[The radios will glow green as the Ringmaster begins a broadcast.]

Welcome back to the carnival, everyone. Things may look the same as before, but I assure you, there is no stone that has been left unturned or tree that hasn't been uprooted. We'll have no more stalkers from here on out.

There are a few things of relevance that I have to tell you about. Firstly, Ignatius is no longer in the moon. Instead, he's been relocated to a small island in the middle of the lake. He can't leave it, and you aren't allowed to visit it without my permission. If you do, and he wounds you, you can consider it your own fault.

In a related matter, I've decided to invest my magical energies into granting each of you a ressurection egg, as we clearly can't anticipate any peaceful resolutions from this. If you don't know what that means, it's essentially a ritual spell I'll need your help in completing - once it's done, it will bring you back to life if you happen to perish, but only once. Also, you will have to be in the egg long enough to regrow and hatch. This is no small favour on my part, and it won't work unless your soul can make it back to the egg.

Thirdly, after calling in several favours, I think the location of Eden is almost within view. A few allies will be joining us over the next week and giving us more information. Until then, carry on about your business, as there are some new things you'll have to get used to.

We're going to be organizing the Supervisor guided departments differently from now on. I have explained the details to the Supervisors, and they can fill you in on what will be expected of you. There will not be only six categories: Militia, Acquisitions, Engineering, Management, Administration, and Medical.

Supervisors, feel free to sound off with what group you are leading and what it is for.

[Honestly, it isn't his fault he doesn't have hammer space or fancy magic to use for hiding stuff. Tyki didn't have to suggest he should contribute some other way like he had something to make up for when the topic of assuring the rest of the Carnival that the situation was under control came up; any one of them could have done that! But in the end there wasn't a graceful way to weasel out of it, so here Shima is, sighing and clicking his radio on to the public channel once they'd made it back to camp and had some rest.

The aggressive cheer in his voice poorly disguises the put upon tone to his announcement.]

Mooorning everybody~

Shima again. I'm sure some of ya've been wondering what's been up with that fae that our last team captured 'n got the Ringmaster ta eat. Well, good news, she's fine now 'n the eating was temporary.

Iggy-san is doing less hot, but he's alive 'n we've got him inside, uh... I guess it was a beach moon? Not sure how that works. But yeah, for whatever reason, since I fit the Ringmaster's criteria for a person suitable ta bring along for a chat with him, here's a first hand account that his powers have been stripped and he's successfully contained 'n not leaving the Carnival for a while.

Take a sigh of relief, or brace yourselves. Whichever!

[Having kept an idle ear on the public channel for the last week and gotten a better idea of what to actually look for, Shima chimes in again today after coming across a rolled up scrap of scroll among the Scribe's writings.]

Hey guys, more news for ya. Maybe bad news? Unless RM-san's got some kind of amnesia thing going on and just doesn't remember being the last piece, [--that's a joke, mostly--] sounds like our last Miracle can run from us.

"The third, a Beast with a coat and blood of Red, with thoughts and dreams to match its will. As a being of Birth and Decay, its life was its own. It could not be held by the hands of its creator, and fled to the wild, seeking the freedom it was denied."

Looks like it escaped on its own.

[Usually when Peridot speaks up on the network, she's pretty perky and authoritative. NOT THIS TIME. HAHA.]

Ssssso... I don't want to cause a panic or anything, but there's not exactly an easy way for me to break this news to everyone, so I'm just going to come right out and say it:

I may have kind of, sort of... absolutely found proof in the Scribe's collections that the Summer Court is tracking us. And by the Summer Court, I mean specifically the Rose Queen and Ignatius and all their cronies from Portland are tracking us. And they know we have the Blue Rose.

....

Sorry.

...This is Peridot, by the way.

-----

[Mingle and threadjack as you please!]

"With the power of the Silver Mirror, the Nephalem Lilith was able to create a realm according to their desires - a realm where the Beasts could devise the Soul that would lead them, and build a perfect world. While the rest of the multiverse spiraled into Chaos, Lilith aspired towards Perfection."

[ It had taken a bit to scour the book for any other bit of information once he'd gotten it back from one of the stupidest book specters he had to misfortune of running into but now that he has, here he is, reading the first bit over the radio.

Following that, he adds, asking, ]

Has anyone else found something regarding a mirror? I believe this may be one of the miracles but confirmation would be nice to have.

[ ooc, feel free to threadjack as needed ]

'evening, Carnival!

Since we'll want ta help each other out while we're out here in the stacks, 'n since not all of us have been here years or however long you vets have been hanging in there, why don't ya introduce yourselves before ya read off anything interesting ya've found? Seems like a good time ta get ta know each other, right~?

I'll start!

Shima Renzou, reporting! And rright nnoowww.. [A pause and there's a shuffling of loose papers, possibly being rolled on or swum through.] I've found the biggest mountain of old newspaper clippings I've ever seen. Do Fae have newspapers? Ah, some of it might be poems--let's see...

"A few young sages one bright day..."

'Sages' is promising, right?

"Disputed, doth an old tale say,
Which is the prettiest part of women:"

Oooh...

"Some said the cheeks, and some the eyes,
And so they sought the beauteous Lais,
And asked her to award the prize.
The lady said, perhaps displeased,
These thoughts I cannot understand.

"If you could have them where you pleased,
I wonder where you'd put your hand?
'Twould be, you would see,
On their..."

...Oops, ehehe! I can't say that out loud ♥


((ooc: Mingle! This post is for sharing readings with everyone--dumb stuff, little plot stuff, 'anonymous' CR-related stuff to accidentally embarrass people in the carnival if you've found something on them, whatever your character might put on the air. Thread jumping encouraged! Shima will respond to anyone to who addresses him directly, feel free to show up just to roll your eyes at him.))

Wait a minute.

You mean that part about staying here and working for a year was actually true?

I thought I could just, you know, sign and leave. Like, hell no I wasn't actually gonna stay! Even if I did kind of break something.

[Jinx, that's not how magical contracts work. You really should know this by now.]

Can I get a do over?

[There's some unintelligible squeaking noises in the background. And Jinx just sighs.]

Yes, Kuro. I know this isn't the first time I've signed without reading.

[If only you could hear how hard she is eyerolling right now.]

Who asked you?

So... ripped from my homeworld, semi-brainwashed by some prince guy, now I work in a circus, blah blah blah. I can roll with it. So, what now? We just sit around and wait for the next show, or disaster, or whatever?

[ There's a long, weary, blatantly over-dramatic sigh, as though the thought is the single most painful thing in the world for him. As if some major event hadn't just come to a close that people might still be reeling from. Not his problem, he's bored now. ]

I hate waiting. How's a guy supposed to get his kicks around here? Someone, be my knight in shining armor and save me from the shackles of boredom. I'm dying, here!

[ You would think someone trying to make a good first impression might offer to help, or present himself politely, or at least you know say his freaking name, but.

Well.

He ain't much on making good impressions. ]

Don't keep me waiting.

[ There are a lot of things people need to do right now: help the Prince's servants get resettled, get started on figuring out who can work on a cure for the petrification, deal with the trauma of dying in a hopefully healthy and non-self-destructive way, show the new people the ropes of what the Carnival has to work with.

Instead, in the morning of the second day since the Prince was defeated, anyone on the radio gets this: ]

So, I've been wondering.

[ The Nightrider's voice, for those who recognize it, has definitely been better. It's a low, hoarse rasp, and the pause at the end is not just for effect, but to actually catch his breath. ]

Just how old is everyone here, anyway? Here, I'll start. I'm ... pretty sure I'm almost sixty. [ A beat. ] ... Maybe.

[ Why did anyone let this man have his radio back again? ]

[ ooc; Lambert's flat on his back in the medical tent for this, feel free to bug him in person and threadjack each other at will. ]