⇨ END OF EVENT LOG

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone participating in the Prince's challenge.
When: Day 178, Afternoon
Where: A Conjured Forest
What: The Carnival takes to the Hunt again, but this time, with the intention to win.
Warnings: Violence and death.

SACRIFICES↴ In a bid to definitively settle a victor and reclaim the captured carnival workers, the Ringmaster has challenged the Prince to another hunt. If the Prince wins this challenge, he can claim the Blue Rose the Carnival stole; if the Carnival wins, the Ringmaster will be allowed to claim one True Name in the Prince's possession. With the Manor reshaped as it is, there's no longer a courtyard to transform into a suitable hunting ground. Instead, the Prince's magic has turned one of the floating islands between the fortress and the Carnival into an overgrown forest. Being a fae contest, of course, each side's idea of victory is not as straightforward as it would appear, but for those participating in the hunt, there is only one objective that matters: to kill their prey in the time they're given. The captives who have been transformed into beasts will have little of their human sentience remaining, and will be set loose to wander the forest freely. Instinct will compel them to conceal themselves or attack hunters, depending on their individual disposition. Upon death, the beasts will remain in their bestial forms. IN HOT PURSUIT↴ To win this challenge, the hunters must bring all of the beasts down with weapons or innate strength within the time limit: an hour and one minute. No magic may be used to take any of the beasts down -- any use of supernatural or magical abilities to trap, track, or kill the creatures will result in a forfeit to the Prince, and this will be made explicitly clear to the hunters before the contest begins. Hunters are allowed to bring their own weapons and mounts, provided they are non-magical in nature (or their magical abilities are not being actively used). If they do not have their own, ordinary ones of any variety will be provided to them. To expedite the proceedings, rather than dragging the bodies back individually, each hunter will receive a token from the Prince: an enameled blue rose. To formally claim a kill, they must place the rose on the dead beast (ideally, in their mouth, though as long as it's touching it it will do) and activate the spell by reciting the following words: "I claim this life for thy Master's game." "A life surrendered to claim my prize." Using the rose in this way will cause its petals to instantly wilt and magically bring the dead beast, and any hunters touching it, back to the Prince. So, don't touch it if you want to stay in the forest for more hunting. A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE↴ The Prince and the Ringmaster will be waiting for the results of the hunt in a roughly-constructed marble amphitheatre on another floating bit of rock. Those whose stomachs are too weak to take up even just the appearance of hunting can stay at the Carnival or hang out in the amphitheater, with the caveat that any attempt to attack the Prince or use magic to aid the captured prey will instantly default the win to the Prince. Should they want something to do other than twiddle their thumbs, the non-fighting carnival workers can peer into the hand mirrors left on the seats, smaller versions of what the Prince is watching the hunt through. They will be unable to control what images are brought up in the mirror, and it essentially only shows whatever the Prince is looking at himself. There's no sound, but the images are in full color (all the better to see blood with). This is also the area that the hunters and prey will be brought to when the spell is activated (or when every creature has been hunted). So, expect for a pile of corpses to end up there. [ OOC: This log wraps up the end of the Heartstone Manor plot! It is up to hunters and prey to create their own toplevels and sort out who will be delivering the finishing blow (feel free to use the OOC post about this event to coordinate that), but OOCly, it's set that the Carnival will win the Prince's challenge. The hunt's conclusion will be posted as a separate comment for characters to respond to.]

Comments

[periphrasing]

Peridot growls indignantly when Jasper shoves her, and is on the verge of saying something kind of snarky and probably vaguely defeatist... when the boar suddenly catches on to them. She freezes, and goes wide-eyed.

Diamonds above, that's a lot of animal charging right towards them.

There's no time or space for her to do or say anything, other than to poof into her bat form and put a few feet of height difference between herself and the angry boar. They can't use their magic and supernatural abilities to fight or track the beasts, but the rules never said anything about using them to save your own skin when your life is on the line.

[stompadour]

Jasper, unfortunately, doesn't spook easily; when the boar charges, she stands her ground, bracing herself to seize the monstrous animal by the tusks. If she can get a good hold of him she'll use his momentum to turn and hurl him past her into the trees; if she can't she is probably going to get a little bit trampled, but she can handle that, probably.

[whattaprick]

It's a partial success, at least. The boar is intelligent enough to recognize the shift in Jasper's posture, but it's too late to stop his forward movement. But he can shift his step ever so slightly, change the angle he's coning at so when Jasper grabs him and flings him towards the trees, he goes flying ...

And flying, the cloth still stuck on his tusks flapping in the wind behind him. The bulk of his body twists in mid-air until he finds his feet, crashing through branches until he rights himself, hooves pedaling furiously in the air, squealing indignation from his new vantage point of twenty feet above them.

[periphrasing]

Peridot squawks and drops a few feet out of the air when Jasper flings him, basically ducking mid-flight as the huge animal goes soaring over her. She's ready to tell Jasper off for nearly braining her with a giant pig when she keeps following his trajectory and--

What the hell. She nearly drops out of the sky in shock at the sight.

"What on earth is this thing!?" she yelps, half dismayed, half disgusted.

[stompadour]

This... is not what Jasper was expecting.

She stares at the airborne hog in absolute indignation, her lips pulling back from her disconcertingly even and rectangular teeth in a snarl of anger.

"I don't know," she grinds out, "but I'm going to destroy it."

[whattaprick]

It's a nice sentiment, but the boar, at least, seems to have other ideas. His lip curls into a piggy sneer, grunting derisively at the gems below, before he turns -- with a last, insolent raise of his half-petrified scut of a tail in their direction -- and begins to run off into the trees.

This is no place to fight, after all. Much better to head for somewhere he has an advantage, meaning plenty of room for his bulk to maneuver.

[periphrasing]

There hasn't really been time up until now for Peridot to get a proper look at the boar, or to process the beast's whole presence. But she has the time now, and strangely enough, it's that sneer that gets it to click. Even if Lambert doesn't have his own mind at the moment, that expression... couple it with the scars on it's face, and the patterning of the petrification on it's body...

This time, she really does drop out of the sky in shock.

Green light glows from the bushes, and Peridot springs back to her feet in her regular form. (Which is for the best, probably; following as a bat would likely count as cheating.)

"Jasper-- THAT'S HIM!" she squawks, pointing frantically. "DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!"

[stompadour]

"What??" says Jasper, spinning round to look at Peridot. "You said he was––"

She breaks off with an impatient snarl, though, because she knows they don't have any time to waste. She grabs Peridot around the waist and charges after the boar, bellowing, "Get back here, you coward!!"

[whattaprick]

The shouting and general agitation behind him only serves to make the boar run faster. Though he makes a token effort to zigzag his path, whipping around trees -- hoping his pursuer isn't swift enough to do the same without smacking into the trunks at least a couple of times.

His destination, though, becomes evident when he breaks through the treeline and skids into a clearing with a pond. His hooves churn up the dirt and making more flowers spring out of the earth as he comes to ground, turning to face back the way he came. Flying is well and good, but it doesn't provide the momentum he needs, and as soon as Jasper and Peridot break through the undergrowth he's already charging forward again, the black cloth caught on his tusks flapping wildly beside him.

[stompadour]

Jasper follows at speed with Peridot tucked under her arm, heedless of any indignant green yelling that might be happening down there. When she sees the boar turning around ahead of them, though, she skids to a stop and effectively throws Peridot to the side -- no time to be gentle, here sorry Peridot. As the boar starts to charge, she lowers her own head, running forward to meet him head on. She might not be allowed to summon her helmet, but that's not about to stop her from trying to headbutt a giant boar between the eyes.

[periphrasing]

Oh, there is PLENTY of indignant green yelling going on here. And even more happening when she gets tossed. Fortunately, Peridot doesn't injure easily, so she mostly just bounces, and then rolls on to her stomach to stare wide-eyed at the spectacle occurring in front of her.

[whattaprick]

Big, stubborn, meaty -- the boar and the quartz have more in common than one would think at first sight. It's hard for the boar to judge how tough a gem is, but if she's rushing at him, he isn't about to change course, either. If anything, he only speeds up, lowering his head as he prepares to crash into Jasper with the full force of his weight and bulk.

As for which of them will be left standing, well... that's another matter entirely, but the sound of the impact is eye-watering for anyone in earshot.

[stompadour]

What it comes down to, ultimately, is the fact that the boar has four legs and Jasper only has two; the impact sends them both reeling, but while the huge, heavy boar can plant himself sturdy on four hooves, Jasper stumbles backwards and collides with a tree. Cursing under her breath, she hauls herself up. This is, she realises, going to be more difficult than she'd hoped without her weapon of choice... but that's not enough to dissuade her. She just can't attack him head on, that's all.

She casts around the clearing, and -- ah. There's a pond. Full of disgusting Earth muck, probably, but if she can drown the beast that might save her some trouble. Make this quicker, like Peridot wanted. She just needs to lure him there.

Ducking into the trees just a little, to keep herself visible but still less of an easy target, she circles around to the water.

[periphrasing]

Peridot full-body flinches at the sound and the sight of the impact, ducking her head and peering out of one eye. She's not exactly concerned for the other gem's safety -- Jasper is certainly made to take that kind of damage, Peridot saw her do it first-hand over their ship's security cameras, the night they first came to Earth -- but it's not exactly pretty to watch.

It's hard not to be concerned for Lambert's safety, too, just on instinct, even if they are here to kill him? She's pretty sure organics aren't supposed to take blunt-force trauma to the head like that, and the whole point of her being here is to make sure he doesn't have to suffer too much in the process. But there's little that she can do to contribute to this fight without the use of her powers, so despite a desire to get involved, she struggles to her feet and casts around for a good, sturdy tree to scamper up and sit out of the way in. Whether she accomplishes this quickly enough to avoid drawing the boar's attention is another matter entirely.

[whattaprick]

If it were an ordinary boar, the impact would have been enough to split its skull, but it's certainly a testament to the fact that it's a magical creature that it doesn't immediately expire on contact. Though Jasper is knocked back, the boar is disoriented as well, vision blurring at the knock he's taken. It's probably just as well that forces him to focus on the immediate threat, the fighter, because it means the smaller one that flutters up to the branches is ignored completely.

As Jasper ducks into the trees, the boar snorts, but he won't follow -- smart enough to recognize that's not going to get him anywhere, charging into the trees like that, but not quite intelligent enough to realize where she's headed. He circles away from Jasper warily, like a brawler in a cage anticipating his opponent's next move, because that's exactly what he is: closer to human than beast, though his animalistic impatience betrays itself in how he paws restlessly at the ground (more flowers spring up, by the time they're done this clearing will be covered in it) and squealing in challenge at the figure in the treeline. Come out here where he can fight you!

[stompadour]

Jasper bursts out of the trees at the water's edge – not on the far side of it, she's not expecting to lure her quarry into running straight into it, she just wants to relocate the fight. She steps calf-deep into the pool with a massive splash, and meets the boar's eyes. "Come on!" she roars. "I'll grind you into sand!"

[whattaprick]

The shouting is certainly one way to get the boar's attention. He wheels around, breath coming in heavy snorts, and bellows as he rushes forward. With how quickly he's moving and the glow surrounding him, in the shade of the trees he's almost like a living burst of sunlight -- if sunlight was incredibly angry and ready to kill you.

[stompadour]

It really is an impressive sight, and Jasper can at least admit that... not that it makes her any less determined to do what she came here to do. As he thunders towards her she leaps into the air, superhumanly high, with a spray of water behind her. This is ordinarily where she'd spin herself into a wheel of fiery energy and launch herself at her enemy from the air, but she's led to understand that counts as 'powers' and so instead she has to content herself with making use of momentum and gravity like a regular person.

[whattaprick]

The boar's fast, but its bulk means he's still vulnerable to the weaknesses of inertia and momentum. As Jasper launches herself high, high above the air, he makes another squeal of anger and spends another precious few seconds slowing itself down so it can turn to face her. Bizarrely, instead of crashing into the pond, his hooves stop an inch from its surface, though he still ends up skidding through the spray that Jaspers own ascent has kicked up.

But that is, indubitably, a pig walking on water and rudely ignoring the laws of physics.

As soon as the boar gets his legs under him, though, he's also going to start trying to charge straight up, to meet Jasper as she starts to crash down. He's frothing at the mouth, working himself into a fury, and it's clear any sort of strategy is going out of the window in lieu of brute force

[stompadour]

As she descends, Jasper's eyes widen, her pupils furious catlike slits, as she realises that the boar has changed his direction to vertically upwards -- and not only that, but he's launching himself that way from literally standing on the water. She doesn't have time to think about how unfair this is, though, only to react. As the boar rises to meet her, she swings herself around to bring her elbow down hard at his soft pig nose.

[whattaprick]

Too late for the boar to avoid it, unfortunately. There's the painful, meaty sound of impact to flesh and the boar's scream of outrage is more of a gurgle, the hit halting his ascent and sending him reeling downward. Apparently, it takes concentration to maintain that ability to stride on air, and the hit has disoriented him enough that it will take him a moment to find his feet, catching himself before he can smack into the pond and shaking his great golden head.

[stompadour]

A moment later Jasper, who has no unnatural ability to keep herself aloft, lands on his back with a grunt. Despite being made out of light and magic or some shit, her physical form is surprisingly heavy, as if she were a human person made of meat who was eight feet tall and built like a brick shithouse.

She also doesn't need to breathe, though, so she isn't winded for long; she wastes no time seizing handfuls of the boar's bristly fur to try to keep him from shaking her off too quickly.

[whattaprick]

Jasper has the advantage there, for though the boar doesn't have to answer to the tug of gravity, it does have to answer to breath. As the gem's weight slams into him, it shoves him into the muck. He feels hands grasping at his hide and responds immediately by trying to shake Jasper off, his bulk shuddering violently beneath her as he bucks and twists around.