songerein | { haunted carnival | test drive #08

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{ haunted carnival | test drive #08 - october 2022 }

HAUNTED CARNIVAL

Full details on everything can be found here, but an important reminder that this event log doubles as our Test Drive Meme and information can be found in this section.

This means any outside characters participating in the log are canonly logged as appearing in Songerein in October and will remain in Songerein from the IC date of October 25 through 31 (this log is forward dated to the 25th). However, outside characters can only thread within this log, so for those seriously considering the game, you are welcome to use non-festival prompts for your toplevels. Anyone who apps in and is accepted will have their character count October as their first time in the game without any disruption, so all content will carry over. Those who do not apply will disappear which should not seem too unusual as people randomly disappear already, however players in game can choose to retcon and pretend a character was never there to begin with if it would be easier; or even think their presence was just a dream.

IMPORTANT! All outside characters MUST have "TDM" in their subject line, even if you might not app. This will help people differentiate those who are already in the game and those who are not.

TDM threads are required for samples. Refer to the Game Info for general information and feel free to toss any questions here. Reserves will open Tuesday, October 25th and Applications will open on November 1st. Our application cycles are bi-monthly so the next cycle after won't be until January.

TDM Toplevel Link Directory (click to view; updated 10/28)

American McGee's Alice - Alice Liddell
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Azula
BlazBlue - Noel Vermillion
Case Study of Vanitas - Vanitas
Dangan Ronpa - Chiaki Nanami
Devil May Cry - Lady
Final Fantasy VII - Cloud Strife
Genshin Impact - Albedo
Genshin Impact - Eula Lawrence
Genshin Impact - Kaeya
Genshin Impact - Razor
Great Ace Attorney - Ryunosuke Naruhodo
Helluva Boss - Blitzø
Helluva Boss - Octavia
Jujutsu Kaisen - Fushiguro Megumi
Kaze Hikaru - Okita Souji
Library of Ruina - Angela
Mikagura School Suite - Yuto Akama
My Hero Academia - Bakugo Katsuki
Octopath Traveler - Ophilia
Original Character - Kate Galloway (Jigoku CRAU)
Original Character - Marie Daenthelm
Original Character - Pauline Bonheur
Persona 3 - Ken Amada
Promare - Lio Fotia
Shadow Hearts: Covenant - Yuri Hyuga
Tales of Berseria - Magilou
Tales of Berseria - Rokurou Rangetsu
Tales of Berseria - Velvet Crowe
Tales of Hearts - Chalcedony Akerman
Tales of Hearts - Hisui Hearts (Aefenglom CRAU)
Tales of the Rays - Baldr
Touken Ranbu - Hizen Tadahiro
Touken Ranbu - Ichimonji Norimune
Transformers IDW - Soundwave
Your Wings and Mine - Shealtiel

I. CARNIVAL FUN

The moment a guest enters the carnival grounds, there is a high chance (read: optional) they will find themselves changed in some way to fit the spooky, haunted atmosphere. Instead of just wearing a vampire costume, the character will actually turn into one. Of course, how much of a transformation varies between complete to partial changes. It should be noted that this is only a cosmetic and ability change—no matter what someone changes into, they won't have any personality changes…unless one of the carnival attendants cast a small enchantment to make it so. Of course this is by chance as well (read: optional).

A. Haunted Food. While there is some standard fare carnival food around, the Haunted Carnival has some unique items with even more interesting effects:

Caramel Apples: Tart green apples dipped in caramel and decorated with chocolate to look like they’re covered in spiders and spider webs. Eating one of these will have the dreamer feeling crafty and industrious, just like spiders themselves often are. Also, the idea of eating bugs (or even other spiders?!) suddenly seems strangely appealing…
Cherry Blood Popcorn: Popcorn drenched in cherry syrup and decorated with candy bones. The combination of sugar and dreamotion energy leaves the eater feeling giddy and cheerful, somewhat in contrast to the gruesome appearance of the treat itself.
Funnel "Brain" Cakes: Funnel cakes colored to look like brains when served. Comes in regular or zombie brain varieties. Eating one makes you feel lethargic and hungry, like the only thing that matters is your next snack fix, but you’re not willing to do much more than shamble toward it.
Mummies in a Blanket: Small hot dogs wrapped in biscuit dough and decorated to look like mummies. After eating this, you may or may not want to wrap yourself into a blanket and take a nap—ideally somewhere dark and spooky.

B. FUN AND GAMES. Mixed in with the food vendors are several booths advertising a variety of carnival games, including but not limited to the ones below.. The prizes you win may or may not be cursed. Best of luck!

NERF Gun Shooting Gallery: Use dreamotion to shoot foam darts from a gun at various ghostly and ghouly targets lined up on a platform. Advanced players may want to try their hand at making the guns shoot other objects. Water? Fire? Glitter bombs? The only limit is one’s imagination.
Ring Toss: A series of witch hats are lined up, and the objective is to toss rings on the hats for points. Did something just peek up from under one of the hats? It’s probably nothing to worry about.
Potion Bottles: A variation of the milk bottles game wherein you throw balls to knock over flasks and beakers filled with strangely-colored liquid. In most cases, the spilled potion is totally harmless. Once in a while, however, it may have some interesting effects on the player and/or the booth itself.
Slime Pit: There’s a giant pit of slime with a sign next to it: prizes within for those willing to get a bit messy! Said prizes range from giant candy bars to random silly toys to skeletal limbs…? Oh that belongs to the skeleton having fun in the pit, they might want it back.

II. ATTRACTIONS

A. Hall of Mirrors. A classic maze of mirrors that are usually filled with special effects to make one's reflection look distorted. In the beginning the distortions are more humorous, making one look super skinny or extremely curvy. However, the deeper one goes, the reflections begin to look a bit…strange. The mirrors begin to reflect the "worst" side of an individual, but in a more embarrassing manner. When they first wake up in the morning, having a bad hair day, dressed poorly, being lazy on the couch—mostly benign things that would be embarrassing to show others. But there are some that may reveal one's darker self they wish to hide from others and are forced to face—especially when the reflections will step out and follow the original until the end of the maze. They won't do anything, just follow silently like a shadow, but even that may be taxing for anyone, especially if others see. The reflection must either be pushed back into an empty mirror, or it will disappear on its own when exiting the building.

B. Wild Carousel. The creatures on this carousel are not just colorful painted steeds but are more frightening in nature and looking more undead than living. Skeletal horses, direwolves, fanged deer with bloody horns. What makes this ride truly terrifying, however, is that the creatures are alive, restrained only by the pole stuck through them. But there are times when they manage to break free, causing havoc as they run through the park. The only good news is they don't attack, instead aiming for the carnival food as if hungry. Either hang on or help capture them back!

C. Cirque du Souleil. Near the center of the carnival is a large circus tent, and it boasts a variety of shows that are death defying, terrorific, and guaranteed to make everyone scream in fright and awe. The usual acts are available to see: acrobatics, musical performances, theatrical skits, and using ghostly steeds to ride through the large arena. But what makes this circus unique is that all the performers are capable of separating their soul from their physical body, similar to astral projecting or dreamwalking outside of dreams and being visible to all. And now they're asking for volunteer pairs to either participate in a more simple act such as an acrobatic stunt on the swings or tight rope…or eat a special candy that will allow them to have an out of body experience via dreamwalking outside. The only "flaw" is their dreamwalking form will tend to float up to the top of the tent, so their partner who hasn't eaten the candy has to tether them via dreamotion to get through some simple obstacles. No worries, the professionals will help return the soul if they get lost.

D. Spinning Bumper Cups. A combination of the classic bumper cars and spinning cups rides, this attraction has its riders in skull shaped bumper cars that will randomly spin. Riders have the ability to fire off "pumpkin bombs" at the others, which will splatter pumpkin goop to slow down their car. It will also make the car spin for a few rotations. Dreamotion will also help boost the speed, stabilize a spinning car faster, and make the pumpkin bombs more explosive. Just be careful—the barrier around the arena is made of bones and therefore quite brittle. It's not unusual to see a car spin out and lose control driving through the carnival grounds. Stop the runaway car and bring it back! Or shoot people with pumpkin bombs.

E. Ferris Wheel. Ah, the ferris wheel, a gentle ride that elevates one high in the air to allow them to see the sights below, in this case the entire carnival grounds and the surrounding areas like the bordering forests, the Observatory, and the edge of Reverein. However, as with everything in this carnival, the ride is not always so gentle. There are times when the entire ride accelerates to a faster pace, causing the (fortunately) enclosed cabins to rock dangerously as it rotates around. There are times when it keeps going, not letting anyone off until three rotations. And then there are times when the top half of the cabin disappears, exposing the riders to the cooler winds. Fortunately handle bars will appear they can hold onto, but no seat belts. Enjoy the view?

F. Other Rides. There are plenty of rides and attractions at the carnival, too many to list all of them here. A roller coaster, tower drop, gravitron, bungee jumps, pendulum ship—whatever one might think exists, it's there in all its twisted nightmare glory. One thing they all have in common is the more fear and thrill and screams generated, the faster they go. Just hope the ride doesn't stall and get stuck…

III. HAUNTING CLUES

Although the main purpose for these prompts is to find the clues, anyone is free to use them for general use and not focus on getting the clue. For those who do participate, we'll be asking for thread during our Activity Check! Those who are TDMing regardless of application can also have their threads counted by commenting to this thread and following the directions.

#1. Haunted Dollhouse. There is a special building called the Haunted Dollhouse. It's similar to a haunted house, however this attraction is filled with moving porcelain dolls that will try to scare and chase those who enter (it's quite likely some members of the newly added Porcelain Town have volunteered to help). Sometimes, those who enter are cursed into a doll and are now vulnerable. They are also not always able to move on their own will. This is not great as sometimes the dolls kind of…malfunction and will actually become aggressive. The weapons they wield are also not props, so that's a problem. However, they are small and can only inflict minor wounds and can be easily taken out.

The main clue here is "Villains!' I shrieked. 'Dissemble no more! I admit the deed! Tear up the planks! Here, here! It is the beating of his hideous heart!" To help both those who have turned into dolls as well as get the clue, everyone has to find the right place where some candied hearts are hidden. Fortunately the "blood trail" (it's raspberry syrup) will help lead them to the right place.

#2. Abandoned House. A little away from the main attractions there is a run down house surrounded by trees…and a lot of ravens. A raven with red eyes will guide those who dare or wish to face a lost loved one to the house. Inside it's just filled with faceless busts and empty paintings, but soon they are filled with the images of those lost ones. It could be a person, pet, thing, but they are there, just staring. Only the eyes and mouths move, and what the person hears are their insecurities and fears related to how they lost whatever they see. Anyone else will either see the original blanks or their own personalized images.

The main clue is "And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting // On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door // Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning // Shall be lifted – nevermore". To get out of this house, they have to first look for the bust that has the red eyed raven on it. This will be tricky as there will be many ravens with different colored eyes. Once they do, there will be a small picture frame. They must manifest one or more of the images they are seeing and capture it into the frame. This is simply done by waving it like a net, but the manifestation can move around. This can be as easy or difficult as a player wants, and how affected the character is from what they see and hear can also be a factor. The more affected they are, the easier it is to manifest but difficult to capture. The less affected, it will be more difficult to manifest as they have to tap into that raw fear, but will be easier to capture.

#3. Hay Bale Maze. Just outside of the circus tent is a large hay bale maze with the hay…looking as if it's seen much better days. It's filled with spooks that like to jump scare maze goers or bodiless limbs that reach out to grab, but aside from that it's harmless. Except for one particular figure.

The main clue is "Who dares?" he demanded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood near him --"who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask him --that we may know whom we have to hang at sunrise, from the battlements!" There is a red clad figure wearing a skull mask. He will randomly bust through the hay walls and engage maze goers into a fight. Those who are incapable will flee in terror while the figure will chase, which will be a pretty good clue as to where he is. Once engaged, any weapon and dreamotion can be used at their disposal and the challenge is to just simply best him in a fight (not to the death). Striking the figure even once will earn a victory and the skull mask will be granted.

#4. Musical Catacombs. For a bit more lighthearted fun, there is an underground catacombs that is filled with tombs. Some of them have actual skeletons and ghosts sleeping in them, but they won't harm anyone if bothered. Just be a bit cranky, maybe throw a bone. At someone's head. Down here it's quite lively, filled with music, dancing, and a lot of alcohol. Minors will only get sparkling juice.

The main clue is "'Ha! ha! ha! — he! he! he! — a very good joke, indeed — an excellent jest. We will have many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo — he! he! he! — over our wine — he! he! he!' // 'The Amontillado!' I said." One of the games is a dancing game where the tombs will light up a certain color and participants have to properly hit the correct corresponding floor panel (basically a music rhythm/DDR themed game). Should they make a perfect score, one of the tombs will open and have a crusty wine bottle in it. It has competitor and co-op mode.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ It's a cultural thing. The gesture definitely looks... just slightly out of place on him, but she can certainly appreciate the effort. There's a smile of approval, and she takes a few steps to continue down the path.

They casually pass by a mirror that makes their limbs look like noodles. ]

It is nice to meet you as well, Percy.

[ ...

......... ] Have you been enjoying the carnival?

[ She's usually not too bad at small talk!!! Just. Give her a bit. ]

[ok so he might have passed another test. cool. he's on a roll here.

he follows her as she begins to walk, watching their noodley limbs out of the corner of his eye as he keeps his senses heightened.]

It's pretty cool. I haven't been to something like this in forever.

[a beat.]

You haven't seen anything...suspicious or out of place during it, have you?

[not his mild paranoia...but after the past few years he's had, who can blame him?]

[ No, he's actually right to be paranoid. Her shoulders actually seems to relax a little when he brings it up, like she's relieved that she's not the only one. It's a rather handy reminder as well--all too easy to get lost in the attractions. ]

Not yet, but... I have been looking.

...Were you here, when the Nightmare Troupe first appeared?

[the gods have fucked with his life for the past 5 years so at least it makes sense on why he's jumpy.

to him, he's wondering who's pulling this prank.]

No, I wasn't. I just kind of...showed up here today.

[and got popcorn. and started inspecting the carnival like it might be the next Lotus Casino, even if he's getting good vibes from it.

but that usually means it's bad news.

he catches a glimpse of himself making a toilet explode in one of the mirrors, and blinks before moving in front of it to try to cover it up. is this the catch coming up now? weird visions in the mirrors??? or is he just starting to hallucinate?????]

Um...was there--[he checks over his shoulder to see if he's covering the image up]--anything weird about it?

[ Eh? ...There's a curious headtilt from Susato as Percy is quite obviously trying to hide something, but she can only see bits of white (porcelain??) before everything is washed away with water. For a moment she's forgotten what she was talking about...

Meanwhile, behind her, Percy might be able to catch a glimpse of a Susato in another mirror, throwing an impossibly thick book into a river. A river Percy might recognize as the Thames--or maybe not, but Annabeth probably would. ]

...?

[ She doesn't seem to notice. After a moment, she snaps out of it. Question. Right. ]

Oh. Well... 'Suspicious' might be the word I'd use. Their leader calls himself 'The Master.' He says they are here to entertain, but also that we might find something important that we can use against the Story Eater.

[yeah, he has no idea. he snoozer during geography class and the only place he's been is America so. to him it just looks like another river.]

The Master? Sounds pretty sinister if you ask me.

[monsters were always so dramatic, weren't they?

he covers the next reflection of himself as he freaks out in terror of flying in the sky in the back of Blackjack...]

And what's a Story Eater?

[ Susato nods in agreement. Pretty accurate assessment of The Master, though his question that follows results in a sigh. It's not like she's ever met him to be able to explain well, but she supposes she knows enough. ]

If I told you that it is a being who escaped from another world and seeks to consume this one... Would you believe me?

[Percy laughs, even though he doesn't mean to. would he believe something like that?

man...]

I've probably seen and heard weirder than that, trust me. It's totally believable.

[when you're a child of a god.......]

[ ...Is that a challenge? She can't tell. Either way, his laughter is somewhat contagious. She laughs a little, too. ]

And if I told you that it once consumed our moon?

[ Or heck, maybe Percy has noticed that they now have two moons. ]

[he shrugs, looking up at the sky now.]

I held up the sky once.

[is he just pulling her leg or being legit...who knows!!]

Nothing shocks me anymore.

Y, You did?

[ Said a moment too late before she can even entertain the idea that he might be pulling her leg. Her expression seems to falter like she can't decide whether she believes him or not. A year ago, she probably wouldn't have. Logic and science and reason and all that.

But now she apparently has to accept that such strange things are possible. ]

...You can do that? How? Why? [ She has so many questions. ] Was it heavy?

[...he didn't really expect her to believe him. he was always told to keep his stories from strangers, but this was a strange place in general and there's probably a chance she would think eventually that he was making it all up.]

Uhh...

[that'd all honestly been a blur.

he fiddled with the gray streak in his hair that was starting to grow out, but he knew it was still there. it'd only been a couple of years since it'd happened, but...]

Normally you couldn't do it. It'd kill most people. [almost killed him and Annabeth both] I was helping someone...and it was the heaviest thing you could ever hold in your life.

...

[ Her brow furrows. As she thinks, she's not really paying attention to anything going on around them, and she might have ignored any footsteps she heard trailing behind them. They're not the only one in this maze, after all. She looks down and to the side. ]

I... can't imagine it.

[ Literally. Cannot quite grasp her head around the idea of holding up the whole sky. ]

[he's still paying attention at least, but that's just his demigod paranoia kicking in right now. or always. definitely always.]

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it.

[clears throat, time to change the subject.]

So...mirrors, huh? They're so...shiny.

[....smooth]

[ Percy will find that his paranoia pays off sometimes, especially in strange new dream worlds. His attempt to change the subject is obvious, but not unwelcome, so at the prompting, she'll turn to look at a random mirror that she's probably been avoiding. ]

Shiny... [ She repeats. Sure, yes. ] At least, when you keep them cl--

[ She's looking at their reflections as they pass, trying to figure out what kind of distortion she's looking at next, when one mirror starts to ripple like water. After that, a hand pushes through it, as if coming through a portal. ]

Whoa!

[Percy moves to shove Susato out of the way, and before the next blink of an eye, Riptide is out and ready to strike. he moves to cut the hand off to just give the thing something to think about before actually stepping into the hall of mirrors--

-- but it passes right through it.]

Run! I'll take care of it!

[ WHAT THE HECK. Susato's back straightens and she jumps away from the mirror, quickly standing at attention. She goes from a casual stroll to on guard in the span of a few seconds, but she is baffled, staring at the sudden sword in his hand. ]

Wh, Where did that come from!? Was that--

[ She stares at where the hand had come out from. Was that his reflection, or hers? ]

I, I won't just leave you just because you have a sword and know how to use it!

Don't think too hard about it right now!

[because he's definitely not going to explain riptide to someone in the middle of the fight. life isn't actually like comic books and stuff like that...

he watches as the figure comes out from the mirror, hearing her yell back at him but also not. he huffs in exasperation at the part where she's not going to leave him, when he notices what he's looking at.

it's a figure of himself. covered in the blood of the gods.]

I think...you definitely need to run...

[he didn't know what in the underworld came out at him, and he takes a startled step back.]

[ Regardless of the blood's color, Susato's heart sinks at the sight, because she recognizes what it's supposed to be. She doesn't know what this is supposed to be, but she knows this place is able to pull all sorts of things from their subconscious, both true and untrue. There's no time to figure out which is which.

Susato also takes a step back...... ]

We'll both go.

[ The other Percy covered in gold blood doesn't seem to be doing anything yet, but that makes it all the more unsettling. ]

[he wasn't sure about this all, still. he stood there, holding a protective arm out in front of Susato just in case the creature charged.

he charges first. he spins, bringing the sword down from the top to cleave the apparition in half.

...

except it goes right through it.]

Uh...

[he backs up again, quickly this time as he starts to gently nudge at Susato to move.]

Yeah, let's definitely run.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

{ haunted carnival | test drive #08 - october 2022 }

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