⇨ POLARIS

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Days 102 - 109
Where: Polaris
What: With the Ringmaster kidnapped and the rest of the carnival imprisoned, characters find themselves at the mercy of a Winter Fae called the Mother of Invention.
Warnings: Graphic experimentation in places.

TRIALS & TRIBULATION↴ After a day of cleansing and processing, where all the belongings and attire of their old lives are stripped away and replaced with something newer and more form fitting, the former members of the carnival will find themselves let loose into the Farm for the first time. A sizable green area, filled with orchards growing inorganic looking fruits and field ready for tending, the Farm is where they will be spending their days for the forseeable future. Food and drink are no longer needed, and so every day is an endless cycle of work. Technicians are seen only when necessary, and when being taken from your place of work to your lonesome cells at night. Every day, there are new postings on the "Production Board", where various dire sound scientific trials ask for subjects. The majority won't be forced, at least not yet, but the system is at work to push its participants to the brink and force their hand. After all, volunteers make the best subjects. ► PRODUCTIVITY: As explained elsewhere, characters will be forced to compete to attain enough Productivity Point to be considered Satisfactory. There are literally not enough points to go around for everyone to attain this, which means that at least some people will be deemed "Below Expectations" by the end of the first four-day cycle. What this means has yet to be discovered, but the Technicians have grimly warned against it. Productivity involves many tasks, including orchard picking, tilling, planting, harvesting, watering, maintenance, and more. Any task you can think of that would take place on a plantation is applicable here. Beyond that, the Production Board awaits you, offering precious Productivity Points in exchange for your cooperation. How you become Satisfactory is up to you, but it's every person for themselves. Only one person can turn in the credit for harvesting or preparing fields, and while you can certainly try to help others by letting them take credit for your work, it's a sure fire way to fall behind the herd, especially if you are already in a low Classification. Fruits and fields will miraculously grow overnight, and will be ready for a new day when you are. You've been told not to eat anything you harvest, but right now you aren't hungry anyway. ► POLARIS BY NIGHT: During the night, you are left alone to your thoughts and maybe an annoying roommate. Solo or in pairs, the entire night will be spent in small sleep pods, as shown on the locations post. Is it possible to sneak out? It doesn't seem like it is, but who is to say? The real question is if you want to dare to try. There is one hour of rest before and after seven hours of darkness. Even if you don't usually have to sleep, you'll find yourself oddly weary and inclined to rest. Supernaturally, almost. ► PARTICIPATION: Sometimes participation in experimental trials is manditory, sometimes it isn't. You are free to handwave your character having been pulled aside for minor examinations, such as blood tests or aura scans. Each time, you will be pulled into a separate part of the station and analyzed by a Technician and heavily automated machinery. Anymore more complex than basic check-up level tests will be posted about in a section called "TRIALS" in the body of the post below.

Comments

[atouts]

Of course. He'll stare at it stupidly for two seconds then reach down to pick it up.

[ringleaders]

The paper reads, in neat golden writing that shines in the dark:

'I CAN GIVE YOU POWER'

[atouts]

That's it? Childermass slowly rises back up to stand, note still in hand. It's another second or two of looking at it before he scoffs, "That's what everyone says..."

[ringleaders]

There's no immediate response, but there is another golden sign ahead of him, pointing around another corner.

[atouts]

Well, this is still better than creepy labs so he'll hang onto the paper and move forward again, towards the sign and around the next corner.

[ringleaders]

He'll find another note, just as conspicuously placed on the floor as the first. It reads:

'TO HELP YOU ESCAPE'

[atouts]

Can't write one big letter, he supposes.

"Then stop penning me fancy letters and do it already. It can't be worse than this."

[ringleaders]

And golden arrow shoots out of nowhere and punks into the ground beside him. There is no note included - just an arrow.

[atouts]

That gives him a start, however briefly, but that looks like as much of an answer as he could hope for. Childermass tosses the first letter aside — or perhaps it simply stopped existing in his hand, as dreams are wont to do — and reaches down to grasp the arrow's shaft instead.

[ringleaders]

The arrow shimmers with light as he holds it, seeming stimulated by his touch. However, that's all that happens for a moment. It's a weapon at his disposal, perhaps, but he gets the feeling he only has one shot.

[atouts]

One shot to do what, though? Escape? Childermass holds the arrow aloft, frowning at it, and, inevitably, turning it so he can test the tip of it with a finger.

[ringleaders]

It's sharp, presumably, but not to the degree that he could cut himself by accident.

[atouts]

Maybe not for stabbing himself with, then. That's... kind of a relief.

"One arrow," he says to himself, still frowning at it. "Here's hoping I can make it count."

DAY 108

[ringleaders]

The dream arrow will return the next night if Childermass is looking for it. What is he dreaming about?

[atouts]

One of his more usual dreams rather than some Polaris-related nightmares. He's back in northern England, just as winter begins to settle in. It's cold, grey, and dreary, one twisted and leafless tree keeping him company out on the moors. The sky looks stormy like snow might be threatening to fall soon.

The arrow appearing here will stand out like a sore thumb, gold and bright light a stark contrast to such a colorless land.

[ringleaders]

The arrow lands at his feat, as if from the heavens. There is a message attached, in the same writing as before:

'I CAN'T HEAR YOU.'

Another arrow drops not long after.

'TRY REPLYING TO ME'

[atouts]

Childermass doesn't even jump when the arrows lands at his feet. He just looks down and arches an eyebrow. An arrow. An arrow, in Yorkshire, at this time of year? At any time of year, actually, would be odd, since they have firearms now, so—

"Ah," he breaks off from the train of thought. "Another dream."

And shockingly enough, that doesn't cause him to wake up immediately. Such is life. He crouches down to retrieve the arrow and the message, then the next, frowning at each.

"Didn't I already reply to you?"

[ringleaders]

No response to that. The two arrows remain, gleaming in front of him.

[atouts]

"Of course," Childermass grumbles and looks around him. There's nowhere to pen a letter in reply and the ground is just too grassy. What he needs is... "Brewer, come here."

He's usually out here with his horse, only when he calls for Brewer, it's a much brighter and fluffier creature that trots into existence out of the cold, empty air. Baker wearing Brewer's saddlebags. That's good enough. Childermass doesn't even blink at it, instead reaching down to rifle through the bags for a pen. A modern pen but, again, that doesn't strike him as odd. Only the arrows did, though that might be because they really aren't a part of his own dreams.

"Hold still," he tells Dream Baker as he smooths one of the pieces of paper against the now shut saddlebag. On the blank side, he writes, 'WHAT IS IT?'

[ringleaders]

The pen takes to the paper easily, but nothing immediately responds to the written message on its own.

[atouts]

He'll wait a bit, just long enough to be certain that isn't going to get a response. After that it's, what? Tying it back to an arrow and chucking it? Sure, why not. He pockets the pen and marches back over to one of the arrows, rips it up out of the ground, and does just that.

Stick his own message on it and hurl it... by hand. Look, he knows how to use guns, now bows. That's the best they're going to have to hope for if this is the trick.

[ringleaders]

The arrow wavers on the way through the air, like a paper airplane that wasn't quite folded right. Still, it manages to get far enough to plunge over a hill and out of sight.

An indeterminate amount of time later, another arrow will shoot back over the hill he chucked the first one over.

'DO IT LIKE THAT BUT STRONGER'

[atouts]

"Picky," Childermass chides the message but he'll figure out how to do just that. It's back over to Baker as his makeshift writing table and he tries again. This time the message is, 'NOT EVERYONE IS A MYSTERIOUS ARCHER.'

Only this time when he ties it to an arrow, he pictures something to shoot it with. Not a proper bow, no, because he still can't rationalize using one of the damn things. A crossbow, however... He points the arrow back in the direction it had come and it's suddenly in one of those, a handheld one, conveniently drawn, so he doesn't have to bother.

There, that's an arrow shooting straight back.

[ringleaders]

Another message back:

'I'M ALSO YOUR TICKET OUT OF HERE'

[atouts]

And a reply:

'I GATHERED AS MUCH. HOW?'