⇨ THE FANTASIA FESTIVAL

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone who decides to come!
When: Day 12
Where: Wismuth's Fantasia Festival
What: CY-Ren's performance in Wismuth's biggest music festival finally arrives, and those willing to help Noa the Star Guardian show up to intervene.
Warnings: It doesn't go super well.

SONG OF THE CY-REN↴ CY-Ren's arena is the biggest stage in the festival by far, but it isn't the only one. Several big acts have assembled in the surrounding area, all with a lovely view of the ocean and with Wismuth's skyline in the background. Though she isn't explicitly the main attraction at the festival, everyone knows she's the real reason so many people have showed up. The amount of star power she has is overwhelming, and there are plenty of fans that would get violent on her behalf. ► GROUP UP: Noa will ask everyone to meet her in a park area near the festival stage, so that you can discuss plans briefly before putting them into action. The key is to try to stop the concert before CY-Ren's plans can come to fruition - whatever they may specifically be. How you go about this is up to you, but with how many people are present, it's bound to be a challenge. ► INFILTRATE: After speaking with Noa and determining what everyone will be doing, it will be time for everyone to break into the performance arena. No one has tickets for this, unless they've forged them, as they sold out a while ago. Any means of getting inside is fine, whether that be teleporting, passing through walls, or jumping in by wing. Once you've gotten into the crowd, it's up to you to get close enough to the stage to disrupt the proceedings. ► UNDER HER SPELL: It only takes her first song for things to start going wrong. The impact of the music will strike each individual differently - for most it will only feel strange, but for some it will be completely transfixing, like something that reaches deep into their soul. Those people, the ones slated to become Harbingers, will react to the the song strongly - upon hearing it, they will gradually completely lose their sense of agency, sluggishly moving towards the stage by whatever means available to them. If someone tries to stop them, they will go as far as physically, or even violently, resisting. "Blindsided by the beat Clapping your hands, stomping your feet You didn't know that you fell Now you've fallen under my spell" Obviously, if you want to participate in the Harbinger plot, you'll have to arrange it so that they manage to follow through with their hypnotized objectives. They will feel somehow empty during this time, as like they need to follow the music in order to achieve any chance at fulfillment. If you are not becoming a Harbinger, you can still have your character be affected by this to a lesser degree and then stopped by another carnival member, or as a feat of self control. ► BATTLE: By the time she switches to the next song, things will have started to get real. Any blatant, long distance attacks made early on will be mysteriously blocked by some kind of magical force field surrounding the stage, which will take some time to penetrate - at least until Noa gets involved. Body guards will storm anyone who tries to get onto the stage, and ostensibly said guards are not at all human. Instead, they appear to be horrible looking shadow amalgamation in suits, and while their attacks are mostly just physical, they can move with unnatural quickness, can't be pinned, and strike very hard. They can be NPC'd by anyone, and only have vaguely humanoid thought processes. "Me and you, you and me Why don't we see who is better? We don't have to be one and the same thing Oh, what's so wrong with a little competition? Are you afraid of failing the audition?" By the end of the second song, the hypnotized carnival members will have been snatched up by CY-Ren's void agents and disappeared. This can manifest as them being grabbed and escorted off, or possibly disappearing into shadows alongside one of the bodyguards. The guards will be trying to work stealthily, ideally sneaking away anyone being affected by the song without anyone around them noticing, but they won't let secrecy get in the way of their objectives, either. The audience will be able to realistically notice if things start exploding in their faces, but the song will distract them from anything less obvious.

Comments

[kingsroads]

"Considering she asked the carnival for help, she doesn't have much room to complain period." Based on Strange's small little frown, it's obvious he doesn't have much goodwill towards Noa in general. Oh she said all this stuff about 'void' and 'creation' but what all does that really mean? And why can't she take care of it herself?

"And if the Ringmaster's apprehensive about this, should you all be doing it anyway?" While Rita might be more ambivalent about her, Strange is 100% on Team Ringmaster. She sounded a bit guarded and reluctant during the broadcast, ergo Strange firmly believes that something might be up.

[anti_nonsense]

"I don't know," Rita answers honestly. "I guess I feel sorry for the people of this world, having to rely on that one ditz to protect them all the time." Is Noa really capable of handling this? Rita has some doubts.

But she can't afford to get too distracted, so she faces the control panel once again and studies the controls while talking to Strange. "Anyway, if you're so unsure, why'd you even show up here?"

[kingsroads]

Because he's a nosy fuck and wants to at least get a bit in on the action before turning tail when everything goes to shit.

That is something Strange does not say, however, as he responds to Rita's question with a little shrug. "Not everyone can sneak in with shadows the way Childermass does. There's plenty of reflections backstage, I was helping shuttle some people in."

Besides, if this was an obvious trap from the start, better he show up to help fight people off. The fact that they've been able to sneak in relatively easy is...well, Strange isn't entirely sure how he feels about that. It's noticeable, at least.

[anti_nonsense]

"So you plan to cut and run before any trouble starts," Rita summarizes, sounding unimpressed as she flips a few switches. Way to be a coward, Strange.

But with a wave of a hand, she acknowledges the silver lining: "Well, at least you won't get a chance to screw anything up." Because most of the time, even when there isn't trouble, he manages to create plenty of his own.

[kingsroads]

Strange can't help but glare at Rita, clenching his fists. It's the implication that he's a coward that makes Strange's blood boil a little. This is pragmatism, not cowardice. Besides, he was hardly a coward in the first place! He was in the peninsula, for crying out loud!

"The Matrix, the Celebration, Portland, the Prince's manor, all of those involved carnival members getting kidnapped or enthralled. The Ringmaster already said this was going to be dangerous. Forgive me that I don't want to risk my safety for someone I barely know!"

He's raising his voice slightly by the end of that, which Strange quickly realize is probably noticeable as hell. Lowering his tone, he continues to grumble. "Besides, someone needs to save your ass when things inevitably go wrong."

It's just that surprise, it's not going to be Strange.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita can't see that glare, but it sure sounds like she hit a nerve. She doesn't even know half of the events he's referring to, but whatever, she gets the point. There's a pause, as if taking a moment to consider whether it's worth arguing with him, but in the end, she decides her current task is more important, and she resumes flipping switches and tapping buttons.

That is, until he makes that additional comment, to which she gives a light snort. "Hah! As if I'd ever need rescuing from you."

Rita would've liked to leave it at as if I'd ever need rescuing, but their last disaster made it a little too clear that she has her weaknesses.

[kingsroads]

"You've jinxed yourself by saying that," Strange remarks. At least, he hopes Rita's jinxed herself by saying that. The idea of him swooping in to rescue her (ideally very dramatically and at the last minute) has lifted his mood somewhat, as that glare starts to fade.

And he knows he should leave. But nosiness wins out. So, he walks over to Rita, easily looking over her shoulder as she flips switches and hits buttons.

"What's that one do?" he asks, fingers getting dangerously close to pushing one of the buttons.

[anti_nonsense]

"Don't touch that," Rita snaps, reaching out and swatting his hand. "What are you, a child?"

She then takes a half-second to glance at what he was about to mess with, and actually offers an answer.

"That's the power for one of the microphones. Could try turning a bunch of them off at once, mess with their sound... but it'd draw attention to us here, and a tech could easily fix the problem." A grin tugs at the corner of the mouth as she explains, "I'm gonna mess this up so that no one can fix it."

[kingsroads]

He's worse than a child: he's a grown man who gets his kicks from messing with the actual child. Still, Strange backs off as Rita swats his hand, though he can't help but give her a little frown. Rude, Rita.

Still, he listens intently as she explains what it does. And alright, if it's something that could easily be fixable, he's not going to mess with it. Though, her conversation about messing it up so no one can fix it...

"Good Lord, don't tell me you're going to set this on fire." It's a valid assumption!

[anti_nonsense]

"I considered it, but no, that's not my first choice," Rita replies with a shrug. There's nothing wrong with starting a few fires, is there? It's a perfectly valid Plan B, as far as she's concerned.

But Plan A is a lot more clever, and she's happy to share it with him. "All the devices used for sound and lighting here run on electricity. Thing is, they can only handle so much power at a time. I plan on overloading them with an electrical surge, frying them from the inside."

[kingsroads]

Plan A is indeed a lot more clever and has less chance of the smoke detectors going off. Strange nods in a way that obviously implies 'yeah, that makes plenty of sense.'

"I suppose what you'll have to worry most about is that surge catching it on fire." Is that how electricity works? Maybe, Strange isn't entirely sure. Most of his knowledge about electricity is going off of half-baked Portland memories and barely understood concepts of digital worlds and computers.

[anti_nonsense]

“Electrical fires are a possibility, yes,” Rita casually admits. He says that like it’s a bad thing. Fire means a bigger distraction for the staff, an incentive for people to leave, and even more unfixable damage.

...Oh. Maybe it’s the people he’s suggesting she should worry about.

“I plan on destroying the equipment on and around the stage, leaving anything positioned farther away alone. The audience should have a clear path to evacuate. If the rear speakers are still a problem, 9S can cut the power and disable them.”

[kingsroads]

He leans up against a wall, nodding as Rita explains her plan and explains how she'll deal with fires. And that...honestly makes a lot of sense. For such a slapdash last minute sabotage mission, it's reassuring that at least a few people have thought through what they were going to do.

"You really have all of this planned out," Strange can't help but remark, sounding a little impressed. Mostly because he never plans things out to begin with but hey, that's a part of his personality that he's just come to accept. "Curb that temper and you'll be a valuable member of the nightrunners!"

He's teasing, of course. Like Strange can judge anyone on their personality flaws.

[anti_nonsense]

"More valuable than some, I bet." Rita turns to give him a bit of a pointed look, then looks back to the controls.

She waves a hand in the air, as if to dismiss him. "Anyway, I need to focus on this. Can't you go bother someone else?"

[kingsroads]

Strange can't help but let out a small little bark of a laugh as Rita gives him a pointed look. More valuable than him? Please. Unsurprisingly, captain arrogance isn't buying what she's selling.

Still, he can leave her alone. So, Strange gives Rita a little nod. "Best of luck," he wishes, before Strange starts to leave, going in the direction of some backstage dressing rooms.