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

kyley_b: https://mcnuggyy.tumblr.com/ (hey)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2022-01-19 06:19 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah." He can't help himself; he leans in and kisses Quentin's cheek.

Kyle nods, quickly sneaking a look at his own. Still green. "I stil don't think it's just ethics."
quire: (calm)

[personal profile] quire 2022-01-19 06:40 am (UTC)(link)
"What else do you think factors in then?" he asks tucking his hand into Kyle's as they make the trek from the medical college back across town to the temple. At least now with money in their pockets.
kyley_b: https://mcnuggyy.tumblr.com/ (hey)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2022-01-19 06:52 am (UTC)(link)
"Psychological growth," he replies.

"The times mine has changed seems to either be ethical OR based on my ability to deal with certain traumas or move on from events and shit. That's my own observation of myself though."
quire: (ahmmmm)

[personal profile] quire 2022-01-19 06:59 am (UTC)(link)
Quentin's face cops that slightly pinched look he gets when he's strictly thinking something over. It seems a viable theory and his face relaxes again when he's satisfied with that possibility.

"So what do you think would happen if I committed some atrocities in the name of a totally new belief system?"
kyley_b: https://fmdinisio.tumblr.com/ (yup)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2022-01-19 07:03 am (UTC)(link)
"I'd say the word 'atrocities' already indicates that you know it would be morally wrong," Kyle says dryly.

"I also think doing it out of spite for the invisible forces here would be a little immature."
quire: (omg wut even)

[personal profile] quire 2022-01-19 04:05 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh c'mon I'm just being glib. Obviously if my perspective shifted I wouldn't think of them as atrocities. No one thinks they're committing atrocities when they believe they're doing the right thing." He smiles when he argues. At least for arguments like this. With people like Kyle.

"I don't mean spite related reasons either! What if I have an epiphany tomorrow? My whole world-view shifts! Suddenly I'm, I dunno, justifying eugenics or something. But for a noble cause. Where does the wrist band put me then? You know?"

He doesn't really care if there's a clear answer. Or he does, but doesn't expect Kyle to be the one to deliver it.

"Speaking of... have you ever seen anyone wearing a red one?"
kyley_b: (bookish)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2022-01-19 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Kyle looks at Quentin, brows raised, lips pursed. "I can't say this is an example I'm super stoked on, dude. For a few reasons."

He sighs and readjusts his hat. "I think if you fervently believed in eugenics all of a sudden, you'd wind up in the irredeemable colour zone, because personal ethics aside you'd be like... essentially you treat certain people as if they're subhuman. You take away rights to keep them from breeding, all of that. I think no matter what personal beliefs you hold something like that really is objectively fucked up. It's not like holding onto childhood trauma or not forgiving your mom's ex boyfriend or something."

He nods. "Deadpool's is red, or was the last time I saw him."
quire: (ahmmmm)

[personal profile] quire 2022-01-20 05:21 am (UTC)(link)
Quentin opens his mouth for rebuttal but something tells him not to. Something that does not originate in his id for once.

"Ok maybe that errs to close to objective evil to make a case for it. But like, some things don't, right? Some things are bad things that can be done for good reasons and other things are total grey area. You don't think?"

"Is it? And it has been? This whole time?" he asks, lighting up with curiosity.
kyley_b: https://mcnuggyy.tumblr.com/ (hey)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2022-01-20 06:25 am (UTC)(link)
"That I agree with," Kyle says, elbowing Quentin. "I did just help you rob a bunch of graves, dude. That's a pretty fucking grey area."

He thinks, then nods again. "As far as I know, yeah. But I haven't seen him in a while."
quire: (uh ok)

[personal profile] quire 2022-01-20 08:23 pm (UTC)(link)
He feigns injury over that elbow, and when he's done being dramatic he pulls himself back to Kyle's side. "I guess," he concedes like if it wasn't so late he'd be willing to argue the moral neutrality of grave robbing.

"Me either," he agrees. His gaze lingering on Kyle long enough to make his suspicion about that clear. "I just realized. I'd never seen anyone with a fully red one. Or else. Not for very long."
kyley_b: https://mcnuggyy.tumblr.com/ (hey)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2022-01-20 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
"I guess," Kyle repeats, imitating Quentin's tone, grinning.

"What are you saying? You've got a look."
Edited 2022-01-20 21:05 (UTC)
quire: (hero shot)

[personal profile] quire 2022-01-21 07:11 am (UTC)(link)
He snorts a grumpy little laugh. He'd like to be insulted but he fucking loves it when Kyle makes fun of him. What's that about?

"I've just been wondering if like... they do something with the red ones," he shrugs.
kyley_b: https://mcnuggyy.tumblr.com/ (uhmm)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2022-01-21 07:21 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe because it's done without malice.

"Oh, like slingshot them off into the sea? Probably not. Unless there's some time cutoff we're not aware of. Like if a year goes by and you don't change at all, maybe.

"You shouldn't worry, though."
quire: (satisfied)

[personal profile] quire 2022-01-21 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, exactly," he says. "Or whatever this place does with people."

"How come?"
kyley_b: https://mcnuggyy.tumblr.com/ (hey)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2022-01-21 08:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Kyle leans over and kisses Quentin's cheek. "Because you're not at red," he says simply. "And I won't leave you no matter what."
quire: (sly)

[personal profile] quire 2022-01-22 06:37 am (UTC)(link)
He narrows his eyes at Kyle, but he can't keep a bit of a smile off his face.

"Yet," he feels the need to point out.
kyley_b: https://thedoublepp.tumblr.com/ (resolve)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2022-01-22 06:43 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't think you'll get to red," Kyle says confidently.

"You're working on lots of stuff."
quire: (hero shot)

[personal profile] quire 2022-01-22 06:58 am (UTC)(link)
"It went red once," he admits. "Just for a sec."
kyley_b: https://thedoublepp.tumblr.com/ (o yeah eh?)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2022-01-22 07:01 am (UTC)(link)
"Really? When?" Kyle himself hasn't gone past yellow.
quire: (awk af)

[personal profile] quire 2022-01-22 01:43 pm (UTC)(link)
"When I was beating up Carter," he says. "It was like... an island or two ago. And it didn't stick."
kyley_b: https://burquillos.tumblr.com/ (down to fight)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2022-01-22 04:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Kyle frowns. "You beat up Carter? Quentin! Why?"
quire: (omg wut even)

[personal profile] quire 2022-01-22 06:22 pm (UTC)(link)
"He started it!" Solid defense.

"Remember that creepy carousel? It did something to him. He was going all Super Saiyan and I wasn't gonna just stand there and take it."
kyley_b: https://mcnuggyy.tumblr.com/ (hey)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2022-01-22 06:29 pm (UTC)(link)
"Ohhhhh." He relaxes. "When he was a kid. Yeah, he told me you stopped him. That's fine." He snorts laughter.

"God, you're so defensive."
quire: (awkward)

[personal profile] quire 2022-01-23 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
"I meant to ask Mister Beaubier if he noticed anything in menswear too, but I forgot."

"I am not!" he says without a hint of irony.
kyley_b: https://lafiska.tumblr.com/ (laugh)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2022-01-23 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
"I mean, you're sitting at orange so probably not? I hope not."

Kyle cackles. "Jesus, you're such a dingus. Tell me again why I'm madly in love with you."

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