polymods: (Default)
polymods ([personal profile] polymods) wrote in [community profile] polylogs2021-05-01 03:00 pm

Destination: Carcosa

POLYMYTHOS: CARCOSA

Carcosa


Ⅰ. THE TEMPLE
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
The island's harbour is full of other ships, although not a single one of them seems to actually have a human being aboard. (You could certainly try to steal one, but doing so is an exercise in futility - you will find that even if you set off into the ocean you will wind up right back in the harbour again after spending a few hours lost in the fog.) Beyond the harbour is a glittering city of glass and gold. Curving arches and sharp geometric lines are the hallmarks of the architecture - an art deco paradise that whispers of decadence and hope for the future.

The people who crowd the streets wear suits and hats, drop-waist dresses and furs. Their faces are all blank smiles. It's the roaring twenties, darling, why do you look so concerned?

If it is your first experience of the Endless Isles, you have access to the High Temple. Should you wish, you may also seek out the island's own temple as well, which is located inside the city, in a district mostly forgotten by the residents. Don’t worry - your feet will carry you there.

The building is not large, and it is old and neglected. It has a domed ceiling, with panels of glass crisscrossed with metal painted gold curving upward. Whatever fine pattern may have formed there is lost to time; the glass at the centerpoint of the dome is gone, letting in the smell of the sea.

There are rooms equipped with beds spreading out like a spiderweb from the middle of the building. The temple proper is of course in the exact center, below the broken dome. In the middle of this circular room you will find dead branches gathered together to make a vaguely humanoid shape. This crude figure has been haphazardly painted yellow. A slab of concrete sits in front of it. There is not much to explore here; it is very quiet.

Either temple is a good place to simply rest, or meet some of your fellow Travelers. The High Temple of course has the Temple Chef and its usual Guardians, Flock, and Lantern.

The Island Temple has its own Guardians, which are small, pale humanoids with perfectly blank faces and small antlers like young deer. They will leave you alone unless you try to meddle with the central room. Doing so will result in one of them approaching you, and you will find yourself falling unconscious on the floor.



Ⅱ. THE MASQUERADE
Through happenstance, you find yourself in an enormous ballroom. Low couches are dotted everywhere, and a live band plays somewhere at the end of the massive space. A long bar takes up one side of the room, bottles sparkling under the light cast from the many cut-glass chandeliers hanging overhead. Champagne flows freely, and the scent of gin pervades the air.

All of the attendees are wearing masks.

You're dressed for the occasion, of course - you will find yourself wearing something reminiscent of 1920s America, with a small yellow sigil of some sort pinned to your breast. Ask any of the guests about it and they will tell you, "ah, it's a secret." You too, of course, are wearing a mask. You did not pick this mask, but if you look in the mirror hung over the bar you will find that it nonetheless hints at some aspect of your personality.

Which would be all well and good, except that you can't take the bloody thing off.

Moving around the ballroom, you will discover that a few other people also have the yellow sigil pinned to their clothing. It probably shouldn't surprise you that these people are all other Travelers, equally unable to take their mask off.

No, you can't unmask until you share something with your new-found friend: a secret. A REAL one, the sort you'd never speak aloud.

Of course, you can choose not to share. If you choose that route, however, you'll find that the mask is fusing with your skin. Leave it on past midnight when the cries of "UNMASK! UNMASK!" begin, and it will simply become your new face for the duration of the month.



Ⅲ. THE PLAY
Maybe parties aren't your style. No fear, there's plenty more to do and see in such a wondrous city. There's a theatre - the Meliora Grand as a matter of fact - and perhaps you're just the sort of person who would like to take in the arts.

The theatre has plush seats, and fabulous electric sconces lining the wall. Once you take your seat you'll find yourself looking at the stage, where a blood-red velvet curtain hangs. The theatre doesn't seem to fill up - indeed, it really seems that there's only you and one or two other people there. Curious.


The lights go down and the curtain is drawn open, revealing... well. Not much.

There are two chairs on the stage, a table between them. On the table lays a pallid face: a mask. Just a mask. Why not go on up and take a closer look?

Should you choose to touch the mask, you will feel a deep urge to speak to whoever else is in the theatre. You will, in fact, feel the desire to act out some sort of emotional trauma with them. Perhaps they suddenly look like your mother, your father, a lover who left you. Why don't you tell them how you really feel?

Naturally, you can both just sit in awkward silence instead. You'll be waiting until the morning to be let out, if that's the case.



Ⅳ. LOST CARCOSA
CW: the undead.
You find yourself walking along the beach at night. Along the shore the cloud-waves break, and black stars rise above you.

You can't quite pinpoint when you realise you are no longer alone. Maybe there is only one other person on the beach with you, or perhaps a few; you move as one down the expanse of sand until you realise there is something laying up ahead of you.

There is a heap of yellow cloth there, dry and tattered with age. It smells faintly of spices. Nestled among it is a jewel-encrusted human skull. Its empty sockets compel you to sit down in the cool, bone-white sand, to sit and speak to those around you about loss.

Everyone has lost something important to them. A person, a thing, a place, an aspect of the self. Something that's gone and you're never getting back. The skull grins endlessly, endlessly, encouraging you to speak about something you may not have laid to rest.

You can resist this compulsion. Maybe you were never good at sharing. Refuse the skull's silent request and you may continue down along the beach, or perhaps head back the way you came. As you walk, however, you will notice that there is a fog rolling in. It comes in off the sea/sky, obscuring the beach until you can barely see.

It's a terribly handy cover for the corpses that are shambling out of the surf. Wet, bloated, with eyes that glow a dim gold, they head for you silently. They wish to drag you back with them, into the depths. Better hope you can outrun or outfight them.

Bonus: What's that? You want a Carcosa playlist? You've got it, babes!


Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

howlett: (eh?)

(⇀‸↼‶)

[personal profile] howlett 2021-05-03 11:14 pm (UTC)(link)
"I hate experimental theatre..." he mutters and pulls his feet off the arm of that chair to stand up and approach the stage where the lanky redhead is hollering at him from in the hopes that a closer look will clear things up.

"I dunno who you're seein' out here but you got the wrong guy, bub. Maybe even the wrong place. You drunk? You eat somethin'?"
what_fourth_wall: (Better than Wolvie)

It's good! I'm a huge fan of non-standard gins that don't rely on juniper!

[personal profile] what_fourth_wall 2021-05-03 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
"Look, that Green Lantern movie was really rough on me alright? I mean, why would I do that? Why would I let DC own my destiny for so many years instead of doing my true destiny, a Deadpool movie? Deadpool is by far the vastly superior character. I mean, what other character could make the leap from the sinking Fox ship to the Disnified MCU? NO ONE, that's who. And I, I mean Deadpool, did that at his most rated R, which is usually a big no-no for the Mouse but you can't argue with the Benjamins. I made the leap, but you know who didn't? Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. That's right. I'm better than even that loser."

(Hugh Jackman chose to retire, you dipshit.)

It's okay Kyle, what is time anyway? Deadpool whips out a bottle of Aviation from a convenient pouch. How does a fancy party suit have a bajillion pouches? Contracts, my friend. Deadpool is contractually obligated to have pouches. It's a thing.

"I seriously do." He also pulls out a few glasses from another pouch. "Glasses too. Let's get wasted and forget about zombies and psychos on the beach."

(Never mind that he thinks YOU are the psycho.)

"Gin fixes all things. Especially Aviation gin. Statistically the best gin if you run the numbers right."

In the background Jeff the Land Shark is leaping on a zombie and taking it down with much chomping.
motiontostrike: (pic#14407477)

temple

[personal profile] motiontostrike 2021-05-03 11:23 pm (UTC)(link)
The first thing he notices when he wakes is that the mask is missing.

Since the day of his sentencing, he's scarcely removed the veil that both shrouds and illuminates the only identity that matters anymore. Thanks to Matt Murdock, Daredevil is a complete sentence. He's been booked in as him, and has spent the last several weeks showering as him, eating as him, sleeping as him, and steadily allowing his conscious sense of self to begin and end with him.

Now Matt Murdock stands near the inner sanctum of the High Temple, uncloaked and wary. What he's managed to discern thus far amounts to very little: If this all is an illusion, it's more powerful than any he's ever encountered before. And no one who has offered him food, garments, or shelter appears to be lying about their willingness to provide. Nevertheless, he's wary to accept any of it.

It's the familiar voice that catches his attention, and the scent of the man is so familiar it's nearly visceral. He wanders a few paces closer than can be strictly casual. "When they said 'temple,' this wasn't quite what I had in mind."
directrix: (side:  you can't be serious)

[personal profile] directrix 2021-05-03 11:30 pm (UTC)(link)
It lets in the air.

[ As if that makes it acceptable. But Zelda doesn't think it detracts from the dark beauty of the temple. ]

What do you think? [ She gestures to the central sigil, the concrete slab. ] Sacrificial?
extrasensory_problems: (tank)

[personal profile] extrasensory_problems 2021-05-03 11:40 pm (UTC)(link)
He's breathing heavily and it takes him a moment to even register that Kyle is there, his head finally clear of that insistent buzzing and the awful feeling of something trying to crawl inside his mind. He turns and looks at Kyle, his eyes thankfully no longer blank and lost looking but now confused and concerned.

"Kyle?" He asks and takes a step towards him, "Shit. Are you okay?"
motiontostrike: (pic#14255263)

masquerade

[personal profile] motiontostrike 2021-05-03 11:49 pm (UTC)(link)
If not for the fact that he's yet to locate the magical strap to loosen his own elaborate costume, Matt might find something homey about this getup. The clothing is a little more reminiscent of something he might find in his brother's wardrobe: a peach and yellow striped shirt beneath a white waistcoat and matching set of trousers. The mask, though, is almost too on point. The gold filigree twists up the sides of his head and into the illusion of small horns, but the eyes are completely covered.

At least it leaves him free to drink. He's carrying around a snifter of amber-colored liquid and deftly positioning himself away from the brassy band and their swinging tunes. "You're stuck too, I take it?"
cryptsleeper: (i have an idea it's kind of a dick move)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2021-05-03 11:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll be happier for high tide.

[Fresh air is fine, but the scent of the ocean has quickly become overwhelming.

The question gets silence for a few moments, as the dhampir is careful to lean in without getting too close. It seems a poor idea.]


If it is, the nature of the offering is impossible to deduce. There's no area for votives, nor do I see pots where one might place a stick of incense. No marking on the floor from weapons either. Food could be a possibility, and one easy enough to keep an eye on right now.
quire: (phoenix fire)

cw: suggestions of suicide

[personal profile] quire 2021-05-04 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
Looking like he's about to storm off the voice stops him and he whirls back around to Kyle with the same fury he'd previously been impressing upon no one at all.

"You! You egomaniacal corporate mascot! For someone with ALL the answers surely you should have known THAT. It's YOUR choice to kill Evan. Not mine! Don't try to drag your dirty laundry home to ME."

He looks to the table where that mask still lays but Quentin sees a blade instead and just like that his mind fabricates on in its place. A small sword. Stout but sturdy and flickering with a flame of the same pink energy it's manifest from.

"You came here to convince me to to ruin my life for another shot at your own. But I'm not dumb enough to make the same mistake twice. And I don't trust anyone over 30."

He turns the blade towards himself and claps both hands over the hilt. Prepared to drive it into himself. "So where would it leave you if I took myself out of the equation?"
mewnifestos: (Default)

[personal profile] mewnifestos 2021-05-04 12:26 am (UTC)(link)
You're being too kind. I don't think they could play a drearier song if they tried. Although compared to that last one, I think they're making an effort, anyway.

[ He may never have heard anything quite like it, but he's already quite sure he'll pass. ]

Though I'd expect a god could make his own entertainment.
mewnifestos: (Default)

[personal profile] mewnifestos 2021-05-04 12:26 am (UTC)(link)
"Plenty more where this came from," he replies, waggling his light-limned fingers and offering her a grin. She's certainly a lot less frightening than anything he'd have expected to find wandering out here in this silent, foggy haze, though. Maybe it is just some ill-timed weather, after all - it's a lot easier to breathe with someone else around, at any rate.

The more the merrier even applies to that stranger stumbling in from the surf, so she needn't have to worry about him raising any objections, there. Anders lifts his own arm after her attempted wave, squinting now, as well, at that increasingly solid form staggering toward them. Hurt, he assumes, in a rare flash of healerly shrewdness.

"Yes, the shore's back this way. Get a bit turned around out there, did you?"

He feels an actual pang of uncertainty when no voice calls out to answer them, glancing sidelong at her again before taking a few more sliding, sandy steps down toward the surf. Something glimmers in the dark, a wavering gold glow - eyes - and a second silhouette joins the first, slowly lumbering toward them.

"Er... I'm not sure they're looking for help."
mewnifestos: (Default)

[personal profile] mewnifestos 2021-05-04 12:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ Anders is a little more accustomed to casually electing himself the potential partner-in-crime of anyone willing enough to put up with him. Until rather recently, though, he hasn't really had the freedom to just going around making actual friends - there was never enough time, before he was caught again.

He falls into step easily, trailing along behind, peering up at the ships to either side of them. Neither one looks more likely to him, but he's already supposing they might have to search more than one, if they're going to find anything really worthwhile. ]


Anders.

[ He offers it with the same hopeful, disarming smile. ]

And if we do run into anyone, just let me do all the talking - ...?
kyley_b: (study)

eeeheeheehe

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-04 12:32 am (UTC)(link)
"No, I'm not drunk," Kyle replies, offended. "And I didn't take anything. I'M not the one with the drug habit, here, am I? I'VE never wound up whaling on a little kid in a fucking sandbox because I was wasted, Dad."

Kyle tosses his hands up in the air. "Look, Dad, I just... I just can't handle this right now, okay? I love you, you KNOW I love you, and you're a good dad but... Dad, if you're here because you're in trouble again I can't just drop everything to save you, okay? Please don't make me."
darkdetective: (pic#14860904)

lost carcosa

[personal profile] darkdetective 2021-05-04 12:45 am (UTC)(link)
It's not the tide I'm concerned about.

[ bruce's eyes are focused on the distance beyond logan. he may smell it before he sees it, the smell of water-logged decay strongly announces itself before the shambling ghouls claw their way through the sand. behind them, the jeweled skull grins in the moonlight. ]

I won't bother asking. It already looks like you can handle yourself well enough.
kyley_b: https://sleepyeule.tumblr.com/ (shook)

cw: suggestions of suicide

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-04 12:54 am (UTC)(link)
Kyle takes an involuntary step back when Quentin turns his rage on him... but only one. Then he squares up and lifewire himself up onto the stage as Quentin continues to yell at him.

"Listen, you bald fuck--" he starts, but then somehow there's a knife and the crazy little punk turns it on himself. Kyle puts his hands up at once.

"Nonono," he says, "wait! Just. Wait a second." He swallows, practically hearing the click in his throat.

"If you kill yourself, it won't affect me at all," he says slowly. "Not really. I'm not you. And nothing you can do will change my mistakes. And you're right, they're mine.

"But I don't want you to die, dude. Even if you're a pain in the ass."
kyley_b: (RL_KB_13)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-04 01:12 am (UTC)(link)
"No, I'm not okay, I just got hit by a ghost or something!" Kyle struggles to his feet.

"What the fuck, dude?"
dothelokimotion: (Money doesn't grow on trees)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-04 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ to loki, the difference is quite stark. after all, he was "found" by odin, to be used. in no way, in no universe was he ever chosen. ]

I highly doubt anyone can be redeemed by a few colours and someone else's opinion.

[ but he's not chasing it. really. not at all. ]
dothelokimotion: (This is the fear that looms)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-04 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ loki blinks, not surprised but caught off guard at being recognized so quickly. ]

Well . . . yes. Gods aren't known for their humility.

[ after a beat, he shakes his head. ]

I cannot sense anything. It is hard to tell.
dothelokimotion: (Here's your cuttlefish card)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-04 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
[ a quiet snort. ]

Where would be the fun in that?
fissure: little-luna @ hollow-art (3)

lost carcosa

[personal profile] fissure 2021-05-04 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
As if he hasn't gotten enough of the beach, Prior finds himself back at the shore as the fog thickens once more. Like a siren called to the sea, the song in Prior's head moves his feet, an act not unlike marching without the mind attached. This was a tactic often used when a soldier was required to cover long distances on aching feet.

They're warning us, they're warning us.
One shell hole for just the four of us...

He's quietly singing under his breath, voice as distant as his gaze. It's only then that he notices another voice — something out of the fog — and it draws him back.

"The tide." As Prior's reeled in, he stares down at his shoes. The tips are under water, the edges sunken in and all around. The surf must have risen while he was here waiting... for something. He's not quite sure what. "Yes. And the fog's come in," he adds as if it's a novelty and hadn't taken its time appearing.

"Sorry, who are you?" The question comes with clear suspicion. He may have been zoned out but he's fairly certain he didn't catch a familiar enough accent to assume Logan's some superior he'd yet to be formally introduced. "Beach patrol? You're not dressed like a life guard."
unkindled_madness: (unimpressed)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-05-04 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
Sephiroth.

[He returns that smile with nothing more than an arched eyebrow. Is it already that obvious that talking to people isn't his forte? And he's put such a... non-zero amount of effort into his social skills. He can't really be insulted.]

And, that's fine with me.

[He takes one more glance around for witnesses before making a choice and striding on up one of the gangplanks. Might as well act as though he belongs here.]
unkindled_madness: (arms folded)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-05-04 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
[He scoffs, in full agreement.]

Which is why I also doubt that's the real purpose of bringing us here.
howlett: (wiley)

[personal profile] howlett 2021-05-04 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
"What, handin' out food and blankets? Ain't that what churches do? Or you just mean because I'm here?"

Logan too is more likely to forget a face than scent. But this would be the first one who seems to recognize him too. By the same means no less.

Ignorant of whatever cautiousness Matt Murdock might still be harbouring from the place that held him last, Logan stuffs a pack in his hands. "I guess that means you shouldn't expect Saint Peter either."
outofdenile: (pay attention then patch)

[personal profile] outofdenile 2021-05-04 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
Nile shifts her weight back on her heels and nods with a small smile. "I'm Nile. You're new here too?"
kyley_b: https://mcnuggyy.tumblr.com/ (hey)

Hendricks is my jam. Have you tried Roku?

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-04 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
Kyle half smiles. Ryan Reynolds had very clearly lost it, but it's a little amusing all the same. Still, he wants nothing to do with the House of Mouse. "Yeah, best to just avoid that shit," he suggests.

Where is this guy pulling everything from? Best not to think about it.

"Uh, sure. Yeah, sure, thanks." Because why not? "I've never had gin."
directrix: (neutral:  arms crossed)

[personal profile] directrix 2021-05-04 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
The whole place looks as though it's been forgotten.

[ She's seen no one but Travelers and the Temple Guardians since she's been here. Zelda eyes said Guardians warily. ]

Yet they're still keeping careful watch, and there are bedchambers throughout the rest of the temple.

[ A mystery she somehow doubts they'll solve, no matter how long they stand there watching. ]