This is Peridot: Your engineer and number-one gem speaking, interrupting your usual afternoon radio chatter with an urgent matter of utmost importance. SO LISTEN UP!

[She’ll pause briefly to give people more time to actually turn their radios up and listen properly, because she is actually dedicated to making sure that the whole carnival is on the same page with this.]

A-hem. Thank you. Now as some of you may already know, a small group of dedicated carnival members-- including yours truly—have been coordinating an effort to try and create a possible antidote to the venom of a certain detestable fae. You know the one. The clod that we were all EXTREMELY glad to see get his comeuppance at the hands of our great and wonderful Ringmaster.

Anyway. The Prince may be gone now, but unfortunately, his cruddy venom is still affecting a large percentage of the carnival staff. Worse yet-- through no fault of any of its founding members-- the original antidote team has made very little progress on manufacturing a cure. [Muttering:] Personally, I blame the fact that most of the people who would have been better suited to this work were also counted among those that were missing, but I digress! We did what we could with what we had, okay?!

[Mari is only kind of interrupting this time, but she’s a little more forceful than usual--and a little more animated than this really warrants. She’s just excited about having a new project.]

We've identified the basic problem: that the venom is affecting the soul of its victims and not just their bodies. Physical cures alone aren't going to cut it. We're gonna need magic, medicine, and metaphysical prowess, especially when it comes to souls and soul energy.

And while we can't make you do anything, not helping would be kind of an asshole thing to do right now.

The kind of asshole thing we’ll definitely remember.

[Somewhere off in the background, you can hear Peridot muttering:] Nyeh?

[Promise, threat, same thing.]

The good news is, we do have a new doctor to introduce! He's kind of our only doctor, really. But no one's died under his care yet, sooooo that's probably a good sign.

...take it away, doctor.

[There is a pause because Herbert is giving Mari an incredibly unimpressed look. But, like, fair, he guesses.]

My name is Herbert West, this… carnival’s new medic and as someone previously held captive by this ‘Prince’ I’ve only recently had the opportunity to begin my research into this unique affliction. I have education and previous experience in various forms of medicine and chemistry, especially in regards to specific aspects of pathology—however, I have never encountered… [He’s so reluctant. He is the MOST reluctant.] …what is referred to here as magic. Therefore, any help from those knowledgeable in that particular field and how it might interact with biomedical science, as well as any individuals who may have encountered artificially induced fossilisation in any form previously would be ideal.

Additionally, if you have been affected by the venom and you have yet to visit the medical tent I must insist you do so as soon as possible! My--our development of the cure depends upon data, and we cannot be aware of all the variables without access to each patient. As long as everyone cooperates we should be able to solve this in fairly short order.

Right, so. There you have it. We’ll turn the ‘floor’ over to the other workers who will be heading up some of the other research teams now, but the bottom line here is: We’re all gonna work together, come up with a cure to fix everyone, and it’s GONNA BE GREAT!

[ There are a lot of things people need to do right now: help the Prince's servants get resettled, get started on figuring out who can work on a cure for the petrification, deal with the trauma of dying in a hopefully healthy and non-self-destructive way, show the new people the ropes of what the Carnival has to work with.

Instead, in the morning of the second day since the Prince was defeated, anyone on the radio gets this: ]

So, I've been wondering.

[ The Nightrider's voice, for those who recognize it, has definitely been better. It's a low, hoarse rasp, and the pause at the end is not just for effect, but to actually catch his breath. ]

Just how old is everyone here, anyway? Here, I'll start. I'm ... pretty sure I'm almost sixty. [ A beat. ] ... Maybe.

[ Why did anyone let this man have his radio back again? ]

[ ooc; Lambert's flat on his back in the medical tent for this, feel free to bug him in person and threadjack each other at will. ]

[Really, Ginko probably should have started looking into examining those poisoned by the Prince (which is to say practically everyone) sooner. With things as hectic as they've been, the threat of new injuries had pushed that thought aside. Now, though...

Ginko's voice crackles through the radio, clearly tired but brisk and professional (or as close as Ginko gets to sounding professional) nonetheless.]

I want everyone who was kidnapped by the Prince to come by the medical tent to be examined. If you can't for one reason or another, let me know and I can come to you.

For that matter, I would appreciate the chance to run some tests on everyone who ate the food, in case we've still got poison in our systems.

[ set on whatever channel they've got set up that's just "people who aren't kidnapped"

holy shit guys, it's a plot infodump. The radio clicks on to Strange, who sounds very tired, possibly because the amount of sleep he's gotten over the past week is somewhere in the vicinity of jack-shit. ]

For all our new employees, welcome to the carnival. You were rescued from the manor of a fae known as "the Prince." He has previously kidnapped some of our number and warped their minds so they believe they serve him. Some have been rescued, some are still imprisoned alongside more of your fellow employees.

Previously, we were expected to simply behave and play along as he and the Ringmaster attempted negotiations. The reason why he's changed his strategy so quickly is that some of our number managed to steal an important artifact of the Prince's. I believe he still has some of the artifact's power stored in a battery of some kind, but I'm afraid I don't know the specifics. [ fill us in on that, Childerteam + Rooftop Adventure, Strange was under a magical mindwhammy for that part of the plot ]

Along with warping their minds, the Prince has poisonous magic of some sort. He also has transfiguration magic: some of the animals from the Hunt were servants and some of the animals prowling the islands are undoubtedly servants as well. Most worryingly, he has the power to take someone's true name—something which we believe happened to Papyrus's brother. Taking a true name essentially robs someone of their identity, their very essence of self. [ though the words are clinical, Strange's tone relays the fact that this is Bad News. ] We don't know of any way to retrieve one's true name except from the Prince himself.

The remaining members of the carnival are held prisoner inside the Prince's fortress. There's some sort of ward around the fortress that blocks radio communication and, most annoyingly, my scrying. There aren't any specific entrances to the fortress itself. It is alive as well, and can respond to the servants. Likewise, the Prince is an earth elemental which means that he's strongest at this sort of defensive outlasting.

[ and then Strange finally takes a breath and takes a sip of water. ]

I think it's obvious that charging at the castle head-first and recklessly won't work. We need a plan and we need to come up with one quickly. The Ringmaster suggested the idea of a challenge, challenging the Prince with a game that he thinks he can win though we know we can win. Alternatively, we did manage to rescue most of our number in Hell through a stealth operation. Something like that could be attempted again. [ yeah, that's right, they went to hell, sorry to drop THAT bombshell on you, newbies. ] I don't think I need to tell you how risky either of those options are but if you have any suggestions, now is the time to tell us.

( ooc: feel free to use this post for threadjacking/brainstorming/asking questions/catching your characters up on the plot/whatever! )

[Sans is blue.]
[Lambert is dark red.]

( [ Supervisors’ Channel ] )

[ Public Channel ]

[ Lambert’s voice is terse, and irritable: ]

Our next stop’s called Heartstone Manor. We’re going to go over some ground rules to make everyone's life, especially mine, a lot easier.

[Sans is also here.]

The RM has already covered a lot of this in her announcement, but it is officially our jobs to make sure that it sinks in. Dealt with True Fae before? Then you know this isn’t a joke. Yes, your fashion sense and table etiquette are now a matter of life and death. This is me, Sans, telling you to take this seriously. Hopefully that means something to you.

To summarize the gist of what was said, here are some basic RULES. The Nightrider and I will be watching. So, even if the Prince doesn’t catch you, we will.

[Sans recites “The Rules” like he’s just whipped out a pair of reading glasses and is quoting them from an official document:]

DO:

• Follow the daily schedule
• Follow dress code
• Be polite to The Prince and his servants
• Keep your radio on you

DON’T:

• Whine about everything
• Seed rebellion or talk about rules breaking on the network
• Make any deals or promises to other fae servants
• Lay any hard disses on The Prince, ever, under any circumstances
• Don’t sweat the small stuff: this is gunna grate on a lot of us, so just focus on the end goal… which is not dying

Don’t mess it up.

That, too.

Right, is anyone else's 'new friend' huge?

That confusion aside, please remember if you are going to be exploring unknown worlds to do so with a buddy. And no, your newfound animal companion does not count.

Labor crew, mandatory check in. Find me before I find you. That is a threat, not a suggestion.

If anyone, older member or newer arrival, wants information on... [ oh lord, this is going to take a while. Strange sighs slightly before obviously reading off a list of terms he's written down. ] Arcadia, the Rose Queen, Ignatius, Nightshade, the Count of Crows, Frost, the Summer Court, the Winter Court, how faerie court hierarchies work, the Wyld Fae, or the Beast, then I'll be happy to tell you what I know. I picked up some knowledge from my time in Portland and through conversations with the fae here and, for obvious reasons, don't want to bore all of you with far too many details and speculations at once.

[ There's a pause, partly to catch his friggen breath, before Strange continues talking. ]

I can at least explain Portland, though--for our new arrivals, of course. It's a city where the carnival was recently trapped for a month. Many members had their memories altered and believed they lived in the city for their entire lives. It was a...trying experience.

[ Understatement of the century. Strange sighs, like he's steeling himself for what he's going to say next. ]

Portland had it's own set of fae, some of whom I mentioned in my previous list. Plenty of the carnival members have ill-will towards those fae, who seemed determined to vex us and ruin our lives during that month. And despite the fact that we've left that world, I've a feeling that we'll see those fae again. Now that the Severing's removed, they can travel to different worlds the same way the Ringmaster can. And it wouldn't surprise me if some tried to reclaim what or who they believe they lost.

[ how dramatic! And quite possibly the worst way to end a broadcast as Strange just flips the radio off then and there. He has absolutely no clue how to best END the broadcast so not being cryptic is officially for chumps. ]

[Frankly, Ginko would like nothing more than to pass the fuck out for a few hours or days, but. He has work to do.

In fact, seeing as how the menagerie is empty, and he’s already retrieved a dwarf wyrm from the top of a trailer and hauled Lamar the headcrab out of a trash can, that work is apparently going to start with getting the animals back where they belong.]

Hey, so-- sorry to ask this right after… all that, but if anyone sees any of the menagerie animals around, would you mind telling me? Or… you know, bringing them to the menagerie if you can. Maybe don’t try to capture the big ones on your own, though.

[He feels like shit, but he is still a supervisor...]

Mandatory check-in.

Name, department, and health status.

Listen.

[The voice that comes over the public channel is... odd, and new to most folks here. He pauses for a bit, as if that's the entire thought-- but, sure enough, he follows it with an obviously annoyed question.]

So we're just kind of... here, because they say so? Like... this can't be legal, can it? Has anybody tried talking to the fuckin' police about this?

[As he speaks, he gets increasingly irritated, his voice breaking.]

I'm gonna be real with you guys: I've got half a mind to just kinda magic my way out, except I'm pretty sure the Ringleader or whatever would come after me. Is that a thing?