⇨ 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

[anti_nonsense]

Rita just stares at Herbert as he puts the onion in her hand.

Yugo chimes in then, and the moment it looks like the servant's attention has been even slightly diverted, she slams the onion down, throwing it to the floor with as much strength as she can muster in a half-petrified arm. It smashes against the stone floor with a satisfying thud.

She doesn't say anything. The action speaks for itself, really.

[scientificist]

Herbert turns back from Yugo to look dispassionately at the onion on the floor before his eyes flick back up to look at Rita.

Then he turns and walks over to Yugo, placing another onion on the floor beneath where he's trapped in the wall.

"That should count as delivered," he says, softly and quietly. As far as he's concerned he tried, and they'll have to deal with their folly with nobody here to hand them the onion. Yugo gets lumped in by virtue of yelling at the same time, oh well.

[anti_nonsense]

"Fine by me," Rita replies smugly. Yep, she's real proud of herself. She won't give in to anything - not the Prince, not the venom, and not these stupid onions.

But... there is something she's curious about. "What's with you, anyway?" she asks after a pause, but before he can walk away. Of course, if he does walk away instead of answering, it's not like she can stop him. "You're not like the other servants. You new or something?"

[scientificist]

What's with him? Too, too much, a fist around his brain, so much quicker than a laser drill to the putamen. Pulling at the ends of strings he can only discover when they tug him back into line. Half the time he forgets, he thinks this is what he ought to be doing.

"In which way?" he asks, turning around after he says it, facing Rita again. It's a fair question, he's met one servant who sent him with the onions, and vaguely noticed the staff at the ball.

[anti_nonsense]

He just seems... out of place. It's hard to articulate exactly why, but she'll attempt to.

"You don't seem like you're used to this," she answers. "The others act like they've either seen this all before, or they've spent enough years in that freak's service that nothing surprises them anymore." Or they've learned to fear the Prince to the point that they don't dare do anything to stand out.

[scientificist]

Interesting analysis from some shouting kid. Alright. He will answer, then.

"I was a guest. The ball ended." He hates to think about becoming dulled to this, no longer having the will to struggle. He likes to think he'd find a shovel equivalent before it got to that point, but then, here he is, handing out onions. Pathetic.

[anti_nonsense]

So she's right. He was a guest at the ball, and then... hm. Rita supposes the Prince just decided to keep him as a servant. Or... is that how he gets his servants normally? In a way, it's not too different from how the Ringmaster makes employees out of the visitors to her carnival.

"Oh, I see..." Rita muses, a hint of humor in her tone. "You're just a prisoner like us, then."

One who gets to keep the use of all his limbs, which is probably nice, but a prisoner nonetheless.

[scientificist]

He doesn't like that tone of amusement in her voice. It feels like mockery. "Essentially," he says stiffly. "Only the. Method of imprisonment is different and perhaps you, are aware of why you're here."

A frozen pause and then he turns back away. "Consider keeping the onion next time."