⇨ 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

[kingsroads]

The first thought that runs through Strange's mind as Steven approaches doesn't really have anything to do with Steven. Instead, there's a brief moment where he looks at Lion and though the pain and hurt, Strange has one singularly confused thought of 'what the fuck.' That's a lion? But it's pink? And it's huge? Is this another Pokemon thing, this is probably a Pokemon thing.

He winces as Steven places his hand near the wounds on his back, clenching his eyes shut with a grimace. When Strange opens them again, that feeling of still needing to be the adult comes back in full force. Because he sees where Steven's looking. He's looking at the bodies.

"Leave the dragon and deer alone. The Prince agreed to the terms of the contract so he'll keep to his word as long as we keep it ourselves." After all, he is a fae. And all of the fae that Strange had worked with seemed to value the idea of following contracts. And Strange honestly doesn't know how healing the animals would fall under those terms and conditions.

[starseedling]

Steven's eyes dart from Strange, to Carly, to the bodies, and back to Strange again. Even now, this is still so hard to take in. He swallows, trying to hold back his tears, to keep himself from being a big baby again, when people need him to be stronger. He visibly flinches, a few tears escaping down his cheeks, before he floats the rest of the way down.

He balls it up inside of him, and tries to focus on Strange's wound, even as his head is swimming. It isn't hard. He... He knows what he has to do.

"I... I know."

He brushes away a few of his tears onto his fingers, looking at them remorsefully. Then, he presses those fingers to the exposed skin of Strange's back. His gems and the smaller jeweled freckles all light up at once, as the bloodied wounds glow and begin to mend. It's not a perfect fix, like it'd be at home, but... it's what he can do.

[fortuneglass]

She can do nothing but nod, as Steven mutters that acknowledgment. It's a horrible place to be in, right now-but it's the most they can do. While Steven heals, Carly moves to scoop up the body of the smaller dragon, while readying her charm. "...I'll get them together," she starts, swallowing.

"...Strange... ....We should go back as well, I think." She looks to Steven as she says this.

...But somehow she knows the other will want to stay, for his own reasons.

[kingsroads]

Strange lets out a hiss of pain as Steven's fingers touch his bloody back. Almost instantly, the two smaller gashes start to heal up. The larger gash starts to heal as well. But from the center of the gash, a mirrored covering starts to grow outward, covering over some of the wound.

Strange's shirt is torn to ribbons as is. Through the various holes and tears, Steven might be able to see the patch of matching mirrored covering near the front of Strange's right shoulder (and he can certainly see the matching mirrored covering on Strange's wrists). Strange himself is unaware that this is happening as he can't really see his back. But he's healing. The pain's starting to lessen so he knows that Steven's magic is working. And at Carly's statement, he nods.

"None of the other creatures I've seen were as small as the dragon. I only know how to use a dagger, I won't chance it on something bigger." A pause, before, "And thank you, Steven. I feel much better now."