⇨ GREYSOL

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 155 - Day 169
Where: Greysol
What: The carnival resumes its tour, this time heading to Greysol, a city tied deeply into the fabric of the multiverse. Here, everyone has an animal companion from birth that is the second half of their soul - and thanks to the Ringmaster, so do you. (Remember, joysweeper is our guest event runner for this location, and location specific questions should go to them.)
Warnings: Individually marked!

THE CITY OF GREYSOL↴ The carnival arrives in a manicured park in the center of a big city that sprawls out along where the river reaches the ocean. It’s spring, early enough that nights are chilly, warm enough in the days that people and their souls savor the weather, and sometimes shelter together from the rain. Greysol was designed from the bottom up to accommodate the human-dæmon bond. Go out and see! ► THE SHAPE OF YOUR SOUL: The dæmon-forming spell kicks in at about four in the morning. Most characters will wake up with their souls in some small form, curled against them. Even if they were awake, they became dazed and unfocused while their souls were being drawn out of their bodies and have little memory of how it happened. Until that evening every character's dæmon is able to change shapes, and children and some teens will continue to do so. Most will settle on their permanent forms by evening. Characters without dæmons will just look on, and the few who are thousand-pound bears have to handle being really big. ► IT’S GOOD TO SETTLE: Elaine Tavis Aracari, sixteen-year-old daughter of two actors and a moving pictures sensation herself, just ‘settled’ - her dæmon Tavis stopped changing shape - as a stunning blue peacock. Settling is a major coming of age milestone and celebrated as such in different ways all over the world. She and her family are throwing a massive party in the central park and inviting the public to join in! Enjoy easy access to free catering, live music and showings of moving pictures, and displays of mostly trivial magic. There are also form readers from across the country setting up booths, happy to accept a small fee to inspect your dæmon’s settled or most favored forms and tell you what they mean. Is there anything to these analyses? Eh, maybe, but they’re flattering and fun. ► WITCHING HOURS: Characters who are clearly witches for this event will often be assumed to be in town for a lover, and people, witches and not, may want to know who that is. Humans usually regard them with wary respect and interest. Real witches living with their human families or on business quickly suspect that something’s up, but without clear and present danger take a relaxed wait-and-see attitude. Wait for long enough and any possible decision will come around again, they believe. There isn’t time to learn much witch magic, but witches, real and carnival-made, have an inherent power: the ability to fly using branches of “cloudpine”, an attractive soft-needled tree common in the park. Witches usually ride large branches as if they’re steeds but can use even short sprays, and you’ll probably see the few witches in the city coming to the park to do so. Why not try? ► BEAR PUN: Human-panserbjørn relations have historically been troubled, but have warmed in the past century. It’s the 65th anniversary of the breaking of the Siege of Bertin, a much-mythologized time when Spectres flooded Greysol and a company of panserbjørn arrived and directed efforts to get the survivors out of the city. A statue is being erected and many florid accounts of the story are being told. If you’re in a panserbjørn shape for the duration of the visit you will probably get thanked and celebrated by people trying to hide their nervousness of you. Expect someone to ask if your dæmon would be a human - it’s a common supposition. ► KERNER ISLAND: From the harbor you can see a wooded island. Although there are no rocks to speak of it sports a tall lighthouse, and nearly all boat traffic avoids it carefully. On a clear day someone with binoculars or a particularly sharp-eyed soul can see loads of trash, birds and various other animals that don’t seem local, and… children? Adults and settled teenagers will see tall vague shapes moving about too. When asked about it the most important thing adults will tell other adults is don’t go there. They’ll hold their dæmons close and tell you that on that island are things that eat souls. They may also admit with mixed pride and shame that it’s been a source of wealth and innovation for the city. There’s a facility there that can open windows into other worlds, and the children who can reach it can cross through and bring things back. Many of the children are recruited by research and development teams on the lookout for items they can use, but there are also kids out to have adventures or who’ve run away. More on this later.

Comments

[pipers_son]

It'll serve you right~. Somethin', somethin', sins of gambling? [Judging by the way Joker leans back into his seat with a bark of laughter and Aurora titters,he's not as serious as he could be. With good reason, considering he's sitting at the table between a pair gambling it all away. (At least, one of them is.)]

[With the way the man is still shaking his head, the "sins of gambling" is definitely leaving its mark, but he does take just a bit of money. It'd be honorable, if not for how his daemon is watching keenly with her ears flat back.] Quite generous of you, sir.

"And quite foolish of you." [The greyhound can be heard scolding him even as they start to walk away back into the busy streets.] "What did I say? This is just like this time a few months ago when you got cocky-"

[And they're gone.]

[prazerbutterfly]

Or something like that. [He says with a little bit of dismay. There's a light shove in Joker's direction but not enough force to topple him from his chair. He turns back to the other with a warm smile and shrugs again.] I know what is like to be down on my luck. It's nothing a good drink can't perk back up, Miss Octaviana.

[Not that he should be encouraging either of them into more vices.

Still, he waits until both of them are gone and out of ear shot before his hand moves forward and takes the money paid. He'll count it just to have a headcount with how much he has. He's not good with math so he's adding it onto what he does have by manually counting in his head. It's then he slides it into his pockets for later as his own money is picked up after.] Well, how did I do, Joker?

Have I earned a right to take you to dinner yet~?

[pipers_son]

[Having had to learn his numbers in a cramped building full of screaming children and chattier teenagers... And then having to implement that learning in a bustling group of tents where walls didn't really exist... Means that Joker is pretty sympathetic to the plight of having to do it in one's head. Figuring out who's actually good at it is usually pretty easy.]

[They tend to get it done fast, for starters.]

[So Joker does him a favor and doesn't badger him much as Tyki counts up everything in his head, occasionally roping passerby into conversation or encouraging a visit to the carnival. It's when the latest has passed by that the other man speaks up, and Joker is already grinning by the time he looks back to him.]

Yer a scoundrel, sir, make no mistake, and I'd be delighted if ya took me ta dinner.

[prazerbutterfly]

[He doesn't take long. He's gotten use to counting money even on a long ride home from a meeting or when he has to disperse it or pay for something. At first he had practically given money away but now he was more confident even if it was a minute longer than most.

Nor is he easily distracted while doing it. He spends his time well and quickly to manage a good appearance. Joker might've noticed but then he's not worried about Joker at all. He trusts him and cares for him. It's a lot coming from a man like Tyki who could disregard others for more effective measures.

He stands up with Morticia raising from her position to join him at his side with a rub into his leg and he bows at being called a scoundrel.] Good. Good. I'll radio you later when I've found the perfect place to eat. I hope 7pm isn't too late?

[pipers_son]

7's more than fine with us~. [Standing up, he gives a nice stretch of his back and good arm. From around his head, Aurora starts to flutter, and her voice is just as much of a tease.]

We expect a good one~!

She's right, and ya wouldn't want ta disappoint a lady, would ya?

[Their laughs meld together naturally; perhaps it's only to be expected from two sides of the same soul. Stepping away, he gives a jaunty little wave.]

And hopefully by that time, I'll have a few more things set up for the new additions of yer act.

[But there's no rest for the wicked, and he's probably wasted enough of his free time on his own personal fun. With that promise made, he makes his way back to the big tent and all the goodies that lie within its storage. It's up to him to make sure that the audience has the best performance ever, and that his workers have the best tools at their disposal.]

[prazerbutterfly]

[He chuckles softly at the requests for both of them and even Morticia is rumbling in a laugh from pure satisfaction. He didn't want to disappoint either of them. That much was true.]

Oh no. Certainly not such a distinguished lady.

[His hand moves down as Morticia rubs her cheek into it and he's scratching there lightly with a rather warm and funny feeling echoing his own body. He watches Joker walk away along with his little friend.

It doesn't take much for the both of them to head in the opposite direction to find somewhere worth treating his friends. They'll get the best restaurant in town with the best seats by the time his silver tongue is done and his coin is well spent.]