⇨ 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

[tacosgay]

"Uh, yeah? I mean-- I remember all about the carnival, it's just... uh." This is always awkward to explain to people. Shit. He sighs, pausing for a beat to get his words in order. "It's Portland I can't remember anything about. Like... I know I have this apartment, and I'm on TV, like, really on TV, but I don't... remember how I got here at all."

He's been able to piece together parts of his history, of course, from looking himself up, but it's impossible to know how much of the more interesting bits are actually true. (He chooses to believe that all of the fun ones are true, though.)

[spaghettimonster]

Papyrus' end of the phone goes silent for several seconds as he pulls it away from his face and stares at it, then around his apartment. Various household items, various knickknacks, and they're all familiar. He can remember using them all at some point or another, maybe even buying them.

"You... what? You don't remember this life? Did that happen suddenly, or do you remember... forgetting things?" If remembering a past life is going to wash out this one... he wants advanced notice! A chance to get some closure, or at least give it to others.

[tacosgay]

"As far as I'm concerned, I just kinda woke up here one day, like I just... fell asleep and Freaky Friday'd my way into somebody else's life." It didn't occur to him that he might scare the shit out of somebody who remembers this life at least mostly. Whoops. Oh well, it's too late now. "Except I still kind of look like me, just not... completely. The fuckin' demon wings are definitely new."

As he speaks, he rolls over to flex one out; learning how to control the wings has been a chore in and of itself, and he still isn't sure if they're actually functional for flying or not. He's been kind of hesitant to try, for obvious reason. He tucks it back against his body tightly, focusing back on the conversation.

"So, yeah, I mean... I remember a life, but the life I remember definitely isn't the same as this one."

[spaghettimonster]

"I don't think that's any better! That might even be worse. Oh my god," Papyrus wails. He clutches at his head with his free hand, fingers curled in his hair, and grimaces at the strange feeling of novelty to it. He's had that hair his whole life, it shouldn't seem so delightful. Especially when he's getting product on his hands.

Didn't this guy just mention looking almost the same? Maybe there's something to that.

"Hey, maybe that's it! Your body's almost the same... so your mind's almost the same? Are you sure you don't remember anything here?"

[tacosgay]

"Nope, no dice, my dude, sorry." Taako's voice is as close to honestly apologetic as it can be. "This place may as well be an alien planet as far as I'm concerned, I've got nothing. Literally, I went to get my nightly beauty meditation, and woke up here with no clue."

[spaghettimonster]

"Aliens would almost be easier. We could have ray guns, and space ships... But we would probably be pod people? And the army would be assembling to catch us..." Papyrus grumbles under his breath, switching his phone to speaker and resting his face in his hands. Having cried oh my god three times in ten minutes, the interjection is thoroughly played out. And he's still on the phone. Panic later. Inhale, exhale, inhale, sigh. He can handle this, can look on the bright side.

"Well... Okay. I have equally no clue how we got here! The others I talked to, they're in the same boat as me. Remembering full lives here... And a little bit of there, but not very much. Maybe... maybe there's somebody who remembers like you, but wasn't asleep."

[tacosgay]

Quite the imagination on this one. It's actually kind of endearing, if not outright weird. Then again, Taako is pretty sure people have also described him the exact same way before?

Anyway.

"Yeah, I mean, that would be the ideal, huh? But good fuckin' luck finding anybody like that. I've been following leads all over Portland and I've learned exactly jack and shit about how we got here, except that everybody I know here is from the carnival." Taako sighs, and he picks himself up to go get a glass of wine. This conversation is definitely leading him to need one. "I mean, I've found tons of people who remember stuff, but they've ranged from totally useless to, uh... well, that's basically it."

[spaghettimonster]

"Totally useless...? The day's not a complete wash," Papyrus offers, exaggerated whimsy through his voice. Even he can't deny he's trying too hard to look on the bright side, but it has to be said. "You learned about magic skeletons! And that's pretty great."