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ph_logs2024-08-22 10:41 pm
daemoniumexmachina) wrote in ph_logs2024-08-22 10:41 pm
Devil's Carnival! [ Court of Fools Open ]
Warning(s): unreality, gaslighting, identity crisis, amnesia
With their master’s machinations on the horizon, Mendel’s Court of Fools takes to the town to prime their audience. They can be found in remote shadows and dark corners, but it’s so important to get the crowd in the right mood for a show, wouldn’t you agree?
-Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss-
[Blanche, the Baroness of Blank]
Sometime nearing or after dark, if you’re still wandering the streets, there are a number of things that can still find you even when you stick to the paths of lit lanterns.
“You’re missing something, aren’t you?” The jolly voice comes from behind you. Should you turn, you’ll see a woman dressed almost entirely in white aside from thin red lips and thin red pinstripes. Her eyes are even white, including her pupils, so that they very nearly blend into the rest of her face if not for her big, white lashes creating a bit of depth. She smiles, revealing perfectly white teeth all in straight rows. She hangs upside down--- from a rafter, a shop sign, a tree branch, or nothing all.
Climbing down and righting herself with acrobatic ease, she continues to wear that cheshire smile. “I can always tell when someone is missing something. Or needs to lose something. Perhaps that sounds more like you. If you’d like, I can find it for you. Or unfind it. Your choice.”
- Damn, that's a really creepy doll-
[Seemingly, the Thane of the Capricious]
There is an alleyway in town, hidden behind the Oak & Iron. It is rarely used except by stray cats. Hidden there, among the garbage, you will find what looks to be a pile of broken gears and metal junk, entwined with bits of fabric. Four masks lay strewn about. But upon inspection, the gears creak to life suddenly, and an automaton begins to build itself quickly with the pleasant clinking of small metal pieces against one another, and in moments, there is a figure before you that tips its hat before placing it on its head. The masks are seated in a circle around what would be its head, and the one in front is an expressionless mask with a large, golden crack down the center.
It whispers to you sharply. “What are you?”
[ Seemingly has four masks that each have their own personalities, voices, and even pronouns. They are as follows:
Hollow - it/its - a white mask with gold flourishes and a golden forehead gem, and a blank expression which speaks in a harsh whisper. Its intent is to be threatening and cut to the heart of you. It was broken once, and now bears a striking crack filled with gold.
Glee - he/him - a white mask with golden clown paint on the eyes and a wicked, twisted grin, along with a prominent nose. He is sinister and jolly and speaks with a masculine falsetto.
Wrath - they/them - a pure gold mask with black flourishes that looks enraged. They speak in a distorted voice, as if through a tube, that sounds androgynous.
Twist - she/her - a half gold, half white mask with a slight smile, which speaks in a deep and sonorous feminine voice. She is patient and scheming. ]
-Some kind of fucking spooksperson-
[Smiling Jack, Mendel’s Infernal Servant]
If you walk past Infernal Arms and Armor at midday, you may hear the clinking of glass on glass at one of the soot-covered windows. A whisper can be heard.
“Hey! Hey, over here!”
There is a bottle of orange goop with a jack-o-lantern face crudely floating in it. Are these… pumpkin guts?
“Hey, c’mere! I just wanna talk. God I’m so lonely. How’s it goin’?”
With their master’s machinations on the horizon, Mendel’s Court of Fools takes to the town to prime their audience. They can be found in remote shadows and dark corners, but it’s so important to get the crowd in the right mood for a show, wouldn’t you agree?
-Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss-
[Blanche, the Baroness of Blank]
Sometime nearing or after dark, if you’re still wandering the streets, there are a number of things that can still find you even when you stick to the paths of lit lanterns.
“You’re missing something, aren’t you?” The jolly voice comes from behind you. Should you turn, you’ll see a woman dressed almost entirely in white aside from thin red lips and thin red pinstripes. Her eyes are even white, including her pupils, so that they very nearly blend into the rest of her face if not for her big, white lashes creating a bit of depth. She smiles, revealing perfectly white teeth all in straight rows. She hangs upside down--- from a rafter, a shop sign, a tree branch, or nothing all.
Climbing down and righting herself with acrobatic ease, she continues to wear that cheshire smile. “I can always tell when someone is missing something. Or needs to lose something. Perhaps that sounds more like you. If you’d like, I can find it for you. Or unfind it. Your choice.”
- Damn, that's a really creepy doll-
[Seemingly, the Thane of the Capricious]
There is an alleyway in town, hidden behind the Oak & Iron. It is rarely used except by stray cats. Hidden there, among the garbage, you will find what looks to be a pile of broken gears and metal junk, entwined with bits of fabric. Four masks lay strewn about. But upon inspection, the gears creak to life suddenly, and an automaton begins to build itself quickly with the pleasant clinking of small metal pieces against one another, and in moments, there is a figure before you that tips its hat before placing it on its head. The masks are seated in a circle around what would be its head, and the one in front is an expressionless mask with a large, golden crack down the center.
It whispers to you sharply. “What are you?”
[ Seemingly has four masks that each have their own personalities, voices, and even pronouns. They are as follows:
Hollow - it/its - a white mask with gold flourishes and a golden forehead gem, and a blank expression which speaks in a harsh whisper. Its intent is to be threatening and cut to the heart of you. It was broken once, and now bears a striking crack filled with gold.
Glee - he/him - a white mask with golden clown paint on the eyes and a wicked, twisted grin, along with a prominent nose. He is sinister and jolly and speaks with a masculine falsetto.
Wrath - they/them - a pure gold mask with black flourishes that looks enraged. They speak in a distorted voice, as if through a tube, that sounds androgynous.
Twist - she/her - a half gold, half white mask with a slight smile, which speaks in a deep and sonorous feminine voice. She is patient and scheming. ]
-Some kind of fucking spooksperson-
[Smiling Jack, Mendel’s Infernal Servant]
If you walk past Infernal Arms and Armor at midday, you may hear the clinking of glass on glass at one of the soot-covered windows. A whisper can be heard.
“Hey! Hey, over here!”
There is a bottle of orange goop with a jack-o-lantern face crudely floating in it. Are these… pumpkin guts?
“Hey, c’mere! I just wanna talk. God I’m so lonely. How’s it goin’?”
gaslight gatekeep girlboss
Okay, so there wasn't a lot to put together at first. Miss Leeds sending him home early some nights, then gossip the next day about another Pine Devil attack? Maybe she just knew it was gonna happen because she grew up here, and wanted Radar to get home safe in time. But ever since Radar came up to the estate one morning and spent half the day squeaking in outrage about how half his paperwork got burned, now he's gotta redo a bunch of orders for the party next month, what happened!!! -- yeah, Miss Leeds explained a candle fell over and apologized a whole lot, but she also seemed... preoccupied. Calm as ever on the outside, but noise pinging around her head louder than usual.
Loud enough that tonight, Radar heard something he definitely, definitely shouldn't've heard.
(Dahlia. Dolly. It's so obvious he'd kick himself if he wasn't so busy freaking out.)
He faked a stomachache, which honestly he didn't have to fake too hard, and started the walk home as fast as he could. Radar's barely paying attention to his surroundings. And he's wound up so tight that when someone speaks up behind him, he jumps about a foot and yelps as he whirls around.
"Jeez, don't sneak up on a guy like that!" he squawks. "I coulda had a heart attack!"
...Wait, did he forget his keys in his rush to get home? Is that what she's talking about? Still scowling, Radar pats down his pockets, quickly locating both his sending stone and his keys with no trouble. "No, I got everything I need, ma'am, I didn't drop anything."
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"Yeah, well, if it's the, the -- " He sizes up her outfit for a second, trying to figure out exactly who she is and why she's bugging him. "The ice cream order for the party, that's one of the ones that caught on fire. You're gonna have to wait a few days."
Oh, jeez. Was it even a candle? Can Dahlia breathe fire? His boss, his boss eats people, and she's not just his boss anymore she's his friend too and maybe Radar's even gotten butterflies sometimes that he's kinda tried to ignore because, you know, she's his boss and now she's eaten people too on top of that --
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Deeply wary: "What do you mean?"
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A pallid hand reaches out like a flash and snatches Radar's, suddenly whipping him into a tight spin that is almost cartoonish in its speed and intensity. The whole world blurs and swims and something in Radar's mind is shoved all the way to the periphery as if by a centrifuge, where it disappears out of reach. What was that, anyway? Must not be important.
Then, at once, the spinning stops, but the dizzy swaying continues even as Blanche catches both his hands.
"Woah there!" She laughs. "You're looking a little lost, friend. I think you were just heading home!"
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That's all he gets out before she whirls him around, faster than a chopper blade, faster than the worst spins he's ever gotten after too much of Hawkeye's gin. It's so fast that his feet can't even manage to stumble. His stomach lurches hard enough that he doesn't have to fake it at all anymore, and...
...why was he faking a stomachache in the first place?
Wasn't there something he forgot, back at the Leeds estate?
(No, no, he's got his keys and his sending stone, that's all he needs -- )
The spinning stops, and that's what finally makes Radar stagger as his body tries to keep going. His brain really feels like it wants to keep going, sloshing back and forth around the inside of his skull like a boat in a bad storm. Wobbly, he seizes the strange woman's hands for balance. Not that it helps much with how bad he's swaying.
"Yeah." He blinks, hard, trying to focus on one point so he doesn't feel so queasy. "Yeah, um. Sorry I bumped into you, ma'am, I got real dizzy for a second there."