⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 119 - Day 126
Where: The Summerlands
What: Ignatius and Gild portal everyone to the Summerlands, with hopes of appealing to the Summer Maiden for help. Meanwhile, the carnival gets the chance to relax in luxury as only tentatively welcome guests. Here is the location write up from the last time the carnival visited. Since then, of course, some things have changed.
Warnings: Nothing in particular.

THE SUN RISES↴ After taking the time to rest, Ignatius and Gild will be able to pool together their energy to portal the carnival (and the airship) to the Summerlands. Those still in Polaris will be left to their own devices for the moment as Gild intends to ask for the Summerlands aid in relocating them, hopefully as soon as possible. With the effort the carnival put into sorting things out in there, however, they should be fine on their own for a little while, at least. They will arrive in the flowery fields at the base of the mountains, and soon the Summer Fae will notice their presence. Since the last time they visited, however, the atmosphere has changed. ► YOUR ARRIVAL: As the Summer Fae discover the group's arrival, it will quickly become apparent that there is a tension present that wasn't there any of the other times the carnival has visited. The Summer Maiden comes to greet the group personally, with an entourage of armed Summer Fae. They are not at all aggressive unless provoked, but there is clearly a wariness that is new. They seem uncertain about Ignatius being here, and while Gild will be able to do a lot of the talking and smooth things over, the Summer Maiden will deflect having a serious conversation about affairs until the carnival has taken time to 'rest.' It's more likely that the Maiden needs a moment to think over this new information before dealing with it. ► SUMMER CITY: After the Summer Fae become aware of everyone's presence, and the initial uncertainties are accommodated, they will invite you into their city. There are stairs that lead up the sides of the mountains, but thankfully there are also magical means of getting up there as well. The Summer Fae will be willing to help workers with the injured as needed, offering herbal remedies and healing magic to those that want it. You'll also be invited to join them for dinner, but it feels like more of a formality, and no one is obligated to take them up on it. ► SUMMER PEOPLE: The fae here will do their best to entertain these new visitors - but it doesn't seem that much happens here besides day after day of peaceful meditation and relaxation. It is not uncommon to see Summer Fae spent days doing exactly the same thing, whether that be enjoying the weather, listening to music, or dancing - the day and night periods may be similar to earth, but when you don't need rest it can all blur together just the same. Some of the fae work on feats of agriculture or craftsmanship, and while there is no particularly need to work in this place, they take pride in the fact that they do. ► FAMILIAR FACES: One very different thing about the Summerlands this go around is that there appears to be a small settlement built at the base of the mountains, filled entirely with the former residents of the Manor. Alyss and Reyna will explain that they set up a place to live down there with the Summer Fae's help, and that the fae seems to be trying to remain hands off except when they are needed. The Manor folk overall seem to be doing well, though there is some tension regarding their place in the Summerlands - they are clearly seen as refugees, and while the Summer Fae do their best to help them, the arrival of the carnival and the request for even more help with refugee aid seems to be making things awkward. ► OF THINGS TO COME: The Summer Maiden will remain distant for the first few days, but according to Gild and based on personal observation, it will seem that the news that the Ringmaster has been taken and the idea that even more desperate mortals are requesting to come here are putting her at significant ill ease. She's not rude or dismissive, but she seems reluctant to address the situation head on, though she has said that she will hold a meeting with the carnival later in the week to discuss everything in more detail. None of them seem particularly angry or resentful, but they seem to regard the carnival as an ill portent of things to come.

Comments

[kingsroads]

1: Strange'll spend a solid day or so down at the manor settlement, helping out with whatever they need him to. He'll also try to see if L'Sann the bicorn lady is there and just check in & engage in a little bit of chit-chat.

2: back in the Summer City proper, Strange is going to use the fact that everybody's staring at him to gossip with the fae. Specifically, Strange wants to know about a fae's aspect shifting. Has it ever happened before? If so, did it ever shift back?

Considering that he's occasionally wearing Ignatius's symbol and Ignatius's aspect has visibly changed, it's PRETTY OBVIOUS who he's talking about, but Strange will just speak in hypotheticals unless pressed.

[npcarnival]

1) They don't seem to be all that busy with anything - most of their needs are taken care of, so mostly the Manor folk seem to be looking for ways to entertain themselves and improve themselves. Most of them only ever had the chance to learn skills related to their jobs, so now that they're free a lot of them are trying to learn other life skills and even various trades. There's some talk about the idea of eventually trying to move out into other worlds and living normal lives.

L'Sann is still around! She looks much the same as before, only now instead of being naked she's wearing a nice, Summerlandy dress. She will give Strange a hug, though she still seems fairly bashful about him. She will ask him about how the carnival has been doing since they left, and other such things.

2) Fae have occasionally discovered new elements of their court within themselves, but that's more like a fire fae developing a proficiency for light magic alongside what they already do. The idea of a fire fae also becoming a water fae is completely unheard of. As far as most of them are concerned, it's literally never happened before.

Fae are their elements. Having that change is just, like... how?

[kingsroads]

1: He will fill L'Sann in on the carnival & plot b/c that's his role in life. Though he's trying to hide it, there is very much this 'I have no idea what the hell to do next and I kind of super hate it?' vibe in Strange's voice & actions when they get to the more recent part of how the carnival's doing.

2: Strange is very noticeably put out and a lot bit worried as he gets this answer. So, he changes tactics a smidge. Knowing that this is a long shot, he'll ask around and try to ask what sort of stories people have heard about the Silver Mirror's ability to discern truth/Truth. He knows that it can dispel enchantments, but is there any more context on what the heck that part of the Mirror can do?

[npcarnival]

1) She seems a bit lost with a lot of it - overall she's had a pretty sheltered life, in terms of anything outside of her existence as fancy eye candy in the Manor. However, she'll say she sympathizes with not really knowing what to do. That's how she's felt since she became human again. There's so many things that could happen... it's all so overwhelming. She says that she hopes that he'll figure it out. They deserve to have a rest.

2) Overall, most of what people know about the Silver Mirror is just legend type things. Vague statements about seeing truth or sewing lies, wielding light and darkness. No one has interacted with the thing for eons, to the point most of the younger fae weren't even sure it really existed. He probably knows as much as they do, if not more.

[kingsroads]

1) He agrees with that "need a rest bit" SO much. And he'll reassure L'Sann that if she needs any help with that figuring out what to do or how to human part, she can always ask him for help.

2) Strange has one last question about the Mirror. How well known is it that the Winter Queen once held the Mirror? Do the Summer Fae think Winter might know more about it?

[npcarnival]

2) They might! The Winter Court is often secretive, but it's really hard to say how much the royals are aware of their history. It's fairly common knowledge that each Queen had one of the supposed "Miracles" a long time ago, but the specifics of the items themselves were sort of ambiguous. The most well know item was the Blue Rose because it actually got talked about sometimes, according to the older fae. The Winter Queen mostly kept the Mirror to herself, ostensibly.