Lost Carnival Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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lostcarnival2018-09-16 07:16 pm
ringleaders) wrote in lostcarnival2018-09-16 07:16 pm
Entry tags:
⇨ WYLD HUNT
Who: Everyone!
When: Day 100
Where: Shabondamashii
What: The Wyld Hunt unexpectedly crashes the Shabon's dimension, leaving chaos in its wake. Those that have been with the carnival for a while might recognize it as the personal army of a fae called the Huntsman - also known as one of the Ringmaster's age old rivals, whom she dethroned thousands of years ago. The last we heard of him, he was pursuing the carnival, and it turns out he found them faster than anyone thought.
Warnings: Violence, theoretical cannibalism.
When: Day 100
Where: Shabondamashii
What: The Wyld Hunt unexpectedly crashes the Shabon's dimension, leaving chaos in its wake. Those that have been with the carnival for a while might recognize it as the personal army of a fae called the Huntsman - also known as one of the Ringmaster's age old rivals, whom she dethroned thousands of years ago. The last we heard of him, he was pursuing the carnival, and it turns out he found them faster than anyone thought.
Warnings: Violence, theoretical cannibalism.
THE AUTUMN MOON↴ There isn't any warning. You might not even notice what's happening at first, with the approach of the threat happening as spontaneously as a zombie uprising. You're minding your own business, enjoying Shabon, when a random alien charges you on foot with sudden and aggressive intent. Whether or not you can throw them off or defeat them, you'll soon find they weren't alone. An entire army is descending upon the city now, and the carnival is the target. ► THEY ARE LEGION: The Wyld Hunt comes in all shapes and sizes, with beasts and men from all kinds of different universes having been caught up in its sway. Those that have been in the Hunt for a long while have more or less completely lost themselves - they now function only as part of a pack, hunting whatever the Huntsman wishes and consuming what their prey leaves behind upon death. Some members of the Hunt are newer and more unsure, but they are all a part of a psychic hive mind that compels them to move as a unit. Everyone in the Wyld Hunt instinctively know what the Huntsman wants them to do, even if they never speak to him. Their skills, powers, and physicalities are all over the board, but there are a notably large quantity of Wyld Fae among them, often being used as mounts by more powerful humanoids within the Hunt. When NPCing members of the Hunt for threading purposes there is a lot of flexibility to what you face, including entities and beasts from your own worlds - provided they are creatures capable of functioning independently. ► HUNT OR BE HUNTED: When set upon by the Hunt, it is easy to become overwhelmed. Unfortunately, in that situation, the only way to beat them is to join them. Beginning to hunt alongside the others will immediately pacify them against you. As soon as you start to follow, the thrum of the Huntsman's will will start to take over - the more you hunt, the harder it is to turn away from it. If you do stop, or successfully oppose the compulsion, they will be quick to set upon you again. Like the others, you will feel the craving to consume any individuals the Hunt has felled - you must resist this, because once you have eaten the prey of the Hunt, you'll be trapped within it indefinitely. ► WORN OUT WELCOME: The people of Shabon are used to crisis, but this is a bit beyond what even they are prepared to tolerate. The Hunt will be causing collateral, both of the human and the material sort. While the workers in Shabon have very well practiced escape procedures in the event of something like this, the other guests are not as fortunate. Plenty of them are capable of fighting back on their own, but they will not always be capable of avoiding the hordes. The longer this goes on, the worse it will get. Eventually, the Shabon workers will realize who the Hunt is after and start actively trying to turn carnival members over to them in order to make it stop. ► IN TWO PARTS: Tragically, this turn of events and the realization that she's managed to put everyone in danger once again will be what finally causes the Ringmaster to split in two. One side will immediately become disinterested in using violence to counter this problem, while the other will be desperate and reckless. This will also completely screw her ability to get anyone back to the carnival in time. There will be at least one Megathread dealing with her actions during this. PLEASE NOTE: This is a conflict the carnival is meant to survive, not win. The main point of this is to get the plot rolling in a new direction, so don't worry about figuring out how to defeat the Huntsman, because in this moment it basically won't be possible. Have fun threading out the crisis, and see where it leads. I wanted to be up front about that, as opposed to letting everyone grasp at straws to prevent a result that will be inevitable, even if the details will shift. |
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Just long enough a pause for Yuuya to haul her upward. And really, that's not hard- she's about 3 and a bunch feet of Frail Weight, and Yuuya's a skilled acrobat who's hauled her around before. "Umnfh-! Wait, where are we going to go..!" she protests, finding the lack of obvious 'exit routes' a bit concerning. Maybe if Strange opened a mirror or something...
Well regardless there's no time to argue. Even as she shouts at Yuuya, she squirms to get her arms over his shoulders into a proper 'out stretched' position to focus.
Focus on making a nice sizable dome of a shield, which is probably better than a back. It might not be the biggest thing- it'd be fine if she wanted to turtle about on the floor, or even fill up a doorway, but not for much else- but it's a domed Thing that can at least somewhat stand between herself, Yuuya, and whatever tries to go directly for them.
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"Yuya, the mirrors!" Strange yells. Hopefully Yuya's gotten good enough at his magic to take a passenger with him through the mirrors, because that might end up being their best option.
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Peridot scrambles backwards in shock when the hunters first appear, but her recovery is pretty quick. She straightens up and jumps to put herself between the raptor and Yuya (and Reira), flashing her sharp teeth as electricity starts to crackle around her form.
"Bring it on you CLODS!" she snaps at the interlopers, arming herself with two lead pipes from her storage gauntlet. Both become electrified on contact; one gets flung with metallokinesis at the guy that Rita currently has locked in an icy clutch.
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And then, suddenly, Ignatius is grappling it, wrapping his arms around its neck and forcing it back.
"I swear it, Rita," he says, his words a bit staggered with confusion and exertion. Gaining purchase, he rotates his grip, and then hurls the creature back through the screen in an incredible feat of strength.
Notably, there is only one of them.
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His face scrunches for a second, before something occurs to him. Thankfully, everyone else seems to be holding the line enough to give Yuya time. His attention snaps up, back the reflection Strange was scrying from not far away, and starts to push Reira to it.
"Come on--Reira, I'm going to send you to a mirror really close to the carnival, okay? You need to get in there as fast as you can!"
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Also, after being tossed through the air numerous times by Joker in the name of 'Escape' (Upsetting), overhearing about how faerie deals haven't gone through the Ringmaster yet (worrying), and more than that, simply knowing who Yuuya is and what he's likely to do...
Reira tries to keep her shield up, while at the same time looping every limb she can around the boy, as if she were a strange rock covered koala. "Me? What do you mean me, you're coming too right? What about the others?"
She doesn't care HOW close to that portal you get her buddy, she's not keen on running around alone instead of hanging around with 5.5 capable fighters in this mess!
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There's no time. She'll have to go with her gut.
"All right, we're doing this!" she calls to the others. As more pursuers move to close in on them, she hurls a burst of fire at them, forcing them to duck and scatter. In the next instant, she turns her attention to Peridot and Shima. "What do we need to do to get that Heart?"
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"--Like Peridot-san said, there's nothing we can do ta give it over ta him right now, it's gonna take deliberation, ya know? The most important thing we're gonna need is the testimony of you 'n maybe Yuya-kun, anybody who witnessed and gets what kinda changes Ignatius-san gone through. After that it's up in the air, unfortunately!"
An idea occurs to him--"Give us a Rita bead 'n we'll see what we can do!" He and Peridot are going to have to split off from the group.
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Right. Not the time for that.
"Ugh! Fine... Use this!" Rita holds a hand up to her ear and focuses for a few seconds, transferring information about this exchange with Ignatius into her earring. She then removes the accessory and throws it over to Shima. The earring itself appears to be a handmade Shabondamashii souvenir, made to resemble a dangling cherry blossom. "Now hurry and do what you have to do!"
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--Good, it should have everything he needs.
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Then he nods to Peridot, "Ya said ya've got some friends ta find, right? I'm with you."
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"I'm not going to let anything like that happen again. Stay safe out there!"
A different person fires an arrow in Strange's direction. Unlike Rita, he only barely dodges it, as the arrow scrapes his shoulder and Strange starts to bleed. This doesn't take him out, though, as he shifts his target to the asshole who shot him.
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"I'm going to come as soon as I can, but the safest place for you is the carnival." Or so he thinks, if anyone could get to it. Unfortunately, he gave up the radio before he had any chance of hearing that discussed on the public channel. "Listen, there's a mirror... when you walk out of it, go left. You'll be close enough to the portal you can see it. You need to get in there, okay?"
It's a short enough run, he's actually less worried for her going off on her own after that than her staying in the middle of the city while the hunters ravage it. Reira can't fight these people, she's so small.
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He doesn't have the raw power needed to put this thing down, and he doesn't have a weapon. It leaves him helpessly grappling with it on the ground as the carves out chunks with its claws. It's not nearly deep enough to kill a True Fae, but Ignatius can't seem to put an end to the struggle either.
If he can't deal with this thing, right now...
"Move!" Ignatius yells. "We can't hold this position.!" The longer this goes on, the more of the Hunt will come.
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Yuuya might be able to defend, and who knows maybe he DID pick up more, but the fact is in her mind, he is still that '.5' of a fighter. Everyone is going to be splitting off somehow here, especially with what Ignatius said- so Reira only latches tighter, cheeks puffed in the pout that's replaced her habit of chewing her lip.
Her shield, thank god, is enough to at least deflect those stray arrows coming their way. ...She supposes she could bite someone worst case, but given Ignatius' words again, that probably isn't a good idea. So.
"Not without you..! He just said we all have to go, so you come too!" The radio crackles, as if to accent the anger-
It only crackles though. Hopefully she didn't break anything while getting tossed around by Joker.
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That that thing is probably not going to love being bowled over by a dragon the size of a Volkswagen Jetta, but that's what's happening now. She charges in and slams into it with her horns, sending it flying.
"Everyone SCATTER!" She yells, adding to Ignatius's command.
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"Yes, we're all leaving! So I need you to listen, Reira--" She's making it difficult to move. He looks up at the mirror just feet ahead, shoulders tense before he grabs Reira back to roughing haul her along as he speeds up. He can apologize for that later, right now...
As soon as he gets beside the mirror he shakes an arm free, pressing his hand to the surface and focusing on opening the pathway for Reira. It's going to have to be one at a time, but if they can be quick enough.
"Go. Just touch the mirror." He looks back to the others. "I can take people through the mirror!"
It's gotta be better than just running straight and hoping they lose them, right? This is a hunt.
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"Bloody Howling!"
Wherever Peridot's charge leaves the raptor-like creature, the ground beneath it glows with a dark light, then erupts with black flames. There's no heat to them, however, as they're of a spiritual nature, but the pain they inflict should be no different from that of being caught in an inferno. Fortunately for Ignatius and Peridot, Rita's formulated the spell so that it has no effect on them should they be caught in its path. To them, the dark fire is as harmless as a mere illusion.
"I'm sticking with these idiots," she calls to the others, already preparing another spell as she speaks. By these idiots, she seems to mean Strange and Ignatius. "The rest of you, get moving already!"
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Unfortunately, one of them's pretty good with his arrows and Strange can't do shields. He's too busy focusing on casting the spell and just generally fucking up the terrain to notice someone drawing back his bow until it's too late. An arrow shoots through the air and pierces Strange in the upper arm.
That really hurts and Strange can't help but let out a yelp of pain. He's still focusing on the spell, though, sending pillars of earth up in random directions as a half-assed barrier and a not at all assed distraction.
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Ignatius is staying (probably not by choice, she will admit). Peridot is either staying, or leaving some other way she's pretty sure, since that sounded like the plan. Rita, is staying. Strange is staying.
The girl shakes, still clinging to Yuuya rather tightly and maybe painfully as he tries to shove her at a mirror, her shield still standing between him and the occasional bit of battle coming their way.
Finally with a clenched jaw she hisses- "...If you don't come right after me," she warns- knowing quite well that there's a bigger chance of him staying behind pointlessly instead, "...Even after I call," Reira adds darkly, radio crackling at her side and yet unused 'horn' dangling with it, "...I... ...I won't forgive you!"
She doesn't even let Yuuya push her in at that point. She turns and hops through herself, dispelling the shield while making a sound that seems quite close to a choke, a snarl, and a sniff in one go.
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This right here. This is why, sometimes? She hates having friends. Friends complicate things, muddy up what should be an easy call with complicated emotions. She should be able to just leave and go do what she needs to do for the good of the whole carnival, because logically, that's what should take precedent. But no! She had to go and make friends and then be worried about them when they get hurt!
Everyone's in danger.
Peridot snarls in frustration. She knows she needs to go, but that doesn't mean she's okay with it.
"If you clods get yourselves killed I will literally never forgive you!" she snaps at them. "Shima!"
The dragon bounds over and lowers her neck so Shima can grab on. Assuming he does, she'll leap them both up onto the nearest roof and clear of the crowds so they can abscond.
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He hates this, because he knows this fight probably wouldn't be a problem if he was himself - but he's not. The tinges of resentment from his Light side are back, but tempered with a sense of grim acknowledgment that this situation couldn't be avoided at this point.
The very least he can do, he decides, is use some fire - as stunted as it may be. He unleashes a few molten bolts to contrast Rita's dark ones. In the meantime, Strange seems to have taken an arrow.
Ignatius hisses, backing towards Strange's position as the pillars of stone shoot up all over the place. He grabs Strange around the side, using his strength to haul him with trivial effort as he moves towards the mirror everybody seems to be talking about.
"Go through the mirror, wizard," he snaps impatiently. "You're too frail for this."
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"Mr. Strange!" His voice pitches up with worry and as Reira's weight leaves him, and he turns to run back to them to offer a shield--thankfully, he doesn't get far before Igantius is guiding them back. Or forcibly hauling Strange as the case may be.
He's still for a second before he reels back and starts preparing the spell for the next person. "Hurry!"
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He'll take a last glance as they hit the roofs to make sure the others aren't wasting their time by getting killed before he fumbles for his radio to see if he can get in contact with any of the other Egg-bearers.
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"Yes sir," he says through gritted teeth. There's some part of Strange's brain in all of this that recognizes he's in a battlefield, Ignatius is the commander, and so he'll obey his commander. He poofs into smoke (leaving behind one arrow and a few mirror shards that fall to the ground from where his body was), floats out of Ignatius's grasp, and reforms a few steps away from the mirror.
Thanks to the pain and the chaos, he doesn't realize that Yuya's casting a spell. He reaches his hand out, casts his own spell, and vanishes into the mirror. Unfortunately, the mixture of his magic and Yuya's magic means that Strange ends up in a completely different destination than where Reira is. At least he'll find Syrlya to eventually keep his fragile self alive.
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