Lost Carnival Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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lostcarnival2018-11-15 11:29 am
ringleaders) wrote in lostcarnival2018-11-15 11:29 am
Entry tags:
⇨ POLARIS AFTERMATH
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.
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. |
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The way his Portland life went, he hadn't been raised by his 'father', just snatched up again later in life and he hadn't cared to impart any wisdom then, either. Pointless to mention that much, though, so he doesn't and just sets that ball of misery aside. He hadn't known much before.
Now is different.
"But the Mother of Invention put more than a little effort into experimenting on the faeblooded. Sans pulled the records for me. I'm sure he can give you a copy if you want, though some of it isn't..." What's a good way of putting? "For the faint-hearted."
That said, he moves on to the important parts.
"What you need to know is you have a part of Ignatius's magical spirit in you. That means you're immortal, at least in the sense you won't die of old age any time soon. You can still get sick, though you'll survive illness and injury better than the average human. It also means he will always have a claim on you, though distance will weaken how much he can control you."
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But as he goes on to give her the short version, her eyes widen, and her present train of thought is immediately derailed.
"Wait... immortal? But that's..." She cups a hand over her mouth, as if to conceal the expression of shock... and perhaps some other strong emotions. The implications are enormous, but Rita's been occupied with her own mortality a lot, recently. Putting this revelation into context, she gradually reaches a conclusion. "No... this is great. It could solve everything. I have to tell Nines..."
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"Tell Nines...?"
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Rita stiffens, suddenly realizing what she just said. Her first reaction, of course, is to deflect. "I-it's nothing. Just... something me and 9S were talking about before." Almost instantaneously, her face has turned red.
But it's not like Childermass knowing is any worse than Strange or Lambert knowing, and after that knee-jerk response, she relents, mumbling, "I mean... whatever. It's not like we're keeping it a secret, anyway."
He can guess what she's getting at, right?
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She leans back, rocking slightly in her cross-legged position. "I mean... maybe we were being stupid, jumping into things knowing that even in the best case scenario, it would have to end with... you know." Rita, growing old and dying. 9S, left alone and unchanging. She shakes her head. "Maybe I'm still being stupid, thinking we'd be together that long, or even longer if we could. But now that it's a possibility, I'm just kind of... glad."
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"And that would be if I was lucky," he adds. In reality, he's sure he had even less time before this whole immortality thing was confirmed. "Only now it'll be me who has to watch him grow old, even if it does take a few hundred years for him to. Still, it wasn't going to stop me before and I doubt the same will stop him now."
Once he gets around to actually telling him...
"I'm glad to know you and 9S won't have that fear. You should ask the Gilded Mark if she can find him later, when we aren't deciding just which faerie we're going to be at war with soon."
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Her expression softens. Stupid or not, it looks like Childermass understands her feelings. It's... kind of nice. There probably aren't a lot of other people who know what it's like.
"I was thinking of seeing if the Caravan could take a message to Shabon for me, actually," she goes on to explain, a slight smile tugging at her mouth. "He might do something stupid while I'm not around, so I want him to know I'm okay. If that doesn't work... well, it probably can't hurt to try Gild." She's surprisingly approachable, for a fae.
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She lets that light, happy thought linger for a few seconds before moving on.
"Right... there was something else I was meaning to talk to you about." She's hesitant to move on to this topic, knowing Childermass probably won't like it, but... "I know that back in Polaris, they... put something in you during one of the trials. Lambert asked if I could attempt a magical examination... if you're up for it, that is."
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"They did," he confirms. It's a tiring thought to dwell on all over again, not even being able to escape wondering down here, away from Polaris. "Better you than Strange, I suppose. He would want to try fixing it immediately."
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"All right. This might take a few minutes."
She holds up her hands and conjures a magic interface. As she tries to examine the various kinds of magic within Childermass, the display changes, showing some abstract-looking shapes and what looks like it could be text, but isn't from any recognizable language. Rita squints as she tries to decipher the information in front of her.
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His own magic, obviously, but everything is threaded through with what's been left behind by becoming a faeblood. There's some bit of magic lurking behind his own, English in origin, though the biggest issues right now happen to be an increased presence of the Void and a blatantly obvious piece of Summer Court magic; namely, a curse. Physically, if it reads that along with the rest, they did add something to his back. There are bolts and a reinforced spine and the like, along with connections that plunge towards and latch onto his heart.
How much Rita can pick that apart and look at all the pieces separately, Childermass just doesn't know. He can't read the interface, though he does look on with quite a bit of curiosity.
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Most of what's present here is within her expectations, except for the Summer magic, something vaguely malevolent. When did he get afflicted with that...?
But Childermass probably doesn't want to be kept waiting for too long, so Rita leaves that alone for now and focuses instead on the Void signatures she can recognize. "I'm getting some intense readings of Void magic," she reports. "I can tell where the energy's most dense, which would indicate the locations of implanted material... but I'm not sure exactly what effect this ought to have on the body..."
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Probably not enough to relapse into villainy or, at least, one would hope. Although--
"Besides making me feel awful, I suppose.
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"How awful are we talking, here?" she asks, her face partly scrunched as she glances back at the data. It's the Void, after all. That energy may as well be the very embodiment of negativity and emptiness.
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He sure as hell isn't saying anything weepy, that's for sure. So, he pauses, looking down at the forest floor for a moment, considering where to go with that answer.
"Empty," he settles on. "Tired. I can't even feel relieved that this is finally over. It's like it doesn't matter. That kind of awful."
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Dropping her hand away from the display, she dismisses her spell. "I see... That does sound like it could be the Void's influence." It could also not be, but it fits the bill well enough that it certainly isn't a reach, especially if Childermass himself finds it unusual.
Awful really is the best word for it. It's bad enough to feel hopelessness when the situation calls for it, but to be robbed of that feeling of hope just when it should be in reach... He can't go on like that forever.
"There has to something we can do. You could try talking to Herbert or the Technicians here about a surgical option... or else, if we make it to the Summerlands, maybe there'll be someone there well-versed in magical healing techniques."
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Though on that note, he's going to slowly lean his weight back down and against Baker, who whines at him, all too aware of dwindling mood and energy both.
"I don't even know what I could even try in the Summerlands. It's all faeries..."
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"Whatever you go with, it's your choice. You don't have to act right away, but..." A frown tugs at her mouth. The longer he leaves it, the deeper the mark that will be left by the Void, she suspects. "...Anyway, if you end up needing someone with an eye for magic, you can call on me whenever."