⇨ 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

[kingsroads]

Now that, more than anything, makes Strange pause. Because he's about to retort with something snotty like 'I can't do everything' and list off something he couldn't do but...huh. He's coming up against a brick wall. Even the things he couldn't do, he couldn't do just because of a lack of information or his own physical limitations, not because of a lack of magical power. And the mistakes he made were his own mistakes. But in talking magic with other people, he's come across plenty of limitations that others have that he was confident he could skip over.

For the first time since his stay at the carnival, the thought that wait, not everybody's an OP magical protagonist crosses Strange's mind.

"I'm not fae," Strange eventually responds, though that's a lame excuse and he knows it. "I have limitations just like the rest of us."

Though trust Strange to take Sans's judgement and sarcasm as a literal statement. The man can be amazingly obtuse at times.

[osteothropy]

"You kinda act like you are," Sans comments, fully prepared for any of his statements to bounce right off of his guy's head, because that seems the way of things. "You seem to have the same attitude towards 'lesser creatures' don't ya?"

Silly mortals, not seeing the obvious solutions to their problems. If he wanted to be talked down to he could go discuss magic with the Ringmaster.

[kingsroads]

"And who would you say I think of as 'lesser'?"

His anger's abating as Strange fixes Sans with a curious frown. He's certain the skeleton would include Lazuli in that designation. But what about others?

[osteothropy]

"Lapis and the rest of the gems, since you don't seem to believe their expertise on a subject only they've experienced," he says, casually but distantly, like he's no longer willing to engage with Strange too intimately. "My entire species. My family. Me."

He lets that sit for a few moments before expanding on the thought.

"Let's be real, you must think pretty low about anybody who isn't a mage on the same level as you. And people who can't do magic at all? Why do they even bother."

[kingsroads]

"Arabella can't do magic," Strange points out, as if that's going to help his case. He doesn't need to say the other part of his statement (Arabella can't do magic and yet I think the world of her) because it's pretty damn obvious.

"And most magicians aren't on the same level as I am to begin with. I don't think low of them, I welcome their company. Likewise, I barely know anything of your species or your family to begin with. I cannot think low of something that I barely know the specifics of. So kindly do not put words in my mouth."

[osteothropy]

"But somehow," Sans says, not really buying his argument there. "You still act like you know better about stuff you have no experience with. Think you can explain that? You don't know enough about my species or gems as a species to think low of them, but somehow you're still telling us what we can and can't do."

[kingsroads]

Strange just glares as Sans for a moment or two...before the obvious solution puts itself in his head. Oh yeah. He's not petrified. He doesn't have to deal with this. As he stands up, Strange starts collecting some of the scattered items that he's brought with him: pencils, notebooks, and so on.

"And you act like you know me so well despite the fact that we've only had a handful of conversations in our time at the carnival. I don't have to listen to this."

[osteothropy]

"So, you're not actually gunna explain yourself, huh?"

If it means that Strange is leaving first then Sans is all for that. He could have teleported away himself, at this point, but he doesn't have much interest in budging. The medical tent will probably be more relaxing without him being a reminder.

"Not very scientific."

[kingsroads]

"Then it's a good thing I'm not very scientific in the first place. I am a magician." He's finished gathering up his materials and book and turns to leave...before stopping slightly turning back around and looking at Sans.

"There has been talk about some of us coming together to develop a cure for the petrification and poison. If you have any input on the Prince or his methods used, please contact either Lambert, Peridot, or Miss Makinami. I'm sure they'll appreciate the information."

He would offer himself as a person to talk to, but he's got a funny feeling Sans might not want to talk to him right now (and he certainly does not want to talk to Sans as well).

[osteothropy]

"Eh," he says, shrugging his shoulders. "Same difference."

No real attempt at getting in the last word here. Instead, he just folds his arms behind his head and closes his eyes, ready to just chill. He's angry, no doubt, in an old and familiar way - but he's just as familiar with pushing that feeling down whenever it gets to be too much to deal with.

He's really gotta stop throwing himself at walls.