polymods: (Default)
polymods ([personal profile] polymods) wrote in [community profile] polylogs2022-01-02 12:44 pm

Got the morbs.

POLYMYTHOS: VICTORIA'S SECRET

VICTORIA'S SECRET


Ⅰ. ARRIVAL & THE TEMPLE
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
The ferry pulls into port in the evening, when shadows are long and gas lamps burn through a veil of mist. Dozens of other ships are docked as well, with men unloading crates and boxes from their holds. Beyond the wet wood and lapping sound of the ocean, a city looms like a charcoal smudge on a purple sky. The air is smoggy and thick, and the river that flows from the sea into the city smells foul. Walk the cobbled streets and you will find that the city is crowded and filthy, but full of merchants, pubs, and theatres. Vast wealth and extreme poverty exist side by side.

In the center of the sprawling city is a temple with towering gothic spires and huge stained glass windows depicting all manner of beings that might be gods or angels or monsters. You could look for hours and still be finding new figures plucked straight from books of myth and religion. Inside, the main chamber has a grand vaulted ceiling, and dozens of pews line the aisle up to the altar, which is oddly anticlimactic compared to the lavish surroundings: just a plain stone table with a lit oil lamp in the centre. Two hallways branch off on either side of the room: one leads to private baths and a communal kitchen, the other to monastic style chambers with thin beds. Not the most comfortable place to stay, but it’ll do in a pinch!

Alternatively you can venture into the city and find yourself some other lodging - every Traveler has been supplied with some pocket money. Just be careful that it isn’t stolen by some street urchin. Travelers can also find an era-appropriate outfit that will fit them perfectly laid in the first sleeping chamber they visit.

Notes:
1. Unless this is your character’s first island, the High Temple and anything you may have stored there is off-limits this month.

2. Please remember to mark threads appropriately with Content Warnings when necessary.

3. The city greatly resembles Victorian London, and the technology and general way of life is all of that era. Feel free to explore the city! These prompts are a jumping off point - how they affect your character and their development is up to you.

4. Most food is safe to eat, and is consumable by non-human entities. Most. Some of it’s going to be pretty gross or cooked improperly, so be careful.

5. The people in the city are normal humans unless otherwise indicated. Killing them is possible and will affect the colour grading of your Scrywatch depending on the situation.

6. Have fun!



Ⅱ. SEANCE
CW: grief, past trauma.
Perhaps you overhear talk of it at a pub, or maybe you’re handed a small card as you push your way through the crowded city streets. Maybe you just wander in by accident. However it happens, you find yourself being ushered into the parlour of one Miss Mary Price: Spiritualist.

You and several other people are instructed to sit at a round table in a very dark and musty room. The walls are covered in thick black curtains, and maybe you’re the type to suspect that there’s someone hiding behind them somewhere. Once everyone is seated, Mary Price herself enters the room. The lights are all extinguished save for a single candle.

Mary calls out to the spirits. They communicate through a series of knocks, or the movement of a Ouija board. Someone at the table is put in contact with a deceased aunt who reveals the location of a family heirloom. Someone else is able to say goodbye to a son.

Mary Price looks at you with eyes so dark they look black, and asks, “What haunts you?”

Maybe you answer honestly. Maybe you don’t answer at all, but that doesn’t matter because the spirit tapping around the room is more than happy to narc on you and tell the whole room what or who it is that you cannot forget.

You can deny it all you like, but the spirits don’t have a reason to lie. And if you try to mess up the seance, you will spend a month being hounded by an angry poltergeist.

Notes:
1. The spirit can communicate through knocks, the Ouija, actually vocalising through the medium, or via ectoplasm.

2. What haunts your character does not have to be the memory of a dead person. It can be an event - maybe they’ve never gotten over losing that science fair in grade three. It is the feeling of being haunted that is important.

3. If you choose to trash the seance, the spirit will follow you for the rest of the month. It can range from annoying to actually dangerous.



Ⅲ. THE RIPPER
CW: murder, gore, violence.
You’re lost at night. Maybe you were in the pub too late, or maybe you were searching for more illicit fun - weren’t there opium dens around this time? - or maybe you just weren’t keeping an eye on the time. However it happened, you’re on the streets in the dark.

It’s very foggy; you can barely see a foot in front of you. The streetlamps look like dimly burning ghosts and when the odd person passes you they are felt more than seen, just a darker shadow in a world of shifting shades.

Very suddenly you hear a scream - short, and swallowed up quickly by the fog. Still, it’s enough to get you to turn and hurry down a narrow alleyway.

Sprawled on the ground amid a lake of blood is a body. It’s immediately apparent that this person is probably beyond help - their throat has been slashed ear to ear. Your appearance was not expected, however, and you can see that you’ve startled the killer: they’re running down the alley in the opposite direction.

You have a few choices: you can chase the killer and attempt to catch them, you can try to help the victim, you can get the authorities, or you can just walk away.

What will you do?

Notes:
1. The inspiration for this prompt is Jack the Ripper but you do not have to use that case as a basis for your killer.

2. You can get as involved with this as you would like. You can have your character catch the killer in a chase, or form your very own detective squad and hunt them down that way.

3. Naturally, walking away from a potential serial killer might not be great for your Scrywatch grading!



Ⅳ. RESURRECTION MEN
CW: dead bodies, grave robbing.
You’re not entirely clear on how you agreed to this. Maybe it was a barroom bet gone wrong. Maybe you’re broke enough that you need money fast. Or maybe you want to help some wannabe medical students. However it happened, you’re in the cemetery.

And you’ve got a shovel.

Time to rob some graves! You’ve convinced yourself somehow that this isn’t morally reprehensible, and so you and your partner are just going to get down to business! What corpse should you unearth? You feel like a kid in a candy store!

The problem comes once you’ve unearthed the body because it seems terribly familiar. Which is… creepy. Creepier still when it starts talking.

Maybe it’s a family member, or an old friend. Maybe an ex partner. Whoever it is, they immediately start telling your fellow grave robber about some incident from your past that you just. Can’t. Let. Go. Of. And even if you whack it with a shovel it won’t stop. Bad corpse! BAD Corpse!

Which of course is exactly what you have to try and do if you want this chatty Cathy of a corpse to shut the hell up.

Notes:
1. If you do NOT let go of this past event, the corpse will follow you the rest of the night singing Henry the Eighth I am, I am.

Sometimes I can still hear his voice...


Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

dothelokimotion: (The power to feel unfocused shame)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2022-01-08 05:20 am (UTC)(link)
[ if anything, loki goes more pale at thor's presence, his expression drawn and pinched. thanos gives a low cackle as his grip tightens. ]

Oh no? But we all heard you Asgardian. Cursing your brother as he gave away the Tesseract to me. What was it you said? That he was the worst brother you had.

That's probably why he gave up his life so quickly. Carried it to his death.


[ loki wrenches his leg from thanos, stumbling. ]

I didn't — That's not why I did it. That's not why I —

[ thanos' voice rumbles as if he never heard loki. ]

Always trying to exorcise your guilt with pain.

[ his throat bobs as loki shakes his head. ]

No. No.
assemble_the_lovbacken: (A Lewk . Allsight)

[personal profile] assemble_the_lovbacken 2022-01-10 05:56 am (UTC)(link)
[Thor's brows knit together, head tilting ever so slightly.

He tightens his grip around Thanos' wrist, feeling the tendons beginning to give way. He isn't sure if this reanimated horror can feel anything like pain; he certainly doesn't seem to notice.
]

Wh- [Thor shakes his head with confusion.] What are you saying? I only have one brother. He— [He shakes his head again, this time dismissing the cloud that is starting to form in his mind.

He gives a tug on the wrist, pulling the rotting body closer. His nostrils sting with the putrid stench of decay.

Small strands of lightning trickle down from his shoulder and dance around his fingers.
]

But it's about time that you let go.
dothelokimotion: (Presuming awful things about people)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2022-01-10 10:33 am (UTC)(link)
[ thanos grins before uncurling his fingers from loki's leg. loki wrenches it away, still looking pale and gaunt. he reaches out to grasp thor's arm ]

Thor, let's just go. Let's leave.

[ before thanos' poison infects them both. before loki loses him. ]

Please.
assemble_the_lovbacken: (With . Loki)

[personal profile] assemble_the_lovbacken 2022-01-13 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
[Thor isn't immediately moved by his brother's plea. There is a sinister air about the corpse, and though he doesn't recognize it, it's clear that it knows quite a bit about Thor's family.

Why?

Would Thor really have cursed his brother's existence in Loki's last moments? It seemed incredulous.

Thor gently and barely holds up a hand to still his brother.
]

How is that you've come to possess such knowledge? Who are you? .. Or who were you? Assuming you didn't always look like this. .. You know, rotting. Decaying. Kind of gross.
dothelokimotion: (Nothing waits in every darkness)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2022-01-13 04:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ thanos laughs, a volcanic rumble. ]

This would be our first meeting, wouldn't it? Very well. I'm the one who took your brother in after he fell.

[ loki chokes out: ] Stop!

You never wondered where he got his army? His hatred? He learned all from me. And failed me. So I waited. Until I made sure he suffered greatly in front of you. His worst nightmare. As promised.
assemble_the_lovbacken: (A Feeling . Rethink Your Words)

[personal profile] assemble_the_lovbacken 2022-01-13 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
[Thor keeps his focus on the corpse before him, monitoring Loki in his peripherals. It's a wonder this body can manage to talk at all; its jaw looks as though it might drop to the floor at any moment.

After letting the silence settle amongst them all, he turns to Loki.
]

Loki? [Thor's voice is hesitant, cautious, calculated. He wants to hear the confirmation—or denial (by Odin's beard, he hopes it's a denial)—from his brother's lips.]
dothelokimotion: (Why wasn’t I able to lift it?)

1/2

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2022-01-13 05:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ loki crosses his arms, defensive. his expression is still tight and pale, as if stretched in all corners. ]

I made my choice. He — He may have promised my pain, but I chose my last stand.
dothelokimotion: (Love watches dispassionately)

2/2 end

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2022-01-13 05:57 am (UTC)(link)
[ his shoulders slump slowly and his voice is full of unshed tears. ]

He would have killed you. Better me than you.
assemble_the_lovbacken: (A Feeling . Rethink Your Words)

[personal profile] assemble_the_lovbacken 2022-01-19 07:13 am (UTC)(link)
[Thor keeps his gaze intent upon his brother's face, catching the glint of tears in the man's eyes. It wasn't a common sight, and there is almost a part of Thor that wonders if it is all for show. It wouldn't have been the first time Loki had feigned some sort of emotion to manipulate and knead someone else like clay.

No. No, this time those tears are true, are real, and Thor can feel the lump in his throat.

His mouth opens, then closes, then opens again, then closes again. He knows of Loki's death, he knows that he'd stolen the Tesseract. But .. all this?

Thor turns to the corpse again.
]

What did you do with the Tesseract? What was my brother's sacrifice for?
dothelokimotion: (And consumes)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2022-01-19 07:32 am (UTC)(link)
"Why ask such meaningless questions?"

[ thanos' voice rumbles. ]

"I had need of it. All of them. That was your brother's mission and he failed me. So he was punished for it. No more resurrections."

[ loki gives a sharp, pained laugh before turning to face thanos. ]

And yet here I am. So you failed in that.
assemble_the_lovbacken: (With . Loki)

[personal profile] assemble_the_lovbacken 2022-01-24 05:47 am (UTC)(link)
[Thor can't shake the vague feeling like he should ask this creature more questions, as though it's some sort of oracle that can provide a glimpse into the future. But he also knows not to push too hard. There was a reason that his mother was the one gifted with foresight while he was not.

He reaches a hand down to lightly grasp his brother's forearm.
]

He wastes our time. [Thor's gaze scans the corpse's face and memorizes what he can for posterity before he turns to leave.]
dothelokimotion: (Love watches dispassionately)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2022-01-24 07:11 am (UTC)(link)
[ a part of loki is relieved as he immediately turns to follow thor. but now he is apprehensive. what will thor ask of him? how much more of thor would he lose in the process? when he died, he wanted to be free of this. free of all that came after. even if it came with the numbing grief that he can never return to asgard or thor.

now it seems thor is here, but loki is still unsure of his place. ]


He's . . . not dead. The last I can recall. I don't know how he cam to be here.
assemble_the_lovbacken: (A Feeling . Look!)

[personal profile] assemble_the_lovbacken 2022-01-25 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
[There's something haunting in the whole exchange, like an itch in Thor's mind that he can't reach nor scratch. It unsettles him, makes him uneasy. It's not a feeling he enjoys.]

You don't call that dead? [Thor juts a thumb over his shoulder back towards the decaying body.]
dothelokimotion: (Thoughts are magic)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2022-01-25 03:03 am (UTC)(link)
I call that a trick. A play on senses.

[ it was thanos but . . . it wasn't. it felt like an amalgamation of loki's worst fears put to life, but loki wasn't going to say that. ]
assemble_the_lovbacken: (A Sass . I Mourned You I Cried For You)

[personal profile] assemble_the_lovbacken 2022-01-26 05:07 am (UTC)(link)
[Thor snorts, rubbing at the feeling of something crawling on the back of his neck. There's nothing there, of course. It's like the touch of a ghost.]

What he said - all of what he said. Was it true?
dothelokimotion: (We were only a series of selves)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2022-01-26 05:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ loki stares with a fixed expression. ]

Enough of it was.
assemble_the_lovbacken: (A Lewk . BRB Dissociating)

[personal profile] assemble_the_lovbacken 2022-01-27 04:20 am (UTC)(link)
The truth, Brother. How much is "enough?"
dothelokimotion: (There are no spirits in that sound)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2022-01-27 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ loki barks out a sharp laugh, tinged with hysteria. ]

You really want me to go over the nuances of my death? Or my time with Thanos? Is that what you want?