[ 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. ]

[Hinawa immediately threw her complementary mirror on the ground and stomped off back to the carnival upon hearing what the last 'challenge' would be. She doesn't know or care who might be paying attention to the radios, she just wants to yell into the ether more than anything.]

This is barbaric! How can anyone agree to this!? They're going to die!

[ 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! )

[Hi, did you want a radio message at two in the morning? A minute ago Julien yelled "No!" which might have been audible in the rooms to either side.

He's very distracted but has enough of his wits now to not want to cause a panic. His human form is using the angel language he learned in Portland. Only a few other carnies understand it, and his voice has the artificial flatness of someone who's learned to speak calmly in bad situation. His breath keeps catching in a pained way, though, and he doesn't know it but he's only got a minute or so left.]

I took Reira to see me in the stable. There are wolves. They're taking us outside somewhere. Servants are not part of this.

I will try to help her. Any way I can.

It's my fault.

[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.

So, uhhh, hey, fuck this place!

[Despite his words, Taako actually sounds more upbeat and alive than he has in a while. He sounds angry, but... alive and functional.]

Like, for real, seriously, though, fuck this place. I've got a world to save, and a sister to remember, and all that, and it's like, nope, time to go back to work at your other job, the one you didn't even sign up for!

[Taako's back, yall. Back physically and mentally!]

Somebody needs to get this fucking bracer off of me.

[His voice is... different. Instead of his usual nearly sing-song nature, there's a sharp edge to it, his words spoken more quickly than usual.]

If you think you can make this thing happen, let me know, because I'm out of ideas over here.

[Taako sounds... tired. He's obviously trying his best to sound like he's fine, though, despite how clear it is that he hasn't been resting well.]

Hey, so, uh... weird question. Has anybody else been having, uh... dreams lately? Like, weird ones, you know, with people you know and things like that, but... they feel super real?

[More like a memory.

He sighs.]

Uh. I know I don't usually ask about this sort of thing-- or, uh, anything at all-- but it's getting kind of hard to function, and, like... I've got a job I'm supposed to be doing, I guess, so if anybody knows what's going on, it'd be pretty chill if you could give me a hand with clearing my head over here. I figure this is definitely some kind of weird magic bullshit or something, right?

Uh, hello. This is Marinette. I know everyone's still recovering from the weird other world stuff that happened and all.

I guess I was just wondering if anyone here knew how to use a sword? Like, a real sword, for battle.

[She knows that a really weird thing to ask, but explaining it would just take so much time...]

So... Let me know!

If there are any supervisors still awake and standing, would you please make your way to the Big Top? The Ringmaster appears to have died.

[ —and turned into an egg, which is something he should really include, but he's tired. Sounds it, too, although what he isn't sounding on top of that is worried, since this is all said in a very matter-of-fact way. ]