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.

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Syrlya makes an attempt the same time Childermass does, staring forward as a flurry of purple magic shards appear and he disappears.

For a second, only to be left in the same spot, blinking rapidly.

"... So we do have to break it."

Foster watches all of this with a very strange, strained look on his face. Focusing is a constant strain on him. Trying to be patient is harder still--and trying to contain himself through it?

He's still ignoring Papyrus--as much as he dislikes the skeleton, he actually served a very important purpose just now... Foster was getting too ahead of himself, forgetting his place. It was good to remind Childermass of his undeserving presence, and himself of where he belongs in this assortment of powers. He really is... meant to be here for a reason, but he had forgotten what that reason was--!

He has a chance to make that right, though. He has a chance to serve his actual purpose here...!

"Mmmm. Wait! Wait." He reaches up with one paw, and the sparrow in his hair hops onto one claw, perching lightly for a second before it takes flight.

He watches intently as it approaches the clear dome over the terrarium and attempts to make contact with the surface.

Edited 2017-10-24 02:33 (UTC)

The bird will just sort of bump into the glass harmlessly.

Bunny looks at the glass nervously for a few moments, before speaking up.

"Maybe you have to... do something to it? Like how we open the servant tunnels."

"I'm not done," Foster announces in a loud, clear voice before anyone can say anything. The sparrow flies back towards them, but instead of having it land on him, he waves it away to land on Taako instead.

Which is the only warning any of them will get before he walks himself directly up to the barrier, and--eagerly, without any hesitation at all--plants his furry paws directly on its surface.

Childermass keeps an eye on Foster as he approaches the wall, though he does aside to the bunny girl, "Perhaps..."

That said, he's waiting to see if anything happens to Foster directly before walking up there himself. If it's a part of the manor, could it still be reasoned with?

Nothing happens.

"Um...?" the bunny girls asks uncertainly.

Edited 2017-10-24 03:07 (UTC)

If it won't fry the bird and it won't fry Foster, well, then it probably isn't going to fry Childermass. He shrugs at the bunny girl and proceeds to cross the remaining few steps between himself and the crystal wall. There, place a hand of his own flat against the surface.

"I know you can hear us," he tells it, although he does feel a little ridiculous to be talking to a wall, of all things. "I believe you want this to end as much as we do. Please, let us pass."

Foster slowly removes his paws from the barrier, unsure if he's... disappointed? Or happy?

...it doesn't matter how he feels. He did what he was supposed to do. And it's... about all he can do at this point in time, isn't it?

He turns and looks back at Taako and Lapis and the others, but doesn't say anything.

He was meant to enable them, to assist their efforts to reach this point. He's done his job, filled his purpose. Played his role.

He walks back to them calmly, but doesn't offer much else.

At least they know it won't fry them now.

Bunny looks at Childermass's efforts and frowns, before walking up to the crystal as well. She licks her lips in nervous contemplation, before leaning forward a little bit and rapping her knuckles against the crystal.

"Open up, please?" she asks.

The crystal remains still.

Childermass shakes his head and looks up again, at where the light is filtering in from. Where Papyrus is, too. If they can't get in through here—

"Taako," he turns away from the crystal again, "I think it's time to see if we can't join our friends up there. Ask the manor for stairs to the next floor up."

"I'm on it, bromigo."

And, with that, Taako clears his throat, and he focuses on the mirror again, trying to think of how to word this request.

"Give me stairs to the next floor."

Plain, but hopefully effective.

Similar to before, a stairway made of floating chunks of rock will descend from the ceiling, opening a path to the floor with the giant floating crystal. Also, to Papyrus.

That done, Childermass starts that way, walking towards the stairs. As he goes, however, he does continue talking.

"Good. See if you can find anything else down here," he says, then adds, again to Taako, "Including you. You may as well try knocking on everything as long as you're the Prince."

Seriously, just start knocking on everything, people. He's running out of ideas here save for getting a look at the sun crystal up above.

"--And there were stairs after all! But what kind of puzzle leaves the solution on the wrong side???" Papyrus is saying, like he's been ranting about the architecture and design of the building for a while.

Don't mind the broken windows that's filled with summoned bones like makeshift bars to keep gargoyles out, guys.

Foster glances at Childermass, but... he does make a somewhat detached attempt to investigate things, pointedly moving closer to Taako and further away from Papyrus in the process.

Taako quietly does notice Foster sticking closer to him, and makes a note to tease him about that later, when they aren't busy with way more important stuff.

For now, he does indeed start knocking on things-- walls, the floor, etc., but he makes his way over to what seems like the most important surface to knock on: the dome surrounding the Rose.

He knocks at it gently, and then presses his palm flat against it, curious to see if anything happens.

Starting from the place where Taako knocks, the crystal surface will begin folding open, one facet at a time, until it has revealed a shining gateway. The air from inside the chamber feels like running on a cold night, or enjoying hot springs in winter, except all melded into one. Hot and cold, both equally vivid.

It's not enough to hurt, but the air alone feels a bit overwhelming. With a gateway through the crystal opened, all there is between you and the Blue Rose is a stretch of nearly transparent thorns.

Bunny gasps in appreciation and wonder.

"How did you even get up there--"

Which is what Childermass is in the midst of asking Papyrus as he makes his way up the stairs, but he stops halfway, the movement below, the sudden change in temperature, grabs his attention back down to the other floor.

"Ah." So, there it is. An open door. "That did it..."

Sorry, Papyrus, he's reversing direction back down. Feel free to follow.

Syrlya leans over to peer into the chamber, a little awed even if it makes total sense given the way the servants move about the Manor.

"Ah--wait." Before anyone gets too excited, he cranes his neck to peer along the pathway. "There's thorns, of course."

Because it's a rose. But not that they have a clear path...

Syrlya focuses on the ground right beside the rose, just past the thorns, and focuses his magic s second time to teleport straight across the way.

He'll have to teleport into the thorns, more or less, because with the thorns coming from the rose there's nowhere that isn't thorns in there, but he can do it in a manner where he doesn't scratch himself up too badly. Though, the few scratches he does manage to gain flash hot and cold in an alarming manner.

Then, the Blue Rose is before him. It's attached to its stem.

"We climbed! It's a long story with a lot of derring do and tragic sacrifice," and he follows along after, figuring Scout will come with too.

"Do these stairs go all the way down? If you've uncovered how to talk to the house, that's why we were here. And I can shift tasks! To, rescuing some captives?"

They climbed...

Of course they did.

"No," Childermass answers Papyrus, reaching the floor with the terrarium once more. "That will come later, but only after the Ringmaster has the rose."

Speaking of which, he'll cross back over to the new path to the rose that their false 'Prince' has opened, though he stops at the entrance, not willing to interrupt what Syrlya is doing.

"Are you able to pick it?"

Syrlya lets out a hiss as some of the thorns scratch through his clothes--he's less fond of the cold than the heat, but no risk, no reward. He's going to need a lot of recovery after this, but better than all of them getting mutilated.

He reaches both hand out, though the injured one is unsteady and mostly there to cradle the rose as he puts his fingers to the base of the stem of the rose itself. He's going to be careful this time, and only gently presses the stem at first.

He's hoping that his ability to sense and influence other plant will still apply to this rose. If he can just use that connection to encourage it to let him break the stem (or at least, encourage the vines to not grow and twist and lash out)... well, that would make things easier.

Or the rose could just not care, that'd be optimal.

The stem of the rose will break with a surprising amount of ease, leaving the flower portion resting against Syrlya's charred hand. However, before much else can be done, the stem of the Blue Rose will begin spreading into vines again - but now latching onto that charred arm. It happens very quickly, the growth spreading like roots across his numb arm.

It doesn't hurt, and as it moves he can feel its power. The power of water and fire, mingled into one perfect symmetry. As that fresh life floods through his damaged limb, he will feel its strength at his literal fingertips - power even greater than the Bloodstone he wished for from the Ringmaster all those weeks ago.

All at once, the crystalline vines will begin to shatter.

"I was looking for you," Scout says conversationally in Childermass's direction, picking her way down the stairs with the caution of someone who half expects to end up falling down them. Her ballgown is soaked and torn in several places, strategic and not, and she's conspiciously absent her lightsaber. She gives Taako a sidelong glance, but he feels like another carnie, not the fae lord they're quietly, desperately trying to subvert.

She flinches as the vines start to go to pieces and looks around. It can't be as simple as grabbing the plant and going, can it?

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