⇨ 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

[whattaprick]

Lambert might be prone on the ground and his ribs complaining at every movement, but he’s not entirely helpless. A flick of his fingers brings a shield up for Strange’s flaming hand to crash into, and his tail whips out to grab a leg and try to yank him off balance, hoping to send him tumbling into the dirt beside Lambert.

[kingsroads]

Surprising everyone, Strange's reflexes leveled up a smidge during Iggy's training from hell. His hand connects with the shield with a small thud: after all, there's not much he can do there. But as Lambert's tail whips out, Strange turns himself into smoke. He floats to Lambert's side, away from the shield, resolidifies, then tries to kick Lambert in the ribs instead.

In Strange's defense, he has absolutely no idea that it's the ribs specifically that are busted to hell and back.

[whattaprick]

Lambert manages to put up an arm to shield his ribs and catch the blow, thankfully, but that absolutely isn’t changing the fact that he has to move quickly to do it and he hisses sharply, going pale as he grits his teeth.

Butcher, who’s been watching the proceedings with some confusion, immediately perks up alertly, pivoting to deliver a kick at the magician with rock-steady legs.

[kingsroads]

And the MVP of this fight goes to Butcher. The Pokemon's hooves connect with the back of Strange's leg. He falls to the ground, smack down in the dirt, partly on top of Lambert. Thankfully, Strange's hands and head aren't as flammable now so nothing's set on fire. There's a second or so where it looks like he's going to try and punch Lambert again before common sense and a healthy fear of being kicked in the head pop up.

So, Strange just scowls, like this is still all Lambert's fault and he's a complete moron (because it is and he is!!!)

"You should have told me," Strange grumbles, as he moves off of Lambert. "I thought we were friends."

[whattaprick]

“What part of ‘kicked across an arena’ did you miss?” Lambert wheezes, shoving Strange ... and spitefully extinguishing his hair with a wave of the hand and a puff of wind for good measure. Butcher looks like he’s getting ready to wind up again, but a gesture from the witcher makes him settle, prancing in place.

“We are friends, for some reason,” Lambert says tiredly. “He didn’t know how you’d take it, so he asked me not to say anything the first time we slept together. Then...”

Lambert trails off.

[kingsroads]

Strange's hair remains extinguished for all of two seconds. Then, it relights itself again. Strange doesn't bother getting up. Instead, he flops down on the ground next to Lambert, sulking still and staying out of range of Butcher.

"So I didn't know at first because Childermass is an idiot and you're a pushover." Guess what! He's still mad! "But there was still plenty of time for you to have told me afterwards."

[whattaprick]

Lambert’s quiet for a long moment, claws tracing the dirt beside him.

“I didn’t tell you because it was just sex, Strange,” he says, flushing slowly. There is no ‘just sex’ with Childermass, not anymore, and in retrospect it was obvious it hadn’t been 'just sex’ for a while.

“It took me a while to figure out.”

[kingsroads]

Just sex. If it was just sex, then Lambert wouldn't be blushing so much. If it was just sex, then Lambert wouldn't have asked Strange about England's attitude towards these sorts of things. His anger's abiding slightly as he looks over at Lambert with a frown, watching him as Strange pieces together a few more things.

"Have you ever been in love before this?" It's a question that comes out of nowhere, but it's important for Strange to ask. After all, here's Lambert, the man who prides himself on being a killer, who's said that most people view witchers as freaks, who's come from a world that seems intent on kicking him in the face whenever possible. It's a valid question and Strange is so worried that he knows what the answer is.

[whattaprick]

Ugh, he just had to ask that, didn’t he? Hopefully Strange is getting all his satisfaction out of making Lambert squirm (not literally, since that hurts) as he puts his arm over his face, muttering mutinously but honestly:

“No. Not like this.”

[kingsroads]

And for like the first time during this whole conversation, Strange smiles. Trying to navigate awkward feelings, nights of thinking about that person, simply enjoying their company, finding that moment when you realize that you'll do so many stupid things for this person if it'll just make them laugh or make them smile? Been there, done that.

"Want any tips?"

[whattaprick]

“How to get rid of a True Fae’s curse would be a start.”

Yeah, sorry Strange, Lambert wasn’t going to let both of them wallow in the mush for too long. The witcher sighs.

“Don’t suppose that’s anything you learned about while you were with Ignatius, did you?”

Look, he’s trying to look on the bright side of this.

[kingsroads]

Strange shakes his head, realizes that since they're both lying in the dirt it might be hard for Lambert to see that, then clarifies. "No, it wasn't. I mostly learned new and exciting ways to kill people."

There's no venom in his tone as he describes Ignatius. It's just said in a matter of fact tone of voice, like he's describing a particularly boring movie he saw. Though, the fact that they're discussing Ignatius means that they're inevitably going to end up with more yelling. Can't they go back to the mushy stuff?

He pauses for a moment before continuing. "He told me about the Ringmaster and how she killed the Winter Queen."

[whattaprick]

“Great,” Lambert says, with no inflection. “I hope you’re ready to use those for the Carnival. Too bad Fae don’t need to breathe.”

Because if Strange is bent on staying a nightrunner? You can sure as hell bet Lambert’s making him use what he learned. No sense wasting it.

“Did he leave out the part where there’s a chance the Winter Maiden tricked her into it?” Lambert asks, with no surprise. Yeah Strange, everyone knows about the Winter Queen business.

[kingsroads]

"And what's your reasoning for that?" Because based on the frown on Strange's face, he's downright skeptical of Lambert's conspiracy theory. Interested and willing to hear it out, but amazingly skeptical.

[whattaprick]

“Aren’t you the one supposed to be good at politics, not me?” Lambert asks. “The Winter Queen dies at the hands of a nasty Beast. Terrible tragedy, but Winter needs a Queen. Luckily, the Winter Maiden is right there to take up the job, and rule Winter as she sees fit.”

Lambert pauses. “Except something doesn’t add up. Did Syrlya show you what he found in the library? The Summer Maiden and the Winter Maiden were working together to change the Courts... with the Great Beast. They were friends.

“So if the Winter Queen’s death was something they all planned together ... why is the Beast hiding from the court and the Summer Maiden in exile? Sounds like someone got greedy, doesn’t it?”

Lambert waves a hand. “I met the Beast when I was in Portland. She had a reputation for killing fae even then — the Winter’s Claw, or something. Guess that part turned out to be true to life. But if you met her... you’d wonder how she did it. She wasn’t exactly bright. And she lost badly when she attacked the Rose Queen’s gardens, and she couldn’t plan her way out of a box. Hard to believe she could take down a Queen without some help.”

[kingsroads]

He doesn't fully believe this. In Strange's mind, this seems like a lot of reaching, of Lambert trying to find an answer to shift the blame off of the Ringmaster. But Strange isn't so certain that's what happened.

"Or the Ringmaster planned this herself to try and speed the process along, and the Summer Maiden went into exile since she was ashamed of the Ringmaster's actions. I did see Syrlya's story. And, from what I saw of it, I doubt the Summer Maiden has the capacity to even think of killing someone."

Strange read Syrlya's story: as soon as conflict was introduced or things moved even slightly towards violence, the Summer Maiden folded like a sheet of paper. And he remembers the general atmosphere of the Summerlands. Could the Summer Maiden plan an assassination attempt? He doubts it.

"Besides, I doubt there's much planning involved in eating someone." Because that's Strange's conspiracy theory as to what happened to the Winter Queen: she got ate. "You just need to be at the right place at the right time."

[whattaprick]

“Strange,” Lambert says, dead serious. “When at any point in the time you’ve known her has the Ringmaster really planned anything?”

Sorry, RM, but it’s true!

“The Count said that’s what she was accused of — killing and eating the Winter Queen. But if she did eat her ... what’d she do with all that power?” Because that’s what the Ringmaster’s feeding habits end up as — fuel for more.

“With all the power she had, she could have struck down at least one of the Courts she hated so much. Done more damage, hurt them more permanently. Instead, she just killed the Queen and ran? And how’d she even get into the Queen’s palace in the first place? We know fae are masters of their realms.” He frowns, then plunges on.

“There’s more to it. Frost was in the Athenaeum ... remember that asshole? He said he was a witness to all of it, because he served the old Queen directly. And he was a smug little shit about it too. If it wasn’t for the Elysium I think the Ringmaster would’ve been happy to eat him. You trust him to tell the truth? I don’t.”

He’s skipping over details as he rambles, leaving out important parts, but there’s the air of someone trying desperately to puzzle out the details and get a clear sense of the story here. With a soft wheeze, he forces himself to sit up, tail curling in agitation behind him.

“Maybe it doesn’t matter,” he admits. “The Ringmaster doesn’t seem to think it does, and maybe Winter doesn’t really care about the Queen either, and the truth is whatever people want it to be.”

[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.

[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.”

[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.”

[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.

[kingsroads]

"I'd have thought it would be obvious that torturing and binding someone was a stupid decision," Strange snaps back.

Unconsciously, his hand goes to his wrists as he rubs the mirrored scratches.

[whattaprick]

The small tell has Lambert gritting his teeth all over again.

“Seems like it works out for them well enough,” he snaps back. “So what else did he do besides teach you better ways to kill people? Did he have a good rummage through your head too? I’d say you should get captured by the Rose Queen too so you can say which Summer Fae is the best at torture, but I think we can just ask Steven!”