⇨ 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

[pullingamiko]

Miko glanced over at her, her mouth twisting into a thoughtful frown. "Yeah... what was your deal over there, anyway? Seems like everyone had some weird crap going on."

Like suddenly being siblings.

[amusicaladventure]

"I was an amoral bitch." There was more to it than that, but that was, really, the important part. Anything she was or did was secondary to her reasons for doing it.

[pullingamiko]

...Ah. Well, not the kind of answer she was expecting, but that does go to explain why Ash seems so mad about the thing.

"...Jeez. That sucks, man." She hesitates for a moment, trying to figure out something else that can even be said to that. "...At least now you can go back to not being that? People will probably understand that wasn't exactly you." Probably. She's no expert, but it seems like a good bet.

[amusicaladventure]

"Except it was." And on that note, Ash sat up. Lying down just wasn't quite comfortable any more, not when a little soreness and pain could go a long way towards distracting her."I am so glad to be back. And that's saying something considering where ELSE we've ended up since I've been here."

[pullingamiko]

"Well, kind of, I guess. But..." She frowned, thinking over what to even say here. "I mean, if you feel bad about it now, that definitely means something."

"Yeah, 'least now things are back to normal. Or... you know, 'normal'." She makes finger-quotes on that last word, because, uh. Using it kinda loosely here.

[amusicaladventure]

Normal.

Ash slapped her hands to her mouth, just in time to cover up laughter that bent her over, shoulders shaking. It might be a little close to hysteria, but it felt good nonetheless, at least for the first minute or so.

She forced herself to stop with what willpower she had left, balling up a fist tight so her claws pricked the skin. The pain helped her focus, and she wiped her eyes. "Warn a girl next time..."

[pullingamiko]

--Okay! Okay, unexpected, but you know what? Maybe an improvement over the kind of mood Ash had been in before. She hoped so, anyway.

Miko grinned, and gave a small shrug. "Hey, I can try, but it might get tough. I'm just too hilarious."

[amusicaladventure]

Ehhhh, maaaybe. If nothing else, it had forced Ash out of her funk for fear of going too much farther down a dark path, which was something. "Duly noted. I'll get tape for when my sides split. Ugh," she continued without any gentleness to the transition. "How long have we been away, a month? Maybe more?"

[pullingamiko]

"Beats me." Miko frowned, thinking it over. "A month sounds about right... does the stuff in Portland get kinda... fuzzy before that for you, too?"

[amusicaladventure]

"Mmm, some stuff I remember more clearly than I'd like. But if you think about it, that isn't too surprising. Since... our pasts are definitely our pasts, not our Portland pasts." Ash had to pause there, because the train of thought was starting to tangle in tenses and timelines.

[pullingamiko]

"Yeah, I... guess so." She paused for a moment before groaning and dropping her hands over her face. "Man, this is confusing."

[amusicaladventure]

"Tell me about it. How does splitting a gallon of ice cream sound?" It might be cliche, but some cliches existed for a reason, and right now eating something ridiculous would go a long way towards distracting her or at least blunting the edges of all the thoughts tumbling around in her head.

[pullingamiko]

"...Y'know what. Sounds like a good plan to me." Ice cream was basically always a good plan, in Miko's opinion, but... especially now. Especially after all that. She jumped upright, dusting off her shorts.

[amusicaladventure]

"Hup!" Ash half-rolled, half-kicked to get her feet under her, only to freeze right before she straightened all the way up. "Oh -- crap, we've been in a weird other place for like a month, I hope the food is still GOOD!"

[pullingamiko]

"--Crap, yeah, I hadn't thought of that! Guess the sooner we find that out, the better, huh?"

[amusicaladventure]

"If not, we have some bigger problems." Not that Ash was worried. She could feed everyone if she had to. But that was really not what she wanted to put her musical-magical talents towards, you know? "But this place looks nice enough, it should have something available..."