lostcarnival | ⇨ 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"...There's that many knives?" she asks, though it is less a question and more a sort of observation. Maybe Foster needs the perfect knife. Or maybe needing the perfect knife is....creating an issue?

Well, regardless.

"...How will you know it's the right one? What would it look like?"

"There are more knives than there are mages," Foster replies, which is sort of a permutation of a saying back in his world. There's a knife for every mage, it goes, but not a mage for every knife. Which is just an aphorism about the tools for a job, and the existence of methods that might work but aren't actually useful.

Every mage does have a knife, though. Even mages who don't bleed themselves (which is most of them, for the record) have knives for ritual use. To some it's just an enhancement--a way to anchor the spell in a specific kind of symbolism--but regardless of the why, it's just fucking useful.

"For my purposes, though..." He stalls out for a moment, pensive.

Then he smiles, a private expression worn in public. "Frightening... is probably how I'd describe it."

"Mhn..." Well, that is definitely a Lot of knives. Though she can't pretend she understands exactly what he means by the statement. For now, Reira just looks over the knives that are there. It's quite a lot, but apparently not enough to make Foster really pick one, after all...So hmm.

"...Frightening?" Just what IS frightening? "...There's lots of things people find 'frightening'.... ....Does it have to scare you, or someone else though?" Who's definition of frightening is required, here?

Foster opens his mouth, intending to explain that there is no knife he finds frightening, but as his brain rifles through its mental scrollwheel of knives--just by habit--he realises that's untrue. There is one he finds frightening.

Only one.

A scalpel... is a kind of knife, after all.

"What would be most painful... most terrible to experience," he says instead, a little bit more emphatically. "A knife I find frightening.... would work, but...."

But how does one say that the knife he finds frightening would be too frightening for him to wield? The idea of even touching a scalpel makes him feel so sick that he wants to close his eyes and shut it out, to find comfort in something without it. But already in attempting to do that, in trying to create an image with more power--a blade drawn across his skin, the welling of blood, the heat and sharpness of pain--he creates an image that incorporates the scalpel itself.

The scalpel draws across his skin in his mind, the scalpel held in his own paw, and--

No, no, no no no no--

Just blood, then. Blood, and blood alone--

That works, and he actually feels a little better, thinking of his own blood, filling him--rushing through his veins and clogging his insides and ready to be spilled.

"That might be... too powerful."

Edited 2017-12-17 22:54 (UTC)

....Well, then. As is typical with Foster, standing near him like this is something of a mess, a brutal mess that brings painful reminders-to a point where it practically hurts in actuality. She doesn't show it, however-not with anything more than a twitch in her brow, as she waits for things to...sort out.

Rather, until Foster reaches some sort of calm again, enough that she can take in a breath and nod. "...I guess if it's too scary, you can't use it properly, can you?"

⇨ THE LUNAR SOLSTICE

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TW: self-harm ideation, blood,

YKNOW....THE USUAL...