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
no subject
Turns out there are special circumstances! You certainly can't be blamed for not knowing. And there was no 'made'.
[One of his palps wipes at his lips with that last word. He ignores it, indicates his other body. It poses in the cage.]
It's a little bit BDSM, isn't it?
[Despite being a dove, he's harnessed like a gargantuan falcon. A collar is the most notable part, but there are also leather jesses on his legs - 'leashes', more like, at his size - and possibly a bigass hood, though not when he's walking around with heavy trays on his back.]
did u like her cockatrice, julien =w=
[...And she turns. She'd last seen the bird holding those trays, but now....Now Carly pales, her lights all dulling and dimming significantly as she stiffens at the sight of the hood. Her eyes widen-and her tone drops to an icy bottom, frightening to those of proper mind and thought.]
What did they.... DO....?
no subject
Oh, are you getting angry on my behalf? I'm touched! I thought once someone turned into an animal everyone started thinking of them as, y'know, totally okay to kill for sport! Guess that wasn't you then, huh? Cool.
[He doesn't know it was her cockatrice or he'd be bringing in more details. Now! Here! With the false ingenuity: this is as mean as Julien is casually able to get, providing angry dogs aren't involved.]
no subject
Her hands shake where they are, and her face feels hot, ready to spill tears.
She finally looks away, choking.] ...Mhg....Most...
...Most were protected, [She manages stiffly.] ....Only two people, [Groups, her mind reminds her nastily,] ....Only two people chose to play along.
[The Hunter can quickly become the Prey. Ah.]
no subject
Well. Death is the one sanctioned escape, so maybe they did the staff a favor! If you polled all of us and we were honest I don't think we'd agree, really, but hey, who asks us? We're just meat.
no subject
.....
How did you find out about this, [she asks, her voice as fragile as ice. Her face is a mask of stone rage, but her words betray her worry.] ....What HAPPENED, [she insists, trembling even more.]
no subject
[He's not at all antagonistic as a person so, even now, there's a friendly, bantering cast to his voice.]
But, okay, uh... "The weak are meat that the strong shall eat". How's that? Too obvious an implication?
...Not that I ate anyone. That's gross. And 'strong' is very relative. Ultimately we're all weak, all us sorry mortals taken to serve fae, but in the fighting over scraps sense, you know?
no subject
They were given the Cockatrice, a former fellow servant, to eat.
It takes her a number of seconds to speak, and when she does it comes out a low hiss.] .....No one is going to be eating you.
Or the others-but we won't be leaving you here, either. ....Understand?
no subject
[He says that a bit more soberly.]
I guess I couldn't blame the killers too much, gotta say. Sometimes keeping the Prince happy means doing something unsavory! Unfortunately. The fault ought to be his for setting up this whole sorry situation in the first place-
- But, ultimately, when you have this kind of power, you can do what you want.
no subject
But ultimately she finds herself filling with resolve, looking to Julien with stone eyes.] ...............I'm pretty familiar with people like that. ....People who have you by...by the soul, to make you do what they want....
[Her light flares, and she moves, ready to walk away.] ....It won't seem possible. I won't even try to make you realize it is..! [she adds, glancing back to him with tears in her eyes.]
But you won't be staying here after tonight. ...That's a promise..!
no subject
[Julien knows he should do something to deflate that passion, but he can't really bring himself to say something that would. She'll find out for herself soon enough anyway. Probably by getting in trouble herself, but, well. He's already seen that he can't do a thing to help others with that. Let her hope while she has it.
He just smiles a little sadly.]
Heh. Well. I don't think you've got that kind of power. Good luck trying!
no subject
I got rid of my problem, didn't I? [She says before she leaves.] ....And....just like you....
....I brought that one on myself as well. [Julien wouldn't know about those details. He wouldn't know about the intricacies of what happened, with Aslla Piscu, with the Dark Signers. And certainly the reality is that next to the Prince? It's cupcakes.
But it's something. And her smile is....somehow a little confident as she flashes it, before floating off across the ballroom floor.]