⇨ POLARIS AFTERMATH POLL

[npcarnival]

WHAT NOW: THE POLL↴ The carnival has emerged victorious after a heated and exhausting battle with the Mother of Invention. Her soul has been torn asunder, and her body destroyed. Gild and a team of allies have arrived via airship, and will reveal that they have been camping outside of the base for days, aiding in the planning and execution of an escape plan. In total, there is Gild, Samyaza, Alyss, Reyna, Shimmer, Scald, Moss, Kerubi the fox, and Brauni piloting the ship itself. How they all got here is a long story. They were intending on breaking in with it and grabbing everyone if it came down to it, but now it seems that they have the opportunity to do more good here than that. There are several issues that will arrive in the immediate aftermath of the struggle, and the characters will have to make some decisions on how to handle things going forward. Gild and Ignatius can provide some direction if needed, but ultimately neither of them want to force a decision in regards to any of this. (They most likely have some personal issues to work out between themselves, also.) ► WHERE TO STAY? At the very least the carnival will have to spend the next day and night resting, so that people can get back on their feet and so that Gild and Ignatius can recover their strength enough to go anywhere. This can either be done by staying inside the section of Polaris they've overtaken, or by going down to the Wyld Lands (which are apparently below where Polaris is floating) and camping out there. The Wyld Lands are potentially dangerous, but the two fae are confident they can defend an area long enough to camp. ► WHAT TO DO ABOUT POLARIS? In the aftermath of the Mother's death, the staff and prisoners of Polaris will be in a state of disruption and chaos. For staff, it will be really hard for them to accept that the Mother is actually gone and that this isn't some kind of test or trick, and for the prisoners, they are more or less still at the mercy of the staff overseeing them. The carnival has the choice to stick around for a few days and ease the process of liberating the station, by helping to overtake the Alphas and Betas clinging to power, and by basically spreading the news of the Mother defeat. They can also make sure the other test groups are actually released. Of course, they are not obligated to do this. They are free to just leave, as well, and hope that Polaris sorts itself out. If they do stay to deal with Polaris, most of this will be handwaved. Characters can simply declare what they are doing to help, and it will be done without challenge. ► WHAT DIRECTION TO TAKE? Gild's immediate impression is that people will want to help the Ringmaster (though this may not be true) and based on that her recommendations are that they could either write to the Summerlands and ask for help in doing so, or they can go there themselves and be a bit more forceful. The Summer Maiden is notoriously passive, so Gild believes that she will be reluctant to help her own girlfriend, which is annoying. If they head straight through the Wyld Lands they may gain the element of surprise, of course, and go in there stealthily... but going it on their own could be difficult. Gild is willing to help either way. Ignatius doesn't seem to want to go to the Summerlands for various awkward reasons, but ultimately he will bend to the public opinion. People need a break, he thinks, and they probably won't find it in the Wyld Lands. For those not interested in dealing with the Hunt at all, the fae will recommend going to the Summerlands, because at least they can have a break there until everyone figures out what to do. ► WANT A FAERIE CONTRACT? Once they are fully free of Polaris, Ignatius will consider the danger over and his contract with people will end. However, he will be open to offering protection for an extended period to anyone who wants it. The specifics are flexible - he really just wants the ability to look out for people in a patron sense. The Gilded Mark will also offer to be your patron, to take some of the burden off of Ignatius. Maybe this is a weird competition thing? Don't worry about it, it's there problem. Either way, both contracts will be flexible and mostly so that they can more easily lend you their power if necessary. Given that information, here are some poll questions. This is an IC poll, so please vote once for each character. If you don't reply, you'll be assumed to be 'undecided' or 'ambivalent'. Poll #20710 Where now? Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 28 View Respondents While doing other things, where do you want to stay for the next night or three? View Answers Stay in the secured section of Polaris. 19 (67.9%) Camp out in the Wyld Lands. 7 (25.0%) Either's fine. 2 (7.1%) How do you want to handle the Polaris situation? View Answers Stick around to dethrone the Alphas, spread the news, and make sure prisoners are released. 19 (70.4%) Leave these guys to their own devices for now and come back later. 2 (7.4%) Abandon ship and never come back/leave them all to die. 4 (14.8%) Undecided. 2 (7.4%) What direction do you want to take? View Answers Head straight for the Wyld Hunt and send a letter to the Summerlands asking for back up. 0 (0.0%) Go to the Summerlands and ask the Summer Maiden for help directly/hang out. 23 (82.1%) Something else? (Suggest in comments) 2 (7.1%) Undecided. 3 (10.7%) Do you want to take any fae protection? View Answers Sign on with Ignatius. 10 (35.7%) Sign on with Gilded Mark. 11 (39.3%) Undecided/Do not. 7 (25.0%)

Comments

ALTERNATIVE SUGGESTION: START A FUCKIN FIGHT

[kingsroads]

Even if they do manage to find and rez the Ringmaster, there's still at least three other fae who would like the carnival dead. Strange's suggestion is to kill two birds with one stone and try to start a Huntsman vs. Rose Queen fight. The idea is as follows:

- Get Gild or another fae to call an Elysium, just so people are magically bound to not start shit. If they're too weak right now, this can wait until more time has passed or they can chance it and not do an Elysium (though for reasons soon to be explained, Strange would really like Elysium).
- Strange attempts to summon Nightshade. If she shows up, some members of the carnival explain that because the Huntsman gave Steven to the Mother of Invention, Steven got tortured super badly. They lay the torture descriptions on REAL THICK and conveniently keep on going back to how the Huntsman made this happen, the Huntsman gave Steven to the Mother of Invention, the Huntsman knew this would happen, for an ally of the court the Huntsman sure didn't take Summer's wants into consideration, etc.
- Most notably, they don't ask for anything in return, just kindly ask if Nightshade could please tell this information to the Rose Queen.

The thought process is this: Rose Queen's bugnuts crazy and obsessed with Steven. If they emphasize how badly Steven got fucked up and how technically this is all the Huntsman's fault, it might piss off the Rose Queen enough that she'll get revenge against the Huntsman and start a fight. Likewise, Strange believes that Nightshade's bored and petty enough to tell Rose Queen the information in an attempt to start some shit.

There's a chance Nightshade won't show up to the summons and if she doesn't, no harm no foul. There's also a chance she won't act on the information but let's be real, people are going to learn the bit about the Huntsman and the Mother of Invention anyway, it's a small multiverse. Since this suggestion wouldn't take too long, it could be done in addition to whichever main idea wins out.

Re: ALTERNATIVE SUGGESTION: START A FUCKIN FIGHT

[spaghettimonster]

The Huntsman also gave Ignatius to the Mother, and look what's become of him for it - some bestial mix of Summer and Winter, now. The Huntsman's fucked Summer over in a couple ways.

Re: ALTERNATIVE SUGGESTION: START A FUCKIN FIGHT

[kingsroads]

Exactly! It's not lying, it's just creative omission of details that technically the way Ignatius got fucked over is Creation's/the carnival's fault.

[whattaprick]

I'd have to backread, but I thought the thread with the Hunstman implied that Summer thought that Ignatius was dead?

[impatientdefense]

Yeah, that's my impression too. Right now, on the Huntsman's word, Summer believes that Ignatius was killed by the Ringmaster.

They might not like the reality that the Huntsman lied to the Summer Court, and gave Ignatius up to the Winter Court - specifically to the Mother of Invention. And it's easy to assume that Ignatius was changed into some bizarre hybrid of fire, ice, and beast because of her experiments - she'd been aiming for that, anyway.

The difference between reporting somebody dead, while actually giving him to their ancient enemy for experimentation, is one that Summer might care about. That's a whopper of a lie that the Huntsman told. Wonder how many other Summer fae were `killed` like that, right?

(Probably none, but it's always fun to fan paranoia in people you're pushing to fight.)

[whattaprick]

Okay, I reread again/reviewed some OOC conversation and I'd misremembered it. The Huntsman can't have told the Summer Court since apparently they haven't been interested in his business in years! The only character who implied telling information to the Courts about Ignatius is the Mother of Invention here saying that's the excuse she'd use if she was called on it. They don't actually know the status of Iggy's rumored demise or lack thereof amongst the Courts in general.

The more relevant condemning info is less all this other stuff and more that the Huntsman made a bargain with the Winter Court that apparently included turning over all the Ringmaster's Carnies to the Mother of Invention, potentially at their Queen's behest.

"To the Mother of Invention I turn the spoils, to be held until thy Queen determines otherwise."

Anyway, as I recall now, it was casually said that if anyone told the Queen Iggy was dead/captured, it would have been Nightshade and the Rose Queen. They would've have to report his absence when they got back to the Court. Who knows what they said, though!

[spaghettimonster]

Oooh. That does make it all trickier.

[periphrasing]

[kingsroads]

Strange is not above trying to guilt trip Peridot/any of the other gems by pointing out just how fucked poor Steven is and how much better things would be if they could convince the Rose Queen to attack the Huntsman and maybe possibly hopefully get herself hurt in the process.

[periphrasing]

Strange if you think any level of guilt tripping is going to be enough to convince Peridot that informing Steven's batshit crazy fae mom of exactly where he's been and what he's been up to is a good idea, you are sadly mistaken.

[kingsroads]

They murdered a friggen True Fae, Peridot, it's gonna be pretty obvious what they've been up to!

[periphrasing]

Hey for all we know, as far as the Summer Court knows, the MoI just got murdered by a gaggle of her own changelings. Also, STEVEN BASICALLY HAS A STALKER PARENT, telling her any kind of information about him just sounds like a really bad idea.

For real tho even just suggesting this is going to make her SUPER mad, so I guess these two are back to locking horns again.

[betheman]

Gongenzaka would like to vote this down due to the fact that

> Nightshade is a shithead and should not even be trusted with message delivery thanks (Not quite his words, but he is Very Serious about this fact in particular screw you Nightshade)
> RQ super hates a lot of them, and will probably just decide to kill two birds in one stone
> Who's going to stop her from taking Steven!! They had the Athenaeum last time.

[kingsroads]

Strange firmly believes that even though Nightshade is a shithead, her wanting to get the Rose Queen hurt or wanting to just get out of the Rose Queen's thumb will take priority over not delivering a message for the sake of being a shit.

As for the other two points, Elysium should prevent Nightshade from doing anything then and there (as it's the 'don't start any shit' magic that the Count did to prevent everybody from killing each other when Winter, Summer & Carnival had their meeting in the Athenaeum). If they do something like summon her and give the talk on Polaris and then friggen book it to the Summerlands or the Wyld Lands immediately after Strange dismisses the summoning, it might be harder to track the crew.

[betheman]

Gon still seems super grimacy (But that's his natural state, clearly)...butttt he also didn't experience the Elysium...

He'll still note that it's still making it 'a little easier' for them to be found though, which is pretty worrying on its own.

[kingsroads]

tbf, all of Strange's Elysium knowledge is second-hand BUT HE SURE AS SHIT AIN'T TELLING GON THAT.

Strange points out that honestly, they should be working on the assumption that they can be found anyway because a: the main thing keeping them safe before was the Ringmaster, b: they did a murder, c: Ignatius is radiating some bonkers energy at the moment, d: both Igs and Gild are weakened at the moment (and Igs probably needs some time to get used to his entire friggen essence changing), and e: scrying is a thing, so might as well plan whatever they're planning like they expect the Rose Queen & the rest to show up at any moment.

[betheman]

Gon will...Probably ICly just frown at him at this point and ultimately declare that it'll be up to everyone whether they do it or not, and then walk off. HE REFUSES TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU STRANGE!!

[hippocarnival]

Yuya is pretty sure the Rose Queen already wants to trash the carnival themselves since they took Steven from her like, twice, and someone he's not naming names is cursed by her and will probably be a prime target for murder.

So how to they get the Rose Queen to actually fight the Huntsman and not just chase the Carnival down first with new vigor because she hates them and they physically have Steven? And then go after the Huntsman after when they're dead or enslaved and Steven is kidnapped. Again.

And if Strange summons Nightshade and she sees him his hiding charm won't work and Yuya's afraid she might try and take him and brainwash him again.

[kingsroads]

Strange will explain the concept of Elysium (which admittedly, he knows second hand so a few details are fuzzy): one fae holds power over a meeting and that prevents any other fae from starting anything or doing any aggressive actions during the meeting. It's what the Count used when the Ringmaster, Ignatius, the Rose Queen, Frost, etc. met up in the Athenaeum to discuss the Ringmaster murdering the Winter Queen. In theory, it should prevent Nightshade from trying anything or enthralling anyone.

As for the point about the Rose Queen, this is why they're using Nightshade as an intermediary and not summoning the Rose Queen herself. If he summoned the Rose Queen, they'd be fucked. But Strange has faith in Nightshade's ability to spin some details and leave some things out of her report so that she can also get what she wants: out from under the Rose Queen's thumb.

Likewise, not everybody has to be present during the summoning. If Steven and other people (that Strange is also not naming names) want to be away when this is happening, it's their prerogative. They've got two fae: if it's okay with Gild and Ignatius, one can host Elysium while the other looks over people who don't want to be anywhere near the summoning.

[hippocarnival]

But she would still know that Steven's with the carnival, right? Yuya's faced the Rose Queen a few times now, and he's seen how single-minded her obsession is. Nothing matters to her more immediately than just getting Steven (and probably the Blue Rose). He thinks as soon as she hears she'd try to retrieve him before enacting any sort of revenge, especially since she wants revenge on some of them here anyway. Maybe if the carnival didn't screw things up for her multiple times (freed her son, took the rose, took her sword, opened her realm--) there'd be less risk for the rest of them, but. Uh, she might see finding them as killing two birds with one stone herself.

Nightshade would have to actually lie, probably, and that would probably take forming an actual alliance or truce so that she's actually working in their favor. And he's kind of reluctant about that given her history of brainwash and torture.

[kingsroads]

He'll repeat basically what he said in the Gon thread: that Strange is pretty convinced she could find them anyway if she just put in some effort and also if they time this right (summon, explanation, desummon, get the hell out of Polaris and quickly drop their asses in the Summerlands/Wyld Lands) that can give them a head start.

Strange is a lot more okay with the idea of forming a truce with Nightshade mostly because he thinks she'll put her own self-interests over the rest of the Court (and also because, though he's not saying this, Iggy could totally kick her ass). There was a fair amount of bitching when he was stuck with her in Portland, Strange is pretty sure she'll take a chance to "accidentally" find a way to hurt RQ.

[whattaprick]

Lambert's a firm no on this, mostly because it relies on an awful lot of moving pieces they don't entirely understand. The Rose Queen attacking the Huntsman in his domain might look an awful lot like a war the Summer Court isn't willing to start, especially not over a faeblood. He's also pretty sure Nightshade will never do anything for free and while 'pettiness' may be a nice perk, it's not gonna replace 'actually gaining something for her trouble,' to say nothing of whether their acting skills actually convince her or not.

That being said, since apparently they're on the edge of the Wyld Lands closer to the Winter Court, Lambert really think s their bigger worry should be guarding against incursion by Winter. They're a lot closer, and from what the Huntsman was prattling about, they were actually working together.

[kingsroads]

Strange will say some slightly catty remark about how huh, funny how Lambert's perfectly fine with plans involving things he doesn't understand when he's the one suggesting them but not anybody else.

He sees it less as acting and more of 'telling her the objective truth': Steven got horribly tortured and his gem removed and probably got some Blue Rose agitated inside of him. If the Rose Queen's as much of a crazed stalker as everybody says she is, that should be more than enough to convince her to get revenge against the Huntsman or possibly Winter itself, Court affiliations be damned. As for Nightshade not doing anything for free, Strange is pretty convinced that if he's the one doing the summoning, she'll at least stick around and listen. It's not every day that a person you can't find just saunters up and metaphorically knocks on your door.

And again, he'll stress that there's absolutely nothing wrong with just telling her. The Summer Court's going to find out what happened to the carnival anyway because again, they straight up murdered a true fae. Why not give them this information on the carnival's terms?

[whattaprick]

Lambert's not going to dignify that with a comment, but since Strange is bringing up the murdered a true fae part, what exactly are they going to tell Nightshade about that or Ignatius?

[kingsroads]

The truth: instead of acting as an ally to the Courts and returning a prisoner of war to his kingdom, the Huntsman deposited a Summer Court fae in the hands of the Winter Court. And, instead of returning Ignatius to his proper place as a general of the Summer Court or treating him with all the dignity that a Court Fae deserves, the Mother of Invention decided to cruelly and barbarically torture him. There was a fight and ""tragically"", the Mother of Invention fell during the fight.

Just with a few omitted details: don't tell her about the fact that Ignatius's domain has changed and don't tell her about the fact that it's due to the carnival's actions that his domain is changed.