⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 178 - B1: Day 6
Where: The Carnival and sometimes on top of the Heart of Stone.
What: Now that the Prince is dead and gone, there's a lot left to sort out. As the remaining servants are liberated and those captured by the Prince are tended to, it's time for recovery and goodbyes.
Warnings: Nothing in particular.

HOME GROUND↴ At long last, it is over. The Prince is dead, and all of his stolen Names have been restored - all that's left to do is treat the wounds and move on. For the first day or two, the Ringmaster will be arranging passage for the servants that are left, all of which have remembered their names for the first time in years. The earth elemental that had been trapped and forced to serve as the Prince's manor, the Heart of Stone, is happy to help for the moment. It appreciates the Ringmaster's mercy, and is free after untold eons of imprisonment. Yet, there are plenty of aspects that are far from simple. There are still servants left mad and transformed into beasts, with no easy way to change them back. The Prince's spells outlive him, and those bearing his poison and his curses will have a difficult road ahead of them. Though most of the bestial servants have been rounded up, and a large number that had been reduced to unmoving statues returned, even the Ringmaster can't return them to normal so simply. The next week is for rest and for settling remaining affairs. If you want to bid farewell to any particular NPCs, or assure care is given where it's needed, now is the time to do it. ► A CURE: The Ringmaster will tell everyone simply - there is no simple way to undo another fae's magic. The Prince's powers were essentially on par with hers, which means that those who have been transformed to stone and those that were cursed into beasts and driven insane are not something she can trivially fix. It will take the work of the carnival and a couple weeks of treatment to shed the curse of stone, and the maddened servants are an entirely separate matter. She will do what she can, but for the most part she is arranging for the Prince's servants to be cared for elsewhere. At least for now, the Ringmaster will be animating the stone portions of people's bodies with magic, though those portions will still be a bit clumsy and numb feeling. ► THE NEW HEARTSTONE: In the absence of the prince, the Heart of Stone will be taking over the remains of the Prince's realm and preventing it from collapsing into void. As it turns out, the manor had been an earth elemental all along - a form of Wyld Fae almost on par to the Prince and Ringmaster themselves. How the Heart of Stone was enslaved is a long story presumably, but the Ringmaster considers it to be a sign of the Prince's own depravity. The Heart will be allowing visitors for the first couple days of this period through the portal, but keep in mind you are essentially just walking around on its body. At least the realm has a floor, now, instead an endless abyss surrounding it.

Comments

[wild_magic]

"I didn't want to see anybody, really. Not just you." Of course Strange was the worst one, but still. He doesn't want him to think it's something against him, when it really isn't. He bites his lip as he thinks of how to put this next part, before just going for it.

"Lauren just... He thinks he knows what's best for me. And I guess he's right most of the time, since he raised me and everything? But... That's why he said that, and he was right then, but if I just don't see or talk to you then I won't stop being scared. So it's okay to talk to me."

[kingsroads]

"That's good to hear," Strange admits, giving Susan a small little smile. He's trying to be reassuring and honestly, truly hopes that he lands somewhere in the vague area of that. "Because truth be told, I'd like to talk to you. You're a fellow magician and I enjoy your company."

Surprising no one, the metaphorical twelve year old likes hanging out with the literal twelve year old.

[wild_magic]

He finally looks back up at him with a small smile of his own, although he glances away after a moment. He can't help being a little scared still when he sees him, but... He can do this.

"I like it too. Your magic is pretty cool, and you're more fun than most of the other magic users I've met."

He thinks for a second before continuing. "Just don't surprise me." Or, you know, stand over him with a knife, but he's pretty sure he doesn't have to say that part since that's not a thing normal people would do. Or people like Strange, either.

[kingsroads]

Strange can't help but laugh, a small little utterly charmed laugh. More fun than most of the other magic users? Well, that certainly says a lot about the magic users that Susan interacts with.

"May I tell you a secret?" Without waiting for an answer, Strange continues. "You're also more fun than most of the other magic users I've met."

After all, so many of them seemed to view it as a tool, something dangerous, or a means to an end. Susan was one of the few who could see the simple joy in casting a spell or performing magic. "But I shall try my hardest not to surprise you. I promise."

[wild_magic]

That finally has Susan grinning at him, practically beaming as Strange tells him the same. Most people would say he's reckless, or that he needs to be more particular, or that his magic just isn't right, but here he's being praised for it, and it honestly makes him happy.

"Magic is just so fun, I don't see how people can't be fun with it. That's why I want to learn your magic too."

[kingsroads]

Susan's happiness is infectious. Strange continues to grin, matching Susan's smile with one of his own. Because this right here is why he likes talking with Susan and why he's so glad that they're approaching something close to normal: the kid's just so much fun to do magic with.

"If you want, we can go ahead and start practicing now. I haven't anything to do at the moment." So why not, let's go ahead and do magic, let's do this thing.

[wild_magic]

He has to think about that for a moment, and then he looks a bit more hesitant after.

"Does your magic need lots of... Moving around and stuff?" Because even though he doesn't want to admit it really, he's not doing amazing on the whole injured and sick front. Things that require too much getting up or moving are not really a good idea right now, no matter how much he doesn't like that fact.

[kingsroads]

Now that's interesting. A lot of Strange's magic involves moving around or waving his hands but that's not required. At least, not to the best of his knowledge.

And so, he shakes his head. "It all depends on the magic. We can find some sort of spell that you can cast while not moving. What sort of magic would you like to learn?"

[wild_magic]

He nods, then, okay with that. Most of his magic needs some kind of gesturing, but nothing too crazy; he doesn't know a lot about other magic though, so he's glad to hear that it isn't going to be some kind of barrier to learning at least something simple now.

But as to what sort of magic... He has no idea. He wants to do something cool, obviously, but most cool magic takes some time to work out how to do, so he isn't expecting being able to do that right away. But then he isn't quite sure exactly everything that Strange can do, so...

"I don't know, really, I guess. What's the easiest spell?"

[kingsroads]

"Well, the first one I learned is a spell to see what my enemy was doing. The problem with that one is that it's limited to one realm. As long as we remain in the carnival, we can only view people in the carnival. It's a bit of a nuisance when your enemy's in a different realm to begin with."

Which Strange knows is the case. After all, he's acutely aware of who precisely his greatest enemy is and likewise, is acutely aware that the likelihood she'll ever come to the carnival is slim to none. Still, it was an easy enough spell. What if they changed a few of the variables...

"Perhaps we could change it to see what your brother is doing instead?"

Spying on Lauren, A+ suggestion Strange.

[wild_magic]

"I don't even know if I have an enemy... But seeing what Lauren is doing is a good idea! That way, I can always know what he's doing!" Right now he knows his brother is just doing some boring druid thing or something like that, but in the future it could actually be useful... Along with being cool.

[kingsroads]

"We'll need a mirror and something dead—just flowers or plants should work. And I've a hand mirror in my trailer if you don't have anything in yours."

Because obviously Susan's going to see the magic now. Why would he do something like 'wait until he feels better' or 'take it slowly,' Strange thinks both of those are silly ideas.

[wild_magic]

'Something dead' is a little alarming to a child raised to think necromancy is basically the worst possible thing ever, but the clarification that plants are okay and the fact that they're only using some kind of divination spell (plus the fact that Strange is involved at all) make him put his worries aside. And so instead he doesn't comment on it, nodding as he tries to think.

"I don't think we have anything like that, just a normal mirror. I can get some dead plants, though."

[kingsroads]

"You grab the dead plants, I'll grab the mirror from my trailer, I'll come back and show you the spell to spy on Lauren. Do we have a plan?"

A plan that Strange hopes Susan's smart enough not to casually mention to Lauren later. Strange already knows most people get a little...sensitive about the whole 'casually spying on others' thing, and Lauren especially would be sensitive about it. It's not lying, per se. It's simply not telling Lauren.

[wild_magic]

"Yeah, that sounds good!" And that gives him a chance to usher Zap inside too, so the little Pokemon doesn't get too far away, and to make sure Lauren isn't going to just show up suddenly or anything. Not that he'd tell Lauren to stay away because then he'd just be suspicious, but... He doesn't really want to tell him he's learning magic from Strange, not right now at least. Maybe later he will. Much later.

[kingsroads]

It's about five or so minutes later when Strange arrives back at Susan's trailer, having got distracted by a variation of a spell he could use to try and work with the Prince's stone which obviously Strange had to write-down and doublecheck with his notes. Eventually, he walks back to Susan's trailer, small mirror in his hand.

Strange also isn't going to tell Lauren that he's helping to teach Susan magic. Sorry, Lauren.

As he walks up to the trailer, he takes a look around to see if Susan's still outside. If he isn't, he'll go up to the door and (for once in his life) Strange actually knocks.

[wild_magic]

After being in his trailer for so long these past few days, Susan is definitely outside again by the time Strange returns - there's no way he's staying in there longer than necessary. After getting Zap inside he immediately goes back out to try and find some... Dead grass or a stick or something, before going back outside his trailer, standing now as he waits for Strange - and as soon as he sees him he smiles, genuinely, even if maybe not quite as enthusiastically as usual still. He is sick, after all.

"Okay, what do we do first?"

[kingsroads]

"First, we set the mirror on the ground, like so. Place the dead objects on each side of the mirror." As he talks, Strange gestures for the dead grass, which is placed around the mirror. "Draw a circle upon the mirror, then quarter it. Strike the mirror three times and repeat the slightly modified incantation."

Strange does the actions as he talks. When he gets to the incantation, it's something probably in Latin that I don't know the specifics of because any sort of magic in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is just rendered as 'they do magic.' However, the magic works.

The mirror itself stays put. However, instead of reflecting the sky, it reflects the ceiling of the room that Lauren's in, playing with his Pokemon and rat.

"Go ahead, pick it up! You'll have to move the mirror some in order to see Lauren, but it should reflect him and what he's doing instead of us."

[wild_magic]

The gesturing and incantation parts are familiar, even if not quite the same as his own magic, although he usually doesn't need so many physical elements for his own spells. It's interesting to see the differences, even if he's not specifically a scholar or anything, and so he watches intently as Strange goes through the motions of the spell - and when the mirror reflects not the sky, but a ceiling instead, he's surprised for a moment before grinning widely up at Strange as he grabs at the mirror.

"It really worked!" Not that he doubted him, but still. It's a spell he's never seen before so it's exciting. He marvels at it as he moves the mirror around to see his brother.

[kingsroads]

Strange looks annoyingly smug as Susan moves the mirror around the room, spying on Lauren's reflection as he does so. Of course the spell really worked, he was a magician. And this is, after all, a variation on the first spell he cast. Still, Susan's excitement is catchy and that annoyingly smug expression fades into a smile.

"A lot of my magic involves mirrors. The mirrors of England were particularly magical, so I assume why it's so easy to manipulate them."

[wild_magic]

"What's so magical about a mirror? That sounds weird." Not that he doubts it, since obviously it could be useful for magic like this. It's probably even something that people in his world do too, using mirrors to spy on people or whatever. But he still can't see what could be magical just about a mirror, so he's curious.

[kingsroads]

"In my world, magic was hidden behind the mirrors. You passed through the mirror to travel to other lands and when the mirrors of England were broken, then magic returned to the land."

Strange's magic involving mirrors is more a quirk of that than anything else. Reflections for scrying, traveling through mirrors and reflections, and then a whole school of magic that sprung from those few spells he knew.

[wild_magic]

Magic was hidden? He doesn't quite understand how that could work, but he knows vaguely that magic in his own world has been messed with before, so he at least isn't totally surprised that magic can be tampered with. Still, it's a bit confusing and alarming to think about.

"So... Does that mean that now there aren't any mirrors in England at all?"

[kingsroads]

"I'm sure someone's gotten around to rebuilding them," Strange responds, with a little shrug. "Or they've imported some from the continent."

He is not at all worried about the state of the mirrors in England. Yes, they were broken, but they'll eventually be fixed. And though the mirrors can be fixed, the pathways between England and faerie will remain and, most importantly of all, the magic will remain.

[wild_magic]

He supposes that it isn't really that big a deal either, but it's still strange to think that suddenly something like that could just be gone, and that it wouldn't be at least a bit weird to people. But he shrugs after a moment too.

"I guess, that would make sense. How did they break, anyway? Was it just too much magic to hold behind mirrors?" He doesn't think mirrors are very strong, after all, so it makes sense in his head, even if realistically it doesn't make a lot of sense.