polylogs | Carcosa, pt. 2

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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

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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.

( It isn’t the first time she’s encountered someone on the island who has abilities most humans don’t. Or someone who may not be entirely human. Theoretically, it should have made it easier for her to talk about what she herself is. But all these people, regardless of their powers or how human they may or may not be, are at least real.

She regards him with a gentle curiosity but there’s nothing to suggest fear or worry. )

May I ask what kind of powers you have…? It’s okay if you’d rather not say, of course. I don’t want to pry.

(He glances at her, a bit surprised by her calm reaction. He guesses that she's probably met more interesting, not to mention more powerful people on the island and that's the reason why she's not bothered by it.)

No it's okay, I'm just used to people throwing things when I tell them. Urm, I have telepathic and telekinesis powers. Where I'm from we're called mutants.

( It's something she can relate to. She's fortunate in the sense of not having any violent experiences with humans, as some have, but not everyone is the biggest fan of androids. Even when there's no direct dislike, there's indifference. The prevailing sense that they don't need to be treated as people because they aren't. Just tools to benefit humanity. )

That's terrible. I'm so sorry you've experienced that.

( Telepathy and telekinesis. The list of things Chloe thought didn't exist but seem to grows ever longer. )

I can imagine there must be so much you could do with powers like that.

It's okay, I can understand why people get scared by it.

(He runs a hand through his hair, feeling a bit guilty all of a sudden. It's true, he could do a lot with his powers but he chooses not to.)

Yeah, I could...but...uh I don't like to use them. It scares people and makes them feel like they can't trust me so I try to sort of just keep them in check and that's about it. I guess that makes me both lazy and scared.

It doesn't make you lazy, not at all. I didn't mean that you should be doing something. And... I know it isn't really my place to say so but it seems more like you're aware rather than scared.

( Her heart goes out to him, and so she gently takes one of his hands in both of her own for a moment. )

I admire that you can show that kind of empathy but... there's work for the world to do too, you know?

( Letting his hand go, she gives him a soft smile. )

(When she takes her hand in his he gives it a small appreciative squeeze, smiling sadly at her.)

Thank you, that's very kind of you to say.

(He sighs and gives a little shrug.)

I am scared though. When I was young I...I went through some stuff that made my powers go out of control so now I'm just always worried that it could happen again.

I can understand being afraid.

( As Chloe spends a lot of time being afraid. Mainly of herself. Of things that have been buried deep. )

And of course you're going to be worried but... If you don't mind me saying so, try to acknowledge what you've been doing to help yourself, too? Like when you mentioned tai chi for balance.

(He looks at her for a moment, searching her eyes to see if she is just saying that or if she's being honest. He sees something there, something similar so he sighs and nods.)

I guess you have a point. Sorry, sometimes it's easy for me to fall into the pattern of blaming myself for a lot of things.
Thank you Chloe.

There's no need to apologise. I can be similar myself, actually. I think... sometimes we might need someone to remind us that those thought patterns might not necessarily be true.

( Only in her case, they absolutely are. The blame she places on herself is entirely warranted. But it would be a shame for such a sweet person like Carter to think the same of himself. )

That's true, well maybe we can remind one another of that.

(He offers her a small smile and a wink.)

And maybe we can also remind one another that we don't have to continuously apologize about everything too.

( She chuckles quietly, a little embarrassed to be called out on her apologetic behaviour. )

You're very sweet. And maybe you're right. I mean, I'm fairly certain you don't need to apologise as much as you do. Maybe we can remind each other to look at all the thing to be grateful for rather than to apologise for.

I think that's a good idea.

(He takes a look around the pet shop and then motions towards the front door.)

So I was going to head back towards the temple, would you like to walk with me or are you going to stay with the cute creatures for a bit longer?

I was thinking of staying with them a while longer, so they wouldn't feel lonely. But if you'd rather not walk to the temple alone, I'd be very happy to walk with you.

Oh that's okay, if you want to stay a while longer feel free to. I'm sure the pets would enjoy a bit more company, I'm just going to head back to find some food.

(He gives her another warm smile.)

But this was really nice, I'm glad we ran into one another Chloe.

( He gets an equally warm smile in return. )

It really has been so lovely to meet you, Carter. Take care out there, and I hope we’ll run into each other again soon. We have dance moves to practice, after all.

( This time a wink accompanies her little laugh. )

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Carcosa, pt. 2

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I'm cool with leaving this thread here if you want :)

that’s good with me ^_^