lostcarnival | ⇨ WISMUTH

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⇨ WISMUTH

Who: Everyone!
When: S2:D6-D11
Where: Wismuth and the Carnival Grounds
What: The carnival enjoys a few days in Wismuth, a coastal city on this planet's version of the American east. However, there are a few things very unique about this version of the planet...
Warnings: The usual, wholesome fun.

PILLAR OF CREATION↴

Upon arriving, things in Wismuth will seem pretty peaceful. It's a massive city, with no shortage of things going on, but things like violent crime and homelessness are at an all time low. You can wander the streets without much scrutiny, presumed to just be tourists, and most people here come across as helpful and friendly.

► VIBRANCY: The main thing that sets this planet apart is its vibrancy - AKA, the raw creative energy its filled with, flowing from its status as a Pillar of Creation. There is no literal pillar, but Wismuth and its planet is a place where Creation's energy comes through strongest. As a result, everything here feels somehow more real, more intense in a way that's hard to put a finger on. Life is abundant, and its bleeds through in every sensation.

► ATTRACTIONS: There are plenty of things to see while going around the city. First and foremost, there is a lovely beach area bordering the ocean, and a number of tourist aimed attractions built around it. There are giant malls, movie theaters, live stage performances, museums and all kinds of other points of cultural interest. Anything you can do in a big city you can do here, but better.

► ALLOWANCES: The Ringmaster will be giving everyone a reasonable amount of local currency for a few days on the town. You can't make any massive acquisitions with it, but it's more than enough to eat out, see some shows, go to the beach, and whatever you like. You can feel free to pick up some casual supplies, like mundane clothing and souvenirs. There will be more given out later, after the performance week.

► PERFORMANCE: Performance week is starting early this time, after only a couple days of exploration. When the carnival has already been on vacation for a month, the Ringmaster figures they may as well get right to it, and then do more touring afterwards. Members of the local populace will find themselves in the carnival once performances begin, dazzled by the other worldly sights. Magic doesn't seem to exist here, despite the fact that it will flow easier for people bringing it from other worlds.

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"It only happened in Portland... because of the Rose Queen..." he says, staring into space. "I worked with a bunch of faerie plants while I was stuck in her gardens, but none of them were that bad, even if I got hurt a bunch of times..."

"It wasn't... mean. It's not like how a person could be angry or cruel, it just... it wanted to escape where it was. It wanted to go with me."

Syrlya shakes his head. "Most plants are not so complex. They are preoccupied with their own growth and survival, and perhaps a common disposition. I felt it, too, that the Rose's form was only a rose and nothing more."

They can be happy, healthy, sad, but they can't recognize people. Can't talk to them, can't be reasoned with. He can see why someone would be worried such a magically charged artifact might be sentient, but Syrlya isn't surprised he wasn't wrong. At the same time, it's easier to underestimate something with minimal will, to not expect the force of it.

"Are you abilities to commune with plant life just as recent?"

Syrlya probably has it right. It'd be one thing for the Rose to simply not be sentient - but for it to both be so simple and so overwhelmingly powerful was unexpected.

"Sort of... my real mom could work with plants really well, even scary ones. I met this moss she'd grown once, and it tried to crawl all over a bunch of people, just because it wanted to get to the sunny place on a hill..."

He pauses to reflect on that. He hadn't been able to connect to the moss on such a visceral level, but maybe it was similar. It almost killed some of his friends trying to get what it wanted. It wasn't evil, it just had no conception of what it was doing beyond staying alive.

"It almost suffocated us, because it didn't... really know the difference. Maybe the Blue Rose is the same." He's quiet for a moment, before adding: "I started being able to feel people's emotions after coming to the carnival, and after the Rose Queen became my mom, that made it easier to communicate with plants."

"I would say you're right about that. It did not mean to hurt you, but it has no concept to know it was doing so. That's why it must be treated with care." Syrlya smiles gently, his posture relaxing. It was a mistake messing with something they shouldn't have, but they'll survive it. Steven will be fine, he's certain.

"I did feel something coming from you to that effect," he raises a brow. He didn't speak with anyone else to see if they felt it, so he wonders if it's tied to how there's something more... inherently planty about Steven, now. He did not set off Syrlya's connection before, but now there's the slight hint of something there. "But that was the first time. Are you always sensing the emotions of those around you, then?"

"Yeah," he says, a bit distant as he reflects on all of this. "If they aren't feeling anything really strong I can sort of... brush it off, I guess. Or if... there are a bunch of people who aren't feeling anything very specific, it's just sort of 'noise.' It's when people are really emotional that it sticks out the most... or if there's a crowd, and they're panicking, or sad."

He grips his shirt over his gem.

"That's when it gets really bad. Otherwise, I have to try to listen to get the quiet stuff." Gosh, his powers are so confusing. It was bad enough with just his gem powers. "I'd felt things like that from other gems before, but not as much with humans... now it's just anybody. Plants. Animals. All kinds of stuff."

Syrlya nods. Briefly, he's not certain how he feels that Steven's having a one-sided pick up of his emotions. But it doesn't sound so refined as to be any more invasive than what he's used to.

"I understand. My people share a connection like that as well, although only with other Sylvari. It can be overwhelming to feel that much pain sometimes, especially if it is not something you have always had."

He loosely folds his arms, considering the most gentle way to phrase what he wants to say. "I cannot sense any of your feelings, but... I can sense a stronger aspect of plant life in you, now. If, ah, you could not already tell."

Steven deserves to know, and there's really no good time or way to break something like that to him.

He couldn't tell, as a matter of fact, though he'd wondered what else was happening to him alongside the change of color in his gems. He'd felt the vines of the Rose going through him, and they'd never left. He still feels sort of weird inside from it.

"I already had my wings and the roses, but..." He runs his hand nervously over his belly and up to his chest. "This feels different. Like... something in my heart..."

"It might be--" He stops, because truthfully he doesn't have much of an explanation why it is at all. Is it something of the Rose left inside Steven? A result of it trying to merge with him, its power inherently creating something more compatible?

Syrlya pauses, silent for a moment before he shifts away from the wall and crouches besides Steven's bed, resting his arms on the very edge of it. "Well, I am afraid I don't know quite what it is. There is just something... transformative about the magic of the Fae. But we'll figure it out."

He's quiet for a few moment, before eventually speaking in a distant tone.

"Something like this... was how I ended up with wings for the first time. In Portland." And it had been just as horrifying, if not moreso. Thankfully he's managed to separate those feelings from the wings themselves.

He wonders if he'll be able to do the same with this one?

So it's not the first time. Well, obviously it isn't, because the Ringmaster's magic technically changes them the same way. But those usually don't come out quite as painfully, and this is bothering Steven a lot more.

(He would probably feel the same to have pieces of himself suddenly turn to flesh.)

"I'm sorry." It's the best he can say, shifting sideways a bit in uncertainty for how to comfort him. It's a moment of silence, and then Syrlya starts to pull off his left glove. "The Rose changed me, too, for wielding it."

He rolls his sleeve up to reveal his arm. Unlike the pale, waxy leaves that make up most of his body, most of his left arm is now made of large rose leaves, darker and more reminiscent of the Blue Rose itself.

There's no taking back what's already happened, but he can at least let Steven know he's not necessarily alone. "You'll be all right."

Steven sits up, looking at Syrlya's changed arm more closely. He guesses it sticks out a little bit less because Syrlya was already a plant person, but... it's still weird to think about. How just interacting with something could change a person like this.

"Do the Rose parts of you feel any different?" he asks, cautiously. "I haven't tried any of my magic yet, but..." He fidgets, hesitating. "...I feel like it might be different."

With his body and gem changed, it's hard to imagine it won't be, somehow. Every time he feels like he's used to things, they change.

Syrlya hums, his gaze drifting down to his own arm as he considers how to explain it.

"It does. Not actively, but it is a part of my body I no longer have the same control over as before. Normally, I should be able to form my body in whatever way I choose, but... something in it prevents me from growing this any other way, and it feels foreign and... disconnected if I try."

He taps his arm for emphasis, looking unsettled. He did try to force his arm to shape back to normal. But at its core, it wasn't unlike the fangs that grew in after a couple weeks. The Rose was just stronger, faster, about it than whatever seems to leak from the Ringmaster or the Prince.

"I believe it is the same as the changes all fae magic cause, but more potent and... invasive. The effects are greater because of its power and how close to it you were... though, what aspect of your magic are you worried about?"

"Um..." he starts, sounding as if he's ashamed to admit it. "After... after I was a changeling in Portland, I got really good at growing plants. I can just... make them appear places, sometimes... the easiest ones are roses."

Maybe that's self-explanatory, he doesn't know. Is it possible that his magic could be corrupted by something like the Blue Rose?

"I could already make plants into animals and people, sort of, but everything got way more intense when fae stuff got involved."

Syrlya leans back a bit as he considers that. "The Blue Rose does have abilities of its own, but they are more... general, and a significant part of it is its ability to amplify existing magic. If you are already skilled in shaping, and can make plants..." Wait. Wait, wait, wait.

His attention snaps back to Steven, suddenly alarmed. "Excuse me, did you say you could create people and animals of plants?"

He doesn't mean to sound so disbelieving, that's just... well, to someone like Syrlya that's an absurdly powerful ability at his disposal. Just what is Steven?

Steven flushes, the gem freckles on his cheeks glowing pink and blue. Syrlya makes it sound like such a big deal. The fact that his mom could do it before him always seemed to make it less shocking.

"Y-Yeah..." he admits, like he's worried Syrlya will have a bad reaction. "I accidently... made a bunch of watermelons grow into little people shaped like me. They ended up wandering into the ocean, and then I found them on an island later, and they'd made this cute little village with crops and babies and everything."

It's a mix of fond and sort of bemused.

"Those... Little lemon birds in the forest here... I kind of made those, too."

Syrlya's shocked, really. The existence of plant life as complex as the Sylvari is unique, and originates from the magic of an elder dragon. To even have so much free will is the result of a very special circumstance. There are almost animalistic plants, from unknown centuries of evolution, but no one really understands them. Certain, no one can just create them.

"That's... well! That's very impressive, Steven. Not everyone can give a flower a brain," he says it with a wry smirk, resting his hand on his cheek with his eyebrows raised.

"Then I don't believe the Rose can change much. If anything, you may see a temporary increase in its potency... but it requires wielding the Rose to continue using its power. Otherwise, it eventually wanes."

Like that giant rock the Prince used.

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⇨ WISMUTH

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