lostcarnival | ⇨ FOURTH WALL EVENT! (OPEN TO ALL)

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⇨ FOURTH WALL EVENT! (OPEN TO ALL)

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Susan almost misses her at first, as he's trying to find a way to Fix This, whatever This is that needs fixing. But it's hard for him to miss one of the only people actually shorter than him around, especially when he's actively looking, when he's trying to find a servant of the manor to talk to.

He just wasn't actually expecting to see someone so young, and someone who. Well, who he actually recognizes, even if they haven't talked much.

But that doesn't matter. In fact it might make it easier to try and get answers out of her, right? He hopes so at least, and he approaches with a small smile.]

What're you doing? [Because she's dressed like she works here, right? So why would she have changed... That's strange.]

....Working. [Working is what the answer is, but Reira seems to stare not at Susan but through him-not even in the sense of one ignoring another. It's more as though something dark were lurking far behind him, or even all around them, and her focus is captured by that. She does not return the smile. In fact her face is kept emotionless, like stone...

Except those eyes, wide and fearful of what cannot be seen there.] I need to keep working.

[He frowns a little when her expression doesn't change, like she's looking through him... It's a little creepy, honestly, but he continues anyway.]

Did you decide you didn't like working with the animals? I think they're more fun than dishes.

[It's extremely creepy. The monotone voice is probably even more creepy.

All of this is creepy actually, and the whole 'covered in moon rock' isn't taking away from it.] .....What I want doesn't matter.

[Thereeeeeeeeeeeeeeee's yer sign-]

The Prince has his orders. I have to fulfill them. ....Or else.

[Okay, that's weird. He doesn't understand why she'd say something like that, but honestly he wants to just make this a conversation. That's the best way to gather information after all, although it would be easier if Lauren were over here to help him put it all together.]

Or else what? I didn't know he was giving any of us orders except for following the rules.

[There is an eerie pause-but more pieces on her end click into place-and instead of an answer, she stiffens.]

....

....You didn't notice, [she finally observes, blank and dead in her voice.]

....Those who broke the curfew....

You didn't notice what happened, to the ones who broke that rule.

....It's good that you didn't.

...But it won't matter soon. He's stronger than her.

[He frowns. Was he supposed to notice? He didn't know people were actually breaking it, but if there was something to notice other than that, he would have seen it, right?]

Stronger than... The Ringmaster? Why does that matter?

....Because it means you can't win.

[Well that's certainly...Ominous.] ...It means you're working for the wrong one.

...The Prince is stronger-it's safer to work for him.

[And yet, if anything, she sounds...honestly frightened, when she says those words, breaking from the monotone and clutching her basket tensely.]

[Can't win? Working for the wrong one? That's... Well, he doesn't really know what the Ringmaster is trying to get out of being here when it comes down to it, but things must be tense.]

Being safer does sound nice. But what's he keeping you safe from?

..........

....him.

[And hoo boy, does her voice come out a squeak.] .....I have to keep working. I can't get in trouble.

[Okay now that's interesting. So that means there's someone else, here, who's the bad guy? Unless the Prince is somehow protecting people from himself but that would be weird.]

I can help you.

You can't. [It's sharp-it cuts the air without shouting, and Reira shakes as fearful tremors begin to hit.]

The Prince is too strong. So I'm listening to him now.

It's safe that way. ....If you listen to the one who's strongest, you live longer...It's safer.

[There's no other bad guy, it seems.

Just the Prince.]

[He's too strong? None of this really makes sense, he's definitely not following the logic, but he can at least keep talking to try to get more out of her.]

Well, yeah, 'cause he can protect you from other bad guys too, right? Because he's so strong. He must have lots of ways to protect people.

The Prince doesn't care about that sort of thing.

[Oh dear.]

He cares about what he wants.

If he wants you dead, you die.

But if he wants something else you can do, you won't.

....So I'm listening.

So he's just protecting you by not killing you? That's not a very good way of protecting, is it? Doesn't the Ringmaster try to protect us from more than just herself? [Even though he's not happy with said Ringmaster. Not going to get into that right now, though.]

....He's stronger than her, [She says quite bluntly, and after a short pause....]

...I need to keep working.

[Nope, he's not going anywhere. Susan is not easily deterred. If she starts walking away he'll even just follow along for now.

But okay, that's not going anywhere so let's try another tactic...]

If he only keeps people alive who have something he wants, then what does he want from me? I'm not helping him but I'm alive.

....You're still hers, [Reira replies lowly-and it is difficult to miss the edge of malice in her tone.]

....He doesn't care about you.

[...Yeah that's kind of weird, and disturbing, but he still presses on.]

And you aren't hers? You have a contract too.

...I broke the rules, [she says to that.]

....I belong to the Prince now.

And you're okay with it, because he's stronger. [Or at least, she's saying she's okay with it. It seems she really isn't okay with it, though, but pointing that out isn't going to help right now he thinks.]

....I'm alive this way, [She replies dully, but her eyes still betray her emotions. She's terrified, and this conversation is only making it worse.]

I need to keep doing my job.

Well, I'm not stopping you from doing your job, I'm just talking while you do it. Is that okay? Or is not talking to me part of your job too? [Not that he can't take a hint, she doesn't seem to want to talk to him because of being scared, but at the same time, now that he's actually finding things out and talking to someone that's been taken like this... He doesn't want to just let her go. He's gotten hurt and risked his life for even stupider things than that before. ~~it comes with being a d&d character after all~~]

[There is....a conflict of thoughts. ...But she does start to walk, and she doesn't stop Susan from following. Under her breath, she replies-] ....I'm not supposed to start talking.

....

....You can, if you must, however.

Then I will, 'cause I like talking. So it's definitely me starting it.

[He just has to think of what to say, how else to get her to stop doing something she's clearly terrified of, or how to get some other information on how to fix things. All he knows is that apparently breaking the rules means the Prince can take you from the Ringmaster, and that she has to do what he says now despite being scared. And it seems that even her life is at risk, so he doesn't mind killing his people, maybe. Or at least hurting them and giving them weird changes, although honestly he's not sure if those are just from being in the Carnival or from something else, but she didn't look like that before and she hasn't been around long enough to look too different, he thinks.

He follows along with her, but it takes him a little bit of thinking before he speaks again.]

It doesn't seem very fair to punish people that bad for breaking the rules when he has so many of them.

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ngl I sorta hope they end up talking about this in the aftermath now bc oh no,,,,

it could definitely be interesting haha

YEAH considering that even when she thinks she's making sense she. Isn't.

yeah lmao. he's so very confused...

poor susan,,,

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