lostcarnival | ⇨ HEARTSTONE MANOR

Entry tags:

⇨ HEARTSTONE MANOR

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 170 - Day ???
Where: Heartstone Manor
What: The carnival arrives at the Heartstone Manor. Do your best to play along, and try not to get too far ahead of the schedule with threading if you can avoid it, in case something that would affect your character happens early on.
Warnings: Individually marked! Could be a lot of things.

BEAUTIES AND THE BEAST↴

When the carnival arrives at the Manor, everyone will be taken into the Throne Room to greet the Prince for the first time. He will be lounging on his throne, and will take a look at the guests that the Ringmaster has brought before eventually dismissing everyone so that he can talk to her alone. After that, they will be given a brief tour of the Manor by some of the servants, and then brought to their rooms to start picking out clothes for tomorrow. On the first night they will be permitted to wear regular clothes, but starting the next morning the dress code will be enforced.

There will be a number of servants helping guests with clothing, and making alterations to suit the non-humanoid features they may have. The tailors work with fabric by hand, but their stitching is impossibly quick and accurate, with changes being made to complex clothing at unbelievable speed. Some guests may note while working with them that one of the seamstresses has wooden mannequin-esque hands instead of human ones, and another has two sets of arms. The arms are one of the most obviously inhuman traits that they'll see while first touring the building.

Come the morning of Day 171, the daily routine will begin.

⇨ THE DAILY SCHEDULE ⇦

► FIVE MEALS A DAY: Between breakfast, lunch, tea, supper, and evening drinks, the meals you are required to attend are frequent and long. Each meal (except drinks and tea) will have multiple rounds, and use all of the fancy cutlery. It will be difficult to keep up for those that are untrained. The food will vary greatly, but will generally to be palatable to those that are into whatever kind of food it might be. Some of them are odd delicacies that are very much an acquired taste, however. People who cannot eat will be given a pass once the Ringmaster explains it, but will be looked down on for it.

► DAILY ACTIVITIES: There are scheduled activities for every morning and afternoon,
and everyone is required to attend. Descriptions of each activity are provided on the "Event Descriptions" tab of the spreadsheet linked up above. There is only one hour of free time scheduled per day, after supper, and beyond that the servants will almost constantly have you on the go. The Prince and Ringmaster will not be present for most of the activities, but they will be there for every meal. If you character refuses to follow the schedule or makes a huge mess out of proceedings, make sure to report it here.

► AFTER CURFEW: At 11PM, everyone is expected to return to their quarters and spend the rest of the night there. Wandering after curfew is unacceptable by the Prince's rules, and if you do it there will be the chance of discover. Based on your character's stealth abilities, there will be dice rolling to determine if they are discovered or not, and by whom. Make sure you report any after curfew activity to the mod post here. This can also take place as an investigation if they are actually looking for something instead of just farting around.

► ROOM AND BOARD: The servants will remain upbeat for most of the time the guests are here, unless something is done to provoke them. They will be present at every activity, and there will be a variety of different individuals. One frequently spotted character will be the butler, a man with dark hair and small, sharp horns. He seems to be the main organizer of things.

► ODDITIES: Even beyond the obvious, there is something off about the Manor. Doors, windows, and other household objects will sometimes move seemingly without cause, and other times there will be banging sounds in the walls, or mysterious voices heard at a distance. It feels like you're being haunted. If you have a moment to wander the corridors, then you'll sometimes see open doors abruptly slam shut the moment you lay eyes on them, and wall sconces turn off or on. It's weird, man.

► THE HUNT: The Hunt activity will have its own event post, and some sign ups for those that will participate meaningfully. There will be some dice rolling to determine who hunts the most impressive game, and rewards handed out accordingly. Before that post goes up, however, you can do some investigations for the start of the event, if your character is interested in looking into the specifics of the contest and overall context.

MAKE SURE THAT ALL DECORUM VIOLATIONS ARE REPORTED HERE.

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"Sit up straight, please."

He has to sip his tea again to stop his lips from grinning and only after a moment will he calm his expression and raise his cup for more tea. He does admire the servants, so diligent and patient with him, and he'll wait for it to fill before continuing the conversation, "You joined a carnival, did you not? You aren't constrained by what rules you had before. Live, Mister 9S. Prepare if you must but live."

9S groans, making an annoyed noise at the back of his throat before he sits up. "Fiiine."

He never thought that doing all this human-ish stuff would make him so restless! Maybe because the Prince isn't really a human, so all this is just some imitation. All this sitting and not doing anything active is killing him!

Prepare...?

"I... guess? But we still have rules in the Carnival. And we gotta follow the rules here, too."

Sort of. Lambert pretty much did give the Nightrunners permission to discreetly break them.

"A gentleman doesn't slouch nor does he complain."

He understands his plight. Tyki was raised like this and it doesn't bother him nearly as much anymore. He had his own thoughts on the strictness of rules but he won't say them outloud with so many servants.

"Yes but I imagine they aren't nearly as strict as the ones at home if you aren't even allowed to 'do what you want'."

Just as Childermass said if he must wander to keep it to the rooms.

But he's not a gentleman, though?? And telling 9S not to complain is like telling the sun not to shine; it's never gonna happen. Truly, he is Whine S.

"It's kind of the same, actually."

It's both easier and harder in the Carnival. There's plenty of people for him to talk with, but he's used to having a lot more space to roam around and do things. And mission objectives to be met.

"I have missions back home, but how they let me figure out how to complete them. As long as I do my job, I can afford to uh. Take on side requests. It's kind of like that in the Carnival... just with less demand for other things, I guess."

And he always performs better than expected, which is why no one seems to mind too much when he gets sidetracked.

He is right now. Every male here was a gentleman or at least should act like one. He's quoting from his youth but it has the same effect. He just needs it repeated over and over and over and over.

"Well, it's different from my world. I have my orders from home but I can still choose what I do want to do. I can choose whether to listen or not."

He takes a bite of the scone and will chew delicately and not in a hurry. He's savoring the taste even if it isn't the best. He lives life to the fullest with every bite, gesture and desire. "Being human means to have choice. For better or worse. For good or evil."

9S goes quiet at that, thinking, his gaze dropping to his teacup.

"I..."

Humans have free will. That's part of what he admired about them. And androids... they have free will as well, don't they? That's what separates them from machines. The ability to choose.

But do they really choose?

11B made a choice to desert. Even if she hadn't died in the attempt, she would have been found and punished.
22B, 64B, and 8B... they were slain for desertion.
In the end, they're all leashed to YoRHa command. They're like ants, busily crawling over the surface of Earth in service to their queen. And when the queen is gone...

9S bites the bottom of his lip. It's different for androids. It's different. It must be. Otherwise they would be no different from the machines.

"That's free will, isn't it?" His voice is softer. "I know humans have warred with each other. They loved. They hated." So he knows they're not always benevolent. "I don't always understand why humans do the things they do... But you're always pushing the boundaries, aren't you?"

"Everything one does has a consequence. It is our actions that define who we are despite everything we have. It is just as our lovely Lady," to which he means the Ringmaster, "has befitted us of a contract and we are told we cannot break it but we can. Death is a good way out. So is killing another. It is whether or not we decide for ourselves to do it, orders or not."

He's looking straight at him again now that his scone is done and he let him brood over whatever he needs to as he waits for him to speak. Tyki loves to talk and he'll do it at any opportunity. He's at least letting him get a word in, "Humans were made to destroy. The area around them, each other, the animals. Something just finally beat them to their game, hmm?" But to answer his question he'll chuckle under his breath, "Yes, I always am. Humans always will. They cannot stop progression nor destruction."

Humans were made to destroy.

9S shakes his head vehemently. No. No. No no no. That can't be true!

"Humans created us. Destruction isn't all they're capable of. I..."

But Tyki's a human, isn't he? Wouldn't he know better? He's just an android, only able to make guesses about humanity from their old records and the public broadcasts. What does he know? It feels wrong to tell a human he's wrong. But he can't accept these words...

9S' hands clench. "I don't believe humans' purpose is to destroy."

He's too honest almost all the time and even now when the conversations required a delicate touch he just kept talking.

"I'm not saying that is all they are good for. It is just what they were made to do." Carrot and stick. He might be confusing him but it was a little fun to give and take back hope.

He hums at his words as he looks into the empty tea cup now in his fingers. Time was ticking away as it always was. He can read body language rather well and every moment longer with him was shaking such a strong belief, "Humans are also capable of love, trust, sweetness, self sacrifice. There are the rare souls that conflict their human natures. They ones that fight for everyone are often doomed to ill fated consequences.

The truth of the matter is one cannot save everyone. Eventually someone will die just as eventually all humans will die."

Created? It makes humans sound like they are artificial beings like androids. Which can't be right. Humans are biological, humans have free will, humans have the ability to choose. Humans are what androids try to be, but can never quite achieve. To consider humans to be like them...

...But there has to be someone who created life in the first place, right? Like the gods androids know of but don't quite comprehend.

He can't understand this. He can't understand why Tyki would believe so little in his own people.

"Why are you saying all this? You're human too, aren't you?" Is he being rude by asking this? He just wants to understand... But it hurts. It hurts thinking about this. "Are you saying you're like that, too? That you're going to destroy everything around you? What about the people you care for? Would you destroy them? You can choose not to, can't you?"

God is cruel in Tyki's mind. He believes in it because he knows it to be true. It is what is the basis of all of this. God, Innocence, faith. It's all disgusting and cruel.

He watches the way his tea flows in his cup now that it sits there upon his saucer and his mannerisms despite everything have not changed, "Because it is the truth. I understand what it means to be human. To love, to care, to suffer, to create, to destroy. Humans war with civilizations over their beliefs and wants. If someone owns land that someone else wants, they war. Countless of lives have been lost over pieces of land or what grows in it. Villages and towns town apart for the gold, ore and oil beneath their feet."

He chinks the cup softly, "Even the minerals in this cup were drawn from the Earth to create it."

He's quiet for a small moment as he can tell the other is suffering with how desperate every word gets, "Yes, I can choose not to. We can all choose not to." But will he. Will humans stop fighting? Will they only take from the Earth what they need and not what they want?

Will the humans that live on the moon doom themselves to the same fate as Earth?

"Then..." 9S worries at his bottom lip with his teeth, before continuing, with more conviction. "I believe they won't destroy everything."

He has to.

He thinks of Rita, whose goal is to save her world. He thinks of Strange, who wished to save his wife. He thinks of all the small kindnesses of humans shown to him in the Carnival as he tries to understand them.

"The humans I've met at the Carnival... they're kind. If humans are created to destroy, then they chose to go against what they were created for." He thinks of Pascal and his village of pacifistic machines. "And... that's okay. They'll find a way to live, even if all the other humans choose destruction."

"Only time will tell, Mister 9S. I do hope I haven't shaken your entire resolve." Because it was not his intention to break him. It's force of habit really considering how well his silver tongue and charm tends to have a positive or sometimes devastating effect. He only breaks when he needs to destroy.

He nods along with his words as if all that fire for the conversation has left but in truth he was just listening, staying calm, pulling him back to where he should be. Now was not the time to draw attention, "I must admit despite how forced some people are into this position that many are taking it rather peacefully.

It is man's suffering that prompts them to truly live. They adapt and survive." He takes pity on them despite everything.

9S shakes his head. Yes, he's shaken, but he won't admit it. Living is... painful. He knows that, deep in his body's frame. And while it means that the moments of light shine ever brighter, that doesn't mean he welcomes suffering.

He latches onto the new topic, almost eagerly. Anything to get away from these topics of self examination.

(But those words will play back in his head later, mind too unsettled to do anything but dissect the entire conversation.)

"Forced into this position..? What do you mean?"

He has a raw sense of what people enjoy at the core of their heart and soul. It's why in turn he has such sympathy for humans that the rest of his family does not understand. It's because of this connection to humans that he understands them more than anyone realizes despite wanting to end everything.

It's why he's used by his family to further their social status. He knows how desperate people will crawl to achieve anything.

He laughs softly. This poor innocent, naive boy. "You are aware that some of us are here unwillingly, right?" Not that he himself is complaining about losing a hand of strip poker and thus stuck in a contract.

"I had no idea..." Those few he had talked about contracts with had been on contracts of their own. Knowledge, in exchange for a year and a day of work.

"How does that work? You're with the Carnival unwillingly, right? What's stopping you from leaving? "

"You do now," which only drilled in his point of how naive the other was. He knew so little of what was around him.

"I still have a contract but it is there because I lost a bet of sorts and now have to pay a debt. Others were likely tricked by the carnival games or broke something in which they have to repay. Most of the games are rigged to incur debt anyways. When you can no longer pay the Ringmaster is there." Which means there were suckers and fools coming in every day that were forced to work and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

"Oh..."

He'd played some of the Carnival games himself, just to try them, and they had been rather frustratingly difficult to win at, despite their simplicity... He didn't think that that was how some people ended up working for the Carnival.

"But you're taking is peacefully too, aren't you? Does it bother you? Working here for a year and a day because you lost a bet?"

He's sort of done with his tea now as he just holds it there as he should with a light touch of his fingers. He's listening now as he looks away from him and allows himself to get lost into the rising steam.

"Yes, I have no reason to take it harshly. Some might but as I see it nothing changes at home while I am gone. I enjoy something different occasionally even if it was out of the blue."

"Making the best of a bad situation, huh? I guess I can understand that."

Beneath the table, 9S starts to swing his legs, restless from the combination of excess energy and all the sitting.

"Do you like it at the Carnival, at least?"

"It's what I do best besides a lot of things. I adapt."

Humans adapt and Tyki often called human because of how much he reminds Allen of one unlike the rest of his family.

"Yes. It's been pretty fun so far and I'm bored. Even right now with this party I cannot say I am bored."

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⇨ HEARTSTONE MANOR

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