public channel - D148 - fae jargon 101

[kingsroads]

If anyone, older member or newer arrival, wants information on... [ oh lord, this is going to take a while. Strange sighs slightly before obviously reading off a list of terms he's written down. ] Arcadia, the Rose Queen, Ignatius, Nightshade, the Count of Crows, Frost, the Summer Court, the Winter Court, how faerie court hierarchies work, the Wyld Fae, or the Beast, then I'll be happy to tell you what I know. I picked up some knowledge from my time in Portland and through conversations with the fae here and, for obvious reasons, don't want to bore all of you with far too many details and speculations at once.

[ There's a pause, partly to catch his friggen breath, before Strange continues talking. ]

I can at least explain Portland, though--for our new arrivals, of course. It's a city where the carnival was recently trapped for a month. Many members had their memories altered and believed they lived in the city for their entire lives. It was a...trying experience.

[ Understatement of the century. Strange sighs, like he's steeling himself for what he's going to say next. ]

Portland had it's own set of fae, some of whom I mentioned in my previous list. Plenty of the carnival members have ill-will towards those fae, who seemed determined to vex us and ruin our lives during that month. And despite the fact that we've left that world, I've a feeling that we'll see those fae again. Now that the Severing's removed, they can travel to different worlds the same way the Ringmaster can. And it wouldn't surprise me if some tried to reclaim what or who they believe they lost.

[ how dramatic! And quite possibly the worst way to end a broadcast as Strange just flips the radio off then and there. He has absolutely no clue how to best END the broadcast so not being cryptic is officially for chumps. ]

Comments

[hippocarnival]

Huh... I haven't even heard of any of those places until now. [Well, except hell but even that was a very brief conversation.] Were some of them really that bad?

[He knows Vampire Hell was terrible, but if the carnival is in a major disaster every other month...]

[kingsroads]

The Matrix was horrible. [ Strange grumps. ] Of course, I was mad throughout most of it which didn't help matters, but that doesn't change the fact that I'd rather not go back there in the first place.

[ Just dropping that 'oh by the way, I used to be crazy' like it ain't no big deal. ]

[hippocarnival]

What were you so mad about? [Wrong mad. He's also still not sure what the Matrix even is...]

[kingsroads]

Not an 'angry' sort of mad. It was more of a 'lunatic' sort of mad. And I was mad because I drunk from my tonic of madness, of course.

[ Poor Yuya's slowly learning that Strange is absolutely awful at explaining things. ]

[hippocarnival]

[Strange's tonic of madness, as if that's just a normal thing. Which, for Strange, it probably is.]

... Why?

[kingsroads]

[ This is a little bit of Strange just being a shit to be a shit, trying to wig out Yuya because he can. ]

To broaden the scope of my magic, of course! At least in my world, madmen can naturally see faeries. I made myself mad in order to summon one.

[hippocarnival]

That's... [So real Strange's decision making is as terrible as Portland Strange's... should he be worried?] Has that ever actually turned out good for you?

[kingsroads]

It's led me to where I am now. I'd say that, at least in that regard, its turned out wonderfully.

[ Just......not in any other regard. Strange's track record is abysmal. ]

[hippocarnival]

That's not what I meant. [He grumbles a little, because after what Nightshade did he thinks that maybe Strange should stop meddling in completely random Fae at all. Not all of them were trustworthy, or safe.] You're not going to try summoning any more fae, are you?

[kingsroads]

I won't. [ And this, he says, 100% seriously. ] I gave my word that I wouldn't summon any more fae during my stay at the carnival and I intend to keep that. The only reason I summoned Nightshade was because I couldn't remember giving my word in the first place.

[hippocarnival]

That's good. [If it wasn't basically strike three, he'd be a lot less worried. But after what Nightshade did to him...] What made you so interested in fairies anyway?

[kingsroads]

They're an integral part of magic in my world. The Raven King, the man who helped bring magic to England, was raised in faerie. Likewise, magicians of old often had alliances with the fae or used faerie servants to help cast their magic. With the revival of English magic, my mentor sought to eradicate any mention of the Raven King or faeries from our methods. I disagreed.

[ An awkward pause before. ]

Though I still disagree with his reasoning, I can see it's merit now.

[ Something which he REALLY HATES TO ADMIT, b/c up yooooours Gilbert Norrell, this isn't Strange still being petty, not at all. ]

[hippocarnival]

[No wonder Strange seems to be Mr. Know It All for this stuff, if he's known about it that long. They weren't anything more than fiction in his world. The word 'servant' weighs a little more heavily to him, remembering what happened in Portland.]

There are nice fairies... [He relents. He's still got a good opinion of the Ringmaster after all.] But the bad ones are really dangerous, and pretending they're not there isn't going to make them go away. Right?

[So Strange running around driving himself crazy to talk to fairies was a horrible idea, but so was trying ignore their existence.] Maybe the problem is always trying to put each other in contracts and servitude, instead of getting along as people?

[kingsroads]

I'd say that's correct. [ After all, he gets along tremendously well with the Ringmaster...but also knows she's the exception to prove the rule.

Though that getting along thing...yeesh why is he dealing with so many idealists today. ]

Getting along, however, is harder than it seems. There aren't many examples of humans and faeries treating each other as equals to begin with. And because of that, any attempt at an alliance most likely involves both parties trying to one-up the other.

[hippocarnival]

But if we don't try and understand each other, nothing will change. [It'll just be cyclical conflict, and Yuya thinks that understanding someone's feelings does wonders for their ability to relate and co-exist.

There's a pause as he tries to find his words for this.] I don't think there needs to be any alliance or... trading, or proving ourselves. What if you just talked to them like you would anyone else? About things that they like and who they are, not just what they do.

[kingsroads]

A wonderful idea which again, would depend entirely on the fae one talks to. I know Nightshade wasn't the sort for idle conversation and I doubt the Rose Queen would be either.

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya lets out a huff of breath. A part of him wants to see if that bridge can't be smoothed out before the conflict escalates and his friends are hurt even worse, but he can guess how well that idea would go over with the rest of the carnival.

Still, maybe he can forge a better relationship with new fae that they run into. Maybe they'd also like not being approached like solutions to people's whims.]

What else can we do to make them leave us alone?

[kingsroads]

[ Thaaaaaat's a good question. ]

I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. I've a feeling they'll leave the carnival alone, but there aren't that many ways to extend something like that spell you used in Portland around individual people once they leave the carnival.

[hippocarnival]

So you think they'll follow the carnival and wait for us to leave? [Conniving. And likely.

He sighs.] My spell works for places, but I've never tried it on anything but buildings. I think it still needs some sort of fence to enter, and you can't enter people...

[kingsroads]

Well that depends. [ Oh lord, here we go. ] You can't physically enter people, but magic certainly can. With a few modifications of course, perhaps your spell could block magic as well?

[hippocarnival]

[Here comes the magic talk. Yuya's no good at keeping up with it, but this is different. This is something he can use to protect his friends, so he knows he needs to try harder.]

Maybe? I think I already block magic, because it--[He pauses, having at least enough sense to maybe not blab about Childermass's deal on the radio given how distasteful he found its association with the Winter Court.] Uh, it works on magic.

Would you be able to help me? Figure out how to modify the spell. [Strange knows a helluva lot more about magic than he does.]

[kingsroads]

[ There will always be the magic talk. ]

Certainly! I'll have to see the spell in action first, however, so I'll know what exactly we should do. What time works best for you?

[ Because of COURSE Yuya's giving a magic demonstration, why wouldn't he ]

[hippocarnival]

Uh... I guess any time is fine? I'm not doing any performances while we're in the Summerlands. I can take a break from practicing any time.

[kingsroads]

In that case, I'll bother you one evening after I perform. After all, that would probably be easiest.

[ and thus Yuya gets two people in his life who don't believe in using doors. ]

--> [action]

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya is absolutely unaware how many people there really are that can just waltz in without using the door, and only one of them has any manners.

So when Strange decides to drop by Yuya isn't even looking up from his spot laying down on the couch, scrawling on a piece of paper with his duel disk propped against his legs to give himself a stable surface to write.]