lostcarnival | ⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He had no idea what she was doing, but he found it incredibly hard not to trust the medical knowledge of a magic, talking zebra. He'd already entrusted his body to a summer fae, the same thing that had caused him to need a healer in the first place; why the hell not Zecora?

"Cool! So, uh... what's a trice, exactly?"

Zecora was pretty sure she was a lot more reliable and capable than a summer fae. No offense to all the fae out there, but... yeah.

"In a jiffy, in a hurry.
Faster than you can start to worry."

Chuckling, Zecora added a ladle of a second brew, then paused and considered. Making up her mind, she stepped over to her racks, pulling out a large flower in her teeth. With a flick of her head, she tossed it into a nearby small cauldron, then followed it with a flick of what looked like pebbles, a large faintly-spiky leaf, and at last a flick of powder blown off her hoof into the bubbling contents.

"I mean, I'm pretty chill about this whole thing, but I appreciate the effort, darling." He watched Zecora work with a lazy grin on his face, just seeing what he was seeing amusing enough to at least distract from the dull, buzzing pain wrapped around his chest.

Taking a large spoon in her mouth, Zecora stirred the cauldron up, causing a whoosh of purple-pink smoke to erupt upwards from it with a hiss of steam. She kept at this for a minute, until the steam became a uniform violet color. Drawing the spoon out, she drained a helping of pink potion into the mug she'd already half-filled, which she then stepped down to pick up.

"Now I think
You should drink," she said around the handle, as she brought it over to him.

Taako accepted the mug from her, though he didn't drink at at once-- for a beat, he held it up in front of him, staring at it curiously. (And, maybe, just a little bit nervously.) He leaned in to sniff it curiously.

"... eh, bottoms up!" He shrugged, grinning at her, and then downed it all at once, throwing his head back.

Zecora simply watched, and waited. Everything ought to go smoothly, as the potion worked to mend Taako's internal damage. But in the very slight chance she'd miscalculated, she was ready to set things right once more.

It took just a second to truly start working-- and Taako honestly spent most of that waiting time making one hell of a face at the taste, sticking his tongue out cartoonishly as he set the cup down.

"Euh-- eugh, shit, ff-- ... ooh." His reaction was cut short as the effects of the potion actually began to sink in; the pain wrapping itself around his chest started to ease and lessen, his breathing evening out and getting easier as the aching faded. He pressed fingers to his chest, and it... didn't hurt. At least, not much, anyway, not like there were cracked bones there beneath them.

"... huh."

He picked his head back up to look at Zecora, surprise clear on his face.

"Uh... I think it's working."

"I should hope so," Zecora said, sidelong and with a smile.
"It is supposed to, you know."

Everything seemed to be working as it should except maybe the taste -- she made a mental note to try to improve that. Beyond that, she was prepared to chalk this up to a success. Not that she'd doubted it would be, but one must verify these things.

He waited a few seconds, and then took a deep breath-- and it was fine. Well, there was still evidently some bruising, but the pain was just a fraction of what it was previously.

Taako gave Zecora a grin, straightening up in his seat.

"Thanks, uh... mmm. What was your name again, darling?"

"How much better to see you in good cheer!" Really, that part made her work worthwhile -- seeing people who were suffering stop doing so, and watching them recognize the fact.
"I am Zecora, the Doctor here."

"Hey, well met, Zecora, you seem pretty chill. I'm Taako, and, uh, I guess I'm one of the cooks here, which isn't nearly as impressive-sounding."

Oh, well.

"At least I got stuck doing something that I'm actually good at. If they had me working as the doctor... well, the Ringmaster would probably just have to give up and get herself a new crew."

"Being a cook is no small thing.
Lacking good food can truly sting."

And honestly, Zecora -- despite her equine appetites -- had been rather spoiled by the cookhouse here. She could put together decent food for herself, but nothing compared to what dedicated workers could produce!

"I'll consider saving you no mistake
If you're any good at funnel cake."

⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

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Apologies for how slow I've been with this!

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