⇨ 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]

"I'm a man of many talents," Strange responds, with a wry little smile. Seeing Susan has lightened his mood considerably. Where Strange had been glaring at and working with the magic to an extent that he wasn't paying attention to anything else, when he hears Susan's voice and turns to look at the kid, Strange gives him a small smile.

"Something odd happened with my magic in the Athenaeum. I want to make certain it still works properly."

With a gesture of his hand, one of the large spikes of earth starts to vanish in the ground. And then, wry smile still on his face, Strange nods at Susan's feet. The ground beneath Susan rumbles slightly: it might be enough to knock him on his ass, but it's certainly not a large enough rumble to cause any sort of major damage. This is just him playing around and being a dick.

[wild_magic]

Susan nods as he thinks about that, figuring it makes sense. After all, he's always wanted to do the same after going without his magic for a while, just to make sure it works okay. But before he can actually respond Strange knocks him to the ground, and he stares for a moment before laughing and pushing himself back up.

"Hey, no fair! If you do that then I'll knock you down too!" Because there is definitely nothing more mature than a magic fight right?

[kingsroads]

This is entirely immature and Lauren's probably going to yell at him again for disturbing the animals or whatever, but Strange just doesn't care. So what if this is childish and immature? He was just dead, let him have a little bit of fun!

Strange gives Susan a wild grin before causing the ground to rumble underneath him again, once again trying to knock him to the ground. "Let's see you give it a try!"

Strange is pretty much chomping at the bit for a magic fight.

[wild_magic]

Susan was more prepared that time, and so although he stumbles as the ground shakes, he still manages to hold his ground as he sticks his tongue out in concentration. Honestly he doesn't have a lot of spells in the "not deadly but still offensive" category, that's more of Lauren's specialty, but he can still improvise something.

It only takes him a second to decide what to do, and with a wave of his hand and a few mumbled words six small, fist-sized meteors pop into existence in the air around him, orbitting him a few times before two of them go hurtling towards Strange - or at least, towards the ground near his feet. He isn't trying to hit him after all, only force him backwards so he can do something else to trip him up, or maybe even just trip him up from the meteors themselves. He grins afterwards, watching Strange to see what he'll do next.

[kingsroads]

Strange steps back as the meteors hit the ground near his feet. He wobbles precariously, but still remains standing. Those meteors are definitely impressive and Strange isn't even bothering to hide his interested expression. He's already starting up a list of nerdy questions to ask the kid once they're done with his fight.

Of course, there's four of those meteors left. Strange mutters an incantation and gestures to the remaining four meteors. Two gusts of wind shoot from where Strange is standing towards the meteors. He's trying to cast the spell in a way so that the winds move around Susan instead of knocking him over: Strange is another one who's got to tailor his spells in a certain way so that it won't end up with Susan in the medical tent.

[wild_magic]

Wind? Along with Strange's other magic he's seen, it's pretty easy for Susan to assume that he mostly can do the same sorts of things as Lauren - manipulating nature, basically - which is information he can definitely try and use to his advantage. Of course he doesn't have any spells to counter things like that, which means it may be harder, but he can still do this. All he has to do is knock him down, right?

Wind means that fire spells aren't as useful though, his bolts could maybe be pushed back or slowed, but he still has a good idea or what he can use...

Which is why after a moment the remaining meteors disappear as he casts another spell, this time transforming into an animal - a mountain lion to be exact - and charging straight for him in an attempt to pounce.

[kingsroads]

Jesus Christ, it's a mountain lion. Strange is simultaneously impressed and shocked: impressed because Susan can work a transformation spell like that so easily, shocked because Susan is now a literal mountain lion.

As Susanlion charges straight towards him, Strange poofs into smoke. His clothes and body turn into a dark purple, sweet smelling, downright poisonous if inhaled for too long cloud of smoke. Susan's pounce passes right through him. Unfortunately, Strange can't really cast spells when he's smoke. So, smoke-Strange drifts away from Susan, trying to put some distance between the two of them. The main problem, of course, is that by it's nature, smoke isn't very fast. As smoke, Strange almost leisurely floats away from Susan.

[wild_magic]

Susan easily lands with his lion reflexes, turning with his tail swishing behind him. But like this he can't think as well, only able to use his lion senses and instincts and thinking instead, and so he doesn't know exactly what just happened, only that he's disappeared. He sniffs the air, trying to track his "prey", but all that he can smell is the smoke. He could change back but it would be a waste of a spell, and so for now he stays a mountain lion, stalking the area to try and find him.

[kingsroads]

It's a very boring standoff for a few moments before Strange turns human and solid, a few feet from Susan. He doesn't know how well or how fast a mountain lion can move: he probably hasn't seen one actually move in the first place, just a taxidermied one. So, he's working on best guesses here.

The mountain lion looks like it has good enough reflexes, so Strange doesn't try the rumble the earth trick again. Instead, he calls back the wind and gestures for a gust of it to shoot in Susan's direction. And again, Strange doesn't know how strong a mountain lion actually is, so he's pulling his punches even more. The wind is strong, but Susan can certainly push through it.

[wild_magic]

He has to at least give it one more shot before he transforms back, Susan thinks. His tail keeps swishing as he lowers himself into a pounce position, his backend wiggling before he finally dashes towards Strange again. If this doesn't work then he'll shift back, but one more try can't hurt.

[kingsroads]

Strange attempts to dodge. And while his reflexes are noticeably faster than they were any previous times Susan might have seen, that doesn't change the fact that Strange undersells the dodge. Susan smacks into his side and Strange falls to the ground.

"You'll have to explain the details of that spell to me, one day," said with a smile on his face. Even without using his third eye, Strange could tell that there was something different about Susan's magic than other animal transformation spells he's seen.

[wild_magic]

Susan only stays in animal form for a moment after knocking him down, grinning proudly about his accomplishment already.

"I can try! I don't know if it'll be a very good explanation though." Honestly it's the downside of his natural talent, but it's not one that comes up too often so it doesn't bother him.

[kingsroads]

"Any attempt at an explanation is a good start," Strange explains. Now that Susan is a human again and not a large animal, Strange sits up. He doesn't fully get up from the ground yet, but he gives Susan a little smile to show that everything's all right.

"Besides, I'm certain you'll do a good job at it. No one knows your magic better than yourself."

[wild_magic]

Susan figured that Strange was okay, but seeing the man sit up and smile is definitely a relief still. It's good to know he didn't accidentally scratch him or anything of the sort.

He still isn't sure he can give a good explanation, but he nods anyway.

"I just don't really know how it works, though. I sort of just... Make it happen? It's different from most magic in our world."

[kingsroads]

Strange has a new least favorite thing: people for whom magic 'just happens.' This happened with Steven as well and that irritated Strange to no end. These things don't 'just happen.' There has to be some sort of rule or pattern or something behind Susan's magic to make it work.

"Well then, how exactly is it different?"

[wild_magic]

"Um..." He has to think about that one for a long moment. It would help if he had a better understanding of how others on his world do magic, but he did go to magic school for a whole week so he definitely knows a little bit.

"So, there's just magic everywhere, in our world. And anyone can use it to do things if they learn the way to do it, but they have to learn how because I guess, they can't just like... Feel it? So they have to memorize it or pray or something." It's sort of a disjointed explanation, and he knows it, but he only has a vague grasp on how magic is supposed to work, so it's the best he can do.

"But I can just make it do what I want. Ever since I was a baby, I could do it."

[kingsroads]

"Interesting," Strange answers, with a little nod. "The magic in my world's a bit like that. It's always easiest if you have a spell or have something memorized. But I've managed to make my own spells before."

After all, there have been plenty of times when Strange didn't have any books and had to cobble together a spell based on what he remembered and what fragments he had, tying it all together with the feeling he got whenever he cast a spell.

"In my world, praying doesn't enter into it. Can all religious people do magic where you're from or only a select few?"

He knows that it's probably a dumb idea asking Susan this but hey, Strange is curious.

[wild_magic]

"I still have to have a spell, but... I guess it's just a spell I'm making up, instead of one someone else did. I can just figure out how to make it on my own."

But the religion question gives him pause, and he has to think about it for a moment before nodding.

"I think they all can! They just might not be very good at it, unless they're like a priest or something special like that. Mostly they do healing magic though I think... Or stuff about whatever their god is?" He doesn't honestly know a lot about religion, though, so he ends up shrugging.

"Druids just pray to nature though or something. I don't really know."

[kingsroads]

Fun fact: Strange's brother in law is a pastor. He's trying real hard to imagine his brother in law doing magic but honestly can't put together that mental image right now. Would England eventually be the same? Probably not: Susan did mention 'stuff about whatever their god is' and if the Christian god wanted people to have magic, he'd have done something about that now.

"Does any of your magic happen instinctively? My English magic doesn't, but some of the fae magic I've picked up here can happen without me realizing it."

The magic that happens instinctively is currently the fire Strange produces now. He's certain he'll get a handle on it eventually—after all, he did so with the smoke. But he's also heard stories of Susan accidentally burning down things with his magic and wants to figure out how that works into the grand scheme of things.

[wild_magic]

Susan frowns when he thinks about it before shrugging.

"I don't know, really. It's... I sort of make it happen, but on accident? That's the only kind that happens without realizing. But I've done some of it for so long that I can do it without really thinking, I just sort of do it. Like walking."

[kingsroads]

"And it's the magic that you do without really thinking that leads you to burn down a building?" Strange quickly continues talking before Susan can make any interjections.

"Which I'm not judging you for, by the way. Lord knows I've had things accidentally go wrong with my magic before. I'm simply trying to figure out the basics of how your magic works."

Surprise, Lauren gossipped about Susan a bit.

[wild_magic]

He actually shakes his head at that.

"No, the magic I don't really think about is stuff that always works, actually. I can show you some of it. But the stuff that burns down buildings, and stuff, is like..." He thinks for a second before thinking of how to explain it.

"It's like, I make the magic work, by... Pulling the right parts, sort of? But sometimes other stuff comes with it. It's like when you're tying a knot, but sometimes the rest of the rope tangles up or knots too." It's the best he can come up with, so he hopes it makes sense.

[kingsroads]

Thankfully for Susan, that metaphor makes sense. Strange's magic runs on bullshit, he's much more approving of explaining magic through metaphors than explaining magic through precise explanations. When Susan casts a spell, sometimes he occasionally casts more than he plans. It's simple enough.

"Mine's like a song," Strange explains, with a smile. "It's like I can hear a song in my head and the magic is how I finish it."

[wild_magic]

Susan smiles at the explanation, nodding as he thinks about it.

"That makes sense! That's way more interesting than the other magic I know about." Mostly because it seems all like... Memorization and reading. Which are both boring.

[kingsroads]

Memorization is indeed pretty boring, but Strange would make a case that some forms of reading aren't boring. Strange is entirely in his element right now and will pretty much ramble on about magic until Susan wants the conversation to end. This man can talk for hours.

"Is Lauren's magic the same as yours? I've never seen him do any fire or transform himself into an animal the way you have."