lostcarnival | ⇨ 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.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

After altogether too long spent unconscious, Axel blinks awake. He's got a migraine and a half. His body feels like lead. But, for the first time in too long, he's free and awake to appreciate it.

Then he starts to remember the things he did. He groans. Dammit. He hurt people, didn't he. Fuck.

But even that's overshadowed by the dull ache in his wrist and his hunger and thirst. Said wrist is probably handcuffed above his head, by his posture - probably with his own cuffs, which he was hoping to keep from too many people's eyes. He's not sure how long he's been in here, but when he hears the door open, he turns to face the light entering the dark room, squinting. The silhouette is familiar, but it still takes him a moment.

"... Hey sis. Where are we?"

Tallisibeth gives him an unimpressed look. She's draped in so many charms and amulets that she looks like a rack for them and clicks as she moves, her clothes stiff with embroidery. The first thing she does is to check the necklace she'd hooped over Axel's head earlier. The inscriptions on its many beads gleam; they should be inducing heaviness and lassitude to slow him down and make it harder to move, just in case.

"I was in the middle of something when you woke up, you know." There's another symbol pinned to him, alerting her to when he regained consciousness. "You've been out for a while. You'll be glad to know I've barely touched anything in your place, even though I really wanted to. Water? Awkward can-I-trust-you bathroom visit? Or maybe you can explain things for me."

"Water sounds good. Lemme think." Her charms always were pretty potent, and it's all he can do to point. "Kitchen should be pretty familiar." He arranges it the same way their adoptive parents did.

"I'll try to think of what to say." He furrows his brow, trying to think. "It's kinda blurry." That's an understatement. If his palms weren't freshly burnt, he wouldn't even be sure he hurt people. "I just... really messed up."

She shrugs and dryly tells him, "With my advanced training in pattern recognition, I anticipated this need and brought some with me." Tallisibeth offers him a plastic bottle of water. "Can you take it, or should I just touch it to your lips?"

He's in rough shape even disregarding the charms after all, but she doesn't regret using them when she found him. Or the handcuffs, even if she'd handled them with gloves and washed her hands after.

"Well, if I can take the necklace off you, that'd be a start." Her eyes are wary but not unsympathetic, despite her words. "Are you yourself now?"

"I feel like lead with it on." He shrugs, a tiny motion. "If I weren't myself, would I tell you?"

He tries to wriggle, but again, he feels like lead. Her charm-making skills have gotten so good. And he probably got beat up but he's a little uncertain there.

"I remember... I think Ginko said something to me about how he told the Queen where I live? And then there's a lot of fuzziness, before and after that. I think she hurt me. I think she hurt me really bad." He shivers, just a little. "I'm not sure about a lot of what happened, but I think she made me hurt people, too."

"Well, I'm probably armored up enough anyway, and you're still cuffed and less than prime," she decides. Tallisibeth hooks a finger under the cord and pulls the necklace up and away. Despite the disabling effect it causes, it hangs like a perfectly average wooden bead necklace, with a perfectly average mass.

"Her? I really hate that... creature," she complains, unwilling to call the Rose Queen a woman or any of the derogatory terms that could be derived from woman. "I'll say it right off the bat, then, whatever you did is all her fault, because she's a terrible entity who needs to choke on blessed iron. We should probably stop so I can work over your home wards."

She's worried for him and about him, for all that she's trying to come off as purely businesslike and annoyed. The Rose Queen is like a mythic figure to her. The bad kind of mythic.

She makes a good point, and he's grateful to have it off. He's still exhausted, but at least he can move again. The first movement he makes is to reach for her and... Take the water bottle. He chugs about half before replying.

"Yeah. I figured she'd be mad enough after the first time to do something like this if she ever got me back, but that was pretty bad." He looks around, a little sheepish, at the mention of wards. "I'm not that good at the finicky stuff, y'know. My wards are probably falling apart." He's more reliant on the metal in the structure to keep him safe, from both fae and burglars. Even his windows are barred, though they're removable from the inside.

⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4

FOR SCOUT - Recovery from mind-control - Probably at Axel's apartment?

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