⇨ 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

[atouts]

"If Frost is at the end of this tunnel, I may just eat her myself," Childermass grumbles. He'll shoot a glance over to Ignatius, then the rest of the group. "I could send a shadow ahead to take a look."

[npcarnival]

"Frost?!" Nightshade laughs shrilly, the picture of disbelief. "Why would it be Frost?"

[betheman]

Gongenzaka's brows furrow- and he answers Lambert first. "...It feels as if something is between us; as if something is preventing my magic from connecting," he mutters. "...I have reached 'her', but... ...Hmn." He can't quite describe it- and trying to think of how would risk the connection he Has.

As it is, Zangetsu has a good idea. "Aauh. It is 'all yours'," he answers, closing his eyes. This way at least, he'll be able to dedicate literally all of his focus to breaking through to the Ringmaster's senses- and Zangetsu is familiar enough with things by now to be able to fight somewhat if it comes to it.

The chattering about Frost otherwise passes faintly over his ears. He'd certainly hope Frost wasn't here. Stupid, stupid barriers and ice pixies and,

[moonfang]

Zangetsu nods and once more turns into black and red flame, entering Gon's body and giving it the same corpsey pallor and bright golden eyes as before. There's only a small stumble as the "driver" changes.

'Zanzaka' readies the repulsor in his faux-arm, just in case. His face is serious, and he speaks in a distinctly Zangetsu-sounding version of Gon's voice.

"Gongenzaka's gone up ahead ta see if he can get through to her. Be on yer guards."

[atouts]

"Because whenever you show up, he never seems too far behind," Childermass points out blandly. "Or perhaps it's the other way around?"

[whattaprick]

“I’ll be honest,” Lambert says, all faux seriousness. “If he’s involved in this, even you can do better.”

With Gongenzaka heading ahead spiritually (or whatever exactly is going on there) Lambert nods at Childermass. “Go ahead and send shadows out,” he tells him, “But be careful. If Winter really is here, can’t really take the chance they’ll be coming from the other way.”

Well, he can think of other Winter Fae the Queen would be more likely to send out to keep an old enemy trapped. In any case, he gives Nightshade a droll look.

“Since you seem awfully well-informed, any useful insights on what this tunnel was used for?”

[atouts]

And so Childermass will do just that, crouching down and pulling up a few shadow constructs — rats this time — up out of his own shadow. No words needed, only a nod of his head in the direction he wants them to go and they go scuttling off. Once he's standing again and they're out of sight, he'll put one hand back on Lambert's shoulder and close his eyes.

Since he's going to be projecting his senses to the constructs, he'll need someone to keep him from tripping and landing face first in the tunnel dirt if they start walking again.

[spaghettimonster]

The fall was a little startling, but blue magic and cat traits saw Papyrus land on his feet easily enough. And from there, the tunnel's an improvement from the battlefield above. The Hunt's now just the faintest itches at the edge of his awareness, compared to the louder pressures before, and there's no obvious signs of hostile groups moving towards them.

And the tunnel itself is a nice change, too. Between the cold, crisp air, and cavern walls with a faint glow that sparkles off all the scattered crystals embedded in the stone... Papyrus isn't sure what the others are talking about; this seems a perfectly ordinary tunnel to him.

"Maybe some of them live in it," he offers. "Or, use it as a quick way to move things, between the valley and somewhere else."

[npcarnival]

"As your skeleton has so aptly pointed out, they are mostly likely so that the agents of Winter can get in and out of the valley unseen. The Fortress is barred against portals, even from other fae," Nightshade explains, her tone prickly.

Childermass will find this out if he sends constructs ahead. The shadows will take him far ahead of the group - but it will stop at boney looking gateway. There's a magic barrier here, warding off any kind of magical quick travel.

It's not much of a fortress if one can just beam past the walls, after all. It looks like this was a physical route made to get around that restriction.

[periphrasing]

"The stealth being because... They don't want the other, not hunt-aligned Wyld Fae to see them?" Peridot asks, cocking her head slightly. She directs the question to Ignatius, because she has decided that the way she's going to deal with her displeasure over Nightshade being here is by pretending that she isn't actually here, at all.

[atouts]

"There's a gate in our way ahead," Childermass speaks up once he has a moment to look the gateway over via the shadow rats. He'll open his eyes, cutting off contact with the constructs, for now, to look around his actual self. "But no other faeries yet."

[npcarnival]

"If her explanation is to be believed, that seems the most logical explanation," Ignatius admits. "When you are expecting to be under siege, having a back door would be advantageous."

They make it to the gate of bone that Childermass saw with his constructs. It's as if the earth suddenly grew a skeletal structure, but none of the bones particularly match. It's like a graveyard of giants was mixed up and sewn back together as a piece of architecture.

Nightshade continues on ahead, not bothering to pause. She's grinning just a little.

"You're not long now," she says, and disappears through the other side of the gate. As members of the carnival pass through it themselves, they'll feel the obfuscation of magic they were experiencing before roll over them like pushing through heavy brush. Suddenly, the presence of the Ringmaster, or something like it, is all too loud.

As they push through this entrance, like the inside of a monster, they'll find that it's leading to a cellar-like partition of the fortress. A dim red glow is obvious in the path up ahead, illuminating a grim looking fog that tastes putrid in the mouth and dry against the skin.

Nightshade has suddenly disappeared.

[betheman]

Gongenzaka is within his own 'self' now. He can't hear what is being said around him. He can't feel the path his steps are taking. What belongs to the body is for Zangetsu to experience, and as such Gongenzaka fails to realize when Nightshade simply vanishes.

He does not miss the sudden increase in the Ringmaster's presence however.

Loud as it is, all means is that Gongenzaka tries taking advantage with his 100% dedication and focus. Before, the presence was more difficult to find- now it is almost suffocating, and from under it, Gongenzaka gives his continued plea.

They were- they ARE their friends. She is someone who helped them for so little, someone who dedicated themselves to spreading enjoyment, cheer..! She is someone who has saved them, so many times, even when she could have fled for herself!

We are here, FOR you! We come to SAVE YOU, OUR FRIEND! his heart cries, trying as hard as he can to have his message reach through what was- and hopefully ceases to be- a 'faulty' connection.

[hippocarnival]

Perhaps Nightshade was always going to leave at this point. Maybe she had other things to do, and the generals of the Summer Court wanted her on another task as soon as she escorted them, and she simply doesn't care to give a proper goodbye given their tenuous relationship. She did give her word...

But still, Yuya grips his staff, and after a moment projects his shield to the maximum range. Just in case. "Is that glow... the Ringmaster?"

[moonfang]

Picking up on what Gon is doing, Zanzaka nods his head to Yuya.

"Gon thinks it is. I do, too. It feels like her... a little different, but definitely our Ringmaster. We're getting close."

He scrunches up his nose, then covers his face with his arm.

"... I ain't a fan of this mist, though. It's like a crypt in here."

[periphrasing]

Peridot tightens her grip on her sword, immediately on edge as soon as the mist hits. She looks around wildly for the Nightshade, a sense of panic rising when she spots no immediate sign of her.

"Um. Where did that stupid pixie go?" she asks, voice strained.

[drrdrrdrr]

"I knew we couldn't trust her!" says Amethyst, anxiously pricking her cat claws into Steven's shoulder.

[spaghettimonster]

The gateway of woven bones, unsettling and a little grotesque - they are dead bones, right? - sheds new light on the others' discomfort with the tunnel. Papyrus reaches halfway to touching it, then flinches away and keeps on with the others.

Their guide's sudden disappearance, with the sudden looming sense of the Ringmaster - though not quite feeling like her - and the fog don't help either. It all feels a lot less welcoming, and a lot more dangerous in the way that everything else has been. At least they're used to it.

"She... She said she's going 'overlooked'," Papyrus stage-whispers, looking around them for signs of movement in the fog. "Invisible would be very overlookable."

[whattaprick]

“Then we should stop yelling and do our best to be overlooked too,” Lambert answers, testily. His gaze turns to Rita.

“What can you see about the magic here? Anything that seems like a trap, or that it could lead us to the Ringmaster?”

And then, to Childermass — “Keep your shadows looking ahead. Can you push that fog out of the way?”

[atouts]

"I can," Childermass answers. The simple part is ordering the constructs to move on ahead again, to look around, though he can't quite check in through them with Lambert's next request.

"The fog, though... Let me see what I can do." With him focusing his magic elsewhere, the shadows are more or less moot, even if they do scurry on further in. Back where they're all actually standing, Childermass will step to the front of the group and hold a hand out in front of him, summoning up a firm wind from behind them, trying to force it into the form of a wall that he can continuously keep ahead of them to dam up the fog and push it away.

[osteothropy]

Sans's death sense has been, suffice to say, going off all over the place in the middle of a battleground. People are dying, both Wyld and Summer Fae, and he can't help but wonder at the gravity of what's going on right now. These beings have been alive for longer than most civilizations, and yet they came here to die for the same cause as them.

Weird.

What's less weird and more horrifying is the immediate sense he gets upon entering the fortress. He can usually sense when a death is incoming, but here it is just a pervasive sense of >everything dying. The end of all things.

If the necessity of this situation were any less, he'd be grabbing people and trying to run. But is there anywhere to go? If this power is unleashed, it will get them no matter where they are in this place.

"We gotta move," he rasps, pushing forward. "We don't have time."

[anti_nonsense]

Nightshade's disappearance receives a simple scoff from Rita. It figures she wouldn't stick around for the hard part.

At Lambert's request, she scrunches her face as she stares into the oppressive fog and attempts to make sense of what she sees.

"I don't know if I'd call it a trap, but if I had to find a word for it, the essence of magic here... it's like death." She looks dissatisfied with her own word choice, as if she was hoping to relay something less vague, but in the end, that's just what it looks like.

[npcarnival]

The shadow constructs will make it a bit ahead of the group, revealing that it quickly opens into a large underground room, filled with fog and glowing red light. Not long after that, though, the constructs will decay - breaking apart as if they fallen to dust.

The wind pushes the fog around, and while it clears the air a bit, there isn't much space to push it away to. Everything in here is filled with it, like the inside of a burning house. You can't escape the smoke completely unless you leave.

The dryness of the fog will progress to a prickly itch as they pause to observe, though the relative clearness of the spot helps a bit. Still, it doesn't seem to function exactly as fog would - it's magical, after all.

The sound of something massive moves up ahead, its mere presence enough to shake the foundations. Gon will feel an awareness come upon him, though it isn't entirely friendly. Despite his assurances, there seems to be something else pushing back again him - and his close spiritual presence causes his soul to burn.

"It is Death," Ignatius says, and the way it shakes him shows in his voice, despite him trying to pull back. "You..." He looks at Rita, a certain desperation in his glance. "We won't last here for long. We have to act now!"

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya shudders at the pervasive sense of decay--his sense of it isn't as strong as others, but he can tell there's something unpleasant seeping into his body. Ignatius all but confirms it's like a poison.

"Then let's find our way to her. This is our only chance." He looks to the others before setting the start of a portal under his feet. "I'll carry as many across as I can. There is no sense running through it."

He turns back around, narrowing his eyes before focusing on teleporting himself ahead. He'll try and navigate closer to the light, what's hopefully the Ringmaster--and at least a spot that's just as clear as the beginning to set the other side of the portal to.

[moonfang]

Zangetsu, as intimately close to Gon and Gon's body as he is, can feel that burning on Gon's soul. Nope. It's gotten way too dangerous -- and if Gongenzaka's soul is burned away, there will be no saving him.

A grey, eyeless, blunt-toothed worm will appear before Gon in the spiritual space, and it speaks in Zangetsu's voice.

"Time to wake up."

The worm doesn't give Gon a chance to respond -- it swallows him whole, and Gon will find himself back in control of his body with Zangetsu, once again physical, on his back.

"I ain't lettin' you die, idiot."

He jumps off and surrounds himself in his own energy, hoping to cut the miasma of death, even if it's just a bit.