the gang gets a tent

[atouts]

Who: The entire Acquisitions team; if you're part of that division, feel free to drop in
When: Before Eden
Where: One of the smaller performance tents (aka not the Big Top)
What: Acquisitions has a bunch of nerds joining them and they need an actual workspace now, so Childermass has acquired them a whole circus tent.


With Acquisitions expanding into research, it wouldn't do to simply leave their team decentralized. It might work for thieves and conmen, who had no use for one central location, as anything they picked up was bound for the carnival's storage and nowhere else, but with people who might actually need to sit down and argue with eachother over notes and books? Less so.

As such, he's put some work into remedying that...

Childermass will have left a note on everyone's pillows (how he got in, people should be able to guess by now, the creep) to drop by the tent off the left-hand side of the Big Top. It's one of the smaller tents, previously for the performances not meant for the big time at the grand tent next door. The center ring has a few tables and a variety of chairs pulled in and there's yet another table pushed off to the side where there's room for a coffee maker, an electric kettle, a few tins of coffee and tea, mugs and cups, though the rest has yet to be altered. The wooden bleachers for the audience remains, circling the center, and there are still chests of magician's props hiding behind the curtains here and there.

[ This is a mingle thread, so feel free to drop in top levels and reply as you like. ]

Comments

childermass, ota

[atouts]

Childermass is, of course, seated at one of the tables already. Makes sense. He invited everyone here, so he would have to be around, right? He's brought his own notes, all those little moleskines he's been filling with observations and sketches since the Realm of Dreams. They aren't grand books for research by any means but they are his own humble contribution.

As people arrive, he'll look up from writing in the latest one, raising his eyebrows at them if they pause or hesitate.

"Well?" He asks, voice carrying across the tent easily, seeing how they were already designed for that. "What do you think?"

[amphibiopathic]

The new arrival pushing into the tent isn't much to look at, but she freezes mid-step as she's addressed, apparently not having expected to see someone already in here. Silly, of course, since the whole point of coming here was to report to her new supervisor, but, well, she's not sure if this is him.

She puts a hand to the brim of her hat, tugging it idly while she swallows. She's glad her ears are hidden up under it, for once, even if she knows that doesn't hide much of her nerves right now.

"Er, about what, exactly?"

[atouts]

That's... new. As in someone new, entirely, and not at all anyone Childermass had been expecting. He sets his pen down, quiet for a moment as he simply looks at Eruka. Could be a tad bit unnerving, might not be, but he does eventually say, "The tent. I'm moving Acquisitions into it for the time being."

It isn't all that much to look at, honestly.

"Although that doesn't explain you, now does it?"

[amphibiopathic]

A tent for Acquisitions? Well, that's new. Still, if he's the one talking about moving it, this must be the man she's looking for. Eruka quells her nerves and forces herself to straighten up. The slightly gelatinous quality of her hair, the strange shadow that doesn't quite match up to her shape, and the faintly glowing spots across the bridge of her nose suggest someone who's already brushed against fae magic.

"You're the new Acquisitioner, aren't you?" she asks, giving him her best (if slightly wobbly) smile. "I'm Eruka Frog, witch and former thief ... though, er, I heard that's not what we're calling it anymore?" That look's a bit unnerving. Maybe it's because she can't shake the sense he might suddenly peck her if she steps out of line.

[atouts]

New? Childermass wouldn't consider himself all that new, although with how Eruka looks, it doesn't take a grand stretch to realize she's already a changeling of some sort. The lack of cohesion in her appearance points readily to the carnival. Of course, then she just says she used to be a thief, so...

"The name of the department has changed but the duties haven't if that's what you're worried about," Childermass answers. Skullduggery isn't the word he would have chosen but eh, it suits them. "Skullduggery." If she really wants to know. Anyway, he waves her closer. "But yes, I'm Childermass, the new Acquisitioner. I wasn't aware of your arrival, Ms. Frog. Was it just today?"

[amphibiopathic]

"Skullduggery sounds even shadier, doesn't it?" Eruka asks, a bit bluntly. Did he come up with that himself? Eruka doesn't know this guy, but he doesn't strike her as one for jokes.

At any rate, his question makes her laugh nervously.

"More or less. You know how it is." Well, maybe he doesn't. "I signed for a new contract, but..." She twirls a finger. "Time gets away from you, in that tent." Especially when the Ringmaster gets sidetracked.

"But, that's not a problem! I'm here and ready to work!"

[atouts]

No. Only the Ringmaster has a sense of humor and definitely not Childermass.

"It can do that," he agrees, however, he isn't about to leave it there. Even if Eruka has signed a new contract, he has questions. "Did she inform you of the trouble the carnival has currently found itself in? Before you signed?"

[amphibiopathic]

"Er ... I caught some of it, but I don't think I have the whole picture, ribbit." Eruka croaks sheepishly, tugging at her hat.

"The Carnival's being pursued by some of the Ringmaster's old enemies," she starts, slowly. "And you're trying to find something to deal with that. Er, she didn't give too many details, but she was never big on those and it didn't seem like a good time to ask?"

[atouts]

"The Faerie Courts," Childermass states that first and foremost, idly folding his hands on the tabletop as he prepares for, he assumes, too many questions that the Ringmaster should be answering. "The carnival is being pursued by the Winter and Summer Courts. Winter, in particular, because she ate their former Queen."

[amphibiopathic]

That is certainly not information Eruka was prepared for, and she gapes at Childermass.

“Wh-when did she do that?!” Does Eruka have much of a clue what a Faerie Court is? Not really, but she knows what a witch’s court is like and what the Ringmaster is like, so imagining a whole host of beings with that power... two of them? The thought makes her feel faint enough that she drops into a seat with a thump, wringing the hem of her hat between her fingers.

“Do they know where we are right now?” she wails. As the urge to disappear rises, her hair peculiarly begins to become strangely translucent and liquid, writhing in the air.

[atouts]

"Before she ever created the carnival," Childermass answers way too calmly for dropping that kind of info. Like hey, surprise, literal god-like armies are after us. He finds it a little tiring that the Ringmaster would fail the mention that somewhat important point but that's about it.

As for if they know... That gets a shrug. How reassuring.

"Doubtful," he adds, "She took this place apart to get rid of any tracking or trick the courts may have placed. Whether that means we aren't being tracked, however, I cannot be certain. We've put at least one world behind us with no faerie encounters, so it's possible."

[amphibiopathic]

The lack of reassurance isn't lost on Eruka, who gulps, though she does her best to look at least not outright petrified. Her hair settles down, too, though she still looks a little see-through, and about to be sick.

"I see," she croaks unhappily, before she forces herself to shrug it off and straightens. She's signed the contract; there's no turning back now, and gnashing her teeth about it isn't all that productive.

"Is there, um, anything else I need to know?" Might as well get all the bad news out of the way so she can have a good cry about it in private later.

[atouts]

What else to know... He's covered the Courts chasing them. He supposes he should add, "We're currently searching for the Miracles as a way to defend ourselves. Those are three powerful faerie artifacts from somewhere back near the beginning of time or some thereabouts."

He's incredibly mortal. It may as well be that long ago.

"We've already obtained one." And it's troublesome. "And we're en route to where the second one is, we hope, being kept."

[worldlyafflictions]

"Oh hey, there's even furniture!"

Gonna find the comfiest looking chair available to flop into.

"Could use a snack cabinet or a games table or something~?"

[atouts]

"Of what furniture could be found," Childermass says with a shrug. He did what he could, short of looting the abyss that happens to be the Ringmaster's vast collection of... who even knows what. Stuff. She sure has enough of it.

"Though I'm not sure why you'd need a cabinet solely dedicated to food. The cookhouse isn't too far." He's not sure how much non-perishable stuff they have, either, but that's him being serious as always. "A games table, however."

And he'll look at the tables already in there. There's several, so.

"Is that different from a normal table, Mr. Shima?"