⇨ 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

[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!!"

[kingsroads]

And Strange just rolls his eyes at the bird's dramatics. He ruined it all? Really. He's got a feeling nothing's actually ruined, this is just Carly's daemon being fussy for the sake of being fussy. After all, it's only rain.

"I doubt they're entirely ruined." And, full of sarcasm, he just continues. "Of course, you do still have the ability to write, don't you? Copy them out again."

Strange's daemon, in comparison, has now just realized that due to the argument, nobody's paying attention to her. What the hell?! She's showing off for a reason! With an annoyed little hmmph, she swim/flies back over to everybody, doing an impressive little twirl behind Strange's head, right within eyesight of Carly and her daemon.

[insidescoop]

"It's not a matter of just copying it down..!" She's doing very good to ignore both daemons at this point. "These were live drawings, and some of them were actually really important..! I wanted to really get some of that 'dust' stuff to come across in the next set of costumes... ...I can't just memorize things like that on the fly..! Half of the words are completely new!"

[kingsroads]

"I still don't see why you can't redraw them!" Strange can't help but huff. "You have your notes and your memories, surely you can just work from that."

That's how this worked, right? And if there were any terms she didn't remember, she could go ask someone else or read a book or something!

"Besides," he continues, believing perfectly well that he's in the right and that Carly's making a mountain out of a molehill, "how was I supposed to know you were here in the first place? After all, I didn't see you when I cast the spell."

[insidescoop]

"Would you really be saying the same thing if these were your things?" That's probably what's catching her most here. As it is.

"It's not just me..! You're making a lot of the people here upset, Strange..!!"

[kingsroads]

"It's only rain," Strange continues to argue, gesturing towards the rain with very pointed, annoyed hand gestures. "I didn't make it rain in your trailer or in the wardrobe room, I made it rain on a city sidewalk where people expect rain to begin with! Honestly, I cannot see why you're making such a fuss about--"

But Strange's ranting and arguing is cut short as his daemon idly 'swims' in between him and Carly. And a four hundred pound seal is a perfect deterrent to make someone lose their train of thought. He can't help but look annoyed but before the ranting starts up at his daemon, the seal interjects in the conversation.

"We might as well stop the weather," Siobhan lazily responds, before giving both Strange, Carly, and Carly's daemon a stink eye. "None of you were watching me anyway."

[fortuneglass]

"People only expect rain sometimes..! All you did was get a lot of people wet and grumbly," she adds, only moving back just in time as the seal comes near.

"There's more important things than watching blobs!!" Iskai shouts in turn. "Like magic things and cloth things and note things!!!" How is any of what Carly was upset about magic, who knows, though she seems pretty weirdly keen on shushing the bird as soon as 'magic' is said.

[kingsroads]

"I'll have you know, I'm a seal, not a blob," Siobhan complains, with a huff. "And better being that than an oversized pigeon!"

Though, surprising no one, Strange zeros in on magic (ignoring Siobhan in the process, sorry girl). Oh, he's got his own reasons to complain about this world's magic, though he's certain his reasons are different than Carly's. "I've a suspicion that your problems with this world's magic are different from my problems with this world's magic." Strange's problems being 'why isn't he glamored as a witch' and 'why do non-witches have such baseline magic.'

To his credit though, he waves a hand and the rain starts to slowly let up. Of course, it's letting up slowly enough that it could be mistaken for a rainstorm naturally stopping, so poor Carly and Iskai are going to still be wet for the next thirty seconds or so.

[fortuneglass]

"PSHHHH like it's magic from HERE, it's-"

"MMMMM!!!" It's strange to see someone gag their own daemon, but there they are, there they are...as it is, she scowls. "...It has nothing to do with magic here, and Iskai's a snake as it is..!!" she adds, bristling at the seal.

[kingsroads]

"She looks like a bird," Siobhan cattily remarks, with a roll of her eyes. But Strange just isn't paying attention to the seal/snake drama because Carly mentioned magic, they're going to talk about magic.

"Well if it isn't magic from here, what sort of magic is it? The magic from your world?"

Because Carly has magic, he knows that much, even if he's not entirely sure how to classify her fire magic.

[insidescoop]

"Mmmmmn, no way, not when you've been doing nothing but act like the rain was okay!!"

"It's not my fault, blame the magic here for this!!! I don't want feathers!!"

[kingsroads]

Strange's persistence is butting up against Carly's reluctance and he just rolls his eyes far too dramatically. "Carly, aside from the Ringmaster, I'm the most talented magician in the carnival." Or so Captain Egotism believes. "If you're having a problem with your magic, then tell me and I'll do what I can to help you out."

The second conversation continues as well, as Siobhan narrows her eyes to look at Iskai. She peers past the glamour, thanks to a combination of the spell itself and the seal sharing some magical abilities with her other half. "Well that's silly," she complains. "Why would you be a snake and a bird?"

[fortuneglass]

"I'm not having problems with my magic either, just!!"

She huffs, and looks aside-and while her partner grumbles to Siobhan about how 'it wasn't her idea at all, but witches only have birds', Carly finally relents.

"....I... ....Still have something from the Count's domain..." she says rather quietly, looking to Strange with a very serious stare. "...I'm trying to work with it, quietly."

[kingsroads]

Ah. Strange frowns slightly, shaking his head. "You aren't the only one. I know of at least three other people who've carried something back from Portland with them."

Childermass's bird form. Tamaki walking through walls. Yuya's barrier spell. Portland changed everybody more than they wanted to admit and more than they realized. There's a pause while Strange mulls things over before he continues talking.

"Likewise, it's not as...obvious as theirs? But I think I came back from Portland with something as well: ever since then, it's been easier for me to analyze and explore magic. If you want a second opinion, a training partner, or what have you, like I said. Tell me and I'll do what I can to help you out."

And not just because he wants to piece out just what sort of new magic Carly has. This is the right thing to do, he's got plenty of magical experience, why not help in the first place?

[fortuneglass]

"HEH?! S-Seriously!?!?" Well, about that Strange.

"How many of us were stealing his things!?!"

It literally isn't her magic that she's talking about.

[kingsroads]

Strange just gives Carly a blank look for a second or two before he pieces together what she's talking about...and then realization just DAWNS on his face.

"I'm talking about actual magic, not something someone stole! What did you even steal in the first place?"

There's still a bit of confusion in his tone, but absolutely no traces of judgement. Good job Carly, steal the Count of Crows shit.

[insidescoop]

"Yeah just shout it LOUDER!!!" You are not helping, snake-bird....

Carly's scowl does show that she doesn't appreciate the word stole being shouted a bit loudly, but she does at least...continue. With a loud whisper, mind. "It has actual magic..! That's the point..! I tried to have the people in the Summerlands translate some passages, but all they could say was that it's shadowspeak...!"

2/2

[insidescoop]

... "....Though I suppose I got the matching ink and quill too..."

You know, just in case.

[kingsroads]

Shadowspeak...Strange frowns, mulling it over. And, at least when he talks, he's lowered his voice to 'reasonable speaking level' (because really, whispering's equally as suspicious as shouting!)

"It makes sense why the Summer Fae couldn't translate it. The Winter Court seemed more likely to use shadows--and you found it in the Count's castle in the first place. The problem here is, I doubt we'll be run into any Winter Court fae friendly enough to provide a translation."

And the only person Strange knows who was remotely Winter Court during Portland (Childermass) spent most of his time around the Summer Court. Even if Childermass knew how to read shadowspeak, Strange doubted he remembered.

[insidescoop]

"I'm not really sure I want to ask either...it seems like it'd be more risky for someone within the court..."

"So then we just have to go down the list and read 'm all!!"

"TH-We don't exactly have testing space Iskai..!!"

Or DOES she? She is a supervisor now, and that comes with the perks of 'spare trailers for whatever the hell'...

[kingsroads]

Thankfully, Strange is on the same wavelength as Carly is and also knows about those spare trailers perks.

"If Lambert can scrounge up a spare trailer for a distillery, I'm certain you could scrounge up a spare trailer for the testing space. Alternatively, we'll use the big top."

Although, that does raise more questions. The big top is fairly public and Carly seems like she'd rather keep this a secret. Strange can't help but frown before he asks, "That is, if you don't mind others watching, we could use the big top."

[insidescoop]

"What's the point in being secret if you aren't secret..!!"

"What she said..! I don't even know what these spells will do-it could get really dangerous... ...I'd really rather test them in a closed environment first, before bringing them into the open..."

[kingsroads]

"There's rarely any use in being secret to begin with," Strange can't help but interject, with a frown. It's obvious from his tone that secrecy is one of his sore points, something that still sets him on edge a bit.

Ever the voice of reason, however, Siobhan quickly chimes in with, "If you don't know what they do, we'll need to set up precautions first. We can put out any literal fires, but if the spells change you? That's something only the Ringmaster can fix, not us."