⇨ 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

[kingsroads]

It takes about ten minutes, but eventually, an intensely slobbered-on Strange and a very happy Baker make their way back to the tent. Baker's prancing happily, holding a dead jackalope in his mouth. The prey drive took preference over kisses. Baker drops the dead animal by Lambert's feet and gives him a happy bark.

"You get to deal with that," Strange complains. He's less cranky now, more downright exhausted. Guess who tried to chase that damn dog when he ran off to catch the rabbit, hint, it's Strange.

Strange plops his ass down on another of the sleeping bags, as he tries in vain to run his fingers through his hair and get it back to something slightly presentable. He's still not leaving Lambert alone, despite the fact that he's fairly certain Lambert isn't going to be the one to make the first move.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita's brow furrows, a bewildered look on her face.

"Training," she sputters, nearly speechless.

She doesn't believe him. Whatever it was, whatever happened, there's no way it was just training.

[scientificist]

Herbert looks up, mid contortion, expression initially hesitant. It's been since he talked with Lambert, and overheard Strange's conversation with Syrlya, so Herbert is, at least, not averse to interaction with Syr. He'd been concerned, but it seems to have been a magic Syrlya doesn't personally possess that he used in the Athenaeum. So. It's fine. There's no reason to be wary of him, except that this is somewhat embarrassing and Herbert would have rather nobody saw his poorly considered attempt at scratching his itchy wings.

"It's. New feathers, I...snapped the follicle but there's. A blood supply." He de-contorts, slowly, but then looks away, embarrassed and avoidant, scratching aimlessly at the side of his head. "I'm not a bird so I doubt I'll bleed out but I can't...reach it." It's stupid. He should have just headed immediately for the temporary med tent but there'd be questions. He set it up centrally for convenience, not considering he'd make this kind of miscalculation. "How's your grip?"

[scientificist]

It's not Herbert's particular interest, and he's been distracted by medical care, but--

"As far as I'm aware there was a sort of...Winter spy hitching a ride or tracking us--although not directly in the Carnival, no. Unless there's something in the Carnival that let them follow us--aaaa tracking device. A bug."

[kingsroads]

Strange knows she doesn't believe him. But like hell Strange is telling Rita the full truth, not when she hates Ignatius so much already. Things like Ignatius reading his essence, that unbearable pain, that's straight up not being mentioned. And if he can downplay the training, then so be it, that's what he'll do.

"It was all in my head," he admits. "Whatever spell he used, it put me in various battlefields with a varied group of servicemen. I thought it must have been at least a week but I've asked around and I was only in his thrall for a couple of days."

Or, at least, the training was. The effects certainly weren't.

[whattaprick]

It’s never going to be presentable as long as it’s yours, Strange. Lambert eyes the dead jackalope with a sigh, then rolls up to get away from the sleeping bag — he doubts Childermass would appreciate blood on it, even if it isn’t technically theirs — to begin skimming and cleaning the damn thing. He’s seen Childermass do that plenty enough these past few days that he knows how to do it.

“He wants the insides,” he explains, as he works. “Childermass has been feeding them to him since we got here.”

Childermass, who isn’t back yet from ... wherever the Ringmaster took him. Lambert scowls down at the rabbit corpse. Not that he expected a quick resolution, but he doesn’t know when it’ll be over, either.

[kingsroads]

As Yuya puts the marshmallow over Strange's head, Strange remember that wait, he's got one also...except his marshmallow is now charcoal. Well damn.

"Hold it over my left hand where the scar is," Strange instructs, as he grabs a handful of marshmallows from the bag and shoves them in his mouth. Indeed, there's what looks like a nasty looking burn scar on the back of his left hand. Strange concentrates for a moment, activates his third eye, and then the scars on his hand, his forehead, and his right forearm light up with magical flame.

There we go. A bit of an easier way to roast a marshmallow that doesn't involve getting hair on it.

The Wicked

[mylastchance]

He's been looking for Strange for hours. Part of that is his own fault. It's sunny out, the quintessential nice day. Lauren's new plant instincts are screaming at him to face the light and soak it all in. It's a temptation he unfortunately gives in to more than once during his search. The other reason it takes him so long, is of course because Strange is sulking.

He couldn't have picked a worse place to practice earth magic, in Lauren's opinion. Spells like that should be done in fields, not in forested areas where the shaking of the ground could damage trees and scare all sorts of wildlife into a panic. He keeps that judgement to himself, for not at least.

"Is this important?" he asks, voice loud to carry over the rumbling of the earth.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya sees the scar before Strange activates his third eye, and so he forgets to even move his marshmallow at first. He doesn't exactly remember where all of Strange's scars are, but that one is new, isn't it?

He furrows his brow, pointing at the damaged hand with his marshmallow. "Did Ignatius do that? Steven said he was making you fight people."

Fire Dance: Night 65

[mylastchance]

Seeing her dance, he's struck again by how good looking she really is, even with (or maybe in some ways because) of her changes. It's a silly dance, more cute than anything else, but it's hard not to notice how attractive someone is when your watching them move. Of course than she's trying to get him to join and he cringes back, immediately forgetting his previous thought process. In fact for a moment he's too surprised to even speak, just shaking his head in surprise.

"I can't." he finally says, taking a step away.

[kingsroads]

Thankfully, Strange has managed to pick up just what sort of bug Herbert's talking about: a stint in a digital world and a month in 2016 will help out with that. He looks briefly confused for a moment before Strange realize riiight, it's that sort of bug.

"I don't know why they'd bother with that sort of 'bug.' After all, the carnival tends to leave large areas of destruction wherever we go. You'd think that would be easy to track."

Seriously, it's a 50/50 chance whether the carnival will radically change and/or fuck up a world or whether they leave and everything's hunky dory. Following the carnage should be easy.

[scientificist]

Listen. Herbert knows some historical stuff but etymology isn't his forte. He shrugs in response.

"Maybe that seems normal to High Fae--I'm not the Ringmaster, I can only theorise about what she's doing."

[kingsroads]

When Lauren arrives, Strange is muttering a spell, hands out in front of him. The earth cracks multiple times, like faultlines or tiny earthquakes. The cracks start from where Strange is standing, stopping right before they reach a tree. There's about five or so cracks running throughout the ground.

As he hears Lauren's voice, Strange stops, places his hands at his side, turns to look at Lauren...and then almost instantly furrows his brow in worry. Well. He's changed. Without thinking, Strange mentally activates his third eye and ovular burn marks his forehead, hand, and forearm set themselves on fire as he examines Lauren and what he assumes is new magic that must have changed his fingers like that.

"Perhaps," Strange simply says, not really realizing that fire-man should probably not be too close to plant-man. He also doesn't realize that he shouldn't be staring at Lauren as intently as he is. "For some reason, part of my magic was cut off during my last fight. I want to make certain it still works."

[kingsroads]

"What, these?" And Strange vaguely gestures towards the various bits of him that are on fire with the hand that's not on fire. "No, these only happened when Ignatius reformed me." Which really is a sentence that Strange shouldn't be saying as nonchalantly as he is.

He pauses for a moment, debating what to say next. It's only a second or two before Strange settles on, "He didn't hurt me. Not like Nightshade did."

[hippocarnival]

Yuya looks up to give Strange a skeptical look. "But he still brainwashed you, unless you're going to tell me you chose to fight them with Ignatius."

Yuya knows he wouldn't have. He knows how afraid Strange was of hurting someone because of that. Rita didn't tell him the extent of the injuries, but he doesn't believe the truth will make it better.

Not being like Nightshade doesn't mean it didn't hurt at all.

[kingsroads]

"Nightshade brainwashed me and tortured me," Strange points out the obvious, as he rubs the inside of his wrist, where the mirrored scratches caused by her thorns are.

"Ignatius didn't enthrall me until it was closer to the end of my stay with him—I was able to talk with Steven, remember? He wasn't even planning to make me fight the others to begin with: he only ordered me to do so when Lambert used the Athenaeum's magic to summon me directly into the fray."

If it sounds like Strange is defending Ignatius, that's because he is. There's a hint of defensiveness in Strange's tone as he explains things and he matches Yuya's skeptical look with a small frown of his own.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya would probably have taken Strange's defense worse if he hadn't spoken to Rita first. But even she admitted to seeing something human in him. He knows there are Fae who can understand them, like the Ringmaster. The Summer Maiden.

Yuya's expression remains pinched as his gaze drifts, like he's searching for something in Strange's response. "Do you remember in the Summerlands, when I asked about the Fae understanding us? You didn't really believe it then. Is Ignatius different?"

It's not an accusation. Yuya's curious. He wants to know if Strange saw the same thing in one of the Summer Court--even one that hurt them.

[worldlyafflictions]

“Wouldn’t that be lucky,” Shima laughs, willing to entertain the idea even if he doesn’t really believe that.

[atouts]

Well, not what he was looking at Syrlya for, but... Childermass isn't entirely without a sense of humor. He makes a low, curious crow noise, although at this size it's far louder than it would be as a normal crow, and turns to tromp over the ground towards him. It's an awkward gait, crouched over on his wings as he goes since this form didn't bother to add an extra pair of front legs. Claws on his wing joints, sure, but it's obvious this beast was built for flight.

Regardless, if he can get close enough, he'll try pushing his head past the unfortunate Sylvari and towards the fruit he's trying to guard.

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya attempts to move back slowly, to avoid startling Childermass which would probably work better if Childermass was actually a bird monster and not a human dressed like one. "I said no, I'm not feeling generous right now--no!"

He doesn't quite pull back in time for being too cautious, so Childermass manages to shove right at the fruit. Syrlya pushes at his beak with a frustrated sound.

[kingsroads]

There's not even a moment of hesitation before Strange answers, "He is."

It was just little things throughout their conversation that made Strange think so. The way Ignatius said he respected him. The way he followed the Courts but seemed so aggravated by them at the same time. The fact that he at least warned Strange before slipping his fingers into Strange's head and extracting information. There were so many little tells that seemed familiar, that reminded Strange of his friends in the army. He could easily picture himself with Ignatius in the peninsula, both of them complaining about the Portugese roads or plotting ways to obtain cannons, Strange taking his orders as he uses his magic to reshape entire forests.

Is this a dangerous train of thought about someone who did enthrall him? Possibly! Does Strange care? Not in the slightest.

"And he deserves better than whatever the hell Lambert and the rest forced him through."

[kingsroads]

Strange has no idea either. So, he falls back on an old standby: making a little joke in order to break up the mood or change the subject.

"Probably having a large drink considering all of this," said with a vague wave of his hand. "I'm certain she wasn't planning to lose carnival members and be accosted by multiple Court fae all in the span of a few hours."

[hippocarnival]

With that confirmation Yuya smiles, bright and full of hope. Rita saw it, Strange believes it. Yuya can believe it, too. Even the Ringmaster had to have changed her mind at some point. All it took was someone showing her they were people with the same feelings.

"I want to meet him." Yuya declares, because of course he does. "The Ringmaster didn't kill him... that means he's staying here, right? I want to talk to Ignatius and see what he's like."

He's gonna try and befriend the Fae.

[mylastchance]

He takes a step back without thinking, intensely aware of exactly how much more flammable he is now that he has actual plant appendages. The finger-root tendrils aren't the only thing that's changed either. His toes are the same, and visible since he can no longer wear shoes. His body looks stretched with arms, legs, and even his hands appearing to be longer than they were before. With his magic sight, Strange may even be able to see the way Lauren's cells have changed to be able to absorb the sunlight, all courtesy of the rose queen of course.

Of course, on hearing Strange's response Lauren gets a bit worried in return. He doesn't know any of the actual circumstances surrounding Strange's death, but he knows from Susan's own experiences how bad it can be to have your magic fail you. He looks away for a second, and only partly because he's being stared at super intensely.

"I'm sorry to hear that." But it isn't what he came here to talk about.

"Do you have a moment?"

[kingsroads]

Of course he does. And Strange can't even judge Yuya's response, considering that one of the first things he asked the Ringmaster is if he can meet with Ignatius. Yuya's bright smile is matched with a smaller, yet equally hopeful one of Strange's own.

"You'll have to ask the Ringmaster first," he reminds Yuya. "And if you can meet him, I doubt it will happen for a while. He's been through a harrowing experience. Add in whatever the Ringmaster must have done to him to keep him from destroying the carnival, and I'm certain poor Ignatius is in recovery at the moment."

Strange has absolutely zero clue what the hell the Ringmaster must have done to Ignatius to keep him alive after apparently eating him. Likewise, he has no idea what the hell she would do to keep the literal Conflagration from destroying the carnival with a snap of his fingers. Whatever it is, it must have sucked tremendously: ergo, Strange is stepping back and letting the Ringmaster set any terms for the meet-up.