lostcarnival | ⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

Entry tags:

⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 178 - B1: Day 6
Where: The Carnival and sometimes on top of the Heart of Stone.
What: Now that the Prince is dead and gone, there's a lot left to sort out. As the remaining servants are liberated and those captured by the Prince are tended to, it's time for recovery and goodbyes.
Warnings: Nothing in particular.

HOME GROUND↴

At long last, it is over. The Prince is dead, and all of his stolen Names have been restored - all that's left to do is treat the wounds and move on. For the first day or two, the Ringmaster will be arranging passage for the servants that are left, all of which have remembered their names for the first time in years. The earth elemental that had been trapped and forced to serve as the Prince's manor, the Heart of Stone, is happy to help for the moment. It appreciates the Ringmaster's mercy, and is free after untold eons of imprisonment.

Yet, there are plenty of aspects that are far from simple. There are still servants left mad and transformed into beasts, with no easy way to change them back. The Prince's spells outlive him, and those bearing his poison and his curses will have a difficult road ahead of them. Though most of the bestial servants have been rounded up, and a large number that had been reduced to unmoving statues returned, even the Ringmaster can't return them to normal so simply.

The next week is for rest and for settling remaining affairs. If you want to bid farewell to any particular NPCs, or assure care is given where it's needed, now is the time to do it.

► A CURE: The Ringmaster will tell everyone simply - there is no simple way to undo another fae's magic. The Prince's powers were essentially on par with hers, which means that those who have been transformed to stone and those that were cursed into beasts and driven insane are not something she can trivially fix. It will take the work of the carnival and a couple weeks of treatment to shed the curse of stone, and the maddened servants are an entirely separate matter. She will do what she can, but for the most part she is arranging for the Prince's servants to be cared for elsewhere. At least for now, the Ringmaster will be animating the stone portions of people's bodies with magic, though those portions will still be a bit clumsy and numb feeling.

► THE NEW HEARTSTONE: In the absence of the prince, the Heart of Stone will be taking over the remains of the Prince's realm and preventing it from collapsing into void. As it turns out, the manor had been an earth elemental all along - a form of Wyld Fae almost on par to the Prince and Ringmaster themselves. How the Heart of Stone was enslaved is a long story presumably, but the Ringmaster considers it to be a sign of the Prince's own depravity. The Heart will be allowing visitors for the first couple days of this period through the portal, but keep in mind you are essentially just walking around on its body. At least the realm has a floor, now, instead an endless abyss surrounding it.

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Syrlya snorts. He'd argue that Lambert shouldn't be worrying about the report now anyway, but if he's going to ask for it anyway he might as well.

Syrlya leans his back against the wall by the bed, holding his arm up as he carefully starts to undo the bandages. "I was. Childermass led the effort with the rest who managed to avoid being poisoned. Taako, Foster, and... Lapis, I believe her name was? The servant who looks like a rabbit and the horned lady were also with us."

He goes slower once the wrap gets down to his elbow, and the more raw foliage beneath is visible and sticking slightly to the bandages. But it's not as vulnerable as it was a few days ago.

"While you were distracting the Prince, we used the assistance of his servants and illusions to escape through the hallways. We found LaFlamme, and he seemed to expect us after his conversation with Steven. I think it helped, he was willing to assist us in accessing the Prince's study to retrieve the rose."

Lambert's eyes -- and Celandine's -- track the bandages unwrapping, though both are thankfully short on commentary on that right now. This part of the story's useful for Lambert to know, and unlike Childermass, Syrlya's obligated to actually cough up as much of the story as he can. The answer leads to more questions, but he won't interrupt for now, nodding at the mesmer and waving for him to keep going. He'll save his voice, for now.

"From the study we were able to access his personal quarters," Syrlya continues, opting to not mention opening the pressurized spider box. "But that isn't where he kept the rose. It is, however, where a mirror that he used to control the elemental was. Taako was able to alter his appearance and voice to that of the Prince, and with it we were able to open the door to the Blue Rose's chamber."

Carefully, carefully he unwraps more of the bandage. Without the large, heavy leaves that make up his outer arm, it looks thinner. "As it turns out, Scout and Papyrus were in the level just above the rose, where the Prince kept an orb that held some of its power. We let them in after we retrieved the rose, of course. Both the Prince and the Ringmaster seemed to notice immediately when it was taken."

A mirror, huh? Just like the beast from the tales. Lambert's got to give the Prince credit, he picked a theme ad stuck to it. He does, however, frown at what comes next, though Celandine will pipe up in lieu of him.

"On the roof? What were they doing up there?"> she asks incredulously. "It was storming!" Sorry, Syr, your story's going to have to be put on a bit of a hold while the daemon huffs this out.

"Wait ... were they with Rita? She said she went on a walk on the roofs and that's how she was caught..."

Edited 2017-11-13 08:24 (UTC)

"Perhaps she remembered the rose as well?" Syrlya shrugs. They didn't actually get a lot of time for questioning. Papyrus explained some of it, but not the actual root of their plan.

"They did not mention who else they were with, and I did not see anyone else." Ergo, he doesn't know, but honestly how many roof parties could have possibly occurred anyway?

He unwinds the bandages to just above his wrist, the end of them starting to touch the floor... and then he stops, staring at his arm. Small, stunted leaves are starting to grow back from their root points, but they don't look like the same smooth, waxy teal of the rest of him. Instead, they're greener rose bush leaves.

Syrlya pulls his arm closer and stares.

That's going to have to be something Lambert asks Scout herself about later, he supposes. It's a little crazier than what he's come to expect from Scout, so it's a little bizarre, but they were all out of it in different ways during that whole mess anyway...

But there's something more distracting at hand. As Syrlya ends up staring at his arm, naturally Celandine and Lambert will as well. Though he may not look like it, Lambert's got a fair eye for herbs and plants, and even he can tell -- this isn't what his foliage (skin? What do you call it on a living plant man?) was before.

"Is that ... from the Rose?"

"Sure hope you know where that thing has been," Lambert croaks, raspily. Because hey, nothing like likening fae artifacts to transmitting venereal diseases to lighten the mood, right.

"In a glass chamber for... who knows how long." Syrlya frowns deeply as he undoes the rest of his bandages. His fingers, at least, are regrowing normally, but his arm is starting to form as rose leaves instead.

He reaches back behind his head absently. "It likely is. A blue rose started blooming on my head very recently as well. I only wielded it briefly." He draws his hand back, turning his arm over as he inspects it. "I should be able to control the growth of my form better than this, but..."

He runs his tongue over his teeth absently. "I suppose the magic must change us by becoming a part of us."

"It happens," Lambert shrugs. He lifts one clawed hand, indicating himself, and Celandine will take that as her cue to speak.

"People seem to take on changes related to fae, if they've been in their presence long enough. That's why everyone in the Prince's realm become more beast-like, eventually. It doesn't seem to be something they can stop." She pauses, considering. It's not as if being changed by magic is a new concept for her or for Lambert, although the warning about it certainly wasn't in the contract.

"It must have been very powerful, if it changed you so much. You used it to kill the Prince, didn't you?" Even around unpleasant memories of Lambert losing the contents of his stomach, they remember part of that.

"That seems to apply to their magic as a whole." As the rose was most definitely Fae, and Strange told him there was still trace magic on his person earlier. This is why you don't just wield magical objects of power willy-nilly.

Syrlya nods. "It is. She must have wanted it in part for its ability to kill a fae so easily." He pauses. "He began to dissolve, and the Ringmaster consumed that essence."

This story's become a little disjointed. He might need to smooth out the context leading up to that.

As one, Celandine and Lambert make a face.

"Again?" the polecat huffs. "She can't solve every problem just by putting it in her mouth..." It's a very Strange sort of solution. Maybe they need to form a club.

Syr's right, though. The story's going out of order, and Lambert shakes his head and waves a hand absently. "Go back. You took the Rose, and then...?" He knows this part a bit from what Foster said before, but it would be nice to have it in a form he can decently understand. Besides, he's not the most reliable of narrators.

"Oh, so that happens often." Just literally cannibalizing your enemies. All right then.

There's a narrative to continue, though. Syrlya lowers his arm and forces himself to stop scrutinizing his change in foliage. "The Prince and the Ringmaster must have found out almost immediately. The Prince arrived first, obviously furious, but the Ringmaster knocked him through the wall."

It's just too bad the story didn't end right there. "That's when he used the orb to retaliate. Apparently it was a battery for the Blue Rose's power, and was powerful enough to send the Ringmaster far across the Manor. I don't know when you were taken prisoner, but he immediately began to tear the Manor down to transform it into a fortress. We scattered and I delivered the Blue Rose to the Ringmaster."

"It might be a Wyld Fae thing. Or a Ringmaster thing. You'd have to ask her yourself."

As Syrlya continues relating events, though, Lambert grimaces. That must have been the crystal Foster mentioned, the Prince's trump card that caught the Ringmaster off guard. What a pain in the ass ... but they had no way of knowing that was there.

"Is the orb still around?" He wants to know. Maybe the Prince has used up all its power, but it seems like that would be useful... "That must have been why we felt the earth shaking. The Manor changing itself."

Syrlya decides very quickly he doesn't want to know more about her eating anything, and he's not going to ask.

He shrugs. "I did not see it at the end of the hunt. If anything I presume the Heart of Stone is keeping it now. Anyway, we regrouped after the manor became a fortress and were successful in rescuing most of the brainwashed carnival members." Although given said brainwashing, it was probably more like capturing. Well.

"Defense was the Prince's strength, so we needed to find another way to retrieve all of you and defeat him. It was... a couple days later that he sent Sans out, after he'd stolen his true name. To steal the Blue Rose, but he was so weak, it... it was nothing more than to show us what he did. We did not allow Sans to return to him."

Syrlya might just be using his name just because he can. Being even on the outside of that affair was... chilling. He can't imagine how Sans must have felt through everything.

"It occurred to us after that, since the manor was also alive and forced into its shape, it was likely a being with a True Name as well. If we minded our wording or presented a fair enough exchange, we could ask for its name and turn it against the Prince, leaving him vulnerable."

Hearing Sans's name feels good, too, on a level Lambert can't perfectly express. After all, he has his side of the story to relate here -- or at least Celandine will.

"The Prince made us watch, when he took it," the polecat murmurs, her voice subdued but still coldly furious as her fur slowly bristles out. "We wish he'd suffered more. He would have deserved it." Her words end on a snarled hiss, teeth snapping at air. Never let it be said that Lambert's soul isn't vindictive as shit. However, she'll let the rumbling subside for Syrlya to continue his story, finishing with the inevitable conclusion.

"So, another hunt," Lambert finishes. One that called for the deaths of the transformed carnival members, a memory that still sets his pulse racing though he tries to push it down. That's been a direct cause of his restless nights and short sleeping spells: he doesn't quite trust himself not to dream about that sickening, agonizing span of seconds between being half-drowned and his neck broken with a snap.

"He would have." But they couldn't afford to risk not killing him, so as quick as possible it is.

The mention of the hunt makes Syrlya frown, and he moves to fold his arms before he remembers one is raw and healing, and instead lets them continue to hang limply at his side. "It... was not an ideal challenge. I don't think it's what anyone expected when they proposed the hunt, but he set the parameters and we could not afford to refuse."

The Prince certainly had the upper hand in that regard, after all. Lambert was one of those hunted, however and he looks him over once. "I'm sorry we were unable to give any of you a choice."

"It was temporary." Lambert waves a hand dismissively, shaking his head. No, he didn't know it was temporary at the time, only that he was dying and there was nothing he could do about it, but that's entirely beside the point.

"It doesn't sound like you had much of a choice, either. But that's the only real way to deal with fae." He smirks at Syrlya, lips curling back to reveal sharp teeth. "Remember what I told the nightrunners before we headed to the Manor?"

Edited 2017-11-17 09:41 (UTC)

Logically, they didn't. Syrlya knows that, but he's still going to show some sympathy for the pain they went through anyway. 'Necessary' didn't always make it hurt any less.

"About how the Prince would trick us into breaking his rules?" Not that there ended up having to be any trickery for people to disregard all their warnings.

"Not just that," Lambert shakes his head.

"That the fae themselves bound to obey the terms they agree to," Celandine speaks up, quietly. "It goes both ways. Meaning it's just as much a weakness of the Ringmaster as any fae we meet."

Sure, they won this time, but it's also a reminder of their supernatural patron's potential weaknesses. Lambert frowns and turns his gaze away from Syrlya, rubbing his thumb absently over the sheet over his thigh. Celandine continues, her golden gaze steady on Syrlya.

"What do you know about the time the Carnival went to Hell? Literally," the polecat clarifies, like that needs doing.

Edited 2017-11-18 03:25 (UTC)

That's true. That's how they got the Heart of Stone's name, after all. Because the Prince couldn't back down on his word. It would be less worrisome for the Ringmaster if she was a little more open about the precise terms of her allies and enemies she has.

"You would be the first I've heard of it," he explains, which isn't much of a surprise seeing as it's been a month and half of that was spent maneuvering the Prince's territory.

It's hardly surprising. Even to Lambert, it feels like it happened a lifetime ago, even if he knows it really hasn't been that long at all.

Celandine fusses a little bit with her paws, getting more settled on Lambert, before she begins to speak. This is a longer story, so she might as well do it comfortably.

"Before we arrived," Celandine begins, slowly. "The Carnival pissed off a bunch of vampires, who then attacked the Carnival. They got away, and spent a while recovering from that in the Summerlands -- you might have heard of it there -- and thought that was the last of it, but... the vampires managed to track it down again. They came after us while we were in another world, at a big party, and kidnapped a lot of people. Including all the supervisors at the time."

She pauses, now, to cock her head at Syrlya, though it'll be Lambert who speaks dryly. "Sound familiar?"

"The end of it, yes." He still has no idea what exactly a vampire is, something related to a vampire bat?

He tilts his head, encouraging Lambert to continue.

They'll cross that bridge when that comes up. Oblivious, Celandine goes on:

"The vampires ... who were also some kind of demon, apparently ... retreated to their own realm. Hell. Fire and brimstone, miserable place. We had to go retrieve the Carnival's people, obviously, but ..." And here's the part that makes Celandine and Lambert frown.

"They shouldn't have been able to find us in the first place. But Morningstar -- the being that ruled that realm -- apparently had help."

Syrlya tilts his head. This story seems to be drifting further away in context from the ball, but that's probably because Lambert hadn't gotten to the base point of telling it yet.

"Help from an enemy of the Ringmaster's, or an ally that was indebted to them?" Because those have very different implications for this story.

"The first one. The vampire we spoke to described her as beautiful, white-haired woman ... who had it out for the carnival, whatever that means. But that was all the description she provided." Celandine paused. "The Ringmaster seemed to recognize it when we asked her, but she brushed it off."

"Point is," Lambert finishes, "She's still out there. Meaning the Prince might not be the last of the fae we meet."

Both daemon and man fall silent, contemplating that. Celandine shakes her head, looking up at Syrlya.

"... But we can worry about the future later. Did you have more to report?"

Syrlya blinks, raising his brows. "It would have been a pleasant surprise is that was the last of her people she's made enemies of."

He saw those early warnings after Portland. It sounds like the carnival isn't entirely a popular group. He pauses for a moment, then shakes his head. "No, that was everything important that I am aware of. Anything else would need to come from the other nightrunners."

For who knows what was going on up on the roof.

⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

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