⇨ 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

[diamondsare]

"...For a human, it might be a little strange." The whole naming yourself thing, anyway, that seemed like something everyone else did! But if he named himself, it probably had more meaning to him than just a random word, or even the context Blue knew it in.

Names after all, defined a person. Who they were, what they were. 'Joker' was how he defined himself.. "Was it anything like this one?"

Probably without the faerie leader. "In a general sense, we are certain specific details are likely to be very different." Curiosity is a difficult thing to try to ignore, and the tiger's not going to bother suggesting they stop until there's an obvious problem.

[pipers_son]

Definitely without the faerie leader.

Him and Aurora cock their heads to the side almost at the same time, already in sync despite how short a time the carnival has been in Greysol so far. "This one's a little fancier, I would wager," he says after a moment's consideration, "which is probably what ya get when yer a powerful lady and not just a gent off the street. We didn't have a ferris wheel, for one, which I think is rather the highlight of the whole place, so yer right there."

"But the core of it's always the same," Aurora says decisively. "The travelling, all the different people, givin' folks entertainment and things they'd never get ta see otherwise. A carnival is always a carnival when ya come down ta it. Some things, they don't ever change no matter the place, yeah?"

[diamondsare]

The ferris wheel. She'd been on it precisely once and had rather enjoyed the ride until it had gotten stuck.

For a time, daemon and Diamond are quiet, thinking this over and observing the people passing about. She trusts Joker knows where he's going, else he wouldn't have offered. Hopefully things like traffic and stoplights won't be a concern..

"Do human carnivals also acquire its workers through similar but ... less ... magical ways?" No wish granting presumably, but this 'payment' thing seemed to work in its stead for a great many individuals.

Having a second carnival to compare to was unexpectedly interesting.

[pipers_son]

Joker has a rough idea of where he's going, which will have to do. Besides, he can always ask directions, can't he? As they walk, occasionally Aurora flutters up off of his shoulder to take to the air, looking around for signs or certain streets. Inevitably, she always comes back, chittering directions into Joker's ear.

"Well, they're a tad similar, although yer right on less magical," Joker answers, waiting for Aurora to come back from her most recent flight up. "They get paid in, ah, monetary ways. Of course, for some, that's just a bonus."

A smile plays on his lips. "Some folks just want ta leave the place they live at, and the circus is a good way ta do that. Others don't have talents fit for regular society, so ta speak, but a circus will take anyone that can work well enough. So the experience is more the payment for them."

[diamondsare]

The little bird is watched, her exploratory short flights apparently quite useful.. but she's content with her striped companion. Perhaps he couldn't fly but she found him reassuring as he was.

Could a daemon shapeshift, if their person could? "Humans do seem to enjoy money and its various exchanges. All of this is from such similar commerce is it not?" Buildings and clothing and roads and people bustling here and there, and the flying things in the sky that may or may not be blimps!

"You sound as if you have personal experience with it." Carnivals, getting paid, the experience of being in one. She didn't want to pry but that too sounded interesting. "May I inquire further?"

Of course, Joker has every right to say no, and if he does she'll respect that even if she didn't much want to.

[pipers_son]

"Mm?" It takes him a half second to realize what she means, and then he nods. "Oh, yeah. Makes trade a bit easier, if everyone is passin' along the same thing in exchange!" A chuckle rolls out of him. "Although it'd be easier if us humans weren't all over and came up with our own ideas separate." Oh well. Things have worked out as best as possible, he guesses, although he's by no means an expert.

Aurora is on his shoulder just in time to hear that question, and she gives a delighted little hop. "Oh, we loved! The best part of our life, I would say."

If he lets her keep going, she won't stop and might spill something he'd rather she didn't. So Joker takes over, smiling. "Which is ta say that yer free ta ask whatever questions ya like. My whole family worked at that circus back in my home, so I got nothin' but fond memories~."

[diamondsare]

"It makes sense given your cultures, but I admit it's still a little strange to me." She was getting used to it, slowly! She had to, she was handling most of the treasury's administrative work lately, and that tended to mean COMMERCE.

At least she didn't have to worry about spending her own money, she didn't have any. That both bird and Joker seem to have the same reaction - one that strikes her as pleased and not simply hiding an unexpectedly painful life - she relaxes a tiny bit. Blue knew that personal lives were private matters, and sometimes weren't pleasant.

But both daemon and human seemed to think it was a good time.

"What did you do there?" It's the tiger that gets to the question before Blue can.

[pipers_son]

"I was the ringleader for that circus!" If he had the arm to spare, he'd gesture grandly along with his laughter. Fortunately, Aurora is here for him in this world. She darts off before them, the light catching her feathers nicely as she slips and flutters through the air.

"So I did a lot of the same things that our Ringmaster does now. I hire folks, organize 'em for who gets ta perform, that sorta thing." Patiently, he waits for Aurora to land back on his shoulder before continuing. "I introduced the acts, too. That's an important part of the whole thing as a ringleader, y'see. Ya have ta help make the crowd all excited for what they're about ta see."

[diamondsare]

It's a visual display of what certainly seems to be carefree happiness, if it's a trick Blue is unaware. It was as far as she can tell, an administrative position. ... And that's a bit of a surprise too, by the whuff of bemusement from the tiger.

He really didn't seem the sort to be involved in that sort of busywork! "While the latter certainly seems to suit both of you well, as you are very attention-grabbing, I admit ... I had not expected administrative experience." That's what she gets for judging people on appearance!

But in her society your appearance really did dictate what you did.

"For human carnivals, are acts left to the discretion of the actors, or is that something also orchestrated by the ringleader?"

[pipers_son]

His grin might almost be described as a bit cheeky. "Ya wouldn't be the first ta be surprised that I'm quite responsible!" he teases, although it's true. "It's still a circus in the end, so even the responsible ones always look a bit odd ta anyone else outside of it." Still, even with the more tedious parts taken into account, Joker doesn't think there's a job anywhere else that he'd rather do.

Aurora pinches one of his ears inbetween her beak, lightly at least. "Ya wouldn't look right in plain suits anyway," she laughs, for all that it's true. They both know how he's like.

As he looks around, Joker thinks they might be getting closer. It's taking a while, but the buildings are becoming a little less clustered together. That means more room, somewhere, for lots of animals (some of them huge) to live at. "It's somethin' of both," he explains. "Someone will come up ta me and say that they're good at, say... Knife throwin'. I'll have them do a little demonstration, ta show me how good they are. If anyone has any potential, I'll keep 'em on so they can practice while havin' them do other work in the meantime. If they're really good, then I'll put them under the spotlight either if they're better than who I have already or ta give someone else a break."

[diamondsare]

While the vast bulk of Blue's attention is still on Joker and his little bird, it's hard to also not keep note of the creatures the humans here are tended to. Not too many enormous creatures, did that have a meaning too? Likely they wouldn't stay long enough to find out..

"I suppose were you not suited to it, you would not have done it," she acquiesces. If he'd been at it a while he HAD to be capable. "As I understand it humans are ... able to choose their areas of expertise? How do you gain the knowledge for such roles?"

That's a far bigger question, but it just didn't WORK that way as far as she understood things. Learning, education, school. What were they? "..Did you learn from another ring-leader?"

"Perhaps it is innate after all, and he was always meant to do such a thing," the tiger adds thoughtfully. It made sense to him!

[pipers_son]

While Joker has met a lot of individuals that could be considered foreign and strange in England, it's still quite the novelty to meet one that finds the idea of research and practice to be an unknown thing. Aurora makes her own little whistle, no doubt feeling the same things.

That's a lot to explain, however, and the tiger catches him off guard while he's sorting it through in his head. A laugh bounces out from him. "Well, yer not entirely wrong!" he says, still chuckling as Aurora titters on his shoulder. "I didn't learn from any other ringleaders, exactly... But I'm a big brother." There's only a brief pause before it occurs to him that he should explain a little bit further. "Me and a group of others alike enough decided ta live together and look after one another. None of us knew who was the oldest... So I guess it was just decided that I was the best suited ta bein' the big brother since I was so good with people and such."

"A good a reason as any," Aurora agrees. It'd certainly made sense when they were all just gutter kids.

Joker continues on. "So I got used ta the people part of the job pretty quickly, I like ta think. But things like learnin' the acts, or how ta do the practical stuff-" He motions his hand again slightly. "That I had ta learn from teachers, or practice."

[diamondsare]

Attempting to piece human culture against gem culture left a lot of holes, and not all of it could be filled through sheer guesswork. The pair being told it isn't entirely wrong that (to their mind) humans ARE preprogrammed to be a certain way was at least a comfort, Blue understood that.

Maybe most humans simply weren't able to find the task they were meant for. "These.. others, were they also part of your carnival?" Perhaps they too were simply meant for the position of entertainer, less servile Pearls designed for the dance more than seeing to doors.

'Teachers', though. "It must be distressing, to have to find one's purpose in the hands of another. How long did it take before you and your fellows discovered what you were meant for?"

"And now after this, surely by the time you return to Earth, there will be a great many new tricks to add to your shows with." An added benefit to being here, working for the Ringmaster! "..Though please, if we ask too much.."

"Curiosity is a terrible thing. 'Modern' human behavior and cultures have barely been studied at all."

[pipers_son]

Really, it's sort of charming how she- they?- seem so ready to apologize about asking everything. Really, they wouldn't be the first, he supposes. In an interdimensional carnival that goes beyond countries, even planets, there's always a lot of questions. Maybe one day he'll get tired about blabbing on the same things over and over again... But not today.

Instead, today, he laughs. "Oh, no worries, no worries~. Ringleaders, fae or human or whatever, always love ta chatter, I think!" Playfully, he winks up to her. "Comes with the job." Or maybe it was simply the personality of those who so often found themselves under the spotlight. Probably both, he imagines.

A much more interesting thing to do is to talk about his family, a subject matter he eagerly leaps into with his expression brightening even more than before. "As a matter of fact, they were! It was somethin' we all got inta together. It took a bit of figurin' out for who would be best suited for what, of course, but we all managed in the end. I'm pretty pleased with it, truth be told. We started out with just us seven, but it became quite big by the time I came ta work here. OF course..." He chuckles. "Us seven were always the main stars."

From his shoulder alights Aurora again, darting about in front of Blue. Her voice is a mimic of the showmanship Joker is so often capable of putting on himself. "Jumbo, twice as tall as any ordinary man, firebreather extraordinaire! Wendy and Peter, the Flying Blanco, soaring through the air and defying gravity! With a marksman's eye and a deft hand, Dagger, the knife thrower! Courting death with grace, the princess of the circus, Doll the tightrope walker! And finally, commanding monstrous beasts with only a whip and a smile, Beast!"

Even as Aurora is giving her little presentation, however, Joker remembers something and inclines his head a bit. "Actually, our Doll is at the circus right now, if ya ever see her. Perhaps I'll introduce ya some day." They have a whole year, after all. "Anyway... It took some years before we learned. Around..." He rolls the numbers in his head a bit, trying to skip over some of the more unsavory parts of his life- there's a lot more than he'd like. "Probably... Until we were in our twenties, I'd think, is when we first started practicin' our acts?"