⇨ CAMPING GROUNDS

[ringleaders]

Who: Everybody!
When: Day 64
Where: The Camping Grounds
What: While the Ringmaster attempts to purge the carnival of magical tracing spells and deal with the angry fire fae in her belly, everyone else is getting sent on an emergency camping trip with some unusual local fauna.
Warnings: Camping.

CRYPTIC CAMPGROUNDS↴ You're given about three hours to prepare, after the Ringmaster tells you her plans for the coming week. There is a vast selection of camping equipment at your disposal, and the means to take along enough food for the length of the stay. The wilderness of the planet you're left on is nearly idyllic, but some people just don't like the great outdoors. ► CRYPTOZOOLOGY: As it turns out, the carnival won't be alone here. There is a varied ecosystem of cryptids to be found as well, living in relative peace and mostly reacting to the newcomers with curiousity. More details can be found on the plotting post. You are free to NPC the cryptids as much as you need to, as long as you stick to the behaviours described. ► DREAMSHARING: There is a player plot going on which will allow characters to share dreams! These are specifically more dreams than nightmares, and the mushi-adept characters will be here to help. ► CHILLAX: There isn't any plot twist for this setting, so this is mostly an opportunity to decompress from the last plot and get ready for the future. The Ringmaster will show up occasionally to help with needed medical treatments and check on things, but won't stick around for long.

Comments

A: DREAMSSSS

[whattaprick]

Upon dreaming, Shima will find himself, oddly enough, on a boat.

To the right are tall, jagged cliffs that threaten to dash to pieces anyone who dares approach. To the right is open ocean, dark and glassy. The sail creaks in the wind — what little there is of it — but otherwise things are eerily still.

And manning the rudder? None other than Lambert, though he’s looking a little preoccupied at the moment, scanning the open water. He also looks a little different from how Shima knows him. No horns or tail, though his eyes are the same slit-pupiled gold, and the scars remain constant. Two scabbards are strapped on his back, one sword drawn and resting in easy reach.

He hasn’t caught on to Shima yet, it seems, or just isn’t acknowledging him.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita's frown deepens at the compliment, but she's content to take back that book.

"He's the Winter Court's spy. Ignatius said that he somehow latched on to the realm and was riding it around the multiverse. I guess he's always been lurking nearby, but... the library wasn't the first place our people encountered him directly."

It's story time, Tyki. Rita waves a hand idly as she explains, "About half a year ago, Strange tried to summon a fae to the Carnival. The spell didn't exactly work as intended. He summoned a fae, but not the one he intended to. We got Frost instead, who proceeded to dump a snowstorm on the realm before getting dispelled. At the time, the Ringmaster remarked that it was strange, that he must have been oddly close to the Carnival in the first place for that spell to work the way it did."

[seniorvicejanitor]

Is this because I brought you food that one day?

[ was tyki paying him back that kindness? if so, well, that was pretty cool of him. rhys hopes that's it. he hopes there's no ulterior motives. ]

I wish I had a Tease if it was that efficient on bugs.

[seniorvicejanitor]

That might be a thing but I don't really camp enough to spend money on stuff like that. It'd be a waste. I'm usually in a room with a roof and a door that locks. Much better.

[ a tent wasn't going to repel things like bullymongs and skags and nightstalkers and anything really. ]

I would hope that we weren't sent to a place where we're going to have to deal with an attack. I'd like to get some sleep at night.

[prazerbutterfly]

So that's who she was talking about earlier when they said they learned of information by doing what they did to Ignatius. He supposes it is something of importance even if the means were controversial enough. Still, he's not one to judge methods. It wasn't beneath him. It's not to have a name to a spy.

There's a faint lift of his brow at the mention of Strange. It makes him curious as to why but also it seems really stupid. "I'm imaging it wasn't a normal snowstorm," he says casually. "But I guess it makes sense now. Also, that implies that when he left he hadn't truly left at all." And what are the chances they would've figured that out before they retrieve the Miracles. One has to wonder.

[prazerbutterfly]

Maybe. [It's partially that but also because he sometimes grew attached to people and made an effort to be a generally good guy towards them.

When the ground meets his satisfaction he'll drag over the tent and start to unpack anything Rhys hasn't, also plucking the instructions to see how far he's gotten. Only then will he start assembling.]

They'll eat just about anything. [He raises a hand to allow a purple-blackish butterfly rest onto his fingertips until he pushes it up into the air to flit around. Don't ask where it came from. Rhys doesn't want to know.]

[kingsroads]

Strange still isn't certain about Lambert's theorizing. All in all, there's nothing behind this except gut feelings, outlines of people's personalities, and a whole bunch of hope. Is it really too hard to accept that what happened actually happened? The Ringmaster got impatient, took matters into her own hands without thinking it through all the way, and is paying the price for it.

"You've got a well thought out theory. But it's just that: a theory. If you want the Courts or the Ringmaster to believe you, then you'll need actual proof." And based on the frown on his face, Strange isn't entirely sure Lambert could find the proof in the first place. How do you find proof for something that happened eons ago?

"Even if you are right, then it won't change anything. We've already obtained one of the Miracles and it wouldn't surprise me if Eden is our next stop. If the Courts can't hunt us for the Ringmaster's actions against the Winter Queen, then they'll hunt us for our actions in gathering these weapons."

There's always going to be a way to scapegoat the Ringmaster and justify their attacks on her. Strange thought Lambert would have known that already.

[kingsroads]

He's looking at that towel with an intensely disgusted and affronted frown. It's not Strange's fault his hair keeps setting things on fire. Why should he sacrifice comfort and get a cold just because he's stuck with this change?

"Surely there's got to be a better way."

But hell if Strange can think of one at the moment.

[kingsroads]

That is indeed a very bad weakness to have and Strange's little frown tells Reira that much. Perhaps they can work on toughening her nerves up while also testing the strength of the shield. Not that Strange ever expects Reira to see battle the way that he, Lambert, or the other nightrunners do, but it would be foolish to assume that she'd never get thrown in the fray at all.

"Try to hold it steady," Strange instructs, as he summons another fireball. He lobs that one at Reira's shield, with the same force as before.

[kingsroads]

Part of Strange just wants to sulk and dig his heels in even further. So what if it's awful! He never said he was a good person! He's not nice the way that Yuya or the others are, he's got a whole alternate self to prove that! But Strange knows that's petty and childish and he's supposed to be better than that.

"I'm not so sure," Strange explains, as he still stares off into space. "What would be worse? Acknowledging that you cannot do anything or the knowledge that you tried to save them and failed?"

Because that's how it's going to be, if the fae are involved again. In all likelihood, they're going to fail.

[whattaprick]

“I don’t expect it to change them,” Lambert snorts, looking at Strange. “Why do you think we took Ignatius? They’d chase us either way, find another reason to call us monsters. Might as well try to take whatever advantage we can get while we’re at it. Protecting ourselves isn’t always going to be pretty —getting the Rose fucking wasn’t.”

He’s absolutely bracing to be yelled at again, but maybe at least Strange can understand now—

“The Ringmaster could run and hide forever, Strange. She already has. I don’t want that.”

[starseedling]

As it turns out, Steven is mostly ready, and can also pretty trivially shoulder all of Strange's weight. The only challenge is his relative lack of size, and trying to keep Strange from just noodling over top of him - he puts his hands on either side of Strange's chest, trying to figure out how to deal with this.

Ultimately, he gets one hand behind Strange's back, and then tries to swoop the other one under his knees. This would work for anyone who wasn't incredibly short, but for Steven, it leaves Strange not far from touching the ground with his butt.

"Uh..." Dealing with the weight is trivial, but the balance is less so. Steven frowns and then considers another idea. "Let me try something... it might be kinda weird."

Steven then uses his magic to bubble Strange entirely, suspending him inside a large pink orb and hovering over Steven's head, braced with his hands. Strange will mostly find himself floating in the middle of the bubble rather than touching the outsides, so he better keep his limbs tucked in.

"There! Don't break it, okay?"

[kingsroads]

Strange draws in on himself on the cot, bringing his knees up so he can rest his chin on them. Yeah, he knows that feeling. He couldn't do anything when he was trapped by Nightshade and could barely do anything when trapped by Ignatius. Greatest magician of the age, everybody.

He does look up a bit when Rita mentions the reasons. "And what reasons are those?"

He's worried he knows the answer already: because he knows too much, because he's too powerful, because he'd be a dangerous ally. Things like that instead of what Strange is hoping Rita actually says.

[kingsroads]

A small smile plays on Strange's face, as he clarifies, "But I like hats."

Despite the fact that he rarely wears them, of course. There's not much opportunity at the carnival to wear a good top hat or one of the ridiculous floppy riding hats he owns.

"As for my clothes, I'm afraid I didn't get the chance to grab what I want to wear, what with being indisposed and all that." What with being dead. "I don't have a place to sleep either."

Normally he'd just force himself into Lambert's tent, but considering everything with regards to Ignatius...Strange doesn't really want to stay with Lambert at the moment.

[kingsroads]

Strange understands his reasoning a little bit. But he really doesn't believe that Lambert had any sort of plan when he took Ignatius. When has Lambert ever planned anything? Or at least, anything more complex than 'find a way to hurt it.'

"I think you took Ignatius because you realized you couldn't stab your way out of this," Strange simply explains, as he frowns in Lambert's direction. "It'd have been better if you ran: you've only made things worse this way."

It's harsh but in Strange's mind, it's the truth. It's a lot easier to hide from a fae and pretend you're dead when there's an entire multiverse to look through, not when he's literally on your doorstep.

[whattaprick]

“The plan was for Rita to use the Athenaeum’s magic to fight Ignatius, win you back fair and square, and get out of there.” All too obviously, that didn’t work. “He knew we wanted you more than what Rita was worth to him, so he wouldn’t take it. So, we improvised.”

Bet Ignatius really regrets that now.

“I didn’t expect holding him down to work as well as it did,” Lambert shrugs. “If he’d looked like he was breaking out? Yeah, I would have cut and run. For once, we had the advantage over a fae. If it had been Nightshade or anyone else, I would’ve done the same thing.” Lambert pauses, amends more honestly: “All right, I would have tried a lot harder to kill Nightshade. Point is, I thought he’d be useful, alive or dead.”

[hippocarnival]

Yuya absently pokes at the marshmallow, shrugging a shoulder. "I don't know. Even if it feels hopeless, I can't... I have to try."

Even when he's told to stand down, he's not sure he could hold himself to it. His patience would probably run out at some point. And he knows Gongenzaka is the same way. That's what makes it feel especially terrible to have done.

He worries over his lip. "Either way the person you care about is hurt, or... or gone."

[dressedtothe]

9S hums. "You couldn't tell?" That's not really like Rita to not be able to discern something so obvious.

Guess who's never had a dream before? This guy.

"I did hear from one of the Operators that dreams are supposed to show us what's on our minds. Maybe this is something like that?"

Pod 153 is well aware of Francis' pouncing ways by now. But it doesn't make any move to put the trout out of the litten's reach; 9S didn't have much of a plan for it, other than to show Rita how weird it was. Without a Bunker to send data to...

[dressedtothe]

[9S jerks back as if burned.]

Diseases?

[Now that's a cause for alarm. Not for him, anyway. He doubts any sort of disease that would affect biological beings would be a concern for him.]

What sort of diseases?

[hippocarnival]

"What?" Well Yuya immediately doesn't like the sound of that. He shakes his head. "Didn't the Severing do more harm than good anyway? There's got to be a better way of keeping everyone safe."

One that won't force them to lose any friendships, too. Although Yuya's mind doesn't gravitate to plans like 'eradicate their enemies'. "Do you think the miracles will really do it?"

2

[textsfromhotland]

How did Alphys find a supermarket out here in the woods? And why is she wearing a pink, poofy magical girl dress? It is a mystery, but she doesn't seem to care that much.

"Uh, d-do you know where the snacks are?"

camping whyyyy

[textsfromhotland]

[There's a crash and an angry grunt as Alphys' tent collapses on itself again.]

I HATE CAMPING!

[kingsroads]

"But you didn't think of the aftermath." It's said as a fact. Because in Strange's mind, Lambert didn't think of the aftermath at all. He just did this because he could, not because it was a tactical decision.

"There's only a handful of High Fae in the entire multiverse—only a few thousand. That's enough that if one of their number goes missing or worse, dies, they'll notice. The Summer Fae already loathe us due to the Ringmaster's actions against the Queen and the fact that we have the Blue Rose. And now that you've tortured one of their generals, I doubt it will be long before the Queen decides enough is enough and sends the entire force of the Court to kill us."

[whattaprick]

Lambert shrugs.

“I knew there’d be consequences. I wanted to do something different. Too bad you weren’t around to tell me that was stupid, right?”

You know, on account of being dead.

Dreams

[textsfromhotland]

Yuya isn't the only one dreaming of Wismuth, which is how Alphys lands herself here without realizing she's invading. She flies in between skyscrapers on her staff until she spies the coast in the distance and zooms off towards it.

"I didn't think I'd g-get to see the ocean again this soon!"