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| LOOSE ENDS↴
Hey everybody, it's Quix! As of this log, the story of Lost Carnival has come to a close! It's been amazing 2+ year journey, and I can't express how thankful I am to those that have stuck around to the end, whether you've been here from the beginning or whether you joined us along the way. This has been one of the best modding experiences of my DWRP career, and LC has had some of the most adventurous and proactive players I've ever had the pleasure of running for. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this story as great as it was. It was hard work at times, but I'm going to be looking back at this game fondly for a long time to come.
Everyone is welcome to keep threading in the Epilogue or use the comms for PSL style threads for as long as they please. I'll keep up giving mod contributions for as long as necessary when it comes to people sorting out post game experiences for their characters. Additionally, I do have an interest in trying to revisit this setting in the future for one-shot reunion events based around the Equinox Court, so hopefully in coming months we'll have the opportunity to get back together. If this happens, I'll notify everyone by the mod-plurk and Discord. I'll be leaving the Discord open indefinitely for anyone who wants to still hang out there.
Until then, there's not much to do but move forward! This post can be used as a general mod contact to ask me any OOC questions you may have about the ending of the game. If there were any plot lines you always wondered about or NPCs you're curious to know the fates of, you can ask me those right here! I like to ramble in the Discord about non-plot critical setting and character details, but I'm glad to go on at length about pretty much any LC subject you can imagine.
Thanks again, and I hope to see you all around sometime soon. |
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| SHE'S BACK!↴
The Ringmaster has returned, with some changes. The Red Beast aspect of her being has been fully awakened by the Huntsman's ministrations, meaning she now has some old Phoenix memories. She also retains all her memories of the carnival and recent events, though, and seems more grounded in the personality you've come to know her for than anything else.
If there's one thing she's changed her mind on, however, it's the idea of running away. That obviously isn't working, and she feels that she'll never have back the freedom she wants for herself and the carnival unless she acts. After consuming the Huntsman and ending the battle in the Wyldlands, she will bring everyone back to what remains of the carnival dimension. Everyone's personal belongings and pets are still here, seemingly having been in stasis (and any living creatures will just be waking up as they arrive) but the landscape and structures have been obliterated and reduced to fundamental realm building blocks. She'll say she knew this would happen when she sent it away briefly before dying. It's a bit melancholy nonetheless.
The moons are still here, importantly, and with little trouble the Ringmaster will collect the Blue Rose and Silver Mirror, which are now fully under control. The magical resonance between the three Miracles is very loud, especially for those already touched by them. With all of them in hand, and with the strength of the Huntsman still running through her veins, she'll make those present an offer. With all three Miracles, everything feels possible - and she is able to gift those that helped her with their power.
But there are a few qualifications.
( Read more... ) |
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| PREPARATION↴
On Day 132, preparation for battle will be in full swing. With the reminder that both Miracles are currently at stake, both halves of the Summer Court will be putting together plans to reach the Huntsman. In the meantime, carnival members will be taken back to the Summerlands to get their shit together.
On Day 134, the mission will begin. Those willing to come from the carnival, the Summerlands, and military from the Summer Court will be brought to the Wyldlands to begin their search. The Wydlands are enormous and constantly shifting in geography, which means that finding the Hunt to begin with will be a challenge, let alone without giving an unnecessary amount of advanced warning. That's where the carnival comes in.
Faerie presences are very loud, and easily detected. Too many of them getting close to the Hunt's territory will alert the Huntsman to the scale of the attack, which is not in thier favour. Instead, the suggested plan is that the carnival travel ahead as scouts, alerting the Summer forces of enemy positions, enabling them to dive in as a strategic ambush. Their lesser auras and Wyld Fae essence will allow them to blend in - with some additional magical help, they may even be able to appear as members of the Hunt themselves. With the power of the entire Summer Court at their disposal, a lot of things are possible.
A few Summer Fae will be sent along with them - most notably Ignatius and Gild. Those from the carnival that ran with the Hunt will also have the key advantage of being able to sense the Huntsman's will, leading the rest in the right direction and anticipating the Hunts movements. As long as they can avoid falling back into the Hunt's sway, of course.
SETTING↴
The Wyldlands are a massive and mostly uncharted territory of Arcadian land that lies between the two faerie Courts. Historically dominated by the Wyld Fae, it has also periodically become the stomping grounds of bouth Courts armies, and is considered a no-mans-land where dubious or secretive operations take place. Obviously, the Wyld Fae have never been a huge fan of this, and Court military is generally considered to be an unwanted nuisance. The tension has only grown thicker since the days of the Great Beast's uprising, with many Wyld Fae caught between the tyranny of the Huntsman and the disregard of the Courts.
You can find any imaginable biome within the Wyldlands, and their locations constantly and gradually shift. A desert may develop into a rainforest within a period of a few weeks, and the only stable places are powerful Wyld Fae have set up their dens, grounding the territory into reflecting their own nature. In general, the landscape is somewhat surrealist in nature, with impossibly large trees being commonplace, along with floating islands, bizarrely shaped mountains, and other alien landmarks.
All of this makes it very difficult to navigate, but also perfect for hiding out in.
( MORE PLOT DETAILS BELOW ) |
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| SOLSTICE PLANS↴
The council with the Summer Maiden has run its course, and there were enough people interested in trying to have the Summerlands ally with the Summer Court that the attempt is going to go ahead. A couple days after the meeting, the Summer Maiden will leave to the Summer Court with an entourage of willing carnival members, with the intent of negotiating a peace between the two fragmented pieces of Summer. Of course, in real life, it is the holiday season, so the schedule will be as follows:
► DAY 127-128 (Dec 18th-26th): Free time in the Summerlands, while the Summer Maiden contacts the Summer Queen long distance and negotiates an Elysium. The Summer Queen will ultimately agree, but the exact communications they have will not be public. As of early 128, the Summer Maiden will announce that the Elysium set is to begin the next day, and anyone wishing to come along should prepare themselves. She is encouraging people to come so that they can be formally presented as part of her people and as people who cannot be trifled with. However, attendance is not mandatory, and those who don't want to come can stay in the Summerlands. The entire diplomatic mission will take place in an enclosed ceremony, and the Summer Maiden will be able to protect all attendees.
► DAY 129-131 (Dec 27th-Jan 7th): The Summer Maiden and her entourage will leave for the Summer Court. To those remaining in the Summerlands, and Summer Maiden and her party will seem to be gone for three days - however, to those in the entourage, the entire event will seem to just be one day and night cycle. The Summer Court has a timeless feeling quality to it, and so it will not map directly to the day schedule. It may feel either longer or shorter than a normal day to each individual, depending on how much stuff they do. The more active they are the longer it will feel, and the more passive and unobservant, the shorter. The opening part of the diplomacy log will be a casual mingle, and actual plot stuff will start to happen at the start of the new year.
► DAY 132+ (Jan 8th+): After the diplomacy mission, depending on the results, the next major plot adventure will happen with the Summer allies and carnival going to defeat the Huntsman. This plot will run for a few weeks and will be the last plot arc before the game's finale.
► DAY ??? (Feb, 2019): The finale of the game will occur and hopefully be done in a few weeks with some left over time to set up an epilogue.
If you have any questions about this timeline, ask them below! Otherwise, this post can be used for general plotting, and calling out whether your character is staying or going. |
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| WHAT NOW: THE POLL↴
The carnival has emerged victorious after a heated and exhausting battle with the Mother of Invention. Her soul has been torn asunder, and her body destroyed. Gild and a team of allies have arrived via airship, and will reveal that they have been camping outside of the base for days, aiding in the planning and execution of an escape plan. In total, there is Gild, Samyaza, Alyss, Reyna, Shimmer, Scald, Moss, Kerubi the fox, and Brauni piloting the ship itself. How they all got here is a long story. They were intending on breaking in with it and grabbing everyone if it came down to it, but now it seems that they have the opportunity to do more good here than that.
There are several issues that will arrive in the immediate aftermath of the struggle, and the characters will have to make some decisions on how to handle things going forward. Gild and Ignatius can provide some direction if needed, but ultimately neither of them want to force a decision in regards to any of this. (They most likely have some personal issues to work out between themselves, also.)
► WHERE TO STAY?
At the very least the carnival will have to spend the next day and night resting, so that people can get back on their feet and so that Gild and Ignatius can recover their strength enough to go anywhere. This can either be done by staying inside the section of Polaris they've overtaken, or by going down to the Wyld Lands (which are apparently below where Polaris is floating) and camping out there. The Wyld Lands are potentially dangerous, but the two fae are confident they can defend an area long enough to camp.
► WHAT TO DO ABOUT POLARIS?
In the aftermath of the Mother's death, the staff and prisoners of Polaris will be in a state of disruption and chaos. For staff, it will be really hard for them to accept that the Mother is actually gone and that this isn't some kind of test or trick, and for the prisoners, they are more or less still at the mercy of the staff overseeing them. The carnival has the choice to stick around for a few days and ease the process of liberating the station, by helping to overtake the Alphas and Betas clinging to power, and by basically spreading the news of the Mother defeat. They can also make sure the other test groups are actually released. Of course, they are not obligated to do this. They are free to just leave, as well, and hope that Polaris sorts itself out. If they do stay to deal with Polaris, most of this will be handwaved. Characters can simply declare what they are doing to help, and it will be done without challenge.
► WHAT DIRECTION TO TAKE?
Gild's immediate impression is that people will want to help the Ringmaster (though this may not be true) and based on that her recommendations are that they could either write to the Summerlands and ask for help in doing so, or they can go there themselves and be a bit more forceful. The Summer Maiden is notoriously passive, so Gild believes that she will be reluctant to help her own girlfriend, which is annoying. If they head straight through the Wyld Lands they may gain the element of surprise, of course, and go in there stealthily... but going it on their own could be difficult. Gild is willing to help either way. Ignatius doesn't seem to want to go to the Summerlands for various awkward reasons, but ultimately he will bend to the public opinion. People need a break, he thinks, and they probably won't find it in the Wyld Lands. For those not interested in dealing with the Hunt at all, the fae will recommend going to the Summerlands, because at least they can have a break there until everyone figures out what to do.
► WANT A FAERIE CONTRACT?
Once they are fully free of Polaris, Ignatius will consider the danger over and his contract with people will end. However, he will be open to offering protection for an extended period to anyone who wants it. The specifics are flexible - he really just wants the ability to look out for people in a patron sense. The Gilded Mark will also offer to be your patron, to take some of the burden off of Ignatius. Maybe this is a weird competition thing? Don't worry about it, it's there problem. Either way, both contracts will be flexible and mostly so that they can more easily lend you their power if necessary.
Given that information, here are some poll questions. This is an IC poll, so please vote once for each character. If you don't reply, you'll be assumed to be 'undecided' or 'ambivalent'.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 28 While doing other things, where do you want to stay for the next night or three?
View AnswersStay in the secured section of Polaris.
19 (67.9%) Camp out in the Wyld Lands.
7 (25.0%) Either's fine.
2 (7.1%) How do you want to handle the Polaris situation?
View AnswersStick around to dethrone the Alphas, spread the news, and make sure prisoners are released.
19 (70.4%) Leave these guys to their own devices for now and come back later.
2 (7.4%) Abandon ship and never come back/leave them all to die.
4 (14.8%) Undecided.
2 (7.4%) What direction do you want to take?
View AnswersHead straight for the Wyld Hunt and send a letter to the Summerlands asking for back up.
0 (0.0%) Go to the Summerlands and ask the Summer Maiden for help directly/hang out.
23 (82.1%) Something else? (Suggest in comments)
2 (7.1%) Undecided.
3 (10.7%) Do you want to take any fae protection?
View AnswersSign on with Ignatius.
10 (35.7%) Sign on with Gilded Mark.
11 (39.3%) Undecided/Do not.
7 (25.0%) |
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| ESCAPE TIMELINE↴
A lot of things are going on, and people have asked for a timeline of events! I may be being generous time-wise here, but action happens fairly quickly, and I am assuming no one spends much time dawdling. This is all a rough estimate. The "present" time is the 30-40 minutes mark. Gild has apparently been attacking/fighting the Mother of Invention for most of this time, keeping her distracted.
► 1 MINUTE: Childermass boosts his shadow teleport abilities with a Gild Mark and starts getting people out of their cells. This moves fairly quickly. Some information is quickly shared.
► 5-10 MINUTES: Team Rescue leaves for A5. Team Distraction enters the Farm and starts setting fires/damaging anti-fire equipment. Team Fortress heads to the staff area and quietly starts taking out emerging staff via Yukio's sleep inducing sniper gun. Staff are given alerts indicating that a fire has broken out in the Farm, which results in several of them leaving their rooms and immediately getting sniped by Team Fortress.
► 10-20 MINUTES: Team Loot leaves for A5. Team Rescue meets with Shimmer and starts swapping out Classification Chips to give Rita Beta level access. After that's complete, Team Rescue goes back to the teleporter, crossing paths with Team Loot. Team Loot goes to meet with Shimmer, and they send out an alert, hoping to lure in another Beta to steal a Classification chip from. Meanwhile, Team Fortress clears out a space in the staff item shop, and Team Distraction takes out some technicians that show up to try to stop the fire.
► 20-30 MINUTES: Team Distraction realizes that the fire may be burning too violently, and that no more technicians are coming to put it out. They start plugging vents to rob the Farm area of oxygen and keep the smoke from spreading. Sans grabs some fire extinguishers from the labs, which helps.Team Rescue finds Ignatius in C2, and frees him from his bonds, giving him healing potions to help him regrow lost limbs. Team Rescue meets up with Alyss, Reyna, and Samyaza who are apparently there with Gild. They all head back to Sector B7, to join Team Fortress. Team Loot waits for a Beta to show up, and eventually fights a security team with a Beta leading it. They take the Beta's Classification chip and put it into Tyki's implant. They leave through the teleporter and go to A3.
► 30-40 MINUTES: Team Loot fights a security team defending the A3 inventory. Lambert, Childermass, and Tyki manage to take them out almost singlehandedly,and then the group finds the storage area where everyone's stuff is being kept. They start unloading it into the eggspace dimension. Ignatius is brought to Team Fortress to rest, and Herbert attempts to remove some of his remaining implants. The fire in the Farm is mostly contained, though some smoke leaks to other parts of the Sector. Other stuff will probably happen. Some technicians have escaped but are regrouping in other parts of the Sector and/or are actively trying to leave the Sector thanks to the fire.
► 40-50 MINUTES: A violent series of tremors goes through the station, and then go silent. It seems like it might have something to do with the Mother of Invention and Gild. The Loot team heads back to Sector B7 with everybody's stuff in tow. Some people have returned Ignatius's power to him in the hopes that he will be able to help with the inevitable conflict. Upon the return of Team Loot, he's gotten about 60% back of what he gave away, which results in EXCITING BENEFITS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS CONTRACTED WITH HIM!
IGNATIUS focuses his will and pushes back against the Mother's restrictions. All Ignatius contracts will now have 50% access to their abilities, regardless of when they sign on! Any new contracts will be under the same terms as what Ignatius offered during the Hunt. Rita will have the same percentage power that Ignatius has heart pieces returned, which is now 100%.
This timeline will update as things occur. |
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| PRODUCTIVITY RESULTS↴
As the first four day cycle comes to a close, subjects will be given the opportunity to find out how they performed. These spreadsheet results will be posted on a public scoreboard, though in a much more gleaming and futuristic layout. Green is 'Outstanding', Yellow is 'Satisfactory', and Red is 'Below Expectations'. Checkmarks represent credited trials, and X's mean the character's score was lowered due to Eta status. These scored will be posted at the end of the work day on Day 109. Some characters have been promoted or demoted a rank! Those are indicated by bright coloured bars next to their results.
Starting Day 110, those with a score of "Below Expectations" for the first time will begin to suffer the following effects:
- During the work day of 110, they'll find themselves growing hungry for the first time since their arrival. This will occur even if they usually don't get hungry or need to eat. This hunger will proceed at the rate expected, presuming they ate the day before, but aren't eating now. This hunger will not go away that night or the following work days, and will grow gradually worse as the days pass, but not quite to the scale that a realistically starving person would feel. It plateaus as a degree that is nagging, distracting, and almost painful.
- They will be more easily fatigued, though it's not as bad as it would be for someone who isn't eating at all normally, it will be enough to make everything harder. Generally, they feel bad. However, during trials, these hunger effects will be temporarily removed.
- Hunger effects will remain until the character manages to get out of their 'Below Expectations' rating.
Starting Day 110, those with a score of "Below Expectations" for the second time in a row will experience the following additional effect:
- Increased feelings of hunger, but no additional exhaustion. Mostly this affects the severity of stomach pains and other negative physical sensations.
- An uptick in nightmares, specifically in regards to negative consequences for their failure to achieve results at the Farm.
Starting Day 110, those with a score of "Outstanding" for the second time in a row will experience the following additional effect:
- Increased presence of pleasant dreams, however your character would define that. This could be erotic, escapist, or just relaxing, depending on what your character will respond most positively to. Characters will also wake up with a positive body buzz, feeling invigorated and encouraged to be productive.
The form for filling out your character's productivity for the 110-113 cycle is here. There will be a top-level posted for reacting to the results ICly, but please give me a chance to catch up and post it before reacting to these details ICly.
THE NEW DELTAS↴
Four characters have been uplifted to Delta this round: Sans, Rita, Tyki, and Yukio. Sans had a bit of a head start as he was promote to Delta has part of a trial on Day 108. Once formally inducted into Delta, characters will no longer be living with the other characters, and will be moved into bigger and better housing. Given there are four of them, they will be split into pairs for rooming: Sans/Tyki, and Rita/Yukio.
More specifics to the transition will be explained in character, but for the sake of OOC planning, here is some information regarding their new accommodation. Each pair will be moved into a small apartment space (picture one, picture two) which they will share for the foreseeable future. There is only one, double bed that they are implied to share, but one can also sleep on the couch if it is preferred. There is a required 'lights out' time where they need to rest, following the same hours that it did in Eta, Zeta, and Epsilon. However, there are communal areas that are open to Deltas and other staff, and the doors are not technically locked at night.
Characters in Delta will also have their bodysuits removed, and replaced with a more normal outfit that they can remove at their leisure. The close-fitting white parts will function similarly to the bodysuits in that they will clean the body automatically, though showers are available in housing, with normal water settings and also a quick-use vapor spray to achieve rapid cleanliness. The uniform comes in two varieties: with sleeves and without sleeves. Gloves will be used during work. They will still not have to eat or use the washroom at a base level, but they will be given some limited food types to eat for enjoyment.
During the day, Deltas will have shifts where they are tasked to 'observe' from within the Farm area, so they won't be completely out of touch. However, they are expected to refrain from fraternizing, as they are no longer considered part of the test group.
More information on Deltas will be supplied ICly on Day 110. |
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| PRODUCTIVITY RESULTS↴
As the first four day cycle comes to a close, subjects will be given the opportunity to find out how they performed. These spreadsheet results will be posted on a public scoreboard, though in a much more gleaming and futuristic layout. Green is 'Outstanding', Yellow is 'Satisfactory', and Red is 'Below Expectations'. Checkmarks represent credited trials, and X's mean the character's score was lowered due to Eta status. These scored will be posted at the end of the work day on Day 105.
Staring Day 106, those with a score of "Below Expectations" will begin to suffer the following effects:
- During the work day of 106, they'll find themselves growing hungry for the first time since their arrival. This will occur even if they usually don't get hungry or need to eat. This hunger will proceed at the rate expected, presuming they ate the day before, but aren't eating now. This hunger will not go away that night or the following work days, and will grow gradually worse as the days pass, but not quite to the scale that a realistically starving person would feel. It plateaus as a degree that is nagging, distracting, and almost painful.
- They will be more easily fatigued, though it's not as bad as it would be for someone who isn't eating at all normally, it will be enough to make everything harder. Generally, they feel bad. However, during trials, these hunger effects will be temporarily removed.
- Hunger effects will remain until the character manages to get out of their 'Below Expectations' rating.
If asked, the technicians will suggest that maintaining a Below Expectations rating this cycle will likely have even worse effects. There is a top level for responding to Productivity Results here!
The form for filling out your character's productivity for the 106-109 cycle is here. |
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| THE NEW YOU↴
As mentioned on the plotting post, those participating in the Polaris event will be permitted to receive up to an uncommon class magitek implant, alteration, or limb replacement. However, instead of selecting the mechanics yourself, instead I am asking you to provide me with some basic information about what you're interested in - the rest of the details will be filled in by the mods, and explained in a short scene detailing the trial that resulted in your new magitek addition.
These alterations may be through voluntary trials, or they may be involuntary tests. Either way, I am collecting what people OOCly want here, and then the alternations will be spread out over the event. In order to have this happen, this is the information I want from you:
Character Name: Which character this applies to.
Trauma Allowance: How much trauma are you okay with? Is it okay to lose a limb and have it replaced? Is it okay for the process to be deeply unpleasant? All alterations will be uncomfortable at a minimum, but let me know here how extreme of a change you are willing to take, and how much it can suck in the process.
Location: What part of the body do you want to see changed? If you specify an arm, for instance, and said above that you are alright with an extreme change, it may result in the entire arm being removed and replaced with a mechanical version. Alternatively, a softer change to the arm may be tech panels, metallic coatings, or something that leaves the core untouched.
General Aesthetic: Don't go into too much detail, but give me a general idea of what look you're going for. Do you want something with Tron lines? Something robotic? Something smooth like an Apple product or rough like Cyberpunk 2020? Let me know.
Rare changes may be dealt out as part of voluntary trials or other plot opportunities, but are not guaranteed. Magitek alterations may have functional purposes, hindrances, or no purpose what so ever. What you end up with is mod determined.
Post your applications below. |
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| PREPARATION↴
With the Ringmaster defeated and claimed by the Huntsman, the ownership of everyone she has contracts with will have defaulted to the Huntsman himself - which means he is capable of forbidding everyone the use of their magic and powers. He does, of course, but it turns out he has little interest in keeping any of the Ringmaster's left over belongings. Soon after taking her egg, he passes off ownership of everyone else to an assembly of Winter fae that have been patiently lying in wait.
The leader of the fae in question? The Mother of Invention, a notoriously unorthodox magical scientist and researcher. While the Ringmaster is carted off to places unknown, the rest of the carnival is being whisked away to a place called Polaris for the indefinite future.
NOTE: If your character contracted with Ignatius, special rules will imply regarding their ability to use their powers. Right at the start, they will still mostly lose their ability to use powers, but as time goes on, their contract will conflict with the Mother's ownership of them, allowing minor uses of their abilities on a case by case basis.
SETTING↴
Polaris is a magical laboratory complex in Arcadia, floating just above cloud level. It belongs to the Mother of Invention, and is used by her and her technicians to study and develop magical theory. While stealing away mortals to this complex is a common practice, those taken from the Ringmaster's care are here under special circumstances.
All items, pets, and clothing will be confiscated on entry and locked away, followed by everyone having to go through a 'decontamination' process that mostly involves all the things you'd expect it to. You get scanned by various things and then sprayed with magical water vapor that feels very cold but apparently cleanses. Then, you are given new clothes - that are applied magically rather than being something you physically put on - and taken away to be individually interviewed. Please fill out this form as each of your characters, following the rules as explained. This interview will determine some things about how your character is treated during the event.
The new 'clothes' are actually just weird bodysuits in a shade of charcoal grey, with a texture somewhere between leather and silicon. It's flush to the skin and flexible enough to stay that way, but thankfully the material is thick enough that it isn't unduly revealing. You will mysterious find yourself not needing to eat or produce waste while wearing it. It's also basically impossible to take off on your own. If you are weirdly shaped, or have a lot of fur, feathers, or foliage that would get in the way of this, then the suits are custom applied and can be modded to accommodate such things. The design will endeavor to cover as much as possible while not being completely impractical. They generally won't cover things like tails or wings.
Characters will be locked up in compact cells during the night, either alone or in pairs. If your character is big they will be put in a somewhat bigger cell to accommodate their size, but there will still not be much leg room. The layouts are approximately like this, so if you have a roommate, things will be pretty intimate for your stay with them. Housing is functionally random and may change daily, irregularly, or not at all. Who you room with is your OOC choice, but in game characters are being assigned by the technicians.
( MORE PLOT DETAILS BELOW ) |
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