⇨ 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

[textsfromhotland]

Dark Alphys lets out a whiny scream and covers her head as the explosions go off. Light Alphys gasps as they explode the mob instead.

"You're helping us?"

[amphibiopathic]

"I'm with the carnival too, you morons!"

Tadpole Jackson swoops in while the workers are disoriented by the blast. Eruka has no idea what's going on really, and she doesn't have much strength, but she's going to reach out and grab Alphys ... both Alphyses ... by the scruff of the neck and try to haul them on board.

"Ugh! Why are there two of you?!" Tadpole Jackson doesn't seem to mind the weight, but it sure is crowded now!

[textsfromhotland]

Light Alphys helps herself aboard- it's Dark Alphys that has to be hauled up like a depressed sack of potatoes, but now they're out of harm's way at least for a little while.

"Y-you were kinda scary the last time I saw you..." Dark Alphys wrings her hands. "You r-really shouldn't be wasting your time helping me..."

Light Alphys shoves her out of the way. "I'M the real one! She's an impostor! Born of darkness to make me doubt myself!"

"P-pretty sure I'm the real one, because I never act like that." Dark Alphys just sighs.

[amphibiopathic]

While the Alphyses argue, Eruka glances back, and her eyes widen. They're moving slow -- way too slow -- and she's pretty sure she knows exactly why.

"Both of you are too heavy!" she snaps, hands reaching out to grab one Alphys by the back of her head, and then the other. At this point, she's going to attempt to slam their heads together repeatedly, driven by panic and desperation.

"Stop messing around and pull yourself together!"

[textsfromhotland]

There's no big moment of realization. No acceptance of her lesser parts and affirmation to grow as a person. Nope, there's just a big flash of light as Eruka slams them together and then- there's only one Alphys and she looks very confused.

"...what."

[amphibiopathic]

... this lizard really isn't the brightest crayon in the box, is she? More importantly, though, with only one Alphys, Tadpole Jackson can move much faster, ferrying them away from this mess, and finally making some headway on leaving the workers behind.

"That was a close one," Eruka heaves a sigh. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"