[Can anything get worse than the attack already is?

The answer is a resounding Yes. (And that's BEFORE everything else, for that matter.)

When Carly comes onto the radio- public radio on that note, for while she would rather not distress everyone further, it's something everyone should probably know- her voice is tense. Low, and flat, and stiff, as it has been in the past when handling something relatively unpleasant...or when causing it, for that matter.

Which is never a good sign.]

...Herbert is dead, [Is what she starts with, not that there is much else to say.] ...I have what's...left of him, [She says, sounding remarkably calm outside the clear hesitation as she chooses her words.

There goes one of their medical staff, for the time being though.]

[The radios will glow green as the Ringmaster begins a broadcast.]

Welcome back to the carnival, everyone. Things may look the same as before, but I assure you, there is no stone that has been left unturned or tree that hasn't been uprooted. We'll have no more stalkers from here on out.

There are a few things of relevance that I have to tell you about. Firstly, Ignatius is no longer in the moon. Instead, he's been relocated to a small island in the middle of the lake. He can't leave it, and you aren't allowed to visit it without my permission. If you do, and he wounds you, you can consider it your own fault.

In a related matter, I've decided to invest my magical energies into granting each of you a ressurection egg, as we clearly can't anticipate any peaceful resolutions from this. If you don't know what that means, it's essentially a ritual spell I'll need your help in completing - once it's done, it will bring you back to life if you happen to perish, but only once. Also, you will have to be in the egg long enough to regrow and hatch. This is no small favour on my part, and it won't work unless your soul can make it back to the egg.

Thirdly, after calling in several favours, I think the location of Eden is almost within view. A few allies will be joining us over the next week and giving us more information. Until then, carry on about your business, as there are some new things you'll have to get used to.

We're going to be organizing the Supervisor guided departments differently from now on. I have explained the details to the Supervisors, and they can fill you in on what will be expected of you. There will not be only six categories: Militia, Acquisitions, Engineering, Management, Administration, and Medical.

Supervisors, feel free to sound off with what group you are leading and what it is for.

[ By the time the radio turns on it’s about an hour after Lambert’s group has returned and reported their findings to the Ringmaster. Now it’s just a matter of letting everyone else know. It’s Syrlya who speaks first. ]

As most of you are aware, the Summer and Winter Courts have pursued the carnival into the Athenaeum and taken some of our people hostage.

[ “Hostage" is a nice way to say permanent enslavement.] According to the Scribe and Curator, the lifelike and antagonistic nature of the books found here is the library’s defense against intruders, and it is under our control.

And has been under our control this entire time. [Tyki’s voice chimes in, at this point. To which he’s not bitter at all about it. This entire mess could’ve possibly been avoided.] Our will has been controlling the stories to a certain victory each time we have been swallowed up by one. It should be comforting to know that they cannot use the stories against us. They have not been given these defenses.

If we cast the Fae into our own narrative, the magic should be strong enough to combat them. We will be bound to the same story, so we cannot allow them to turn its favor or-- [And this he sounds less certain about.] --break the confines of the story ourselves.

It should be noted as well that the story cannot be entirely unbelievable. To play the part, it must seem plausible. One cannot just snap their fingers and a fae is weakened, for example. Something like that will allow them to break the story. The narrative must be consistent and convincing.

[ The Nightrider finally speaks. There’s an edge of tension to his voice, but otherwise, he’s pretty composed. ]

The good news is, this means you don't have to be a fighter to help. Bad news is, we still have to figure out how we're going to do it, who's going or staying, and if we're dealing with the Courts together or one at at time. We need to come up with something fast -- I don’t want them to give time to figure out their own plans. Catching them by surprise is the best chance we’ve got, so working together in groups makes the most sense.

If you have any useful ideas, now’s the time to share them.

[ And 9S chimes in: ] If anyone wants to hear the exact exchange we had with the Scribe and Curator, I can provide a recording for your viewing.

I said useful ideas.

[ ooc: this is mainly an ic planning post! ooc plotting post to follow to organize things more formally, but feel free to threadjack each other, form up groups of your own, all that good stuff to work out where your character will be. ]

This is Carly- the Wardrobe Manager, [
Carly announces, not long after it's been made clear that a Number of supervisors have now left the premises. Her voice is rather uncharacteristically serious, and perhaps even cold.] I know I'm hardly the Warden, or the Nightrider- but they left a warning, and an order.

Everyone presently within Carnival Grounds-please, check in, NOW. Do NOT leave the Carnival grounds, for that matter, short of a Supervisor themself giving that order!

If I see anyone try...

....I will be making sure you stay. This isn't the time for heroics..!

"With the power of the Silver Mirror, the Nephalem Lilith was able to create a realm according to their desires - a realm where the Beasts could devise the Soul that would lead them, and build a perfect world. While the rest of the multiverse spiraled into Chaos, Lilith aspired towards Perfection."

[ It had taken a bit to scour the book for any other bit of information once he'd gotten it back from one of the stupidest book specters he had to misfortune of running into but now that he has, here he is, reading the first bit over the radio.

Following that, he adds, asking, ]

Has anyone else found something regarding a mirror? I believe this may be one of the miracles but confirmation would be nice to have.

[ ooc, feel free to threadjack as needed ]

[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?

[Mari is whistling a jaunty little tune, which lasts a few seconds before she actually speaks.]

Oh, hey! Okay, so, those of you who have guns back home and don't like them... you can just ignore me! Tune to another channel, or whatever. But if you do like guns, or don't actually know anything about them: let's talk!

I wanna get some practise in before the big day, because while we lucked out and the competition guns don't have any iron in them, they're also some kind of space laser nonsense, and that's not really a thing where I'm from, you know?

[Well. It's... kind of a thing? The Fifth Angel required an experimental positron rifle... as well as the entire power grid of Japan. So it's not really the same.]

So who's down? I know I'm not the only one who knows how to shoot, and if you never have, now's your chance to try!

.... but don't hold me responsible if you shoot your foot off, okay?

[Around the start of the new performance week, the Ringmaster will light up everyone's radios with an important message. Or, rather, some important musing.]

Hello, this is the Ringmaster speaking. I say that for the benefit of any new arrivals - everyone else surely recognizes my voice, by now. The rest of this may leave you in the dust as it will be touching on some carnival history, but you can may questions if you want to get up to date.

So, I spent a lot of time thinking when the lot of you were busy with that Pillar drama. As most are aware, a couple months ago we went on a mission to retrieve an extremely powerful artifact called the Blue Rose, which we have been using to defend the carnival from faerie threats. Which, seems successful so far, given that Nightshade didn't dare enter the grounds the entire time we were there! A victory, indeed.

It got me thinking, though... the Blue Rose actually comes as a set. As I've explained to a few of you, the Blue Rose is an organism created by the first Queens of Arcadia. Only three artifacts of its kind exist, as far as I know, and I fairly sure that none of them are actually in faerie hands.

So, I thought... what if we were somehow able to get the other two? Not only would that be enough to ward off the Courts completely, it would go a long way to defending us against any of the other nonsense we come across! Perhaps we could even go back to business as usual, for a while...

Anyway, in an attempt to be more forthcoming, I am presenting this idea to you for general 'work shopping' purposes. I know that the Blue Rose was a big hassle to get, but we know so much more now than we did then! I think it's worth a second look.

Wait a minute.

You mean that part about staying here and working for a year was actually true?

I thought I could just, you know, sign and leave. Like, hell no I wasn't actually gonna stay! Even if I did kind of break something.

[Jinx, that's not how magical contracts work. You really should know this by now.]

Can I get a do over?

[There's some unintelligible squeaking noises in the background. And Jinx just sighs.]

Yes, Kuro. I know this isn't the first time I've signed without reading.

[If only you could hear how hard she is eyerolling right now.]

Who asked you?

Victor Nikiforov, new showman here. I have a question for anyone who has a few minutes to talk!

( There's a smile in his voice; entirely deliberate, and entirely gone once he gets to his question. )

What things do you wish you'd been told about or known from early on once you started working here?