⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 3

[ringleaders]

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.

Comments

[periphrasing]

Peridot starts to open her mouth to exclaim some sort of surprise, but. No. You know what? On top of everything else that's been happening lately? Giant faerie crows barely ping the "weirdness" meter anymore.

"...Did you win?" is all she asks instead.

Important questions.

[whattaprick]

"Wouldn't be standing here if I didn't," Lambert says, looking down and away. This is the last thing he wants to be talking about now, and it shows, the way he draws his arm in again to himself and hunches in. The worst part about all of that was how natural it had felt, in the moment. The guilt had only come after -- and he's not sure he's ready to tell Peridot about that either.

"It's dead." Easier if she holds that image in her mind, Lambert up against an oversized bird, instead of her brother sinking a knife into some woman's throat. "But there might be more out there, looking for him."

[whattaprick]

Hold on one damn minute.

"The Summer Court does? How do you know that?" Lambert asks sharply, stepping forward to loom over Strange on the couch, all the aggression he's been keeping in check rushing to the forefront now.

[kingsroads]

Ah. Whoops. It's amazing how a grown man can sink into the couch so much. Strange is trying his hardest to seem like he's got everything under control and he's not scared of Lambert in the slightest. But honestly? Yeah, he's a little bit scared of Lambert.

"I know that because I've made an alliance with them," Strange simply responds, trying to force as much bravado into his voice as possible. "I've been in contact with the court ever since the start of the month."

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

So long as he looked comfortable with the situation, Zecora had no complaints. She followed them in, a professional but sincere smile on her face as she shut the door behind them.

Maybe, she thought, she ought to get some sort of sealed lead plating for her exam walls. When she was rich. Ha!

"I think I have heard a little of this situation, but I'd like to hear in your own words what brings you to me."

[whattaprick]

Strange may find it comforting how easy the couch is to sink into, broken in by many enthusiastic jumps (it wasn't brand new when they got it) as it is. Of course, short of phasing directly through it like a ghost, he isn't actually going to succeed in melting through it, so he just has to deal with the full weight of Lambert's stare of disbelief.

Of course, in retrospect, it all makes sense. Strange knows a lot about faeries. Knows about binding and contracts. He'd been disdainful of the idea of contracting with demons, but he'd held the contract with faeries in high regard.

For a moment, his hands clenching into fists at his side, Lambert looks like he really does want to hit Strange again. Somehow, he manages to reel it in, though he grits his teeth and gets out the question word by painstaking word. "An alliance on what terms?"

[kingsroads]

Congrats Lambert, you are succeeding at scaring the shit out of Strange. He looks like he wants to be anywhere but here and looks around the room in a skittish manner, like he'll somehow miraculously find a distraction that he can use to escape this line of questioning.

"Initially, the alliance involved me using the resources of the Circle to help find out more information on a question the Summer Court had. But now that I've left the Circle, the alliance consists of me helping out the fae in whatever way possible. We both want the Severing broken, after all, and I can do things and go places where they fae can't."

Most notably, the Sanctuary, now firmly shut off from the Rose Queen and her forces but not warded against nosy human mages.

[espigeon]

"Sans." There is the faintest suggestion of disbelief in his voice. "I've been the Dove of God's presence on Earth since... since..." Iuliael's memory has, since the Severing, always been terrible. As a conduit for the Dove he'd never needed his own memory.

It gets fuzzier the farther back he goes, and pre-Severing is a vague tangled lint of impressions laced with holy conviction and anger and judgement, but some things loom solid in it, things that last. Iuliael searches, and finds something. The very first thing he can actually recall.

Eyes distant, he says in a dreamy voice, "It was new. Three peoples of the humans had come together on the shore and shaped the mud into huts around a sacred place, and they stayed there. They built the mud into a home for Ninhursag and gave worship. Later they called this Eridu, and four thousand souls lived there. A city." He gazes into the distant past, remembering again the wonder and uncertainty of it, and is totally distracted from the conversation or, even, where he actually is now.

[spaghettimonster]

Papyrus complains to his captors that he's having strange dreams, between the skeleton war, the circus mutants, and the bloody burning tree, and ask if they can fix the wards to have something that stops bad dreams.

[periphrasing]

That, she doesn't like. And it's a lot harder to joke about. The implication that it was more than just a fight, it was a life or death situation.

"You wouldn't be standing here?" she says incredulously. "And... You killed it.
Jesus Lambert..."

She exhales, folding her arms over her chest and frowning at him. "Geez. Maybe there's more to those monster killing dreams than you realize."

[osteothropy]

Sans just stares at him, his eyes half lidded. He basically gets what Iuliael is babbling about, but that isn't the point.

"It was a rhetorical question, pal. None of us on earth are young enough to have had cellphones in our mortal lives."

[fortuneglass]

[Hmmm. Well, in that case, she texts back something rather simple.]

I guess it's a good thing then, that even the demons want it cone.

I wish I knew that earlier [She ends up typing, the message sending before she can erase it.]

[whattaprick]

The funniest thing in all of this, really, is that it isn't even the first time he's saved that stupid bird's life.

"Yeah, I think I figured that much out." He doesn't seem to have much else to say to add to that. He definitely, totally killed someone and it wasn't fun. Not much else to add to that.

"... Anyway, that kind of thing's been happening a lot recently. So make sure you keep iron on you." It might just be possible, though, that weird shit only happens to Lambert to this degree.

[periphrasing]

You've been hanging out with a changeling, Lambert. Of course the weird fae shit keeps happening to you.

"You should really try and learn some defensive magic if you're going to keep getting into situations like this," Peridot suggests blandly. This whole situation is... well it's screwed up, and she's irked with Lambert for not saying anything, sooner, but. It's done and over-with. Not worth getting into a screaming match over.

[whattaprick]

"You really think I can learn something like that in a few days?" Lambert looks super unsure about that suggestion. He's been watching Peridot try her hand at it for a while now, and it's pretty clear to him that magic is more complicated than waving a hand and hoping for a good outcome.

[mylastchance]

[He actually wasn't expecting that sort of response. It trips him up. For a moment he sort of just looks at her in surprise before he realizes he's supposed to be making this 'quick.' The only problem is, this isn't really a quick type of explanation. In fact, it was the kind of situation that was hard to explain even without any sort of impetus.]

Quick, right. Quick. Okay.

There's a carnival that travels to a bunch of different worlds, and we were part of that together. As in, we were both in it, not like we were dating or anything because we weren't. But yeah, that's where I know you from.

[Oh my god this was already a fucking disaster.]

I can't prove it, but it's real.

[insidescoop]

[An important question is coming to mind-and it's not about the carnival (What) or the different worlds (Wow), not that part at all. It's more...

Her face screws with confusion, and she rapidly blinks some sense into herself before asking the only question dwelling-]

...Why would dating matter..?! Why would anyone think that from 'together' here..!?

[mylastchance]

Well! It just might distress someone! If they thought that they didn't remember someone and they were dating! So it's not that kind of together, that's all I meant.

[insidescoop]

Well now I am wondering, because you brought it up!!

[This sort of turn in the road somehow feels familiar-] And anyway, you aren't really coming off as romantic, so it feels more like I'm the one with a problem..!! What would be wrong with dating me!?

[mylastchance]

[For the love of-!]

Dating you wouldn't be terrible! You're really hot and nice! You can turn into a cute small bird thing, but that's really not the point.

[FUCK HE WAS TALKING TO MUCH HE NEEDED TO STOP.]

We've been stuck here for like two weeks and I still have no idea what's going on.

[insidescoop]

A b-

Since when could I do that, all I can do is light things on fire..!! And it's really hard to put that out, too!!

[Points are being Missed.] AND I'M PROBABLY TAKEN ANYWAY!!! [She adds even louder, despite not really having any proof.] Mngghhh...

If you don't know what's going on though, then what are you doing...

[flashover]

Ahhh? What, really?! You're that old?! [a pause, then he gestures wildly] I UH!! WAIT! I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT! I just... I'm not sure where I would have seen you before, otherwise.

[a pause, and a shrug] Nah. Because those are things that are true for pretty much everyone. It's just that sometimes, people forget. [he flares his wings] I woulda caught you anyway.

[insidescoop]

[She just pouts.] Mmnnhhouuu, now you've just negated the compliment...

[But...Ahhhh...she smiles a little softly, looking back at the water.] Ahh...I guess that's true, isn't it... ...That everyone's having trouble, one way or another...

Though, it's really good of you that you'd do that..!! ...I'd have appreciated it, I think...

[flashover]

[One of the wizard cops, the one holding onto Rin's tail, looks back at the interloper and gives the tail a yank. Rin cries out in pain]

It's none of your business, kid. This boy is a half-demon, and we're taking him back with us.

I didn't agree to any of this!!

[flashover]

[Rin has been missing class an alarming amount lately. Some days, he just... doesn't know who he is. Is he Rin Fujimoto, half demon? Or is he this other kid... an exorcist in training?]

Hey, man. Sorry I haven't really been around. [he offers a smile, one that actually seems genuine! It's warm, and pleasant, and Rin is SOOO good at faking being ok.] How have you been doin', bro?