⇨ WYLD HUNT

[ringleaders]

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.

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.

Comments

B

[chronosynthesis]

It's definitely not subtle the way he sacrifices what, in Syrlya's eyes, is a civilian. Most of whom are just as scared and lost as the carnival itself, with even less expectations after they brought this on their doorstep.

He's a little struck by it at first, which gives Joker time to at least grab and pull on his arm. It's far too late for him to save them, so Syrlya twists on his heels to run.

"What are you doing?" He just about hisses, keeping up alongside Joker as least for the moment. They just need a little shelter, first, so his eyes scan rapidly for any sort of cover. "So do I. You should be there--come on."

He nudges Joker in an attempt to take over their direction. Over there, between the crushed stalls.

[pipers_son]

"Oh, good." Saves him time, then, and he lets Syrlya lead the way, following along easily enough. In this kind of situation, it's just common sense to follow the lead of the people meant to deal with this kind of thing, right? He shouldn't really be dealing with this at all.

"Anyway, I'm doing what keeps us out of those things' stomachs." He ducks under a low hanging sign so his antlers don't get caught.

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya narrows his eyes. "You should be hiding with the others."

Not out here in the middle of the fray. Syrlya remembers Joker talking about improving his own combative ability, once, but if it's down to sacrificing strangers--well, he'd say it's obviously not good enough that he should be out in the depths of danger. Can he even defend himself if he's alone?

Syrlya gestures, and they're both shielded under a veil of invisibility. That's at least one sense they can't be tracked by. "Help me find cover so I can portal you there."

[pipers_son]

"I should be doing my job," Joker counts, easing up just slightly with the two of them invisible. It saves his own energy he could be using for a similar kind of spell.

"But, still, if you can get back so easily, should I just leave you to your own? It would give me a chance to corral everyone else back." Despite his words, he still moves onward, keeping an eye out for anywhere else that they can escape to for at least a moment's respite. They can bicker more properly there, than out in the open.

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya lowers his voice, only to keep from drawing too much attention to them.

"You can't fight them." He says it with finality, because as far as he's concerned Joker obviously isn't equipped to deal with the horde if that's his solution.

"So the best you can do is get to safety so thete's one less person the militia has to protect out here. Leave the corralling to us."

[pipers_son]

"That's why I've been not," he manages to get out before shutting for the half moment it takes to listen to Syrlya. His lips curl a little bit, although at least he doesn't argue.

He will, however, get one snipe in. "Well, unfortunately for you, I'm not one less person." Not exactly, anyway.

[chronosynthesis]

"One less body." He's not going to try and dig into where exactly Joker's going with that, because it just isn't the time. So a little pedantry, and then Syrlya turns his focus on their surroundings.

He sees the door knocked off a building and gestures. "There."

That's at least enough cover to teleport. He surges forward, aiming to get to the building just a second sooner than Joker to stick his head in and make sure the coast is clear.

[pipers_son]

Honestly, every single person in the Militia has always been a pain. He should have known this would have happened from the start. Still, he won't argue, instead following after him patiently. Well, as patiently as he can, given the circumstances.

Waiting for just a second to Syrlya to confirm it's fine, he comes in afterwards.

"Then, let's hurry with this if you're so insistent."

[chronosynthesis]

The coast isn't entirely clear, which makes Syrlya glad he went first. There's a couple mangled looking hunters, crowded around... well, it's probably for the best that whatever they're feasting on is behind a broken table and overturned couch, sparing them the gorey details.

The hunters stop and look up as Syrlya's boots loudly hit the floor. He wastes no time striking the pair with a magic circle under their feet, causing them to holler and scramble for their weapons.