⇨ CONFLAGRATION

[ringleaders]

Who: The Ringmaster, Peridot, Amethyst, Shima, Tyki, Childermass and Ignatius.
When: Day 68
Where: THE CENTER OF THE (OTHER) MOON.
What: The Ringmaster has recruited the help of a not-so-elite group of carnival members to help her deal with the imprisoned Ignatius.
Warnings: Weird egg stuff.

THE FIERY ONE↴ When you meet up with the Ringmaster at the portal she's in her humanoid form, but that doesn't last long. After a brief period of waiting, she will take you back to the carnival grounds, still fresh and partially undefined from her rebuilding. It's familiar, but as if details have been left out - like a painting that's not finished yet. The sky isn't right, and and the forests are oddly barren. She'll assure you she simply isn't finished with it yet, but that this has taken precedence. Soon, she'll be turning into her dragon form and whisking you all away, up into the second moon. The flight happens almost instantaneously - first you see the carnival grounds, then the sandy oceans of the moon - then, you see nothing. It doesn't last for long, though. A ring of glowing stones light up the new space you're filling - a cavern carved out of the center of the moon itself. Unlike the moon with the Blue Rose, however, it isn't perfectly spherical, and gravity goes straight down. There is a rough, uneven floor you can walk on steadily, with boulders and rocks scattered about. The Ringmaster's current dragon form fills about half of it. In the center of the room there are two man-sized eggs. One glows brightly with an inner light, radiating heat. The other does as well, but less so. There's an impromptu nest of rocks around them, preventing them from falling over. The Ringmaster seems unsure of how to start. "So," she begins, uncertainly. She is till hunched over in dragon form. "This... is a bit complicated."

Comments

[npcarnival]

The moment that Strange starts bringing up other debts, Ignatius's eyes narrow suspiciously, his conversational air dropping off in favour of outright scrutiny. He's all business now - he doesn't have much choice.

"You won't have much luck with that," he says, firmly. "You willingly swore your life to my service, in exchange for the lives of all your comrades. Such a meaningful contract can't be undone. Not without trading something else in exchange."

As for what they 'are', that's honestly kind of bizarre to think about, so Ignatius ignores it for the moment.

[kingsroads]

Yeah, he figured this much. Strange nods, keeping his composure as he continues to talk.

"Then it's lucky that I have something to offer. I have a boon from Creation itself and, depending on what you want, I might be willing to use the boon for your benefit in exchange for my freedom."

He knows that if this gets out, people are going to yell at him for this. But Strange knows that because his boon, he'll get final say on whatever choice Ignatius offers. And also, fuck it! Strange doesn't want to use the boon for himself, might as well see if he can use it to get it out of this situation.

"What do you think would be a fitting exchange?"

[npcarnival]

"I want you to take me along on your quest for the Silver Mirror," he says, bluntly. Which doesn't really have anything to do with his Boon of Creation because, basically, fuck his Boon of Creation.

[kingsroads]

Well shit, there goes that idea.

"That's not my place to decide," Strange points out, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "I can mention it to the Ringmaster but in the end, the choice is hers."

And he's pretty certain the Ringmaster's answer will boil down to something resembling 'absolutely not.'

"Perhaps I could ask Creation to take your tail away or something like that instead? You did say it was disgusting."

[npcarnival]

"Convince her," he says, just as forcefully. His arms remain crossed, staring Strange down as he makes his demand. A bit less intensely, he adds: "The tail is irrelevant, at the moment."

Also, he's not going to just let Creation have its way with him, okay? God.

[kingsroads]

He's got barely any bargaining chips Iggy, cut him some slack!

Strange stares up at Ignatius for a moment. There's a brief staredown before Strange capitulates first. "Very well. I'll at least ask her. But don't expect any results—half the carnival thinks I'm still enthralled by you."

In fact, Strange is fairly certain that just asking the Ringmaster this would put another point in that 'people think he's enthralled' column. But again, fuck it.

[npcarnival]

"If you were enthralled by me you wouldn't be questioning my offer," he says simply, shrugging his shoulders. "But, good. You can tell her that's the only thing I want, besides my freedom. If she is uninterested, I am content to drag you to hell with me as far as I'm concerned."

He says it very boldly, perhaps feeling a bit more in his element.

[kingsroads]

"I know I'm not enthralled," Strange points out, as if it's entirely obvious. It's just everybody else who thinks he's still got a bit of a mindwhammy on him.

"But like I said, I'll tell her that." Strange pauses before he continues talking even more. "There's one more thing. I am currently under a curse cast by a lesser fae. The fae himself isn't a problem anymore, but the curse was sloppily cast. It targets me and another English magician. We are tied together, trapped in a pillar of darkness, to the point where we cannot move far from each other.

The Ringmaster is the one currently holding the curse at bay. If I do not break it in the time I have left with her and something happens where I cannot sign on another contract to have her break it, can you either break or hold back the curse yourself? The other magician is hardly a soldier and he does not need to be punished for my own mistakes."

It's obvious that talking about the curse is taking a bit of the bluster and fight out of Strange's voice. Strange really doesn't like admitting that he fucked up and though he had no way of knowing it at the time, he knows that getting cursed in the first place and dragging Norrell into his mess is a fairly big fuck-up. Sure it led to good things. But hindsight's a bitch.

[npcarnival]

Ignatius arches his brow, apparently caught off guard by this sudden line of questioning. Like, what?

"Given that I am both cursed and imprisoned as well at the moment, I'm not particularly interested in making any assurances beyond the foreseeable future. Why don't you ask your Boon of Creation for help with that?"

It's said almost sarcastically, but not quite. After all, maybe the boon would help, he doesn't know.

[kingsroads]

"Because I don't know how the bloody thing works," Strange admits, with a grumpy scowl. It's obvious that he's pretty pissed off at Creation. Thanks for giving him leftovers and not even giving him an instruction book on how to use it, you asshole primordial force of nature.

"All I know is that I have it and a vague idea of how to use it." Wait a minute though. Strange mentally backtracks this conversation a bit before, "And how are you cursed?"

[npcarnival]

"Then why the hell would I want it?" Ignatius can't help but ask, before settling down and answering the other question. "And I'm cursed because your Ringmaster stole my Heart from me - the core essence of my magic. Torn straight from my body."

He makes a gesture in front of his chest, indicating as much.

[kingsroads]

Strange has been depowered and without his magic only a few times in the carnival. Each of those times intensely sucked and he hated it. So to have the essence of one's magic removed sounds like something he would absolutely loathe. And for someone like a fae, who's a hundred times more magical than he is, removing the core essence of his magic must be like removing a limb or a sense.

His face goes from grumpy and ready to fight to a little bit horrified in the span of a second. Strange can't help it: he pities Ignatius. Remembering that he's the sort who wears his heart on his sleeve, Strange tries to force his expression back to something neutral.

"I'm sorry," Strange simply responds. And then, without thinking, he blurts out, "I doubt it would happen, but what if I could get your Heart back?"

[npcarnival]

"You won't," he says. "Because if you did, she wouldn't be able to hold me. Not like this, anyway." He makes a dismissive gesture. "Certainly not if you can't even barter to bring me along on a field trip."

[kingsroads]

The problem here is that a good chunk of Strange's decisions run on contrariness and spite. Ignatius thinks he can't get the Heart? Well fuck you Iggy, he's going to try and find a way to get the Heart. Ignatius thinks that Strange can't convince the Ringmaster to try and let him join in on the expedition? Well fuck you Iggy, he's going to ask her.

I mean, Strange knows he probably won't succeed in both accounts. But fuck yooou, he's trying anyway. His hair starts to set more of itself on fire and his fists start to smoke a bit as for the first time in this whole conversation, Strange gets a bit pissed off.

"I think it's premature to say I'll fail when I haven't even brought the subject up with her," says the person who outright told Ignatius that he doubted he'd be able to do this. "I said I would ask the Ringmaster and I will."

[npcarnival]

Ignatius would reply to that, but instead, he catches sight of what Strange's hair and fists are doing. He makes an amused gesture at Strange's head, as if pointing out something cute. He's grinning a little.

[kingsroads]

"What?!" Strange snaps, still getting ready to fight. He moves his hand to his head (because that's obviously what Ignatius is pointing at) and oh shit, his hand is kind of on fire. Thankfully, he's had two or so weeks to put together that setting himself on fire = he's getting mad about something, so Strange puts his hands by his side, finally turns off his third eye, and starts to take a few deep breaths.

"It happens when I get angry," Strange grumpily admits. "I don't really know how to stop it." The fact that he only knows one coping mechanism also doesn't help. As he continues to do the deep breaths, the fire slowly starts to snuff out in his fists and return to the normal 'just the tips are on fire' level in his hair. That doesn't change the fact that his mood has shifted from 'a little bit pissed off' to 'pouting like a goddamn child.'

[npcarnival]

"It just reminds me of new sparks, back home," he says, still smiling. "Being on fire is a condition many in the Summer Court share." Ignatius's own hair is a strange mixture of growth and fire, like super heated strands of light.

"You should continue to train your will, as that's one hell of a give away. With time, you realize the fire is yours and not the other way around."

[kingsroads]

As Ignatius explains, Strange listens. The fact that Ignatius isn't making fun of him and is instead offering advice is...a bit unexpected. And greatly appreciated. With one final deep breath, his hands snuff themselves out.

"The problem here is I'm not entirely sure how to train my will in the first place," Strange muses, giving Ignatius a weak little smile.

[npcarnival]

"I would have thought being a wizard would require a considerable force of will," he says conversationally. "But I guess having a stubborn will and being able to direct that will are two different things. You have to be able to point that determination at what your mind wants, not what your heart wants. Otherwise, you're just getting yanked around by your own passions, and a will that only moves for the things that stir your heart."

[kingsroads]

'Yanked around by your own passions' is pretty much Strange's mode of operating so hmm, he feels a little called out by this. He frowns, thinking about what Ignatius said. So he needs to not be as ruled by his emotions and focus more on what his mind wants instead of his heart? That...makes sense. And it's certainly not bad advice for him to try.

"I think I understand," Strange responds, with a little nod. "I need to not be as moved by my emotions as I currently am." And then, Strange laughs a little. "Of course, I've no idea how to actually train that. Still, I'll think of something. Thank you."