⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

[ringleaders]

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.

Comments

[chronosynthesis]

"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."

[whattaprick]

"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."

[chronosynthesis]

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."

[whattaprick]

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.

[chronosynthesis]

"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."

[whattaprick]

"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?"

[chronosynthesis]

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.

[whattaprick]

"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.

[chronosynthesis]

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.

[whattaprick]

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?"

[chronosynthesis]

"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.

[whattaprick]

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."

[chronosynthesis]

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.

[whattaprick]

"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?"

[chronosynthesis]

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.

[whattaprick]

Who knows indeed. Lambert's still going to have to find someone to ask about the details of that some other time. For now, though, there is one other point he'd like to inform Syrlya about, namely--

"Did you know we now have a cat as a scout?" he asks, abruptly. "I mean... a literal cat. A talking one."

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya lifts his head and stares blankly at Lambert.

"A cat," he repeats slowly. "Are there other effects of the poison that we were not aware of? Hallucinations, perhaps?"

[whattaprick]

"You're a walking plant and your mom is a tree, so I don't know if you're one to talk," Lambert returns, cynically. "Also, since you're apparently the expert on altered mental states, you tell me: do I seem like I'm hallucinating?"

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya slumps back against the wall a bit. "I'm no expert on poison, but I suppose not."

A pause. "So... what are they like?"

It has to be more than just a cat, right?

[whattaprick]

"A 'phantom thief' apparently," Lambert answers dryly. "Ran into him at the ball and he was trying to ask for help getting treasure then. Guess he ended up swept up along with the rest of the carnival's new strays." He's pretty sure it's a him, but it's strangely harder to tell, and he didn't do any flipping-over to investigate.

"Says he's had plenty of experience stealing treasure, so I don't know why he didn't end up with the Acquisitioner instead." He shrugs. The Ringmaster's judgement is suspect at the best of times, but this is an odd one, even for her...

"There's another new one who stopped by -- some kind of monster slayer too. Could've used that a while ago."

[chronosynthesis]

"I suspect they had nowhere else to go." Those strays. After all, they didn't know at the time if killing the Prince and ending his reign for good was going to be possible.

A monster slayer does sound more fitting, and given the lack of description Syrlya assumes he's some form of human.

"Perhaps he was assigned to both of you, much the way I report to Sans as well. Did he mention anything about it?"

[whattaprick]

"The cat works for the Engineer, too." Yeah, Syrlya, try to wrap your mind around how a cat ends up in repairs, because hell if Lambert knows. Regardless, the witcher seems to be lost in thought for a moment, attention drifting elsewhere.

"Actually ... there was something else I wanted to ask you about."

[chronosynthesis]

But how does that... Lambert said he was a literal... cats don't have opposable thumbs?!

"Oh--yes?" He snaps back to attention, staring in a daze at Lambert for a second and stops trying to make sense of that. "What is it?"

[whattaprick]

"If anything takes me out of the picture again, can you lead the nightrunners?" Lambert asks bluntly.

[chronosynthesis]

"Uh--" Syrlya is visibly taken aback, mouth agape as he stares at Lambert. He doesn't answer at first, too stunned by the request.

"Well I mean I--but why me?" Sure, in Tyria it was destiny. He had season to prove himself (although it wasn't actually that many seasons). But weren't there other, more suitable people who could take lead at any time? Who was more experienced, stronger, was wiser to the fae and the carnival?