⇨ 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

[kingsroads]

Nothing's trying to eat him at the moment? That's honestly a bit surprising, but Strange isn't going to complain. Strange lingers a bit in smoke form juuuust to make sure before turning back into his human form. Once he's solid, he wastes no time and runs over to the still bleeding Ignatius. He's got faith in everyone else's ability to pep-talk the Ringmaster back together, he's going to focus on the being who is rapidly bleeding out over here.

He kneels down next to Ignatius not at all caring that he's getting gross fae blood all over his legs. "What can I do?" Strange quietly asks, fully aware that the answer is probably 'nothing.'

[whattaprick]

Up til this point, Lambert and Sans haven't found themselves compelled to leap into the fray after their former coworkers. Perhaps it's because the chaos is too quick, too full of enraged Wyld Fae to risk not being torn apart themselves, even if they're supposed to be on the same side. Something about seeing the Ringmaster like this, though, bickering with herself, is sufficiently annoying enough to reach past the haze the Hunt's drawn over his mind, and he leans forward over Sans's neck, yelling.

"Quit being half-assed and stop pretending it's about other people! It's the same thing it's always been -- your choice!"

[npcarnival]

The questing beast hisses at Strange as he approaches, its mouth still clamped around Ignatius's wrist, and its hooves pushing down on his chest. Still, combat against the carnival is on hold, so it won't attack - for now. Still, it is a bit awkward having the thing looming over the two of them as Strange tries to offer some kind of assistance.

Ignatius is in no place to do much of anything at the moment, short of trying to use his domain to destroy everything in sight. There are, he assumes, multiple kinds of venom swirling through his body at the moment - he can feel it eroding his mind and body, making it harder to recover from his terrible wounds. When he sees Strange, it's through a halo of visual static.

"Wizard," he says, mouth filled with bloody black muck as the wounded parts of his body slowly dissolve into useless, unshaped magical energy. "I told you to leave..."

And then he snorts because, despite being so attached to his identity as a soldier, Strange is incredibly bad at following orders. Yet, his presence at least forces Ignatius to keep focused on what is happening, hearing the two Ringmasters argue it out with an increasing feeling of distaste.

"Ringmaster," he coughs out, raising his voice. "I swear... if I end up being the one to most stalwartly protect your kin in these last moment..." He manages a bit of a mocking grin, even through the pain. "Your memory really will be nothing but a joke."

Unfortunately, the questing beast apparently doesn't like allowing Ignatius to talk in this state, and takes that an invitation to bite down and finish tearing off the lower half of the limb clenches between its jaws. Ignatius screams again, but more muffled this time, actively holding back.

[periphrasing]

Turquoise has writhed out of the owlbear's grip by now, with a few gashes on her scaly sides for her troubles.

Like everyone else, she'd paused mid-fight when the Ringmaster finally showed up, and seeing their boss split into two pieces is... Well, it's jeopardizing the stability of the fusion, for one thing, because Peridot is pissed. The edges of her form shimmer erratically for a second, eyes narrowing as Peridot's distinct voice echoes out of Turquoise's mouth. "Ringmaster you better get it together right now or so help me--" The fusion shakes her head rapidly, and then speaks in her own voice once again-- "You already kicked this dunce's butt once, we're all counting on you to do it again!"

[npcarnival]

The dragon Ringmaster looks helplessly around as the others speak, and then to her other half. She flinches particularly hard at Lambert and Ignatius condemning her. There is raw emotion in her words as she speaks, while the human part so studiously seems to be avoiding feeling anything at all.

"We're so close to changing things," the dragon pleads. "They... They all came so far. They didn't have to do this for us, but they did, anyway." And then, with great strain: "Please."

"We thought we were changing thing before," the humanoid Ringmaster says, more quietly. "We were wrong."

"I DON'T... CARE!" the dragon Ringmaster roars, and lunges forward, snapping at her other half with massive jaws. The other Ringmaster only looks on in total shock as her dragon half corners her against the temple, fire on her breath. "You left these Wyld Fae to the Huntsman when you fled! Now you're going to leave the carnival, too? You... We. We did this. And we can't fix it by dying now."

Despite her stubbornness, there is something increasingly melancholy rising up in the human half of the Ringmaster. Some truths transcend the pair of them, even if she has all the arrogance and all the self-delusion to try to convince herself otherwise. She looks away.

"I don't want to fix it," she says, but there is a certain surrender to it. "I already know we can't."

The dragon Ringmaster looms over her, the markings all over her body shifting green, then orange.

"Then, if you won't give me the power to try..." she growls. "I'll take it back myself."

It happens very quickly. One moment there is two of them, and the next, the dragon Ringmaster is snapping her jaws, swallowing up her other half. The humanoid Ringmaster goes quietly.

Finally, the dragon's body swells with strength, her size increasingly and her body flaring with orange and blue energies as she rises onto her hind legs and roaring with a ferocity that shakes the earth.

"Good," the Huntsman says, chillingly unmoved as his greatest foe takes form. The black snake curls into his hand, its body strangely shadowy and molten in its malleability.

[kingsroads]

He's at least talking. That's a good sign. Strange attempts to give Ignatius a confident smile that in reality comes off as a nervous as all hell smile. "And let you have all the fun by yourself?"

But any attempt at being cocky and reassuring goes nowhere as Ignatius loses another limb shortly after. As the questing beast yanks Ignatius's limb off, Strange quickly summons a fireball. He gives the beast a look that's pure loathing and implied 'just try that again, motherfucker' but doesn't actually lob the fireball at the beast or attempt to hurt it in any way. He's occasionally smart, he's not going to be the one to make everything go to hell.

He can spot out of the corner of his vision that the Ringmaster's reformed. Strange has no idea if this means the Hunt's going to start up again or if everyone's going to wait while they duke it out. But one thing's for certain: he's ready to set someone on fire should he need to.

[fortuneglass]

Carly would have loved to say something snippy to get the Ringmasters to sort themselves out- something more than her initial shout but in the end it isn't necessary and in the end that's for the best; she is quite preoccupied after all, even after the Ringmaster DOES fix herself.

For Carly's biggest mistake was assuming it was a complete stalemate. Not even seconds after she wails over the Ringmaster's split, a sudden shout comes at her violet fire wall- and Carly turns, as a small number of humanoid hunters charge without care for the energy leeching flame. In a sense Carly has the advantage. Between her wall and the doorway itself, she isn't caught entirely off guard and can get enough strength back to fight.

Unfortunately it's still far from being entirely rejuvenated. An arrow or two is used to pin a few feet to the ground, but even with fire over her body Carly is quickly overwhelmed. With little choice to make, she hurriedly focuses enough of her might into a last ditch grab of energy from her enemies...

Before making a tactical retreat from the frying pan to the fire, shrinking to the state of a hummingbird as she takes off through the window. Even with that, she can feel something sharp tearing through her leg mid transformation, tail as well suffering for it.

On the one hand she's out of that mess though. On the other, she's flying for the general area everyone else is fighting in, aiming specifically to take her chances with reaching that wall of thorns.

And given how many fliers and fae in general there are, things don't look great for those chances.

[npcarnival]

The Ringmaster turns on the Huntsman now, her eyes alight with regained power and a thirst for vengeancce. Vengeance for bringing this nightmare to her doorstep, for threatening her kindred. Vengeance for enslaving the Wyld Fae again, after everything she did to free them.

Yet, the Huntsman remains unmmoved. He faces her down, even as her body crackles with power, simply raising the black serpent coiled around his hand. Slowly, it slithers, stretching its body and taking the shape of something resembling a staff.

"By the blood of Winter, by the dread of Shadow,
I summon your demise..."

Even as he speaks, the Ringmaster is rising up, preparing to strike her own blow. She knows no small effort will take down a creature such of him, but if she does not manage her power carefully, she risks damaging the more fragile victims around her. Even her body is a dangerous weapon, and could easily crush those that stood too close to her.

The serpent becomes shadow, a miasma of darkness around it, shifting and shifting until it becomes as a jagged spear. The Huntsman holds it high, still channeling his spell.

"To the heart of my Foe,
I strike."

As the Ringmasted dives forward to claim him in her jaws, he leaps back, throwing his hideous spear. It pierces cleanly though her chest, causing her whole body to shudder. She chocked, falling back, looking at the weapon that has skewed her with a single strike - something she hardly believed possible.

"What that fuck?" she gasps, trying to grab it with her claws and pull it out. Yet, as she does, she can already feel something giving way. The magic of her body fluctuates, losing form - her scales begin to soften and fall to ash, in a way that some may have seen happen to her before. Inside, her fire flares. She realizes what it means, too.

"No!" she cries, but before anything can be done, her body has already immolated. Flames erupt uncontrollably, and all those who stand by her will have no choice but to run or die as she is consumed by her own fire. Everything, her body, the spear - it collapses into a still burning pile, slowly cooling as nothing more but a pile of charcoal and ash.

The Huntsman comes forward now, as the black snake emerges from the debris. It climbs his body and re-takes its place coiled around him, as he leans forward to pluck an egg with a shell of many, shimmering colors from the ash, cradling it in his arms.

[impatientdefense]

So in the time since Beau offered a vow, things have gotten pretty bad. It was already bad enough that big new guy went down, injured, so quickly after he offered them protection. Now it's worse, as the one they're supposed to work for - the one who took down Lilith and pulled them out of the animal place - is nothing but a pile of ashes and rocks.

"We're so fucked," Beau realizes, staring out from the top of the crystal-covered building. "Does anybody have... any ideas, here? Is there anywhere we can run?"

[starseedling]

Inside the temple, there will be a sudden cry of shock and pain from Steven. Rooted into the network of vines outside, he'd been monitoring them empathically for this entire time, focusing all his energy on keeping them in place and protecting the building. So when there is a sudden fiery explosion - one that damages and shatters plenty of his vines in one fell swoop - his close connection to it startled him, sending a shock through his system.

He's already trying to regrow them, but he has no idea what happened. There'd been a long time with nothing, and then, all at once, burning.

"Something happened," he gasps, not really noticing how the sound was probably loud enough for everyone to hear on their own. The strain this is putting on the child's body is clear, but he doesn't open his eyes, focusing on his task with all the strength he can.

[periphrasing]

The explosion clears. Turquoise falls apart.

The sight before them is too devastating, too earth-shattering to make maintaining the inner harmony needed to keep a fusion together possible. A catastrophe of this severity has never happened before. Every time the carnival has gotten into a tight spot, whenever it seemed that things couldn't get any worse, the Ringmaster would always show up to save their hides at the last minute. This time? She went down before landing even a single blow. And now they're all fucked.

Peridot gapes. Her whole body just feels numb, all sound seems to fade out, barely registering to her ears anymore.

The ashes settle. The Huntsman picks up the egg. Peridot starts moving without thinking. She dashes through the crowd of beasts, using her small size to try and duck and weave through the crowd with the intention of launching herself directly at the Huntsman.

"Let go of her you lousy stinkin' HALF-FORMED, pebble-brained, void-blasted MEGA-CLOD--"

[anti_nonsense]

Rita's been hovering silently nearby, one hand pressed against her shoulder, the fabric darkened with blood. She sinks lower to get a better look at Ignatius's injuries, but what she can see doesn't look good. None of this does, until the Ringmaster reforms, challenges the Huntsman, and...

...in an instant, that hope is snuffed out.

As flames burst forth from the Ringmaster's crumbling form, Rita holds out a hand to channel as much fire away from herself as she can, though much of it sweeps around her and incinerates a portion of the wall of vines instead. As she lowers her hand and the smoke clears, all she can do is stare in horror at what little remains of the Ringmaster.

"We... we have to run," she gasps, though it's unclear who she's saying it to. Ignatius? He's not in any condition to lead a retreat. She doesn't want to leave any allies behind, either... She can only stare numbly while Peridot charges the Huntsman, while a part of her begins to wonder... are they all going to die here?

[fortuneglass]

They were so close.

Carly doesn't stop, doesn't pause in her flight, but even then it is only that. 'So close'. The Ringmaster's flames build, and heat begins to bear up from the rear. The vines surrounding the temple are right in her view but likewise the shine created by growing flames meets her eyes, before the fire encompasses everything. She can't help but think, as she feels the smoke burn in-

It's really gone up in 'flames', hasn't it.

There's no time to berate herself for jokes in the wrong moments. She's simply gone, ashes with the rest on the wind.

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya's equally at a loss of words as the Ringmaster charges and is so immediately defeated. Destroyed. He knows this feeling in his chest, of being small, helpless, cornered. The Huntsman isn't the first enemy to crush hope.

He doesn't have a plan to survive, but in a second he's back in the center of the temple. He doesn't acknowledge anyone, while one half of a portal sets beneath his feet as he stares tensely ahead.

And the next second he teleports out again, only a couple feet from Strange and Ignatius. He holds his blade up as the other side of the portal lights both ends up to give members of the carnival a chance to retreat.

"Get back to the temple!" This few can't hold the line out here against the hunt. They need to gather and retreat--somehow they have to get out of this realm entirely. "Take the portal and go!"

He can't exactly go claim everyone personally, so much ad hope they hear him and pay attention. Ignatius, though, is disabled. Syrlya doesn't have strong feelings about him, but he still formed a real alliance with the carnival and Strange is right there with the beast looming, so it's only right to protect him too.

With a flashbang of magic, two more fragile clones of Syrlya charge the questing beast to draw its attention. Syrlya himself moves to flank the side, already drawing up magic for an attack.

[spaghettimonster]

Before the Ringmaster's fall, around the corner of the fort and down in the milling crowds of the Hunt, the shadow of Papyrus backs away from Yuusei.

"No, I can't. There's... nowhere for me to go," he insists, shaking his head, and listens around them for signs the surrounding hunters taking an interest in either of them. They're not so far from the bigger fight, the shouted challenges and sounds of combat mix with the Huntsman's pressure on them, and maybe the distraction would last long enough. "If you think there's somewhere safe... get yourself there."

And just as the Ringmaster charges the Huntsman, Papyrus turns tail and flees into the crowd... Hoping the pressure on his mind to hunt will accept that circling around the fort to look for an entrance counts enough that he won't turn back to attack Carly's friend.

[kingsroads]

As the explosion happens, Strange poofs into smoke. That helps save him from the worst of the fire damage. When he reforms, he just stands in shock for a moment, hands trembling, not really knowing what to do. Every option is a terrible option and most of those options would end up with him dead.

It's only when Syrlya's portal springs up and he hears Syrlya's voice that Strange snaps out of his brief catatonia. Unfortunately for Syrlya, he comes to probably the wrong conclusion that Syr was hoping for. He looks down to Ignatius to check and make certain that the fae's some form of alive before Strange mutters a spell and unleashes a shitton of fire on the questing beast.

Rationally, Ignatius is the only one of them with enough power to get them out of here in the first place, they need to get this fae off of him and keep him alive. Irrationally, fuck you fuck this fuck everything he is not going to let Ignatius get hurt anymore.

[alphudo]

Papyrus' effort is sweet enough, though it pains Yuusei to watch him go. All he can do is hope that the skeleton possibly separating himself somewhat from the hunt will help him fight its pull.

Really, that is all he can do, for he finds himself watching the Ringmaster's display in awe instead of trying to make his leg work, and he hasn't achieved that much, even, by the time it doesn't even matter. He glances back to where he saw Papyrus' dark half run off, wondering if maybe he's still there, arm outstretched as he attempts to rise.

His scream is pitifully short as his body is consumed mercilessly by fire.

[npcarnival]

None of the Hunt actually seems all that concerned with members of the carnival fleeing - the only one they are actively impeding the escape of is Ignatius. As Syrlya and Strange attempt to cut it and distract the questing beast away from its prey, it only double-down on keeping Ignatius for itself. It snaps its jaws at Sylra's clones and swings its tails - meanwhile, other Wyld Fae are joining in. The harpy descends from the sky to deal with Strange, while the naga comes back around to interfere.

They all want the same thing, after all, and that is to make the Fiery One suffer. While he is clearly conscious, Ignatius is in no condition to stop them.

"Go!" is all he can manage, yelling for Strange and Syrlya to quit before they get slaughtered. Already, the Wyld Fae will be closing in on them, though oddly enough they don't seem to be striking to kill? Instead, they are only moving to enclose them, to keep them there-

As all that goes on, a strange device materializes out of the air, swirling into existence with a flare of cold magic and three hovering wings. In the center, there is a glowing interface shaped vaguely like an eye, viewing the scene below it. It zips down to where the Huntsman is standing, spinning enthusiastically.

"Oh, I must say, that was quite fantastic," it says in a partly digitized voice. "How nice to is, to see the Winter Court and the Great Hunter working together again..."

The Huntsman does not seem particularly interested.

"My end of the bargain is satisfied," the Huntsman says. "Take what you will, scavenger..."

"Oh, I'm just spoiled for choice, aren't I?" As Peridot runs towards the Huntsman, the little orb thing gets in her way, scanning her body with some kind of network of blue lasers. "How unique! All of these specimens are so interesting... but I guess I don't really have to pick and choose, do I? According to our deal, I'll be taking them all, won't I?"

"Yes," the Huntsman says, simply. "To the Mother of Invention I turn the spoils, to be held until thy Queen determines otherwise."

The device, increasingly reminiscent of some kind of magical drone, then wizzes over to Ignatius - still pinned to the ground by the Wyld Fae. It twirls its outer wings, giving him a scan as well.

"What of the Summer Court straggler?" it asks, a little sheepishly. "Do you think I could... possibly... maybe..."

"I lay no claim to the Fiery One," the Huntsman says. "I say again: take what thy will." The Huntsman uses his free arm to remove one of the skulls hanging from his belt, turning to smash it on the ground. As the skull cracks, it will unleash a miasma of magical energy - an energy that will restore everyone that has perished in the hunt so far. They rise like the dead, first as a corpse, and then with their souls forcefully and painfully reentering. As the wounds of their deaths slowly heal, they will find themselves with an uncommon or rare change associated with their death or their killer.

In those same moments, the members of the carnival still within the Hunt will find themselves abruptly pushed from the empathetic bond of the horde. They will suddenly remember what they were doing and why they shouldn't have been.

"Take those swallowed by the Hunt as well - I have no desire to poison myself with the wyrm's ilk."

"The Mother of Invention..." Ignatius finally gasps, the realization dragging him back to consciousness. "I... I am Ignatius of the Summer Court. I was here against my will... the Summer Queen... she will not tolerate..."

"She'd have to know about it to have an opinion, wouldn't she?" the drone says. "Besides, you were practically aiding the Great Beast! What else could I do, but secure a traitor to the Courts?"

"You... You know that isn't true!" Ignatius chokes, increasingly desperate as terror seems to rise up within him. Despite everything Ignatius has faced during this, it is a horror more deep an unyielding than any he has shown before. "I... I was trying... No!"

He tries to get away from the Wyld Fae holding him, but he's far too weak.

[periphrasing]

Peridot snarls and swats at the drone, though it zips away before she can actually land a blow on it.

"HEY! I'M TALKING TO YOU, YOU MUD-HUFFING PIECE OF SHIT!" she screeches at the Huntsman. Then she glows, taking on her dragon guise, and rears up with her wings flared out, spewing flames as she lunges and bellows: "GIVE ME THAT EGG!"

[npcarnival]

The black snake that the Huntsman just used to kill the Ringmaster is the one that responds to Peridot's threat. Slithering from the Huntsman's body, it lunges to engage her, coiling its body around hers and tangling her limbs. It doesn't bite - not yet.

The Huntsman looms overhead, barely casting Peridot a glance.

"Go," the Huntsman says to his army. "Collect the remains of the Beast's stock... bring them here, so that the Mother of Invention might claim her prize."

The Hunt begins to move again, this time attacking the temple and the vines surrounding it in earnest. Steven puts up a fight, trying to keep the vines growing, but with enough powerful hands ripping away at their defenses, there is no hope but for it to fall.

Ignatius looks on with overwhelming dread multiple Wyld Fae dragging up his body into their clutches, talons digging deep and holding him immobile. Hot looking tears mist his red eyes, a few breaking free as he realizes that all hope is lost.

"No..." he says again, more softly. Imprisonment by the Winter Court was a dark pit he could not see himself escaping again.