⇨ 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

[kingsroads]

I'm certain I'll manage, [ Strange responds, with a shrug. It's said with the confidence of a man who is TOO DAMN CONFIDENT for his own good despite the fact that he just got his ass kicked at magical combat.

As he unsheathes his dagger, the blue-green sheen of the metal glistens in the light...and then Strange realizes wait a moment, he brought his actual friggen dagger which might not be a good idea. ]

Hmm. It is rather sharp. I can craft together something duller if you wish.

[chronosynthesis]

[Syrlya turns to cross the grounds and pick up one of the training swords, but Strange's statement gets him to look over his shoulder as he does so.]

I hope you do not tip them with poison. How solid of a replacement are you able to make?

[kingsroads]

[ With a frown, Strange looks around...and then spots the training swords also. Picking one up, he looks it over. ]

Well, assuming this is wooden...

[ Strange places his dagger on top of the training sword. He closes his eyes and mutters something under his breath as the sword moves and shapes itself to become an exact replica of the dagger. Strange opens his eyes, briefly looks surprised, then quickly replaces that surprised look with something triumphant as he sheathes his real dagger.

See! He knew what he was doing! ]

That should be solid enough.

[chronosynthesis]

[Syrlya watches the wood warp with fascination. Transmutation isn't a common art in Tyria--much of it is either strange and ancient, hard to decipher, or simply an illusion. Elementalists could make magical weapons out of the earth, but that's different than simply changing the shape of an object.

They'll get to training, but first he holds his hand out.] May I see that?

[kingsroads]

Of course. [ With a nod, Strange hands over the wooden dagger. And then, because he's got a feeling Syrlya will ask, he starts to yammer about how he did it. ]

It's not that different from my other magic. After all, the wood of the dagger still remembers being a tree. I have to adjust the spell and talk to it in a different way, but it still works.

[chronosynthesis]

[Syrlya turns it over in his hand. So whatever he can get the element to agree to, he can change. Incredibly versatile, given he has yet to see anything reject Strange's request for help.]

You continue to impress me. [He offers the dagger back with a smile. Belatedly her realizes he really should get a notebook to write this down with, sometime. He should bring Taimi as detailed information as he can do they can find a solution themselves.]

[kingsroads]

[ Just wait until they run into another world from the 1990s onwards, then Syrlya gets to see ALL SORTS OF THINGS reject Strange's request for help.

And Strange looks terribly smug as Syrlya mentions how impressed he is. He gives the other man a little nod as he takes the dagger and continues to talk. ]

And you as well. Those spells you cast, the ones that seemed to consist of magic itself: I've no idea how to even attempt that in the first place!

[ It's said with a bright tone of voice and absolutely no hint of judgement. Magic is far too confusing, annoyingly odd, and continues to work differently for each magician. And honestly, Strange is coming to adore that more and more. ]

[chronosynthesis]

I am an illusionist. All of my spells are pure magic. [Nothing but raw energy drawn tightly enough to be tangible. But Strange's magic appears to be very intangible, so there's a vague gesture of his hands as he considers how to explain the way that it works.]

In a way I suppose it is its own element, one that I am capable of sensing and molding into the form that I want it to be--such as a clone, a barrier, or a storm. Rather than ask it to work for me, I take it and change it myself.

[kingsroads]

Interesting. [ Shaping magic itself? Oh, Strange has had pipe dreams of spells that could do something of that nature but as of now, it's something he knows he cannot do. For the moment, at least. These things could always be changed. ]

As for my spells, it's less of a command and more of an agreement. If the trees or water don't wish to do something, then they'll remain perfectly stubborn. Of course, the carnival is brimming with magic which makes the whole process easier.

[chronosynthesis]

Mm, perhaps it is because your magic is based on interacting with the element itself, rather than the energy that commands it? [He absently rests the tip of the training sword into the dirt, leaning on it slightly.] Your... cooperative magic sounds more like the connection my people have with other plant life. Druid must have been similar, too, but you don't appear to need to become an actual spirit of nature.

[kingsroads]

I don't. [ However, Strange can't help but grin a wry little smile as Syrlya mentions that actual spirit of nature part. ]

But I must admit, it'd be fun if I was. A spirit of nature...given the choice, I think I'd be a wildfire.

[chronosynthesis]

Would you? [He was thinking of Druids, which he's pretty sure aren't related to wildfires, but...] Why a wildfire?

[kingsroads]

A wildfire burns everything down so something new can grow out from it. It's a bit romantic, don't you think?

[ By the time Strange learned about his magic, Norrell had already decided what English magic would look like, set the terms for English magic, and so on and so forth. By the time Strange decided what should be changed about English magic, he learned that it would be damn hard to change it to begin with. He knows it isn't possible, but perhaps the best thing for England and English magic would be to wipe the slate clean entirely and start from scratch.

Though, it's a little bit worrying that Strange sees the romanticism in a total overhaul of things. ]

[chronosynthesis]

... I cannot say I find the complete destruction of existing life to be romantic, no. [He says it carefully, but a bit of edge still gets through his flat tone.

Is romanticizing wildfires in front of the plant person insensitive? A little, but Syrlya's distaste for the idea stems from a different source..] But you do not mean that concept literally, I hope.

[He's heard that metaphor before, and it wasn't terribly comforting in the face of very tangible decimation.]

[kingsroads]

I don't. [ Though there's a pause, as Strange mulls over what to say next. ]

Some things in my world do need changing. But I've no idea if I'm the person who will change them in the first place.

[chronosynthesis]

Well, if you intend to try, take heed in how you decide to change things. [Lest everything gets screwed up even worse than before, you know.] Especially in regards to magic.

[kingsroads]

Trust me. Any actions I take either here or back home shall be thought through to completion before I do so.

[ that is 100% not gonna happen. ]

[chronosynthesis]

[Syrlya is not actually any better at doing it but do as he says, not as he does, etc.

He nods once and, with a bit of a wry smile, lifts the training blade.] Shall we continue?

[kingsroads]

We shall, [ Strange remarks, with a nod.

And then, without warning, training dagger in hand, he lunges towards Syrlya, attempting to poke the man in the stomach. ]

[chronosynthesis]

[Syrlya, having expected them to actually go out in the middle of the field again for a proper spell, is easily poked. HE jumps slightly as he feels the wood prod at his waist--which doesn't give as much as human flesh does, being much stiffer.

He looks between the dagger and Strange.] You realize that does not count.

[kingsroads]

So that's Strange one, Syrlya zero?

[ He knows it doesn't count, but that doesn't stop Strange from teasing slightly. Perhaps he's still used to Lambert's method of training, which involved everything happening from the time someone said 'go.' Or perhaps, and this is the most likely explanation, Strange is just trouble.

Still, he's smiling at Syrlya with an annoyingly innocent 'who ME?' sort of expression. ]

[chronosynthesis]

At best it is one to one, if I am being giving. [Because they both agreed that Syrlya won that mage fight.

Arm's length is a disadvantage to Syrlya with his longer blade, so he teleports backwards to put more space between the two of them. He immediately moves his sword to a defensive stance and waits.]

Go on, show me what you can do with that. Best two out of three?

[kingsroads]

[ With a grin, Strange moves to something remotely close to a defensive stance. Truth be told, his knife lessons have only just managed to progress to 'kind of decent' so he has no idea about stances or anything related to form. ]

Ready? Begin!

[ And again, he very obviously lunges towards Syrlya. Strange is gonna lose this fight as well. ]

[chronosynthesis]

[He probably is, because a month is a bit of a stretch against five years. Still, Syrlya pays on cautious defensive at first and simply parries Strange's attempts to reach him as he gauges his skill.

He lets it go for a minute before he twists and lunges forward on the aggressive to knock his sword against Strange's waist, coming in on the side of his dagger.]

[kingsroads]

[ To everyone's surprise, Strange manages to dodge Syrlya's attack! Which would be more impressive, if Strange himself didn't look way too surprised at the fact that he did a successful dodge. He goes in for another lunge, pretty much using the exact same form as the first lunge he did. ]