Lost Carnival Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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lostcarnival2019-01-16 02:56 pm
ringleaders) wrote in lostcarnival2019-01-16 02:56 pm
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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.
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. |
no subject
"I don't think anyone's laughing at much of anything," Lambert shrugs, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. Though it does seem like a much smaller problem compared to, well, all their other problems.
"So, uh, has anyone else caught you up on everything, or..." The witcher considers if there's really any good way of offering it, but there isn't, so he just gives up and goes for it, gesturing vaguely at his head (and by extension, the unfortunately metallic horns attached to it). "Do you just wanna take a look?"
no subject
"...I have some idea," she says, uncomfortably. "When... we were in the Wyldlands... I connected with Steven's mind through the Blue Rose, and..."
She sighs.
"If you're offering, it may be easier than trying to explain the details. Nothing I received before was particularly clear."
She moves forward, and very tentatively touches his face, though she seems reluctant to proceed.
no subject
"Just try not to poke around in there too much, or you might see a few things Childermass would rather keep private."
Of course, now that he's said that, he's also actively thinking of said things, which very likely isn't a good idea. In an effort to quash those down before the Ringmaster can get started on her memory dive, Lambert asks--
"Is there anything you need me to do while you're in there?"
no subject
"...This is my fault," she says. "All of this."
She can't bear to look.
no subject
"That's a little greedy, isn't it?" he chides, still trying to keep his voice light even as he gives her the best approximation of a comforting hand-squeeze that he can. "You could at least leave some fault for the rest of us. It helps," he adds, in case that needed to be clarified. "Sharing it around."
no subject
"I just feel like such a fool," she says. "After everything I tried to do, all I did was allow myself to be used again. And then... I let all of that become your problems." She shakes her head slowly. "I should have given up and sent you all home before it ever got to this point. I just... didn't want to believe it was over..."
She sniffles and looks away.
"And now I'm probably only making things worse by making you this offer. It just didn't seem fair... the Miracles... everything is as much yours as it is mine."
no subject
"Uh, I can say with complete sincerity I don't have any conflict about accepting a power that has a decent chance of keeping me and the people I care about from getting killed or kidnapped again," Lambert says sincerely, though, given what they just dug the Ringmaster out of, that statement is obviously a bit conditional. Probably best to move on before she can point that out.
"I'm not going to pretend I have any idea what it's like to be as old as you are, or what it's like to have your problems," he adds, quickly, ears and tail flicking slightly. "...But they must have been pretty bad. You don't kill who you used to be and forget everything for no reason, right?"
It's still weird, thinking of her as the Red Beast. She'll still be the Ringmaster to him no matter what.
no subject
"...I don't remember much of it. I don't think there is much to remember. Just... that to keep out of the Huntsman and Court's hands, the Phoenix spent most of her time in solitude..."
She's not sure if using third person there is accurate but it's easier at the moment.
"For much, much longer than I remember being alive as who I am now. Since the beginning of time..."
That's a big thought, even for an immortal fae.
no subject
Helping a functionally timeless being reinvent herself isn't exactly the act of a charitable stranger, is it? They must have been more than that.
"You haven't had a chance to talk to him yet, right?"
no subject
"I suppose I'll have to try at some point. See if anything is different, now that I know. He must have been very serious about keeping it a secret, for it to only come out now..."
no subject
"Though I don't know if I'd worry too much about it. He said we were probably more kin to you than he is, by now." He hadn't thought much of it at the time, but he watches her reaction curiously, wondering if that means more to a Wyld Fae than it does to him.