⇨ 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

[whattaprick]

Lambert rubs the back of his head gingerly, then gets to his feet. Looking around doesn't offer any obvious landmarks, being as they're surrounded by a whole mess of trees, but he can at least offer an answer.

"Where the Manor's ex-servants set up their place." He jerks a thumb over his shoulder. "I was practicing magic."

And then he takes his time giving her a long, thorough once-over.

"Looks like you are, too. When did that happen?"

[anti_nonsense]

"That's not what I meant," Rita groans, but before she can demand to know more about how he got here (a transportation spell?), she finds herself being questioned instead.

"I found out I could do this a few days ago," she explains, holding out a hand and willing it to lose its shape, turning from hand-shaped flames to a twirling blaze. "When I focus on channeling fire and ice simultaneously, I can go a step further and transform my entire body into the elements themselves." Even though it's been days, she still sounds amazed at the concept. It's a hell of a discovery.

"...Still working out a few details, but by the time we leave here, I should be more than ready to use this technique in battle."

[whattaprick]

A hell of a discovery is one way to put it. It feels like they’re discovering all kinds of things about their own magic in the Summerlands, and Lambert can’t help but wonder if this is all their exposure to fae magic catching up to them at last...

“Little flashy, isn’t it?” Not that Rita’s ever been subtle with her magic, for the most part, but he smirks nonetheless. “It looks like Ignatius’s ... whatever he is now. Hope it’s just as useful in a fight.”

As for answering what he was up to... the witcher brushes dirt off his knees, continuing. “I found out I could pass through light a few days ago, while I was trying to learn some magic from Childermass. Ended up asking the Gilded Mark for some help wrangling the spell and... here we are.”

[anti_nonsense]

"Yeah..." is Rita's vague reply to Lambert's comments. Yeah, it looks like Ignatius's fire. Yeah, she hopes it'll be useful, too.

She may come off as a bit tired; it might be harder to tell with this elemental body, but it shows in her tone and posture. Given the state of the clearing, it's evident she's been at this for a while.

"Pass through light...? You mean like, a spell of teleportation?" Whatever her condition, Rita clearly isn't too tired to take interest in unfamiliar magic. And Gild helped him, at that? For a moment, the thought of asking Ignatius for help crosses Rita's mind... but she dismisses it for now. She can figure this out herself. Besides, it'd be awkward, probably.

[whattaprick]

“Right. Like what Childermass can do with shadows,” Lambert confirms. “It works best when I’m focused on strong sources of light, but that can also confuse the spell, sometimes.”

At least that’s the best way Lambert can think of to describe it, even if, as a technical explanation, it’s a little skimpy on the details. He’ll gesture at Rita.

“Like what happened now. This wasn’t where I was trying to end up.”

[anti_nonsense]

"You mean... your spell propelled you towards a light source, and that happened to be..." Rita seems to look over herself once again to confirm. Oh. Well.

She seems to take a breath (if the motion has any meaning in this form), her shoulders heaving and falling, and then she folds her arms over her chest. "...I'm going to change back, so could you... turn around for a minute?"

Ugh. Rita really doesn't want Lambert, of all people, to know about this minor problem of hers, but she knows she can't maintain this form for much longer.

[whattaprick]

“Little late to be modest now, isn’t it?” Lambert grins. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

That’s not strictly true, but at least for the purposes of the joke, it’s close enough. They’ve both caught an unwilling eyeful of each other on at least one occasion...

Nonetheless, as requested, he’ll turn around, giving Rita an illusion of privacy somewhat ruined by the witcher continuing to talk.

“So you can’t hold it that long, huh? How does it feel, changing like that?”

[anti_nonsense]

It may be hard to tell, but Rita’s definitely glaring at Lambert. But she has no choice but to trust that he’ll keep his head turned, because she’s quickly running out of energy to keep the flames going.

She walks over to the pile of dresses, and finally allows the spell to end, a light wave of cold and heat bursting away from her, leaving Rita as she normally is, a being of flesh and feathers. She immediately grabs one of the dresses and slips it over herself.

It’s only once she’s decent again that she answers the question. “It’s... exhilarating, I guess, feeling all that magic flowing through me. Takes a lot of focus and energy to keep it up, though.”

[whattaprick]

“Strange was the same when he first started turning to smoke,” Lambert muses. “Maybe you can ask him for help figuring it out. Or skip that and ask Ignatius directly instead, if you can’t get ahold of him.”

The other magician’s been scarce of late. Apologies aside, he’s kept to himself; Lambert can only hope he’s using his time wisely and concentrating on what’s ahead... much like the rest of them.

“Are you trying to get it ready before meeting the Queen?”

[anti_nonsense]

Rita just makes a disgusted face as Lambert suggests asking Strange for help. Yeah, she doesn't want to do that if she can avoid it. The last thing she wants is Strange getting a big head about her needing help from him over a spell she's sure she can work out herself with a little time and effort.

"Yeah," she replies, focusing on his question instead. "Whether it goes well or not, I might not get another chance to focus on honing my skills like this. And if it goes badly, I'll definitely want to have a trick like this up my sleeve. You're doing the same, aren't you?"

[whattaprick]

“I am,” Lambert admits. He holds up a hand— this was something he’d originally meant to save for showing off to Childermass, on account of not exactly having a handle on it yet, but Rita’s an old hand at critiquing his spell work — and concentrates on bending his magic to his will. Nothing happens for a moment or two, but then a golden light starts to spread from the base of his claws to the tips, a glow strong enough to stand out even under the light of the Summerlands sun.

While it’s nothing like Rita’s elemental flames, there’s something else that stands out about the light ... it unmistakably gives off an energy familiar to Rita. Creation.

[anti_nonsense]

"Creation..."

Rita can't help but take a moment to marvel at the pure, positive energy focused in Lambert's fingertips. "So you've been learning to control that power. Pretty impressive, for you." A small, approving smile tugs at her lips.

[whattaprick]

"Well, I had some help," Lambert snorts. With his concentration interrupted, the effect of the spell fades, and his claws transmute back to normal.

"Since the Gilded Mark works with light, I asked her for ideas. What I'm really trying to work up to is making weapons out of this, not just enchanting them ... but this'll do, for now."

He pauses after that, expression turning faintly pensive.