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. ]

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[hippocarnival]

[Easier, huh? That's enough of an explanation for Yuya--he assumes the basin is the same deal.

He leans against the edge of the table as Strange prepares the basin, idly looking over all his notes (thst he probably can't read if they're English).] You said you could identify magic--will you be able to see it if it works?

[Yuya's sure he can feel when it does, but a second opinion won't hurt since there's no visual cues.]

[kingsroads]

[ Yeah, they're 100% English, sorry Yuya. There's probably a few shitty drawings in there if he looks hard enough. Strange can't draw worth a damn so it's a lot of variations on 'maybe this is a tree?' and 'well it has four legs' cause whoops, the labeling is in English.

Walking back to the basin, Strange pours the water from the pitcher into the basin, muttering under his breath as he does so. Strange moves his finger over the basin, tracing it into four sections. A light glows as Strange traces those lines. He repeats that gesture once more and then, visible in the basin is the exterior of Yuya's trailer. ]

There we go. And yes, I should be able to see if it works. [ he hopes. ]

[hippocarnival]

Okay. [Yuya nods, putting his hands on the basin as he leans over to peer at the image. He moves his hands to hold them over the water and focus on his trailer. He thinks, of his ownership of the trailer, his claim, and the Fae that he wants to keep out--the Rose Queen.

Strange may notice the magic concentrating around his hands, gesturing before it disperses away to form itself as a barrier.

A barrier not around his trailer, but the basin. This is now an anti-fae basin.]

[kingsroads]

[ Strange does notice the magic. This is magic he faintly remembers from Portland, so he's able to piece out that much. Likewise, there's a bright feeling to it that his mind supplies as Yuya's. So as Yuya casts the spell, he's able to piece out just what the kid can do...

...aaaaand that it's just formed around the basin. ]

There's good news and bad news. The theory of the spell worked, but in practice...I'm afraid it's limited to my scrying basin.

[ So the spell doesn't work long distance! That's still good to know! Strange doesn't seem put out or annoyed, he's just looking at the basin as if somehow examining the magic will be able to tell him what went wrong. ]

[hippocarnival]

Eh? [Yuya scrutinizes the basin. Yeah... yeah that didn't work quite right. He scratches his head.] I guess it only works if I can reach it.

[The magic pulls around him first after all, though Yuya's not savvy enough about magic to catch onto that detail. He pulls the paper out of his pocket again.] I didn't really read about the magic behind the spell, just how to do it.

[kingsroads]

The magic was coming from your hands, [ Strange adds in, as if this reply makes perfect sense. Which is interesting. Unlike Strange's English magic which mostly serves as the go-between from Strange to elements, this magical power was coming directly from Yuya himself. ]

It obviously doesn't have to be physical touch, but perhaps it's based on proximity as well as sight of what you're targeting. What if you try to ward a building that you can see, but you're further away from?

[hippocarnival]

We were always at least a few feet close to the buildings. I don't know what the limit is, but it might be less because I'm not a magician. [Just a kid with one useful spell.] Why would we need to do it from far away?

[kingsroads]

[ That...is a good question. ]

We want to find the limits of the spell, don't we? How else can we do that if we don't try every possibility!

[ Strange wants to find the limits of the spell. Whether Yuya does or doesn't is a whole different story. ]

[hippocarnival]

[Strange is the nerd here, Yuya just cares about it working. But it's the same approach he takes with duel monsters, so he gets the idea.] That's true... does that mean we should be writing everything down?

[kingsroads]

I've got plenty of pencil and paper here. [ And Strange is already off to grab a pencil and a half-assed notebook made up of multiple sheets of paper stapled together. ]

I can take notes and then make you a copy!

[hippocarnival]

Uh--[Yuya glances down at the notes on the table again.] I should probably write my own. I don't think I can read yours.

[kingsroads]

[ Whether it's because of the 'not knowing English' or the 'Strange's terrible handwriting' thing, he's not so sure but hey, not gonna press that point. ]

Well, here. Take this pencil and paper. I've got a notebook of my own that I write down all sorts of things in--I can devote a page or two of that to your spell. I just need another pencil...

[ And back to the table he goes to try and find another pencil in the organized chaos. ]

[hippocarnival]

[It is definitely the language barrier, when Yuya doesn't even offer his own notes to Strange. He takes the pencil and paper, watching Strange attempt to find his own pencil for a second before he nudges some of the current papers aside to have room to write himself.

Idly, while he's scribing:] Is there a way to write... faeish? [He's fairly certain that's the name of the language they communicate with in the carnival. He's never actually tried given the lack of needing to leave notes up until now. If he's ever needed to leave Tamaki a message, they both read Japanese anyway.]

[kingsroads]

Oh, I'm sure there is. I just don't know it.

[ Strange, king of writing flowy letters, has just been assuming that everybody can read English because that's what you do when you're a clueless middle-aged white guy.

Finding a pencil, he pulls out a dog-eared notebook from his coat pocket and starts to scribble a few notes down on one of the pages. ]

I suspect the Ringmaster would know, but I also suspect she's quite busy at the moment. [ what with the whole not being dead thing. ] We'll have to ask her later.

[hippocarnival]

[He stops writing for a moment, tapping his pencil against the paper as he considers that.] It probably bothered her, too. What happened in Portland. She forgot everything too, didn't she?

[kingsroads]

She did. [ There's a pause before the gossip train continues. ] Did you ever run into the Wyld Fae known as the Beast? That was her.

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya nods.] We didn't really talk, but she helped raid the Rose Queen's Gardens with us.

[A pause.] She turned into a dragon and it was awesome.

[kingsroads]

Have I told you about the time we cast a spell and she rained fire down on Satan?

[ Strange will agree with that assessment, the Ringmaster is hella awesome. ]

[hippocarnival]

No. [Yuya leans over. If Strange is leading like that obviously this story is cool and not traumatic (probably).] Tell me!

[kingsroads]

[ What happened after was a bit traumatic. But the ritual itself? Fucking AWESOME. ]

A while ago, some of the carnival's enemies burned a demonic sigil into the carnival's outer grounds. The Ringmaster brought together six of us in order to help remove the sigil. Five of us, the most magically powerful members of the carnival, were to serve as points of a pentagram to help hold open the portal the Ringmaster was trying to open. The sixth, Lambert, was there to...well, to murder anything that tried to come through said portal.

[ it's a bit less climactic when it's 'oh yeah and Lambert stabbed things.' Still, there's a tone of awe in Strange's voice as he continues. ]

Once the ritual started, the portal opened to somewhere, most likely Hell. Fire and brimstone licked the edges. I'm honestly not sure what was there to begin with and what was the Ringmaster's, but that should only tell you the danger she was facing. As we held the portal open, she grew wings, started speaking in a foreign tongue, and fired a blast of pure magical power directly though the portal and directly towards the devil's lair!

[ Strange is a pretty good storyteller, voice rising at all the right places, adding a few dramatic flourishes, delivering the right inflections at the right time and finishing off at the right place...and not telling Yuya that they still had to deal with hell nonsense even through the Ringmaster tried to magically punch the devil in the face. Though, Strange does have one last awkward addition. ]

She also told Satan to, ah, 'eat shit.'

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya folds his arms over the edge of the basin, listening with rapt attention. Strange is very good at saying the story with flair, and it fictionalizes it enough that Yuya doesn't think about the terrible violence in relation to the carnival members.

It takes a moment before his brain clicks the other pieces together and he remembers--] That was the thing with the vampires, wasn't it? In hell.

[kingsroads]

Sort of. That helped lead up to our trip to hell. The vampires placed the sigil, the Ringmaster retaliated, the vampires retaliated by kidnapping and turning some members of our company, so the Ringmaster retaliated again by launching a rescue mission and an attack on hell.

[ There is a lot of he said she said sort of bullshit behind this. Though, in Strange's mind, the main cause of the problem still lies on the vampires' shoulders. ]

[hippocarnival]

I hope that's not going to happen with the fae... [He frowns.] Gongenzaka said the vampires are gone now. Completely?

[kingsroads]

I don't know if the vampires are gone completely, but they're certainly a diminished threat. The Ringmaster...erm, ate their leader.

[ Literally. ]

I imagine it'll take some time for them to regroup and regain their strength.

[hippocarnival]

Wh--ate them? Like, swallowed and everything?! [Wh. What the fuck.]