we find someone who knows a lot of magic," Blue begins slowly, "And make sure your mother didn't put some kind of following spell on your little friend, maybe without it knowing."

It's something a demon would do! ... Probably it was something a fairy would as well. She crosses her arms over her chest, looking thoughtful. "I'm not going to chase your friend off, but we do need to be careful."

What the hell does THAT THING even eat? She was confused about the halfbreed, some sort of airborn orchid was even stranger. Why couldn't Greg have settled down with a nice demoness?

That's... probably objectively speaking a good point, and not even really something Steven had entertained the idea of. Which is pretty impressive considering how paranoid he can be. Steven's face falls, and he raises a hand up to where Bud is burrowed in his hair, who meekly climbs out onto his palm looking tragic.

Steven holds her closer to his chest, looking a bit lost and very concerned.

"Do you really think so?" he asks, downtrodden, but that is a rhetorical question because its clear that she does. He thinks for a few moment, scrunching up his brow. "Do demons know much about tracking spells like that?"

Bud looks a bit embarrassed to be being discussed in this manner, but what can you do.

Oh, wow. Looks like she asked the right question. Rita barely knows anything about the incident, but Greg's reaction is pretty telling in itself.

"Uh-huh," she utters flatly, clearly unconvinced. "So, hypothetically, if someone were looking to bust in, maybe break a few things, get a few kidnapping victims safely out... what do you suppose they'd need to know?" Sure, she might be showing a little too much of her hand here... but Rita doubts Greg's going to rat her out to the Rose Queen when he's already this nervous about his own deeds being found out. If anything, it looks like they could both benefit from the Summer Court being brought down a few pegs.

Greg hesitates a moment, anxious. Not just over being not-quite-found out, but this girl's attitude. He gets the feeling she's ready to put herself in some serious trouble.

"Ahh jeez. Look--take a seat on the couch, would you? Away from..." He gestures with the little gun at his work table, which she's already messed with plenty. "You want something to drink? I hear breaking and entering works up a real sweat."

Here in urban fantasy Portland, we brew only the finest, most organic of magical drama, that's why.

In any case, the vines tightening brings him short of pulling one off his other arm and the ones grabbing ahold of his legs actually get a cringe, teeth clenched against the pain. Good god, it's like death by a thousand obnoxious pinpricks. He looks up from the vines, back to Steven.

"That's something I won't be able to do if you end up crippling me before I can try," Childermass answers through his teeth, finally sounding strained over outright calm. Even his patience has a limit, even if he suspects it'll still hold out longer than Steven can carry on lashing out like this.

Edited 2017-07-21 22:59 (UTC)

All things considered, his visible discomfort isn't too surprising a reaction. Greg knows how powerful the Rose Queen is, probably even better than Rita does.

She raises an eyebrow at the offer, then shrugs, seemingly accepting. She steps forward... then stops, exchanging a wary look with the dog. Giving both the pup and its owner a wide berth, she walks around and sits down on the couch. "I'll have whatever." Rita's not picky, and Greg doesn't seem like the poisoning type. If anything, it's a bit audacious of her to start acting like a guest after breaking in, but Rita's not easily shamed.

[Ugh. See, this is why he didn't want to leave the house! But he was also getting the worst cabin fever, going from home to school and back home again with no other activities was driving him a little batty. And on top of that, the bar where he worked had suddenly closed -- it seemed like Renzophan had just up and disappeared... Maybe Anath had something to do with it?

Either way, his status as a half-demon seemed like something important, and now, he'd been cornered by a group of wizards. They have him backed against a wall, and one of them is holding his tail, preventing his escape]

Look. I don't want any trouble. But if you guys don't let me go, I might have to make some.

[cabin fever was driving Rin mad. Even though it was dangerous, even though he technically had the protection of Anath's group, some of the wizards, fae, and other various jerks around the city were out for blood. Specifically, some sort of half-human blood. Not that he knew that, specifically.

But you know, most wizards can't fly. He's not supposed to, it attracts too much attention. But you know what? Fuck that. Rin had some steam to blow off and weird memories to sort through. He flies over the river, watching his reflection in the water and thinking it's somehow... wrong. Different than it should be.

There's a bridge coming up, though, and Rin ascends to as to not run into it... And he sees a lone person on the bridge. Someone... he recognizes?

He puts on the airbrakes and turns his upward and forward momentum into a backwards loop, landing on the bridge near the girl]

I hope you're not thinking about jumping.

HEH!? [Well. That's not something she expected to hear at all. Carly is still buzzing internally trying to parse what various memories mean-not to mention earlier sacrificial horrors-but the bluntness of the question jars her from those thoughts, and for a moment at least, she can be her 'old self'.] J-Ju-

I'm definitely not doing that..!!! I've got plenty to live for still..! [She. ...She thinks.]

[Rin smiles, a surprisingly bright and human looking emotion on such a reptilian face]

Good! I was going to have to tell you that life is worth living, and that you're special, and people will miss you!

[Rin sits on the edge of the bridge, looking down into the water]

.... You seem familiar. Do you go to college here in town?

Heh? College?! [These tiny aspects of the questions just keep keeping her on that less than upset path...of course, when it comes to less human traits, that mixed memory thing has her a little numb to it, but it's better that she not chase that rabbit hole.

For now-a giddy smile.] I'm no longer in college, actually~! I already graduated!!

[Also-] Hmnnn, but how would you have known all those things if I was going to jump off...you'd have gotten really stuck there, I bet...

"Round two'll happen later," Strange sighs. Because Rita's right. They've attracted attention and Strange knows he isn't the most popular person around. The last thing he needs is someone barging in to get him in trouble. And the Rose Queen's brat probably isn't even here to begin with.

It's odd. He knows that he hates Rita. But at the same time, this was the most fun he's had in ages. So though he hates her, he can't hate her that much? Who knows. This is yet another oddity in the month full of oddities that Strange has absolutely no idea how to deal with.

"Until then," Strange says, with a nod, as he starts to head for the Sanctuary exit.

"It's something a demon would do." Blue doesn't sound ashamed of it, it's just how things were. "I admit I don't know a lot about the things fae get up to, but if I can think of it.."

Probably someone else has done it. And if this faerie really wanted to keep tabs on Steven, bugging something she knew he'd always have with him made perfect sense!

But that's not really something little boys should be having to worry about. Rin at his age was as carefree and playful as she'd ever seen a normal human be, and this.. wasn't that simple joy in living a kid should have.

"I don't know a lot about it myself, but I know someone who does. Why don't we see about getting you some breakfast and I'll make a couple phonecalls. We can find out if your little friend is bugged or not pretty quick."

In theory.

The attack on the circle could have gone... better. The Angels certainly had the power behind them, and Yuya trusted their cause more than anyone else, but all it took was a quick opportunity and they lost the artifact to a bird.

Obviously they'd need to regroup. Make a new plan. Something Yuya hadn't stuck around for, given he was barely useful for the whole ordeal. Really, how does a human stand up against awe-inspiring, powerful angels?

It's just as well, though, because it just means he's prepared and full of enough adrenaline to still help Rita. He expects that will be a much less easy fight, and since the Summer Court was already in the fray having tried to acquire the artifact--it was opportune.

So it catches Yuya off guard when he gets an urgent text to meet Lambert. Yuya responds back and works out meeting only a block away from where the rest of them would be taking the trip into the Rose Queen's realm. There was time for everyone to catch up, but Yuya doesn't want to chance delaying anything if he needs to catch up quickly.

He's already waiting there, an iron crowbar resting against his shoulder as he leans against the wall. He offers Lambert a short wave. "Hey--what's up?"

[Well that doesn't look like a peaceful chat. Yuya, being nosy, makes his way straight for the group--He's not sure if Rin is a changeling or not but really, it doesn't matter--he's cornered, and Gon's already given Yuya some sort of idea how brutal the wizard police are being.]

You shouldn't grab people like that. [He frowns.] What's going on?

He shrugs one shoulder. He feels kind of embarrassed, but still happy. You'd think he'd be used to this considering how many random people he made out with on a regular basis, but holding hands wasn't making out and Ginko wasn't some rando.

"You seem... anxious." He says glancing away briefly. It was true too. The demon wasn't the best at reading people, but pacing was a pretty clear indication of anxious energy in anyone. He looks back to Ginko, smiling weakly. "And I kind of just wanted to do it... Is that alright?"

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⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 3

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if this is where this au is heading count me ooout

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OUT OF PORTLAND, OUT OF OREGON, I WOULDN'T HANG ABOUT

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Rescue A

bridge!

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Closed to Lambert [end of the week]

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