⇨ POLARIS AFTERMATH

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 115-118
Where: Polaris/Wyldlands
What: After killing the Mother of Invention, the majority of the carnival has decided to take some time and sort out the Polaris refugees before heading to the Summerlands. This log covers miscellaneous post-Mother Polaris drama, as well as some light camping in the Wyldlands down below.
Warnings: Idk, stuff, I guess.

ADAPTATION↴ After the battle, the majority of carnival members will opt to remain in the secured section to Polaris, hoping to spend some time making sure that the rest of Polaris is liberated. Many of the staff are not capable of coming to grips with the fact that the Mother is dead so quickly, and the remaining Alphas are doing their best to keep Polaris under their sway. It will be a busy few days of changing minds and exploring the remains of the station. Thankfully, with everyone's powers intact and allies at their side, they finally have the advantage. ► SHIFTING STATES: Right off the bat, about 10% of the staff will immediately change sides upon hearing whats become of the Mother. They are actively eager to get away from Polaris, and will do whatever they can assist the carnival. This is mostly Gammas and a few Betas, who were working primarily under duress. Over the next day or two, those numbers will grow to at least 30%, with some of the staff managing to convince their colleagues to join them. About two days after starting, one of the Alphas will surrender to the carnival, encouraging those beneath her to support their cause. That leaves four Alphas remaining, and staff cooperation at 50%. ► CAPTIVE ATTENTION: The loyalist staff's main tactics are trying to create defensive points within the various test group areas, using the prisoners as hostages. Luckily, the carnival (and the staff on their side) will be in a position where it's possible to push them out with a mixture of convincing and force. Once prisoners start being freed, there will be even more force backing the carnival's efforts, meaning that it will essentially become a matter of cleaning up the remaining staff rather than any uphill battles. Most of this is being left vague intentionally, as most of this action is being handwaved. However, you can play out parts of it if you want and NPC technicians and rescuees. Other test groups can be filled with basically whatever kind of residents you like, since they are grabbed from across the multiverse. Most of the test areas are similar to B7. ► THE JACKPOT: Alongside cleaning up the staff, some members of the carnival have expressed interest in convincing the staff to help them with armoury issues as well as hunting down some of the Mother's most private loot. This will be handled in investigations, mostly through summary, because I don't have it in me for another megathread right now. Post your plans, and I will respond! However, know that I also don't have time to generate five million special items, so loot drops will be limited to my availability. Also, the techs aren't really blacksmiths so they generally won't really be able creating weapons from scratch or anything. Meanwhile, Ignatius is going to set up a camp ground outside of Polaris, mostly because he doesn't want to be there anymore. He'll keep a fire going and they can drag things from Polaris down there for camping purposes, and mostly Ignatius is just going to be chilling and making sure that the campground doesn't get assaulted by magical creatures. The Gilded Mark will create a portal between the campground and the station so that people can go back and forth as required. It also creates a handy escape route. You can even see Polaris from here, floating up there in the sky. How picturesque. ► WYLDERKIN: Apparently not everything in the Wyld Lands is a full Wyld Fae - there are also a lot of less powerful creatures called 'wylderkin' - apparently lesser forms of the Wyld Fae, who are more akin to animal level intelligence. They can be a variety of expected fantasy type creatures, such as flower sprites, weird bugs, and general prey animals they probably spend most of their time getting eaten by bigger dudes. All of them are sort of weird and fantastical, and none of them are exactly like earth varieties, though they may resemble them. They are more of a pest than a major threat in this part of the Wyld Lands, and Ignatius will scare away any that cause too many problems. ► FLORA AND FLUID: There are some plants that you can eat down here, that Ignatius will tell you about. Mostly weird berries and roots. There is also some pools of clear water, thought hey are filled with weird fish. Try not to bitten by any weird leeches. You can safely make up some of the creatures you find as long as they fit the general theme of lesser faerie creatures. This is just a rest stop.

Comments

[hippocarnival]

Yuya's expression twists uncomfortably. Maybe there's a way to hide it... he hopes there's a way to hide it. Maybe he should start coming up with excuses now.

"Right." He rubs the back of his neck. "We'll... figure it out. Not now, but..." Eventually. They all have to make decisions about where they'll make their homes, and Yuya's not letting go of returning to his.

Although it does remind him of something Strange said. Well, the dark and needy part of him. "Are you still going home when your contract is over? With 9S?"

[anti_nonsense]

"Hm? Yeah," Rita answers with a nod. "I'll have to go find him first... but that's the plan."

She focuses on Yuya after giving that response with a sort of questioning look. Is there some special reason he's asking...?

[hippocarnival]

Yuya smiles a little. "That's good... I still want to go home at the end of this, too."

It's reassuring to hear she hasn't given up on that. Or 9S. "Maybe one of the Fae in the Summerlands can help find him, or--let him know you're okay and you're coming."

[anti_nonsense]

"The Summerlands fae?" Rita wrinkles her nose a little. On the plus side, it's not nearly as negative a reaction as she once had towards them. "From what I've heard, they don't seem to bother much with matters outside their happy little paradise."

She heard some of their people talk about some fortuneteller who supposedly gave them advice once or twice, but that's about it, as far as Rita knows.

[hippocarnival]

"Not now. But the Summer Maiden was leading a revolution with the Ringmaster, remember?" He puts a hand to his chest. "It isn't that they don't care. But if it's like the Summer Maiden said, they don't believe enough in themselves or the Courts to thing they can do anything to change it. But maybe we can convince them that they can."

[anti_nonsense]

Rita sighs, folding her arms. "Maybe, in the grand scheme of things. Doesn't make me optimistic about any of them agreeing to run any interplanetary errands for me." She scoffs, but then seems to think of something.

"...The Caravan, though... They certainly get around, and Shabon does seem like a place where merchants and craftsmen could do some good business..."

[hippocarnival]

Yuya smiles. "We've made a lot of friends, so someone has to be willing to help."

Not that Yuya isn't willing, he just knows he has no more options for hopping around worlds than Rita does. The most he can do is ask around himself.

He scratches his cheek. "But maybe we should ask them about sending a message anyway. I bet he's really worried about you after we disappeared like that..." He doesn't know if 9S even saw the Hunt. But surely he couldn't have missed it, right?

[anti_nonsense]

"Yeah..." Rita frowns as she pictures it. "I hope I can reach him. If we leave him alone like that for too long, he might try something stupid." Like trying to pursue the Hunt or the Winter Court himself.

This is all assuming he made it through the Huntsman's attack unscathed, too... While it's a relief to know he wasn't killed or captured by the Hunt, it doesn't necessarily mean he's fine.

[hippocarnival]

"To come and find you? ... Yeah, I guess if he finds a way out of the bathhouse." Yuya's hoping his last of world hopping abilities should keep him him getting into to much trouble.

"Why don't we ask Gild if she can reach him?"

[anti_nonsense]

Rita's pretty sure there's no shortage of ways to get into trouble on the bathhouse planet. After all, if lots of otherworlders vacation there, that could be lots of opportunities to try to get information about other worlds... or to even find transportation away from Shabon.

"Gild?" Rita tilts her head, considering it. "Hmm... I suppose finding things is her specialty, but you think she'd be able to do anything after locating him?"

[hippocarnival]

"She was able to talk to us with letters, right? Maybe she doesn't have to do it in dreams either. If it's just him, maybe she can even pick him up."

It can't hurt to try, right? Yuya's never really been shy about accepting help when he thinks it's needed.

[anti_nonsense]

"It'd be nice if she could... I doubt the dream thing would work on someone who doesn't dream." With her arms still folded, Rita leans slightly to one side as she weighs her options.

In the meantime, the ice sculpture looming over them starts to drip water from the wolf's chin.

[hippocarnival]

"Eh? He doesn't dream?" Well, he's a robot, so maybe he just wasn't programmed for it... but he's so humanlike that Yuya tends to assume he does anything they do. He eats, after all.

He's also kind of forgotten he went and distracted Rita from her training. "Maybe it doesn't have to be a dream? She had to make sure she wasn't caught by the Mother of Invention, so maybe that was just the best way."