⇨ THE HUNT

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 173, the Afternoon
Where: Heartstone Manor Courtyard
What: Everyone goes into the forest with arrows, swords, and horses and is told to hunt and the kill the biggest beast they can find. Best kills win a prize! Or, if you'd rather not, you can wander around the forest and pretend to hunt instead.
Warnings: Violence and ethical quandaries.

BEASTS OF BURDEN↴ Come the day of the Hunt, everyone will be brought to the courtyard forest and provided with arrows, bows, and blades as requested. Magic and other weaponry can be used to hunt, but it is suggested by the Prince that the best kill is the one done in a gentlemanly manner, which probably means he will be most impressed by those using the tools provided. The "Best Kill" will be determined from a mixture or whatever beast the Prince decides is best, and the method in which it was killed. The less damage done to the body the better - tearing the body apart will receive poor grades. The corpses are not yours to eat or keep, and all must be returned to the Prince at the end of the day for judgment. The servants are especially nervous, tense, and solemn today, and unless they have no choice, most of them will be trying to give the courtyard a wide berth. Those that have to serve will have stony expressions, or at best will be trying to put on a cheerful face. If casually asked why they are upset, most of them will say something vague about the Hunt making them nervous, and how dangerous it is to participate. OOC: Those who make top levels will have a chance to be randomly selected for a couple particular plot events, so be prepared for that.

Comments

⇨ THE PREY

[ringleaders]

Each hunter (or hunting team) will be allowed to pursue up to two prey during the hunt. This means that you can submit your bid to hunt up to two of the creatures outlined below. To determine who the winning hunter of each prey is, all parties will have a d20 rolled for them, with any bonuses or penalties added on top.

You can gain BONUSES with the following:
► Hunting as a team. You will gain a +2 for each additional party member, up to a maximum of +4 - AKA, a team of three.
► Focusing your effort. If you like, instead of pursuing multiple prey, you can use both hunts on the same prey. This will give you another +2 on top of any group bonus.
► Being a hunter. If your character specifically has past experience with hunting, as in that's something written on your application, then you can take another +2. Don't be a cheese weasel about this. You can ask for this but the bonus will be given at mod judgement.
► Spending AC points. You can earn up to a +5 bonus by buying it at a rate of 3 AC points per a +1 bonus. Only +5 can be bought per hunting group no matter how many people are in it.

You can gain PENALTIES with the following:
► Hunting "by accident." This includes any sort of accidental or unintentional kill, such as killing in self defense or just attacking a creature out of panic. This will earn you a -10 right off the bat.
► Obvious lack of hunting ability. If you are an unpowered child with a stick or a 20 year old college student who never leaves their basement, you may earn up to a minus -5 for general lack of skill. This only applies to characters who have no practical experience with hunting, fighting, or anything like that.

⇨ LARGE PREY

[ringleaders]

Hunting rolls for these creatures must achieve at least 16+ to be successful. If all attempted hunting rolls end up with totals less than this (including bonuses and penalties), then the creature will not be slain.

THE DRAGON

[ringleaders]

THE DRAGON↴ The dragon released into the forest is an impressive beast, and one of the hardest to approach. It is disinclined to pursue anyone in the forest, and will instead keep to areas that it can defend or create makeshift fortifications with. It's scales are rock hard, and it breathes some kind of poisonous gas clouds that burn the skin and respiratory tract. It's bad enough that it could cause weaker guests to suffocate. However, it is disinclined to use this unless you get close. ► TRAITS: Intelligent, territorial, fortifying, reclusive, defensive.

THE COCKATRICE

[ringleaders]

THE COCKATRICE↴ The cockatrice is a reptilian bird monster who is much more likely to engage those who get near it. Prone to loud displays of intimidation, it won't hesitate to maim hunters, but it would rather make a dash for it afterward instead of finishing the job. It seems pretty clear that it wants you to think that it has the upper hand, even if it doesn't. ► TRAITS: Brazen, mobile, intimidating, loud, decently clever.

⇨ MEDIUM PREY

[ringleaders]

Hunting rolls for these creatures must achieve at least 11+ to be successful. If all attempted hunting rolls end up with totals less than this (including bonuses and penalties), then the creature will not be slain.

⇨ SMALL PREY

[ringleaders]

Hunting rolls for these creatures must achieve at least 6+ to be successful. If all attempted hunting rolls end up with totals less than this (including bonuses and penalties), then the creature will not be slain.

Rabbits, pheasants, voles, foxes, snakes and other small rodents and birds can be caught here without specific numerical limits. However, collecting these will still count as one of your two hunts, and you still have to get 6+ to succeed.

⇨ THE PACIFISTS

[ringleaders]

If your character has no interest in hunting, then they are free to wander about the forest, either completely avoiding the creatures within or running away when discovered. Alternatively, it's possible for your character to try to interact with the creatures in a way that isn't hunting - it could be dangerous, but if you want to try to get close peacefully, that's something you can do.

It's also possible to interfere with the hunters. If a hunter wins the dice role for a creature, they can still decide not to take the kill. Other characters are free to try to get in the way or convince them, but the final OOC choice will ultimately be left to the hunter player who won the role.

This can be negotiated OOCly or played out ICly. The hunter can also decide that they wish to encounter the creature without being interrupted. The outcome of that will mostly be roleplaying focused between the characters in the forest, but if you wish to interact with the NPCs or beasts in a way that isn't violent, you can do that here.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya is going to be wandering the forest with his horse. He has a bow and arrows but they're left sheathed on the saddle of the horse and instead he leads it around by the reigns. He's not even remotely focusing on the hunting, anxious instead, and just tries to avoid the path of the Prince as well as he can.

SO what are his chances with running into either the Sabercat or Dire wolf, either alone or as a pair? How they act seeing him from a distance will determine if he tries to get any closer.

TIME TO TALK TO A BAT (closed to Steven)

[periphrasing]

If there's one thing Peridot wishes she could do right now, it's make herself smaller.

Fortunately, she's not enough of an idiot to risk turning into an animal in the middle of an event that revolves around killing them. Still, there's some temptation there. The whole atmosphere surrounding this hunt business has her hair standing on end. Peridot's not exactly one to shy away from violent sport (let's be real, violent sport is like, a favorite gem pastime), but something about the way the servants are behaving has her on edge. Not to mention that killing an animal is pretty different from watching two equally matched quartzes pound the snot out of each other...

So yeah. She's not exactly raring to go, here. She picked up a bow and some arrows for show before heading off into the woods, but she has no intention of actually tracking anything down. Her time so far has been spent wandering around in a state of constant fear, so Steven is definitely a sight for sore eyes.

"Steven!" she hisses, scrambling up to him. "I thought you left with Joker... What are you doing out here?"

[otoko]

Since he and 9S are no longer Attacking Things, here's Gongenzaka for psuedo investigation.

Gongenzaka carries a bow and arrow on his back-it's probably buried in all the leaves however, as he had no intentions of using it in the first place (He'd have buried it to a more comfortable 'storage' spot in the leaves after he was far enough in the woods).

As enormous as he is, being 9 foot and...Y'know... He tries to move quietly, so as not to disturb whatever is around him.

If Gongenzaka settles somewhere to meditate, summoning his daemon to keep watch while he does so, will any animals approach him? It is worth remembering for the purposes of this question that daemons are immediately noted as 'not animals' by other animals; so Marishi, to the senses of normal creatures, should read as exactly what Gongenzaka himself is.

[atouts]

Between the Prince's claim that what is hunted must be returned to him and how nervous the servants are, Childermass can't help but have a bad feeling about this hunt. Which is why, while he is taking at least a spear and claiming Baker — his Arcanine — as his hunting dog, he isn't exactly looking to make a kill. Instead, he's going to follow his gut on this and specifically keep an eye out for a fox, a rabbit, or both of them in the same place.

He keeps Baker at heel as they proceed through the forest, not willing to let the big goof of a dog dash about for the time being.

[stillwinningthehardway]

Scout's not a pacifist typically, but, troubled by the behavior of the servants, the rules of the hunt, and Syr and 9S's report, she'll go out alone and on foot, armed only with her lightsaber - which, unless you already know what it is, doesn't look like a weapon. She'll have her stage-one dæmon with her, unseen and intangible but able to keep watch and see where she's not looking.

She doesn't have the strongest Force powers, but she's got slightly enhanced intuition and can sometimes know what people will do a few seconds before they attempt it. Can she sense any presences about besides those of the carnies? She's familiar with the concept that there are intermediary steps between "person" and "animal" and the difference isn't as obvious as in some canons.

Rita and 9S (closed)

[anti_nonsense]

While Rita may have struggled with many of the previous activities arranged by the Prince and his staff, she seems to have taken just fine to horseback riding, even while stuck in a long skirt that forces her to ride side-saddle. She has a bow and quiver slung over her back; hopefully she still remembers the proper form that Yuya showed her the other day.

After the hunt begins, she takes some time to ride leisurely between the trees. She doubts she'll encounter any animals right away, when the sound of dozens of horses setting out at once has probably sent them running far from the starting point. It'll be a while before she sees anything, so she might as well take it easy.

... Or not. Because it's not long until she spots 9S somewhere ahead of her, easily identifiable with the pod hovering nearby. So he did bring it after all... Rita didn't see it with him any other time they crossed paths in the manor. She steers her horse over to meet him, accelerating to catch up. She pulls up beside him, facing him more or less directly, with the way she's sitting.

"I'd been meaning to find you," she greets him in about as amicable a tone as it gets with Rita. "Think we could talk?"

[dressedtothe]

9S, perhaps surprisingly, is perfectly at home horseback riding. Sure, it's a bit weird having additional equipment for it, but his basics are solid. Certainly easier than riding wild moose.

For the first time since their first night at the manor, 9S has his pod with him. Back then he had claimed it was for his own maintenance, being non-organic, and had said he would be leaving it in his room for the duration of the stay. A lie, of course, in order for it to not look so strange when he shows up without it after ordering it to keep watch on the kitchens. Now that they are hunting, his claim for bringing it today is that in the event he gets injured, his pod could repair him seeing as no one else has the expertise to.

But honestly, given the discoveries from the previous night, he feels a lot better having Pod 153 around, even if it has to be silent. And given the name of the game is fighting, he could use some additional support.

Of course he's aware of Rita's approach, pinging for life as he is and 'watching' everyone else set off into the distance.

"Sure, okay. What is it?" Though looking at the way Rita is riding sidesaddle and the long skirt, he can't help but also comment, "Boy, that looks uncomfortable. You really have to fight in that?"

strange & lambert!

[kingsroads]

Considering that Childermass went off who knows where, it only makes sense that Strange pair up with Lambert for the competition. After all, the witcher knew how to hunt, and Strange...well, he hadn't been on a hunt in literal years. Going off to the peninsula, being dragged around by English government, then going mad takes up a surprising amount of one's free time. But he's aces at riding a horse and he at least looks like he knows how to hunt. Strange is wearing a very basic hunting ensemble but his big dumb floppy hat detracts from the overall look.

They need to get further into the forest before the actual hunting part starts. And, at least in Strange's mind, they might as well do some idle chit-chat now, if only to keep him awake. A spirited horseback ride in the morning as well as one of those phoenix fruits Lambert brought along did wonders to keep him up, but the fact remains that Strange didn't get as much sleep as he wished last night...or the night before that...or the night before that. It's damned annoying.

"Honestly, the sooner—" and here Strange yawns, "the sooner we leave this place, the better. I enjoy it here, of course, but I'd love to be able to sleep a full night without worrying who'll be kidnapped next." If you joke about it, then that means you aren't worried, right? Maybe?

[whattaprick]

Given everything that's happened over the course of one night and this morning, Lambert isn't in the best frame of mind. Where Strange is stifling a yawn he's practically vibrating with nervous energy. Also, who the hell hunts in a courtyard of a mansion? This must be one of those things where magic makes places seem bigger than they are.

In deference to the rules of the game, he's riding a regular horse, not Pig, sword at his hip and wearing something that isn't really for hunting at all (though to his credit, at least he put a shirt and hose on with the ensemble). It's not much defense against an injured beast ... but it lets him move, and that's the important thing. He frowns at the ground while Strange yawns his head off, searching for signs of any animals that may have passed by.

"Maybe you should try to get kidnapped next," he answers. It's an attempt to joke back, but there's too much cynicism in his voice for it to sound all that lighthearted. "Then you'll only have to worry about yourself." And if he's lucky, he can even be unconscious!

Ash and Alphys (?!)

[amusicaladventure]

"Sound the horn and hie the steeds!" Ash called out to Alphys, her bow lifted high as she beckoned to the poor monster she'd hijacked to come on this adventure. The stirring rendition of Strauss filled the air around him as she beat out the time with the fingers curled around the reins and the swish of her tail against the saddle, which went a long way towards explaining why she was actually riding the horse reasonably competently. "Or something, I don't know, but let's go hunt something epic!"

tfw the bard is the party leader

[textsfromhotland]

When Alphys isn't questioning all of the life choices that led to this particular moment in time, she's desperately clinging to the back of the horse she's barely in control of. She's thankful that she's not alone in a forest full of who knows how many deadly beasts, but she's not sure if this is much better.

"I'm coming! I think! Waugh!" The horse rears up, almost throwing her off.

Lauren and Susan (and Lapis later?)

[wild_magic]

They're both used to hunting. It wasn't something they did all the time or anything, since they could trade in the city for food or preserve their meat when they got it, but hunting deer or other game was just a way of life for the boys.

What Susan wasn't so familiar with was hunting for sport. It was weird to think about this being some kind of activity where they'll be judged on how well they do, where killing things was supposed to be fun or something... But he just figures that maybe hunting is fun to watch, or something, and that they'll have a big feast of whatever everyone catches for dinner. That sounds like the kind of thing fancy people do.

Neither boy was expecting to see a dragon, though, assuming they'd be hunting smaller game. Susan's eyes widen as he takes it in before looking to Lauren.

"Was that...?" It couldn't really be a dragon, right? Susan's never been too close to a dragon before, but he can't think of anything else it could possibly be.

[mylastchance]

Lauren's eyes are wide. He can't believe it either, but that was clearly a dragon flying overhead. As soon as he saw it's shadow he'd looked up, his relaxed attitude from before gone.

"A dragon." Lauren answers, finishing Susan's sentence as he looks to his brother, suddenly serious.

"Can we stop it?"

Cockatrice hunt: Miko, Carly... and this guy. (Later: Zangetsu!)

[criticallyfucked]

Foster is bleeding.

This is not unusual, nor in this case unexpected, because he did it on purpose. The knife is still in one hand--the pads of both ursine paws dark with fresh blood, claws wet, kinked blond fur matted with it.

This is probably not what anyone was expecting when he said he had something in mind already. Or when he pulled the mice out of his pockets. The two extremely dead, extremely expired mice--which had been trapped (and dispatched) back on Carnival grounds, so it was only to be expected that they weren't in the best condition, even with a minor charm to keep them from going too off.

But now...

Now they were much, much more bigger. And much toothier. And a bit less foul. And... well, rather more animate. Watching them sniff the blood-dampened earth, they were almost--almost doglike, but their torsos were a little too long, their heads a little too sloped, their paws a little too... handlike.

"Hunting dogs," he comments simply, wiping the knife off on a nearby bush. But for as little as he's saying, his face betrays a rare, genuine smile.

He hasn't felt this good--this confident before. Or not... no, well, not in a long time. A very long time. Even if he hasn't eaten, he feels like this could nourish him for a day. Days, even.

He's not used to success.

He doesn't bother to wonder how long it'll last.

Instead, he mounts his mare, whose pinned ears and tight mouth say she's not feeling as thrilled with his inventions.

He doesn't bother to try and keep his blood off the reins.

"Shall we go?"

ohboy

[fortuneglass]

Both Carly and her own mare, a shining, tall thing of seeming gold, seem equally uncomfortable with the 'hounds', but the wardrobe manager wisely says nothing about the matter. When they encountered the other, there was plenty to make her uneasy about what they were doing.

But as she said then, and as she will say now-"Yes; we should all be ready, right?" she asks, glancing at Miko before continuing on. "...We're on shaky ground-too shaky to risk anything, right now. With any luck.... ...Participating in this properly will win the Carnival some reputation and sway back." Her horse stamps the ground, and Carly holds her bow a little awkwardly. She's not Too good with this but....

Well, she was practicing, and there was a reason for it.

For Steven, Yuuya, and Zangetsu

[betheman]

The Peryton and himself couldn't entirely communicate-there was only so much one could do with hoofbeats and yes/no questions, but as it was, Gongenzaka swore upon his life and soul that he would do at least one thing for the other.

No matter the cost, he would make sure that they stayed alive, and that they found the others which he knew.

The journey did not end up one they took alone, either-it did not take long before Yuuya was encountered. And from there, Steven-both of them apparently more than relieved that there was a chance they could actually save the poor folk.

...Right now, it was quiet. Marishi was on 'point' a few feet ahead, while Gongenzaka was just behind her, both feeling out for various energy signatures that could be around them. With their focus split, it was a little tricky to maintain....but it would be well worth it, especially in the twilight of the wood.

Gongenzaka glances back to the others, giving a nod-"You are all faring well, I hope?"

[hippocarnival]

Yuya offers Gongenzaka a smile--even if it is strained. He hadn't... taken well to the truth that Gongenzaka told him, but the best thing he could do right now was try and protect those being hunted. Preferably without the Prince finding out.

"I'm fine." He's still leading his horse by the reigns, but he gives his friend a thumbs up. "We're still alone out here, right?"

⇨ THE RESULTS

[ringleaders]

At the end of the day, the Prince will come out to reward the winning kill. From the start, it is clear that there are only two choices: the only two beasts slain were the Dragon and the Cockatrice, and he publicly remarks on what a shame it is that so many of the Ringmaster's stock lacked the nerve for hunting.

The two bodies will be strung up, and he will look them over to determine the method of hunting and cause of death. In the back, a few servants will look away or cover their eyes, while others stare on grimly.

Finally, he will declare THE COCKATRICE as the winning kill, and will ask Carly, Foster, and Miko to come forward to receive a prize. Thanking them for removing that pest on his behalf, he will give them a weird looking bow in an elaborate wooden case.

He will not explain what it does. Instead, he will address everyone a final time:

"Let this remind us - even the hunter can become the prey."

And with that, he will turn and go back into the castle.