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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It no doubt helped that the man sleeping over for almost a week had been infinitely less interested in pawing through all of his things than the best friend tends to be. In any case, Childermass shows up first from only God knows where (the shadows, probably) and approaches, although that slows as he spots the wrapped gifts on the table with Lambert.

The one they had gotten for Strange is obvious, which means--

"Beat him here, have I?" He asks that as he takes a seat, though not without giving the various different gifts an unimpressed look. "You could have told me we were doing this as a group."

"It's more fun this way." Lambert just gives him a broad grin. Of course, by more fun, he means more fun for him.

Speaking of fun, he arches a brow at Childermass, twirling a finger around to indicate the hollow of his own throat.

"Necklace off?" It better be off or coming off, buddy, or he'll end up with a lapful of dragon man trying to wrestle it off his neck.

Edited 2017-12-10 04:32 (UTC)

"You don't trust me?" Childermass asks oh so severely like he might actually take offense if the answer is 'yes' as he absolutely expects it to be. Not that he really will be, especially since he goes on to add, "I'm not wearing it and I would suggest drinks first, especially if I'm going to be stuck listening to you two all night long."

Lambert laughs, pushing himself to his feet and swinging his legs back over the bench while he leans over the table. As warm as it is in the hall (because of course, he picked a seat inside) he's let himself shed some of the excessive layers, and his medallion swings free of his neck briefly.

"I'll get us a bottle." Or five. "What's your poison? If Strange shows up before I get back, get him to come over."

"So long as it's not actual poison, I've no preference," Childermass answers with a shrug. He's not picky enough to care and if Strange does have his own specific taste in alcohol, well, then maybe he should have gotten here first. In any case, he'll wave the witcher on his way and turn to keep an eye out for the other magician.

Strange is late-which really, everyone should have expected. Still, he's not too late and most importantly, he has booze. Strange comes stumbling over towards the other two with a grin on his face. One hand holds a few extravagantly wrapped packages: one suspiciously book shaped and two smaller boxes. The other hand holds a bottle of alcohol.

And this means he comes in right at the tail of Lambert offering to get drinks. Quickly, he pipes up, "I've a bottle of sunshine ambrosia here. Have either of you tried it yet?"

Strange doesn't seem surprised to see Childermass here as well...most likely because someone hasn't given up his habit of being a bit of a spying creep.

Strange is such a spying creep. Lambert laughs when he sees Strange show up with the presents, but shakes his head at the question.

"No, but I get the feeling I'm about to. I'll get some wine, then." Wine goes with just about everything. "Make sure he doesn't get into the presents."

The latter part is to Childermass, naturally, since only one person here needs to have their hands smacked away from anything like a child. And now the witcher's off, but he won't be gone for long. It gives the magicians a few moments to themselves, though, for gossip or whatever else.

Childermass shakes his head in response to Strange's question, although he does eye not only that bottle the other magician has in hand but the packages, too. So he's the only one who didn't bring anything, which is a little annoying, but it's also not something he'll let bother him terribly. They'll have to wait now to get anything from Childermass and they really only have themselves to blame for that.

"I'm not sure we'll even need the wine with that," he adds after returning to eyeing the sunshine ambrosia. If that's caravan-bought, it's probably stronger than wine. "It's from the market here, isn't it?"

This is why you invade people's privacy, Childermass, so you're privy to what dumb things your bestie might be planning.

"It is," Strange remarks, with a little nod. He sets his packages down on the table. Bottle still in his hand, he shows it off to Childermass. "It goes down easy but it hits hard after a while—and don't tell Lambert that."

Because Strange knows that Lambert, with his odd witcher physiology, takes a lot more to get drunk than the two magicians. If he can put down enough of the ambrosia to get tipsy without realizing it, then Strange would consider that a win.

He's the only one here who's a bastard and a thief and yet he has all the manners here, how does that even work?

"Trying to get him drunk, eh?" Childermass won't even argue against that, seeing he's heard more than his fair share of complaints about how hard it is for witchers to get wasted. He does make a note to go easy on that stuff himself, however, if he's going to be cheating with his anti-toxin necklace this time around.

"Just don't let him drink the entire bottle or you're going to be the who's dragging him back to his cabin."

"Trying to get us all drunk." Said with a particularly pointed look at Childermass. Strange still doesn't know exactly how he cheats with regards to alcohol, just that he he does in the first place. And considering that he's going to get drunk and Lambert's going to get drunk, might as well get Childermass drunk as well.

"It's a holiday. Whatever you did to keep your wits at the manor, you don't need to do now."

And, like the person with no manners he is, Strange plans to blab to Lambert about the fact that he knows Childermass is a dirty cheater who can somehow keep himself from getting drunk and hope that Lambert's got a clue how Childermass actually does it in the first place.

"Besides, I think Lambert and I would be much more tolerable if we all were at least slightly intoxicated."

Ha. That look.

"It's hardly my fault you're the lightweight out of us three, Mr. Strange," is aaaall Childermass has to say to that as if him avoiding being drunk is surely just a matter of pacing. Sure, he has a trick up his sleeves for avoiding it, but he's still not about to tell him. Let's be real, he already figures he'll whine at Lambert about it sooner or later, anyhow.

"And while you may think so about yourself and Lambert, I think we already know it's best for everyone if I don't drink too much."

Considering... the last time... Although that was a mix of hard liquor, opium, and a horrifying dose of enchantment, so. The chances of it ever reaching that level of terrible again is unlikely.

"But you're still drinking," Lambert says firmly, coming back into the conversation with little warning. How much of the conversation he heard before that, hard to say -- the range on those new ears isn't exactly something he's advertised.

Though Strange brought his own drink, unless he was planning to pass around the bottle they still need something to drink it out of. The witcher plunks empty mugs in front of both magicians and reclaims his own drink as he sits at the table. Of the two bottles of wine he's picked up, one goes off to the side of the presents; the other, which he's already gotten the cork out of, he pours a generous measure of into their mugs.

"Let's start with the softer stuff," he announces, before turning to Strange with mock innocence. "Didn't you like the faerie ale?"

The faerie ale he got him hammered with at mage club, yeah.

Edited 2017-12-12 00:18 (UTC)

Strange can't help but give Childermass a bit of a Look. So many other factors were at play during the Celebration, the most notable one being a compulsive mindwhammy to go out and have fun. To the best of Strange's knowledge, that was missing from the moon.

Still, Lambert shows up, so he can't call Childermass out on that point just yet. Instead, Strange rolls his eyes at Lambert's question.

"I did enjoy the faerie ale, thank you very much. Though they undersold that potency." For all of Strange returning that mock innocence, his grin is a little tight and his smile a little forced. The faerie ale ended up with him vomiting in the snow, he likes it but man that stuff can knock you for a loop. Taking his wine, he takes a sip of it. Already he can tell this is properly boozy, not so alcoholic it would melt the hairs off of your chest.

"I don't see why you both insist on calling me a lightweight. Half the alcohol here's designed for stronger sorts anyway, of course I'm going to get drunk off of it," says the man who is in fact a total lightweight.

"You do have the option of not drinking the half designed for stronger sorts, you do realize," Childermass will carry on admonishing the poor lightweight of an Englishman, even as he accepts his own mug of wine and takes a drink. Whatever the two are pretending to be innocent about isn't any of his business, even if he does pick up on them both being completely full of shit over, what? Faerie ale?

At the very least, thanks to being the one who got Strange hammered in the first place, Lambert probably also considerately held his hair out of the way. While laughing at him, because he's a jerk.

"Or you could learn to pace yourself instead of knocking it all back at once," he'll add onto what Childermass says, because it's apparently ganging up on Strange time. But he won't let Strange pout too long, having spotted the presents he's added to the pile. He picks up his own drink, though he isn't going to knock it back just yet...

"Guess it doesn't matter, either way. We are on vacation." He smirks at the very idea of it. Witchers on vacation, hah... if Vesemir could see him now, he'd probably have a conniption.

When the hell has Strange ever paced himself? And when the hell has Strange ever not tasted something slightly potent that's put in front of him? He gives the other two a look of disbelief, a look that's plainly 'you two should know me better than to suggest something dumb like that.'

But yes, back to vacation. He takes a much larger drink of the wine as the expression of disbelief shifts to a smile.

"It's going to be damned annoying having to start up work again when we're finished with vacation. Especially since I'm the only one of us here with a regular job!"

Come to think of it, what do the Acquisitioner and Nightrider do when there's nothing to be stolen or fought? Strange is just now realizing that he doesn't have the slightest clue.

They can always hope for a more sensible Strange someday, one day, perhaps very far in the future. Today isn't that day, though, so. Oh well. Childermass just shrugs at the look of disbelief, then gives the other magician an unbelieving look of his own.

"What? You think I'll be kicking my feet up? Without a Treasurer? No. I'll be doing inventory," he states it outright and it's probably as dull as the word itself sounds. "Our latest trinket will hardly be the norm for me."

'Trinket', as if the word can eve be applied to the Blue Rose, but they're amongst other multiversal travelers. Even if they may be allies of the Ringmaster, he doesn't doubt they have a keen eye for profitable artifacts all on their own. They don't need any extra tips from him.

"But if you'd rather count how many potatoes we need to pick up before moving on while I take the stage again, by all means, let us trade off for the week."

Edited 2017-12-14 03:10 (UTC)

Lambert isn't even going to bother with looks of disbelief or skeptical glances -- he just straight up laughs, like Strange claiming he has a regular job is the funniest thing he's heard all night.

"You spend part of the time showing off and the rest of it spying on other people or breaking in through their mirrors," he teases, grinning at Strange around the edge of his mug. "Seems to me like your 'job' is just doing what you always do anyway."

At the mention of spying on other people, Strange gives Lambert and Childermass a smile that's entirely too innocent and therefore suspicious as hell. Why yes, he does spy on other people, some of which include these two losers who've been spending an awfully suspicious amount of time together lately.

"You forget, Childermass, but the other part of my job is to be ordered around by this idiot over here," Strange teases, that innocent look quickly replaced by a smirk as he gestures towards Lambert. "You can certainly handle being a magician, but what about a mercenary as well?"

Childermass can definitely handle it, even Strange knows that much. But might as well get some digging in at Lambert while he has the opportunity.

He won't react to that suspect look of innocence (because absolutely nothing is innocent about Jonathan Strange and we all know it), though he does have to wonder at it, if only to himself. Childermass imagines that means he's been spying on them, but just what has he seen? Well, that's bloody annoying, not knowing...

"I had enough jobs before ever being hired on at Hurtfew Abbey that I am sure enough I could handle most jobs in the carnival, mercenary included," is what he does say, focusing on that instead. Still, he shrugs with it. "Although you may not be too happy with me as a cook."

Or a nurse, but that one he would admit falls outside his experiences.

Lambert's a bit too busy snickering in his cup still, glancing around the room, to notice the look on Strange's face -- though it's debatable if the witcher would be all that concerned even if he took notice. Besides, he only ends up snorting at the magician's loftiness.

"You're not actually very good at being ordered around, either," he points out, lazily. Not an insult, just basic facts! Having finished his drink by now, he'll hold off on pouring himself more of the wine, flicking his fingers at Strange instead.

"Gimme some of that ambrosia, if you've got it with you."

As Childermass mentions his jobs outside Hurtfew, Strange gives him a little frown. Logically, Childermass must have been employed before meeting Norrell. But Strange honestly has no idea what sort of employment would suit Childermass. Perhaps he was like Strange himself, idly drifting from job to job until he found the right one.

Though he can't really fight Lambert's statement. Strange gives Lambert a little nod of his head as if to say 'point taken.' Thankfully, the conversation turns to alcohol and not a list of Strange's faults. "Of course I have it with me," Strange replies, as he reaches for the bottle he brought. "We are going to have drinks, after all."

The alcohol has an odd effect, triggering the brain's pleasure centers and causing one to feel like they're basking in sunlight or near a warm fire. It also goes down smoothly, without that much of a kick, which means that it's far too easy for someone to get hammered off of the stuff without realizing it.

And that, as a matter of fact, is what Strange is banking on. Uncorking the lid, he pours Lambert a generous amount of the ambrosia. A moment or so later, he knocks back the rest of his wine like he's taking a shot. That frees up the mug for ambrosia for him as well, though Strange is going to try to deliberately take his slowly.

Logically, yes, Childermass had a life before Norrell. Hard to imagine, though, isn't it?

"We already are having drinks," he points out, though unlike the other two, he will be taking his time with the wine in his mug. Sure, he left the anti-toxin necklace at home to even the playing field, but that doesn't mean he's going to drink like an idiot. They don't even have food yet and they're getting into the ambrosia? Really?

Well, the silver lining is he probably just needs to dump them through a shadow to get their drunk asses back to their cabins after this. Still...

"It would be useless to tell you to pace yourselves, wouldn't it?"

Predictably, Lambert takes a big gulp of the ambrosia, though the effects are immediate, the warmth that hits making him laugh against his cup while he reaches up to start undoing the fastenings of his coat.

"If you'd said it warms you up, I would have said yes to it sooner," he scolds Strange. Because that's the fastest way to get Lambert to drink anything. Nonetheless, he won't quaff the rest, just raises his glass at the other two, smirking.

"None of us are dead, we just cured a condition the Ringmaster's magic couldn't, and I'm about to laugh my ass off at my two favorite people at the Carnival. If that's not worth celebrating, I don't know what is."

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