⇨ FOURTH WALL EVENT! (OPEN TO ALL)

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone and the 4th Wall Visitors!
When: Day 175
Where: Heartstone Manor
What: THE 4TH WALL BALL BEGINS! This is where unapped visitors can post and roleplay. Please read the rules and setting info below. For more information and visuals refs, read this. Questions can be asked over here.
Warnings: Individually marked! Could be a lot of things.

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.

Comments

[whattaprick]

They are supposed to be being good guests, here, although it's almost certainly thumbing their nose at the Prince to have two men dancing together, they're hardly the only ones here guilty of that transgression. At the magician's assent, Lambert finishes what he started, leading Childermass to the floor and shifting his grip on his fingers and settling his hand on his back.

He will, of course, be taking the lead unless Childermass has objections. For better or worse, it's a slow song, so they don't have to worry too much about keeping pace with the rest of the dancers. Lambert's expression has shifted into a scowl, but there's not as much heat to it as one would expect.

[atouts]

They're dressed up and otherwise behaving. It's the most the Prince can hope for at this point in time. Besides, he has a massive grand ball to attend to, and so Childermass is not worried about that part for once. If they were back in England, well— actually, it wouldn't matter, since no one would invite them to a grand ball in the first place.

Talk about really, really missing England at this point.

"Do you even know how to do this?" Childermass can't help but question Lambert when he takes lead. He won't stop him from doing so, settling a hand awkwardly on the witcher's arm and shoulder instead, but hell yeah, he's going to make sure they aren't about to get waltzed right through everyone else.

[whattaprick]

"Strange taught me at the Celebration," is what the witcher offers as smarmy explanation, teeth sharp. "And I've been dancing all night."

Funny, how he keeps ending up in dances when he's addled out of his mind, but he can't complain about the results. It's an awful situation, Childermass looks like he's swallowed a lemon and is only dancing with him because there's a dire need for something resembling privacy, and he's probably about to tell him something that can actually penetrate through the curdled milk of his thoughts -- but at least he can have one good memory of this place.

"Don't let go, or I'll lose you." He's only half-joking -- that seems like the sort of thing that could happen around here. They're off, the witcher leading with confident, smooth steps, finding a spot among the other dancers. That's when Lambert tugs him a little closer to his chest, bowing his head to put his mouth closer to his ear.

"Talk." He really doesn't need to be this close.

[atouts]

If only Childermass could say the same, but the sense of unavoidable doom really ruins the moment, doesn't it? The only silver lining is he won't stumble over his own feet following Lambert's lead.

"You're enjoying this," he accuses in that all too familiar bored — and tired, too, at this point — way. It briefly flits across his mind, the idea of just dumping a 'don't see us over here' spell on the both of them as, in retrospect, having been the better option. It's a little late for that now, though. "What do you remember from breakfast this morning?"

[whattaprick]

"Can't blame me," Lambert chuckles. No sense denying it, but the question does make him pause to think. It hasn't really been drawn to his attention so clearly, until now, but where the other days have at least some vague shape of the activities they participated in, trying to reach for this morning gives him ...

"...Not a damn thing."

[atouts]

No, he can't, not really. He also isn't going to admit as much out loud and just carry on looking unamused, though that can't possibly be a surprise right there.

"He poisoned you all at breakfast," he tells Lambert. "And spent the rest of the day wandering around mindlessly, up until he needed you to dress up and come to his ball."

How much of this will even stick in Lambert's mind in the next few minutes, though, he has to wonder.

[whattaprick]

"Fuck," the witcher says, plainly. There's a flicker of anger in Lambert's expression, fingers tightening on the magician's before he can think twice about it, before his expression smoothes out again into looking only faintly troubled. And then he seems to recall something, frowning and glancing away, though his steps don't falter. Syrlya said to avoid the food and drink. But he obviously hasn't done that, which is likely why he's having so much trouble finding his focus. Again.

"I was supposed to meet Syrlya. Find someone who could clear this." Fat lot of progress he's made on that so far.

He shakes his head. "Whatever he did, I can't even get pissed." He could meditate it out, or try to, but that needs an hour they don't have. That sense of urgency is about the best he can get to right now. "I don't need to remember to help. What do you need?" Because that's why he's here, isn't he?

[atouts]

Lambert not even being able to get mad is the strangest part of this yet. That's too much of a regular part of the witcher to even fathom him not being able to stomp off and yell at someone and yet here he is, too calm for his own good.

"If Syrlya is similarly affected, he may have simply wandered off and forgotten as well," Childermass points out, carrying on with the dance Lambert's leading them in without really having to think about it at this point, although he is keeping track of when the song sounds like it's ending. Not yet, but he doubts there's that much time left. "A pity you can't just have Mr. Strange kiss you and see if that won't clear it up."

Because someone absolutely mentioned that part about breaking the bicorn's curse at some point, you can't tell me otherwise, okay.

"But failing that, do you think you could at least catch everyone's attention? I need to be able to leave the ballroom, but not while the Prince might be watching me."

[whattaprick]

"Why would I want Strange to kiss me?" Lambert asks, with a faint look of revulsion, like he'd much rather plant his lips on the Prince himself than be subjected to that. Like sure, he likes Strange a lot, but that concept's just a weird one.

However, Childermass's question brings Lambert's attention back to the matter at hand, and he frowns. Catch everyone's attention...? It's an odd request, though Childermass's reason for asking becomes quickly apparent.

He's doing something dangerous, something that needs to be big enough to draw the Prince's attention. Lambert's not sure what Childermass expects him to manage -- he's hardly going to lure the Prince with small talk, of all things -- but he still nods.

"I can try." He moves them around another pair of dancers, deftly. Perhaps it's not the answer Childermass would prefer to hear, but at this ball, who knows. "When?"

[atouts]

Because that's how curses are broken, right? Well, no. Childermass doesn't honestly believe that, but he would privately laugh at Lambert quite a bit over it. He won't say as much, though, since Lambert turns his attention to the real reason the magician was looking for him.

"Give me thirty minutes," he says, moving along where Lambert leads with just as much ease now that he's figured the steps they're taking out. "Or three songs."

That's roughly thirty minutes.

"I'll be leaving after that, regardless of whether you remember or not."

[whattaprick]

"Three songs. I'll remember," Lambert says, with conviction that probably isn't warranted, given the gaping holes in his memory here.

Speaking of songs, how long has it been since they started this one? They must be halfway through, at least. Noticing the confidence in his step, Lambert decides it's time to take things up a notch, and he presses a hand at the magician's back to dip him gracefully before easing him up again.

"Was that all?" he asks, brows raised. Of course, he knows that isn't all -- the wryness in his voice gives that much away. But even when he tries to reach for the memories he's aware should be there, his mind meets nothing but fog.

[atouts]

And that dip has Childermass's grip on Lambert tightening immediately, startled that the witcher would actually do that. It isn't even a part of this dance, he thinks, or maybe it is and he just didn't think that far ahead with this ridiculous notion. The feathers along the sides of his face puff up some and he gives Lambert a tight-lipped, annoyed look for his efforts.

"It was," he all but growls out. "Unless you have something else to add, there isn't anything more to say."

Because he's not laying out his plan step-by-step. He's not even sure it'll work, much less if he'll be changing it on the fly or not.

[whattaprick]

"Oh, but there is." Lambert smirks and leans forward, tilting his head to keep his horns clear of Childermass while he murmurs quietly in his ear.

"You look good tonight. You should keep those if you can."

He's only being a little facetious.

[atouts]

Ugh, really? Well, Childermass had wondered how long it would take Lambert to comment on something like that. That doesn't change how unamused he is by it.

"Only if you manage to lose that god awful hat you have on."

[whattaprick]

"It's a deal," the witcher snickers, but he won't take the hat off just yet, leading the magician through the rest of the dance -- though without any more unexpected twirls or showy moves, just as proper as can be.

When the song comes to an end -- as it inevitably must -- he lets Childermass go and gives him an exaggerated bow, sweeping the hat off his head and pressing it to his chest. When he straightens, the offensive headpiece tucked under one arm, he raises his other hand, displaying the feathers he's pulled off it and kept tucked between his knuckles.

"Three songs," he tells him, in lieu of a 'thank you for the dance' or 'goodbye.' "Then I'll give them a show to remember."