lostcarnival | ⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4

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⇨ 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.)

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"I'm not in the business of rescuing changelings. If this wasn't Childermass, I wouldn't bother." Harsh? Yes. But true? Maybe. Strange would like to think that's true but he's honestly not entirely sure what sort of man he is anymore.

"The Rose Queen needs her changeling son in order to complete the ritual to remove the Severing. It wouldn't surprise me if the Count of Crows wanted to do the same--that's Childermass's dad, by the way. Likewise, powerful magics are preventing me from summoning or scrying on Childermass, and the only beings in Portland with power enough to block my summoning spells are the true fae."

A part of Strange realizes that's an immensely egotistical thing to say...but it's also kind of true.

Rita's eyes widen. "Her son...!? Then... damn it," she hisses. That was what the Summer Court was after from the beginning... why they pursued Steven, and his dad, and the people around them. Is he safe now...? With time running out, and the Winter Court holding an advantage, the Rose Queen could become desperate.

No... besides that, there's something that doesn't make sense here. "Why stop them? I thought you wanted the Severing removed." It seems like every time Rita talks to Strange, he's after something completely different. Also, since when does this moron have the power to summon Childermass in the first place!?

"I do!" Strange complains, frowning at Rita. "Trust me, there's nothing I want more than the Severing broken. But I don't want it to happen in a way where Childermass gets hurt."

It's odd. For all of Strange's bluster and snideness and general dirtbag personality, he's a hundred percent serious about not wanting Childermass hurt--and, based on the awkward frown on his face, he's also a hundred percent not certain why he feels that way to begin with.

"I don't know what the ritual entails or what's happening to Childermass in the Count's realm, but it wouldn't surprise me if it ends up badly for him."

Rita just gives him an odd look. She sure as heck didn't expect him to start talking like he actually cares about someone other than himself.

She limps over to the table, drags out a chair, and sits down in it. "I saw them take him," she says after a pause, confirming Strange's suspicions. "I want Childermass freed, too. He knows something that I need to talk to him about." He must be another one with memories of another life... a life that Rita's starting to realize is more real than she ever wanted to believe. If something happens to Childermass, she might never get to find out who he really was, or how they knew each other before.

Damn. Hearing that confirmed just turns Strange's expression to a frown. This was happening again?! Someone he cares about is being held captive in a faerie realm again and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it from happening. The main difference was this time, at least, Strange knew it happened and had an inkling of a plan to get the person back.

"I think that I don't like you," Strange says, holding up a hand to stop Rita from talking before he continues. "But we both want Childermass back. You look like death warmed over, so I don't know how much help you'll be able to be, but honestly? I've a feeling I'll need all the help I can get."

It's a roundabout way of asking for an alliance. After all, the grand total of people Strange could count on to help in a crisis situation is...one teenager. He's grasping for straws here.

"Really? That's how you ask someone for help?" Rita just stares at him with an incredulous look, then sighs. "You're one to talk about health standards. I'll be back in fighting shape by the thirty-first. That's the deadline, right?" If someone's going to perform a major ritual at this time of year... that date should come to mind for any mage.

"You're not that likable yourself. Or trustworthy, for that matter." She's seen him bounce from the Circle, to the Summer Court, and now he wants an alliance with her? It sounds ridiculous, but Rita finds herself considering it. They do have a common goal here. They'd only be working together until the end of the month, and the number of ways he could betray her in that much time are limited. In that case... "But I can help you if you'll agree to one condition."

"I think I'm plenty trustworthy," Strange remarks, with a roll of his eyes. No, he's not. If anything, Rita can trust Strange to act solely in his own self-interest, not thinking that much about things like 'other people' or 'planning for the future.' "But yes, the thirty-first is the deadline. That's most likely when the court's going to do the ritual and also when our magic should be at it's peak."

Which also means that the Winter Court's magic would be at it's peak, but details details. There's something else more important to focus on anyway.

"What condition?"

"You won't let them use Childermass for the ritual. I won't let Steven be used." Rita meets his eyes with a determined look. "That's my condition: that when Childermass is safe, you won't try to make Steven take his place as the catalyst." After all, that must be the goal of the Summer Court... and what Strange intended to see happen through his alliance with them.

Rita doubts he'll agree. His partnership with the fae aside, Strange himself said that he wants the Severing undone more than anything, and if both Childermass and Steven are off the table, he'll be left with few options. But if he can't agree to this, then it'll mean that they could never be allies to begin with.

Strange is far more confident in his guilt trip than he really should be. After all, he already had a prior conversation with the brat and it...well, it didn't go terribly, but it certainly gave Strange more hope that Steven would make the right choice than he had before.

"Agreed. However, if Steven takes his place as the catalyst of his own free will or someone else forces the kid into the role, then the terms are still in place."

This is an alliance, not a legal contract, and yet Strange can't help but be as legalistic and as definite as possible. A side-effect of dealing with the fae, he would assume.

There's a flicker of surprise at his initial agreement, but Rita's expression darkens when he goes into detail. Would Steven really choose that? Rita doesn't want to think so, but she has a bad feeling about it.

"... Fine. Guess there's nothing you can do about other people's actions... or whatever damage you've already done," she agrees with a grimace. The way he was skulking around the Sanctuary before... was he looking for Steven then? He better not have done anything to him. "But any future action on your part to facilitate that, and I'll consider it a betrayal, and you'll be dead."

Rita might have failed to kill the fae, but she won't fail to punish a guy like this if she thinks she's being used.

That bad feeling is only enhanced by Strange giving Rita a little smile like the cat that ate the canary. Because yep! There's already been some damage done, and Strange...well part of him is immensely proud of that, but another part just recoils at the thought.

"You have my word," he simply responds, with a nod. "As of now, I won't try to convince the kid to join back up with the Summer Court." Yes, this is completely going against his agreement with Nightshade (good lord, how many people has Strange double-crossed in the past month?) but for some reason, getting Childermass back is the most important.

Great. His word. Like that's worth anything these days.

And he says as of now, suggesting that before now, there probably was an attempt to do so. Strange receives a disgusted look, an exasperated sigh, and then Rita carefully pushes herself up from the chair, standing.

"So we're doing this." Which means that, at least for a while, she'll have to actually put up with Strange being around. "You said you're here for research, right? What do you need?" Since they know where Childermass is, he probably won't need the spells he initially came to look for. If there's nothing else, he can probably leave.

Strange stands up as well, wincing slightly as he does so because yep, still bruised. "I need information on fae wards as well as any sort of illusion spells. The going plan was me trying to bluff my way into the Count's domain so I could be present for the ritual, disrupting it at the start. But now that you're involved...I could still bluff my way into the domain, drawing attention to myself, so that you could sneak in, cloaked and undetected. I doubt they'll be searching for signs of Circle magic, after all."

He's yammering about all of these hypotheticals, talking more to himself than to Rita. But the more Strange talks about magic, the more he seems to soften, smugness vanishing from his expression. Even when it's planning a life or death rescue raid, Strange is still a bit of a nerd about magic.

Also, it doesn't occur to Strange that what he's describing sounds a bit like the Beast's terrible plan, just replace stab one of the most powerful magic users in Portland, right in her own domain with disrupt a momentous ritual cast by one of the most powerful magic users in Portland, right in his own domain. Jonathan Strange is a bit of a hypocrite.

Edited 2017-07-25 17:24 (UTC)

"Cloaking magic... I have some experience with that. It's how I got out of the fae realms in the first place," she says as she hobbles to the bookshelves, quickly selecting a handful of books.

Does Strange's plan sound likely to work? Rita's not convinced, especially after the disaster of an operation that she just went through. They can't fully expect to fool the Winter Court, especially not for long. They'll probably need a backup plan...

She returns to Strange with an armful of books and shoves them at him. "You'll want these." The books focus on fae magic and illusion magic. Some of them also have slightly scorched covers, possibly thanks to a certain fire-using changeling, though the contents are still intact. "I've read most of the books about fae magic in this library. These are about the only ones worth bothering with."

"Thank you," Strange says, with a nod, taking the books from Rita. He doesn't even make a comment about the scorched covers because well, it's not like Strange can judge people on how they take care of their books.

Very carefully and very slowly, he starts to walk back to one of the tables. Apparently he's just going to start reading these here and now. "I wonder...do you think your cloaking magic would be enough, or should I mix mine with yours for better results?"

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.

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."

Rita eases herself into the chair and, without asking permission, shoves a few of his materials aside and grabs one of the books for herself: one on illusion magic. She never said they were just for him, after all. As interesting as a spell of misdirection might be, there's a less than certain chance of it working to sneak in... and a zero chance of it working once they interrupt the ritual. They'd better read up on some advanced techniques if they want to get out safely.

She pauses when he mentions England. It sounds familiar... Strange talking about it sounds familiar. No, not just that, but...

"I remember..." she murmurs, still staring down at the book, but not really looking at the page. "I saw your magic before. It wasn't here, and it wasn't that, but... what was it...?" She remembers being interested in it, but she can't remember why.

This is all too familiar, not just because of the memory. Lord only knows Strange had plenty of moments this past week where he was frowning, thinking, trying to coax a memory out but having no idea where to even start.

There's a tentative pause before Strange hopefully asks, "Was it at the carnival?"

He remembers a handful of memories about the carnival, and none of them seem to be staying put. Memories will flit in and out of his brain, remembering one event but forgetting it in a few minutes. One thing is certain, though: there was a carnival.

Rita looks up at him, furrowing her brow as she struggles to find the meaning in his question. "What carnival? Why the hell would I be at some stupid..."

... Carnival? It brings to mind a few familiar images, of colorful tents and tacky artificial lights, obnoxious crowds, a small bed in a cramped little room... Suddenly, Rita's not so sure she's never been to one. "Was there a carnival...?"

"There was!" Strange can't help but grin at that, obviously relieved that Rita remembers something of the carnival. Hopefully she'll eventually remember some things he doesn't and fill in some of the blanks that he has.

Strange leans back in his chair slightly, looking over at Rita, watching her intently as if that'll somehow magically tell him what she knows. "I don't know that much about it, but I'm certain it exists."

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⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4

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