[Day 60, Afternoon]

[whattaprick]

[ By the time the radio turns on it’s about an hour after Lambert’s group has returned and reported their findings to the Ringmaster. Now it’s just a matter of letting everyone else know. It’s Syrlya who speaks first. ]

As most of you are aware, the Summer and Winter Courts have pursued the carnival into the Athenaeum and taken some of our people hostage.

[ “Hostage" is a nice way to say permanent enslavement.] According to the Scribe and Curator, the lifelike and antagonistic nature of the books found here is the library’s defense against intruders, and it is under our control.

And has been under our control this entire time. [Tyki’s voice chimes in, at this point. To which he’s not bitter at all about it. This entire mess could’ve possibly been avoided.] Our will has been controlling the stories to a certain victory each time we have been swallowed up by one. It should be comforting to know that they cannot use the stories against us. They have not been given these defenses.

If we cast the Fae into our own narrative, the magic should be strong enough to combat them. We will be bound to the same story, so we cannot allow them to turn its favor or-- [And this he sounds less certain about.] --break the confines of the story ourselves.

It should be noted as well that the story cannot be entirely unbelievable. To play the part, it must seem plausible. One cannot just snap their fingers and a fae is weakened, for example. Something like that will allow them to break the story. The narrative must be consistent and convincing.

[ The Nightrider finally speaks. There’s an edge of tension to his voice, but otherwise, he’s pretty composed. ]

The good news is, this means you don't have to be a fighter to help. Bad news is, we still have to figure out how we're going to do it, who's going or staying, and if we're dealing with the Courts together or one at at time. We need to come up with something fast -- I don’t want them to give time to figure out their own plans. Catching them by surprise is the best chance we’ve got, so working together in groups makes the most sense.

If you have any useful ideas, now’s the time to share them.

[ And 9S chimes in: ] If anyone wants to hear the exact exchange we had with the Scribe and Curator, I can provide a recording for your viewing.

I said useful ideas.

[ ooc: this is mainly an ic planning post! ooc plotting post to follow to organize things more formally, but feel free to threadjack each other, form up groups of your own, all that good stuff to work out where your character will be. ]

Comments

[worldlyafflictions]

Good ta hear! Okumura-kun did something crazy and got ya pretty good, so I figured I'd ask. Getting some food 'n water in ya will probably help with the KO hangover if ya haven't already!

[atouts]

I'll see about getting something at the cookhouse. [ Since he's already meeting 9S there, may as well. ] But what was that, exactly, that Mr. Okumura hit me with?

[worldlyafflictions]

Haha, uuh..

[It's almost reflex to want to obfuscate here, but with what he's heard about of past Carnival adventures and everything else that just happened, it's not like the details will surprise anyone.]

Demon fire, basically! He borrowed the soul-burning aspect from my familiar 'n kinda doubled-down with his own it looked like. Wasn't totally necessary, technically, but he doesn't control his fire as well as actual full-time demons so makes sense ta have help.

[atouts]

Soul-burning... Is that why I woke up less burnt than one might expect? Physically, I mean.

[ He should probably ask about that whole soul-burning thing, though. That sounds... bad. ]

[worldlyafflictions]

[Offering an answer in advance since Childermass had repeated that with such measured concern.]

I wouldn't worry about the soul stuff. It leaves a smell but if you're awake already you'll recover! [As far as he knows, anyway.]

Though ya normally wouldn'ta had any physical injuries at all.

[atouts]

A smell... [ Shima, what even. Well, it's no real matter. His soul is messed up enough already, so sure, may as well throw that in. ] Normally. I take it what burning there was had more to do with Mr. Okumura's fire, then?

[worldlyafflictions]

[a little hellfire scent never hurt anybody. Sorta. Okay demonstrably not true for one ice hydra in Aomori BUT. it'll probably fade after a bit.]

He's hit me with it before and all it did was poof around me cause he's gotta focus on what ta burn, physical or not. So it coulda been bad focus, it could be ta do with how much of you was you at the time [not an alarming prospect at all], coulda just been the library's influence too from the sound of it.

I wouldn't call it a thought out plan, he just kinda moved, so...

How bad is it, actually?

[atouts]

Could have been none of those things. [ He doesn't even want to know what Shima means by how much as him was him at the time. He's pretty sure it was just him, at least. ] Aside from some singed sleeves, it was barely anything. The worst of it came from everyone else overreacting.

[ aka ruining his shirt in rush to see how bad it wasn't. ]

[worldlyafflictions]

Mr. Nightrider-san? [He says that extremely conspiratorially, totally implicating Lambert in something with just that tone alone.]

[atouts]

[ Shima, why that tone at all... ]

Among others, yes.

[ Technically not a lie. Peridot was there, too, just infinitely less upset. ]

[worldlyafflictions]

[He's curious about the gossip potential, can you blame him?]

Guess I oughta apologize ta them for the scare then, whenever everybody's done running around.

[He's not super committed to that idea, but it seems like the thing to say.]

[atouts]

[ There's so much gossip potential but Childermass is being vague about it all, for very good reasons. ]

That won't be necessary. Seeing how it ultimately saved my life, they will just have to get over it.