lostcarnival | ⇨ CAMPING GROUNDS

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Great... sounds like a real winner, that one," Rita mutters. Given how Yugo and Yuya are, she was willing to entertain the notion that perhaps all of them were unlike Zarc, that they'd all grown to be their own people. Sounds like at least one of them didn't quite grow beyond that ugly past of theirs.

"If he was trying to join all the pieces, does that mean Yuya, too...?" Rita folds her arms, considering some of the uncomfortable possibilities.

"And after all that... how are you here now?" If he was eaten, or fused, or whatever it was that happened to him...

"Good question. But you'd have to ask Yuya about that. Or maybe Reira instead, if you don't want to get him all upset."

Helpful. But at least there's something else that he can concretely answer for her. Kinda.

"And... I'm not really sure how I managed to find my way back to the Ringmaster for a contract, just that I knew I didn't wanna be stuck in someone else's head." Then he shrugs. "So that's what happened."

"I see..."

Rita turns her head away and gazes off into the distance. She didn't expect she'd come out of this feeling bad for Yugo, but... that's just an objectively shitty situation.

"Thanks... for telling me about this." It might seem like Rita's not very used to saying thanks, as she almost seems to struggle with the word. But she recognizes that she pursued this line of questioning out of her own selfish curiosity, and ended up learning about what was probably a horrific experience for Yugo. "I think I understand you guys a little better now."

"Hey it wasn't too much trouble. It's... just a lot to take in, eh?"

Yugo's face remains solemn as he says that, but only because the lesson is sinking in for him just a little bit that it's important to stop and think about one's own actions every once in a while.

Maybe it's finally time to shift the topic.

"But what about yourself?" he says, finding a small grin to put on his face that could be forced of all things- hard to tell. "With how much we run into each other, I barely know a thing about you! ... Besides who you are and how much you're into science stuff."

"Hm?" Rita looks back to him, eyes briefly widening in surprise. She didn't expect him to turn around and ask her about herself.

"What, like, my life story?" She's not really sure where to begin with that. "Not sure I've got anything to match a story like that..."

But she'll go ahead and give him something. It's true; Rita doesn't talk about her past that much, and it's not like she has anything to hide. "...I grew up in a place called Aspio, the City of Scholars. Almost everyone there was a researcher of some kind, including me. As soon as I was old enough to read, I started and never stopped, and before long, I became one of Aspio's top scholars." It's said with a distinct sense of pride. "Didn't have any friends or family, but I had books and blastia, and for a long time, I figured that was enough."

"Wow, so you've worked that hard for a really long time huh?"

He looks genuinely impressed, if only because it dwarfs his own experience in machines in comparison. Actually that brings up another minor question in his head. But first he wants to know...

"What's a blastia?"

"It's a kind of magic device. Where I'm from, blastia are used for all kinds of practical, everyday purposes. Larger ones can generate barriers to protect entire cities, while some are small enough to wear on one's body... like this one." Rita gestures to the gold choker on her neck, brushing the red jewel set in it with her fingertips.

"In my world, humans can't use magic naturally, so mages like myself need to wear a blastia in order to convert energy for spells."

⇨ CAMPING GROUNDS

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