⇨ 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

Peridot | OTA

[periphrasing]

Day 119-120 | Mandatory Rest/Relaxation

[periphrasing]

Now that she's had a few days to recover, Peridot is generally a bit less dead on her feet, but... She's still hardly back to her usual over-energetic self. She doesn't seem to be up to a whole lot for the first few days they are in the Summerlands, but she is out and about, if you'd like to check in and catch up with her.

She can be found in the various gardens, laying around on public benches and hammocks, spending her down time quietly enjoying the magnificent flora of this realm.

DAY 120 I GUESS

[starseedling]

Peridot has been resting for like five days now, and so at some point, Steven will determine that she could use the chance to get out a little. Importantly, she hasn't gotten the opportunity to take advantage of the Summer Court's offering of free clothes.

Steven switched out of his self-made leaf dress as soon as he could, shedding his foliage and going for something a bit less organic. He ended up with flowery pink dress that puts his bicoloured gem on display. He likes it, but he's also looking for something a little more practical going forward. The Summer Fae don't really seem to keep t-shirts and jeans in stock.

So, a shopping trip seems in order! Or, at least, as much of a shopping trip as it can be when everything is free. With Peridot's permission, Steven will happily start carrying her around piggy-back style, her additional weight pretty much effortless to him.

"So... What kind of style do you think you want?" he asks as they go, navigating towards one of the places he knows the fae had laid out some of their charity fashion. "I don't know if they'll have any dress shirts like you had before, but I bet we can find something super cute!"

[periphrasing]

Peridot gladly takes him up on the offer of the piggy-back ride. She may be doing a bit better, but she's still not going to pass up the chance to save her strength when an alternative means of getting about is so generously offered.

Clothes shopping is a bit of an unusual concept for her to deal with. She enjoys trying on different human clothes given the chance, but she's sort of... more used to scavenging through other people's things (and garbage), versus picking out an entire ensemble on her own? It's new territory, to a degree.

Thus, Steven's question gets kind of a waffling answer. "I... have no idea," she admits, wearily resting her chin on top of his head. "Something yellow might be nice, I guess..."

[starseedling]

"Is yellow your favourite colour?" he asks, sounding delighted about that potential nugget of information. "Sometimes I catch myself thinking that your favourite colour is green because you wear it all the time but, duh, that's just your gem colour. I wonder how many gems ever think about what colours they actually like..."

Steven is in a talkative mood today, partly because he's got that new location energy and partly because he wants to be good company. This is going to be a good visit, okay! Even if everyone is treating them awkwardly, and even though the locals keep staring at him like he's weird!

[periphrasing]

"I don't know," Peridot grunts, sounding kind of caught off guard by the question. "Green is still a superior color over all, but, Yellow just looks nice, I guess. It reminds me of the sunflowers Lapis and I grow at the barn."

She instantly regrets bringing up Lapis, biting her lip and falling silent once more, hoping that Steven just glosses over it.

[starseedling]

Luckily, Steven is in full-blown 'we're gunna have a good time' mode, so he isn't going to pause too long on that awkward thing Peridot did that was maybe a good thing and maybe wasn't. He has no idea! And he doesn't want to think about it, either.

"And corn!" Steven agrees, having also made the connection to things at the farm. But sunflowers are maybe more aesthetically pleasing than corn cobs, most of the time. "And the stars on my t-shirts and back home. And... well, probably not Yellow Diamond."

[periphrasing]

There's an awkward pause.

"...No. Definitely not her," she replies decisively. Maybe she should think of some different color options. "...Maybe purple? There's no purple diamond."

[starseedling]

"Yeah... I guess not," Steven says, hesitantly glancing down at his own gem as they make it to the high pillared building he was looking for. It's back in place now, with the help of some of the Polaris staff, but he remembers it being kind of... weird, when he had it out and about. The thought still hasn't quite left him.

Once they are there, they will see a Summer Fae reclined over a pile of pillows and reading a book, and a selection of clothing hanging up to be searched through. When they show up, she looks a little surprised.

"Oh, help yourself!" she says. "If you need any help with sizing, let me know..." The fae's eyes linger on Steven oddly, which Steven chooses to ignore.

"Okay!" he says, having to intentionally remind himself not to say thanks. He sets Peridot down so she can look around at her leisure. "So... purple and yellow. Let's see what we can find!"

[periphrasing]

Peridot grunts as she's set down, immediately setting to puttering about and regarding the garments hung up for their perusal.

"Mmm. This may prove difficult," she grumbles, reaching out for the first yellow thing she can find. What she grabs is this. She cocks her head at it, squinting contemplatively. "Why does this have so many... bangly things on it? That doesn't seem very practical for stealth purposes, or... anything, really."

[starseedling]

"Oooh!" Steven says, mostly wowed by the pretty fabric. He takes a little longer to process the actual shape of the outfit. he's worn stuff kind of like this for performances, but generally less revealing. "This looks like a dancing costume! The bangles probably make noises when you move so it can enhance your performance."

"You can't really use it for anything practical, though. But you could wear it here, for fun?" Come on Peridot, you can do it.

[periphrasing]

"A dancing costume?" Peridot repeats, nose crinkling. Sure doesn't sound like her cup of tea, but. Hmm. She clutches the fabric in her hands, contemplating for a moment.

"...Nah," she says abruptly, letting it go so that it sways gently on it's hanger. "I think being constantly followed by the sounds of jangling metal would become extremely irritating very quickly."

[starseedling]

"I guess," Steven says, in a way that implies he disagrees but that's totally fine. He looks around for a few moments and then grabs something else.

"What about this?" he asks, eagerly. He grabs the skirt of the fabric and swishes it around, showing off the way it glitters. "It's purple, sparkly, and it kind of has a star on it!" He looks at the shoulder piece, a little confused. "And some kind of... hat?"

[periphrasing]

"Hm." Peridot strokes her chin thoughtfully. She seems to be giving this one some serious consideration?

After a moment she levitates the neck piece down, examines it... and then puts it on the peak of her triangle hair like a little crown.

"How do I look?"

iiit's LATE TAG-IN TIME

[dontpokethat]

Ginko can absolutely appreciate the need to rest after... everything. In fact, he's mostly just wandering around and trying to kind of chill out himself, and it's by chance that he comes across Peridot in one of the gardens.

"--Ah, hey. How're you holding up?"

Sorry for slow reply ._.

[periphrasing]

Peridot is about as close to a liquid state as a solid entity can possibly get, the way she's sprawled out over a bench, every muscle completely limp. She'd probably look super relaxed if her expression wasn't so gosh darned sour.

Ginko is lucky enough to catch her between naps. Even so, she doesn't even lift her head to look at him, merely flicking her eyes to the side to positively identify the source of the voice before replying.

"Does it look like I'm capable of holding anything up at the moment?"

don't worry about it o/

[dontpokethat]

"I... didn't mean literally. But, I'm sorry to hear that." Right, he's got to remember how many figures of speech Peridot isn't... necessarily going to know.

He readily sits down on the ground next to the bench and looks up at her. "I just wanted to ask how you're doing."

[periphrasing]

"I know. I was making an attempt at humor," Peridot says miserably, turning her head to groan into the bench seat. "Apparently my humor is broken, along with my soul."

So the answer, apparently, is 'not good'.

[dontpokethat]

Oh. Whoops.

"Ah... Sorry, I'm just no good with humor, myself." He smiles weakly, not sure if that helped at all or not. He kind of doubts it, frankly. "...Mind if I sit here for a while, anyway?"

[periphrasing]

"Go ahead. It's not like I could stop you, even if I wanted to," she croaks. "...Which. I don't want to, I suppose. Just for the record."

[dontpokethat]

"Ha. Thanks for specifying." Because, let's be real, if she hadn't he'd probably just get up and leave right now.

Since she is evidently actually willing to let him stay here, rather than just barely tolerating his presence for lack of any way to make him leave, he relaxes incrementally where he's sitting. "...Let me know if you do want to talk about anything."

[periphrasing]

"What's there to talk about," Peridot mumbles. "We escaped Polaris... The Ringmaster's still missing. Now we're safe in the Summerlands with a bunch of pacifists who won't lift a finger to actually help us."

[dontpokethat]

"Each of those sounds like it could be something to talk about in itself, don't you think?" Ginko sure knows he's got a lot to unpack out of the whole Summerlands situation.

[periphrasing]

"I guess they could be," she agrees. "I was being sarcastic anyway. Which I should probably stop doing, since adding the proper inflection to my tone in order to successfully convey that requires more energy than I can muster."

[dontpokethat]

Oh, whoops. He's just... really on a roll with missing these jokes, huh. "Oh. Sorry, you can... keep doing that. I think this is on me."

He's not great at comedy on the best of days, okay, and this is not... the best of days.

"But, we could also go ahead and talk about those things we might need to talk about."