⇨ 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

B

[fourthscribe]

Haruki is the first one to emerge from the trailer, buzzing happily as he flits over the plants that have very nearly started to take over the whole trailer. Tanyuu appears in the doorway a moment later, still drowsy from her own long sleep and wearing one of the thick, comfortable sweaters she's become fond of since joining the carnival.

"How long have you been up?"

[dontpokethat]

Ginko looks up from examining the leaves of one of the plants, his ears flicking back and forth.

"An hour or so. How are you feeling?"

[fourthscribe]

"Better."

She watches Haruki and Miu with a faint smile, then descends the steps to settle down in their small 'yard'.

"At least the Pokemon seem to be readjusting well."

[dontpokethat]

"Mm. Seems like those guys can bounce back from just about anything."

Benefits of being a little bug-monster, he guesses. Pokemon don't have to worry about identity crises, or relationship problems, or whether it's actually their fate to have their childhood stolen away in every reality.

"Kind of envy them, honestly."

[fourthscribe]

"I do, too." It's a nice thought, to be free of worries of your own agency within even the most personal scope of your own world.

Tanyuu runs her fingers along the leaves of a small bush starting to be choked out by it's neighbors, her magic infusing into the plant to give it a little boost of vibrance. "We're going to need to do a bit of pruning, I think. Some of these have done a bit too well while we've been gone."

[dontpokethat]

Ginko is all too happy to move on from the subject of Portland - or even a subject tangential to Portland. He nods, leaning over where he's sitting to look over the plants.

"I thought about starting on that while you were sleeping, but I figured I should wait for you."

[fourthscribe]

"You didn't need to, you know just as much about all of these as I do." Tanyuu smiles warmly at Ginko, a quiet sort of thanks despite her words, and inspects the wilder bush with it's plethora of berries. "We're going to have plenty of spare ingredients after this."

[dontpokethat]

"Maybe so, but it would feel wrong to start on it on my own." He gives a small shrug, then hauls himself to his feet to go look over the plants, too.

"Looks like it... least we'll be ready if there's another outbreak, huh?"

[fourthscribe]

A hard look crosses Tanyuu's face for a moment, but she quells is fairly quickly. "We will, I'm sure. Maybe we should transplant a few cuttings--plenty of these would grow well on their own around the lake."

Always best to be prepared, right?

[dontpokethat]

Ginko catches that look, just barely. But he won't say anything; there's no need to.

Instead, he just nods and crouches down by one of the plants, feeling some of the leaves carefully for dryness. "Sounds like a good idea... we should probably talk to the Ringmaster first, but I doubt she'll object."

[fourthscribe]

"Mmm, she'd probably approve after the last incident. But for now..." Tanyuu sighs and straightens up, stretching her arms over her head as she does and yawning. "Ahhh--do we have any empty pots right now? I can encourage the growth of any cuttings, but they'll still need to be babied for a little while."

[dontpokethat]

"Probably... I'd hope so, anyway." Ginko pushes himself to his feet, looking around to find Miu before giving a whistle in her direction to call her over closer. If he's going to go inside, he'd rather she stay in sight.

"I can go check. Could you watch Miu? She's all over the place today."

As if that's any different from normal.

[fourthscribe]

"Of course!" Tanyuu lowers herself down to 'kneel' and hold out her hands for Miu, her antennae twitching a bit to greet the cute little bug. Haruki follows behind, buzzing over from where he had been playing in one of the flowering bushes to hover around his trainer.