⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4

[ringleaders]

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.)

Comments

[atouts]

And now for your obligatory "Childermass tries and fails to escape on his own if plausible" comment. Will he be at all conscious during his stay with dear old dad or warded and locked down six ways from Sunday?

[whattaprick]

Lambert wants to be angry. Wants to lash out at his own helplessness in this situation, how incredibly human he feels in this moment -- but what good would that do? They've just been soundly beaten, and though they accomplished part of what they set out to do, he can't help wondering if it was all worth it in the end.

"Yes," he says, simply. He should probably say more than that, but it's hard to get words out around the sudden tightness in his throat.

[kingsroads]

As Lambert lets go of him, Strange slumps against the wall with visible relief and a loud, relieved, exhale of breath. His heart's still pounding, beating a mile a minute, as he looks over at Lambert and his anger.

"I'm sorry, you know. I don't--" Strange cuts himself off, frowning, trying his hardest to put what he's thinking in words. Now that he's getting more memories back, it's obvious that as much as much as he wanted to deny it and separate the two, he was the English magician. But he was the Portland mage as well, one a distorted reflection of the other.

"Had I all my memories when we arrived here, I never would have bound him in the first place. I'll admit that my actions here were...were beyond the pale, especially regarding the changeling. But back in the carnival, back in places that mattered, he was undoubtedly my friend." You were too, Strange is tempted to say, but he bites those words down as he looks over at Lambert. No, there's no way the man would believe that. Not here, and not now.

"So please," he pleads, "help me get him back."

[kingsroads]

"Good night, Yuya," Strange calls out after him. "And best of luck with whatever came up."

Because he's obviously doing something, right? To leave that quickly, that rapidly, something must have come up, though Strange has no idea what it would be. Still, he'll have plenty of time to talk with Yuya about it later--it's probably some teenage stuff to begin with, nothing he needs to worry about.

Strange heads off in the opposite direction, towards the bus stop.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita looks mildly offended at the insinuation that her magic won't be enough, but at the same time, she does wonder how the Circle's techniques vary from her own. And it's true that most of her stealth-related magic was learned for one or two specific purposes, and isn't a field she took the time to explore in greater depth...

There's a sense of familiarity nagging at the back of her mind. That thing she wanted from Strange, the reason she couldn't kill him... Was it related to this?

"Ordinarily, changelings are easily identified through magical means, since we carry the essence of a particular fae. My cloaking spells focus on concealing that magic signature from beings or spells that rely on magic detection. It means that I won't read as a changeling, or anything supernatural, to them. Combined with a common glamour, I can safely pose as a human." That's how Rita survived without being found for this long. For about a year after her escape, she wouldn't dare step outside without applying those techniques.

But while that serves her purpose in blending in amidst a city of humans, it doesn't fully mask her physical presence. "If you've got a way to improve on that, I'm all ears," she adds, leaning on one of the chairs by the table he seems to be claiming.

[periphrasing]

She wants to ask more, to get a better sense of just who the hell this guy is or why he's so important, but needling Lambert about that doesn't really seem prudent. He's obviously upset about this, and that's all she really needs to know.

Peridot grumbles thoughtfully, filling the silence and holding back a million and one questions. She clambers free of his hands, but only to perch on his knee so she more effectively puff out her chest and look self-important. "Well," she says quite seriously, "you're lucky I thought quickly enough to try and follow them, because I know where you can start searching for him."

Not that she's particularly keen on the idea of Lambert throwing himself at yet another fae court, but, from a practical standpoint? She also knows there isn't really anything she can do or say to stop him.

[otoko]

At this point, it would seem to be less of 'how much', but how much is connected.

There are many things that come to mind...I have even remembered, vividly, three different conditions under which I could have come into this condition! [he adds, frowning.] ...But I...

...But I can't think of which one is real. Or even how all three could exist for that matter!

[Hahhhh.] ...I do remember, however...travelling to different places...

[hippocarnival]

I remember joining a carnival to save Yuzu, so I think that's where I was before this. It was run by a fae called the... Ringmaster?

[He glances aside to Gon, raising an eyebrow.] I have a lot of memories of you, but you're not a vampire in any of them, except here.

[kingsroads]

Strange starts spreading out the books on the table. Sorry Rita, he's claiming the whole damn table for research, though he'll begrudgingly move something away if he asks. Reaching into his coat pocket, Strange pulls out a small notepad as well as a pen for taking notes.

"My illusion magic is...not exactly the best. But I am adept at spells of redirection--the Circle used them when we were interrogating warlocks. It's not a cloaking spell, per se, but it's a 'don't look at me' type of spell. It works perfectly well on humans, but I've no idea how it would hold up against the fae."

Which again, is the problem. Breaking into the realm of the Winter Court would be hard enough, but breaking in, disrupting a ritual, and stealing a changeling all despite the fact that everybody's a bit injured? It's a suicide mission.

"If I only had all of my memories back, this would be much easier," Strange complains, straight up forgetting the fact that he hasn't really talked much about his memories to Rita. "Back in England, I could travel via reflective surface and I imagine the Winter Court involves a lot of ice. But I can't remember how the damn spell was cast to begin with."

[insidescoop]

A gate doesn't matter if you just break a spell though... ...you can't just break a barrier in one spot, right..?

[Any way.] ...Do you like driving..? [She asks from nowhere, staring at the sky.]

[ringleaders]

Pru will explain the details, meaning that she will explain that they needed that artifact as a focus point for the ritual, as well as a powerful cast with some manner of direct/close relationship (blood or something similar) to one of the beings from another world. They believed that the True Fae in the city were after changelings that they'd directly given birth to, that were also presumably from the outside.

She will explain, a bit reluctantly, that the angels currently don't have a solution to the caster/catalyst requirement. They'd been working on a number of other options but there's not way to verify if any one of them would work until they tried. So, if they met any other beings like Zangetsu that had blood relations to a caster, it could be very worth while to bring them here.

[ringleaders]

1: Goddamnit Strange, why does she even bother. Since strange DIDN'T bring back the child properly, she'll be pretty annoyed and reluctant to work with him. She'll say that the little bastard changeling was part of the group that raided the gardens, but that ABSOLUTELY ISN'T WHAT SHE ASKED FOR, and will imply that is largely Strange's fault.

2: She does, but unless Strange provides some kind of useful intel, he can basically fuck off. Like, maybe bring them the child, for instance??

[ringleaders]

They disappear into Chinatown!

[ringleaders]

He won't be watched by dad directly, but there will be crows ogling him basically at all times. Otherwise, he'll be in a cold dungeon cell with some chains that are actually made out of ice, and are actually improbably strong given that fact. As far as he can tell, it's warded to keep him in. He'll be conscious as normal, but not fed well, and it will basically suck. His sisters will probably come by to mock him and blame him for their third member getting killed.

[hippocarnival]

Well, then Yuya will tell her immediately that Childermass was a changeling kidnapped after they tried to raid the Summer Court, so if he's the Winter Court's catalyst then they've got a problem on their hands.

They'll also tell her that if it's a relation needed, they might have a solution. Yuya and Yugo are very directly related, being two fragments of the same soul. They're willing to fill the caster and catalyst requirements, but Yuya has a request of Pru and the angels first: if they break the severing, will they continue to protect this world from the Fae and other invaders?

[ringleaders]

"Well, fuck," is literally Pru's response to that. She'd gotten a bad feeling about the Winter Court after they stole the pendant, but they haven't been sure if they actually had the catalyst requirement. If they do, well... that means they really only have one option left, and that's to attack the Count's realm directly.

Pru will be a bit surprised to hear of them being "two parts of the same soul", but it also isn't completely unheard of here. She'll call in her companion, who is named Damien and is ostensibly their sorcery expert. He'll say that would properly work, but will ask them if either of them are accomplish spell casters. Because, otherwise... that could be a problem.

As for sticking around to defend the Earth, as far as Pru knows, that's always been the plan. Some of the angels may switch out with other angels, but if anything she's been expecting that they will receive back up thanks to the barrier being taken down.

[hippocarnival]

Well fuck is basically right, but at least now they know what to do now.

Yuya's visibly relieved at that and thanks them for continuing to help, he's absolutely dedicated to getting the severing down with the angels now!

Casting requirements, though... Yuya's cast a group spell before. Yugo's the obviously more powerful one, but he's not at Pru levels. What are the chances that other stronger casters can help power up the one casting the ritual, or something?

[kingsroads]

Look, he got the kid to go to the Rose Queen's realm, it's not his fault that like...everybody else showed up as well with crowbars.

But hey, he does have useful intel, thanks to shoddy memories. Assuming that the name 'the Beast' gets mentioned in the raid, Strange'll get all "I know something you don't know" smug. He's pretty sure that the Beast is one of the people from the different universe who've been stuck here as well, and by pretty sure he means he's got a half-formed memory of some Winter Court asshole back in the carnival calling the Ringmaster the Beast. which means hey, whatever spell yoinked them here in the first place, it's powerful enough to fuck up the fae.

also he watched a winter court changeling get murdered so they're down one ally. It was pretty metal.

[ringleaders]

1. This will come as an image of dank looking tunnels, rather than words. With some investigation onto tunnels around Portland, it's not hard to figure out those are the Shanghai tunnels in Chinatown.

2. The Earth Spirit will say something approximating "I will be with you," but without words. Lambert will feel some sort of otherworldly force touch him as Tamaki communicates with the spirit.

3. Tamaki's true mother is not with the spirit now, and that's all it knows.

[ringleaders]

Nightshade will look only slightly surprised at the thing about the Beast, and will snottily remark that they already basically knew that so it hardly counts! Which Winter Court asshole, though? Be more specific.

She will accept the information about the crow sisters.

[kingsroads]

Frost, maybe? Strange isn't 100% sure on the name, but he can give a vague description. Pretty short, white hair, pale skin, icy wings, uncomfortably naked, things like that.

[ringleaders]

Nightshade will make a sharp little "oooh," sound, as if that is hot goss. She rubs her hands together. What was he doing there? Does Strange have any idea? This is important.

[kingsroads]

Ohhhhh no you don't. Tell him where the entrance to the Winter Court is and then he'll tell Nightshade what was up with Frost.

[ringleaders]

She huffs at that, crossing her arms. "Do you even know what was up with Frost?" She would think that he still owes her information, after how little he's accomplished...

[kingsroads]

Sort of. Strange'll hem and haw for a moment before, "Oddly enough, I don't think he meant to be there. Back in that world, I summoned him for...whatever reason. He wasn't the right fae, though." And then he'll give an incredibly vague description of the snow day in Alola. Of course, he'd happily give Nightshade more concrete information if he had more of his memories HINT HINT.