⇨ HEARTSTONE MANOR

[ringleaders]

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.

Comments

[wild_magic]

Oh... Okay then. If you're sure. [He doesn't even mind too much, being bad at it, but Lauren is doing halfway decent, so... If he could actually be okay at this he'd like it. And he should be able to, their mom was a wood elf after all.]

It'd be more fun if we could just hit the targets with magic, though.

i had to lampshade this shush

[insidescoop]

Mnnnhh, not even just fun, it'd be way more effective...I could torch all of these really easy with fire, you know... [PARTNERS IN CRIME....But that said.] If even the Ringmaster is playing along though, it's got to be something serious we're dealing with though-and who knows~ [She adds, perking up instantly.]

Maybe there'll be a contest, and we can win prizes~!

[And Then She Beat The Boys At Hunting- wait]

if the boys had actually used bows instead of just magic they may have even had a chance at winning

[wild_magic]

I could too! Or with lightning... Fire's probably better though.

I wish I knew why she was playing along. She must be planning something. [Probably something evil. Or maybe not. He doesn't trust her though to actually be doing something useful, figuring it's just something selfish...]

Prizes would be cool though.

Right??? Success but with Great Cost I guess not that they'd enjoy the prize jghkfdghjf

[insidescoop]

Hmmm, I only have fire....

[Still. She tilts her head.] It's...really strange, honestly. I've worked with her for almost four years now, but she's never done anything like this..!

Normally the plan is going in, beating someone up, stealing their things, and leaving, if it's a place we're not holding a show.

i mean susan would have thought it was cool... but useless.

[wild_magic]

But why even do that... It doesn't make sense. I don't understand her. [Maybe since Carly has been here so long, she'll be able to help him figure the Ringmaster out better. If he has to be here for another six months, he might as well stop feeling so much like he hates her, right?]

A Fair and extremely Accurate judgement, Susan

[insidescoop]

Well, normally they were the enemy. [She seems rather pleased about this.] So....oh! ...Like the Vampires; they were dominating an entire planet, when we first ran into them-so we definitely took some of their things.

And the Ringmaster even ate the queen there, so....it sort of goes like that.

A lot of Fae don't really care about the people they have with them, but the Ringmaster is pretty great if you look at her morals beside theirs!! [She's got a bias, sure, but even she can see that without it, This Is A Fact.]

...That's not the point though, [She explains, waving Susan over so they can look at a few bows better suited to him.] The point is....this is really weird. It's sort of like she said on the radio I guess. Wyld Fae aren't really rule sorts, but I guess this guy is..? ...and he must really, really have something over her if we have to play by his rules....

[wild_magic]

[Great compared to other fae? That still doesn't make her great. Especially if things you do, like stealing from vampires, comes back to get you later, like by turning his brother into a vampire. But he doesn't argue that yet.]

I wish we didn't have to. There's too many rules. Like having to have certain rooms. And I just wish she'd tell us, so we know what's happening! [It's really hard to care about the possible motivations when he has no idea what they could be. He's not much of the sort to think too much in detail about it.]

[insidescoop]

[Look. She regretted that. They got a Lake. ALSO PEOPLE WERE SUFFERING-] Yeah...

I wonder if she's not even allowed to do that, honestly. ...She seems....Really stressed..! I've been sitting at that table you know, and you can pretty much feel it from her!

[wild_magic]

[That's right... Carly was a Supervisor now, so she's been sitting with the Ringmaster and the Prince.

He's actually quiet for a few moments while he thinks about it.]

It's just hard to think it could be good for us when we don't know what's going on, and bad stuff's happened a lot just in a few months. I don't understand her.

[insidescoop]

Mnnn.... ....To tell you the truth....

...This year has been...a really big difference from what the last three were.

...First, there were the vampires-we didn't realize who we were fighting; we just wanted to help the humans there, and thought we had, but they were too strong..! And even when we thought we'd gotten away, they came back, [she admits, shuddering as she explains.] ...And then Portland happened, and that seemed to just make things even worse...

....I...

....I almost wonder if she's scared, now.

....We've been to the Summerlands twice within one year now.... ...That kind of retreat.... [Carly chews her lip, shaking her head.] It doesn't happen that often. Not unless we have to.

....not unless there's something we need to recover from.

[wild_magic]

But why can't she just stay somewhere safe like that, why are there all the dangerous places and deals and other fae and everything? Why would she keep putting everyone in danger, especially if she's scared? I don't like it.

I just don't want anything to happen to Lauren again.

[insidescoop]

[....Ah. Carly stares at Susan for a moment, her eyes wide as she listens to the boy. But her expression softens-and she shakes her head.] ....Susan...

...You know how we visit other places...right? [She starts, swallowing.] The thing is...

If someone were to look for the Ringmaster, or for any of us....if someone tried with enough power....

We wouldn't be able to run away.

She's trying to avoid all those things..!

[wild_magic]

[He looks away, upset but not wanting to acknowledge it.]

But... Would someone really do that?

[fortuneglass]

....You didn't realize that was how the Vampires found us in the first place..? [Because. Well. Guess what Susan.

It was.]

[wild_magic]

I thought, they just attacked the party. Because the Ringmaster wasn't there.

[insidescoop]

That's definitely part of it, [she notes, frowning.]

But they definitely followed us, as well.

The party though...at the party, a lot of us weren't focused on other things, right? Most of us were busy with the dancing, or drinks, or...

[She sighs, going through the bows and occasionally looking over Susan's arms.]

...It's easiest, right? ....To attack something you've followed, when they least expect it...

[wild_magic]

So it was like... An ambush. Because they were already following us.

[He thinks that over, trying to determine what he thinks of that.]

But would they have done that, if she hadn't fought them before? If she hadn't gotten involved in something else? [Although at this point, he doesn't think he could fault her for that. He's definitely run into danger to save people before, even if there could be consequences. Maybe they aren't that different.]

[fortuneglass]

Maybe not. ....If we didn't fight them before, they wouldn't know we existed, right? [she asks, before chewing her lip.] But at the same time....

....If you'd seen it- If you'd seen the sorts of things happening to all of the people there....if you saw so many in so much pain, without any hope....

[She shakes, but regains her composure as she takes hold of a 'better bow'.]

............I can't stand at the side, when that kind of thing is right in front of me.

I can't.

[wild_magic]

...She should at least tell us. That things could be dangerous. That the whole Carnival could be in danger 'cause of something like that. [Because yeah, he can imagine how bad it must have been, that maybe they really did need to do it. But now people who weren't even involved were being dragged in without knowing it was a problem, people like... Well, him and his brother. That's really what it comes down to, he guesses, and he frowns. Were they really more important than saving so many people? He shakes his head a little, not wanting to think about that right now.]

[fortuneglass]

That part.... .....Is probably true, aha.... [She laughs a bit nervously, handing the bow over.] But you know...

....I have a feeling part of why she doesn't like doing that is because a lot of us keep deciding that we can handle whatever comes at us anyway..! ....Actually, we seem to have a weird habit of just deciding we're stronger than lots of things, even when she's not totally confident about it....

....I guess she gathers a lot of likeminded people, huh....

[wild_magic]

But if I knew, then... If I knew then I wouldn't have gotten mad at her, and attacked her. [Which he's never actually admitted to, except to Lauren, so have fun with that Carly if you didn't know it already.]

[insidescoop]

Eh? ...You...

[Wait what? What?! She almost panics. Almost.

But between where they are, and who she's talking to....

...She hands the bow over, blinking.] ....When...did you attack her, then...?

[She thinks....She can guess, admittedly.]

[wild_magic]

[He takes the bow, hesitating a moment before responding.]

After Lauren got... turned into a vampire. I thought, why didn't she try harder to keep us safe, and how could she let it happen.

She took my magic for it.

[insidescoop]

Ahhhh..... [Well. She chews her lip but....] ....Considering you didn't know all that....I guess it makes sense.

She can be pretty stubborn though-and proud!! There's a reason there was suddenly a lake there, after all of that! ['Sorry for almost getting all of you killed here's a lake' is basically how that went, but without Any Words Ever.]

...But....

...I guess....when it comes to those kinds of things, she thinks a lot of reasons are obvious... It's sort of like when you or someone else thinks that everyone understands things the way you would, right?

.....................Which doesn't normally happen, but I sometimes...do that...I think.. [Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooops. She's been cooled down a lot over this, so she speaks from the heart. Probably.]

[wild_magic]

I think I do that too. And Lauren. About a lot of things. Especially to each other, even.

[Which means he totally gets it. It's one of the few things they actually get in arguments about, and even got into a ton of arguments about, well. Right after said attack. Arguments which got publicized over the radios even.]

I guess it makes sense. She's really strong and so... She doesn't think she has to explain things, 'cause her way is right. [Which is basically the same as him.]