⇨ 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 opens her mouth with the intention of saying something like, how could you forget something like that, but. She realizes as she does, that she doesn't remember any of that either.

"It's not just the carnival that I remember," she says, hastily steering away from that awkward subject. "There's other things too... A different Earth... Something about a barn...?" She wraps her arms around herself, shivering. "My whole life I've had these memories that I've never been able to place logically along the timeline of my existence. And I think I'm starting to understand why..."

[whattaprick]

"Your whole life?" Awkward subject or not, Lambert's just going to hone in on that, brows furrowing. "You've never said anything about that before."

If she expects him to be any use on the subject though, she'll have to live with the disappointment: Lambert can't contribute jack shit there.

[periphrasing]

"Of course I never said anything, how in the world would you have expected me to explain that!?" Peridot snaps. She immediately looks rather guilty for going off on him like that, though, and sighs, glancing away once more.

"It was already weird enough that I turned out to be part bat. I wasn't going to complicate matters further by bringing up something so... I don't know. Abstract? Inexplicable?"

[whattaprick]

Well, she's not wrong about that. If she'd brought it up a few years ago, Lambert would've been seriously worried about her mental health... he unfolds his arms, wincing as he shakes them out.

"... I guess I wouldn't have believed you then, either." He exhales. "This month, I've been having these ... dreams, or flashbacks. About being some kind of monster killer. Doesn't really make any sense, but they feel less like dreams and more like memories."

A beat, and then more awkwardly: "You and Miko... haven't shown up in any of them." Whether that's a good thing or a bad, he doesn't know, but he is relieved he isn't having fucked up dreams about killing werebats and weredogs, at least.

[periphrasing]

"Well that's a little bit concerning, considering that both of your sisters are basically monsters," she says bluntly, with a snort.

Pause. Her eyes narrow when he flinches, honing in on that like a hawk. "Why do you keep wincing like that?" Peridot says with suspicion. "Did you injure yourself or something?"

Sorry Lambert this discussion is important but also Peridot is nosy and sometimes too perceptive for her own good.

[whattaprick]

Why can't Peridot's shitty eyesight extend to her human form, honestly? When she points it out, Lambert only flinches again, drawing his left arm to himself and biting his lip. The urge to lie -- to protect his family by keeping information strictly need-to-know -- rises again, but it's gotten clear that Peridot fully intends to involve herself in this nonsense one way or another.

"I got into a fight," he says, shortly. He doesn't want to discuss the consequences of it. "It's fine, I got it fixed up. Arm's a little sore, that's all."

[periphrasing]

Technically it does, but. That's what she wears glasses for.

"You got into a fight?" Her nose wrinkles. The suspicious squinting intensifies. "With who? And what for?"

[whattaprick]

Answering questions only ever leads to more questions, that's the trouble.

"A giant crow," Lambert says, knowing that makes absolutely no sense. "From the Winter Court. It was attacking a friend."

[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."

[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."

[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.

[periphrasing]

"...Probably not," she admits, "but. It can't hurt to try, right? Or maybe I can look into enchanting some things for you... Loathe as I am to admit to any lack of knowledge, I do have a contact who's a much more... (ugh). Experienced magician than I am. I could get in touch with him."

[whattaprick]

It's funny Peridot mentions that kind of thing, because Lambert still hasn't given back Strange's books, oops. "... I borrowed a book about that kind of stuff from a guy. Maybe you can take a look and see if any of it's actually useful."

[periphrasing]

She brightens up significantly at that. "A book? Like, spell tomes?" Be still, her beating heart. "Why didn't you say something sooner?! Such a resource would be incalculably helpful in aiding my research!"