forum "Would you rather have wings, or an extra set of arms?" (Closed)

Started October 04, 2022 by @DancingWithMyDemons business

tune

The sounds of the carnival echoed in the coming night. The Lights blinking and flashing in the sky. The smell of fried everything with everything on the side. Ezra looked around at all that was going on and headed toward the meating spot where he was supposed to be meeting everyone to do a few last rides, get some food maybe, and eventually head home. Ignoring the lack of light that the night tends to bring with it, He sat down and pulled out a deck of cards and started shuffling. The different suits and faces flashing before disappearing into the deck.

Jenna was watching the carnival with a frown. People must be really stupid to fall for all the cheats and cons, she thought.

Jenna chuckled. "You and me both."

Joy looks around for a moment, candy bag in hand, a lolipop in her mouth, before smiling as she sees Ezra.

She skips her way through the crowd towards him and starts speaking loudly to be heard over the mass of people around them.

"Hey Ezra!"

The Carnival was staged every year in the same place. It was always on this field, on this set up. The people in the community around it could tell you when they first came, and how little had changed. Faces came and went, times changed, and the Carnival changed with them, but it's location had been the same for years.

Only a few people knew exactly why, and they weren't telling.

This had been the location for far longer than any of the Carnival goers realized, in fact. For hundreds of years, this spot had been chosen.

Six could remember the first time they set up the gaudy tents.

He watched some of the teens, kids really, walking through the Carnical, blissfully unaware of where they were. Even now, as he sat in his small booth, selling cotton candy to passersby, he could feel the sense of age about the place. It made him feel young, which was why he returned every year. Not much made him feel young anymore.

Not much made him feel anything anymore.

(To clarify, Ōn’nyosh is not at the current carnival… yet)
(Grins at Davadio)

Ōn’nyosh whistled casually as he wandered through the carnival. It was a typical thing, supposedly to venerate the idiot gods or whatever, but nonetheless, Ōn’nyosh could never resist a little fun. What was more interesting was how the clergy were using their divine magic to change the colors of the lantern fires to match their respective deity.

He eyed all the woman he passed, flashing each a charming smile. He then proceeded to insult everyone else he saw. The mixture of glares and smiles aimed his way made him laugh.

Six sat in his booth, the tanned leather hides of the tent flapping gently in the wind. He watched the Jester move through the crowd, insulting the people and flirting shamelessly. He had seen many of the same type over the years, and would continue to see them for a long time.

He felt a swell of magic as the clergy and mages around him workd to make their booth biggest, and brightest. He had a better idea though.

"Jester! Might I ask your help with a trick?" He stood and called from his booth. The man had on what looked like a perfect mimic of a wolf's head mask, marking him as a magician. He held out a strange sweetmeat, it's coloring different than normal food, its flavor unknown.
"My good people, would you like to see the Jester disappear??" There was much cheering, from insulted people and unreceptive ladies. Six looked the Jester in the eyes, smiling at him through the mask.

Ōn’nyosh turned when someone called to him. He saw a magician wearing a wolf’s head mask and rose an eyebrow at him. He wondered why a magician would need his help, but it was whatever.

As he approached, he deftly snatched a coin purse from someone paying attention to the magician. No one noticed. No one usually did. However, Ōn’nyosh nearly fumbled with his prize when he heard the magician’s call.

Disappear? I can do that on my own, with or without magic!

“An intriguing trick, Sir Fur-Face, but I’m not doing this for free. Nor, without an idea on how I’m going to disappear,”Ōn’nyosh said quietly to the magician once he was next to him.

Just because Ōn’nyosh was a jester didn’t mean he was stupid. He knew plenty of people that would rather see him dead, and most of them were full-blown criminals.

Six smiled, the wolf's head mask alarmingly smiling right along with him.
"Why, my friend, a magician never reveals his secrets ahead of time! But trust me, no harm shall come to you today!" He held out the purplish sweetmeat. "I am a humble cook, a culinary magician! I offer you a sample of my work, which will work its magic on you as you eat it. And please, believe me when I tell you that I am absolutely using you to advertise, so I am not about to poison you. How else would I make my money?"
He held eye contact with the Jester. "We can discuss the terms of your reward after, if you'd like."

Nothing Six said was false, adding the ring of truth to his words. Carefully worded, but not false.

Ōn’nyosh’s eyes narrowed at the strange smile combination. He hated working tricks with magicians, unless he knew the magician well enough. He didn’t know this guy at all. Still, he took the sweetmeat, just holding it in his hand for now. Better to act amicably than not.

“Poison isn’t my concern. Where I am disappearing to is my concern. And, I don’t play the ‘payment after’ game either. Too many times have people tried to fuck me like that, and not in the good way either,”Ōn’nyosh replied with a firm voice, still being quiet to keep their negotiation private.

Ōn’nyosh recognized what this magician was. A manipulator that used a careful tongue and subtle magic to get what he wanted. It was these magicians that had given the entire class of magic practitioners a bad name.

Six had pulled the same garbage with people for hundreds of years already. And every time, curiosity killed the cat.
"Believe me, your payment will be worth the trust. And as to where? Well, right here. Just a trick to fool the uninitiated. Nothing that will kill you. You won't go anywhere else."

He offered no other explanation, his expression through the mask daring the Jester to be brave.

Ōn’nyosh blinked, a bit confused. This magician was still definitely a manipulator, but now it was hard to tell what was truth and what wasn’t. A bad feeling came over Ōn’nyosh, even though the whole trick seemed to be such a simple thing now.

“Invisibility? Is that what this is? And how can I trust that you won’t fuck me out of good money?”he questioned.

Technically, Ōn’nyosh didn’t really need the pay. With his career as it was, and with his criminal network on the side, he was currently one of the richest jesters in the world. But, no one needed to know that, particularly this guy.

Six continued smiling.
"You'll just have to trust me. Come now, you wouldn't keep the good people waiting?"
At this point, the crowd were cheering on the moment, taking the Jester's consternation as part of the trick. A few were chanting "Eat it! Eat it!" and others were calling "We'll make sure he pays!"
Six just kept eye contact, waiting for the Jester to bite. Literally.