polymods: (Default)
polymods ([personal profile] polymods) wrote in [community profile] polylogs2021-06-01 03:00 pm

Carcosa, pt. 2

POLYMYTHOS: CARCOSA

Carcosa


Ⅰ. CARCOSA
You Are Still Here.

Another month, and you’re still in the city of Carcosa! Isn’t that just wonderful?

You still have access to the city’s temple and the High Temple.

The side effects you may have suffered from throughout the month of May are now at an end - if you had a pesky mask glued to your face the whole time it will now fall off. You might need a little moisturizer, but otherwise you’ll be just fine.

You could sit around inside the relative safety of the temples, of course, but why not get out there and explore the city some more? Come on, grumpypants!



Ⅱ. SPEAK EASY
CW: Optional alcohol consumption.
What kind of pet shop is filled with rambunctious yahoos and hot jazz music at 1 AM? That's right - the best damn pet shop in town! Sidle up to the back door of Curly's Pet Shop and a panel will open enough to reveal a pair of eyes. "What's the password?" you'll be asked. Whatever word first comes to your mind, well, that apparently is correct because you're let in at once.

The front of the building definitely does indeed house fish and birds and kittens, but the back room is definitely not a good place to find a new animal companion; you find yourself in a crowded little room with low lighting and a small bar crammed into one corner. There's seats and some tables, and most importantly there's a band playing jazz music across from the bar.

Why not take a seat and have a drink? It's probably not paint thinner. Probably. Maybe you'll spot some of your fellow Travelers and you can sit and have a chat. Make a new friend who can hold your hair back if you party too hard.

And you better hope that the place doesn’t get raided!

Notes:
1. The drinks are all era-appropriate - you’re not getting Redbull with vodka here - and even if your character has non-human physiology they will work the same as they would on a baseline human. That’s right, your magic or your healing-factor or your vampire blood is no match for these Gin Rickeys!

2. If Curly’s does get raided while you’re there, you can run and hide or choose to engage with the police, who are armed and not too shy about opening fire if you go on the offensive. As with the rest of the regular residents of Carcosa, the officers are human and can be killed. Killing them may affect the colour grading of your Scrywatch depending on the situation. (Is it beneficial to personal growth to kill in order to save someone else, for example? You tell me!)

3. Did you want a pet from the front of the building? Well, just remember that baby turtles and alligators might SEEM like a good idea, but they grow up! Also any animal you take will not travel with you to the next island. So sorry.



Ⅲ. EXPRESSIONISM YOURSELF
CW: Optional paranoia, hallucinations.
If you wander the streets at night, you may find yourself getting turned around. You'll find that the streets have lost their many lights, and the beautiful and delicate art deco architecture has given way to something much more stark and heavy. The buildings are block-like, but they curve in exaggerated ways that hurt the eye if looked at too long. All are in blacks and whites and greys. Nothing looks quite real, but you can walk along just fine. Probably better not to go off alone, though.


Periodically you will encounter that pesky sign of some sort painted on the walls. If you follow the sigils, you will eventually be led to a long staircase that winds down and down until it finally terminates in a large white room lit by a few electric lanterns. There's black paint there, with brushes. Maybe you're feeling creative?

Notes:
1. You’re pretty sick of this stupid sigil, aren’t you? In fact, you consider yourself QUITE the detective and have been searching after its meaning! Or maybe you played Call of Cthulhu a lot in college, you nerd!

Painting the sigil on the wall will cause you to feel disoriented and paranoid until you leave the white room. From that point on you can discover a copy of a play entitled The King In Yellow anywhere in the city you choose. Reading the first act of the play has no effect on you, however if you choose to read beyond the first line of the second act you will spend the rest of the month suffering from periodic hallucinations, often of a tall man in a pallid mask.

2. While there is no compulsion to paint, choosing to work out any of your character’s issues through art therapy can be reflected in your Scrywatch colour if it is significant enough.



Ⅳ. AS FAR BACK AS I CAN REMEMBER, I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A GANGSTER
CW: Optional gun violence, injury.
Art? Theatre? Music? BAH! Boring!

Maybe your tastes are a little more on the dangerous side? Whatever this island may be, it seems to offer plenty of opportunities to get into the seedy underbelly. Maybe you feel the need to steal a car, rob a bank, transport some illegal hooch for a smiling fellow in a yellow fedora. Grab your tommy guns, kids, it's time to outrun the Feds!

Naturally, you could wind up injured having all of this fun, but surely you could get some help from your fellow Travelers, either directly or by having them haul you to some sort of underground doctor. These doctors do exist, although it might take a while to get referred to one by a local.

You might also find yourself under arrest and stuck in an old-timey jail cell for a month. What fun!

Notes:
1. As was stated in the first prompt, the regular residents of Carcosa are normal humans. Killing them is possible and may affect the colour grading of your Scrywatch depending on the situation. Any weapons you find are era-appropriate.

2. You can break out of jail if you’re resourceful enough.

3. The underground doctors aren’t working in a real hospital for a reason. In fact, some of them might be less doctors and more, well. Vets.

You still jamming to that Carcosa playlist?


Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

dothelokimotion: (Comfort was the answer to all)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-06-12 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ bemused: ]

Studying my hallucination has potential, but it might be difficult to be objective and have concrete data on it.
dothelokimotion: (This is a story about you)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-06-12 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
I want to create an informational network. While the . . . scrywatches are certainly beneficial, I doubt it's particularly safe to share anything on there.

Therefore, it makes sense for us to build a cohort of people digging for clues. Picking up whatever pieces they can find and we can all come together.
mewnifestos: (Default)

[personal profile] mewnifestos 2021-06-12 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
For now. Another couple of years of that, and you'll be all hobbled and hunched over.

[ Anders skims a book off the shelves and begins idly fanning through the pages. He can already tell it's nothing liable to hold his interest from the title, but why not give it a second look? ]

Are you not sleeping well? It's usually not a good sign to be nodding off in strange places.
unkindled_madness: (confused)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-06-12 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
...are you requesting assistance?
dothelokimotion: (A thing which exists to be not known)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-06-12 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ he shakes his head. ]

I doubt you can. However, at the very least, I can pass something along.

[ his hands glimmer as loki recreates the illusion that is haunting his mind for sephiroth to see. it's not much, just a tall man in a mask. ]

There it is.
unkindled_madness: (arms folded)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-06-12 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
[A wry look at the notion that his poor sleep habits are going to have any real impact on his health. He's dumb arrogant that way.]

I didn't "nod off." I chose to sleep here.

[He stands, though, because it's not like he's going to continue that in someone else's presence.]
unkindled_madness: (curiosity)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-06-12 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
[Sephiroth blinks, looking over the illusory figure--not just as a recreation of Loki's hallucination, but as a demonstration of his magic.]

Hm. I will let you know if I should see it for myself. I doubt you'll be the only one, given the running theme of this place.
mewnifestos: (Default)

[personal profile] mewnifestos 2021-06-12 04:58 am (UTC)(link)
Really? Seems like a poor choice of place to sleep, when any oblivious passerby could come prattling along and wake you.

[ Judging by his expression (again, faintly amused), it is him, he is that passerby, and he is entirely aware of it. ]
mewnifestos: (Default)

[personal profile] mewnifestos 2021-06-12 04:58 am (UTC)(link)
Sounds better than trying to do it all on our own.

[ Although he's maybe a tad apprehensive, at that. It's not exactly easy to build a reliable network for trustworthy information. Even his own most amateur efforts in the Circle were a work of effort. ]

If you're recruiting, I suppose I'll volunteer. Not that I've had much luck, yet, when it comes to weaseling useful information out of this place.
queenking: ([neutral] ew no why)

[personal profile] queenking 2021-06-12 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
Hey, you never know when you'll need the hamster to do, uh...you a favor or somethin'. [Saxsice shrugs vaguely, chinchilla still peeking out of her shirt.] Maybe you'll be dying and a hamster'll have the cure.

[Then she frowns, tilting her head and repeating the word slowly.] Cho-co-bo. What's that, some kinda snack?
queenking: ([neutral] on my way)

[personal profile] queenking 2021-06-12 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
[The compliment gets a delighted grin, and Saxsice stretches out her legs (very nearly tripping another passer-by) and crosses one leg over the other, showing off the pinstriped slacks to best effect.] Yeah? I feel like a gangster. It's a good feelin'. You look nice to.

[Then she frowns, leaning forward and giving the other woman a long, searching look.] Never able to? You weren't allowed? That's a cryin' shame, darlin'.
queenking: ([up] yeah like totally)

[personal profile] queenking 2021-06-12 05:13 am (UTC)(link)
Real cryin' shame, that. [Saxsice murmurs this into her glass, taking another long, languid sip. It mellows her, helps her tense shoulders relax for the first time in a real long while. She tilts her head to one side, watches him for a moment, then thrusts a hand out.]

Saxsice King. And I prefer whiskey, if I get a choice. [She rolls her eyes, flicks her hair out of her face.] And clearly I don't, 'bout anythin'.
queenking: ([neutral] internal screaming)

[personal profile] queenking 2021-06-12 05:15 am (UTC)(link)
[Saxsice hums softly in agreement, slouching a little more against the bed and hugging one knee to her chest. Her foot taps a couple times, metronome-like.] Gotcha. Thinkin'.

[Tap. Taptap.] ...what're we thinkin' about?
aviate: (( hj ) i think i get it)

[personal profile] aviate 2021-06-12 09:05 am (UTC)(link)
Uh, no alcohol allowed anywhere so everyone ends up making it in their backyards with [He shoots a meaningful look at Alucard's glass.] varying levels of success.

What year is it for you?
aviate: (( hj ) this isn't happening)

[personal profile] aviate 2021-06-12 09:23 am (UTC)(link)
Alright, he gets the gist that this guy knows what Hal's day job is and is holding a grudge against him. Is he some minor villain he stopped once? He doesn't know how everyone handles their Rogues gallery. There were so many things to keep track of.

"I didn't make you do anything! You were shooting before I even got here!"

Hal reaches out for the discarded with the intention of keeping it out of the way except that poop throwing monkey has made a reappearance and runs off with it. That wouldn't come back to become an issue, right? The gun was jammed.
dothelokimotion: (Fear is a reasonable response to life)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-06-12 10:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ it's not but commitment goes a long way. ]

Luck may factor in later.
dothelokimotion: (We are all invincible to bullets)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-06-12 10:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ loki rubs his eyes. a flash of white distracts him before he can formulate a proper response. he waves the illusion away. ]

Doubt . . . yes, that seems to be the aim here.
cryptsleeper: (Default)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2021-06-12 12:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Did you encounter any of the walking dead on the shoreline?

[What a casual way to ask about the topic.]
cryptsleeper: (Doing real research)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2021-06-12 12:45 pm (UTC)(link)
1476. [And, as a point of clarification, as it seems rather pertinent.] In Wallachia. The Ottomans are mostly getting their way with turning the country into a vassal state.
unkindled_madness: (wtf)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-06-12 01:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[If his situation is so dire that he requires a rodent to save his life, he's just doomed at that point.

But his flat look dissolves into incredulity. Of course he knows they come from different planets, but they share a lot of animals and it never occurred to him that chocobos wouldn't be among them. They're so... ubiquitous.

Maybe she's playing a joke on him? He answers cautiously.]


It's a large, flightless bird. They're used for riding and as beasts of burden.

You really don't know what chocobos are?
unkindled_madness: (no one likes HR meetings)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-06-12 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[He pushes some stray locks of hair back over his shoulders.]

The natives are not great readers. It hasn't been a problem.

["Until now" is the tacit addition as he regards Anders. He absolutely did not get enough sleep, because he never gets enough sleep.]
unkindled_madness: (talking)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-06-12 02:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[Seems perfectly normal to Sephiroth. How else do you ask about the undead?]

Yes. More than once.

[Which apparently is neither distressing nor remarkable, as he's still contemplating his line on the wall. Sort of reminds him of Wutain calligraphy... He'll start adding a few more lines.]
neverwither: (It’ll be alright (or I could be sneaky))

[personal profile] neverwither 2021-06-12 02:22 pm (UTC)(link)
( Chloe looks down at the flapper dress she’s acquired for herself. Chloe in pants? Perish the thought! Pulling off the look the other woman is sporting requires a certain degree of cool, and Chloe is certainly not cool. As the outfit is showcased more, Chloe studies her again with a nod.)

At least Carcosa’s aesthetic can be appreciated. I am fond of a good suit. And I would definitely say that aesthetic works for you.

( The woman’s expression is met with a bright ‘everything is super so there’s no need to delve into it too much’ smile. )

But it’s happening now and so let’s turn that frown upside down. None of that on Chloe’s watch. ( A pause. ) That’s me. Chloe. I’m Chloe. And you?
neverwither: (All smiles all the time)

I. Speakeasy

[personal profile] neverwither 2021-06-12 02:29 pm (UTC)(link)
( Kittens! And Anders! How fabulous! The combination of their shared horrors on the beach and the hooch flowing through her system tells her that they are absolutely friends now and she should absolutely go over because that would be absolutely splendid. Also, kittens.

However, there’s an important matter to attend to first. Stopping by the bar, she requests a glass of water and a glass of their finest… finest. Judging by the liquor she receives, the definition of ‘finest’ is pretty fast and loose. It’s the thought that counts, right?

Going to stand by his table, she sets the drink down with a little flourish and a big smile. The water is also placed upon the table with less fanfare. )


I know it isn’t a well-cooked meal but it is the best in the house. For you. And some water for the kitties.
unkindled_madness: (talking)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-06-12 02:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't let it overtake you. It's only another piece of the game we're being forced to play.

Page 18 of 42