THE GRAND BALL↴
Heartstone Manor is a giant, spooky castle floating in the middle of a twilight filled void. It is the home of a Wyld Fae calling himself The Prince - and despite his name, he is a bestial creature crammed into a gentleman's clothing, completely obsessed with replicating the ideals of old timey human society, much like the 1800's. The Prince and his many servants all dress in a manner appropriate to to the 1500's - 1800's, and decorum and beauty are held sacred above all else. All the workers of the carnival are currently staying there, in the hope of enabling a successful diplomatic venture between the Ringmaster and the Prince. The Grand Ball is being thrown by the Prince to honour these guests, but his manner of doing this is going to come as a bit of a surprise.
THE RULES↴
- Powers are all partially nerfed for 4th Wallers. They can be used in small to moderate ways for the sake of RP and narrative flavour, but 4th Wallers shouldn’t generally be using any powers in a super disruptive manner. No using powers for fighting with NPCs (yet), causing general chaos, or otherwise making your character a burden to the Prince. If they try, they’ll find themselves unable to do so.
- Your character isn’t sure how they got here but they think they’re okay with it. Your character won’t remember how they were captured by the Prince at the start of the ball. They’re just kind of here and in formal wear, and something tells them it’s probably fine to just enjoy the ball. They are wrong.
- In-game characters won’t initially remember how they all ended up at the ball either thanks to a temporary amnesia effect, but they will be able to be concerned about the fact that other people (possibly people they know) have shown up, and the fact that those other people are probably the Prince’s captives. Weren’t they doing something else at the castle before this, though? It’s hard to remember. This is all very confusing.
- 4th Wall character who aren’t apping in were possibly never the real deal in the first place. There are a mixture of genuine captives and spooky replications created with magic – this is to provide some flexibility regarding 4th wall character’s states in game, as well to allow more than one of each character to be played. If there are multiple people playing the same character, then whichever one has an app accepted will have been the real one.
- No doubles of in game characters. (Taken list here.) No AUs, no CRAUs, and nothing else besides characters that have full source canons or are original characters/fandom OCs with no bearing on the canon plot. If you tag in with a character who breaks these rules we reserve the right to remove them.
THE SETUP: 4TH WALLERS↴
- With incredibly foggy memories of their recent past, your character will find themselves at a grand ballroom dance, filled with a mixture of normal humans and odd looking humanoids that have strange features like wings, horns, tails, fur, and the like. They have vague memories of being dressed for the occasion, but are not sure by who or why. Most disturbingly, they will find that, at first at least, they don’t really care about the details. It seems like a pleasant event, doesn’t it? Why not enjoy it.
- This effect is definitely some kind of mind control, so you can feel free to have your characters be a bit confused and conflicted about it. Ultimately, they have been charmed to participate in the dance, so they will feel like riding the wave is the best thing to do even if that wouldn’t normally be their cup of tea. If your character has resistances to some forms of mind control, they are still overruled in this circumstance.
- They may discover people they recognize (castmates) or even duplicates of themselves (somehow?), and these can all be treated as canonly occurring and played out as such. This event is canon for Lost Carnival, so it should be played seriously and respectfully – not that silly shenanigans aren’t also bound to happen.
- All characters are required to dress in formal attire appropriate to a period area – specifically anywhere from the 1500s to 1800s. The Prince prefers if people are heteronormative in their clothing choices, but if you want you can probably get away with your ladies wearing suits or men wearing dresses as long as they look presentable otherwise.
THE SETUP: MANOR GUESTS↴
- You find yourself at the Grand Ball without really remembering how you got here. The last few days are a foggy blur, and though you can remember some of the important stuff you were dealing with, it will feel less important right at the start. Of course, as the night goes on, memories of how the carnival reached this event will become more and more clear – as well as the inevitable worry and stress that comes with it.
- For most people, there will have absolutely no memory of anything that happened after the morning of Day 175. Did the boating trip ever happen? Possibly not. Even as the night progresses, they will still have no recollection of how most of Day 175 went, which is probably disturbing. The Mod has contacted those that are exceptions to this privately to tell them what they will remember.
- The people lost to the Manor’s security earlier in the week will be here too, but not as guests. In fact, all of them will be dressed in the black attire of a Heartstone Manor servant and will seem pretty okay with that fact. There are parts of them that look changed – and their dispositions are definitely one of them. How else could they possibly be working for the Prince now?
- Updates to the event situation will be posted down in this section below. People can react to these posts as the circumstances change, and may new top levels based on them. It is possible to try to sneak away from the ball, but Manor Security will be trying to hunt you down. There is no mandatory outcome planed to this event, so character decisions can and will have a major effect in where the plot goes from here.
THE ACCOMODATIONS↴
- MUSIC AND DANCING: There will be music playing the whole night, and most of it is so good you feel practically compelled to dance to it. It's possible to resist, but why would you want to do that, you party pooper?
- FOOD AND DRINK: There are circle tables set up with fine silverware, and upon sitting down you will soon have a waiter come back to ask for an order. You can request basically any European cusine and it will be made for you. You will also be given drinks, most of which are alcohol, no matter your age. Fae don't care about children.
- BALCONY STARGAZING: There are balconies that are connected to the ballroom in multiple locations that you can step out onto to get some fresh air. You'll see the courtyard of the Manor down below you, but everything beyond that is black, as if the castle is floating within a twilight void. (Because it is.) One small change is that there are stars out tonight, probably added to the sky for the occasion.
- ALL NIGHT LONG: The ball will go on far into the early morning. Or, at least, until everyone fucks it up.
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ringleaders) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
lostcarnival2017-10-13 06:00 pm
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Straightening her back, she takes a step towards him, pointing an accusing finger at his face. "You don't know me, so stop acting like you do!"
Her snapping falls just short of yelling, as there's a part of Rita that's still trying not to make a spectacle. Getting the wrong kind of attention here is dangerous. She could end up... well... something would happen, but her mind seems to gloss over the specifics as if they're unimportant.
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"I don't know you. But I do." How to explain, how to tell her, he always messes this part up, he thought it would be better now that he knew what he was but he's still learning. "Preening and proud, a scholar through and through. You're going to change the world. And maybe if you do, he'll notice." No, wait, that's not it. "She'll notice?"
Cole's voice in the last phrase is tentative, as if he's not sure. Rita's mind is muddled, memories behind walls, the same haze that's in some other people's minds.
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On a normal day, it wouldn't be a stretch for anyone to guess she's a scholar. But right now, she doesn't look the part one bit. And knowing she intends to change the world? There must be some explanation... He talked to someone else, maybe, or he investigated her background somehow, but...
She'll notice. Rita flinches, her teeth clenched. "That's... how the hell are you..." She fumbles over her words. It sounds like vague nonsense, and yet, she knows what he's pointing to. Something Rita's never fully acknowledged was there, but she knows it is, and now this freak knows too, somehow!?
He's reading her mind. Has to be. She doesn't see how he's doing it; he doesn't seem to have cast a spell. She also wants to ask outright, maybe accuse him, but doing that would mean admitting he's right, and so she hesitates.
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Besides, he's got to go back to reassuring Rita. So, entirely ignoring her question, Cole continues talking.
"There's nothing wrong with being worried. Almost everyone here's worried. It hangs in the air. Heat on a muggy day, invisible and unseen but there."
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But as worried as she might be, Rita still refuses to own up to it. She doesn't want to show it. And while Cole may be trying to comfort her, to Rita's ears, his assurances sound patronizing, which only gets her more wound up. "I said I'm not... damn it, you're the most embarrassing thing here!"
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It's aggravating. How does he even work with that in the first place?
"How do I stop being embarrassing?" It's an honest question.
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"Just who or what are you, anyway?" she asks, brow furrowed. He knows who she is just by looking at her. Not just the things that anyone could figure out, either. No normal person could do that. Lowering her voice, she adds, "How do you... know things?"
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"How do you know to breathe? It's the same thing."
He just does. As a spirit of compassion, he's attuned to other's pains, hurts, worries, and sorrows. For Cole, knowing someone's sorrow is just as simple and just as easy as Rita knowing how to breathe.
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It doesn't look like he's lying, though. He's not using magic, and there's no indication of him using some other sort of power, so maybe whatever he's doing is some passive ability to perceive... something like the way she can perceive magic. It pisses her off, that feeling that someone's seeing right through her, but she wants to understand it.
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"I'm not people," he quietly continues. He knows he isn't people, though he could have been, once. But it's the 'what is he' question that Cole's still grappling with a bit. Solas said he's a spirit. Command said he was compassion. Cole says he's just Cole.
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"You're not using magic... but there is magic in you," she observes. "It's something I've never seen before." So at least he's not fae, even if he is still kind of a freak.
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But she's right, though. Magic but not magic. Just like how he's a person but not a person and dead but not dead. Cole, the walking bundle of contradictions.
"I think I'm a spirit," he helpfully chimes in. "Not a freak."
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"A spirit..." Now that actually sounds like an answer. "What kind of spirit?" The spirits in Terca Lumireis all seemed to have some kind of innate elemental affinity... something like earth, wind, fire, or water. She can't see anything quite so distinctly recognizable in Cole, though.
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But, people say he's a spirit of compassion. And he likes that label! So, a spirit of compassion he is. It fits what he wants to do anyway.
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"Never heard of a spirit like that before. Are there others like you, where you're from?"
It still creeps her out how he just knows what she's thinking. But the more Rita understands about what he is, and where he's coming from with this weirdness, the less disturbing it becomes.
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Some he has met. Some he knows are there because others have thought about them, worried about them, looked at Cole and thought 'but what if....' At least Rita is looking at him with open eyes, open thoughts. That's good.
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Oh, right. They're in the middle of a ball.
"You're not... here to dance, are you?" she asks, looking him over. He really doesn't look like he fits in here... even though, paradoxically, he doesn't seem to stand out all that much, either. "What are you doing here?" There's still a lingering haze in her mind, one that prevents her from asking the same of herself.
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All he can do is guess.
"It's loud. The worry, the fear fights fast. Where did they all go? Darkness upon darkness, never going back, never again. I should be here but I shouldn't be here." Cole looks up at Rita and repeats insistently, "I shouldn't be here."
He had no idea what he's doing here. But there's people from both sides hurting and he's got to help. So maybe that's why he's here? It certainly isn't to dance.
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"Could you try saying that in a way that makes sense?" she asks impatiently, frowning, after it looks like he's finished.
That last part made some sense, at least. He shouldn't be here. So did someone make him come, or did he wander here by mistake? Maybe it's similar to how people sometimes find themselves at the carnival.
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"I don't know where here is," he tries again, hoping that will help answer Rita's questions. Because again, he shouldn't be here. He doesn't know where here is, but even Cole knows that much. "And I don't forget."
Not unless he wants himself to, that is. And why would he forget where this place was?
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But why would he wish that...? Just to have a full house for the ball? Seems like he opened up his realm to some real oddballs, whatever the goal.
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He can't just go into the Fade, the realm of spirits, like he's doing here. It's not right, feels wrong, like a too big pair of shoes. Cole can't accidentally wander somewhere like he used to. Can he? But Rita gave multiple options. What if the ruler of this place summoned him? And why would that happen?
"I can't be bound. They made it so, shining strong, burning bright. But can I be summoned?"
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"Summoning spirits is theoretically possible, where I'm from. Wouldn't surprise me if a high-level fae was capable of it," she says with a shrug. Binding a spirit, however, is a relatively new concept to her. He can't be bound...?
There's a pause, and then she asks, "Who's 'they'?" Was that just nonsense, or is there meaning in his more bizarre utterances?
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"They bound the demons at Adamant, tying them to the Wardens, forcing them to serve. Warped them, changed them, made them unlike. That will not happen to me."
And that's the most decisive Cole's sounded in their entire conversation, though there's a little trace of fear and sadness in his voice. Being bound, being warped, not being himself is one of Cole's greatest fears and greatest worries—and, just from briefly touching the minds of so many here, it seems that it's their greatest worries as well.
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Forced servitude, being changed against one's will... "That's what the fae always do," Rita mutters, bitterness in her voice.
And apparently, it's something Cole's seen before, too. Is it something that people can do to spirits...? If Rita plans on paving the way for a world where humans and spirits live together, it might be worth learning about how that can go wrong. Rita may have a higher opinion of her fellow humans than she used to, but she still knows perfectly well the cruelty they're capable of.
It's still nothing compared to what the fae do, though. But then... if Cole can pick up on Rita's thoughts, that makes her wonder. "Wait... Can you tell what the Prince, the guy in charge here, is thinking?" Or feeling, or whatever the hell it is that he reads from people.
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