stompadour | Lost Carnival IC contact

[Hanging from the door of her trailer is a simple bag of gingerbread men, with a simple ribbon of colorful fabric tying it all together. There's nothing special about the cookies or the bag, or the ribbon. It's just... gingerbread.]

[Don't like gingerbread? Well that's just too bad. There's no return address on these suckers. Not that it matters, since Jasper doesn't check her fucking mail.]

[On B18, they will find a fancy looking gift box in his trailer with a note left on top. The handwriting is done in an over the top cursive that he might recognize as the Ringmaster's, written on aged papyrus with the ink seemingly made of shining gold.]

"Jasper-

The songs produced by this flute will calm the hearts of beasts. It is yours.

The Ringmaster❧"

[Her signature is so massive and florid that it fills up the rest of the paper. When they opens the box, they'll find a stylized flute. Any soothing song played on it will cause most beasts to calm, though it can't force them to do anything explicitly.]

[While Reira doesn't know exactly where Jasper is for the most part during the vacation, she is fortunately not hard to miss, which means that as soon as Reira can actually figure out which cabin she hangs around most, she can have something...Delivered.

If only because she has a feeling her standard tactic of hiding things on windowsills is Not going to work. Fortunately, she was recently given a very large Scarlet Eagle, who can recognize faces and make such deliveries.

Which is exactly why, at some point on the 21st day of the break, Jasper will be followed a bit by an insistent eagle with a tightly wrapped package. If she tries to ditch it without at least acknowledging whatever is inside, the bird will continue to try and get Jasper's attention with it-though all Jasper really needs to do is hold it until the bird flies off, and then she can do anything she wants (including. discard it in some snowdrift, if she chooses.).

As for the package-there is a handpainted, childishly drawn card...though with orange in the place of blue, as Reira ran out of that colour of paint. It appears to move slightly, and has a message on the back. There is also, more importantly, a T-Shirt, which has a brilliant set of orange and yellow stripes along the sleeves, and around the middle-specifically, around the word 'Out', so that the shirt only says 'DON'T TALK TO ME I'M WORKING'.]

You're a very strong person! So I've painted you a card of the strongest monster I can think of-because you should get a really strong card.

I don't know what you like to do, or what you normally do, other than your work though-so I got you something to make sure no one bugs you when you're working. Because that's important, and sometimes people find it hard to know when someone is working. Words make it hard for someone to say they didn't know though!!

I hope it works. -Reira

[Left in Jasper's mailbox is a painted card. The card smells of pine needles, snow and a fireplace, and features Papyrus, waving enthusiastically ahead. Somehow there's boneprint snowflakes faintly falling against the pale background. Along the header and footer, the card reads:]

HAPPY GYFTMAS
(ON THE MOON)
FROM PAPYRUS!!!

[Inside, a personal message continues:]

HI JASPER,
I HOPE THE MANDATED WINTER CARNIVAL BREAK HASN'T BEEN TOO DISORIENTING!
NOW THAT EVERYONE HAS THE SAME TASK...
GIVE GIFTS, HAVE SOME FUN, AND RECUPERATE.
THERE'S A LOT OF NEED FOR RECUPERATION, SO I THINK SHE MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE HERE.
BUT STILL... IT'S SUCH A STRANGE EQUALITY OF MONSTER.
AND GEM, AND MAN, AND...
WHATEVER ELSE PEOPLE ARE.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS AGAIN!

[ Connie delivers a wrapped copy of "Lust of the Ocean," a romance with the description "A dissatisfied wife is taken on a cruise by her partner, but romance blooms instead between her and the first mate."

It comes with a handwritten note from Connie: ]

Hello, Jasper!

Uh, my name is Connie. We talked before, about how you like animals? I don't know if you remember me.

Anyway, I got you some presents! I like books and I hope other people do too.

[ Included is a crude drawing of the cabin layout with a star pointing to where the book swap is located.

Also included in the box is this T-shirt. ]

[A simple gift from Steven has been left! It's a paper star with "HAPPY SOLSTICE JASPER!" written in his best attempt at penmanship, with "FROM STEVEN" written on the back side. Inside the star, there are candies of various kinds.]

HELLO! THIS IS A NOTE ABOUT AN URGENT MATTER!

IF YOU'RE RECEIVING THIS NOTE AND YOU'RE STEVEN, STOP READING IMMEDIATELY! HOW DID YOU EVEN GET THIS, IT WASN'T IN YOUR MAILBOX!?

IF, HOWEVER, YOU ARE NOT STEVEN...

DO NOT BE ALARMED, NOTHING IS WRONG. THE URGENT MATTER IN QUESTION IS NONE OTHER... THAN A TOP-SECRET, SURPRISE SHINDIG! A PARTY TO CONGRATULATE THE -GOLD MEDALIST- AMONG US. IT WILL BE IN THE COOKHOUSE, SOON!

IF YOU'RE EAGER TO MAKE SNACKS OR DECORATIONS... OR WANT TO KNOW MORE... CONTACT JOKER! COVERTLY!

AND FEEL FREE TO HELP DISTRACT STEVEN AWAY FROM THE COOKHOUSE.

THANKS!
- PAPYRUS

Jasper? [A brief pause.] This is Syrlya, with the nightrunners. If you are well enough, I have a question to ask you.

Of course I'm well enough. What do you want?

Do you recall what Ignatius said about looking for Lapis?

... Huh. In the library? Yeah, he said he was looking to recruit her. What about it?

Do you know why he was looking for her specifically? We want to know what exactly drew him out.

Hmmh... well, she is very powerful and strong-willed. But they're all much more powerful than any gem, so I don't know what they'd want her for besides jewellery. [She sounds PRETTY disgusted by that.]

Edited 2018-06-18 23:27 (UTC)

But he didn't say. [They could guess a thousand times, but without proof that's all it is.

Unfortunate.] Thank you, that was all I was curious about.

[She pauses, thinking.] ... He did say he knew she was a traitor. Maybe he knew about her history.

Her history? [Traitor and history are like, the worst words to hear together right now.] Has she attempted something against the carnival before?

Not that I know about, but she betrayed her Homeworld before she came here. She's not trustworthy. If he knew about that he might have thought he could get her to betray the Carnival, too.

I see. [A brief pause.] Are you from her homeworld?

[Well, technically no, but...] We're both gems.

[... Close enough?? He doesn't actually know.]

Well, I will keep that in mind. [And probably tell Lambert.] Do you know why she defected from her homeworld?

It's complicated.

... But I don't think she'd do it again here as long as Steven is still with the Carnival. [She sounds Kinda Bitter.]

All right. [So she probably isn't actively against the carnival, but those books might have spilled what the Summer Court thought was an edge. It's an explanation.]

Thank you, Jasper. You've been very helpful.

[She grunts in acknowledgement.]

... Wait. I need to talk to you about something else. Do you need to report back straight away?

[Just as he's about to disconnect:] Hm? Oh, no. It can wait a moment--what is it you need?

I want to join the nightrunners. Lambert wants me to persuade the rest of you as well as him before he decides.

He mentioned that. Why is it you wish to join the nightrunners?

I want to fight, and I want to be taking my orders from someone who knows what they're doing. It seems to me like Lambert knows what he's doing.

[That's a little funny to hear, since after what they did to Ignatius he feels like a large part of the carnival probably feels the opposite.]

All right, now why do want to fight?

...It's what I'm good at. It'd be a waste for me not to do it.

Truthfully, there is little structure that can stop you from fighting even if you are not a nightrunner. [The carnival is seriously lacking for internal organization.

He pauses, considering those words. He said his stance to Rita not long ago, so he already has an opinion on that.] We may be the offensive role, but as a nightrunner your duty is ultimately protection and safety of the carnival and everyone in it. It is not simply fighting--sometimes, it will be the better choice not to fight in order to preserve the lives of those who are relying on you.

Our numbers are small, and Lambert will not always be present to make the call for you. [Sometimes, that might be a good thing.] You must have the judgement to put everyone else before yourself, and be able to smartly protect as many as you can.

[A pause.] Which means without simply throwing your life away before assuring the safety of everyone else. Can you do that?

[Mm. That sure takes her back to Wismuth.] Yeah. I can.

Look, I know I can fight anyway. But you know how that went this time, right? I attacked a fae and got taken captive, because I didn't get briefed on the situation first and I didn't know how I was supposed to be handling it. I'm going to fight no matter what, but I want to know what I'm doing.

I see. Well, if you are dedicated and you have learned, I see no reason to refuse you a place amongv the nightrunners.

[Not that Syrlya has particularly high standards.]

Good.

[... pause.]

... Thank you.

Edited 2018-06-23 19:31 (UTC)

Lost Carnival IC contact

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A BOX IN HER TENT: WITH NOTE

B21 | DW NEVER SENT THIS APPARENTLY that's rude dw

Mailbox - Winter Break

B19

BREAK DAY 24

letter in mailbox, while in Space

Radioooo Day 68

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