HELL OF A HANGOVER PT. 1

[ringleaders]

Who: The people who escaped!
When: Very early Day 66 to Day 67
Where: The Carnival
What: The Ringmaster brings everyone she can back to the carnival after getting kicked out the Celebration, a bit worse for wear. Those that have resolved their threads at the Masquerade can start trickling over here as they sort things out.
Warnings: Angst, mostly likely, as well as potentially graphic injuries.

RETURNING HOME↴ About 45 minutes after the conflict with the vampires begins, the Ringmaster will finally show her face at the Masquerade - and immediately be mortified by what she sees. Though initially mostly confused by the fact that there's been problems over the week, and characteristically obtuse about what's going on, as soon as she realizes the severity of the threat she will launch into action. If the Host managed to miss the combat already going on, they won't be able to miss the Ringmaster tearing up the joint and looking for her people. She's quick to scoop up those that have managed to gather in the dining hall - but unfortunately her arrival seems to be the vampire's cue to retreat. Her attempt to challenge the Host about this will result in the being finally losing their patience and banishing all the vampires and all of the carnival workers from the premises, forcing them back to the portals they arrived from and launching their remaining belongings out with them. The Ringmaster will be pretty fucking pissed off when they return (once again) and will tell everyone to take the time they need to recover, but to stick together and stay safe for the time being. She has a plan to chase down the carnival members that have been stolen, but it will take time. ► BEER PONG: Apparently the Ringmaster spent the entire week playing a nonstop game of beer pong, against several dozen of the Host's bodies. She hadn't quite won yet when the Masquerade began, so she was late. Whether or not she was caught up in the same spell as everyone else is up to interpretation, but the answer "definitely probably." She won, for the record. ► MISSING: Upon doing headcounts, it will turn out that all the supervisors are missing, as well as several regular workers - a few of which will have been spotted as freshly turned vampires during the fighting. Whether that was the point of the attack or not is unclear, but it's pretty clear that the Ringmaster is a little bit devastated about it - particularly about the supervisors. However, she will refuse to talk to anyone long enough to get into too many details. ► THE PLAN: The Ringmaster will announce that she intends to get everyone back - it's just a matter of figuring out their way back to the dimension they've been stolen off to. She guarantees that she will find it, but that it may take some time. In the end, the workers will have a total of two days to recover and plan - during the evening of Day 67, she will be leading a rescue mission to get them all back. You don't have to come, but lives do depend on its success.

Comments

NO HEALZ NEEDED but he's hanging out, so you know ... healers gotta stick together

[whattaprick]

Unfortunately, Steven's solitude isn't destined to last long, because at this point an angry-looking man with scars on his face is storming towards the medical tent, clearly bent on some purpose. He's also wearing tattered finery from the masquerade, albeit in much worse shape than Steven's, because of being in combat ... even though the black cloth and heavy embroidery hides the worst of it, he's still very clearly bloody, though little of it is his own.

He'll stop short, though, once he sees the boy sitting by the tent. It's an unfamiliar individual (individuals below a certain height threshold are just particularly hard for him to remember, and kids blur into the background for him, so he can't come up with a name.

"If you're waiting on the doctor, she's not here, kid," is what he'll settle on, finally.

Hellooo, nurse.

[starseedling]

Steven will look up at Lambert a bit spacily - he doesn't recognize the man either, even though Steven is the sort to try to remember every person he's ever met. It's mostly just because things have been so crazy since that guy signed on, there was never an opportunity.

At any rate, he isn't disappointed by what Lambert is here to tell him. He already kind of figured, due to the fact that Zecora wasn't already making the rounds. It makes him feel weird and uncomfortable that she isn't here, because she's been sort of a soothing presence in the carnival, with her history of having healed both him and his dad when they needed it.

"It's okay," he said, his mossy lion ears folding down with that twinge of worry and regret. "I know she's... she's not here. I just came so I could help anyone that turned up. I can heal people, too."

[whattaprick]

For all that he's supposed to be a nurse, Lambert's skills really fall to the martial -- so his initial impulse to head to the medical tent had been less to heal and more to try and identify any ingredients he might be able to break down into components to make more vials of black blood and maybe more bombs. When the kid mentions he's a healer, though, he'll tip his head to the side, considering.

"She didn't mention having another assistant." Though Lambert doesn't look much like healing is in his wheelhouse. If it was anyone else, he'd probably give a thought to comforting the obviously-distressed lion kid, but instead ...

"I could use some help looking for some things, if you know where she puts 'em."

[starseedling]

Oh... well, that's a misunderstanding. If he wasn't so tired this would be easier to explain, but Steven just slowly stands, raising his hands and shaking his head apologetically.

"I'm... Sorry! I'm not her assistant, I just... I can just heal too. I'm a performer, most of the time, but... since no one else was here..."

He frowns, looking genuinely sorry for his lack of knowledge.

"I don't know anything about Zecora's magic..."

[whattaprick]

It would have been lucky if there was someone who knew Zecora's stash of goods better than Lambert does, but luck hasn't really been on their side if recent events are any indication. He'll sigh, crossing his arms, and raises his brows at Steven.

"I can take care of anything basic, but if it's more serious than that I don't have the equipment for it. If I had time, I could make some potions, but I'd need to find ingredients for that," He'll pause, examining Steven like he's seeing him for the first time. "What can you do?"

[starseedling]

"Um..." He really doesn't know much of anything about actual anatomy, but his powers don't really rely on it. "My spit fixes things. And, um... People. And stuff."

He calls silent for a moment, then suddenly feels like he needs to explain more.

"I got the power from my mom? But hers were, um... her tears."

[whattaprick]

That'll stop Lamber long enough to actually look back at the kid.

Magical tears, he's heard of in stories, but magical spit? That'ss a new, even for him.

"Just spit?" He can't help but prod. "How much do you need of it for it to wokr?" If they can put that into a bottle and keep it indefinitely, that'd save a hell of a lot of time.

[starseedling]

"Um..." he has to think about that. He's never really considered it. "Not very much? Sometimes I just lick my hand and put it on stuff and it works, or sometimes I just give it a little kiss! It's just how the magic works, I guess."

His mom had a fountain full of her tears, and he's not really sure how that happened. He can't really imagine spitting enough to fill up a fountain.

[whattaprick]

That doesn't seem too sanitary, Steven. Then again, what does Lambert know about magic healing?

"Sounds like a fast way to get dehydrated, if you're licking everything that needs healing around here," he'll comment instead. "Does it work on yourself?" That's an indirect way of saying 'you kinda look like crap, kid' even if he won't outright say it.