lostcarnival | ⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4

Entry tags:

⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4

Who: Anyone, anywhere in Portland.
When: October 22nd - 31st, 2017
Where: In Portland, for the last time.
What: The seasons change as the Winter Court seizes a surprise victory, claiming both the Tree of Life's pendant and the blood catalyst needed to take control of the Severing Ritual. Meanwhile, interdimensional problems are about to get more weird. Check out the conflict results for the attack on the Circle as well as the Beast's attack on the Summer Court here.
Warnings: Individually marked!

DAYS OF WINTER↴

As the end of October nears, so does the grasp of winter. On the night of the 22nd, it will freeze overnight, and the temperature will drop for the following days. As the night grow long, world-wide magic slowly reaches it apex, set to reach it on the night of Halloween. With so many factors at play, knowing what to do with that moment of power may be a challenge.

► FULL CIRCLE: The Angels succeed in their planned attack on the Circle, managing to get to the living quarters of the Council members with the help of Ashleigh Mischief. The plan goes without much resistance from the mages or from the demons attempting to claim the ritual object for their own. Of course, when the fae make a surprise attack on the Angels after they flee the scene, it has the surprise result of the Winter Court ended up with the pendant in their talons. Threads for this attack can be done in this log. If you need mod direction at all, let us know, but otherwise feel free to NPC demons, angels, or random Circle members as you require.

► THE QUEEN'S GARDEN: Realizing that the Rose Queen is distracted with attempting to claim the pendant, the Beast will summon her co-conspirators to raid the Queen's gardens. The ultimate plan seems to be to get the Beast far enough into the gardens to kill the Queen, while also rescuing as many changelings as possible along the way. As it turns out, this doesn't go well. While they do manage to penetrate the gardens with Childermass's help, the Rose Queen, Ignatius, and Nightshade happen to all be there. Seriously outnumbered, even by the Beast's terms, it will take everything the group has to just make it out alive, sustaining heavy injuries as they go. In the end they will manage to rescue Greg universe and four additional changelings that were imprisoned there, but any damage done to the Summer Court itself will be negligible. Threads for this can also be played out here!

► REFLECTIONS: As the ritual draws closer, the line between this reality and the one you came from will also be becoming less clear. Regaining memories is not required, but it will naturally become easier to occur, especially if you're already started receiving them. It's a good time to start making connections, while you still have the chance.

► THE SEVERING: One way or another, the Severing is going to make an impact on both this world and the lives of those trapped inside of it. The Angels are going to be making an attempt to interrupt the Winter Court's ritual, as will the Summer Court and Anath's forces. Whoever comes up on top will be the ones to decide what to be done with it. Yet, with news that the Severing continuing could cause irreversible damage to the planet's spirit, it could feel like there are no perfect options. There will be an event header put up for this by the mods closer to the end of July.

(NOTE: canon powers will returning while the ritual is in progress, so keep that in mind for planning - both sets of powers will be active.)

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

"There's always sides. That's politics." Ash's raw exasperation briefly won out over anger and paranoia. "But more than that -- there's a war brewing, for the fate of the Severing."

"What...!?" Yuya tries to calm her, but his explanation doesn't quite reassure Rita.

"That's not the only problem here! How can you just volunteer for something like that? Do you even know what happens to the catalyst!?" Rita... doesn't, really, but she assumes it won't be good.

Looks like Yuya's only now starting to see what kind of jerk Strange is. Rita's tempted to say she told him so, but that's probably not necessary.

Lambert has a point... or two. Rita sighs, her shoulders sagging, then sets the book down. It's true... for some reason, his concern for Childermass did seem oddly genuine. And it would be nice if the alliance they made didn't turn out to be a complete waste of time. Without a word, she abruptly storms off into the kitchen, but soon returns with a bowl full of water. It sloshes around as she sets it on the coffee table, unconcerned about a little spilling.

"I can use this to try and find him," she explains, perhaps belatedly, then holds her hands over the water, closes her eyes, and begins an incantation. When Rita moves her hands away, the water swirls on its own, and as it grows still, it begins to display an image, something dark and cloudy.

It looks like, perhaps, the image was supposed to grow clearer, maybe even actually show Strange, but no matter how long they wait, it remains just that: dark and cloudy.

"Yes? Miss Pru explained it to me, I know what I have to do," Yuya raises a brow, a little put off. Give him some credit, he's not completely careless. "That's why I don't want John or anyone else to be forced to do it." He frowns.

"And not everyone can be the catalyst, because you have to be related to the caster. I want to help. I don't want anything to happen to this place, but... I also want to go home. I have to go home."

To his family, his friends, to Yuzu... he made a promise they'd return together, and how could he break that just because he was too scared of doing something dangerous to go home? His memories were still spotty, but somehow... this doesn't even feel like the worst he could go through just to get back to them.

"No, I didn't." Yuya balls up the note and throws it back on the table. He better have grown a conscious, because that's just beyond what Yuya can tolerate from a friend.

He lets out a short breath before he turns to Rita as he attempts to scry for him. It doesn't mean anything if they don't find Strange, after all. He leans over, waiting for it to clear up.

"Uh, it's not doing anything." Obviously.

"You won't-- what?"

Taako pauses for a beat, and then preps himself for whatever crazy shit Foster is about to say by way of taking a deep swig of wine, swallowing it quickly before he can speak.

Yuya's way ahead of him on the "learning about the fate of the world" curve, but Tamaki at least knows enough to get the gist of the current situation.

"Mm, I mean..." He looks down at his own ghostly form as though considering. "I don't think I'm from this world. Like, maybe this "me" is dead, but it's not the real me?"

He looks back at Yuya, like maybe he understands all that nonsense. "I remembered my mom. I remembered her dying. But she's not in the earth spirit. She should be there, if she died here."

At this point, Lambert's had to fill in enough people that the explanation rolls off his tongue easily enough.

"All of that is because they were trying to take control of the Severing -- the spell that's cutting off all the supernatural beings in this world from where they came from." Lambert pauses to adjust his glasses then stops, irritated, when he remembers they'd gotten broken and aren't there anymore. Some reflexes are hard to overcome. Like he didn't experience that brief narrative hurdle, he continues:

"Right now, the Winter Court have all the parts they need for a spell which they're probably going to try and cast on Halloween. Which would be a bad thing, by the way, since in case you didn't know who they are, they're even shittier than the regular fae." A beat. "Also, everyone with a weird soul might or might not be from a different world or something." The idea looks like it makes him deeply uncomfortable. He doesn't like thinking about that part at all.

"Not--" Yuya lights up. Wait, if Gongenzaka could be undead here, but not in that other life... couldn't Tamaki be the same?

"So your memories let you walk around freely?" Maybe the Severing's magic has less of a hold on them as they remember things. "You don't happen to remember a carnival too, do you?"

[ Funny, he thought more people already knew about that... ]

It's a spell that's keeping this world separate from wherever all the faeries, angels, and demons used to come from. The Circle set it up, but it's draining the Earth Spirit's strength.

Are you planning to go after them?

The effort is appreciated, but ultimately there's really only so much you can do to avoid hitting someone on the back of a monster you're lobbing fireballs at. Still, Rita's at least going to succeed in making the beast falter, stumbling heavily -- which unfortunately, means flinging Lambert off it and over its head, tearing the poker out of the thing's back as he goes.

Luckily, as he goes tumbling head over heels, that strange sensation of muscle memory kicks in again. He's not as strong as he should be (and he doesn't know why he knows that) but he manages to tuck himself into a ball and roll without loosing his grip on the iron. Eventually, he manages to land in a crouch beside her, and risks glancing over.

"Thanks." However, it doesn't address the fact that there's still a thing in front of them, now getting back to its feet properly, the vines around its mouth rippling as it roars its fury.

I know what the Severing is! [She didn't know it hurt the Earth Spirit, though...] I just never thought some changeling could be used for something like that.

And of course I'm going after them! If they undo the Severing, this whole world's going to be screwed up when more fae come pouring in.

Who the hell is Miss Pru? Rita's tempted to ask, but that's not the most important detail right now.

"So you've decided that the other world's your home now?" she asks in an accusatory tone.

As harsh as she sounds, though... Rita has been discovering more and more memories of her own, especially in those two days she spent bedridden, drifting in and out of dreams. She remembered someone... a person she should never have forgotten. Is that person still out there, waiting for her somewhere? If she is... would that mean that place is Rita's real home?

But every fiber of her being is resistant to the idea of having a real home at all. Rita struggled so hard to find a place in this world... How could that be fake? How could it be for nothing?

Does everyone with magic just never use keys like the other plebes? Lambert considers clarifying the remark, but ultimately decides it's a waste of breath.

After only a moment of hesitation, Lambert steps inside. The apartment is still going to make his nose wrinkle, averting his head instinctively. This time, however, he'll stride (hobble) over to the nearest window -- hopefully, it fucking opens -- to crack it open and let some of the breeze in.

"Tell me what you've been able to find out so far. All of it," he adds, frowning.

For better or worse, at least this is a result Lambert's seen before, or something like it.

"He's probably somewhere warded," is his guess, lips tightening. They'd gotten similar results, attempting to look for Childermass. There's an ashtray on the counter, and Lambert stiffly hobbles to it, leaning his hip against him for support while he fishes a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of the inside of his jacket.

"So, wherever he is, it's not going to be easy to get to him," he says, tapping out one into his palm and sticking it between his lips, though he doesn't start smoking just yet. "Any other ideas?"

"Of course it's my home!" Yuya snaps back defensively. "I know my memories are real. My family and my friends are there, so I'm going back to them!"

It wasn't even just a want anymore. He made a promise, he had to go back. To Yuzu, and mom, dad, everyone else... He's collected so many memories of people he loves now, how could he not want them back?

Strange just walks in like it's perfectly fine and he can't smell any of the terrible fumes that are just blanketing the apartment. While Lambert goes to the window, Strange goes to the kitchen as he flicks on an electric kettle.

"Most of what I know I've already told you. The Severing is a ritual cast by the Circle twenty five years ago to cut off the realms of faerie, heaven, and hell from Earth. Something happened and recently, the spell's weakened--I think that 'something happened' is our arrival, by the way. The spell to break the Severing involves a magical pendant as well as a catalyst, someone who was brought here from a different world entirely and has a blood relationship to the spellcaster. Currently, the Winter Court is in possession of both of those items, the catalyst being our friend John Childermass. The actual ritual itself will most likely happen on Halloween."

Is that it? Strange pauses for a moment as he gets a pair of kind of ugly thrift store mugs down from the cabinet, thinking things over. There's probably something he's forgotten (there usually is). "Oh, and we're all probably from a different universe that has something to do with carnivals. By the way, chamomile, dandelion root, or my personal herbal blend?" Because look, this is going to probably take a while, Strange is at least making some tea for himself.

He lets the dragon race pass - no way to take that out on his own, he'll leave her to the other true fae. He just looks after.

He's a little different. His glamour is down, wings spread behind his ripped shirt. There are vines, thorny vines, wrapped around his hands, and the fire that makes up his hair has taken on a greenish tinge. All signs of his failure to resist, to hold out for long. His failure to escape again. But he's still recognizable, he's still Axel.

Mostly.

He turns as he hears another person approaching, and he steps out, eyes narrowed, at first anyway. But they widen with shock as he sees who's burning the garden. "Rita? You... you shouldn't... Be here."

She wrinkles her snout skeptically; the worst of his injuries aren't on the surface, but she can surmise that something more is wrong with him, considering his behavior at the moment.

"Are you even capable of walking right now? I mean, I can change back and assist, but you kind of look like you have all the structural integrity of a heap of loosely stacked gravel," Peridot says bluntly.

At that, Peridot glances over at the rest of the crowd in the alley, all mingling and muttering among themselves. He's right, of course. She makes an irritated noise and folds her arms at her chest, gaze flicking back to the changeling once more.

"Fine. For the sake of practicality, I'll save the hexing for after this ridiculously ill-advised mission is completed. In the meantime, you should thank me for my incredible self-restraint by identifying yourself. Assuming you have an identity beyond just, 'magical doorman'."

Papyrus' eyebrows raise at the reference to the Severing. He's heard of it, recognizes the reference, but in that distantly informative way. As though it was something that happened to other people, far away, where it'll never impact him nor he impact it.

"So they weren't lying. And Sans said similar things as well... Wow." He shakes his head, looking around them at the neighborhood of seemingly perfectly normal humans, without any crazy magical things going on. "Back in the sunlight, it's hard to believe any of this is real. Let alone, figure out what to do with it? Halloween is so close. What can we do about the Winter Court?"

Of course nothing can ever go smoothly. Of course.

Joker can't be too surprised when the Fae suddenly spring upon them once they've gotten the pendant. If the mages and demons had wanted this thing so bad, then of course the local fae would want it too. Aggravated, he darts through the air, body a strange blur of light with no features save wings. Yet when a spell suddenly goes tearing through the air, he jolts in surprise. What the hell, they were supposed to be done with mages-

And then he sees who it is and, somehow, he just can't be surprised.

Getting past the flurry of spells is clearly going to be a difficult task- so Joker decides to just not bother. Instead, twisting through the air, he does his best to find somewhere out of sight- both easier and harder than one would think in the chaos- and goes back to his more human appearance. (His true appearance, a part of him says, and is only a little confused about.) Ducking and weaving through the mess, he calls out to the mage. "Oi! What're ya doin' here!?"

Hopefully no one told Strange about what Joker really is. He's counting on it for the surprise, if nothing else.

Iuliael is singing again. Well. Joker supposes he can't be that surprised.

Tired, out of his mind a bit, and worse for the wear, Joker approaches the other angel (are either of them really?) and flops down to sit besides him. "So," he says, "that was a bloody mess, in all meanings."

Pumpkin would have happily responded to that summons, too, if Lambert hadn't just arrested her progress. As things are, she just sits politely in his arms and stares curiously at Strange, panting exuberantly and still wagging her tail at mile a minute. But why is she not allowed to receive the pets?

Peridot completely ignores the weird custody battle the two of them are having over the affections of her dog, and glances back and forth between both men. How peculiar. Lambert hadn't mentioned anything about Strange, even during all their 'real talks' of sharing information, so she's just as surprised to find out that they both know each other already.

It kind of shakes up the calm, professional air she was trying to put on in the presence of guests. Plus, there's just.... a lot to unpack here. "Stars," she mutters with annoyance, and she can definitely feel gem Peridot taking the reins here for the moment; she briefly rubs two fingers at the center of her forehead where the gem in question should be, a reflexive gesture of stress.

"Allow me to address all points in order: Yes, Lambert is correct that I do know about the "magical nonsense". By that token, I'm glad to hear that you're no longer with the Circle, since I've actually really lost my taste for the organization knowing what I know now about their responsibility for the Severing and what it's doing to the Earth Spirit. I'm less glad to hear about your affiliation with the Summer Court, since apparently THEY'RE the ones responsible for making the Circle think this world needed the stupid Severing in the first place by being a bunch of world conquering clods."

She pauses for breath, and it... seems like she's done lecturing, until she tacks on at the last second: "Also, to be brutally honest? Helping my brother get back his weird broody and mysterious secret boyfriend is just sort of extra motivation. I'd need to get in there anyway, since destroying the Severing and keeping the literal soul of this planet from dying is kind of actual top priority."

No more than my profession requires. [So in other words yes, but that's what being a doctor means. She waves off his concerns, though she closes the door with all due alacrity.] What brings you here to me?

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 17 of 28

⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

/arrives late without Starbucks

no subject

no subject

no subject

slapfight - beep beep ur boss is here strange

no subject

I realized far too late that Peri should've had a v. different reaction about the circle before. oop

no subject