dark_circus: (Default)
dark_circus ([personal profile] dark_circus) wrote in [community profile] paradisalogs2014-10-25 10:31 pm

By the pricking of my thumbs...

Who: Everyone
What: A carnival arrives
When: October 26th-29th
Where: The grounds between the city and the castle
Rating: pg-13 for some dark themes and mild horror

It's the early hours of the morning when everything is still dark that it happens. Heralded by the sound of calliope music and the crunch of dirt as the wagon train crests the hill nearing the castle. Other than this, there is very little sound to be heard as they halt off of the side of the path. A chill wind cuts through the air as a man disembarks the lead wagon, gazes up at the towering walls of the castle, and then directs a silent symphony with the wave of his hand. Wagons scatter and unfold, issuing forth a stream of dark figures and fluttering tents, like great bats in the night. The whole thing takes only minutes, and then is still.

By day, it seems mostly normal. The dark tents are brightly colored in the daylight, if not faded, and the air resounds with music and smells of popcorn and cotton candy. There's plenty to do and see to a casual attendee. The midway bristles with simple fair games ring tosses to balloon popping to a strongman game. There are small attractions everywhere like jugglers and fire-eaters. Those tired of games might brave the mirror maze, though it's an unsettling place even in the day. There is a small zoo to browse. Some of the animals are ordinary - pigs, goats, ponies, and ducks, though there are odd additions such as small blue horses, long-tailed antelopes, and a spotted lion (in a cage).There is a merry-go-round, but a sign out front reads out of order. The large tent at the end of the fairway is shut during these hours, though not necessarily to more adventurous prying eyes.

But the real attraction starts long after the sun has set. Flyers will circulate to patrons advertising the sideshow. Maybe you'll be handed one by a worker, or see it blowing over the leaf-strewn ground, or maybe the owner himself will place it into your hands. Mr. Dark, a tall man in an impeccable black suit, the sleeves rolled back to reveal arms covered in colorful tattoos, prowls the grounds greeting and amazing those he meets.

It's in the dark that the wrongness lurking just out of the corner of one's eye comes out to play. Mr. Dark, stripped to the waist to show off his grotesque menagerie of creatures on his skin, gladly draws in visitors to the freakshow within the dimly lit interior of the tent. See the blind seer, her eyes sewn closed. See the conjoined twins, the bearded lady, the human skeleton. An insect-like humanoid lifts weights over here. A blank-faced bat-winged creature lurks near top of the tent. An elven-featured face, collared with an iron necklace, floats disembodied on another side, invisible hands juggling objects.

And outside, the stationary merry-go-rounds moves, a siren song playing from inside, a ghostly green glow wisping from it's edges like smoke. Why don't you come take a ride? See a show? Step into the shadows...

((NOTE: Log will be divided by days. Please specify day or night in your post header. NPC interaction is most likely during the night, but Mr. Dark is available at all hours. If you'd like interaction with him or any other npc, do no hesitate to pm any mod account or post in the ooc comm.)).
lord_wizard: (Default)

[personal profile] lord_wizard 2014-11-04 08:10 pm (UTC)(link)
So it does, but this makes me more and more certain we should. The appearance of that dragon...tells me that things in Nostos are changing.
inafadingcrown: (Thought)

[personal profile] inafadingcrown 2014-11-07 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, I do not disagree. It is only a matter of doing so in such a way that we do not leave ourselves any more vulnerable than necessary.
lord_wizard: (profile)

[personal profile] lord_wizard 2014-11-07 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
Being alive is a vulnerability unto itself. What would you suggest?
inafadingcrown: (side glance)

[personal profile] inafadingcrown 2014-11-09 02:12 am (UTC)(link)
Only that we take precautions to secure our resources in the castle before we depart, since it is unlikely enough of us will remain to defend them. You have some form of protective wards among your magics, do you not?
lord_wizard: (hand on hips)

[personal profile] lord_wizard 2014-11-09 04:21 am (UTC)(link)
Some. Mine are likely the most diverse, but the problem with any ward is that it helps to know what you are warding against. A few powerful lock spells would be the most foolproof. Such as they can be where the castle is concerned.
inafadingcrown: (mirror)

[personal profile] inafadingcrown 2014-11-14 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
[She nods as she listens] You would know better than I, of course; I do not claim any particular knowledge in this area. [Which is part of the reason why she will deny using 'magic' until the ends of the earth] But I would feel more at ease if the clinic, at least, were not left unprotected. And it seems unlikely that enough will remain behind to mount a proper defense in the event of a raid.
lord_wizard: (Default)

[personal profile] lord_wizard 2014-11-17 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Even if we all stayed in the castle, there's little chance of that in the first place. But if you would like, I can try a few wards on the clinic before I leave.
inafadingcrown: (Default)

[personal profile] inafadingcrown 2014-11-20 12:40 am (UTC)(link)
It would ease my mind, yes, and you would have my thanks for it.
Edited 2014-11-20 00:40 (UTC)
lord_wizard: (pretty)

[personal profile] lord_wizard 2014-11-20 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
I may as try to be of some use. [The answer is lightly self-deprecating, hiding the anxiety he feels at being useless]