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Bang Up To The Elephant
✖ VICTORIA'S SECRET
Ⅰ. ARRIVAL
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
The fog that has blanketed the city for a month finally lifts a little - there are days with actual sunshine now! Not many, and the sky is still frequently thick with smog, but every so often light pours through the holes in the clouds. The river that flows from the sea into the city still smells foul, but maybe you’re starting to get used to it.
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.
The High Temple has also reappeared at the edge of the city, with its considerably more comfortable lodgings.
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.
Ⅱ. COME UNDONE
CW: dead bodies, archeological graverobbing.
Somehow, some way, you find yourself with an invitation card:
Lord Trewlaney at Home: the Unwrapping of
THE JEWEL OF THE SEVEN STARS!
Half-past Eight
Unwrapping? How saucy! Or perhaps you have an inkling of exactly what that means.
The invitation gets you entry to a well kept home on the more well-to-do side of the city. There are plenty of servants circulating with food and drink of which you are welcome to partake. Society’s elite chatter and mingle all around you; maybe you fit in, and maybe you don’t.
Regardless, you don’t have to wait very long for the main event. The host of this little soiree - presumably Lord Trewlaney himself, a little man with a weak chin and an impressive mustache - stands at the front of the room and holds his hands aloft.
“Ladies and gentleman,” he says in a clear voice. “BEHOLD! We shall now commence with the unwrapping of this, a fine example of Egyptian mummification, who was once called the Jewel of the Seven Stars!”
A wheeled table is brought forward, covered in a purple velvet cloth. Dramatically, Lord Trewlaney flings it back to reveal a body wrapped in ancient linen bandages. The crowd sighs, and Trewlaney’s eyes scan the crowd.
“Ah, you there!” he cries, pointing at you. Or maybe the person beside you.
“You folk there! Here, come up, my friends! You may have the honour of being a part of history!”
The crowd pushes you and your companion forward with excited murmurs. Soon enough the two of you are beside the mummy, and Trewlaney is handing you a pair of scissors. Up close the body smells of cinnamon and something else, something familiar.
“Reveal its face!” he urges you. And so, you cut.
Much to your surprise what is revealed is not a desiccated corpse, but your own likeness. Before you have time to react the mummy sits up and turns to face the audience, who oohs and ahhs.
The mummy’s lips part and it speaks. What does it say? Something extremely revealing; in plain terms, the mummy reveals something an aspect of yourself that you would rather have kept hidden.
Oh dear! You can shut yourself up, of course, but before you do maybe you ought to consider that interfering with a mummy was considered a surefire way to fall under a curse…
Ⅲ. IMAGINARIUM
The sign above the door simply reads Cabinet of Curiosities. How intriguing! And at the very least you can get out of the chill.
Inside there are dozens of wooden cases with glass fronts, each filled with shelves of all manner of objects. Some look expensive and exotic, while others are almost painfully mundane. There are taxidermied animals, wet specimens, fossils, glass eyes, rocks and crystals, pottery, statuettes… There’s a little of everything.
As you peer amongst the stuffed ducks and fossilized plants, you’ll spot something familiar. It’s an object that you recognise as personally significant whether because it’s from your life back home, or because it’s symbolic. It represents a dream or a hope you have for the future.
If you take the object out of the cabinet for a closer look, you and whoever happens to be standing nearby will instantly be transported to a hazy vision of what that lovely dream is. It won’t last forever - indeed, maybe only a moment. Depending on what that hoped for future is, you might have some explaining to do.
Ⅳ. GARDENS
CW: mind altering substances.
If there’s one spot within the city where you might be able to find some refuge from the dank scent of ocean rot and the sour smell of body odour, then it’s going to be the Gardens. A jewel toward the west side of the city, you will find a greenhouse containing all manner of tropical plants, and a rose garden with over a 100 different types available for you to enjoy.
But why stop there? There are also areas where you can stop and have tea with a friend. They even have those little sandwiches with the crust cut off! They have cucumber, egg, and cream cheese. Each of these has a different effect: cucumber sandwiches will provide a mild sense of euphoria, while the egg will give you a lot of energy (and maybe some gas). Cream cheese will make you very relaxed and prone to oversharing. There are also perfectly regular cakes and biscuits available, as well.
Prefer to see some living wildlife? Fear not, the park seems to attract several different types of songbirds which makes it a hotspot for birdwatching. There are binoculars available to use for that purpose. Or you could use them to peer into the city’s seamy underbelly. Just don’t get isolated and weird about it.
Sometimes I can still hear his voice...
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
The fog that has blanketed the city for a month finally lifts a little - there are days with actual sunshine now! Not many, and the sky is still frequently thick with smog, but every so often light pours through the holes in the clouds. The river that flows from the sea into the city still smells foul, but maybe you’re starting to get used to it.
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.
The High Temple has also reappeared at the edge of the city, with its considerably more comfortable lodgings.
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. The High Temple and anything you may have stored there is available to all characters 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. COME UNDONE
CW: dead bodies, archeological graverobbing.
Somehow, some way, you find yourself with an invitation card:
Lord Trewlaney at Home: the Unwrapping of
THE JEWEL OF THE SEVEN STARS!
Half-past Eight
Unwrapping? How saucy! Or perhaps you have an inkling of exactly what that means.
The invitation gets you entry to a well kept home on the more well-to-do side of the city. There are plenty of servants circulating with food and drink of which you are welcome to partake. Society’s elite chatter and mingle all around you; maybe you fit in, and maybe you don’t.
Regardless, you don’t have to wait very long for the main event. The host of this little soiree - presumably Lord Trewlaney himself, a little man with a weak chin and an impressive mustache - stands at the front of the room and holds his hands aloft.
“Ladies and gentleman,” he says in a clear voice. “BEHOLD! We shall now commence with the unwrapping of this, a fine example of Egyptian mummification, who was once called the Jewel of the Seven Stars!”
A wheeled table is brought forward, covered in a purple velvet cloth. Dramatically, Lord Trewlaney flings it back to reveal a body wrapped in ancient linen bandages. The crowd sighs, and Trewlaney’s eyes scan the crowd.“Ah, you there!” he cries, pointing at you. Or maybe the person beside you.
“You folk there! Here, come up, my friends! You may have the honour of being a part of history!”
The crowd pushes you and your companion forward with excited murmurs. Soon enough the two of you are beside the mummy, and Trewlaney is handing you a pair of scissors. Up close the body smells of cinnamon and something else, something familiar.
“Reveal its face!” he urges you. And so, you cut.
Much to your surprise what is revealed is not a desiccated corpse, but your own likeness. Before you have time to react the mummy sits up and turns to face the audience, who oohs and ahhs.
The mummy’s lips part and it speaks. What does it say? Something extremely revealing; in plain terms, the mummy reveals something an aspect of yourself that you would rather have kept hidden.
Oh dear! You can shut yourself up, of course, but before you do maybe you ought to consider that interfering with a mummy was considered a surefire way to fall under a curse…
Notes:
1. What is revealed can of course be of any degree of seriousness. Murder? Or do you just secretly enjoy RomComs?
2. Shut the mummy up before it has its say and you will suffer the Mummy’s Curse: bad luck that will plague you for the rest of the month!
Ⅲ. IMAGINARIUM
The sign above the door simply reads Cabinet of Curiosities. How intriguing! And at the very least you can get out of the chill.
Inside there are dozens of wooden cases with glass fronts, each filled with shelves of all manner of objects. Some look expensive and exotic, while others are almost painfully mundane. There are taxidermied animals, wet specimens, fossils, glass eyes, rocks and crystals, pottery, statuettes… There’s a little of everything.As you peer amongst the stuffed ducks and fossilized plants, you’ll spot something familiar. It’s an object that you recognise as personally significant whether because it’s from your life back home, or because it’s symbolic. It represents a dream or a hope you have for the future.
If you take the object out of the cabinet for a closer look, you and whoever happens to be standing nearby will instantly be transported to a hazy vision of what that lovely dream is. It won’t last forever - indeed, maybe only a moment. Depending on what that hoped for future is, you might have some explaining to do.
Notes:
1. All futures are something hoped for. They may be completely unrealistic and bittersweet, but they are something wanted and not feared.
Ⅳ. GARDENS
CW: mind altering substances.
If there’s one spot within the city where you might be able to find some refuge from the dank scent of ocean rot and the sour smell of body odour, then it’s going to be the Gardens. A jewel toward the west side of the city, you will find a greenhouse containing all manner of tropical plants, and a rose garden with over a 100 different types available for you to enjoy.
But why stop there? There are also areas where you can stop and have tea with a friend. They even have those little sandwiches with the crust cut off! They have cucumber, egg, and cream cheese. Each of these has a different effect: cucumber sandwiches will provide a mild sense of euphoria, while the egg will give you a lot of energy (and maybe some gas). Cream cheese will make you very relaxed and prone to oversharing. There are also perfectly regular cakes and biscuits available, as well.
Prefer to see some living wildlife? Fear not, the park seems to attract several different types of songbirds which makes it a hotspot for birdwatching. There are binoculars available to use for that purpose. Or you could use them to peer into the city’s seamy underbelly. Just don’t get isolated and weird about it.
Gideon Nav | The Locked Tom | OTA
CW: sexual content
Churches are nothing new. Her childhood home is, more or less, one large religious site. Gideon sat through (and slept through, when she could get away with it) more services than she can remember. Somewhere after 1,000, she'd given up trying. There are been better things to count. Canaan House. The Mithraeum. Gideon has only seen non-religious settings coming here to these islands.
Which is all to say a dreary church with old grime is nothing new. The stained art is more colorful, something the Ninth House would never go for. She stares at it, parsing out different people and stories. A lot of them, most of them, mean almost nothing to her. Someone else's religion. Someone else's saints. Someone else's god.
The tits hinted at do her in. Once she's seen the somewhat abstracted image that reminds her of her dirty magazines, Gideon can't stop returning to it. With eventual utter horror. Gideon wishes Harrow would perform brain surgery on her, except for the fact that it would mean explaining what and why she wants something purged from her mind. It's horrifying to Gideon. It would possibly kill Harrow.
Multiple attempts to press the image out of her eyes with her fists do nothing. The content is suggestive, and sure there's only one lady. That's a moderate problem for her tastes. The shudder-worthy scene is possibly of her—conception isn't quite the right term. Gideon is the result of more of a one-two punch. Something she went from knowing nothing about to excruciating detail. No one sat Gideon down for 'the talk.' She's sure if they did, it wouldn't be to explain that one day God and two of his saints did the horizontal tango.
Gideon taps her head against a hymnal, but the more she tries to forget what she heard, the more it comes to mind. Not in an abstract imagined sort of way. The kitchen is sans an enormous number of killer wasp corpses the size of people or bigger, but it's in the background, with the dining room (and the dining table, why, why, why, that's where people eat food!) in the foreground. The kissing is really promising a lot more, and Gideon would still believe it was her imagination except that she would never include Ianthe in her imagination of anything. Much less—that.
She focuses on breathing, but even without having ever been very religious, she shudders. After all, one of those men is her dad.
Ⅱ. COME UNDONE
For someone who has seen her own corpse before, this should be less surprising. Gideon's soul gives up, flips the bird, and leaves her body. Leaving her standing there wondering if she's going to see Harrow's stick arms and legs when she looks down. Because that's her right there all right.
Which is how a not-so-mummified Gideon corpse beats her to the punch. "All you have to do is ask," it says, "She'll do anything if you ask her to."
"Will you please shut up?!" Gideon asks. With the questioning tone, inflection going up and everything. The mummy either has nothing else to add or is just as obliging as Gideon. It shuts up.
Feeling the flush on the back of her neck and in her cheeks, Gideon rues the decision, more or less, not to wear face paint. Sunglasses only cover so much. As embarrassing as it is, Gideon starts making her way through the crowd, too large for most people to physically stop. Hopefully no one takes the mummy literally.
Ⅲ. IMAGINARIUM
Gideon stares at the thick solid key. If it were not so deep scarlet, the color of fresh blood, the color of the uniforms in the cohort, the people-sourced ink staining all over Canaan House, it would be nothing special at all. Even if the smaller plain key to the laboratories were on the shelf, Gideon would recognize it. Seeing it out of place confuses Gideon.
Oh, it likely means something. Nothing's come from home that doesn't mean something. The sword she takes with her everywhere means everything. This key's memories are all ruined what happened the last time Gideon went behind its door. What she woke up to.
That's what she expects when she picks it up. Jeannemary staining a ten thousand year old bed previously neat and tidy. Not...
The thing looks like a myriad of constructs all come together to build the construct to rule them all. It is, Gideon knows, a resurrection beast. Yes, it scares her shitless, no matter how many of them they fight. Them. Together. Other lyctors leave their bodies behind, not having a living cavalier in a body of her own. Not Harrowhark Nonagesimus. She and Gideon run/swim/float toward battle. Leaving the physical logical world makes the images lose their sense.
The resurrection beast is its own source of gravity, pulling them every faster toward its spiky clattering skeleton—exoskeleton? Gideon isn't sure—and the simple joy of battle sings in her blood. Harrow does her necromancer thing, like in Response, like fighting Cytherea, and the resurrection beast is made almost entirely of googly lights. It's long hellish work, but working together seamlessly, though cut and bleeding, bruised and smashed in ways not understandable, time stops working. There's only now, this moment, this slash, this block, deconstructing the resurrection beast one piece at a time, until they sink so low the depths swallow it whole.
Harrow takes Gideon's hand, smiling with religious (and something more) ecstacy, and guides them out of the River.
Gideon isn't sure what the key showed her. The future? A future? An idle daydream? But her heart yearns for it, feeling empty and lost back in the shop holding the red key.
Ⅳ. GARDENS
Gideon ate the cotton candy at the carnival. Food isn't always food. Or isn't always only food. So long as it isn't poisoned (and the stuff here in the garden looks better than many of the things she's seen promised as food in the city, sometimes a little sooty if nothing else), how bad could it be?
She grabs a plate (which is so small; how many servings can they have?) and starts loading up. One of everything please.
II
Snaking through the people, Chloe catches up to the woman. "It's alright," she offers with a small smile she intends to be reassuring. "We all know how these places can be."
II
So she isn't at ease looking at an attractive woman, but Gideon gets that's mostly on her.
"Weird as fuck every time," Gideon affects a casual air, badly. "That's some magic trick."
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"You'd think one would get used to it after a while and yet I find it can all still be a surprise." Or rather, her own reactions are the often surprising part. It's like a Jack in the box; knowing it'll pop doesn't mean one won't recoil.
"I'm Chloe, by the way." She extends a hand to shake. It might not all be so weird if they aren't complete strangers.
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She takes the hand and shakes it firmly. That ritual is something she's mostly used to. "Gideon," she says. "Did you go through the funhouse of mirrors? A while back? Similar vibe."
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"Lovely to meet you, Gideon," she returns with a smile. "And yes, I did." One of those unwelcome experiences. Yet within it, she saw how unexpected bonds can grow. "I'm surprised we haven't had flashing signs above our heads revealing some secret or another. Or maybe the Ancient would find that a bit gauche."
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"Sure, this thing blurted something out to a whole audience," Gideon shudders slightly. Thanks, no thanks. "It's still more than a flashing sign above my head. There's... I don't know. It's more like a puzzle than a hammer hitting you on the head. Even if the puzzle is some kind of hammer dodging/catching obstacle course." It all screams You're missing the point, Griddle.
"Fuck, like this one had me literally unwrap myself to reveal something," Gideon sighs. "So yeah, lots of people know that. Kind of defeats the point of asking for someone's help if it's some kind of cheat code instead of common decency." Is Gideon supposed to rethink that? She dislikes the idea of someone wielding it like a weapon instead of the barest inkling of respect.
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"You're right. Being hit, or having a sign, would be passive whereas this... As you said, we're required to jump. Engage and be active. Even if we don't know what's going to happen, we're the ones to make something happen." Be it for the better or worse. Or be it walking away and refusing entirely. "It hits differently when you see it like that, doesn't it?"
The thought of anything revealed in these various trials being used as a cheat code makes Chloe take pause. Possible, she supposes. But shouldn't there be an honour amongst Travellers? Thus far, she hasn't encountered anyone using anything to be exploitative. Unless it's been done behind her back. She'd prefer to think better of everyone.
"I don't think anyone would see it that way," she says softly. "As we're all experiencing similar things, I think it can make others more mindful, if anything." She can't speak for the native islanders but, for the most part, they don't seem there enough to start asking for favours. Outside of whatever hoops are being jumped through in the name of personal growth.
no subject
Gideon shrugs. "We get what we take out of it. Whether that's a bloody fist or changing habits," she says. "I don't know. It's kind of a nothing's changed but everything's changed kind of thing. At the same time." Do not ask her to explain how that's possible. She's using the best words she has. "Doing nothing. Interacting with nothing and no one. Ignoring the 'how don't you starve to death' issues, it's still a choice. No matter how contrived any of this is, we always have a choice." That's the truth, end of the day, no matter how pinned and cornered life gets.
"Lets just say my reaction to all this would be a whole lot different if there wasn't a choice and leave it at that," Gideon says. She nudges her shoulder against Chloe's since touch is something welcome. At least a little. "You can probably guess how that'd go, given all—" Gideon waves one hand.
"And there's a lot of us. I doubt we're all taking anything the exact same way."
no subject
"Exactly! I've thought of it as the Ancient setting the stage but, ultimately, we're the players, not puppets. If it really was a case of forced engagement, one would think there would be more, well, force." Yes, there have been consequences, punishments, however one might like to think of them. Still, they haven't been made to do a single thing. Not really. Chloe knows about following scripts someone else has written all too well.
She smiles at the nudge, though it fades as the expression isn't in-keeping with what she wants to convey when she speaks. "If it's any sort of consolation, I can understand. For some, the smallest of choices can hold weight." She doubts she has to spell out that she considers herself amongst them.
no subject
"Some of those people might be amateurs," Gideon says, "compared to someone like the Ancient. But I'll still take whatever length of leash I have and do what I choose to do." Harrow's the tightest leash of all, but the Ancient probably already knows that.
Gideon doesn't know Chloe well enough to know how a hug would go over. "If it helps, you made a good one," she says, "Coming over and talking with me."
III
He does know battle. The joy of the fight, of a challenge. But, being in it with someone... He's never fought an opponent with the certainty of an ally who could keep up with him. So on the whole, even that is still strange.
"...is that really what your world is like?"
III
"More or less," Gideon says, "Since we left the Ninth House." The calm moments more resemble the universe taking a deep breath before letting loose hell than true evenness to the world. Gideon barely remembers the River. She waves one hand, still holding the key, "Most of that was in the River, so spirits, the dead, eats most people up in a matter of seconds. If you count that as the world." She shrugs. Only Crux would maintain a relationship with Harrow for a sense of ordinary life.
no subject
He eyes her over, because clearly she wasn't 'eaten up in a matter of seconds.' Even if it was a fantasy, she speaks as though she's familiar with it. Probably something to do with the necromancy, he decides.
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"Yeah," Gideon eyes the space around them, as though it threatens to turn into the River for realsies. "That's where I was when..." she shrugs. "Guess the River took me here."
no subject
Sephiroth follows her glance, briefly, but it's just the shop now. Nothing exciting jumping out for a fight. "Is that why you thought this was the afterlife?"
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"The ten thousand year old person I was with said we were going to die, it was a matter of how," Gideon says, "So I took my chances. What with them being one of the handful of people who've skinny dipped in the River"—actually, is that true? Since it was the cavalier and not the necromancer? Well, the saints still fly through the River willy nilly, so yeah, it's probably still true—"And this not being—it still doesn't seem like 'real' life. Yeah. What did you think it was?"
no subject
After a pause, though, he does add, "I suppose, that first day, I thought it was a dream. That seemed more plausible than to have left my Planet behind."
no subject
She tucks the key down her shirt, getting a few goosebumps for her trouble. It's the safest place she knows to store something that small. Not that it's of any use here. "Especially if you can't remember leaving the planet or time passing or being bested or ambushed and kidnapped." How many times had Gideon looked up that tight passage Cohort shuttles flew down to deliver supplies or godly summons or whatnot? "Did you come over to the island with the swim suits and free food and surfing and dancing? Like it was one big party, ignoring or including the people nearly drowning as best fits what you think of as a party? There were so many hot women, I was gonna be mad if I were dreaming." She's not spent much reflection on that, her first island.
Gideon looks around them. "Do you want to go back?" Gideon asks. Not that this place is some heaven. It isn't so simple as all that. But it's still been a better more peaceful life than she ever knew at home.
no subject
At her question, though, he gives his head a slight shake. "I want to go forward. I want the choice to be there, or not, as it suits me."
no subject
With effort, Gideon doesn't look around them, so as to ask what direction forward is. Sure, she said 'back' to where he came from, but it's hard to ask about the even more unknown wherever the fuck else that exists is. Or how one would get there. "Choice to go where you want, check," Gideon says. She can agree with that one. "That'd be a new one."
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Sephiroth has never had an abundance of choices, but he doesn't care to reference how long that's been the case. "These islands are lacking in choice, certainly."
no subject
"It is very 'get in the boat, losers, we're going to [insert island here],'" Gideon agrees. "Which technically is a choice. Pretty shitty one, but..." She shrugs. "We still get to choose what we do here, and the Fourth Island let us go shopping. I think I have more possessions now than I've ever had back home."
no subject
"We cannot choose not to get in the boat. I've tried it. I don't recommend it." Especially not if she wants to keep all of those new possessions of hers.
no subject
Her attention focuses on the fact Sephiroth tried not getting on a boat. Gideon's never had a reason to stay somewhere. Sure, she'd revisit pretty much any of the islands if it comes up, but she hasn't liked any of them enough to want to live there for all her days. Also it doesn't seem like it'd get Harrow home. "What happened?"
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