⇨ 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

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya raises a brow as he proceeds to guzzle the bottle far faster than Syrlya knew was physically possible.

"Of course." He's feeling a little numb, himself, which is either a step above or below angry. "I doubt there is any shortage of alcohol for us if you find yourself needing to pretend a little more."

He shrugs as he shifts some sort of chewy, sweet mixture out of the basket to nibble on. "The goal has moved a little beyond simply rescuing the Ringmaster."

[whattaprick]

Lambert shakes his head.

“I’m not sure anyone else has a goal,” he corrects, frowning. “Getting the Summer Queen off her ass sounds nice and all, but the chances of that actually turning out to be a good thing for us? I wouldn’t bet on it.”

He stares mournfully down at the bottle in his hand.

“With our luck, Winter or the Huntsman’s going to come right in the middle of all this or the Summer Maiden’s getting abducted.”

[chronosynthesis]

"The Summer Court is in worse straits than I thought if that's possible... but I suppose it would be just our luck."

He chews on the treat thoughtfully, letting the silence hang for a moment. "We do stand to gain a lot if the Summer Court can be convinced to leave our people be and take up arms against the Winter Queen themselves. Give her less time to chase a group of vagrants and her prior ally around the universe. Or kill her."

A consequence that maybe can be left in the Court's hands, and not theirs.

[whattaprick]

“Knock on wood, right?” Which is Lambert’s cue to reach out and rap his knuckles smartly on Syrlya’s chest. (He thinks he’s funny, okay.)

“As far as I know, they’re already fighting the Winter Court. And losing. From what they said at the council, it sounds like it’s the Summerlands fae changing their minds about giving up fighting and throwing back in with the Court that might really make the difference. But the chances of that happening...” Lambert shrugs.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take a truce between the Summerlands and the Summer Court if it buys us the strength we need. It’s just hard to imagine them actually taking the deal.”

[chronosynthesis]

Depending where he knocks, He's going to be met with smooth and hard crystal instead of the softer plant matter that makes up most of the rest of Syrlya's body. Syrlya just raises a brow.

"We do not know enough about them, as enemies or friends, to expect much. We are taking a blind leap of faith and hoping for the best."

His expression twists wryly at that. "Which will either be exactly what we need or doom us all. But we might also be doomed going straight to the Wyldlands and ignoring the bigger picture. What I wouldn't give for a little foresight for once."

The kind of foresight that doesn't give vague clues and fail to show all the consequences.

[whattaprick]

“The Starlight’s the fae you want to go to for that. Or ask Childermass to read you his cards. But neither of them are going to tell us anything we don’t already know.”

Lambert looks away, crossing his arms and cocking his head.

“So what if this doesn’t work out? We come back and just head out with any of the Summerlands we can round up?”

[chronosynthesis]

"Foresight that comes more with more definitives than vague prophecy," he amends dryly.

He pauses as Lambert asks him, shifting his position slightly in consideration. "I would reevaluate our numbers, see if we have a chance or if we will need to seek out allies elsewhere. A lot can be accomplished with a small group, so long as we plan our assault smartly based on it."

Then he inclines his head to Lambert. "But you are the Nightrider, so what do you think?"

[whattaprick]

“There are enchantments that can shield people from fae detection. Childermass, Steven, and Strange all have them. Maybe it’s possible to get an enchantment to conceal us from the Hunt’s members,” Lambert explains.

“The Summer Maiden mentioned that the Winter Queen has power over death itself. That must mean the opposite’s true — that the Summer Queen has power over life. Maybe the Maiden has that to a lesser extent. We might need that, if we go there and find out the Ringmaster isn’t an egg we can just steal anymore.”

He pauses, considering. “What do you think about what the Maiden said? That the Winter Queen isn’t acting like the person she remembers?”

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya nods. Illusions are light up his alley, so plans that involve them (smartly) are usually in his favor.

He taps the basket, considering. "Either that she was blind to the Winter Queen's true behavior, or that the power of the Queen really has driven her to madness. Either way, I find it unlikely she can be reasoned with. And if left unchallenged, she will only continue her path of destruction."

Like all the fae, really, but one step at a time.

[whattaprick]

“Reasoning wasn’t really what I had in mind,” Lambert says, rubbing at his chin with a scratch of stubble and sighing. “But if it’s some kind of curse, curses can be broken. That’s a different tool at our disposal.”

He pauses, thinking. “Assuming she hasn’t killed her too, Winter’s Crone should still be alive. The Queen before the murdered Queen.”

[chronosynthesis]

"If it's a curse, perhaps. But what if it a corruption?" There was some whisper and implications of it at the meeting, but Syrlya's seen how magic twists an individual to the point the only thing to do is kill them. Maybe the fae being strictly beings on magic might be different, but he's not exactly holding out hope.

"Though, even if the Queen were to be killed, it is advisable that all that magic goes somewhere. Someplace more trustworthy." He trails off slowly, then pauses as he blinks rapidly.

He doesn't dwell on the thought long. "What would you do with the Crone if you could find her?"

[whattaprick]

“Then it might be worth finding out if it can be cured ... or exploited. The Harbingers were corrupted, but we brought them back. Maybe the Summer Maiden and the Ringmaster are connected enough to who she was before, enough to buy an opportunity.”

Lambert is quiet for a moment. Plays for sympathy aren’t very much his style, and he really doesn’t know enough about the Winter Court; trying to appeal to whatever shred of sympathy an ancient Winter fae might have in her bones is laughable. Even so...

“I suppose I’d try to find out if she cares about the order of things more than she cares about Winter winning,” Lambert answers, thoughtful. “And she’d know more about how power passes between the three. Mother, Maiden, Crone. She may be weaker than the Queen, but it would weaken the Court to lose her. ‘Course, we’re not setting foot in the Winter Court any time soon, so I wonder if we can find the next best thing instead ... the Summer Crone.”

[chronosynthesis]

"So you are looking for more allies? Or, perhaps, she could take back the Queen's power..."

He can't say a plea of sympathy has ever worked with his enemies. Even those who became allies usually had the shit beat out of them first. But Lambert brings up something else that adds questions.

"How were the Harbingers cured? I remember... singing. Is Creation a natural counter that its presence was enough?"

[whattaprick]

“I don’t know much about this shit, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen a queen taken down happen without someone working from the inside,” Lambert shrugs. “It just depends on finding someone at the court with enough incentive to stick their neck out.”

So more a situation of mutual benefit than anything else... at the other question, Lambert unaccountably flushes. His own description of the incident at the time was pretty straightforward and terse, reporting the outcome without elaborating the details.

“Not exactly,” he shakes his head. “Most were fixed up by the song but for the rest ... first you had to weaken them in a fight, force them to be in a position to listen to you. Then you had to, uh... talk. Remind them about the reasons they shouldn’t want to destroy the world, actually.”

[chronosynthesis]

"Well, you could also contend qith a big enough army... but if we could get a more direct route to the Queen we could avoid a lot of unnecessary bloodshed."

It's only too bad their journey hasn't led them to finding anyone in the Winter Court so sympathetic.

"... Right, but how was talking to them able to affect the Void's corruption? Wasn't it Creation?"

Maybe he's asking the wrong person how this functioned on a magical level, but Syrlya's not inclined to try talking the Winter Queen into reason.

[whattaprick]

"You'd have to ask a Harbinger what it felt like," Lambert shrugs, helplessly. "I only know what it looked like from the outside. But the thing I understood was ... anyone who became a Harbinger was someone who could have become a Guardian too. The potential for power was the same. Creation could counter the Void's presence, but the choice to turn back, that was still up to them. It didn't make them choose."

[chronosynthesis]

Maybe he will. Childermass, Steven, maybe Herbert.

"I'm a little uncertain whst our chances of that with the Winter Queen will be, but... I suppose it comes down to what we learn from speaking to the Summer Queen. Even if we cannot get an allegiance, we would benefit from knowing more about the fae."

[whattaprick]

“Yeah,” Lambert confirms, exhaling. He doesn’t, perhaps understandably, sound all that thrilled at the prospect.

“Guess it’s good to at least know our options.” He pauses, then smirks. “This wasn’t what you thought you’d be dealing with when you signed up, is it? How many months has it been into your contract now?”

[chronosynthesis]

"It was not, but perhaps I should have known better than to sign onto a carnival run by unpredictable higher powers."

There's faint, resigned amusement that gets briefly stuck as Syrlya freezes with uncertainty. As, yes, that.

"Er... how long is a month, again?"

Syrlya never actually asked what months were.

[whattaprick]

Lambert squints.

“Does Tyria not have those?” Come on Syr, he thought you were from a civilization.

[chronosynthesis]

"No. I understand it is a measurement of time, presumably less than a year?"

Syrlya stuffs another snack in his mouth to force a longer silence, furrowing his brows as he tries to count. "It is exceptionally difficult to tell without any reliable calendar. Or seasons. It feels like it must have been at least one..."

[whattaprick]

“The elves had eight months to a year, but humans have twelve,” Lambert shrugs. “Elven calendars are about two to a season, but humans use three for the same amount of time. Who knows what the fae use,” Lambert waves a hand.

“It’s magic that even lets us talk to each other, right? Maybe the spell translates times, too. So contracts are always the same year and a day no matter what calendar you use.”

[chronosynthesis]

"I assumed it was on the Ringmaster's time." And if years can be different, that honestly doesn't answer how long a month is, anyway.

"Well, in Tyria, a year is three hundred and sixty five days. It has four seasons that are roughly ninety days each. If I had to assume... I think I am not quite halfway through it yet."

[whattaprick]

“It’s about the same where I’m from,” Lambert nods, then muses, “I think I’m about two thirds of the way through mine, but it’s hard to track with everything that happens. I’m not even sure the time the Ringmaster’s with the Huntsman counts against that.”

He pauses, clearly thinking something over in his head.

“If we get her back, unless I make another contract, I guess that really does make you the next Nightrider.”

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya chokes, pounding his chest with his fist briefly to force down that piece of food. He looks bewildered at Lambert.

"Wh, but--that is still months away, and who knows where we will be then. I am hardly the only one in the multiverse who can find the carnival and be suitable for the role. Besides, I have no intentions to extend mine."