⇨ 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

the soul's shape

[osteothropy]

[Sans gawking at Gongenzaka is not really that unusual, though he'll often be found doing so in a way that is probably a bit surprising to discover. By this point, Sans has already figured out and settled into the concept of what daemons are, so any confusion is replaced by just watching the spectacle.

Gon will probably be surprised to find Sans nearby, just in time to provide a peanut gallery.]

Why do you sound so cheated, eh? You got something against cats?

[Sans has no daemon in sight.]

[betheman]

NHGHHHH... [He knows exactly why you chose that word Sans, exactly why-

It is enough to, for the moment, allow him to ignore the fact that he doesn't see any daemon near Sans.] It has nothing to do with cats themselves..!! Just..!

"Mmmmm, he'll get over it...part of him already has after all..." [Marishi hums, stretching out somewhat casually.] "I just find it easier to admit what we're thinking.."

[Gongenzaka's only response is to hold his face in his hands, half groaning.]

[osteothropy]

Wow. I think they've got you one-upped, Gon.

[Sans grins cheekily, kneeling down to look at the cheetah more closely.]

So, do you know why your soul-pal here is making a fuss?

[otoko]

That is not t-

[HEY.] I, the man Gongenzaka, am also able to answer..!!

[Marishi merely purrs, giving a slow blink.] "Cheetahs run."

I-It is more than just that!

[The look on the cheetah's face says it's not much more though.]

[osteothropy]

[Sans blinks, and then casts Gongenzaka a wry look.]

Really?

[betheman]

.....It's far more complicated than that.

It's not.

MNNH- IT IS!!!

Really, you think you can hide from yourself?

[Someone, get the popcorn.]

[osteothropy]

[As hilarious at this is, Sans is honestly not sure he understands.]

C'mon Gon, you can't be serious with that. You're really mad about your spirit animal because of the metaphorical connotations of 'running'?

It would fit with that you've seen of him before.

[The second, female voice seems to come from Sans's eyesocket, but it's clear now that there is a beetle perched inside.]

[betheman]

....It is not merely the connotations of 'running'-the idea of being suited for motion rather than stability is in itself the antithesis of my family's teachings..!!

[A Small Translation-]

He feels his daemon shouldn't resemble something that could be blown over in the wind... ....not that I would be, of course. [Also-a nod toward that beetle.] Oh-hello there.

[osteothropy]

Hi!

[Helvetica crawls out onto the top of Sans's skull, her blue shell shining in the sunlight. Sans just lets her do her thing and continues.]

Hey, a beetle is sort of the antithesis of a skeleton - but I guess we've both technically got EXO-skeletons, right?

[Meaning their skeletons are on the outside, naturally.]

[betheman]

AUH.... [...................He....has no idea where to respond to that. Is it a pun, is it not a pun, dammit Sans-]

It wouldn't be right if we didn't resemble ourselves after all..~ [Is Marishi's response, and Gongenzaka finds himself merely coughing.]

For a moment, I, the man Gongenzaka, will admit...I had wondered if the spell had been effective over yourself...

This certainly answers that-but what is your name, then?

[osteothropy]

My name is Helvetica. It's odd, being fully formed, but not subject to the usual traditions of this world. To think that a monster's soul could be comparable to a human's...?

[If Sans is uncomfortable, he tries not to show it. Instead, he just lets his daemon run at the mouth while continuing on as if that wasn't a thing.]

I guess I wouldn't have expected you'd go for a cheetah either. Besides the part where you've both got four legs.

[betheman]

Aaauhh, to see the soul outside the body is...somewhat concerning....

Hooo, because of how we appeared, or because we appeared at all? [Marishi hums, the pair of them fortunately oblivious to any issue Sans seemed to have with Helvetica's words.] ...I had good reason to settle as I did...I bet you understand, at least, [She adds, purring toward the beetle. Everyone has their reasons-maybe not obvious ones, but reasons all the same.]

Khh.... ....I, the man Gongenzaka...can only hope I can determine why, given how my own self refuses to explain...

You just need to realize what you already know after all~

[osteothropy]

[Helvetica can't really nod, on account of being a bug, but she opens her shell and flutters down to Sans's hand, crawling on his knuckles. Curiously, instead of beetle wings, she has tiny feathers ones, made of light like an angel's. Or, at least, like Sans's were as an angel.]

I have many questions, but not about our forms. Sans had no concerns.

I don't think she shifted at all. Weird, huh?

[Or maybe Sans slept through that part. Who knows.]

[otoko]

Not even a little...?

Ohh-you're quite sure of yourself, aren't you then..?

Mnnn... [Gongenzaka looks to his own partner-the blueish toned cheetah, maned and bearing flowers and vines not unlike his own in the fur.] ...Marishi herself took a number of forms throughout the morning, before settling... ...she was even briefly a dragon!

It seemed a little ostentatious....

[Gongenzaka immediately looks somewhat dejected.]

R-Right.. ....Questions, though? [TOPIC CHANGE.]

[osteothropy]

It felt right from the start. Monsters are very familiar with the workings of their own souls. They see it every day, after all... in the mirror.

She got my stature about right, too. [Sans winks, jerking a thumb at himself.]

He even had a piece of jewelry with my likeness on it, from another world!

Funny how I never really felt much kinship with it until now, huh?

[Stop flirting with your spirit animal.]

[otoko]

[It takes but a moment for the two to realize what they're saying here-realization dawns upon both of their faces however, and finally,]

Oh my...

Hmm!! Your very body was your soul to begin with? ...Then it is akin to Zangetsu..!

Though with far more...pleasant results, [Marishi quickly quips, a slight gag at the end of her sentence.]

It is no surprise then, that you would have taken form in an instant...

[osteothropy]

Yep. [Sans shrugs a shoulder. Sometimes he forgets how little humans know about monsters - let alone humans from another world.] Nothing but magic and dust around here... and dust is all we leave behind.

Flesh is actually an evolutionary advantage... it protects the soul from damage. Without it, the soul can be wounded with something as intangible as willpower and the desire to kill.

[Sans swallows.]

Uh...

[otoko]

Grim....

Indeed... ...You certainly never struck us as fragile, if it's any consolation.

MM-! [Apparently Gongenzaka felt that was put with too much pity.] More importantly, there is a reason you have the role as Warden, after all! Regardless of such a vulnerability, I, the man Gongenzaka, would certainly wish to follow no other!

[osteothropy]

[There are like a million ways that Gon saying that is embarrassing, mostly because Sans just straight up doesn't believe he's being earnest about that assessment at all. Gon pretty obviously hasn't approved as Sans as a Warden on numerous occasions, and while Sans had more or less made his peace with the fact that people didn't respect him, it feels chafing to have someone outright state that they actually do.]

Haha. Yeah right.

[He laughs that off like it's obviously intended as a joke.]

[betheman]

[Apparently, Marishi takes that line of thinking rather poorly. Perhaps even as an insult. Both she and Gongenzaka stiffen, and frown.]

Do you think us liars, Warden?

I, the man Gongenzaka, may not necessarily approve of all of your methods... ...but I stand by my words..!