lostcarnival | ⇨ THE LUNAR SOLSTICE

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⇨ THE LUNAR SOLSTICE

Who: Everyone!
When: Winter Breaks: Day 6 - Day 25
Where: THE MOON
What: The carnival journeys to one of its moons to celebrate the Lunar Solstice. More information here.
Warnings: Winter fun.

MOON WALKING↴

The journey to the moon only takes a blink of an eye, but it leaves the carnival far away beneath you. The second moon can be seen on the peripheral, massive compared to its usual view. At least when the holidays start out, there will be no notable wildlife on the moon, though this is something you can talk to the Ringmaster about if you think it needs a change. It sounds like this is the first time she's used it in quite a while - it probably needs some dusting off!

Claim your cabins, and proceed to... well, do whatever you want! There is no rush and little obligation, besides to enjoy yourself. For real, this time. She promises there will be no vampires. Or, at least, none that don't already work for the carnival.

► CABINS: Living arrangements are character choice for this event, and there are a variety of cabins of various sizes, mostly built to house 2-6 people, though you can fit more in if you squish. They are all made of wood and of a rustic design - no fancy modern furniture, here! Each building is housed with a fireplace and the needed amenities. You can pick up materials to cook with the private kitchens if you like. Theoretically, you could spend the whole holiday sequestered away, watching the snow fall. Some of them also have outdoor hot tubs available!

► ACTIVITIES: Activities are mostly going to be character driven, though there will be some large group games like bingo and maybe a poker tournament happening at some point in one of the festival halls. Otherwise, there is a lot to offer: skiing, snowboarding, hiking, ice sculpting, snowball fights - it goes on! If you'd like to run a winter activity, just let the mods know, and we will get the word out there for you.

► FEASTING: Every day isn't a full-out feast because that would get a bit unhealthy, but there will be a number of specific feast events over the holidays where everyone is encouraged to let out their inner hedonist and stuff themselves. There will be one big feast per week, with smaller but also delicious meals offered in between. The feast dates will be B12, B18, and B24. There's also plenty of alcohol available for anyone who wants it.

► SHOPPING: As mentioned in the planning post, there is a massive market being run by the World Walker Caravan! The Ringmaster has given everyone 1250 credits to spend on items, but there is a caveat - must spend at least 500 of those credits on gifts for other people. And it better be a good one, if you only buy one! (She will ask that you do not buy her presents, however. She appreciates the sentiment, but it seems sort of silly buying her things with her own money! If you'd like to gift her, please have it be something more personal or handmade, but you are not obligated to get her anything at all.)

► TREATMENTS: The beginning of the holidays will also be about the time that the emergency Medical Team will have finalized their treatments for the Prince's poisoning. Watch out for further information on that - and make sure to get treated if you are suffering from petrification or poison induced illness! The holidays will be a lot more fun that way.

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Really.

But what he wants to know is, "Why did you leave?"

He'd only met Cole for mere minutes before he had to deal with trying to explain why a friend would just leave without saying anything, as well as Cole's existential questions. While he'd answered the second one fine -- thinking about what it means to be alive is 9S' bread and butter -- the first... 9S had been left trying to explain a situation he had no knowledge nor context of.

As far as 9S is concerned, Solas owes him an explanation for 9S trying to cover for him despite not even knowing Solas at the time.

It's fine. Hitting his head won't do much; he's made of metal! As his exposed knees would make immediately apparent; the synthetic skin was burned away by Rita, revealing the metal underneath.

Does Strange need to concentrate? Too bad. To 9S, Strange is just touching ice Siobhan. (At least it isn't kissing this time.) "Is there anything I need to do?"

He had to step into Syrlya's portals. Maybe he needs to do the same thing here?

Well, okay then! Reward for his good work? 9S can absolutely get behind that. Now that he's received an explanation, he's overcome with curiosity. And since Lambert's essentially given him permission to open his gift immediately, that's exactly what he does.

Opening the paper bag, 9S discovers a... pill? 9S pulls it free from its confines. "What's this? Drugs?"

Well, humans did like their drugs, if old world records were anything to go by. Before Lambert answers, 9S immediately puts the pill in his mouth and swallows.

His expression freezes.

No, he can't blame her. Facing her clan would be similar to the countless times he had spoken with Dalish in the Fade trying to convince them of the truth. It was what had helped spur on the legends of Fen'harel's lies, of what encouraged his poor opinion of the Dalish to start with before he met them physically and it grew worse.

But she was here, Dalish as ever, and he studies the lines of her vallaslin for a quiet moment.

"Do you regret your decision?" he asks before quickly elaborate with a gesture to her face, "To keep them?"

"You just need to take my hand. Oh, and hold onto Pod." Assuming that 9S and Pod do so, Strange steps forwards, into the ice, yanking the two of them behind with him. There's a brief feeling of coldness but less than a second later, they're standing on a different patch of ice, near the cabins. The spell is almost instantaneous.

Strange lets go of 9S's hand, taking a moment to catch his breath. He's breathing harder than normal but if pressed, Strange is straight up going to underplay it. Instead, he gives 9S a self-satisfied little grin. The power of English magic, bringing them right back to where he wanted.

"The cabin I'm staying in is close by. Follow me!"

Peridot has a lot of credits left to burn on gifts (thanks Lapis) so she'll gladly take however many bars Brauni thinks it'll take to make about 7 small but fairly potent charms (think amulets, bracelets, arm bands, earrings, that sort of thing), plus the lessons. Depending on cost, and if she's feeling really ambitious, she'd even ask about how much it'd take to forgo two of the jewelry pieces and craft two swords instead. So 5 charms, 2 swords in total.

In the course of the lesson she'd also like to know if there's any danger of this material interfering with the wielder/wearer's own spell casting abilities, and if so, how can they circumvent that.

"Of course. We will be near," he reminds the spirit. "I have been told the devices we were given allow us to communicate much like message crystals."

And Solas intended to stay for the duration of his contract. If Cole had a similar agreement in place and could pry himself from the hurt he felt here, the spirit would be gone long before Solas would this time around.

Did this mechanical golem truly think he would get an answer to that question? It is not one he intends on answering beyond those he feels needs to know and 9S has not made it onto that list.

"That is my personal business," he answers curtly. "If you are finished--"

Then 9S was welcomed to leave at any time, friend or not of Cole's or the Inquisitor.

That would be a sight, to see what other worlds considered normal. Strange as the dog may be, it would be an opportunity to watch and learn more of this place he missed out on. Though he has to ask--

"What of the other places the carnival has visited? It seems I have missed much of its journey already."

"I'm glad to hear it," but. "But try not to make diluting parts of my body a habit, please."

There are plenty of ways to get non sentient magic flowers if all you need is oil and water, he's sure. "And yes. Wintersday celebrates the end of winter into the new year. People usually exchange gifts and play in the snow, much like this."

A lot of it is from snow machines for the more tropical climates, that don't see much of it naturally, but... well, he kind of prefers it to actual snow and cold anyway.

[And Syrlya just gives him a slight smirk.] You absolutely said you hadn't tried it.

['We' hadn't tried it, but that absolutely implicates 9S as well.] What happened the last time?

"Possession?" Syrlya's tone and expression immediately tell how that concept is as foreign to him as toxic magic is to Solas. Not that there weren't spirits and ghosts and Tyria, and possession wasn't possible, but it also wasn't something you heard about outside of books and fourth-hand accounts. Beings from the Mists, be they the dead or something else, just didn't do that.

"So spirits use mages as a way to get into Thedas? Is that... is there no way to prevent it? What draws them to try and leave the Fade in the first place?"

Corrupted or not, some other people trying to hi-jack someone's body sounds utterly alarming to begin with. Have they truly never found a way to handle it?

Once she would have stood as proud opposition to his decree that the Dalish were beyond helping. Had she not listened? Had she not learned, and yet still been Dalish? But it hadn't mattered in the end, because they had been wrong. And not just about the source of the vallaslin, but about everything. About Arlathan, about the Evanuris, about the Dread Wolf. Returning to her clan is out of the question now, because she cannot be First. Cannot keep a culture and a history that is wrong.

And she is nothing apart from that. Nothing at all.

His question startles her out of her thoughts. She cannot look at herself in the mirror anymore, not without be reminded of how wrong she was, how wrong they were, how everything is a lie, and how there is nothing now supporting her. Not Inquisitor, not First, not even Dalish anymore; her reflection mocks her. "Not when I remember how you offered. What sort of gift was it supposed to be, Solas? 'I love you, let me tell you how your people were wrong'." And it would have been shameful to show up at Skyhold barefaced and heartbroken. She's glad she'd been saved from that embarrassment, at least.

The fact that she might now regret it, however, goes unsaid.

Edited 2017-12-18 18:07 (UTC)

The inherent magical nature of elves doesn't influence how they're born, at least, not anymore. And if that were ever different, it's something that Lavellan is ultimately unaware of beyond what snatches of knowledge she gleaned from thousand year old memories -- of being kin to spirits, and of shedding bodies. And yet when he speaks he reminds her of spirits, with one purpose and one goal.

Solas might have something to say about it, about the importance of choice and free will. But Lavellan isn't Solas, so she nods as she accepts his words. "Born a soldier -- how old are you?" For he's a teenager to her, and even then she has a hard time wrapping her mind around someone sending children out to fight.

But she tries, and nods again. "It does. I can't say I know the exact feeling, but I know a similar one." For she was born a mage, that is what she is, and for the Dalish that meant she would be First, and Keeper. She had to learn -- unlike him, apparently -- but it was what she was, what she always considered she was.

It almost feels vaguely electric and Herbert wonders if this has to do with the effect of the medicinal sphere on an unaffected person...but when it goes away and he finally gets a hand onto Tyki he comes up with another hypothesis. It's honestly getting a little irritating, how much he was left in the dark on regarding these patients. That will have to change.

Leaving the one hand on Tyki in case moving it makes him go incorporeal again, Herbert reaches for one of Tyki's arms with the other hand and hooks under it before moving the first hand to do the same on the other side. He hasn't got enough leverage to just pull up considering his height so he uses his weight to come down as he pulls, elbows on the side of the hot tub. Tyki is waterlogged and heavy, potentially still unconscious, a dead weight Herbert has to drag up. With the side to brace his arms against he finally manages a bicep curl and as Tyki breaks the surface... he talks.

Herbert honestly isn't immediately sure whether to feel relieved he isn't going to be forced to perform CPR or irritated that Tyki was apparently fine and made him go through all that effort anyway. After a moment, he unsurprisingly settles on the latter, letting go and straightening once he's sure Tyki won't just slide right back down.

"It would help in future if you, informed us of any inhuman aspects we need to take into consideration," he grouses, "such as not requiring respiration or a tendency to shift incorporeal. I can't know if the medicinal bath will work if it...is through instead of on the infection as it wasn't something I knew I'd have to test for!"

Yes! Exactly! See, it makes a little picture, like this!

[The camera spits out a polaroid, and even though it hasn't developed yet, she eagerly holds it out for Gon to see.]

"It's not funny!" Rita hollers over her shoulder at 9S, a tinge of red in her face. So what if she thought he liked her? Anyone would make that mistake in that situation! It's his fault, anyway!

...And anyway, she should focus on Cole, who... seems to be doing his Cole thing, but in a more erratic way than usual. Who is he talking to...? It doesn't seem like he's hitting on anything Rita's feeling, so... that leaves 9S, doesn't it? Something about being trusted...

Cole's not looking good, and it seems like Rita's the only one in the room with her head on straight, so she takes a few cautious steps closer to him. "Hey, uh... maybe you should try sitting down," she suggests. It looks like their little experiment yielded some clear results... but, yeah, she really doesn't know what to do with this.

Tyki is no help during the entire process from being lifted to being roused unsatisfactorily. His head will slump backwards against the back of the spa treatment and his shoulders slump unceremoniously when he's let go. He's not sliding down but he's doing nothing to prevent it from happening again.

His eye cracks open, one and then the other in an uncoordinated manner, and it takes him a second to even realize he's properly awake. He hasn't been asleep for long and already he feels like all of his energy got knocked right out of him. He snorts rudely and lifts his hand out of the slime bath to wave in an uncaring way. Yet his fingers are already counting for him. His half grin is lazy.

"One, you're too loud. Two, while you do have a very nice jawline you're not a woman nor handsome enough for for me to allow you to put your mouth anywhere near mine. Three, you're way too bossy. Four, several people know I am capable of ...whatever you called it. It's not my fault if you are misinformed. And five.... I'm a little thirsty."

It wouldn't even be the first time somebody at the carnival tried to light Papyrus on fire, he would be forgiving about it. Maybe not understanding, because surely a snowball only deserves a fireball, not an entire burning tree... But it would be a mere speedbump on the path to friendship.

This course of action, though, it's practically a shortcut on that road. Papyrus startles, straightens, and looks around like he expects another dog to be lurking out of sight.

"Huh? Are we switching... to a game of hide and seek? Or tag?" His bones are still ungnawed over here.

No, he's not finished! 9S is used to curt replies, but Solas isn't ~~a hot woman~~ 2B, so 9S presses further.

"Hey, I covered for you!"

Okay maybe 9S just wants to know for himself. But after stumbling around in the dark for so long trying to find answers when the people he knew kept them secret from him...

"You know what Cole's like. He spends all his time looking into other peoples' heads, trying to help them through their pain. But he doesn't know how to handle his own. It hurt him, you know. You leaving without him knowing why. So I want to know if I told him the right thing."

At the age question, 9S' expression immediately sours. Age had never been a problem back home, but after the ribbing he got because he's the youngest in the Carnival, he's more than a little touchy about it.

"Why is age so important? It's not like I'm biological and go through a period where I need to cared for by adults. I'm fully functional from the moment I'm alive."

Can't he be judged on his deeds?? If he knew that people would respect him less because of his age, he would've lied about it during that public poll!

In fairness, Papyrus considers, the snow dragon they're standing near is just a snow sculpture. Not a living creature of snow. It doesn't prove anything... besides the mystery artist's skills. But 'snowdragon' sounds familiar, and it takes him a minute to place.

"Are snowdrakes dragons? They're dragonish." It's hard to put hard lines on the sorts of monsters out there.

"Oh, don't worry," Lambert says remorselessly. "We've got a cutting now, so if we need any more we'll just grow that."

It's a step up from using monster guts, if you ask him. But nobody asked him, so that cheerful sentiment will have to remain unvoiced.

"Calendar's a little different back home. New year starts with the winter and Saovine, then you've got midwinter and the start of spring. Don't really get presents or anything like that, though."

What thoughts had he pried her away from? There was much about her that he admired and wondered about. That she carried herself tall and proud despite all that had befallen her by chance was admirable. He regretted how he had ended their relationship. It should never have come to be, he had known better and despite it had continued anyway. That it came to a point where he could bear the lie no longer was when he had told her that much.

If that was how she saw it, it was no wonder she had refused. Remained firm in her beliefs of the Dalish. Had that changed with all else she had seen?

"It was all I could offer. It stands, even now," he says softly. The magic to remove the vallaslin was simple enough, if she chose to.

[Really?

Foster gives Ginko a look that is an equal mix of tired and contemptuous before closing his eyes and sinking deeper into the electric green hot tub. The bottom edges of his ears are finally getting wet, and his fur floats, waving like pale yellow fronds on and under the water's surface.

That's... that's all the response he gets.]

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⇨ THE LUNAR SOLSTICE

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