The wind whipped up the snow from the ground, joining it with the snow falling from up above, creating a white curtain that would've made it impossible to spot approaching enemies even if the night hadn't been pitch black. Eerie ruins and fragments of long toppled statues honoring alien gods and long forgotten lords was visible through the snow. Thorned ivy crawled over almost every square inch of the old broken stones, creating the illusion that it was the thorns that had toppled the tall buildings and monuments of what once seemed to have been a grand civilization. Maybe it wasn't even an illusion, maybe it was exactly what had happened. After all, the weird vegetation seemed to thrive even in this harsh weather.<br/>A motley group of people stood huddled together, shivering in the cold. Of the four of them only one seemed unaffected by the weather, and he was by far the largest and most imposing.<br/>He was tall and broad shouldered, well over two meters in height. His skin was cobold blue and two small horns jutted out from his forehead. He wore a suit of armor made of some alien, bluish metal and it was decorated with runes, wards and elaborate ornamental symbols of inlaid silver. He leaned against a huge warhammer made of the same bluish metal and with similar silver markings. Even though it obviously weighed more than any sledgehammer ever made he handled it with ease. He stoically stared out into the snowstorm with a steely gaze, as if trying to intimidate the dark and the snow to reveal their secrets to him.<br/>"Hades' hairy testicles!" a much smaller creature to his side exclaimed, earning him a sigh from the blue giant. Ignoring the sigh, the strange, thin man went on.<br/>"My bollocks are turning into ice cubes and no mistake! Remind me what we are doing out here again?"<br/>The man was somewhat shorter than the average and a lot thinner. His leathery skin was green and his sharp, crooked nose impossibly long, making him look like a goblin straight out of a kid's nightmare. His thin lips was drawn back into a perpetual grin even now when his long rows of small, sharp teeth clattered together in the cold. He wore a grey, pinstripe suit and a hat that hadn't been in fashion since the days of Al Capone. Over it all he wore a thick fur coat that seemed to do little to shield him from the cold.<br/>"Because, friend Jack, we have been tasked to serve as the ambassadors for our each individual courts and greet the Carnival as it rolls into town."<br/>The third man was equally strange, a man with thick auburn hair and an impressive goatee and equally impressive sideburns. The horns jutting from his forehead was substantially larger and had started to curve as the horns of a ram. He wore only jeans, a black t-shirt and a cool leather jacket. His bare feet was actually no feet at all, rather they were the cloven hooves of a goat. Despite his animal features, or maybe because of, he was strangely handsome and seemed to know how to use it to the best effect.<br/>"I am surprised you got chosen though, what with that sordid business with the handmaiden of the Lady of Whispers. I thought your standing in the Autumn Court would be severely affected."<br/>"First of all, Goat Boy," the goblin replied with a sneer, "I am no friend of yours. Second, that wasn't even me, that was Jack `o Blades."<br/>The satyr frowned. "But I thought that was you. Who are you then, Jack `o Lantern?"<br/>"What are you, retarded?" Jack replied, his irritation obvious to those who listened. "Do you see me carry a lantern? Jack `o Lantern is that freak hanging around the water front. The guy does have a pumpkin head so one would think the name is a dead give away!"<br/>"Oh right," the satyr said with a thoughtful expression on his face, apparently oblivious to Jack's irritation. He made a face as if trying really hard to remember something, then pointed at the goblin.<br/>"Everyman Jack?"<br/>"No you buffoon!" Jack snapped. "I am Jack `o Knifes, Slasher Jack! How hard can it be to remember when I have hands like this?" Jack's already long and thin fingers grew even longer and took the shape of a blade, his every finger now a strange, organic knife. He slashed one hand across the satyr's belly to make a point, cutting his shirt to ribbons but leaving the skin untouched.<br/>"Oh right," the satyr replied with suprising mirth in his voice, "now I remember. But tell me, with hands like that I bet you are extra carefull when taking a leak, right?"<br/>The goblin flew at him again, this time his intention seemed to be to really hurt the mocking satyr, but he was stopped in his tracks by a big, blue hand grabbing him by his collar.<br/>"Oooh, touchy! Seems I hit a nerve. I'm sorry Jack, have you already had an accident? That explains why you are always in such a foul mood, you have my sympathy."<br/>Enraged even further by the satyr's words, Jack struggled frantically to get free.<br/>"Leggo of me, I'll kill him!"<br/>"Settle down, Jack," the blue giant said with a voice as deep and massive as a mountain. "Iobacchus is only trying to get you riled up again, and you are letting him."<br/>The satyr's laughter echoed in the ruins as the goblin called Jack ceased his struggling.<br/>"It is true, I confess, but you make it so hard to resist. You, my friend, are the true definition of choleric, allways ready to fly of the handle at the slightest provocation."<br/>He walked up to the man in the pinstripe suit and placed a hand on his shoulder.<br/>"Of course I know you, Jack," he said, becoming more serious for the moment, "but you have to admit that it is peculiar. It seems like every other Ashen courtier is named Jack Something, what's up with that?"<br/>"What's wrong with Jack, it's a perfectly good name..." the slim, green skinned man replied grumpily, but the blue giant called Father Frost had already stopped listening. Instead he glanced at the fourth person, who had just stood there through it all, saying nothing, just quietly observing the spectacle with a subtle smile on his face.<br/>"And you, Prince Fortinbrass, I find your presence here most curious of all," said Father Frost, addressing the fourth man directly. "Last time I checked you were not Summer's champion, you are not even of the Summer Court."<br/>The man called Fortinbrass just bowed his  head in a short nod in Frost's direction, as if acknowledging that the man had a point.<br/>Just as his three companions Fortinbrass was a peculiar man to look at. Although he was rather tall and broad shouldered there was nothing inhuman about his proportions. Even his clothes, which was unusual to say the least, could be rationalized by assuming that the man was a history buff, for Fortinbrass was dressed in a rather stylish uniform looking like something one of Napoleon's officers might have worn as the tiny French Emperor set out to conquer the world. The flint lock rifle he was casually leaning against also seemed to hail from this time period.<br/>No, what was remarkable about Fortinbrass was the color of his skin, which gleamed as polished brass in the flickering light their lanterns provided. All in all, he looked rather handsome, although in a rather strange way.<br/>"Yeah, that's right," Iobacchus the satyr said, elbowing in on the conversation. "I thought that one of the only reasons a thing like The Lost People's Militia could work was that everyone knows of your neutrality. Has that somehow changed? What could possibly make you risk everything you have worked for coming undone?"<br/>Fortinbrass just smiled as he was assailed with questions.<br/>"You are right, my lords, I am not here by my own choosing, it was your Queen that bade me to come."<br/>"She is your Queen too, Court or no Court," the tall ice-troll replied with far more fire in his voice than was customary for the Winter Champion. Fortinbrass seemed unfazed however.<br/>"Quite," was his only reply, which of course once more opened the floor for the far more talkative satyr.<br/>"You're telling me the Queen thinks she can appoint the Summer Champion now? She is overstepping her bounds, she has no business meddling in the affairs of Summer!"<br/>"I think she was trying to avoid doing just that by asking me to come," Fortinbrass said quickly, defusing what could have ended in a bitter argument between the Knight of Spring and the Knight of Winter.<br/>"True, the affairs of Summer is not something she should get involved in, but the fact remains, Summer needed a representative. And since the Summer Court is in no condition to agree on one the Queen chose one from outside the Court so it wouldn't seem as if she favored any of the candidates. I was obviously the logical choice."<br/>"Well, I guess that sort of makes sense," Iobacchus admitted reluctantly. "Who is considered the most likely candidate to come out on top though, do we know?"<br/>Fortinbrass shrugged. "I hear Horned John has a lot of support among Fairest and Beast alike. My money would be on him, were I a gambling man."<br/>"Thank your stars that you're not then," Jack said, finally finding the conversation interesting enough to be worth joining, "cause your information stinks! Two nights ago John got into his head that he could get even more supporters by challenging one of the other top contenders to a duel. Well, that's the Summer Court for you, always thinking with their biceps. Only problem is, he challenged Skuzz."<br/>"And?" both Io and Fortinbrass asked when it seemed like Jack was done talking. "What happened?"<br/>"What the hell do you think happened? Skuzz ate him." Io and Fortinbrass looked stunned for a second, then the satyr burst out in laughter.<br/>"I'm sorry," he said, tears of laughter running down his face, "I know it's wrong but I can't help it, that's just funny!"<br/>"Well, it just goes to show you should never fight a Redcap who is on an empty stomach," Jack grinned, "especially if you happen to have horns and hooves that sorta remind you of a cow!"<br/>"So, Skuzz then?" Fortinbrass said, not quite finding the situation as funny as Spring and Autumn.<br/>"Nah," Io said, wiping away the tears, "I can't see Skuzz as King, mainly because there's no way he would want the throne! He would have to start behaving himself and that's the last thing he'd want, trust me, I know the guy." Io scratched his beard as something occurred to him. "Now, Summer Knight on the other hand, that's a title I could see him going for."<br/>"A good thing you are stuck with me then," Fortinbrass said with a smile, "Can you imagine Skuzz as an ambassador?"<br/>"I can, but every scenario ends with some poor diplomat getting eaten!" Io chuckled and scratched the spot between his horns, it always seemed to itch.<br/>"Mind you, I'm not sure he'll make Knight either, from what I hear he's been getting rather cozy with the Moon Court lately and that isn't going to go over very well once the other Summer Courtiers starts catching on."<br/>"Then it seems to me that Lady Scarlet of the Crimson Banner actually stands a chance of claiming the crown," Fortinbrass said with a slightly worried expression.<br/>"I hope not," Jack said with a shiver, and probably not from the cold this time. "That girl is crazy."<br/>"That girl is a damned fool!" Father Frost blurted out with a passion that surprised his companions.<br/>"There is no victory to be had against the Gentry, the only way to win is by avoiding conflict all together. But the Lady Scarlet would have us march on all of Faerie and to storm the very gates of Arcadia. It is folly, we would be serving ourselves on a silver platter, slaves once more. I will not have it!"<br/>"Oh yeah?" Io said, a hint of defiance in his voice. "News flash big guy, it isn't up to you who Summer choose to be it's regent. Besides, I wouldn't mind following her, at least I'd get a pretty damn fine view. How she squeezes into that leather I don't know, but I'd love to find out!"<br/>Jack did a disrespectfull farting noise with disgust on his face.<br/>"Always the same with you Spring types. Summer might be thinking with their biceps, but you lot always thinks with your cocks!"<br/>"That must be why I am so very clever then," Io said with a grin as he grabbed his crotch and did a few thrusting motions in Jack's direction, making the goblin look away in disgust. "It's also not true and typical of the kind of slander you of the uptight Courts subjects us to. If you bothered to look I'm sure you'd find that more than half of us thinks with their cunts!"<br/>"Alright enough!" Father Frost said, clearly being the one among the Knights most concerned with keeping proper decorum. "Before this degenerates into another pointless debate on which Court has the biggest, could we actually talk about the reason we are here?"<br/>"Ha!" Iobacchus said and slapped the troll on his plated shoulder, earning him a frosty glance from Winter's Champion. "That was almost a joke! You are  coming along nicely. Spend a little more time in my company and we might actually manage to thaw you out."<br/>Unlike Jack, Frost didn't allow himself to be baited by the satyr, choosing to ignore him instead, something that always had proved to spur him on in the past but Frost didn't have time for any more of the satyr's tomfoolery.<br/>"My Queen told me very little and I am frankly a bit surprised by how little even the Winter Court actually knows about the Carnival."<br/>"The Carnival of Shadows, a traveling freehold of Lost. Although always held in the highest regard among Changelings everywhere, the sight of their wagons rolling into town is enough to send a chill down the spine of every sane person. Their arrival is always a powerful omen of trying times with strife and upheaval. I fear them coming here, with things already as bad as they are...it's a portent of doom." Jack looked out into the dark night gloomily. Jack's usuall behavior sometimes made it easy to forget that arcane knowledge of all kinds was the province of Autumn, but now and then he surprised you.<br/>"Oh lighten up, Gloom Boy! I think it might be fun, who doesn't love the carnival?"<br/>"It remains to be seen if you'll like this carnival as much as you think, Io. For once I actually hope you are right."<br/>Io stared at the goblin, otherwise so full of piss and vinegar, but now beset by some dark cloud of doom and gloom.<br/>"Yeah, that would be a first..." he mumbled as the potential seriousness of the situation was finally starting to sink in.<br/>"So we turn them away at the city limit, bar them from entry," Fortinbrass suggested. "If they bring that kind of trouble we don't want anything to do with them, right?"<br/>"Well that won't work," Jack almost spat back. "It was already to late they picked NYC as their next destination. If anything, history has shown that what ever ill awaits us will be ten times worse if we drive the Carnival away. In the past they have always provided one vital element in solving whatever the crisis may be. That is why the Queen has sent us here, to make sure they are welcomed in style, but with a total absence of welcoming smiles."<br/>"Oh I don't know about that," Io said, sounding more cheerful than he felt, "I think I still have a smile or two left in me."