Nightrunner Channel [Day 170]

[whattaprick]

All right, nightrunners. I’ll keep this short. I want a map of this place and I want to know what might piss the Prince off that they aren’t warning us about. The fae have rules, doesn’t mean they’re not out to trick us into breaking them.

[ It’s not like that’s how the Ringmaster gets a fair amount of her labor or anything. Last thing they need is someone turning into a vase. ]

You see anyone starting shit, figure out how to shut it down without getting attention. The Prince is going to have people working for him too -- don’t get too cozy, they’re not here to do us any favors. Learn anything worth knowing, tell the rest of us.

Any questions?

Comments

[chronosynthesis]

Noted. If need be I can knock someone out, yes. [And without obvious physical force, even! Convenient.] But I also have spells of concealment and portals, and perhaps I can put those to better use for the sake of maintaining peace.

... Are all of the shorter carnival members children, or are there any diminutive races among us?

[He could understand children needing to be watched more--his understanding is that they are naive and have poor judgement and are weak, and that is why adults protect them. But he's still going to need to know who the children are.]

[whattaprick]

Right. Make 'em walk in circles or just end up back in the same room ... assuming they aren't resistant to illusions in the first place.

You can probably guess who else might be a problem just from listening to them on the radio. [ Though you never know, it might be the quiet ones to look out for. But, Syrlya's question draws him up short. ]

What, like dwarves?

[chronosynthesis]

Precisely! [Good, there's a non-human race of short people both of them are familiar with.] I'm sure with a human I could tell, but I wouldn't want to assume if our races are as diverse as our homes.

[There's at least one robot after all, who knows what other inhuman races there are?]

[whattaprick]

Besides Sans, Peridot's the only shortass I can think of. She's hard to miss, considering she's green, but she's not a kid.

[ Though talking about Peridot brings someone else to mind ... ]

Lapis might be another problem. She's blue and doesn't give a fuck. Zangetsu wants to eat everything, so try to stop him if that happens.

[chronosynthesis]

Peridot, green, not a child. That's easy to remember. [He's going to assume if green is the identifier there are not, in fact, a lot of green people around.

But 'Doesn't give a fuck' could mean 'moody and self-centered' or 'no sense of self-preservation'. Or both. He really hopes it's not both.]

So Taako, Foster, Lapis, and Zangestu. [Fuck these are all people he hasn't really met yet. Guess there's going to be a lot of introductions when they arrive.] I will keep an eye out when we reach the manor. Anything else?

[whattaprick]

Apparently, we're having a dinner lesson on some table manners before we head out. You can take a good look around there.

Other than that, like I said I'm just interested in anything that'll help get this over with faster, including figuring out what he wants from the Carnival. We'll probably see each other at mealtimes, but we still need somewhere private to talk.

[chronosynthesis]

Oh, yes. [He's sure he's going to need to attend that even without getting familiar with their troublemakers.] I cannot imagine why he wishes to emulate human nobles, of all people.

Perhaps one of us can scout out a room or corner that is often neglected by the staff. I can cover us with a veil, but it will not silence our voices to others.

[So they still need a less traffic location, or someone who can mask sound.]

[whattaprick]

You're asking the wrong guy for insight. Humans have trouble dealing with human nobles. A fae pretending to be one ... [ He'll trail off there, just shaking his head even if Syrlya can't see it. ]

I'll keep an eye out, too. [ After a bit of thought-- ] Can you simulate the illusion of sound? Throw voices? If we can't hide, maybe we can misdirect.

[chronosynthesis]

I--[There's a pause as he considers that. It's possible for illusions to make sound--his already do, even if it's just the sound of magic crashing and sounds of combat getting echoed within them. But speech?] Can certainly try. At the very least, I may be able to create a cacophony enough to make it difficult to understand us.

[The biggest hurdle is probably going to be creating the illusion without needing a visual component to it, because his magic tends to be very visual. He may have to see what a boost of raw power from that pseudo-bloodstone can grant him.]

I will do some testing before we leave and let you know the results.

[whattaprick]

Thanks. If we're lucky, we're not going to need any of this.

[ But how lucky are they, really? ]

[chronosynthesis]

What would you say your luck usually is?

[Because Syrlya's luck is shit. He knows this, he tries not to rely on it.]

[whattaprick]

A bitch.

But I'm still alive and in one piece, so that's got to count for something.

[chronosynthesis]

Hm, that makes two of us. Perhaps we shouldn't rely too much on luck.

[There's a pause, and then it's the question Lambert probably didn't want to hear.] Now, I heard something along the lines of 'fae' and 'kidnapping'--?

[whattaprick]

Never do.

What about it? [ He's simmered down since that conversation, and it's an honest question, much like the one asking clarification on phrasing. ]

[chronosynthesis]

Are the Prince's servants likely enslaved? [He doesn't know these people well, but if most of them are prone to kidnapping and slavery...]

[whattaprick]

You don't have any fairy tales in your world about this kind of thing?

[chronosynthesis]

No. Or if there are they are likely the tales of humans or norn. I had never even heard of Fae before stepping foot in the carnival. [That's because he's basically the world-equivalent of a fairy.]

I know we will not know with certainty until we actually arrive, but I am concerned if it is true that they are there against their will and endangered.

[whattaprick]

[ Lambert has already guessed that much... ]

The short answer is maybe. [ And he knows that's unsatisfactory, so he'll continue. ]

Thinking the servants can't help themselves assumes the servants aren't fae themselves, which we don't know for a fact. My guess is that it's probably something like what the Ringmaster's got here. Some people signed up willingly, some people got tricked into it, they're tied to the Prince with magic one way or another.

Which means I don't trust them.

[chronosynthesis]

[So its half hysteria and half legit. Everything thay absolutely doesn't make it a simple situation at all.]

This is an ally of the Ringmaster's, so I hope that is in their favor and we won't be faced with innocent people in danger.

I trust you know her better than I. We should be cautious, but will we do anything if they're endangered?

[whattaprick]

She isn't mortal.

[ No judgement there, it's just a statement of fact. ]

It's like the sun trying to understand people. [ A beat. ]

Lemme ask you something: what does danger look like to you?

[chronosynthesis]

Aside from obvious physical danger? Being trapped against one's free will or having one's free will... stripped or distorted. That is cruelty, to make someone more helpless than they already are.

[whattaprick]

Do you have a way to reliably tell that's happening? And any idea what we can do if they are?

We're gonna be in his realm. Where he makes most of the rules. And fae take their rules pretty seriously. We try to take one of his servants, try to stop one from getting punished, that's going to mean he can do the same thing to us.

[chronosynthesis]

[There's a half-silenced sound of frustration.] I know, we are disadvantaged and he is not meant to be our enemy.

[Realistically there's little they probably can do, at least right now, and that doesn't sit well with Syrlya. He always likes to believe there's a way--but he's also agreed to chain himself down to the carnival and he can't act on his own accord.]

I will be following your orders. I only wished to ask about it.

[whattaprick]

[ That's more than he expected, which is sad, but ... ]

It's fine. It's not like I'm happy about it, either. If the Prince is trying to imitate human nobles, I already know I'm going to want to punch him in the face. [ He exhales sharply. ]

If there are people in there against their will, the plan stays the same. We find out everything we can, we don't give the Prince a reason to look at us or his servants twice. You wanna save anyone, you're not going to get far unless you can open doors to other worlds.

[chronosynthesis]

Or know someone who can. [They both know someone who can. It's just all a question of willingness, but... he's not holding out high hope.]

All right. Until then I will see what I can do about illusions that will keep any of our discussions private.