⇨ 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

1, as i get to late tag-ins lmao

[dontpokethat]

It's the singing that Ginko first notices, and that leads him to Hanamaru and the injured man. He swears softly under his breath when he sees them, then trots over to kneel next to the two, his tail lashing behind him from agitation.

"I do - it won't fix something like this right away, though, I can only help it heal a little faster and make sure it doesn't get infected."

[verbaltic]

"That'll have ta do," Hanamaru responds, with a frown. Though she wishes she could, she can't stay with this guy and remove his pain forever. People are in danger: she's gotta either find more people she can help or find a way to get out of here herself.

"What d'you need me to do, zura?" Having no idea how Ginko's healing actually works, Hanamaru's trusting him to explain the ins and outs of what exactly needs to happen.

[dontpokethat]

"Just keep him calm, like you've been doing." Ginko sets his hands gently on the man's leg, brow burrowing as he focuses. "It's good you got it splinted already, at least - that should make this a little smoother."

[verbaltic]

"I'm part of the medical team," Hanamaru explains, with a weak little smile. "I can't do much, but I can at least do basic first aid."

She looks over to the wounded man and gives him a little smile, something she hopes is reassuring.

[dontpokethat]

"You're-- oh, right!" His ears flick upward; with the way people come and go around here, it can be hard to keep track of everyone - especially under these circumstances.

"It's been a while - I think you left right after I signed on, actually." As he speaks, his gaze flicks only briefly to Hanamaru before turning back to the man's leg. His fingers curl slightly as a gentle green glow pushes from beneath them and seeps into the injured limb.

[verbaltic]

"I had ta take care of some stuff back home," Hanamaru says as an explanation. Oh, but then Ginko's starting to heal again. She focuses her magic and starts to sing under her breath.

She's assuming that Ginko's healing is taking care of some of the pain, but Hanamaru's pain nullifying magic should help take care of the rest.

[dontpokethat]

It seems that he probably shouldn't expect her to talk more until they're closer to being done here, so Ginko just nods and focuses on healing. It's only once he's done what he can, making sure that the injury is on its way to healing and that any potential openings for infection are clean, that he lifts his hands again and sits back.

"That should do it, for now. ...You get that stuff taken care of?" He speaks quietly, not wanting to draw too much attention, but, honestly, who can blame him for wanting to just talk for a moment when there's a chance.

[verbaltic]

Once Ginko sits back, Hanamaru stops singing. There we go. If he's healed, then there's no more pain, then she can actually answer Ginko's question and not have to worry about this guy.

So, she nods. "It ended up in a way that I didn't see coming...but I don't mind that. At least I tried my best, zura."

[dontpokethat]

"That's good to hear. Guess that's all you can ask for sometimes, huh." His tail gives a slight flick as he speaks, still keeping an eye on the injured man to make sure the spell is taking the way it should. Even if it's not instant, this should help.