lostcarnival | ⇨ SAY UNCLE

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⇨ 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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Not all locations will have much to investigate, necessarily, but this is the section where people can make investigation requests for if their character wants to learn more about a setting than is immediately apparent. This can also be used to cover the broad strokes of interacting with various available NPCS.

Like before, you must be specific about what your character is doing to find new information, and you must keep your requests to one or two actions per comment. No big laundry lists of things your character is doing - it is much easier to handle taking it one topic at a time.

So, the Ringmaster got hit by a huge magical laser when fighting the Prince at the sight of the Blue Rose theft, and ended up making a crater in the earth at the far edge of the Manor grounds. She is also knocked totally unconscious. This prompt is for going to check on how that's working out for her.

Edited 2017-10-25 02:47 (UTC)

The Prince was all about manners and courtliness and timing, except when it's inconvenient to him. Then he just rushed in, brushing aside greetings and congratulations, and making craters of the place. So rude!

So, at some point after [shenanigans] and getting down from the tower, Papyrus focuses on checking on the one tower victim who didn't get hauled into the rock: the Ringmaster. It's not hard to find the crater she landed in, or figure out that she's still in there... unconscious. Which simply can't stand.

His plan: wake up the Ringmaster by exposure to smelling salts. Or, in the absence of whatever constitutes smelling salts, the remains of that stinky burger.

The Ringmaster is in a half-transformed state, with her wings and tail out and ready for a fight, but tragically wiped out mid-action scene. Totally embarrassing. She is laying there in the torn remains of her ball dress, her skin blackened but also sort of damp.

However, when Papyrus gets in her face with that gross burger she will make a face with her eyes still closed, swatting at his hand and pushing the grease burger straight into his face.

She opens an eye and then slaps at his face again.

"What is that? What are you doing? Stop it."

He really should have expected this. With her slapping at his be-burgered face, now she must have burger residue on her hand. It's everywhere. Thank goodness he doesn't have hair.

"I'm saving you! By reminding you of the horrors of death, and so... giving you the will to live! Or at least climb out of this hole."

Now that she's awake and slapping, he drops the burger by her and steps back. It really could have been a cool action scene, probably even cooler than the one between Lambert and Sans... it's a pity the Prince is a turn-stealing, ill-mannered jerk.

Greasy burger all over his face and her hand. She does sort of inadvertently rub it on her own face as she puts a hand to her head in wonderment.

"I'm in a hole? ...I am in a hole." She sits up abruptly, her wings flaring out. "That was so intense! I haven't been knocked unconscious in hundreds of years!"

She pauses, and the ground shakes.

"Why is the ground shaking?"

Edited 2017-10-25 03:35 (UTC)

Less an investigation and more an immediate action when Childermass realizes the manor is being torn apart -- he's going to try and backtrack through the shadows to where he left that random servant he stuffed in a shadow on the way to the Blue Rose room.

Is he able to do that or is it much too late for that?

The tremors give enough warning before the whole place has broken apart that if he does it quickly he should be able to pull it off.

Without anyone else in tow with him or in his own shadow, he should be able to move pretty fast from shadow to shadow.

Okay, Childermass can save that poor bastard before his shadow stops existing or something.

"Oh, I hoped you could explain that."

Papyrus shuffles back another step, looking around their surroundings. He finds it a little worrying, if he's honest with himself. "It started... a little after you landed. Or maybe a little after we took the rose?"

There's multiple possibilities, all of which tie to that intense couple of minutes. Maybe they're aftershocks of that moment being too intense for this universe.

break the illusion: closed to arabella
It's as he sees Gilbert Norrell start to fade from existence that something clicks in Strange's mind: something is terribly wrong here. The fade of the past few days starts to fade away as Strange starts to recall in clear detail what happened. The Hunt. Sans vanishing. The conversation with the bicorn and the rabbit girl. This place was even more dangerous than he remembered and Arabella was here.

It's not even a question in his mind, he has to save her. He wasn't going to lose her, not again. Not this time. Turning around to look at Arabella, Strange starts talking, deadly serious. "Bell, I—"

But then his voice cuts off, caught in his throat. Because as he reaches over to take Arabella's hand, Strange realizes that it too has started to fade.

room trips: day 175, ballroom, open
The ballroom's collapsing, falling apart as everything shifts and the ground buckles. But thankfully, a few of the mirrors are still intact. And in one of those mirrors appears Jonathan Strange, holding a handful of random crap that's basically whatever knickknacks that look relatively important from the kidnapped people's rooms

He's not stepping through the mirrors: instead, Strange has just appeared, as if a reflection. He's seen better days. His hair has returned to it's wild state and his purple suit is cut up and slightly torn. But the easiest thing to spot is that Strange has been crying. His mirrored eyes hide any redness on the eyeball itself, but that doesn't hide the puffiness under his eyes, the fact that he's even more pale than usual, and the redness around his eyes and nose.

"I'm back at the rooms," he explains, a little bit out of breath. There's a hitch in his voice that further suggests he's been crying. A dagger hangs at his side: a dagger that he very noticeably didn't have at the ball. "Tell me what to grab."

He's got to stay busy. If he keeps busy, then there's no time to think.

scorpion fight: day 176, open
These monsters are probably enchanted as well. Having seen the bicorn transform from horse to human, it's not a large leap to assume that these spiders, scorpions, and so forth he's seen around were originally servants. Having known how that bicorn went from horse to human, Strange is still a bit hesitant about how he's going to break this curse. He ain't smooching no spiders. He will, however, engage in mano a mano combat with a scorpion monster in the hopes that maybe the Ringmaster can kiss the scorpion off.

He's actually doing fairly well, moving out of the way of the stinger while calling up the air to push it back and some of the earth to try and hold the scorpion down. An earthen hand holds about half of the scorpion's legs in a grip, though that tail is still swinging dangerously in Strange's direction. Unfortunately, it's at this point that he spots a carnival member.

"Get out of the way!" he can't help but yell, right as the scorpion's tail swings in his direction. But a second later, only mere moments before the impact, Strange just vanishes, turning into a puff of purple smoke. Huh. That's new. Strange hasn't exactly kept it a secret that he has cool smoke powers, but for most of the carnival, this is their first time seeing this extent of it. The smoke is dark purple, smells oddly sweet, and moves to hover around the scorpion's facial area. Of course, as cool as this might look, there's still a pissed off scorpion monster trying to get out of it's trap.

Split the Earth + Break the Illusion

"What in the world?! An earthquake?!" Yuzu found herself barely standing as everything started shaking. Things were going to hell, especially as it seemed that everyone was starting to disappear. "What... what's going on...?"

And, at that point, something finally gets her to remember something.

"Reira... REIRA!" Reira was out there somewhere. It was time for big sister instincts to take over! Of course, she can't help but grumble as she looks over what she's wearing. "This is too cumbersome...!"

You know those moments where a character will throw off one set of clothing and reveals themselves in another? Yeah, Yuzu's just done that, tossing off that large dress of hers to reveal her normal clothes underneath, her Duel Disk already mounted on her wrist. "No time for the usual introductions - ACTION DUEL!"

Aaaaand she's off, a set of cards in one hand, ready to make a move to help her get across in her search for Reira and anyone else.

Day 176

Yuzu has no idea why she's still here, but she's still on this island. Maybe it's because she wants to deal with the Prince and his shoddy treatment. She's still ready to fight, though - nothing's going to stop her this day or any other!

She's going to tread carefully, trying to make sure she isn't ambushed by something lying in wait. Especially since there's a lot of monsters who want a piece of her and everyone else.

The chandeliers in the ballroom shake with every tremor that runs through the manor, occasionally hard enough to send glass shaking free and shattering on the dance floor. Around them, everyone seems to still be running in slow motion, those caught deepest in the enchantment finding it harder to feel the urgency to extract themselves from danger.

And Arabella--

When she reaches out to take Jonathan's hand, the weight of it is still there, but lighter. Her form is slowly becoming translucent enough for the light of the ballroom to shine through, and her face as she looks down at her other hand is pensive. It only lasts a moment: when she lifts her gaze to look at her husband, her expression is quietly determined.

"This is a spell, isn't it?"

Edited 2017-10-25 04:27 (UTC)

Of course Arabella would realize this is a spell. She's the wife of a magician, she's been enthralled before and, most importantly, she's one of the smartest people Strange knows. Strange isn't one to lie to begin with but he certainly isn't going to lie now. He takes Arabella's hand (what's left of it, he bitterly thinks) and nods.

"I need to get you out of here." The ballroom is falling apart as the floor shakes and tremors. Undoubtedly, everybody else here is in danger as well, but Strange's one track mind is focused solely on Arabella.

Still holding Arabella's hand, Strange looks around: one of the mirrors is already broken but most of them remain intact. Wonderful, he can work with that. He explains as he walks, trying to help move Arabella towards the mirrors with him. "The spell might be only affecting the ballroom." After all, that's where all the vanishing people are. "If I can get you elsewhere, it might delay or remove the effects."

And he can do that. He knows he can. He has to.

Please, Strange, 9S doesn't need the warning. He doesn't bat an eye at Strange's smoke act, but he makes a note of it.

In stark contrast to 9S' usual cheerful demeanour, it's clear that 9S is pissed the fuck off; his expression is drawn into a deep scowl, teeth bared as he raises his hand and throws his sword at the scorpion's stinger, blade rapidly spinning through the air. 9S' sword is a blade that's sharp enough to cut through metal like a knife through butter, and it slices the pointed tip off the scorpion's stinger easily before it boomerangs back towards 9S' hand. But that's not enough.

"Pod!"

Without further prompting, Pod 153's boxy 'head' splits in half and after a short charge, fires a laser directly at the scorpion's tail, energy crackling through the air. That's disabled the main issue with the scorpion, right?

That has indeed disabled the main issue. And, it means Strange knows what to do next. The smoke floats away from the scorpion, reforming into Strange, who's kneeling on the ground and already muttering a spell. As he grips a handful of dirt, the earthen hand holding the scorpion by the legs shifts so that it's holding the beast by the belly.

"Thank you," Strange continues, a little out of breath. He's still kneeling on the ground, holding that handful of dirt as he looks at the scorpion and debates what to do next. "I'd like to try and not maim the beast more than necessary. After all, if the animals in the Hunt were servants, perhaps these animals are servants also."

Of course, if it's between saving other people and saving himself, Strange will save himself first and foremost. He's not going to fuss at 9S for wounding the thing or anything like that.

"Aw," she says, seeming to realize the cause, a moment later. "Now he's shifting everything around - probably trying to shake us off! I missed my chance to get him. And now..."

Something else, even more important, seems to occur to her, then. She smacks a fist into her palm, her anger rising as she gradually remembers the situation at hand.

"And he's still got all those prisoners! We have to get them out before its too late..."

She looks up, and notices who she is talking to for the second time.

"And YOU! You were supposed to stop Sans from screwing up! What happened?!"

That sure is half a scorpion tail splattering onto the ground. 9S looks unmoved, his hand tightening around the handle of his sword.

"Yeah, I know." Contrary to his usual whinging and complaining tone, his voice just sounds flat. Tired. Despondent. But he cares about Strange, so he musters the effort of asking, "You don't sound so good. Are you sure you should be out here?"

He'd be more excited about seeing more of Strange's magic if things weren't so...

"Oh no!" he offers, very helpfully, at the announcement that this was the chance to get him. Surely not the only chance, because that would mean they're all in deep trouble...

And then she turns her attention to him. WHOOPS. He was hoping she wouldn't think of that, and still be in the good humor she'd been showing up in the tower. Now she's mad. Papyrus sweats and casts about for an explanation.

"He did something, out of his room, after curfew, and got caught...! I watched him the rest of the time, but... Those dastardly room assignments outfoxed me!"

As the Manor begins to crumble, stone wrenching and twisting apart, the enchanted guests aren't the only ones in trouble. But what's another shuddering tremor rocking through the house along with the rest? It's easy to miss in all the chaos.

More difficult to miss, later, is a piece of debris going flying with a sharp kick of hooves. For those who can recognize her, Lambert's very large and in charge horse stands in the wreckage. She's also not alone: there are at least two oversized bugs on her back, some kind of water snake, and a stubby thing with a giant leaf growing out of its head. Under her, shaking off the dust and braying noisily, is a bright orange donkey.

She also has some kind of pumpkin clinging to her head, not that it seems to bother her as she looks around.

Once she's gotten her bearings, -- between the gathering of people and the threatening-looking towers in the other direction, it's not really a choice -- the horse huffs and begins to make her way back to the Carnival at a slow and steady pace. Any gargoyles stupid enough to get in her way are getting kicked to dust.

[ Mudsdale to the rescue, sort of! o/ If you had a pet or Pokemon stuck in the Manor rooms and want to say they got scooped up by a giant horse, just say so. ]

Edited 2017-10-25 15:41 (UTC)

She growls, obviously incredibly frustrated with this whole mess. She gestures wildly.

"Someone went on the network talking about how they were being drug off by wolves after breaking curfew - so, of course, Sans has to go looking for them... and then he disappeared! And then he came back, but full of that bastard's terrible poison, and now he's gone again! And Lambert is gone, too! It is, factually, the worst!"

I'm sort of assuming that team Childerroof doesn't get stuck in the fortress somehow, which might be foolish of me... or that they aren't allowed to get stuck there in general, because Foster is an idiot who might think that's an idea worth attempting.

ASSUMING THESE THINGS ARE TRUE, and please tell me if they are not, then:

Foster will directly approach the Ringmaster and unfortunately for everyone in earshot, just straight up ask her how she wants him used.I know. I'm sorry too.

He can put the effort into trying to get stuck in the fortress if he wants. So he basically just wants to rush in there and get caught up in the reshaping?

I mean, since team Childerroof is up there to begin with, could he just choose not to leave it at all...?

But otherwise yes, why not. If it works, Foster and Mari won't overlap and I don't have to worry about him bothering her in Lambert's place.

If it doesn't, then he'll just bother RM instead.

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⇨ SAY UNCLE

⇨ INVESTIGATION THREADS

⇨ THE RINGMASTER GETS PWNED

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Jonathan Strange | check the prompts for open/closed

Yuzu Hiiragi | OPEN

who's ready for heartbreak city EYYY

hahaha this is gonna SUCK

Fight the scorpion kiss the scorpion

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[ not even really a toplevel ]

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