⇨ JAILHOUSE ROCKS

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone who IS imprisoned, brainwashed, or infiltrating.
When: Day 175, 11:30PM onward.
Where: The Prince's shiny new fortress.
What: Those that have been imprisoned by the Prince languish in their underground cell, while those that are under his control continue to do his nasty bidding. Also, Foster might be here? We'll see how that goes.
Warnings: General fuckery, maybe torture.

THE LAIR OF THE BEAST↴ As the fortress comes into being, the Prince has been reaching far across his realm, beckoning his servants back to him and corralling as many helpless hostages as he can manage. In the case of the unfortunate carnival members who made the mistake of crossing him during their stay, they are being locked away in the most secure inner sanctums, held as collateral against their former master. Those freshly captured haven't yet been bent to his will, but they can certainly be neutralized. Carted away by security and pulled deep underground, there feels like there is little hope of them escaping on their own. ► GROUNDED: The Prince's dungeon is a simple one - in place of cages and manacles, there is only natural stone. A claustrophobic cave somewhere deep in the earth, those within it will soon be completely cut off from the outside world. All the prisoners will have been injected with manticore venom at some point or another, which will be slowly turning parts of their bodies to stone, and if that wasn't enough they have also been partially encased in the stone walls and pillars, as if phased halfway into the rock and left there in various positions. It is an enclosed area, and all the prisoners are within talking distance of each other - which is a good thing, because there isn't a lot else to do with their powers mostly bound and their bodies becoming less and less capable of movement. ► CONTROLLED: Those of the brainwashed that manage to return to the fortress will be set to work guarding and attending to these hostages, along with the help of some of the long term Manor servants. They still need to eat, right, and that can be difficult when you arms are stuck in a cave wall. Otherwise, there may come a time when the Prince calls upon them to do something more specific - and there's also the chance that the new prisoners will fall victim to his power and succumb to his control as well. With the poison in their bodies, it's only a matter of time before they lose themselves.

Comments

[scientificist]

Gongenzaka gets a particularly piercing, frowning stare from Herbert as he whirls to look at him, the onions jostling in their bowl. Some sort of....sentient lion centaur creature. It's too hard to really consider that right now, though. All Gon gets is the stare, scanning across him to try and work him out before settling on his face as where he's been asked to place the onion.

Then he walks in inadviseably fast, sharp strides across the cave towards Gongenzaka and bends to place the onion directly by his face. "There," he says. As far as he's concerned, that should be that.

[betheman]

Hoo. That certainly is quick, and Gongenzaka nearly tries to move in response to the 'charge'. He somehow doesn't however, though a few of the leaves and flowers upon his floral mane briefly rise-almost in anticipation, perhaps. Gongenzaka watches as the man stoops down, onion placed to the ground safely. And with a nod, he thanks him-

"Thank you," Gongenzaka states honestly. "While it may be your current duty after all, it is a most important matter, to be able to have some form of sustenance..." There is a pause-and for a moment, it looks as though he wishes to ask something. How does Herbert enjoy working here, is he faring alright in the current circumstance...

He opts not to, instead moving to try and bite at the onion.

.... "MMNH-" Only for it to begin rolling away as it slips from his teeth before they puncture the layers. "No-!"

[scientificist]

He said he'd take it from there! This is very inconvenient to Herbert personally. Why couldn't they all just be normally restrained instead of this? They'd at least all have their hands, that way, and he could finish his task quickly and leave. But no. He's left with people who wouldn't be able to pick it up later if they refused to take it, or if they miss it with their actual face right next to it.

His free hand flies up to press fingertips to his skull at the side of his head, pressing firmly through his hair before he crouches, placing the bowl to one side and grabbing the onion.

"I have no idea," he begins, "what they expect me to do, all of you sinking into the ground, no limbs... My reagent, now, th-that would be useful. That would work better than this." Herbert looks at the onion in disgust and places it back beside Gongenzaka's face, not standing up from his crouch, elbows resting on his knees, tailcoat trailing on the floor behind him. He's sure this is going to prove problematic for him and there's no point in moving away until it's solved.

[otoko]

Well, he tried, Herbert. He tried. He's not exactly used to not having hands to use either. But here he is-every bit the oversized hound-fox unable to bite into anything round. It is a very frustrating position to be in, and he seems to try and ponder a few separate ideas of biting the thing while Herbert mutters to himself and repositions it. There's the onion again-somehow rather tempting, despite being what it is. Gongenzaka resists the urge to try again right away and anger the fellow for now however, instead frowning.

"...Reagent?" The man blinks, and squints, his glowing eyes illuminating part of his face. The beast's ears are perked with interest, and if his tail was free, it may have done so as well. "...Just what is a reage- no," he corrects, coughing. "....Perhaps more importantly... ...Just where is it, that you came from?"

[scientificist]

Wow, nothing is more important than his reagent, Gongenzaka. He would much prefer to talk about that than try and think about things pertaining to himself.

Things pertaining to himself that aren't his life's work, anyway.

"I came from upstairs. The castle. All...walls and. The ballroom. And another room."

[betheman]

Really, Herbert? Is nothing more important at all? (No) Well, perhaps he'll ask about that after this. For now, Gongenzaka takes in the current answer, studying Herbert's face for any shift in the expression. Having glowing animal eyes is rather useful for that-he can see things much more clearly than he ordinarily would, down here, and he's taking full advantage. All the same, Gongenzaka frowns.

"The ballroom...? ...Then...you were a 'guest', invited by the Prince?" he questions, shaking his head. Come to think, there had been quite a number of people at the ball, hadn't there? Enough to fill the room, certainly-and he wasn't around to see how many of them vanished. As far as he's aware...

"...Just how many others are there? ...Did you see anyone else?" he asks, raising his head limply." And what does he mean by 'all walls', for that matter? It's something that has him almost wrinkle his nose, unable to properly come up with the answer.

[scientificist]

"There were many...guests," Herbert says carefully. It's hard for him to think about this. The ball was over. It was supposed to be over. He was supposed to be done with the ball.

He just wants his basement and a microscope and some dead tissue to investigate to hand out these onions and leave. For other. Duties.

Gongenzaka will see his expression move from a sort of shifty avoidance to looking lost and back to the avoidance when he says, "It's a mmaaaze, how should I know, I was given the onions and this, task, I saw the Prince. Or. He. Saw. Me." Herbert looks abruptly away to the side and scratches the side of his jaw, avoiding further eye contact.

"I have others to..." he waves his hand vaguely to the side at the bowl, settling eventually on, "onion. I can't spend all of it on you."

[otoko]

The hesitance, Gongenzaka immediately notes, is rather...odd. He can't put his finger on why, exactly-but it is odd nonetheless. Perhaps merely an indication of the aftermath-clearly servitude, and given where Herbert's answers continue to fall, he's only being proven correct on that guess. Honestly, all of Herbert's answers are odd however, and the man admittedly wonders if he's-

Ah, well, the answer to that is obvious he supposes in hindsight. Of course this man isn't okay. "....All of those things in order..?" he questions, voice somewhat gruff. "...Or did you encounter the Prince, and then find yourself with this duty..?"

Well, Herbert IS correct all the same-Gongenzaka nods. "....There is little that I, the man Gongenzaka, could possibly do to hold you here. If you must continue, then continue."

[scientificist]

"I...wasn't expected to serve until the Prince found me," Herbert offers. "The. Ball was worse." Or maybe they're on the same level. The Ball would have been worse if Herbert had felt as piecemeal from the start as he does now. A collection of parts, only vaguely animated.

Anyway, there is one thing Gongenzaka could do to hold him here and that's make himself a problem vis this onion. Herbert picks it up again, with purpose this time, shucking the onion of a couple of its layers and placing the now smaller onion and its outside layers down in front of Gon's face again. There. He's definitely solved the problem. Nobody can accuse him of not doing his job.

"That should ssssuffice," he says, leaning to grab the bowl and standing back up.

[betheman]

"It was worse?" He remarks in confusion, narrowing his eyes. A low rumble, a growl, begins-but Gongenzaka manages to quash the sound, focusing on what's in front of him. While Herbert shucks the onion, he looks to the man and continues his questioning. "....How so? As a servant, you are to be cleaning up after those here, feeding us, and so on. ....Do find that better, somehow, than how you were at the ball?"

It should suffice, yes-and perhaps now it finally does. This time as he tries to eat the thing, it gets stuck on the partially shucked layers, his teeth sinking in. He rears his head back like an awkward snake, releasing the onion into the air in order to snap-

Snap-

And SNAP-

Until the onion and its juices are crushed within his jaw, allowing him to swallow it almost whole. He's done this with worse, perhaps. He doesn't allow himself to dwell on that fact however.

[scientificist]

"Yes," says Herbert after a pause, watching the creature eat the onion. Again, it seems odd to have sent him to feed these barely restrained prisoners. He's hardly equipped to deal with jaws and claws and other such dangerous things. Perhaps he was not meant to succeed. That would suit how he feels about all this.

"I am rarely required to interact with others in this position outside of this very moment while at the ball there were. Crowds. Dancing. This is preferable." He understands better what's happening now too. He knows whose will has overcome his own.

[betheman]

"Hmmm. Isolation-I, the man Gongenzaka, understand..." Well. He has few questions for the other. Pity, certainly. But questions...

He cannot think of them, so instead he nods. "...Once again then, sir-I, the man Gongenzaka, thank you for the onion. It is more than what we have had thus far these last many hours, after all."

[scientificist]

"Herbert West," says Herbert because he's starting to feel prompted by the man saying his name over and over again. "It's the task I was assigned: these onions have nothing to do with me."

[otoko]

Gongenzaka nods.

But he says nothing more. He has a feeling that it would end in a sort of 'loop', at this point.