⇨ 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]

Strange also winces as Shura mentions melting shoes. That sounds painful as hell. He frowns a little, still thinking of melted shoes, before offering up a second choice.

"Of course, there is another option. Take a shoe off and I'll try to set it on fire. If it melts, we won't use it, but if it stays firm, we can go ahead and practice.

The main problem with that option is obvious: Beau would be missing a shoe. Still, Strange feels he should at least vocalize this before they go on wild goose chases to find shoe storage.

[exaomori]

Oh, that's good, they listened. Shura being the most sensible person in a group was never a good sign, but it could probably be worse.

Testing one of Beau's boots while she wasn't wearing it isn't a bad idea. "You're going to be trying to chase down another set of shoes either way, so you might as well try that first."

[impatientdefense]

"That sounds... great. The idea is, getting it so it doesn't burn," Beau grumbles as she yanks one of her shoes off. "But let's do this, sure. Better off me than on me."

It takes a little extra tugging, as snug as it is, but she gets it off and places it a few feet away on the floor. This won't be the first time she's gone barefoot, and at least most of Polaris doesn't have rough stones and shattered glass and animal droppings filling the pathways. Walking shoeless on these clean flat floors sounds almost pleasant.

[kingsroads]

"The two of you will have to check to see if it melts," Strange points out, as he takes a few steps away from Beau's shoe. "I'll try and keep the flame small so I can just pinpoint a spot." That way, if the shoe does melt, at least there might be part of a useable shoe left. Maybe.

Tiny, narrow, fiddly bits of magic aren't Strange's specialty. So it takes a lot of concentration as he stares at a point on the shoe and starts murmuring something under his breath. A tiny little flame springs up on the front of the shoe. Strange honestly can't tell if it's melting the shoe or not: he's focused on keeping the flame small and not setting everything on fire.

[exaomori]

Fiddly magic or not, just why was he having to focus so hard on such a small flame?? Who taught him magic and didn't teach him how to control a small thing like this before showing him more powerful spells? Shura frowns for the briefest second, but she'll keep an eye on the shoe as requested. "Right, right, whatever."

[impatientdefense]

"What, you can't shoot fire and look at the same time?" Beau wonders, in that casually needling way. "Seems like that'd make it hard to aim."

She crouches down as she teases, and starts checking the shoe for signs of burning, bubbling, melting, or any other things she doesn't want happening on top of her foot. So far, so good; they're borrowed - stolen - from some technician, which means they're a flame-resistant material good for experiments involving high temperature exposure and for cleaning up when people turn themselves on fire and wander into the vents. As much as that regularly happens.

[kingsroads]

"Of course I can shoot fire and look at the same time!" Strange grumbles back, in a needlessly defensive way. "I'm simply better at big things than small things and don't want to melt your entire shoe."

But he manages to hold the flame for a little while longer before snuffing it out with a wave of his hand. Now to check on the shoe...and oh! It's not melted! Strange looks over at the two women with a slightly smug expression despite the fact that it was the shoe that didn't melt and not due to any thing in his own control.

"Now, shall we try this again with the shoe on your foot?"

[exaomori]

"That ain't something to brag about!" Was this a guy thing?? Just not caring about the basics?? Who taught him, anyway?

But go put that boot on, Beau. Trust your tootsies to the crazy mirror-man.

[lmpatientdefense]

One possibility: it is most definitely a guy thing, but in an even stupider way.

"So you can only handle big things, huh," Beau says, eyebrows raised high so they can't waggle. She holds a straight face for about a second and a half before snickering and pulling the toasty shoe back on her foot.

[kingsroads]

He is straight up being teased and he knows it. Strange can't help but roll his eyes a little before he gives back as well as he's getting.

"How you use it matters more than the size," Strange teases back, giving Beau a grin that plainly states he's aware of his dumb innuendo. And then, with a wave of his hand, he sets the shoe on fire.

[exaomori]

If he got all hoity toity and ruffled over basic teasing, it probably would have made it worse. On the other hand, lighting Beau's boot on fire just like that is also the sort of thing that would earn him some more teasing, so there's really no way to win.

"Oh! I think you hit a nerve there~"

[impatientdefense]

The boot's providing the insulation her foot needs, to not get toasted the same way her hands did. So long as it doesn't heat up too much, or change its mind about burning.

"Size does make a difference in how well you can use it. Like, uh, my staff, I use it great, but it's no ten foot pole...?" Beau's aiming for a suggestive tone, but realizing halfway through that the metaphor isn't working so well, and she goes a little flatter towards the end. "If I go poking around some, uh, booby traps, it's gonna blow up on me... Yeah."

[kingsroads]

Strange can't help but giggle a little as he gestures towards the fire with his hand. The flames leap onto Beau's other shoe, setting both of her boots on fire.

"Got caught up in your words a little?" Strange teases, giving Beau a shit-eating grin.

[exaomori]

"It's the kind of thing a girl says when she's tryin' to make a man feel better about himself, that's all she's getting at~" Shura adds, trying to salvage Beau's attempt at teasing. But really, was lighting Beau's other boot on fire strictly necessary?? Shura takes a step back on instinct.

[lmpatientdefense]

"Uh, yeah, basically. I kind of suck at compliments. Even when they're just the... reassuring thing." That, and bantering suggestively along with Shura flopped the moment she thought of it as flirting. Because fuck her life.

But now they're getting somewhere. If Strange has his attention split between two feet, that almost certainly means he has the spell down enough for some proper movement. Beau flashes a brief grin, and hops into a spinning kick, letting the fire flare out in a trail behind the kicking leg.

[kingsroads]

"I don't need to feel better about myself," Strange remarks, as he backs up a little. He's holding his hands out in front of him, maintaining the spell as well as trying to keep the fire limited to just Beau's boots and not things like, the actual ground.

"I already know I'm the most talented magician in the carnival--excluding Ignatius, of course. I've taught people here magic and will continue to teach people both here and back in my world. And, I've participated in the defeat of multiple fae. What's there to be reassured about?"

He says, knowing full well that there's a lot he wishes he could do differently, this is just Strange covering up those insecurities with egotism and arrogance.

[exaomori]

Strange is talking, but Shura is very definitely not listening. She'll pay more attention to Beau's kicks.

"Mm, we ought to get you someone who can do hand to hand if you want to realy get it down. That's flashy, but better to see how really practical it is before you work on it too much."

[impatientdefense]

In the middle of her test kicks, Beau rolls her eyes at Strange. "Just saying, it sounds like you're trying a little too hard."

Talking up his accomplishments as proof of being happy with himself... is a little like hiring a crier tell everyone how happy with himself he is. Focusing on the wrong things as proof.

"But, not my problem." She finishes the chain of movements, pulls back to standing, and looks Shura's way,

"So, what, is there anybody around here who's good with their hands... and fireproof? We're just making sure the spell doesn't burn me."

[kingsroads]

"I'm relatively fireproof," Strange points out, "but the problem is, hand to hand isn't my forte."

And he needs to keep the spell maintained for the moment. Strange knows daggers...and that's it. Punching people? Hand to hand combat? What's that, Strange doesn't know.

"Get Lambert to help out," he says, as he throws his friend under the bus. Strange continues to maintain the spell, keeping the flames from moving further up Beau's legs. "I think he's somewhat fireproof and he's undoubtedly one of the people here who knows the most about combat."

[exaomori]

Shura could offer herself, though she wasn't fireproof. There were still probably some healing salves just in case she got burned. But she doesn't, being too lazy. There was Rin, but he would probably get his ass handed to him by someone who was actually trained in hand to hand. She sets her hand on her hip, pursing her lips out.

"I didn't think you wanted to get that guy involved." And Shura doesn't want to play errand girl. Life is hard.

[impatientdefense]

Contradictory advice, her favorite. Beau looks back and forth between the two of them, trying to get a sense of their reasonings. "What, does he take it too seriously? He didn't really seem the type..."

She'd first met him as he gave her the basic orientation about her new job in the ex-carnival's militia. It'd been a quick rundown, informative enough, with some back and forth questions about the carnival's whole deal and her abilities. Informative enough, but nothing to suggest he was as straightlaced as some imperial stooge. He'd been a little more serious in an actual fight, stampeding around on a huge horse-looking creature inexplicably named Pig, but still.

[kingsroads]

"I don't want him involved," Strange sighs. "It's less that he takes it too seriously and more that if I'm involved, he'll doubt the magic from the start." That's what happens when you officially get a reputation as 'trouble.'

"But the fact remains that there aren't many people who are fireproof and know hand to hand combat."

[exaomori]

"So let Beau ask," Shura says with a shrug. Really, if there was trouble between Strange and Lambert, then they should be the ones to settle it out, but whatever.

"If that guy won't cooperate, there's someone else I know that might be useful. You''ll prolly beat him up, but he could use a little training with his fists and he can heal himself."