⇨ 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

[kingsroads]

"I think your blastia is training wheels," Strange teases in return. He's grinning as he talks: this is the sort of magical debate that he so dearly misses from back home.

"It's a powerful artifact, I'll grant you that. But a magician's true strength is in the magic he or she can do by drawing upon one's own power, not the strength of a focus or artifact."

[anti_nonsense]

Rita scoffs. "It figures you'd want to use that as your metric -- it practically disqualifies everyone in my world. People can't use magic naturally where I'm from, remember? We all have to draw it from somewhere, barring a few unique exceptions." Some of which Rita actually has experience with, but in the end, blastia and spirits have proven to be the most reliable sources of power.

"Anyway, it should be obvious that knowledge is a mage's true strength, and a far better indicator of a competent sorcerer than whether or not they were lucky enough to be gifted with magic potential."

[kingsroads]

"Considering that I wrote a book about magic, I win that round as well!" Strange gloats, either forgetting or ignoring that Rita's written scholarly work as well.

[anti_nonsense]

"The hell you do!" Rita snaps, indignant. "Don't tell me you've forgotten about my book. It's not like I haven't published plenty of academic papers over the years, either! Hmph. It's too bad you can't just come and visit Aspio for yourself. If you saw how we do magic, it would open your eyes to possibilities you've never even considered!"

[kingsroads]

"The same goes for you. If you could visit England, you'll certainly end up with ideas that never crossed your mind back in Aspio."

The teasing lets up for a moment as Strange admits, "I do wish you could come see England, though. The magicians there wouldn't know what to do with you."

It's said fondly, of course. Rita would wonderfully terrorize the magicians that took her seriously. And those that didn't? He's confident she'd outperform them anyway.

[anti_nonsense]

"I'd show 'em a few things they'd never forget," Rita agrees with a small smirk. She then goes back to sipping her awful drink, taking a moment to reflect on this. As annoying as Strange is, as much as he frustrates her... there's still something difficult about knowing they'll have to part ways soon, and for good.

"...Maybe we can still, you know, keep in touch when this is all over. If some of our allies were able to carry letters between worlds, then it shouldn't be impossible, right?"

[kingsroads]

"We won't need our allies." And then, Strange gives Rita a smug little smile. "I'll figure out a spell to transcend worlds myself!"

This is him just being prideful and arrogant for the sake of being prideful and arrogant. But honestly, Strange doesn't want to rely entirely on everybody else. He already knows it's a pain and a half being a courier service, the last thing he wants to do is pressgang someone else into being that for him unless they really want to.

"After all, I'll have to check in on you and Nines at some point."

[anti_nonsense]

"You?" Rita's eyes widen for a moment, and then the corner of her lips tugs into a smirk once again. "I bet you haven't even started formulating a theory for it."

In fact, she'd wager he's got nothing. But... hearing his usual brazen confidence is kind of heartening, in a way. Rita wants to believe it's possible. In fact, maybe...

"A spell on that level isn't something you can just wing, you know. It should have a proper structure and logic behind it... and luckily for you, I happen to be an expert in that side of magic." She straightens her back, a self-assured grin on her face. "As much as I'd like to see you embarrass yourself, kissing things and messing around with mirrors and whatever else, it might be in our best interests if we attempt a collaboration."

[kingsroads]

"I wouldn't say no to a collaboration," Strange remarks, matching Rita's smirk with one of his own. "After all, for all you brag about your structure, you don't have experience with traveling magic like I do."

Granted, Strange's is fairly limited. Even back in his world, without the confines of the carnival, he was only able to go to the parts of faerie that were directly linked. Still, it's a start. And it's certainly more than Rita knows.

[anti_nonsense]

"I'm a fast learner," Rita assures him. "I suppose we'll just have to see how much our respective advantages count for." She sounds plenty confident that she'll be able to contribute significantly. And besides, a little rivalry could only make them both more productive.

She lifts the can as if to take another drink from it, then stops and gives it a light shake. It makes a hollow sound. Somehow, she actually got through the whole thing.

"...I'm going to go get some rest," she decides, rising to her feet. "We can start working out the details another day."

[kingsroads]

Strange nods. He takes one final sip of his drink, before setting the can down on the floor. He's staying seated: Rita mentioning getting some rest sounds like a good idea. They've had a tough few days.

"I'll bother you if I come up with something interesting. After all, I'll be able to find you quicker than you can find me."

Because he is a goddamn creep. Strange doesn't acknowledge that as he continues, "Sleep well, Rita."