lostcarnival | ⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

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⇨ 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

[To this, she frowns, and squints.]

...they're still bird hands. [she determines, moving around the other.] Umnnnn... if there's water near his pen, we can use that. But he has to go home.

They're not! Birds don't have hands.

[Hoatzin chicks kinda, but they don't look like this.]

Oh, he's a menagerie animal? Huh. Right, I did see a bunch of the bigger ones from the air. Are you a new animal keeper, then?

What if they used to have hands?

[This is said with a dead serious expression-

And she nods.] Um! ...The only one! ...Ginko was alone, I guess...

An interesting idea. Even if you look at their ancestors which had fingers, though, they didn't look like these.

[He's got the scales and the claws but also a very human shape to his fingers, rather than just long spindly digits.]

Aww, man, really? I guess the others went home? When we got here there were a whole lot of people taking the first chance they got to leave. Portland was not at all popular, it seems.

Did you look at them then? [She's gonna fight this to the point of idiocy, at this point. Kids are stubborn, and believe Weird Stuff after all.

Also-] ...Portland..?

I've seen fossils! Similar, but there's totally still human in me.

The previous stop. You know we're visiting a bunch of different worlds? Some are a lot less fun than others, apparently.

[He says, having only been to one.]

[Her expression says she still doesn't believe Julien, but at least she's apparently giving up on arguing it. The unfortunate bit of that is...she doesn't seem to address his defense at all. Alas.

She's moving on, though, thinking about it a moment before nodding in 'agreement'.] ...I don't think all places can be 'fun', so that makes sense. The one we're in right now is nice though.

[Hm. Well, he'll let it go. What's left of his hands is the most human part of this body that he can just show someone, though.]

It is, isn't it? Apparently we've come here after something real bad happened before. That was way before my time though! I've been here not much more than a month.

Apparently the past year, was it? of stops have had a lot of dangers and hazards. [An eye forms and opens on his chest, about at her eye level.]

I don't think it makes sense if most of the places are d... [ddaaaaaAAAAOOOOKKKAAAY THAT'S AN EYE. RIGHT THERE.

HI.]

[He just wanted to see her face more closely :(]

Oh, sorry.

[That eye closes and disappears, but now there's another one on his wingbutt, the point of his wrist above what's left of his hand. They're like... blue puffy stickers put on his feathers, except clearly alive.]

Still kinda getting used to these. If I keep them from appearing for too long they uh, they tend to pop up.

[Peacat doesn't understand the fuss - his eyespot feathers are much nicer - and starts the I-want-to-get-down-but-don't-feel-like-clawing-you-yet wriggles.]

[Lesson Learned-

Oh god why do these eyes keep appearing-] ...Is...it okay for eyes to do that..? [She asks, before carefully adjusting how she's holding the cat. She will, at least, start walking-] ...Umn, I need to get this one back to his pen now, before he tries to go away...

[Walk and talk? The wriggles can only last so long! At least she's giving him nice head scritches now.]

It is for me! Did anyone tell you about the changes here?

[He starts walking too. Julien's bird body can't really keep up with a sprint or, really, more than a reasonable jog, but he walks perfectly well.]

Can I come with you?

Umnnn... [Well.] ...She said they would happen, but she didn't say they would be...eyes... [Eeeeep-

But at least he's coming with.] ...If you want to..!

[He makes two appear just so they can wink. Clearly that's a good idea.]

Oh, well, they can be practically anything! Eyes seem to be rare, I've just seen a couple other cases. Theirs don't come and go, either, they're like normal eyes set in their heads.

[Normal extra eyes. Yes.]

I want to! Oh, wow, have I really not introduced myself yet? I'm Julien.

Oh.... [She still doesn't get it. But alright. She blinks, and nods.] Reira Akaba.

[...Not much of a talker under normal circumstances, is she? In any case, at least she...seems to know her way there..? Soon enough, there they are, at a particular end of forest.]

Hi, Reira! Nice to meet you.

[Fortunately(?) Julien's easily talkative enough to make up for that. He really seems to like the sound of his own voice. In his defense it's a good voice, with the warmth and resonance of a trained radio host. His human body's voice is almost the same but can't pull off that tone.]

So what kind of enclosure's he have? I hope someone's tracked down the dinosaur. He's the one I like best, you know, even if I'm a little jealous he's fluffier than me.

Mhn! [Nice enough, she supposes.] ...Ginko said he found most of them...it's just some of them. ...I don't know what this one's pen looks like yet, but it's probably got trees, and...

[And wait.] ....Dinosaurs have feathers..? [She literally only knows about these because of cards.]

Yes! They do! Or this one does, and birds do. Birds are small dinosaurs, or descended from them, either way. The hands that birds had are dinosaur hands.

[yes, opening this topic back up can only be a good thing.]

...They would have become bird hands after that though. [You brought this on Yourself, Julien. She walks along the various rope bridges they're coming to now, the oeacat peering around with vague familiarity.]

Mine aren't. I might accept dinosaur hands, though. It sounds cooler.

[julien you're thirty don't get into losing arguments with people five times younger than you.

He has to be careful on the rope bridges. Big as he is he has to be.]

I'm guessing some kind of display area? Plenty of sun available.

...they're definitely bird hands... [Still not fooling her, clearly!!] Mnnn...I don't think it's a display thing. It has to be the place they like most, I think...

Dinosaur hands! I am totally hip, with it, and radical.

[Creeeak, says the wood under him. Julien keeps some nervous eyes on his footing.]

It's sort of a zoo, too, though. And he's part peacock, so what he likes probably includes somewhere to fan out his tail and impress people.

Mnnnnh.... [Nope.] ...bird hands...

...And I didn't see him do that a lot. ...It doesn't feel like he wants to do that either.

[The indifference makes it difficult to want to impress anything that isn't a female cat, see.]

Nooooo...

[He's enjoying not being able to win, apparently. More upsetting, in a not-actually-upset-way:]

What! Oh, no! That's the best part about peacocks! I can get them to go shiver out their tails just by fanning mine!

[Julien that's not much of an accomplishment, peacocks like attention. Being flashy and having all eyes on you is appealing to a lot of birds. Oooo, baby, my gigantic iridescent tail makes music too deep for humans to hear, but it hasn't gotten in my way. Also look how much better my tail is than that of this absurdly huge white bird, honestly.]

That's a crying shame.

Ummmm... ...maybe if we take a picture when he does do it, you'll be able to see it then?

[She's missing the point a bit.]

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