Carcosa, pt. 2

[polymods]

✖ 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

Comments

[neverwither]

( Oh good. Saxsice doesn't seem to be terribly offended by her prying. Perhaps not everyone wishes they were something else. Or rather, wishes they were someone. )

Is being a werewolf passed down genetically?

( There are lots of things like that she could ask. Things that probably sound like she wants to cart Saxsice off to a lab somewhere and study her. It's all... far too cold to ask someone who seems as warm as Saxsice does.

She ponders a moment, frowning as a less detached question pops into her mind. )

...Does it hurt? When you change?

[queenking]

[The strange thing is that Saxsice is much more cautious about keeping it a secret at home -- but then again, she also has a business to run and a reputation to protect. Plus the Isles seem to be understanding of weird supernatural things and less likely to throw her in a circus or something.

...she also might be a little drunk. But whatever! She nods cheerily, leaning against the bar.] Mmm-hm! Grew up with all my cousins and uncles and aunts and stuff in a kinda...hidden village, I guess. Out in the woods. Everyone was related and we could all change.

[Then she frowns, wiggling her hand side-to-side in a "so-so" motion.] A little? It's kinda like...getting cramps in all your muscles at once, then havin' them all stretch waaaay out. But you get used to it.

[neverwither]

( Fascinating. And Saxsice's candour is as fascinating as the content itself. Sure, Chloe's aware that booze loosens tongues but even so. Before she knows it, her own tongue is flapping away. )

I'm not sure if that sounds lovely or a little claustrophobic... ( Or maybe she's making rude assumptions. ) Though I can understand, a little. Being out of society, I mean.

( It's a relief to hear and also kind of not. Theoretically, Chloe can understand a cramp's level of pain but the theoretical seems woefully lacking when it comes to something like pain. )

Do you get to decide when you change?

[queenking]

Definitely claustrophobic. [That's an understatement, but Saxsice isn't about to ruin a nice conversation by moping about her past.] I definitely like bein' out in the real world way better. Much more to do.

I can now. It takes practice, so when I was a kid it was kinda involuntary -- the moon makes it easier. [Saxsice gestures vaguely towards the sky.] Here, though, it's been much harder, moon or no moon. I hear that's pretty standard, though, people's powers bein' all screwy.

[neverwither]

Me too. Sometimes. I like the real world. Mostly. Sometimes it's... ( Her brow furrows as she searches for the right word. Scary? Not exactly. Overwhelming? Not entirely. Whatever it is she's trying to describe, it currently eludes her. So she waves a hand. ) But I'm glad that you're out in the world, doing the things you want to do.

( All this new information is dutifully stored. Hopefully it's stored accurately and in its entirety. ) I think that's very impressive, to be able to harness your power like that... And that's this whole place really, isn't it? Pretty screwy, I mean.

[queenking]

...a lot? [Saxsice offers this as a finish to the trailed-off sentence, turning so she can prop her chin in one hand.] That's it in a nutshell, innit? The real wide world is a lot. [Then, arching both eyebrows:] I'm talkin' a lot about myself. What about you? You doin' whatcha wanna do?

[She flicks her loose hair out of her face, looking a bit smug.] Thank ya kindly. I worked real hard to get there. [Then, rolling her eyes, she adds:] That's a big understatement, Chlo. Still, least we're gettin' a little fun outta it, right?

[neverwither]

( Chloe nods in agreement - the world is a lot. Beautiful and terrible and wonderful and terrifying. It's nice to talk to someone who kind of gets it. Waving a hand at the next statement, she shakes her head. ) No, not at all. I'm enjoying listening to you.

( She gives the question some thought. ) Yes. ( And then some more thought. ) I think. I mean... I'm not really sure.

Oh, I can imagine. ( She has to laugh a little at the eyeroll. ) Okay, it's a lot screwy. But yes, some fun is definitely being had. Things could certainly be worse, at least. If you don't count the zombies and the delves into the psyche and the generally unsettling nature of being strangers in a strange land.

[queenking]

You're a sweetheart, we've established. You'd listen to me read the phone book and be real nice about it. [Saxsice says this teasingly, gesturing towards Chloe with a drink that's thankfully almost empty, so only a little sloshes over the rim.

Then she arches both eyebrows.] You aren't really sure if you're doin' whatcha wanna? Do you...know what that is? S'all right if you don't, most people don't.

[Saxsice snorts, finishing off that little bit of alcohol she has left.] Yup, aside from all that stuff, it's just like bein' on vacation.

[neverwither]

I get the feeling that you'd make the phone book very entertaining. ( Teasing or not, Saxsice gets a big, almost triumphant smile. Chloe isn't exactly sure what the victory is but there's a victory in there, for sure. )

I... Honestly, I haven't considered it all that much. I'm doing... what's important. What I'm supposed to. ( And that should be a more than satisfactory answer to her but it... kind of isn't. )

Exactly! We can make it like vacation. Why not? It's healthy and positive, isn't it?

[queenking]

[Saxsice tilts her head to one side, then the other.] What's...important. Mmmkay. Important accordin' to who? [Maybe it's the liquor, but she has the feeling Chloe's holding something back, that she doesn't feel fully confident in her own answer.]

Like a spa retreat. Or, uhhhh, a cruise? But on land? [She waves a dismissive hand.] A landcruise.