lostcarnival | ⇨ DANGEROUS ENCOUNTERS

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⇨ DANGEROUS ENCOUNTERS

Who: Anyone out in the library.
When: Day 59
Where: The Athenaeum
What: Towards the end of the visit, we are visited by a series of worrisome NPCs, who may or may not be illusions. There will be at least 5 NPC toplevels posted overall, all happening in a similar time period ICly (in rough chronological order), so not everyone needs to be in every thread.
Warnings: Possibility of very real danger to anyone who participates. Remember that Sans has told everyone to travel in groups, so if you aren't, you'll probably get a scolding later.

TURNING THE PAGE↴

As the carnival continues to explore the Athenaeum in the pursuit of more information about the legendary Miracles, the tension is thick with the knowledge that the Summer Court could be in pursuit any day now. On Day 59, a series of threatening encounters will begin manifesting - but are they real, or an illusion?

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Strange watches as Ignatius throws ash in his direction, trying to spot as many details or as many aspects of the magic as he can. But it's just a second later that Strange is clothed. He looks down at himself, examining his outfit and the cape as best he can.

"A soldier's outfit? A fitting choice. After all, I fought in the peninsula." Wait, there's no way Ignatius would know what that means. "I was at war," Strange quickly clarifies.

As he finishes examining his outfit, he looks back up to Ignatius. And really, there's not much else here to look at, magic-wise (at least, not at the moment.) As Strange turns his third eye off, the flames around his burn scars snuff out. He looks down at his hand, pleasantly pleased for a moment.

"Is that what I'm to be for you?"

"I'm a general of the Summer army," he says, crossing his arms as he looks Strange over with vague approval. Already having been to war is a plus. "I haven't much use for anything else. But, it seems like an appropriately noble position."

He throws out some more ash at the ground, which forms into a simple table and chairs. (It's all made with ash wood, if you look closely. Haha!) He seats himself at one side, implying that Strange should do the same.

"I wasn't lying when I said I respected your decision."

There should be torture by now! If this were Nightshade, she'd have shoved him in a tree or strung him up with vines or poisoned him or done something. But Ignatius gives him clothes and makes furniture and says he respects him? Strange had been expecting the worst so this little show of being halfway decent is taking him completely by surprise.

He sits opposite Ignatius. There's no hiding the fact that Strange is a bit tense and nervous, like he expects this conversation to suddenly go south at a moment's notice.

"Thank you," Strange responds, with a little nod. There's a small pause before he continues. "In the carnival, we each have jobs. One of my jobs is to protect my fellow coworkers. Some of those in our group didn't know of the power of the fae." Looking at you, Jasper. "I had to act before they got themselves killed."

Plus, he's survived fae torture before. If he survived that week with Nightshade, he could survive however long with Ignatius until people inevitably try for a rescue attempt. And finally, he's got that rebirth lined up with the Ringmaster. That certainly helped him make a final decision.

"Ah, good man," he says, slapping the table with a hand. Ignatius is very tall and strong so it makes kind of an alarming noise. "I haven't got much against your old master, truly. She sounds like one hell of a brute."

Which is apparently a good thing, from the way he says it.

"But killing Winter royalty... you know that none of us can put up with that. It's not a good look." He's saying it almost conspiratorially, like sharing a trade secret between friends.

Wait, what? Killing winter royalty? Who the hell did the Ringmaster kill?! Strange gets a momentary deer in the headlights expression as he starts working things out. Syrlya told him that the then-Winter Maiden was now the Winter Queen when he showed Strange that story he found. They had speculated about the changeover, but Strange doubted either of them would think of outright murder. But, then again, there's more than one option for royalty.

"I'm afraid she hasn't told us about murdering any Winter royalty," said in a tightly controlled voice, "though it wouldn't surprise me if she did. Who did she kill?"

Edited 2018-05-17 19:09 (UTC)

Ignatius gives Strange a pitying look.

"The Winter Queen, of all people. A long time ago, even in our terms," he shrugs his shoulders helpfully. "Some of your other companions seemed just as confused, but I wasn't sure if they were putting on an act. I guess they weren't."

He sits back in his chair, reflecting on the whole thing.

"The Summer Queen's never been quite the same."

"That hypocrite," Strange scowls. No Strange, you can't outright murder Nightshade, despite the fact that the Ringmaster outright murdered the Winter Queen. I'm going to be more open, she says despite the fact that she's keeping such a huge secret from them.

Strange's loyalty still remains firmly with the Ringmaster. But it's obvious to Ignatius that he's pretty pissed off about that revelation. He won't sulk for too long, though. Not when Ignatius is giving him a big ol'conversation hook that Jonathan 'gossip with every npc' Strange is going to take.

"How is the Summer Queen, by the way? The murder of her equal would be harrowing enough, but by someone who's on good terms with the Summer Maiden? It must have been traumatizing."

Ignatius watches his reaction with interest. It's obvious that how Strange takes the news is important to him - after all, it affects how loyal of a soldier he can expect him to be.

"Might as well not have a Summer Maiden, at this point," he says. "She left when the Great Beast did... took a bunch of the Court with her. Summer Queen's been left to pick up the pieces. And with all that power still residing in the Maiden... no way to make a new one."

"There was some political turmoil at the time, and the Queen's death pushed it all over the edge. What a mess." Ignatius sounds like he could use a drink.

"Politicians," Strange sighs, with a little roll of his eyes. "If they had the slightest clue what was happening at ground level, some of the chaos might have been avoided." He can feel himself slipping back into old habits picked up at war, like he's talking with an officer or listening to Wellington complain. Of course, neither the officers nor the infantrymen could burn him alive the way that Ignatius can. He can't get too comfortable.

"Was the turmoil within the Courts or with the Wyld Fae? I've heard about that business with the Huntsman. A power shift like that would make anybody nervous."

He's vaguely heard about that business with the Huntsman. And man alive is Strange so thankful to Syrlya right now for showing him that snippet of the story.

"Both," Ignatius says with a tired gesture. "Neither Maiden was happy with the way Arcadia is run, and though they tried to play it close to their chest, it was clear they were trying to gather supporters. The Maiden can't become Queen until the Queen's retired, so working against the regent made it look like they were getting ahead of themselves."

He makes a more vague gesture, clearly venting about something that caused him personal stress.

"The Huntsman was always an ally of the Courts, so when the power started shifting, everyone was wondering how it would shake out. He still is, but... when you lose hold like that... the underlings don't take you so seriously anymore."

And based on how badly the Maidens and the Ringmaster bungled their attempt to change things, Strange has a sneaking suspicion the Summer Maiden won't take the throne any time soon. He'll happily let Ignatius vent, as he leans forward slightly, absolutely interested.

"So in a relatively quick period of time, the Courts are down one ally, one Queen, and one Maiden. That can't look good to the rest of Arcadia, especially when the Queen's killer is still at large."

"Right," Ignatius confirms. "The Winter Maiden took the throne not long after... but the Summer Queen wasn't so sure about it. Both the Maidens had been publicly supporting the Great Beast's exploits up until the last minute, so... either she suddenly went too far, or..."

He raises his hands and and eyebrows, seeming to suggest something he isn't willing to actually say.

Considering that Strange's strategy is bullshitting an entire conversation around rumors and out of context scribe texts, he doesn't really get what Ignatius is suggesting. Or what? Murder would be a dealbreaker for most people, what other option is he implying?

"Or what?" Strange isn't even going to bother hiding the interest in his voice.

He looks at Strange, hesitates, and then decides to drop it. He shrugs his shoulders.

"Maybe I'm wrong. Just seems a little odd that the Wyld Fae go out of line like that."

Damn. Still, if Ignatius is going to drop the conversation, then Strange will as well. He doesn't want to deliberately antagonize him, after all.

He can't help but smile a little as the conversation shifts to the Ringmaster. "I know it's obvious, but she's not like most Wyld Fae. The Ringmaster actually gives a damn about her changelings. After all, she brought me back to the carnival from Portland."

It would have been so easy to leave him there. After all, he spent almost an entire month in the service of a different fae and actively tried to kill multiple members of the carnival while in said service. But nope, the Ringmaster picked him up, brought him back to the carnival, and removed whatever enthrallment Nightshade had put him under. Strange is eternally grateful for that.

"Hmm," is all Ignatius says to that, at first. Maybe giving a shit about your changelings isn't that important of a trait to most fae. Maybe admitting that you care about that is a sign of weakness. Maybe it's just an awkward segue in general. He doesn't make it clear.

"...Well, there's little point in putting unequipped soldier on the field," he says, thinking back to Portland. "You were the one that the Nightshade was towing around, weren't you?"

That had been kind of funny, actually.

Strange nods. He was the one who Nightshade was yanking around, who spent a good amount of time staring at her like a devoted idiot, who generally failed at murder, and also the one who went down with pretty much one punch. Thanks for that, Lambert.

"It wasn't exactly my finest hour," Strange admits, with a frown. "But my magic's only grown since then."

Which is probably not the thing you want to be telling your technical captor but look, being brainwashed and enthralled made Strange do some really dumb decisions. Even if he is kind of captured by the Summer Court at the moment, he's still got his pride.

Ignatius sits back and considers, looking Strange over. There's a question lurking in his mind.

"You do realize this is forever, don't you?" he asks, after a moment. "The oath you made. It was no small thing."

Well he's not outright going to say 'I'm pinning all my hopes that the Ringmaster will launch a rescue mission, I'll find an escape route myself, or someone will stab me and the carnival will get the hell out of dodge before Ignatius learns about the rebirth.' But Strange is certainly thinking it.

"I know the power behind oaths and contracts." Says the man currently under one curse and four different contracts. "And I know that if I do somehow manage to escape this realm, unless something drastic happens, I doubt I'll ever be truly free from the Court."

But he's going to try to find a way to free himself from his own mess anyway. Like hell Strange would ever admit he can't do something. "Like I said, it was either myself or them."

Ignatius grunts in acknowledgment, like it's something that doesn't warrant words. His face becomes a bit more stern as he regards Strange.

"I've already read your ashes, but I'm going to need more information," he says. "It won't be pleasant for you."

If it sounds like this is a direct reaction to the things that Strange just said, that's because it is.

For all of him trying to give off the impression that he's calm and accepting of his fate, there's an obvious trace of panic in Strange's voice and blatant worry in his expression at Ignatius's words.

"What?! I've answered your questions, what are you going to do?"

Oh God, don't let him be enthralled again.

"We need to know everything you know about the Miracles," he says, levelly. "And your word isn't going to be enough." It might have been, if Strange were a different man. Ignatius has been through this enough times to be able to read the difference between bravery and arrogance.

Ignatius gets up from the table, towering over Strange, his flames burning brightly.

"Stand."

Well shit. As he gets to his feet, Strange realizes this might have been a terrible idea. Because on the one hand, fae can read memories and he knows a lot about the Miracles, having seen the Blue Rose in action and being a massive creep about the Silver Mirror. But on the other hand, what was he going to do, stand by and watch as Ignatius killed Rita? She was already gunning to fight him!

His hands are trembling as he looks up at Ignatius. He remains quiet, though. Strange isn't going to betray the carnival, he won't willingly tell the Court where the Miracles are...even though he knows the alternative means they'll be rooting around his head to find that information out anyway.

Lucky for him, whether it's willing or not won't really matter.

Ignatius puts a hand on Strange's shoulder, in a way that feels like an almost congenial gesture. Unfortunately, all of that will slip away as he goes ahead and just plunges his fingers into Strange's third eye.

It's hard to be aware of any specific physicality after that point. It's not a pain you find in limbs or in wounds, it's a pain that fills the entire spirit - the pain of primordial flames filling his entire being.

It must be what hell feels like.

He lasts about three seconds. Strange bites down on his tongue, grits his teeth, and tries to steady himself but the pain is just too strong. He knew it would hurt. He didn't know it would hurt this much. He gives in and starts to scream.

He wants to crumple up, he wants to pull away from this. But whether it's Ignatius's magic, Strange freezing in place, or the pain itself, something is holding Strange still and upright.

He takes rapid, shallow breaths to try and at least get some air before that burning pain throbs again and Strange lets out a scream of pain. "Stop this," he manages to get out, in between panicked breaths with a voice that already sounds a bit hoarse. "Please."

Edited 2018-05-18 04:43 (UTC)

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