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!

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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.

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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

PET SHOP

[extrasensory_problems]

You’re not supposed to be alone. Where’s your friend, hmm?

(Carter had thought he was alone in the petshop so when he hears a voice suddenly speak out he freezes, the words causing a sudden chill going down his spine. He turns from where he had been studying a small baby turtle in a tank, half expecting some kind of ghost or otherworldly creature to be standing there. He's already seen weird ocean zombies so he wouldn't put it past this weird island....)

Hello?

(He takes a few steps out from where the turtles are and then sees a girl sitting on the floor.)

Oh! Uh, hi.

[neverwither]

( In her own little rabbity world, Chloe's startled by the voice. At least the person doesn't look like a furious pet shop owner ready to give her a telling off for helping herself to the merchandise. Even if she has every intention of putting the rabbit back.

Probably.

A smile soon appears on her face, albeit one that's kind of embarrassed. Sitting around on the floor isn't the most becoming thing. Talking to rabbits probably isn't, either. )

I'm sorry, I didn't realise anyone else was here. I couldn't really resist saying hello to this little one.

[extrasensory_problems]

I also thought I was the only one here, so you actually kind of scared me when you spoke up.

(Carter smiles and hunkers down to look at the rabbit she is holding.)

Aw that's cute. I've never seen one so round and tiny before.

[neverwither]

I should have paid more attention, I'm sorry. Hopefully we're not quite so scary now.

( Jokes aren't her forte but she attempts a little one anyway. Though it then conjures to mind how there have been some alarming incidents on the island and perhaps she shouldn't kid around about things being frightening.

Thankfully her fluffy companion provides something else to focus on. )

This one seems to enjoy all the fuss. Would you like to hold them? I'm sure they'd appreciate even more attention.

( As she hasn't gotten around to determining the sex of the animal but steadfastly refuses to refer to the rabbit as it. )

[extrasensory_problems]

(Carter smiles and shakes his head.)

You don't have to apologize, I'm just a bit jumpy I guess. The last month has been kind of...uh...weird.

(When she offers to let him hold the rabbit he shakes his head gently.)

No thanks, they look pretty happy right where they are but if it's okay I'd like to pet them.

[neverwither]

That's completely understandable. Weird is... most definitely a way to describe it.

( And while she might not admit it, part of her is waiting for monsters to burst into the place or for the rabbit to morph into an Eldritch beast or that the chirping of the birds will somehow make her spill her (non-existent) soul.

At least it's all perfectly nice and perfectly fine at this precise moment. That's something. )

Oh, of course! I don't think they'd mind at all.

( Chloe angles both herself and the bunny so the little creature will be easier to pet. For the rabbit's part, it makes a curious stretch towards him, nose twitching away. )

[extrasensory_problems]

Yeah I'm sure you understand the weirdness, seeing how we have matching...uh wristwatches.

(He gestures at the ScryWatch that sits on both their wrists and then moves to sit on the floor, since hunkering is starting to make his thighs burn. He smiles as Chloe angles herself so he can pet the rabbit, which he does very gently.)

I'm Carter by the way.

[neverwither]

Oh. Yes. That.

( Passing it off as carefully shifting the rabbit once again, she does her best to keep the ScryWatch's colour out of view. Yellow may only be mediocre but it still isn't a ringing endorsement of emotional stability. Others are no doubt in the same boat but she doesn't want to advertise herself as a member of that crew. )

I'm Chloe. It's lovely to meet you, Carter. It hasn't been too bad for you, I hope? All the weirdness.

[extrasensory_problems]

It's nice to meet you as well Chloe, and to be honest with you it's been.....uhh well...

(He pauses, trying to choose the right word to describe how he feels about all that's happened to him so far. He gently strokes the rabbits back and then finally speaks again.)

It's been a lot. Some of it good, some of it bizarre and some of it kind of scary. But hey, at least I'm meeting some interesting people because of it.

[neverwither]

( She nods along with his assessment as some good, some bizarre and some scary pretty much sums it up. The latter part of what he says makes her brighten. )

That's an excellent perspective. I know most would like to find their way home but... it's also an incredible opportunity in that respect, isn't it? There could be so much to learn and discover from all these different people.

( You can take the girl away from the influence of a scientist but you can't take the influence of a scientist away from the girl. )

[extrasensory_problems]

Yeah absolutely, there are so many of us from so many different places and times that it's like....one huge sci-fi-fantasty type of dream.

(He gives the rabbit a little scratch on the top of its head.)

I saw a woman by the temple with huge wings and horns the other day, it was wild.

[neverwither]

( Is the island messing with her or is there someone who can appreciate something about the situation? Either way, Chloe's happy to take it. )

I met a man who could create fire. A time traveller. I never thought anything like that existed beyond the fictional or the theoretical.

( She strokes the rabbit's cheeks, smiling down at the creature as it makes a soft contented noise. )

[extrasensory_problems]

(Carter chuckles at the noises the rabbit is making, it's probably getting more attention from them than it's ever gotten before. He glances up at Chloe and smiles.)

Have you ever heard of the 'Island of Misfit Toys'?

[neverwither]

( Chloe practically has heart-eyes as she notes the spot that seems to make the rabbit make those noises the most, and she coos at the creature. )

How are you so adorable, hmm? How is it possible?

( She searches for the title but nothing is retrieved from her memory and so she shakes her head. )

I'm not familiar. Though I can imagine how it might be fitting. With people being disparate, I mean.

[extrasensory_problems]

Yeah it's from a kid's Christmas movie, basically it's a bunch of broken, mismatched or weird toys who all live on island together. It seems like a pretty good comparison to all of us with these bracelets.

(He pauses for a brief second and then holds up a finger, suddenly realizing something.)

Uh I'm not calling you broken or anything by the way. I just realized how bad that sounded.

[neverwither]

Oh, no, I didn’t think that was what you meant. Please don’t worry.

( Chloe gives him a reassuring smile. She is fundamentally broken but Carter isn’t to know that. A misfit toy who doesn’t work properly is very apt indeed. )

What happened to the toys in the end? Did they ever get mended?

[extrasensory_problems]

It's been a while since I saw it but I seem to remember in the end Santa finds them all loving homes to go to.

[neverwither]

( While her gaze stays down at the rabbit, her smile is soft, thoughtful. )

I think I like that ending better.

( Saying anything more than that runs the risk of getting into metaphorical musings on the hows and whys of them being on the island. So she looks up at him, making sure her smile is now light and bright. )

And who knows, maybe one day the Powers That Be will be feeling festive and grace us with a showing of that movie.

[extrasensory_problems]

Yeah maybe they'll send us to a Christmas island or something and it will be playing there.

(He says and smiles back in return, in all honesty he believes that things are only going to get harder but he doesn't want to upset her. She seems really nice so there's no need to bring the mood down with musings on how many more zombies they might encounter.)

So have you ever had a pet before?

[neverwither]

Well, you never know. The next island might be more... charming. Something to bolster the spirits while we undertake this journey.

( Which she doesn't fully believe. Her thought process mirrors his own; Carter seems sweet and she doesn't want to admit that the supposed hero's journey doesn't strike her as one that will have much smooth sailing. If Carcosa is only the first stop, she can only imagine what else might be in store. )

I haven't. But I would very much like to one day. And you?

[extrasensory_problems]

No, I got bounced around in too many foster homes growing up so I never got to have a pet. Maybe one day I'll get a dog, that would be cool.

[neverwither]

Oh. I'm sorry.

( There was no way she could have known but she feels she's stumbled into something she shouldn't have anyway. As if to make up for it, she gently nudges their rabbit friend more towards him. )

Dogs are wonderful. Is there any breed in particular you'd like?

[extrasensory_problems]

It's okay, really. Please don't feel bad.

(Carter smiles and puts his hand on hers, gently pushing the rabbit back towards her. He appreciates her gesture but it isn't necessary, plus the rabbit looks like it wants to stay close to her.)

Breed isn't really important to me, I would prefer to get a rescue dog. You know, someone like me.

(He says this last bit with a small wink, to let her know that he's teasing.)

[neverwither]

That's very kind of you.

( The small moment of contact comes as a surprise simply because she hasn't experienced many of those little gestures for quite some time. While she can be tactile, she's learned to rein it in. She gives him a smile in return and goes back to petting the rabbit. )

I think that sounds lovely. You could have a movie all of your own - a man and his dog finding each other to build their own home.

[extrasensory_problems]

(Carter chuckles and leans back against one of the walls, stretching a little to help his lower back pop.)

I think the dog would be the star of that film, I can't compete with the cuteness of a dog.
What about you? What kind of pet would you want one day?