lostcarnival | ⇨ THE WYLDLANDS

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⇨ THE WYLDLANDS

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Steven has been riding on Lion's back, mostly so that he can afford to flit out of consciousness without falling over. Gongenzaka has more consistent tracking abilities, but every so often he's trying to extend himself into the astral plane too, hoping that he can find her mind again.

If they are going to stop her from using her power, to help her remember who she is, then forming a connection with her is critical. As he looks up to see the battle raging around them, he can't help but think of the Cluster, moments away from destroying the Earth.

Though after what happened last time, the idea of going too deep and getting caught is terrifying.

"We'll shut him up," Rita murmurs in response to Lambert's complaints and Sans's obvious discomfort.

She moves with the group, watching for incoming threats as she does. Her gaze keeps getting drawn back to the direction of the creepy-ass fortress, however.

"So what do we do when we actually get there?" she asks the group. "Think we've got enough distractions for us to bust right in, or...?" Frowning, she looks up to see a pair of fae clash, their forms indistinct from a distance, but an unmistakable feeling of magic force resounds in the air around them.

Edited 2019-02-11 23:57 (UTC)

Peridot winces as two magical explosions of equal force crack off of each other in the distance, pausing before responding to Rita.

"Um... Well I can always try to slice us a way in, if we can't find a decent pre-existing point of access," she suggests uncertainly.

"Or... you could follow me."

It's a familiar voice, to some. In a swirl of fluttering pollen, a tiny purple pixie appears before the group, a hand raised to her mouth conspiratorily. She arrives straight out of the chaos, unseen until this moment.

"You want to get inside the fortress, don't you? I know we've had our differences, but I've got just the ticket."

Rin, astride giant-sized Kuro once more, glares at the DUMB LITTLE PURPLE LADY!!

"You've done nothing but make trouble for us! Why the hell would we trust you now?!"

~~Aw hell it's this shit again~~

Gongenzaka is still more focused on his communication reaching more than anything of course- but the appearance of Nightshade is hard to miss. It makes sense however- Nightshade had worked at the behest of the Rose Queen, who in turn was very much Summer Court. Theoretically, if the Summer Queen herself gave the order, Nightshade would thus also be here.

(He very briefly entertains the idea that the Rose Queen would try something, but the Summer Queen's own actions in that encounter make him fairly certain that won't be the case)

And he sure can't see Nightshade working for the opposite court...

He has his own thing to keep working on though. So with a grunt in the face of other's protests, he adjusts his back somewhat- a sign to Zangetsu that he's not going to be getting involved in this more than just following lead.

Contacting the Ringmaster and making sure they don't get nuked to hell and back seems more key for him to work on.

Gongenzaka gets a pat in response. Don't worry, man; he's not gonna get involved in Nightshade's little ploy either.

Peridot's initial reaction is just raw instinct; she squawks and basically falls off of Lambert's shoulder, changing back to normal before she hits the ground. She hisses like a cat, spitting little tongues of flame, and flashes her teeth and claws at the pixie.

She does hissing when Nightshade makes her offer, opting to squint suspiciously at the tiny fae instead. And then she scoffs. "Oh do you? Well I think I speak for the whole group when I say that exactly none of us are interested in accepting tickets to ANY event you might be running!" the gem snaps.

Steven jerks awake on Lion's back with a yelp, seeing whose arrived. Lion growls warily.

"Nightshade...?!"

"Pft! Well, we're on the same side, aren't we?" she says incredulously. "Why do you think I'm here? You're practically taking orders from my Queen..."

She glances at Steven and rolls her eyes.

"You can calm yourself, boy. For once, I'm not here for you."

"Of all the pixies to send along..." Childermass mutters, attention drawn away from Lambert, though he'll remain firmly at the witcher's side. "And just what is this ticket of yours? You know there's no way we're following you on a blind whim."

If they even follow her at all.

"Hhhooohhh no," says Amethyst, who's been settled defensively on top of Steven while he sleeps, shaped like a cat. Conveniently, this allows her to puff up her tail as soon as she catches sight of Nightshade, perching on Steven's shoulder and hissing. "No way. We are not following her."

Ignatius has been following along at a distance to try to avoid drawing attention, while still remaining close enough to defend them if necessary. Nightshade showing up seems to trigger his need to step up.

"Nightshade," he says. "No one in Summer told me anything about you."

"No need to get so defensive!" she says, putting up her hands. "It's just that everything is counting on you lot, and you're taking so long. I have a path set aside that cuts straight to the fortress. The Huntsman has the subterranean landscape well guarded, but I guess none of them felt the need to watch for someone as trifling little old me."

Peridot makes a disgruntled noise, lashing her tail unhappily. Ignatius's presence is at least some reassurance, though; Peridot doesn't trust Nightshade in the least, but Ignatius has probably worked with the pixie for far longer than any of the rest of the group has even been alive. So, she addresses him specifically.

"Do you believe what she's saying?" the gem asks skeptically. Nightshade has caused a great number of her friends an immense amount of pain, and she really doesn't relish the idea of working with her... But there was a time where she didn't really trust Ignatius either, and she absolutely does now. If he vouches for Nightshade, she'll go along with this.

"I am not inclined to trust her," he says. "But by the same hand, time is of the essence, and I cannot fathom what she would gain from betraying us."

Nightshade merely puts her hands on her hips, waiting.

"It's not as if I want the Huntsman to win," she says.

"The fae aren't prone to lying," Childermass points out. "Though that doesn't mean it won't be so dangerous to the point that it's just as deadly."

Lambert’s been quiet for a few moments since Nightshade appeared, mostly because he’s sorting something out, squinting at the pixie. He doesn’t trust her as far as he can throw her (and considering she’s a True Fae that’s not very far anyway).

“She’s not corrupted by the Huntsman, and I should be able to tell if there are Hunters where she’s taking us,” he rasps. “... but probably not fast enough to do any good.”

He leans his weight against Childermass, more for the reassurance of his presence than actual support, and exhales. He wants to figure this out, but it’s hard to think like this.

“Fae can still bend the truth, but they can’t back out of a deal. If we’re that worried about trusting her, make one.”

"Man's got a point," Ignatius says. "Provided you and the pixie are willing, I'd be open to make the contract. I could be sure to hold her accountable if she tries anything."

Peridot growls uncertainly. Ignatius's assessment doesn't really fill her with much confidence, but he also makes a point about time being of the essence. If he's willing to be the one to strike a deal...

"...I suppose that way if she does lead us all to our deaths, at least we'll go down knowing that she'll get incinerated for her trouble," she scoffs.

Rin still doesn't look super happy about it, with his arms crossed and snout in a near-snarl... but that's probably as good as it's going to get.

"Hrff.... that's ok with me, I guess... because it really is going to take us too long to get there this way..."

"Something like that..." Ignatius agrees, his eyes settled on Nightshade. The pixie shrugs her shoulders.

"That's fine by me," she says. "So, what do you say?" She's looking at the rest of the group, now.

Rita's been tense since the moment Nightshade appeared, her teeth and fists clenched. She looks to Ignatius, then back to Nightshade, and gives an exasperated sigh.

"Fine," she huffs. "I'm willing to try it, under those conditions."

Amethyst folds her cat arms. She really, really doesn't like this. But...

"If she tries anything..."

There is a sharp cough from Gongenzaka, an unspoken get on with it while he focuses on not only connecting/holding connection to the Ringmaster but also streaming the equivalent of Happy Thoughts Only.

Can they please just start on this path?

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