[Usually when Peridot speaks up on the network, she's pretty perky and authoritative. NOT THIS TIME. HAHA.]

Ssssso... I don't want to cause a panic or anything, but there's not exactly an easy way for me to break this news to everyone, so I'm just going to come right out and say it:

I may have kind of, sort of... absolutely found proof in the Scribe's collections that the Summer Court is tracking us. And by the Summer Court, I mean specifically the Rose Queen and Ignatius and all their cronies from Portland are tracking us. And they know we have the Blue Rose.

....

Sorry.

...This is Peridot, by the way.

-----

[Mingle and threadjack as you please!]

[It's the first day after performance week, the first day they've had off since the night of that lakeside party - the one with all the fireworks, and food, and food fireworks. It's mid-afternoon in the carnival, late enough that most people are probably up by now; who knows what time schedule the space station is on, relatively speaking.]

Hello carnival! How are you all doing, I hope you are doing well! With plenty of plans for your leisure time!

So, uh, about why I'm calling you all...

Has anybody noticed any... changes, to their magic, since... Everything in Wismuth?

[With what is probably hilariously ironic timing after Yuya's radio conversation about using friendship to win, the radios will light up green with a message from the Ringmaster. She sounds... a bit disturbed, but playing it cool.]

Hmm. So... public announcement. In case this comes out later. Some of you may not know, but I offer reincarnation services for certain members of the carnival, which... mostly means I will bring them back from death, under certain circumstances.

As it turns out. Sans has managed to to trigger his rebirth ritual... which is to say, he's died somehow. I'm not sure how or precisely when, I have just visited the place where I keep such things, and his candle is lit.

I'm sure he'll fill us all in when he's reborn a while from now! In the meantime, be aware. There's no way of knowing who or what caught up with him. My focus is on defending the carnival, so if you are concerned for your safety, please remain within its grounds.

That is all.

[Alphys comes on the radio sounding out of breath and like she's trying extremely hard not to panic.]

Uhhh. The- the concert! S-something went wrong! Noa's really hurt, CY-Ren's gone, and I-I think she took some of us with her? I dunno who, I lost t-track of everyone... oh, jeez, and Sans went after her by himself! Uhh... what did the Ringmaster say- Nightrunners! We need the nightrunners! A-and I need a doctor! Like, r-right now? We're at the front entrance!

[All right, Alphys, you can do this. It's just like talking on the phone- no wait she hates talking on the phone.

There's a few deep breaths before she finally addresses everyone.]

U-uhh... heeey? This is Alphys, w-w-with engineering? I was just wondering, uh, if anyone here likes... anime...? I have a whole bunch of DVDs now, s-s-so I was thinking that maybe it'd be fun to have, like, a g-group watch? I-I mean! Unless everybody's really busy getting ready for the next show!

S-so, uh, I'm in trailer 20, if you wanna stop by and pick something out that looks fun to watch? I'm not sure what all I even have right now- it was a REALLY big box of DVDs! So, uhh... okaybye! [CLICK]

[ 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! )

Attention everyone! This is your Papyrus speaking. I have discovered... a library! By which I mean, I asked if there were books, and somebody led me here. Some of you, I'm sure, are saying to yourselves... "What's the point of this announcement? I don't read? Why are you telling us this, besides letting us hear your voice...?"

Well! That's really quite simple. Some of us don't sleep... at all?? Which makes the whole curfew thing kind of a nightmare. The not-dreaming, bored kind.

Thusly: I've decided to entertain myself, and all of you (who choose to tune in), with audiobooks! The kind where you can't fast forward, because it's just me, live, reading a book. But you can suggest books! I am open to whatever.

So catch me tonight! At curfew! On my channel! 172.79787!

Somniacs, disregard this whole message. The rest of you, I'm now taking questions and suggestions.

[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.