polylogs | Carcosa, pt. 2

Entry tags:

Carcosa, pt. 2

✖ 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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(Carter gives her an encouraging smile and then stands behind her, placing his hands on her waist, making sure to not hit the lower section of her ribs.)

Okay. One, two, go.

(He feels her weight shift down and he moves with her, feeling for the moment when she pushes off the ground. The second he can tell she's jumped he locks his arms and helps lift her up high, it isn't a horizontal lift but he holds her suspended vertical in the air for as long as he can before gently lowering back to the ground.)

Very nice!

( In the air, she remains focused. The last thing she wants to do is risk hurting Carter with a false move. She feels secure enough in his hold so all she has to do is play her part and not send them crashing to the ground. Despite her concerns, Chloe is balanced and quite poised.

Once she's got both feet on the ground, she quickly turns to him with a delighted smile. )

Look at that - we did it! Well, you did it, really. Are you a dancer as well as a musician?

(He grins back at her, a slight blush creeping across his cheeks again.)

I guess so yeah, although I've never done ballet. Just hip hop, modern and uh...tap dancing. Which I know is really dorky.

I don't think it's dorky at all. You're someone of many talents and, in my opinion, you should be proud of all you can do. Though it does beg the question of whether there are any more skills hidden up your sleeve.

(He laughs and runs a hand through his hair, suddenly embarrassed by the amount of skills it seems that he has. In all honesty half of them are ones he picked up in order to help keep his mutant powers in check, and the others are ones he chose to do because he never wanted to be around his foster homes.)

Uh maybe just one more? I also do martial arts.

( Chloe opens her mouth to make yet another apology for embarrassing him but manages to stop herself. )

I thought that could be the case, since you mentioned wanting a dojo. What type of martial arts do you practice?

I practice karate mostly but also do tai chi in the mornings to help sort of relax and balance myself.

Oh, I like tai chi. And yoga, too. Have you ever tried it? Yoga, I mean. I find it very calming.

I've never tried yoga but I hear it's really good both mentally and physically, maybe one of these mornings you can show me some good poses.

Of course, I'd be very happy to. I'm hardly an expert but I think I could help you run through a good routine. A way to feel calm and balanced might help with some of... Well, you know. How things currently are. Create some small doses of normality where we can, hmm?

I think that's an excellent idea, I hope that our time here isn't always going to be chaotic but...well...you never know.
How long have you been doing yoga?

I suppose it wouldn't be much of a hero's journey if everything went smoothly.

( That's as far as her musings go. This time with Carter has been light and fun and she doesn't want to put a damper on it. )

For quite a few years now. Like you said with tai chi, it's mainly been a part of a morning routine. I haven't done it for a little while though so I hope I won't be too rusty.

I'm sure your body remembers more than you think it does. Muscle memory is kind of a fascinating thing.

(He smiles at her and raises an eyebrow)

So do you have any secret skills? Besides playing piano, harp and singing?

I'm sure you're right.

( All modesty aside, she knows he's right. Even if muscle memory has nothing to do with it.

There's a coyness to her as she doesn't want to come across as tooting her own horn. )

Well... I'm quite good at cooking. And I like to paint. I enjoy being creative, I suppose.

Oooh cooking, now that's a skill I wish I had. Do you make like gourmet type meals?

A lot of the time, yes. I enjoy trying out all sorts of different world cuisines. It's interesting to work with all the variety of ingredients and techniques. I'd offer to show you how to put something together but I'm not sure how feasible that might be here.

( Plus she's aware of coming across as far too keen to make friends. Desperation doesn't look good on anybody. )

It might not work here in the city but maybe one of these days we can find some stuff near the temple and you can show me how to make something tasty.
Kind of like a cooking and foraging challenge.

Absolutely, I'd be very happy to. Although I should tell you now that I don't really know anything about foraging. And I think we might have to be especially careful because the things on the island may not be exactly what they seem.

( That might be overly cautious but the last thing she'd want is for him to get sick. Or worse. Who knows what effect eating the wrong thing here could have upon someone? )

(Carter chuckles and nods.)

You know that's a very good point, with our luck we'd pick something that looked like berries only to have it like...turn us into weird tentacle monsters or something.

Let's hope we can be cute tentacle monsters rather than terrifying ones, at least. A few extra limbs might even come in handy.

( It's a dumb thing to say, and she knows it, but it's kind of fun at the same time. )

Cute tentacle monsters would be the best option, I think I'd want to be a neon green and orange one. What about you? What colored tentacle monster would you want to be?

Let’s see… I think I would have to say… Pink and purple. And yellow. And blue. With some sparkle.

( Chloe looks to the ceiling as if whatever force brought them here might suddenly make itself known. Then she looks to Carter. )

I really hope we aren’t giving the Powers That Be any ideas.

Oooh good choices, you'd be a very cool looking monster with those choices.

(He follows her gaze up to the ceiling and makes a face of comedic concern.)

I hope not either, uhh...we are kidding whoever is up there. Just you know, playing around. No need to actually turn us into these. Please and thank you.

( Her gaze goes skyward again. As much as she’s trying to maintain an oh so serious expression, a smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. )

I’m sure you would mean well but I’m not sure what lessons might be learned from being an adorable tentacle monster. Thank you.

( Plea made, her attention goes back to Carter. )

If the stranger elements of the island were going to work in your favour, are there any powers or abilities you’d like to have?

(The smile that had been on Carter's face falters a little when she asks him about powers and abilities. Normally this is a subject he doesn't discuss, where he's from people are sometimes killed because of their mutant powers but this whole set up is so different and so far Chloe seems friendly and sweet. So he takes a deep breath and sighs, running a hand through his hair.)

Uh. Well...I actually already kind of have powers so...yeah.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject