⇨ THE WYLDLANDS

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone pursuing the Huntsman.
When: Day 134 - Day 140
Where: The Wyldlands
What: Working as scouts from the Summer armies, the carnival makes a dangerous trek into the Wyldlands to find the Huntsman, defeat him, and save the Ringmaster from the Hunt. The day descriptions below are an outline, and details may change based on actions earlier in the week. Overall, though, it will keep the same general locations. You can make up encounters with Wylderkin at any time.
Warnings: Probably violence and gross Huntsman stuff.

HUNTING THE HUNTER↴ Upon first arriving in the Wyldlands, the carnival will find themselves in a scene much like the picture above - strange mountain ranges rise up around them, while thick forest cling to the land between. Every so often, giant silhouettes of Wyld Fae will fly overhead. Thankfully, the Summer Fae have picked an area with plenty of cover to hide in to begin their infiltration, and as the carnival is arriving via teleporation, there will be squadrons of Summerland and Summer Court Fae spreading out and concealing themselves within the trees. They will be following the carnival's trail as they move deeper into the Wyldlands, looking for their guidance to avoid the maw of the Hunt. The carnival Supervisors will be given several golden scrolls that unfurl into small light elementals. These will transmit information between the Summer armies and the carnival at speeds similar to sending a text message. They takes various forms, but most of them are abstract motes of light with wings and tails. When delivering messages, they take the form and voice of whoever gave the message, like a custom hologram that disappears immediately after finishing. After the carnival has been debriefed one more time, they will be sent off ahead to begin their scouting duties. Through a mixture of augury and expertise, the Summer Fae have narrowed down an area the Huntsman should be, as well as designated a general route that will mostly have ground cover. Who knows if it will stay that way, though, with how quickly the Wyldlands change. Much like in the Summer Court, time here is subjective - all sense of time varies between individuals, and the only solid way of knowing when a day is over is to have the light from the sky disappear. All time pieces will perform erratically while here. The carnival will still need to eat and rest, as well, which means that they will have to figure out the best times to set up camp. They have sufficient rations, at least. ► DAY 134: The carnival heads deeper into the forest on the first day of their scouting mission, told to head for a giant tree that they can see on the horizon. Apparently, this tree is a landmark that will remain consistent for the time being. Someone will have to check above the canopy every so often to keep everyone on target, which risks gaining the attention of flying Wyld Fae. There are plenty of Wylderkin around (lesser Wyld Fae that behave more like standard fantasy animals) but overall the journey through this section will not be hugely perilous, as long as they remain cautious and hidden. There will be a Megathread on this day, dealing with some optional and only mildly important Summer Court NPC interactions. ► DAY 135: Early during the next day of travelling, the forest will begin to fill with more and more magical fungi until giant shrooms have almost completely replaced the trees. At first they will seem innocuous, but as their presence becomes more inescapable, it will gradually become apparent than many of the mushrooms are poisonous to the touch - and eating them will be far worse! Those with empathetic connections to plants may be able to determine which are poisonous and which aren't, while some fungi may even have beneficial effects, if they get lucky enough to find and identify them. Generally speaking, though, there are few non-plant creatures around here, due to the fact that everything is toxic, including the swampy water that covers large sections of the ground. There will be no mod directed interactions during this period, besides handling general investigations. ► DAY 136: During the middle of this day, the carnival will finally reach the giant tree. On one hand, the plant-life has become relatively safe again. On the other, the giant tree is the lair of several neutral Wyld Fae who probably won't like the carnival's presence. On the other other hand, maybe those Wyld Fae might be willing to help or offer them directions? It's up to the group to decide if they want to attempt diplomacy, or to stealth past the tree and find their own way. There will be a Megathread on this day, based on however the team decides to handle it. ► DAY 137: Past the area surrounding the big tree, the lush foliage of the forest will begin degrading until nothing is left but dark naked trunks filled with glowing pods of various sizes. It's here that those with a connection to the Hunt will start to get a sense of the Huntsman's presence, and will be drawn in a vague direction. Unfortunately, this will also be their first major brush with the Hunt itself. Hunt patrols skirmish with neutral Wyld Fae in this forest, and the collateral damage of their warfare can be seen all over. The carnival will want to either map out a path through the trees that the fighting can be avoided for the sake of the Summer troops, or give them enough data to be able to handle the threat. How this portion goes will partly depend on the outcome of the previous day's Megathread. ► DAY 138: The forest will open up into the beginnings of a mountain range, with flowing water, luminescent plant life, and the occasional cluster of crystals sprouting from the earth. There are large parties of Hunt controlled Wyld Fae patrolling this area, and so making it through will require careful navigation. As the path becomes more and more mountainous, it will be possible to find routes that mostly avoid the patrols - this information will need to be communicated back to the Summer troops. There will be a Megathread here dealing with a Hunt patrol encounter. ► DAY 139: The mountains will continue to steepen, and the crystal formations will grow more huge and consistent. The air is always cloudy, and the air condition is bad, making it harder to breathe. Weather will become more and more unfavorable the higher into the mountains the carnival gets, with cold winds and lightning that frequently strikes the crystals and causes them to send out bursts of destructive energy. Paths will occasionally crumble. There is still a heavy Hunt presence, here, though they keep to safer trails - the best way to avoid them may indeed be taking the most dangerous routes. It's probably better than being mauled to death by beasts, though. Some distant mountain tops look like the might be volcanoes. There is almost no plant-life here, besides the most stubborn of brambles. By this point, the pull of the Huntsman has grown much stronger. ► DAY 140: The sky clears enough to show a deep red skyline. Barren cliffs are punctuated with rivers of lava, and paradoxically vibrant trees and foliage in erratic spurts. The those in the carnival with a connection to the Hunt will find themselves drawn to a valley in the center of the rocks, absolutely filled with Wyld Fae and other slaves gathered from around the multiverse. This will be the final encounter, and the carnival may have to trust in their Wyld Fae disguises to make it through. There will be multiple Megathreads here, detailing the encounter with the Huntsman and bringing this log to an end.

Comments

[periphrasing]

And Peridot is right there along with everyone else being pretty floored by this information: she's standing there with her mouth scrunched up and eyes widened, trying to process the implications of this new revelation. A certain magician opening his mouth is the thing that finally snaps her out of it.

"Strange you clod, he JUST got done saying that she didn't know!" she snarls at him, electricity crackling warningly around her form. She's pretty riled up about all this.

[kingsroads]

"She knew when she was the Red Beast," he clarifies, still annoyed.

[periphrasing]

"Which was before she was ever hanging out with the Summer Maiden, so your comment doesn't even make sense!" she retorts, stomping a foot impatiently.

[flashover]

Another, larger pebble comes hurtling towards Strange's head.

[hippocarnival]

"Well nobody asked you to come save her!" Yuya's voice is close to shrieking, but that's mostly because he's further away with Rita. He's still leaning around with frustration in his expression, though.

"Maybe she thought that was better at the time, but it doesn't matter now! Now we know, so we can know what to do for her!"

[fortuneglass]

While she somehow avoids doing anything like throwing pebbles, Carly does storm over to stand immediately in front of the man and seethe. She's ready to slap him.

But she won't.

"That's right! No one forced you here! So what is the MATTER with you? 'True status'? So what if you mean the Phoenix instead of the Ringmaster!" she snarls, "That wasn't any kind of status, or 'meaning'- she was living a life of being chased down! Is that what you think should have happened?! That she should have just been locked up and captured for whatever the Queens wanted? But more than that..!" Carly snaps.

"It's just like Peridot said! SHE MET THE SUMMER MAIDEN AS THE RINGMASTER! When she FORGOT all of that anyway! SO WHAT ON EARTH IS YOUR PROBLEM, STRANGE!"

[scientificist]

"Are you all of you done yet?!" Herbert grouses from the ground. He's propped up now on his hands, and he clambers up to his feet, ending up glaring at the River Dragon. "Obviously not telling her was an incredibly poor decision: everyone with any power seems to have worked it out anyway and used her without her awareness--which. Is what is happening this! Moment so can we leave?!"

[kingsroads]

Strange looks at everybody, looks at the dragon, and quickly decides, "We'll talk later."

At this point, Strange just remains silent and turns into smoke and hangs out near Lambert's feet, still obviously pissed off. (But at least nobody can throw stuff at him now.) It's obvious he's got some personal feelings on the matter but is going to save them for later, when they're not in front of a potential ally.

[drrdrrdrr]

Amethyst makes an airhorn sound. I'd say an impatient airhorn sound except that the specific emotion behind it is impossible to determine unless you look in her direction to see her angry eyebrows.

[starseedling]

Steven will gently take megaphone Amethyst from Lambert's hand at this point, and just kind of hold her consolingly. Nevermind that he looks kind of pissed off himself - he's not inclined to add any more fuel to the fire and is just going to try to filter the Strange dispute through his system and forget about it as quickly as possible.

Maybe holding Amethyst isn't just for her sake, though. Sometimes you just need to cuddle a megaphone.

[alienwear]

Peridot watches Strange 1) get multiple pebbles thrown at his head and 2) get told off by Carly before he disappears to get his smoke sulk on, and she immediately looks like she feels pretty bad about uh... Everything? That just happened? Her ears droop and she stares at her hands, fidgeting with her claws guiltily. Despite everything, she still can't help but view Strange as a friend; why does he have to make sticking by him so difficult?

[whattaprick]

Lambert's still trying to process the revelation, tamping down on his initial reaction to have an outburst -- he'd already gotten the worst of that out of his system with Amethyst earlier -- but apparently other members of the Carnival are happy to react for him, and to each other's reactions at that.

"Herbert's right," he says loudly, finally, which are probably words that have never been applied to Herbert West in recent memory. "Even though we know what we're dealing with now ... that doesn't change what we all agreed to come here to do." He stresses that agreed a little harder -- personal motivations and opinions aside, they're well and truly in it now, and quarreling over the details ... well, it won't get them anywhere. He lets Steven take Amethyst back; it just leaves him room to gesture.

"Whatever she calls herself now, whatever she does or doesn't know about herself -- we're here to bring her back." He looks up to the River Dragon, face grim. "And maybe then she should hear this story for herself."

"Now come on. Let's finish this."

[npcarnival]

There's a lot of squabbling going on, and most of it the River Dragon is inclined to disregard as ignorant commentary from lesser beings. Wyld Fae tend to have sturdier and more self-reliant egos than many Court Fae, given their independent nature. However, there are some things that his own internal compass tell him are the truth.

"We had only ever hoped for her freedom," the River Dragon says to Lambert solemnly. "I see now that her efforts may have been in vain." He growls softly, displeased with the idea.

"I cannot follow you through the mountains, or else the Hunt will besiege you at the first signs of my presence." He doesn't actually know about the Summer armies backing them up, either.

[insidescoop]

Carly gives an odd coughing sound as the dragon says this- looking a ways down toward where the Thunder Bird is to perhaps compare scale. "Ahehe...well, I guess you are bigger than the Thunder Bird...and...The ones from Summer's army..."

There is another cough, and a shrug. "If you think we're still stealthy like that I guess it's your call! But we're making plenty of noise either way if I'm honest..."

[npcarnival]

"And you have seen what the Thunder Bird's presence brings," the River Dragon hums. The Thunder Bird watches, apparently not objecting. "Summer Army you say? Have they decided to invade again?"

He rumbles in a way that sounds like a chuckle.

[flashover]

"Actually, they're here to help!" Rin says, somewhat proudly. "We figured we wouldn't be able to rescue the Ring-- uh, Great Beast, all on our own. So we got the Summer Court to back us up! So don't eat them, please!"