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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Rita never backs down from a challenge. So when Strange managed to goad her into accepting dance lessons from him, there was no turning back once she gave her word. They'd agreed to meet in the 'parlor' as soon as they had some free time to themselves, and so Rita follows through on that plan. When their first period of free time comes about, Rita asks a servant to lead her to the parlor.

And there she stands, dressed in her borrowed yellow gown, arms folded as she watches people come and go. Part of her hopes that Strange just forgets about their stupid agreement and doesn't show up. Then she could get out of this while still saving face.

She really shouldn't have agreed in the first place.

Honestly, if convincing Rita to do something simply involved teasing and browbeating her until she relinquished, Strange should have done that ages ago. As it is, she needs to learn how to dance, Strange can teach her how to dance, and the longer he stays in this place, the more Strange worries that a ball would be just the sort of proper, mannerly way to show off that the Prince would force everyone into.

Rita only has to wait a few minutes or so, before Strange arrives at the parlor. He gives a curt nod and a small "That will be all" to the servant escorting him. Closing the door behind him, Strange turns towards Rita. He can't hide the brief look of sheer worry that flashes across his face before Strange pushes it down to give her a gentle, inoffensive smile. He's got this. She's got this. They've all got this, it's just dancing, have fun and don't be worried and ignore the fact that they're stuck in a realm of eternal darkness.

"Miss Mordio," said, with a small bow towards Rita. Strange is wearing an outfit much like his normal 1810s clothes, though this is much more tailored, pressed, and clean than anything Strange has worn in the carnival. The coat is a shade of reddish violet and complex embroidery styles the lapels and waistcoat. "Before the lessons begin, I must ask: do you have any experience in dancing to begin with?"

He's got a feeling the answer's no.

Damn it. He showed up. Now she really has no choice.

Rita doesn't budge, keeping her arms crossed over her chest as he greets her. His question is answered with a long stare. "What do you think?" she asks pointedly after a few moments.

Some people might argue that combat itself can be much like a dance, with all the necessary footwork and the ways one must weave oneself around the enemy to avoid being struck. And some people, particularly those named Rita Mordio, would say screw that, dancing is a pointless stupid waste of time and of course she's never done anything like it, because that's lame.

So his suspicions are correct: this is a big fat no and they're starting from scratch. Strange sighs slightly as if this is a bit of an inconvenience, before pushing his annoyance to the side. Gotta keep going and press on anyway. The goal is to get Rita close to something passable, after all.

"I won't teach you anything fancy: just the basic form and steps to a simple waltz. You're allowed to pass on some dances, but it would be bad form if you passed on too many." He walks over towards Rita, so that he's standing next to her.

"The waltz is a three count dance. There's one person who leads, and another who follows—obviously, try to let someone else lead if the opportunity arises. The basic step is like so." And, moving his hands into a waltz position and keeping the top of his body perfectly straight, Strange demonstrates a simple waltz step.

Bad form to pass too many dances? "Hmph. Nobles get hung up on the stupidest things," Rita mutters under her breath. Is this the kind of setting that Estelle grew up in? It's hard to imagine someone she knows dealing with people fussing over every little thing she does, placing stupid expectations on her... The only thing getting Rita through it all is knowing that she won't have to deal with this crap for long.

Rita watches Strange's feet and makes an attempt to replicate the step. It's fine, if a little stilted, but her upper body's positioning leaves much to be desired. Posture is a word that doesn't get much use in Rita's vocabulary, and focusing on her feet makes it even sloppier than usual.

He can't help but frown a little. Yes, Strange isn't technically a noble, in the same way that sirs, lords, and ladies are a noble. But he likes dancing. And he hasn't been dancing in ages, not counting the Celebration and he was half out of his mind then. The possibility of a dance is what Strange is looking forward to the most, so it's a little bit annoying to see someone so set on disparaging something he likes.

"Straighten up," Strange orders, looking over at Rita. Yes, this is him being a little tough, but she's slouching. In order to dance, one needs to keep multiple things in mind. The posture, the steps, the music, one's partner, and so on.

"Now repeat my step again. One, two, three..." He continues counting as he demonstrates the waltz step, staying in place. The whole problem of 'moving around the room' will be dealt with once Rita gets standing up straight while moving her feet down pat.

His command is met with a defiant glare from Rita. She's not used to being scolded or lectured, and hearing that tone of voice just makes her want to start a fight. That's what usually happens when someone tries to tell Rita what to do, anyway.

But the rational side of Rita knows that this is literally what she signed up for, so despite that reflexive scowl, she attempts to straighten her back. The step is then repeated, at first with poor timing, but then she tries again, more or less matching Strange's motion. Her posture still has some imperfections, but she actually looks like she's trying this time around. "Better?" she asks bitterly.

Since she's actually trying, Strange can't help but give Rita a small nod. "Better. Now, part of the waltz involves dancing with your partner. I'll take my position in front of you, position your hands properly, and we'll practice the step again, but with the partner added."

He's got a feeling that Rita's going to tread on his toes plenty of times during this practice. Thankfully, Strange has resigned himself to that already. He moves in front of Rita and takes one of her hands, while gesturing where she should place the other hand. And, once again, Strange starts counting off, moving his feet in the opposite direction of Rita's so that, if she's doing the step right, they'll actually be waltzing...but just waltzing in place. Let's get the step right before they move around the room.

Rita manages to follow, though she lags slightly behind in her first attempt and clenches her hands in a death-grip while trying to keep her balance. The subsequent attempts go smoother, at least as far as her footwork goes.

Right... partnered dancing. As if dancing isn't bad enough, she'd have to do it with someone else... probably a guy. "How are partners chosen?" she asks. There's no guarantee that Strange's traditions will be the Prince's preferred way of doing things, but just in case, it might be useful to know how things might go in the event of an actual ball.

She doesn't face him as she asks, however; her gaze has drifted back down to focus on their feet, which means her posture is already a mess again.

They continue dancing in place. Strange isn't looking down at Rita's feet, but he knows from her lagging slightly and the fact that she's trying to squeeze his hand to death that she's doing alright, but isn't confident as he would like. Which honestly, is annoying. This is Rita Mordio. She's brimming with confidence with regards to her magic, how the hell can Strange find a way to push that to dancing?

"Usually, the man chooses which lady he would like to dance with," Strange explains, as they continue dancing. "However, since this is a faerie court, I'm certain we can bend the rules a bit if you want to dance with a certain someone in particular," he teases. The situation may be stressful and everybody might be worried, but even a little bit of levity could be helpful in piercing through the worry.

Though, moments after the tease, Strange cuts in with another order of, "Straighten up."

That earns him a glare. As they repeat the step, she stomps a heel over one of his toes, then continues as if it were an accidental misstep.

"Get real. I'm just asking so I know how to avoid someone if I need to." Although... if she's expected to do some dances, avoiding the worst possible partners would potentially mean she'd have to proactively try to partner with less annoying people.

Fortunately, glaring at him means she's no longer looking at her feet, and when prompted to straighten up, she shifts slightly into mostly-proper posture.

Strange bites down on the inside of his cheek, trying to stop himself from yelping out in pain or giving Rita the satisfaction of knowing that hey, her stomping on his foot really hurt.

And sure. Asking to avoid someone. Uh huh. Maybe it's because Strange spent part of Greysol teasing 9S about a crush that he 100% doesn't have, but Strange can't help but give Rita a look that's pure 'uh huh, suuuuure'. Of course she wants to know the rules so she can avoid people and not because she wants to particularly dance with someone. Strange ain't buying it.

He nods a bit as Rita straightens up, shifting into a more proper posture. "You're better at this when you stop worrying about it so much," he gently chides her. "Just follow the steps and relax." Of course, they haven't added music or started moving or done anything remotely complex yet but hey, Strange doesn't expect Rita to completely master the waltz in an hour. They're aiming for perfectly passable right about now.

"I'm not worrying about a damn thing. This is child's play," she huffs at him. He is right, though, even if she'd never admit it. Rita does best with this sort of thing when she stops overthinking it and lets the steps become a routine.

"Can't we move on to the real thing already?" Strange might not expect Rita to master the waltz in one session, but Rita still figures it can't be that hard. It's just a dumb, repetitive dance. Should be simple for her.

Strange can't help but raise an eyebrow at that. Move onto the real thing? Well fine then, if she insists. Maybe it'll convince Rita to stop complaining. He steps away from her, putting his hands to his side as he looks around.

"We'll need some music." Fortunately, there is a piano at the other end of the parlor room. There aren't any servants in the room, but it wouldn't surprise Strange if there were a few standing directly outside the door, partly to eavesdrop, partly to escort them as needed, partly to make certain the two of them don't run off. He starts walking towards the parlor's entrance, opens the door, and as expected, there are a few standing outside. Rita can overhear the conversation as Strange asks if anyone can play the piano, one responding that he can, and then Strange practically dragging the poor man back into the parlor. The servant looks like a bit of a nervous wreck as he sits down at the bench and Strange returns back to Rita.

"A waltz tempo, something moderately paced." And then, Strange turns back to Rita and offers her his hand. "Are you ready?"

Last chance to back out and ask for some more practice. Because you bet Strange is going to make this slightly difficult and add in a few superfluous turns into the dance as well, just to try and trip her up.

Back out? Rita? Never.

"I'm always ready," she retorts. She takes his hand and positions herself as she was for the practice. There's a creeping sense that she'll regret this, but she can't let that show. This is supposed to be easy, and the only way it's going to be easy is if she approaches it with full confidence.

As the music starts up, Strange leads Rita into a dance. This is a full tilt waltz as he moves all around the room, moving them in a circle, occasionally twirling as they move. Strange may be a whiner of a man who's absolutely abysmal at physical contact, but with this? He's moving expertly. Even if Rita steps on his feet or stumbles a bit, Strange manages to keep moving and keep to the rhythm and continue to drag her along the dance floor.

Somebody put plenty of points into posh nonsense.

He doesn't let go of Rita until the song ends, at which point Strange steps away, and gives her a bow. Just ignore the fact that he looks amazingly smug right now.

And so Rita gets dragged along, sometimes following, sometimes stumbling over his feet or hers, uttering the occasional oof or what the hell as they go. She manages to demonstrate rapid improvement, but not quite at a level befitting her earlier smugness. This isn't exactly easy for her, and it shows.

When it's over, Rita doesn't reciprocate the bow in any way. She simply turns her head away and humphs at him. "Was that a lesson, or did you just want to show off?" she grumbles.

"Can't it be both?" he answers, still looking amazingly smug. Because it is both. It's Strange showing off and also trying to knock Rita off her high horse a little bit. "For all your talk about how dancing should be easy and how this is child's play, you weren't that good."

He'll give her that much: Rita wasn't terrible. It was definitely more along the lines of taking someone who had minimal experience and throwing them into a dance than taking someone who couldn't dance in the slightest. But the fact remains that if she were on an actual dance floor, she'd barely manage to keep up.

"Now, shall we do this again or do you want to return to the basics?"

Frowning, Rita considers the question. She'd like to stop, or do something less intense (and, frankly, embarrassing) but she doesn't like leaving things half-finished. If she walks away from this without having learned the full dance, she'll have wasted her time. And the only way to really learn is by pushing forward and just doing it.

So, with some reluctance, she answers, "We'll do it again. But warn me before you do any more of that weird twirling crap." Or anything else that wasn't in the practice.

Strange's smug smile fades into a determined one. Good. At least she's ready to keep going and won't throw in the towel just yet.

"In this case, how about a simple waltz in a circle around the room. I'll give you advice as we go."

Granted, Strange has a feeling most of the advice will boil down to 'straighten up' and 'stop looking at your feet' but hey, hopefully Rita will get it drilled in her head if that's the case.

Rita nods in agreement, and before long, they're back to dancing. She manages to get used to the steps, enough that she no longer looks at her feet, though her posture still needs correction from time to time.

After a while of that, once she's comfortable enough that Strange's corrections grow sparse, she speaks suddenly. "By the way, there's something that's been bugging me for a while." Since their dancing puts them close together and keeps others from coming into their space, it's as good a time as any to talk candidly, so long as she keeps her voice down. "There's this weird magic around you that I don't recognize. What is that?" Strange must be aware of it, being able to perceive magic in the same way she does.

Weird magic? What is she—oh. Strange knows what she's talking about. He continues dancing but looks briefly guilty before he launches into an explanation.

"If you ask her, the Ringmaster can send you home for a period of time. I chose to do so—and don't worry, I was only missing from the carnival for a day or so. But in the time I was back in England, one of my fae cursed me."

Rita's probably going to ask him a billion questions about that. But, Strange can at least head off the most important one first and foremost. "It doesn't affect me in the carnival. I already know the faerie phrased the curse lazily, I believe he phrased it so lazily that it only affects my world and the parts of faerie that surround it."

"Cursed--?" Rita echoes in a sharp whisper as soon as he says it, but the surprise causes her to lag behind in the rhythm. While she forces herself to catch up her footing to match his, Strange gets the opportunity to explain. Okay, so she probably doesn't have to worry about it affecting her or anyone else. But that still leaves a lot of questions, such as...

"What kind of curse? And how the hell did that happen?" Those might be two questions with complex answers, but she blurts them both out practically at once. Seriously, how careless can one guy be? It's like he can't go anywhere without tripping and falling into some terrible trap laid by fae.

How on Earth is he supposed to answer both of those questions in a relatively brief manner? Strange pauses the conversation for a moment as he continues dancing, mostly to try and find a brief way to explain without dragging Rita into more of his world's nonsense.

"It's a dangerous curse, one that almost killed me. The death of the enchanter managed to stabilize it, but not remove it. And it happened because I went to the realm of faerie to try and save my wife. The fae that kidnapped her took my arrival badly." Which, granted, it is still kind of Strange's fault for getting cursed, but at least in his mind, that's a perfectly serviceable motive for dumb actions.

The death of the enchanter... He means a fae? Rita certainly wants to know how that happened, but with what else he's saying... well, even she has enough compassion to know what should be asked first.

Without making eye contact, she asks cautiously, "Your wife... is she...?" Dead? Safe? Still herself? There are a lot of ways a fae kidnapping can end, most of them not good.

⇨ HEARTSTONE MANOR

CLOSED | for Strange

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