lostcarnival | ⇨ SAY UNCLE

Entry tags:

⇨ SAY UNCLE

Who: Everyone who isn't in jail!
When: Day 175, 11:30PM onward.
Where: The Realm that used to contain Heartstone Manor.
What: Team carnival has gotten what they came for, but in the meantime they have lost what they came with. With his ace in the hole gone, the Prince is tearing apart the Heartstone Manor and reshaping it into an impregnable fortress to lock away his new most precious commodities - the Ringmaster's captured followers. Welcome to a hostage situation, this could take a while.
Warnings: Violence, and etc.

AFTER THE BALL↴

Around 11:30PM is when everything starts changing - and for most in Heartstone Manor, the triggers will have remained unseen. In the ongoing thunderstorm it was easy to miss, and the Prince losing control over his realm only occured before a small group of workers intent on saving the carnival from a terrible fate. An ancient High Fae artifact called the Blue Rose was stolen from the Prince, and in reaction he is being forced to abandon his plans of controlling the Ringmaster, instead trying to hide away in his realm for the purposes of saving his own skin.

His main bartering chip? The workers that he's been capturing up to this point. He knows that, unlike himself, the Ringmaster cares about mortals, and especially about the ones who follow her. He's willing to bet that she won't allow them to die for the sake of her own convenience, and he's right. Now that the Blue Rose is the carnival's, she's intent to take back what was stolen from her, as well as the lives of all the servants that the Prince has been stealing away for eons. By whatever means necessary.

► SPLIT THE EARTH: Characters all across the Manor will be treated with initial tremours that will soon escalate into a full-fledged earthquake, capable of collapsing buildings and rending the earth. The cause of this is simple: the Prince is using his powers of elemental earth to reshape his realm into something more suited to protect him. Specifically, he is changing what was a manor house into a fortress meant to defend, and allowing the rest to collapse into ruin. The Manor is still nothing but a castle floating in a void - as the earth breaks apart, it will be nothing but an endless freefall between the floating chunks of debris. Over the next twelve house that earthen debris will be reshaping and solidifying into a new layout, but having to be there while it happens is one hell of a ride!

► BREAK THE ILLUSION: It's as the world starts shaking that the last of the Prince's spell over the minds of his guests will begin to fade away. However, it may wear off more slowly than is helpful in an emergency earthquake situation. The ballroom trance may linger even as lives are threatened, and it will take a pointed effort to make sure that everyone gets out of the Manor's collapse safely. At the same time, the illusionary guests will begin to fade and disappear. The ones that remain are the ones that are real, but it may be a bit painful to realize which ones were simply a lie to begin with.

► SAVE WHO YOU CAN: Despite being knocked out by a surprisingly massive blast from the Prince's magic crystal, the Ringmaster will manage to gather herself up eventually. When she does, the last of the storm will finally come to an end. She'll be doing what she can to try to gather up both servants of the Prince and all of her workers, but it'll be impossible to get to all of them first. A large portion of the servants have undoubtedly been stolen away by the Prince into his newly built fortress, but with the effort of carnival members new and old, they can still save as many as possible. Of course, those held in the Prince's most secure prisons will remain out of reach... for now.

► WAKE THE SUN: As the worst of the earthquakes stop and the new islands of floating land begin to settle, the clouds from the thunderstorm will finally pass, as the Ringmaster seems to summon up a sun to light the realm for the first time since the carnival's arrival. In reality it's sometime in the early, early morning by the Manor's schedule, but whatever! It's easier to not die when the sun is out, don't you think? The Prince's security and gargoyle soldiers are still out and about, and they're clearly interested in capturing as many hostages as possible.

► SIGN A CONTRACT: This is when the Ringmaster will be taking those that were summoned to the Prince's ball aside to offer them contracts in order to free them from the Prince's influence. She'll do her best to explain that the only way to wipe out his control is to take on a new 'master', but they can take some time to think about it if necessary. The truth is, of course, that until they officially sign onto the Ringmaster's camp, there will still be the chance that the Prince will be able to control them.

► WALK THE RUINS: One Day 176 things will have settled completely, with the land now forming a massive fortress on the far side of several large floating islands. The ruins of the old buildings will scatter those islands, forming towers that will swiftly gain small colonies of gargoyles, ready to swoop down and attack carnival members. Further complicating matters is the fact that the rending of the landscape has resulted in bursting open the underground prisons that the Prince had been keeping his most bestial servants, which mean all kinds of mortals long since twisted into the forms of giant spiders, scorpions, monstrous beasts, and other terrifying creatures will now be running amock on the islands, desperate for food. Try not to hold it against them - they didn't ask to be this way.

► REGROUP: While the Ringmaster doesn't want everyone to just run back home (if they do that, the Prince will undoubtedly make them unable to enter again, or at least take over the landscape more fully) she will manage to open a portal back to the carnival in the afternoon of Day 176, formed between two freshly grown trees. This means that carnival members will be able to fetch new clothing, supplies, weapons, and whatever they need to prepare for the battle ahead. Right now, the chaos is still unfolding, but the battle to save the Prince's captives is still ahead.

[OOC: Gargoyles and transformed servants from the underbelly can be NPC'd from this point onward. Gargoyles are the Prince's most deadly servants made of extremely durable rock and bearing scorpion tails with venom that can turn bodies into stone. They want to grab anyone they can, trap them, and then fly them off to the Prince's dungeons as collateral. Don't let them!

Transformed servants are the beasts who were freed from the underground prison they were left in to rot. They are servants that were transformed into monsters by the Prince, and most of them have been driven insane with bestial hunger from months and years of starvation and atmospheric poison. The Ringmaster is interested in helping them, to see if there is way they can be changed back, so if you have the heart nonlethal methods are most appreciated.]

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Yuya stares blankly at her for a moment, belatedly registering that he's asking the obvious. He sputters and leans back, waving a hand to brush it off.

"A lot's happening!" It's a weak defense, but it just incites him to remember the whole situation they're stuck in.

He sucks in a deep breath, his shoulders slumping a bit. "I can take you to the wardrobe tent so you can change, but the Prince kidnapped a bunch of people and we have to save them."

He's realizing it may be more than he even expected, because there's some familiar faces he hasn't found since the mansion crumbled. It's making him worry. "But you'll probably be safe in the carnival until it's over."

"Wow, wardrobe tent." That simultaneously sounded awesome and ridiculously campy at the same time and she was onboard.

She shook her head. "No, I promised to go back. I just need to change and... find a weapon."

Too bad she didn't have Rose's sword...

Welcome to the carnival, Connie. Yuya gestures for her to follow, but her notion of finding a weapon makes him do a double take. "You can fight?"

He's less incredulous than he probably should be about people his age trying to stand up against fae or monsters. "I dunno where they keep weapons... I guess Lambert would know, but I don't know where he is."

And Sans is... out of commission. Actually, he hasn't seen Lambert since their fight. It occurs to him, suddenly: did the Prince take him too?

He shakes his head quickly to discard that thought.

Such a straightforward question leaves her reeling a bit. Her first instinct was to deny it, as if she was being questioned by her disapproving parents. Her second instinct was to minimize her own skills.

Her third non-instinct was to take a deep breath and insist to herself that she could do this and that confidence was key.

"Yeah. I can."

"I can't," Yuya says with a smile that's a little too stressed to be very genuine. Still, his tone is approving. "I don't like fighting, but I'm going to learn."

His gaze wanders back to the sprig caught on Connie, and he's caught staring at it. Yeah, even if he doesn't like fighting, he has to at least learn if it if he ever wants to protect his friends--or himself, so they don't have to worry. Things just get too dangerous here.

"I'm Yuya, by the way."

"Uh-" Whoops, she has to ease herself out of the zone there. "Connie."

"It's nice to meet you, Yuya."

"Yeah," he nods. Even if the circumstances could be... a lot better, but Yuya's getting used to making new allies in the middle of trouble. He's leading to the wardrobe tent with enough confidence he doesn't double-check where he's going as they start passing all the game booths. He's only been to it dozens of times.

"... Uh, did you get that from Gongenzaka?" He points to the leaves, more curious than concerned. He... didn't think Gongenzaka was shedding at the ball?

Edited 2017-11-01 04:09 (UTC)

"What?" It takes her a moment to remember that the flower was still in her hair. She reaches up to touch it and instantly remembers!

"Oh, yeah. Wow." She's a little confused, because up to this point she'd kind of been considering time as 'before the ball' and 'after the ball' and now she was being forced to meld the two together into one reality. The reality where she exists now, in a mostly resembled form of what she remembered, and the one only an... hour? Less? Ago, where she was a different person. A person that could only try to be nice and make friends and dance and make merry and couldn't help her best friend save his friends even when he needed to, and she should ahve been there for him but she wasn't.

She pulls the red wisteria from her hair and cradles in it her hands.

Come to think of it... she doesn't remember seeing Gongenzaka in the aftermath of the palace.

"Do you know him? He was very nice to me."

So he gave her... that's his mane. Didn't he associate it with hair, once, except the vines that nestle inside it? Is that like giving a girl a lock of hair? Gongenzaka can do what he wants with his flower mane, but... isn't that kind of weird?

Yuya could just be overthinking this. He's stares silently, bemused at the flower until Connie reaches to remove it and it snaps him out of his thoughts.

He rubs the back of his neck, looking back ahead and quickly veering out of the way of the edge of a gaming booth. Connie definitely isn't close to Gongenzaka's size, so is she the other person he danced with? The one who knew his name?

"He's my best friend. He's a really nice guy." Who's missing, but Yuya tries to focus on positive thoughts to keep him going. He needs to prove he can be reliable if he's ever going to be able to help his friends. "He told me he had fun dancing."

Connie smiled weakly.

"He's from the carnival, right? So why are you pretty normal while he's...?"

She just kind of opens her hands in a wide gesture.

"Uh, well--" Yuya rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. He knows exactly why Gongenzaka looks that way, but part of that story isn't his to tell... and he doesn't like thinking about it anyway.

"He's been here a lot longer than me. But we don't really change in all the same ways anyway. It's really different for everyone."

He waves his hand. "It's okay though! Stuff like that doesn't hurt, and when you go home you turn back to normal."

Edited 2017-11-03 06:39 (UTC)

"Oh, okay." That means Connie doesn't have to worry about permanent body horror, even if its body horror out of a magical faerie tale land.

"Do you know that for sure? And you know people that have gone home after the year?"

Ichigo seemed to imply that was a great unknown.

"Um... no." He shrugs. "But the Ringmaster wouldn't lie about that, so if she says it'll go away then I believe her! That's kind of a big deal for the fae."

Lying, rules, terms of contracts... but that makes them good at twisting words, and he hopes, he never has to try and outsmart one.

"Most conventional faery myths have faeries paying homage more to word of rules rather than the spirit of them, and are constantly trying to make humans miserable through really elaborate technicalities."

"The Ringmaster's kept her word before," he emphasizes more strongly, his expression scrunching up. "She wouldn't lie about that. She's--she's a lot nicer than other fae."

He hates to say that, because it feels like giving up on them. But the kind fae are getting quickly outnumbered and he's seen his friends go through too much pain.

He stops at the opening of a colorful tent, pulling back the tapestry and peering in. The tent seems to be in much the state it always is, mostly clean with rows and rows of clothes-filled racks.

Carly, for her part, is still busy at work-but if there's one thing that Yuuya (and Connie) are about to notice, it's that there's more than just clothes. Stacked carefully and properly right near the entrance are weapons. Swords, bows, shields...there's even a few pieces of armor, and in the meantime someone who looks almost like pure 'molten' light breaking from marble-stone feathers is rushing back and forth, pulling together some not so show-purpose clothes. There's things like bracers, grieves, tunics....

...For once, it's when she turns that she sees them, rather than when she speaks. "AH!!" Oh.

"OH!! Uhm! Yuuya!" she greets, waving. "I didn't expect to see you- Erm. ...I mean I guess I should have, since you'd need clothes too but... But isn't that something you can get from your trailer in this case?!" she adds, before realizing the boy isn't alone.

".........Oh?" Huh. ".......Who's this?"

Connie is in awe of what she can only assume is some kind of extraplanar being, perhaps even something that was the forebearer of the modern concept of an 'angel,' but obviously much more raw and unfiltered by the agendas of priests and scholars.

And then she speaks! And its such a mundane way of speaking, the long pauses and uncertainty all too familiar to her.

"O-oh! I'm Connie Mahaswaran!" She hastily bows to this possibly cosmic entity, or more likely heavily changed carnival worker?? Can't hurt to be polite.

Yuya smiles wryly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. At least Carly's here, that'll make this faster than digging through all the costumes and work uniforms. "Uh, she's a new member of the carnival. She needs some new clothes, is there anything that'll already fit her?"

There are, after all, an awful lot of teenagers and tiny gem people in the carnival. Something's bound to fit.

"Connie..?" Hmmm. (Also she might as well be a cosmic entity, honestly. She sort of Ate A God...so.) Carly blinks, and looks from the girl to the other, before beaming. "Oh!~ Well that's easy enough~" she cheers, immediately bustling over in her...rather interesting dress. It used to be something reminiscent of Queen Elizabeth. Now however, it's been forcefully burned by her fire magic until it's something more like a cocktail dress.

She can still fight in this, probably. In any case. "Well, there's probably something...is there anything you want specifically though, other than something else?"

"Oh, uh-" She has to take a momemt to recenter herself, in fact she is even confused for a moment by Carly's gesture until she looks down and remembers she's wearing a tattered gown.

"Right!" Her eyes return to the weapons, and then back to the armor that Carly is organizing.

"Do you have any... lighter, smaller armor?" Anything that wouldn't slow her down too much.

"Plenty!" Carly announces openly. "You'll want clothes under it though-none of this is meant to be worn directly on the body," she explains. "So....do you want pants, or shorts...?"

"Pants seem the most practical," she nodded, thinking. She started to browse through the outfits looking for something durable but loose-fitting.

She turned back suddely, her eyes wide in excitement. "And I need a sword!"

"OOoh~ A sword?" She's on the search for pants, so don't worry about that Connie-though if she finds something before the wardrobe manager does, then good on her. That said-

"What kind? Short, broad..? Is it more non-european..?"

"Uh, European. Single edge. Straight blade. The one I used is designed for one-handed use, but I use it in two because..." Well, because she's tiny. "It's just a little easier to handle that way."

She can use it in one hand when she's fused with Steven though!

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