⇨ 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

Jonathan Strange | ota!

[kingsroads]

one: shape of your soul, carnival grounds
Daemons are a part of the human's soul. As such, Strange's daemon is just as contrary, stubborn, and obstinate as he is--much to the magician's annoyance. About halfway through the day, his daemon forcibly tells Strange that she's decided she isn't going to change any more, she's going to stick to this form: the form being a six foot long four hundred pound grey seal. Naturally, an argument has ensued.

Magician and seal are arguing underneath one of the large trees and sorry passing by carnival member, you're going to be caught up in this bullshit as well. "Over here! Don't you think it would be far more convenient if she chose something smaller?" Strange complains, gesturing to the seal.

"And don't you think it would be far more convenient if he chose something less messy?" the seal sasses back, gesturing with her flipper to Strange's mop of bedhead and five o'clock shadow.

two: spring showers, greysol
Despite all his complaining, Strange eventually accepts the daemon's shape. She gains a name, Siobhan, and the two take off to explore Greysol and learn more about the travel between worlds (they use knives instead of mirrors? How odd). The problem here is, seals occasionally need water. And Strange hasn't fully wrapped his head around the bubble of water spell that other people use for their daemons.

So, he makes do. By the third or so day the carnival's in Greysol, people have started to audibly complain about the odd weather changes. Sudden rainstorms are to be expected, but storms that only last a few minutes at most? Storms that barely span a block? It's all a little odd. Still, anyone who's heard Strange brag even for a moment or two can pretty easily piece out just what the cause of these odd rainstorms is (hint, it's Strange). It's during one of those rainstorms that Strange and Siobhan can be found: Siobhan is having the time of her life, swimming through the air and doing a few lazy backflips, while Strange is standing nearby, underneath an umbrella, looking up at the sky occasionally as he does so.

"Such odd weather we're having," he remarks, with an ironic grin on his face.

three: self-reflection, either location, midway through the first week
The bond between daemon and human might not be entirely magic, but the spell that created the daemons from the carnival members is. The longer Strange spends with Siobhan, the more he realizes this extent of the magic that's created her and the easier it is for him to understand it. She's a part of him just as much as he's a part of her. And it's so much easier to deal with self-reflection when you can actually talk to yourself.

There are multiple quiet moments where the two simply chat. It's always by a body of water, mostly for Siobhan's benefit. She'll float in the shallows of the harbor, Strange will sit on the edge of the beach. Or in the carnival, she'll happily swim around the lake while Strange wades knee-deep. For any eavesdroppers, their conversations are annoyingly cryptic. It seems that Strange and Siobhan are on a much tighter wavelength than either of them predicted. So, people can overhear terribly vague snippets of conversation like

"She said she would help. If you asked him, I'm sure he would say the same." "Which is why I won't ask either of them in the first place."
or
"I do wish that idiot would think of himself every once in a while." "You know he won't." "Yes, I know he won't. But the point stands."
or
"Do you remember?" "I don't think I do. Not in it's entirety, at least." "Good." "I'll agree. That IS good."

It's the calmest that Strange has been in ages.

1. shit I laughed at the front desk, well done

[showmystar]

Allen's lips press together as he fights back the laughter threatening to escape from his chest. His shoulders bounce once, for his troubles. What a pair they make . . . The pine marten that had been previously resting around Allen's shoulders pointedly shifts to a small, blue bird -- a kingfisher. It may be reminiscent of the form Allen had taken in Portland on more than one occasion, and as the memory had influenced the magic, that may be apparent.

"Yes," a soft, feminine voice replies blatantly, a smile to her tone. "On both counts."

The shoulder beneath the bird shakes, as if Allen is silently admonishing her but also silently agrees. Aloud, he says, "I really don't think you should be arguing with yourself. Even if your self is currently a . . . walrus?"

"It makes you look a little mad, you know," the dæmon helpfully adds.

dumbness is my rp meat and drink. ;)

[kingsroads]

For all they're arguing, it's apparent that Strange and his daemon are more in sync than either of them realize. It's almost comical how both look annoyed at the same time for completely separate reasons. Likewise, they both start to speak at the same time, but then Strange pauses, and gestures for his daemon to speak first.

"I'm a seal, thank you very much," she responds, with an annoyed little 'hmmph', as if the seal vs. walrus distinction is a point of pride. There's a moment where Strange pauses, checking to see if his daemon wants to say anything else before he launches into his point of irritation.

"And I, in comparison, am already mad. Didn't you know?" Though come to think of it, did Allen know of his madness in the first place? He's talked with the young man before but the 'surprise, I'm a bit bonkers' conversation wasn't one that slipped out on a daily basis. Strange is just now realizing that Allen might not know about the whole madness thing, and can't help but frown a little in confusion.

Hmm. This conversation might go off the rails a bit if that's the case.

i love it

[showmystar]

That is not something that Allen knew. He blinks vapidly, thrown for a response. It occurs to him the longest meaningful conversation they had had likely been back in Portland. He doesn't really know him at all.

Rather than give the obvious reply, Allen instead asks, "In comparison to what?" He immediately regrets it. Rewind. "I mean . . . I'm honestly not sure if that explains everything or nothing at all."

The bird on Allen's shoulder shifts briefly into a dwarf hamster, as she awkwardly begins cleaning her face. Allen can't help but wonder if Strange's Portland persona mad. He wants to ask, but even though he hated him then, he doesn't want to be rude. Besides, that Allen was a punk, and he would rather not bring attention to that.

[kingsroads]

"What I'm trying to say is that it's no use threatening me with looking like a madman when I already am one to begin with." Though for all his talk about madness, Strange is an oddly composed madman. He's not foaming at the mouth or anything and is only slightly erratic, instead using a tone of voice like one would talk about the weather.

"So I suppose it's in comparison to the rest of the carnival itself!" said with a little laugh and a grin.

"That's still not something we should be proud of," the seal chimes in, speaking what's probably on everybody's mind already.

three

[hippocarnival]

While Strange and Siobhan discuss the benefits of memory loss, an otter with a scar on its chest slowly floats closer to them. She's on her back, paddling with her back feet to steer. See enough daemons and it's pretty easy to guess she is, too.

"Mr. Strange!" Yuya comes up not much farther, his shoes in one hand and his pants rolled up to his knees as he wades calve-deep in the water after his soul. His attention drifts to Siobhan, whom his daemon waves to, upside down. "What's up?" His tone is a little more than curious... he didn't mean to overhear those last few sentences, but he did.

[kingsroads]

Siobhan lazily waves at the otter as well. She and Strange make eye contact for a few seconds, Strange nods, and then with a girlish giggle, Siobhan starts literally swimming circles around Yuya's otter. Come on, it's obviously play time!

Ignoring his daemon for a moment, Strange turns back to Yuya. He's got a chipper smile on his face, as if he's trying to push past the slightly serious conversation about memory loss he was having with himself earlier. "Hello there Yuya," he responds, with a nod. "It looks like we've had the same idea: what's up is that it's terribly cruel to have poor Siobhan flopping around all day on land when there's a convenient lake for her to swim around in."

The fact that the lake is usually a bit isolated is entirely a coincidence, a crazy random happenstance, this is solely for his daemon's benefit and not because it's a good out of the way place to be alone with your thoughts.

[hippocarnival]

Koemi chirps with delight and flips right over, diving under the water for a moment. Play time is definitely on!

Yuya doesn't have any complaints about resting his feet for a moment and treads closer to the edge of the water before sitting on the beach. His attention drifts to Siobhan.

".... Yeah, I guess she wouldn't fit in any of the fountains" he says humorously. He doesn't know what all these animals really mean, but a big soul, a big sense of self, is something he finds fitting for Strange. "How do you feel about it? This, uh--daemon stuff." He gestures outwardly to the pair.

[kingsroads]

There is no goddamn way this massive seal is fitting in any fountains. Strange can't help but laugh a little at Yuya's statement because hey, it's true.

But as for Yuya's question...Strange looks out to the two daemons, who are diving and swimming and just generally enjoying the hell out of play time and enjoying the hell out of the lake. It's odd. The 'daemon stuff' feels perfectly natural and yet slightly bizarre at the same time.

"Truth be told, I quite like it. I think Siobhan and I were already close to begin with, but the longer I'm able to examine this spell, the more comfortable I am with it--and with her, of course." After all, it's only due to the Ringmaster's magic that they have these daemons to begin with. Through his third eye, Strange might not be able to piece out entirely how the daemon spell works and he certainly hasn't found out enough information on how it was cast in the first place, but he's able to piece out enough to know just what these creatures are.

spring showers!

[destiny_key]

If anyone were to ask Sora about the weather, he would readily agree that the rain has been super weird. But then, he's not from here; how's he supposed to know what the weather is supposed to be like? Maybe five minute rain showers that span a block are normal here.

And he'll continue to think that until he comes across Strange in the middle of one of said rain storms, his daemon playing happily. He immediately puts hit hood up, and Rohan takes the form of a little red bird to hide inside of it as he walks toward the guy.

"Yeah," he agrees. "I wonder who's fault it is," Rohan adds. They both stare pointedly at Strange.

[kingsroads]

Strange returns those pointed stares with a smug little smile, like a cat that ate the canary. Yeah, he knows it's his fault and they know it's his fault, so the conversation is going to continue with everyone knowing that the rain is a hundred percent Strange's fault.

"She's too big to fit in most fountains and we've spent most of today far from the harbor. Siobhan needs to stay wet somehow and a little rain won't hurt anyone."

After he says that however, Strange sneezes. A little rain won't hurt anyone but being in multiple rainstorms a day is a pretty good way to get a cold.

[destiny_key]

"Oh," Sora says thoughtfully. That... makes sense, actually, and now he can't help but feel a bit more sympathetic. It's probably hard, having such a big daemon. Privately, Sora hopes that Rohan stays small. As though reading his thoughts, Rohan nuzzles at his from inside his hood.

"Are those bubble things too small for her?"

"You can't keep doing this constantly, people are gonna get suspicious."

"Yeah. I mean, we have glamours on for a reason, right?"

[kingsroads]

"No, the bubbles should fit her. I simply haven't wrapped my head around the workings of the spell just yet." And yes, he could just ask one of the people here who cast bubble charms to do it for him but his sense of pride and egotism makes Strange want to piece out the magic by himself instead. He doesn't need anybody else to do it, he can cast the spells himself. And...just make it rain until he figures out how.

"I should be able to cast the bubble spell by the end of the day. It's just that I'm loathe to practice out here because, as you said, we have glamours on for a reason."

"And he's not a witch either," Siobhan lazily chimes in, as she swims right up to Strange, landing with a thud at his feet. "The rain at least can sort of be seen as natural." Granted, they both know that too much rain in a short time in a small space will end up with people asking questions, but this is just a temporary measure...even if it's a temporary measure that Strange kind of enjoys doing.

[espigeon]

Both instances of Julien pause, plus his dæmon. He trades a glance with himself, and splits up, taking his human body and Julie to come see while his bird self continues on. For the moment, Julie is a gray wolf, though one who wags her tail a lot.

"You're so cute, though! Hello!" She comes up and tries to touch noses with the seal.

Julien grins and, seeing his reflection in the man's eyes, adjusts his feathery blue hair. "I don't think I should form opinions on that kind of thing. If it works for you it works for you, right?"

Julie looks back over her shoulder. "We're the Wardrobe Assistant, of course we can comment on that!" Back at the seal. "Dude, you're way too cute for him."

[kingsroads]

The seal happily accepts the nose boop and then promptly rolls over, showing off her belly and giving Julie the biggest adorable puppy dog eyes on the planet. She's cute, she knows it, and Strange is finding all of this entirely embarrassing. Seal, you traitor.

"I am a magician," he complains, giving everyone involved a petty glare. "How would my act look if my seal soul was on the sidelines? No, if you're going to be anything, you're going to be something with a hint of dignity. A cat, perhaps?"

"No," the seal simply responds. And then, she looks over at Julie, ignoring Strange and ignoring Julian, "if this idiot isn't going to scratch my stomach, would you mind doing so? There's an itch riiight between my flippers."

[espigeon]

Julien smiles, then covers his mouth to hide it. "Well... oh, I guess seals aren't sea lions anyway. Can't she fly? When mine turned into a fish she was hovering. We've got those flying fish, so that'd be a cool effect, right?"

Julie becomes a red kangaroo and obliges with a paw. She's been taking fewer forms since early morning. "Does settling feel good? All this changing is getting kinda old. Not as fun anymore"

[insidescoop]

"...Definitely too wet for reading..." Carly's voice sounds oddly dry, can't imagine why that would be. It would look as though she has a large condor on her shoulder, but if one looks through the glamor, it's actually a rather grouchy red and orange pipesnake. As it is, while she's more subtle, her 'louder half' practically squawks-

"Can't you figure out that bubble by now!!!!"

Carly doesn't even have the heart to shush her daemon, what with being soaked to the skin, and beneath the glamor steaming quite literally as a result. Her wings and tail and...well, much of everything ARE now a gleaming mess of solar light after all, instead of the former inky black.

[kingsroads]

Despite the fact that both Carly and her daemon are irritated at him, Strange isn't showing any signs of recognizing that irritation...or doing anything about the rain in the first place. He'll clear it up in a few minutes, they can wait that long!

"Oh, I've got most of the bubble spell figured out. I'm still not entirely sure how the Greysol magic is performed, but I can accomplish the same thing with my normal water magic and a modified spell of protection." He's about to go off on yet another nerdy magic rant that Carly probably doesn't care about, before he's interrupted by his daemon, who's floated over towards them to give Strange a wet nose boop on his shoulder.

"Besides, this is more fun!" says Siobhan the seal, right before executing a backflip of near perfect form. While the bubble could keep her from drying out, it would be less fun to do flips and twirls in the bubble than in the rain.

[insidescoop]

"Just because it's fun...doesn't mean-"

While Carly is steaming, the condor finally bursts right into flames, screeching up a storm-most of the water in their vicinity is rather uncomfortably evaporating. "YOU!!! Ruined our notes!!!" She shouts, squawking unhappily. "All the important ones we were taking are all blurry and spotty and!!"

"H-Hey!!! We're trying to be mature about this!!"

"You ruined it all!!! You owe us!!"

1.

[criticallyfucked]

Foster hasn't seen Strange in.... a whole, honestly. Not since Portland, where... honestly just his name was enough to turn his mood sour.

And yet before that, he'd been perhaps the only person in the entire carnival that Foster thought wasn't a complete waste of time. So now, he's hit with two strongly conflicting impressions on someone and he doesn't actually appreciate it.

More to the point, Strange, why are you asking a gigantic blond bear about your daemon's size?

...let alone the subject of personal style.

"I don't think you want my opinion, hahaha...!" Is compulsive laughter unbearlike? Too bad.

[kingsroads]

That's Foster. But he's also a bear? Both Strange and daemon stop petty arguing to look at Foster with a unified expression of 'what the fuck'. This lasts for a moment before Strange regains his composure and returns to complaining.

"If you'll help me convince her to change forms, then I'll take anyone's opinion." But enough about browbeating his daemon, let's talk about the big fuzzy metaphorical elephant in the room, Foster being a giant bear. "Is this a leftover from Portland or something new entirely?"

Guess who hasn't gotten the memo about panserbjorn yet.

[criticallyfucked]

"Does it really matter?" Foster asks airily. "A bear-shaped object, a person-shaped object." His eyelids lower with something that could be disgust. Although whether he's disgusted with Strange or with his own existence is left ambiguous. "At the end of the day, it's still just a thing."

Without a glamour, his eyes are still blue; it makes the look he's giving the floating seal much more obvious.

"....how do you expect to change a soul?"

WHEN WILL MY REFLEEECTION SHOOOW WHOOO I AM INSIIIIDe

[whattaprick]

Not all daemon relationships are as peaceful as Strange and Siobhan's, of course. That much is amply demonstrated when whatever conversation the magician and his daemon are having when something crashes through the foliage of the nearest tree above, interrupting the quiet moment.

"There you are!" It's impossible to mistake the voice of Lambert's daemon for anyone else, joyful and bawdy as it is. That's all the warning Strange will get before something swoops down on his head. As she passes, sharp little teeth give some of that wild, bushy hair a mischievous tug, just enough to be felt without ripping it out, god knows Strange doesn't need a head start on balding -- before the polecat moves right over to Siobhan, floating down to press her nose right against that big waterdog muzzle.

Lambert, of course, isn't far behind, because he's been running to keep up with her ever since she bolted off when she spied the magician and his daemon hanging out. Really, why couldn't she be more like a polecat with regular poor vision...? He's panting when he comes up beside Strange, a hand over his chest as he half-heartedly glares at the unrepentant daemon.

"I told you to stop doing that."

[kingsroads]

And then Strange just yelps like a wuss because Jesus Christ there is a rat in his hair. There's a brief feeling of weirdness that settles in Strange's gut as Lambert's daemon touches down on his head but that feeling of weirdness is almost instantly overpowered by the confusion and shock of there being a goddamn rat in his hair. By the time he's managed to put a hand to his head in order to yank that thing out, the polecat's already bounced off his head over towards the daemon.

And while the two grownass men might not be one for physical affection, turns out that their daemons are. Because Siobhan just laughs at the nose boop and tries to use her flippers to scoop Lambert's daemon into a big, wet, floppy seal hug.

As Lambert rushes up, hand over his chest, Strange's hand is still in his hair, as he puts all the pieces together. And suddenly, he realizes just how lucky he is that seals are kind of ridiculously slow on land. Lambert's probably been dragged all over Greysol by that hyperactive little fiend.

"She seems...energetic." He's not commenting on that nose boop and seal hug because how exactly does one comment on their soul being super cuddly?

[whattaprick]

"Too much, if you ask me." Lambert looks, breathlessness aside, a queasy mixture of annoyed and happy all at once.

It's the latter that's giving him trouble, to be honest, and that annoys him even more, especially watching his tiny (seriously tiny) daemon getting smothered like that. Well, attempted smothering. Siobhan is still bigger and slower, though, so the polecat only tolerates the damp attempted hugging for a few moments before she squirms up so she can perch companionably on Siobhan's back, shaking her fur off merrily.

"And you're not energetic at all! What are you doing here? Aren't you going to see the rest of the place?"