lostcarnival | ⇨ 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

While Sans hesitates over his answer, Lambert's attention is turned to the windows, slightly twitchy expression crossing his face as he scans the empty street. Almost like he's expecting trouble, really...

But then Sans speaks up, and that's enough to draw Lambert's attention back to him, frowning.

"You too?" It's a guess, and if it's correct, that really is worrying. "I didn't think angels even needed to sleep."

"We don't," he says, and tips his cup in Lambert's direction. "Remember how I said that thing about being drugged?" That, and sleeping is a fun recreational activity. "S'not really dreams, though. Not what I've experienced. It's more like memories."

He sets down his coffee after mysteriously pouring some through his teeth.

"Could be the same for you."

Watching a skeleton drink is incredibly creepy and Lambert's going to avert his eyes, focusing on what he's saying instead.

"Yeah." He exhales sharply, glancing down, then looks up again, looking Sans dead in the eye, clasping his hands loosely on the table. "What have you been remembering?"

Sans privately enjoys creeping people out, especially people like Lambert. So there's a bit of an actual chuckle, at that aversion of eyes.

"Remembering being from somewhere else, mostly," he says, with a bland kind of despair. "Some place way worse."

Which might actually be a real, so, that sucks.

Lambert's seen some shit, recently, give him a break. Uncharacteristically for his time working at the cafe, he's wearing a hoodie, moving his left arm a bit more stiffly than the right.

"Apparently my subconscious is convinced that I used to be some kind of serial killer," Lambert answers, dryly. Serial monster killer is more accurate, but less catchy. He wouldn't normally be this straightforward, but it's been just that kind of week, and what the fuck, Sans is an angel of death or whatever. He's seen way worse than whatever Lambert can dream up.

"What about you?"

Edited 2017-07-18 20:39 (UTC)

Ha ha, except, Sans takes him seriously, and the difference between those two things is very relevant. His gaze is settled on Lambert heavily and analytically, for the moment.

"That so?" he prompts. Given that he has reason to believe that strange memories may actually be accurate in this scenario... it's not really a threat, but it isn't totally not a threat, either.

He's not going to make any moves based on someone's possible former life, but he's probably judging you.

"Well... it wasn't that."

Edited 2017-07-18 20:43 (UTC)

Lambert doesn't meet Sans' eyes. He's an angel of death, isn't he? He wonders if he can tell that Lambert's already killed, and not all that long ago at that, right in the alley behind the damn cafe while the angel was otherwise occupied, somehow ... yet when he'd finally summoned the courage to even look back there, not a trace of John's sister remained.

It would all so easy to dismiss that as a dream, too, if it weren't for the wounds under his hoodie sleeves.

"What was it, then?"

Actually, he sort of can. Of course, with only one death it's something he has to actually look for... but now that he's been given prompting, he can sense the essence of a recent death still staining someone's soul. That isn't always because of murder, but it means you were close to a soul passing on.

He sinks his hands into his pockets, leaning back against his chair, affecting a sort of detachment from the subject.

"Hell, probably," he says. He doesn't know how else to describe it. "On the receiving end."

There's a bit of a pause as Lambert digests that.

"That," he says eventually, "Was the vaguest answer I've heard in a while." He tips his head, narrowing his eyes at Sans.

"Coulda have been more vague," Sans points out, shooting Lambert a finger gun. "I coulda just stopped at the 'hell' part and been done with it." He's not sure what Lambert is taking away from that, but he's not sure he really wants to talk about it either. Lambert is fine and all, but he's not exactly a confidante.

"But, I guess there's some other stuff, too. Just feelin' like things are familiar, or weird, or whatever. More than usual, anyway. Makes a guy thankful for the life he's livin' right now, huh?"

He'd always thought that maybe being a psychopomp was a bum deal. It wasn't until whether or not he even was one got called into question that he wished that things could just go back to normal again.

It's unlikely Lambert would know what to say to that, either. He's not a champion at comforting anyone, and Sans isn't exactly one of his sisters to be soothed by folding their animal form close in his arms.

"Thankful..." He pauses to think about that, then laughs shortly. "Yeah, I guess so." With everything about the life he's built here suddenly thrown into doubt, every moment suddenly seems that much more precious.

"What I can remember... doesn't seem like there's that much to be grateful for there."

"Nah," he agrees, following Lambert's gaze to the window. He leans on a hand, trying to think things over rationally. It's weird how mundane this is capable of feeling to him - talking to people about shattered memories of other times. There's a story there, too, he's sure.

"What kind of freak show is this that pretty much everyone I know is having the same problem? Heh." His laugh is dark. "Even worse, that feeling like everything is some kind of lie is actually a valid impression to have. Sources suggest that some 'outsiders' ended up being trapped in this world, and I met a guy claiming he was one of them. Full memories of wherever he came from, but nothing from a life here. Woke up in the body and life of an angel with no context for being there."

Sans taps his fingers on the table.

"Tell me how much sense that makes."

"No damn sense at all," Lambert snorts, sounding equally cynical. He wears the stress worse than Sans in some ways, but then again, humans are adaptable. However, what Sans says is interesting enough to make him perk up a little.

"Same thing happened to me. Sort of. Some guy showed up at the cafe knew my name, called me a Nightrider." He rests his arms against the table, only to wince and shift, taking his weight off his injury again. His brow is knitted in frustration, but there's something subdued in his expression, all the same. At this point, he hasn't yet had that conversation with Strange, so he's hasn't gotten the idea of how widespread this phenomenon really is...

"So what's the theory? That people like you and me--" He gestures derisively between them, and admittedly, it's ridiculous: do they have anything in common at all? "--are both cuckoos in the nest or something? Like changelings, but for this world?"

⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 3

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fff you edited right before I clicked reply

i've been so edit-happy with my tags this week SORRY

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