⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 138 - Day 152
Where: The Summerlands
What: The Ringmaster brings the carnival to the Summerlands immediately after being freed from Portland so that everyone can take a fucking nap. Her included.
Warnings: Individually marked! Most likely discussion of torture and trauma in here.

DAYS OF SUMMER↴ You made it! And things are back to normal... more or less. Upon waking, you will be greeted with a clear blue sky and gentle breeze – the carnival has found itself situated between a pair of mountain peaks, with great fields of flowers extending in the distance. In the other direction, you’ll see mountain-top cities and tall waterfalls accenting vast swaths of forest. Some of you will already know this place. It’s the Summerlands. You game here once to rest in safety nearly a year ago, and now you’ve come to rest once again. ► WAKING UP: Shortly after the carnival arrives, the Ringmaster will send out a somewhat cryptic radio message - but her immediate location won't be clear. Whatever items you had on your person at the time the Severing was broken will still be on your person, including whatever clothing. All of the animals and pets of the carnival will have returned to the grounds as well, though they are currently free from their designated living spaces. Things in the carnival will appeared to have naturally aged a month, as if the carnival was been sitting here empty and waiting while everyone was in Portland. The lawn needs mowing. ► SUMMER CITY: After the Summer Fae become aware of everyone's presence, they will welcome you into their city. There are stairs that lead up the sides of the mountains, but thankfully there are also magical means of getting up there as well. The Summer Fae will be willing to help workers with the injured as needed, offering herbal remedies and healing magic to those that want it. You'll also be invited to join them for dinner, but they will not be particularly offended if they are turned down, for now. ► SUMMER PEOPLE: The fae here will mostly enjoy the company of any carnival members that offer it - it doesn't seem that much happens here besides day after day of peaceful meditation and relaxation. It is not uncommon to see Summer Fae spent days doing exactly the same thing, whether that be enjoying the weather, listening to music, or dancing - the day and night periods may be similar to earth, but when you don't need rest it can all blur together just the same. Some of the fae work on feats of agriculture or craftsmanship, and while there is no particularly need to work in this place, they take pride in the fact that they do. ► NEW ARRIVALS: Though the Ringmaster will not be offering much guidance for the first week or so, eventually the carnival will begin running for a few small performance sessions, off and on, as a thank you to their fae hosts. The carnival will also be open to receiving new arrivals during that period, and so there will likely be some newbies to train and get orientated as well.

Comments

[amusicaladventure]

...Yeah.

[Well, this got even more awkward than she could have guessed.]

I'm glad I didn't run into too many people from here, there. By the time we got back they'd have thrown me out! [She laughs, like that's supposed to be funny.]

[insidescoop]

Hehhh..? [Well now she's just confused.] They wouldn't do that..!! I..I mean...

Some of us killed people- [She did she killed a man] -you know..!

[amusicaladventure]

I was gonna straight up murder Strange. [It's worse for someone part of the carnival, isn't it? Wouldn't it stick when they came back?] It was... horrible, wasn't it. Just an absolute nightmare. Except it was real.

[insidescoop]

Somehow, I don't think he holds it against you. ...He...seemed more upset about what he did, so...

[IF YOU DIE IN AU LAND YOU DIE IN REAL LIFe-

Erp.] ...It feels like that's how it was for..everyone, now...

[amusicaladventure]

[Ash just shoots Carly a wry, sad look.]

He doesn't know. I haven't even told him yet.

And I don't believe for a second that it turned out everyone, every single one of us, is actually a pretty terrible person underneath everything. I bet most of them aren't, in fact. [Carly included, since she knows no details.]

[insidescoop]

...well, so far everyone I've talked to feels like they were...

[She certainly looks guilty enough to count herself in that.] ...I didn't do very nice things...

[amusicaladventure]

But, why?

[There's the big question. She doesn't really think Carly has it in herself to be Evil. Not if the Ringmaster's words are true, that they were really all themselves or -- or however she'd put it.]

[insidescoop]

[....She chews her lip.]

...With what it was...

...it doesn't matter 'why'. ...It happened.

[amusicaladventure]

Of course it matters why. There's a lot of difference between self-defense and premeditated murder, and a huge number of points in-between. [She's guessing, or at least she wants to believe, that Carly fell further on the self-defense side of the spectrum. As opposed to herself.]

[insidescoop]

[Eeeeeeugh... That just makes her look away with even more
guilt, which Ash can try to catch the reason for if she dares.]

...That's part of why it doesn't matter.

[amusicaladventure]

...Portland really was its own special kind of hell, huh.

[The least she can do is stop prying, since Carly seems utterly unwilling to discuss it. Or maybe just unwilling to discuss it with her. That's always possible.]

[insidescoop]

[There is a quiet, and even morose nod.] It...it's like the Ringmaster said, I think...

...even if it could have been...

..It wasn't us.

[amusicaladventure]

Yeah, well, it's wonderful to know that my entire morality was up to a coin-flip, and what I become when I'm under pressure. [She's tried her damndest to restrain her bitterness... and, now, officially failed.] I guess I'm glad I never even ran into you there.

[insidescoop]

I... ....I think everyone is like that though, aren't they..?

...people are... ...people are who they are because of what happens in life, aren't they..? So then...

[She looks to the sewing table in front of her, voice quiet.] ...there's a lot of possibilities, in there...

[amusicaladventure]

Yeah, so what happens if none of the way you are is because you chose to be that way? It was just random, just... luck? One thing can change everything about you.

[insidescoop]

Heh? [She blinks.] ...The thing is though...a lot of choices are because of that..! Even some choices from nothing, go the weird way..! What's important is...

...Is having people with you to help when that happens, I guess.

[amusicaladventure]

Hey, lucky for you a certain someone showed up here right before, huh? [Ash flashes her a grin, aiming for a mixture of sass and real pleasure for her friend. To be fair, those are indeed things she feels, somewhere deep beneath everything else.]

[fortuneglass]

AHHH!!

[And as expected-a blush brightens right across the girl's face, her eyes wide and her feathers ruffling.] Th-

Y-You know, you're just as helpful!! A-Actually sometimes I think Jack just gets me more nervous than anything, s-so you're really important..!!

[WHY CAN'T SHE JUST GATHER ALL OF HER CRUSHES INTO ONE ROOM AND LOVE ALL OF THEM AT ONCE-]

[amusicaladventure]

[...Don't go down that line of thinking, Carly, because if Jack's a reasonably okay guy, Ash would be totally down with that. She's pretty open-minded, y'know.]

I get you flustered too, don't act like that's not true. I sometimes think that's your natural state.

[insidescoop]

Mnnhhh-!! I-If it was my natural state I'd have a lot of health problems, probably!

[amusicaladventure]

Well, it's sure not hard to get you to that state. Sometimes I wonder how you make it down the street.

[insidescoop]

I'm-! Well, I'm better at keeping myself together than you think, you know!!

[amusicaladventure]

[Ash laces together her fingers in front of her, then lifts them over her head to stretch -- arching her back in the process, the better to emphasize certain feminine attributes.]

[insidescoop]

AaaaAAAAAHHHH!!!! No!!!

You're doing that on purpose...!!!!

[amusicaladventure]

Doing what? [There's a little purr in her voice, quite literally, as she idly twists her torso to stretch out all those muscles in her back and sides.]