⇨ 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

[atouts]

The bland look that "sir" gets Strange from the other man is no doubt amusing, at the very least, but he'll rise from his seat, drink and all, and gesture off towards whatever open balcony there is attached to the room. Because of course there's a balcony, one of the long ones that runs along several towering open glass doors. What kind of castle would this be without one, for those guests who may drink a little too much and need a spot of fresh air?

More importantly, there aren't that many people out there currently. Even better, it's dark. Childermass can work well with darkness, even if it is still illuminated a little by the castle lights from within.

"There. I'd like a look outdoors, in any case."

At... all the nothing, he supposes. Sure. Why not.

[kingsroads]

Childermass can work well with darkness but as soon as they go outside, as soon as they look out at the darkness surrounding the balcony, Strange can't help but frown. This reminds him too much of the curse he's under, back in England.

Still, the fresh air is nice. One of the downfalls of being cooped up in a castle all day. And, as much as Strange dislikes being out here, surrounded by darkness, he dislikes being stuck inside all day even more. He takes a big swig of that wine he's nursing before he turns back to Childermass.

"I've been looking in on the negotiations with the Prince." Because of course he has, when has Strange ever left well enough alone? "They aren't going as well as we'd hope."

[atouts]

Look at how completely not shocked Childermass is by that. He won't even scold him for it, though, since it's good to know. He glances back towards the doors and steps closer to Strange, resting a hand on his shoulder briefly before going through the words and motions of his typical 'don't look here' spell. It's shorter, weaker, and this time not truly like invisibility.

Someone would still realize two people were standing out here, but they won't hold much interest. It's the best he can do to ward away eavesdroppers. That done, he moves his hand again and says in a low tone, "Somehow I'm not surprised. She's after something that he's very disinclined to part with." Though, on that note... "Have you been spying on any of the servants at all?"

[kingsroads]

Strange knows what Childermass is doing, partly from the words and gestures, partly from the magic itself, which Strange can sense and somehow, innately recognizes as Childermass's magic. He's not going to break the spell this time: Strange stands perfectly still as Childermass casts the spell and still doesn't move much as the two start talking.

At Childermass's question, Strange shakes his head. "I've tried, but it's not much use. The spell works best if I'm trying to look in on a named person or a smaller group of people—such as the Ringmaster, or a group of Neopolitans in a certain area of the peninsula. If I try to look for a category as broad as 'one of the Prince's servants, more likely than not it won't work."

There's more technical details to his scrying, but Strange isn't getting into those right now (though he'll happily get into those should Childermass want him to nerd out).

"Still, if you think it a worthy endeavor, I'll add them to the rotation."

[atouts]

To that, Childermass just gives his head a shake, accepting Strange's explanation rather than questioning them. He makes a mental note to show him how he even does that one day, as it isn't a spell he managed to pick up from Norrell, either. Another conversation for another time, though.

"I'll work on getting you a name or two to use," he says instead. If that's what makes the spell work best, then that's what he'll need to try for. "I can get around the castle after curfew better than anyone else and we both know it. It's only a matter of time before I find where the servants all stay."

[kingsroads]

For all Strange wants to say 'don't be an idiot and keep yourself out of trouble,' he knows there's no use telling Childermass that. The other man is undoubtedly better at stealth and always has been, even back in England.

Still, a name or two wouldn't go amiss. Strange nods in acknowledgement. There's no need to say 'and when I get that name, I'll watch the servants' because at least in Strange's mind, that's damn obvious. "I'm certain you already know this, but if you ever need any help, find a reflection and I'll be there as fast as I can. After all, I'm checking up on you as well as everyone else."

[atouts]

"I will if I can," is all Childermass can agree to. A whole lot of good it'll do him if he can't find a mirror as quickly as he might find trouble. "But focus more on who you can see. I don't plan on being visible more often than not."

[kingsroads]

"I am a nightrunner, you know. I plan to focus on everyone." Everyone includes Childermass, whether he likes it or not.

Still, there's not much else he can do now. All he wanted to do was tell Childermass about how the negotiations were going sour anyway. Now that they're outside, Strange doesn't feel any shame in swapping the conversation to something else. Unfortunately, there's not much else that serves as an obvious conversation starter, aside from the overwhelming darkness.

"And at least focusing on everyone will keep my mind off of this damn darkness," Strange complains, mostly for the sake of complaining.