⇨ 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

[diamondsare]

And yet in spite of the height difference somehow it's easily done; Blue is used to everything being FAR smaller than her by way of other beings, and knows how to be mindful of not accidentally causing harm or even being ungraceful.

Experience is at least good for something.

Although it is just a touch uncouth, the mallet is used to cautiously poke a bit at interfering foliage. Hedges, she wasn't much fond of. Or plants. But they really were everywhere!

"..I suppose I have been." Five millennia of grief and she'd managed to put it away for a little while! How everything conspired to remind her of loss, though. "I do not mean to trouble others with it. Vajraneel's absence and ... the reminder of other absences have weighed on me of late." She missed her tiger so. No one else had fit so perfectly into her life, not even Yellow! Likely, as she could spot no flitting little bird, Joker might know precisely how that feels. "All will be seen to in time but ... in the meantime, it is hard to put it aside. I don't see your little companion here either."

[pipers_son]

No one knows better than Joker that it takes a while to confess to things, especially grief. Hell- there's a lot he hasn't confessed and he knows he won't for a good long while. So he waits patiently for her to figure out her words while they poke about in the trademark hedges of people who have the money to afford it. At least, that's how it was in his time.

The words that finally come have him frown a little bit in sympathy. Ah... "Well, she is and isn't, if I'm understandin' the whole thing properly." It's magic, and business about souls, and that isn't his strong suit. At least, it hasn't been just yet. He'd changed that a little when they'd had that issue in the Matrix, but that might not be enough. "Still... It ain't the same at all, I know."

Fortunately, this is something that has... Perhaps not an 'easy' solution, but one he knows. "Have ya ever considered takin' up magic?"

[diamondsare]

The very idea of souls was foreign to Blue, but she understood very well the brief painful joy of having another Blue Diamond as company. Carefully parting leaves and twigs to try to find her ball without snagging fabric, eventually the mallet is used for this purpose as well. He didn't seem to quite understand this soul business either, and that was a small bit of comfort.

".. I have considered it, yes. Faerie magic." Not gem 'magic', foreign and strange, the very idea that one could improve upon a diamond at all uncomfortable and a little unwelcome. "I think perhaps I will have to, eventually. If not to reclaim what I have lost, then.."

There were many reasons, but it was the grief that weighed heavily over the rest. "When I return, I intend to request the Ringmaster's aid. For a diamond to acknowledge there is something she is incapable of is.. difficult, and yet if I wish to have the things I desire I will have to, won't I?" It was so easy for humanity to do. To change, adapt.

"Ah." Well she's found the tricky thing, now to try to get it out from the root it's nestled by!

[pipers_son]

With the rogue ball now found, Joker allows her to try and dig it out with the mallet for a few moments, just for the good old college try. When that doesn't seem to work, he crouches down himself. This is going to mean possibly getting a bit dirty, and maybe getting leaves all over himself or his clothing tugged at... But he's gone through worse situations in clothes about as nice (if not as dull).

"I think that's a lot of folks," he says amiably. "Even as kids, folks think they know everythin', or can do anythin'. Schoolin' takes some of it out, I suppose, but not much." Juuuust about.... His fingers are brushing against it, at the very least. "So even if it's tough..."

Ah ha! Grinning, he rolls the ball towards the center of his palm, scooping it up. Rising to his feet, he grins as he offers it to her. "Well, it says a lotta good things about ya that ya can manage it regardless, I'd say."

[diamondsare]

Maybe the time home would allow her to adjust to the very concept a little easier. The absoluteness of a diamond's perfection carried over even into their own mindsets, to acknowledge the need to change flew in the face of that perfection. And if they were indeed imperfect...

The thought is shaken off. "Time will tell on that front, I suppose. To gain the final goal.." The offered ball is taken lightly, and a moment spent to try to remember where she's supposed to put it before setting it amongst the grass again. "Would not any embarrassment or inconvenience be worth it? And if that is worth it, why not the lesser things such as faerie magic?"

Being able to even say it aloud was a step in the right direction, but it would still be a while before she could truly make that effort into doing. "..It seems you have acquired a leaf or two.." And some twigs. Troublesome shrubbery! "Are you alright?"

[pipers_son]

"All depends on the person, I suppose." What one person thinks is worth it, another disagrees, and there's no forcing someone who won't at least acknowledge trying. Joker knows this, just from simply talking to a great many people in his life. Or, at least, being an nosy little bastard.

At her concern, however, he blinks and tries to look up into his own hair. It's unsuccessful, to say the least. "What, does it look that bad?" Well, if nothing else, it'll add to this whole thing being authentic instead of him stealing someone away from a private chat in the bushes.