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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

grayshulk: (pic#12958754)

[personal profile] grayshulk 2021-05-04 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
Magic is always a pain.

[She falls into the pattern of being in a dangerous situation with a partner, scanning in the opposite direction so they won't be stuck with a blindside. The fog is not a good sign on a beach with a magic skull.]

Enough. The skull isn't alone, is it?
everlastingchains: (A mastermind in the old watchtower)

[personal profile] everlastingchains 2021-05-04 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
[He is intimidated. Victor is indeed utterly frightened. However, his ability to simply run has left him. Where would he go? Where could he hide? He's trapped so all he can do is put on a brave face and brace for whatever pain is to come to him.

He bristles though, pride pushing past fear. There's a sharp challenge now, as if Victor feels he's been insulted.]


The only fool here is the one that doesn't understand the experiment. It is real. It did happen. I made it happen. I performed miracles and reversed death.
extrasensory_problems: (moody)

[personal profile] extrasensory_problems 2021-05-04 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
"It's not!" He exclaims, upset at himself for lashing out like that. For losing control.

"Not when you're me!"

His head is pounding and he makes himself stop and take a breath, trying to calm both his nerves and his powers.

"Not when you're psychic." He says after a moment, his voice almost sounding ashamed.
hostile_encounter: (11)

[personal profile] hostile_encounter 2021-05-04 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
"Dammit." This is said softly enough that Kyle could be forgiven for not hearing her. It also causes her damned mask to fog again and her to make a low aggravated sound.

Her eyes narrow, and she digs through her mental Rolodex of what she can stand to let go. Through gritted teeth, she manages: "I had a crush on Jackie." And then she scrambles to peel the plastic mask off her face, gasping a deep breath.
darkdetective: (pic#14867969)

[personal profile] darkdetective 2021-05-04 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe. Could have been one of those cult members back at the masquerade. Maybe told one secret too many. Maybe not enough. Don't really have to worry about them saying much of anything anymore.

[ the waves crash against the surf more eagerly, like bony fingers ripping as it draws back. the sound persists even when the waves stop. maybe there's something else out there after all... ]

Whatever it is, I think we should probably get the hell out of here.
kyley_b: https://burquillos.tumblr.com/ (ugggh)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-04 04:03 am (UTC)(link)
Kyle stands still aside from his thin chest rising and falling, head down so that his hair - pulled all out of place by his own hands - hangs in his face. Eventually he nods and sits down in the chair on the stage.

"Don't treat me like I need to be calmed down," he mutters. "I'm not Mom. I'm not."
kyley_b: (RL_KB_16)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-04 04:06 am (UTC)(link)
Kyle stares at Carter for a while. Then a little while longer.

"There's no such thing as psychics," he says in a matter-of-fact tone. He can remember proving this exact point once as a kid, laying in a hospital bed.
kyley_b: (RL_KB_14)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-04 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
Kyle cackles in triumph as Elenore too removes her mask. "See?! We did it! Now, who's Jackie?"
everlastingchains: (Overwhelmed by the mourning process)

Cw: mention of drug usage

[personal profile] everlastingchains 2021-05-04 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
[It's easy for the doctor to diagnose what's going on with the young man. He might not be in the psychiatric field but he knows the start of hysteria when he sees it. In fact, he rather recognizes some of his own symptoms.

He knows how to treat it as well. He simply doesn't have his bag here. He doesn't have the heavy sedatives he'd given to Vanessa at her worst. What he does have, well, it's not with him. It's in that bag the temple guardians gave him and he personally needs that. Which means he has to try another way. He can shove his own anxieties down and work.

Step one is to use his body to try and block the rest of the room. It's a sad attempt from a man who likely hasn't eaten a full meal in far too long. He makes for a awkward rail thin curtain.

Cool surgeon's fingers light gently on the young man's arm. He counts the pulse as he goes. He needs to get that heart rate down!]


I'm a doctor.

[It's as simple as that.]

And I rather think I should escort you to a window where you might sit and catch your breath. Come with me?
howlett: (snikt)

[personal profile] howlett 2021-05-04 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
"Thank your lucky stars there's no more of us," he mumbles when the lone man who emerges from the fog isn't the source of whatever's got him on edge. The scent of the water still seems to have turned, but this lost looking fellow seems unlikely to have something to do with it.

"I ain't goin' for a swim neither. If I can help it," he mutters. By now he's looking right through the young man and into whatever he thinks the fog is out there obscuring.

"Wouldn't happen to have a weapon on you, eh?" Three claws shoot out from between his knuckles with a distinctive snikt. "Somethings coming and it ain't just the tide."
howlett: (eh?)

[personal profile] howlett 2021-05-04 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
[The way the damp air drags the man's hair across his forehead makes Logan wonder just how long this guy's been out here wandering in the fog. He doesn't stop to ask though. Not once his face is clear enough of the fog to realize the man's looking somewhere beyond Logan towards the water with a grim kind of determination.]

the smell? what is it?

[Even as he asks his claws come out in anticipation of answer.]

Edited 2021-05-04 04:15 (UTC)
quire: (choke)

[personal profile] quire 2021-05-04 04:21 am (UTC)(link)
If it's any consolation there's no wound for Kyle to find. No blood and viscera of Quentin's chest now exposed by whatever made up that glowing blade.

Nevertheless Quentin's breath is absent until the weight of Kyle's palms driving into his chest knock the wind out of him and some sense of reality back into him.

He comes around with a cough and a wheeze and a reflexive pawing at his chest as if he too expected a hole to be there.

"Fuck!" he gasps. "Did it work? Did I kill him?"
howlett: (easy going)

[personal profile] howlett 2021-05-04 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
"No. No yer not," he agrees. Because that seems easy enough to do when the answer is obvious. Whether or not it's only playing into this little departure from reality though, Logan can't say for sure and knows he'll probably regret it if it's the wrong thing to do, but fucked if he knows how to break someone out of a delusion episode.

"Uh, your Dad, he's... I'm not gonna make you do nothin' all right? I'm not in any trouble, kid. Nothing I can't handle anyway. And you... you just. Jesus this is really more of a Chuck and Jeannie job, kid. You don't have to drop nothin' for me. Yer a kid. Kid's ain't supposed to have to do that for their parents. That ain't how it works. I know that."
everlastingchains: (Default)

[personal profile] everlastingchains 2021-05-04 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
[Victor does have to agree with that second notion. He's seen far too much himself. He knows far too well what magic can do.

So he simply nods.]


Then in the morning, I'll give you my full medical assessment of our hosts here. That is, assuming we aren't suddenly moved elsewhere like we were moved here.
pilferings: (i have no money)

hold me i'm scared

[personal profile] pilferings 2021-05-04 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
[ No — in a hall full of suits and dresses, all of them disguised in masks of varying shapes, colours, sizes, everything that made someone unique is hidden away behind glitz and glamour — he really was no different from the rest.

But Nate feels like he could pick Elena out of a crowd any time; she really was just that special, he really was just that much of an idiot, and he'd memorized everything about her for years. When he catches sight of that familiar figure dressed to the nines, it's 'familiar' that feels like a gut-punch, makes him think he must be hallucinating things, because what the hell are the odds?

He can feel the sudden weight of his wedding band around his finger manifesting his guilt and shame, and he resists the urge to reach for it, to twist it like it could ease the way his stomach churns. (Idiot, idiot.) And the world around him feels like it's slowed down to a heavy blur of music and glittering lights and it's just him and Elena and a wide distance between them. He isn't sure if she'd seen him; he isn't sure she would have stopped even if she had. And he could let her go — hell, it'd probably be the smart thing to do when he'd already dug himself so deep into a situation he's sure he can't come back from. But —


(God. Why did he lie in the first place? Why didn't he go after her? Why couldn't he have come clean about Sam earlier?
No, no, no — he had reasons. He did. And Sam — he needs him. Nate has to save his brother's life, because there's no one else, because he owes him that much at least.)


Still. He's gotta try, right? If this whole journey is about being a better person, making amends and saving lives, isn't it worth something to try? He moves to follow her, parting from the crowd, one hand reaching up to pull at his mask because it feels ridiculous to greet your estranged wife when you're concealed, and yet — even now, it still won't budge. ]


— Elena? Hey! Hey, Elena!
extrasensory_problems: (tank)

[personal profile] extrasensory_problems 2021-05-04 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
"There can be." Carter says, and then casts his eyes down. He doesn't want to see the fear or hatred he's used to seeing in people's eyes when they find out.

"If you're a mutant."
kyley_b: https://sleepyeule.tumblr.com/ (shook)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-04 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
"You nearly killed YOURSELF you fucking idiot!" Kyle yells. In the same breath he pulls Quentin to him, hugging him and feeling for wounds. But he holds him at arm's length the very next moment, scowling.

"Dude," he says seriously. "There was nobody here. You were screaming at the air when I came in. I thought you were having a psychotic episode. When you saw me you started yelling at me instead. I tried to talk you down, but..."

Kyle exhales shakily. "It didn't work. Dude, I'm so sorry. You're really okay, right?"
kyley_b: https://burquillos.tumblr.com/ (ugggh)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-04 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
Kyle looks up. He looks exhausted. "I'm sorry," he says. "I'm not trying to be ungrateful, or let you down again. I just... You're really not in trouble?" He looks at Logan hopefully.

"You're really not? You're okay, and you're not gonna drag Ike into anything?"
pilferings: (i want like 5 other things!)

[personal profile] pilferings 2021-05-04 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
It might.

[ Yeah, to say Nate's a little jealous, to say the least, would ... be an understatement. And the unmasked woman casually sipping from her champagne does look so damned pleased with herself — as she should be.

He hates this thing. He hates that it's itchy and it's not the easiest thing to see out of, and that it requires a secret to take it off. The whole thing kinda sucks. ]


'Course you're not wrong about that. [ He eyes her loose mask, glad at least that his own hadn't covered more of his face in case this thing is going to be staying put for the rest of the night. ] Can I ask what kind of confession you made to make it work?
quire: (omg)

[personal profile] quire 2021-05-04 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
"Nearly? Well, that's not going to fucking DO IT," he gripes and lets himself drop back to the floor with an exhausted thump as soon as Kyle lets him go. Not that that hug went unnoticed...

"Ugh, it's like deja vu and a hangover got into a bar fight," he mumbles rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms in a feeble attempt to clear his head. "I didn't know it was you ok? I thought I was some place else. I thought you were someone else. Forget it. I'm fine. No fiery cosmic birds or shadowy horsemen showed up while I was out right? Then it's all just fucking fine."
howlett: (hat1)

[personal profile] howlett 2021-05-04 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
Don't I know it.

[It's hard to tell if he thinks he knows something or if his grin is perpetually a little smug.]

Gotta admit, when I first saw that shiny gold temple I had a feelin' you or your big blond brother had something to do with this. Just has that space viking feel, you know? But if you're outta the loop too, well. Mythology ain't never been my specialty.

Logan.
We've met. In another lifetime or something.
evocation: (pic#11531431)

[personal profile] evocation 2021-05-04 05:01 am (UTC)(link)
[Admittedly, Kyna isn't usually this much of a cynic. She might not be willing to cop to it, but her distrust this time is coming from pure stubbornness. She doesn't want to admit the people or thing that dragged her here is capable of any sort of kindness, no matter how small. And she certainly doesn't want to take it at face value.

He's right, though, and she sighs.]


Those assholes. We didn't sign up for this shit.
dothelokimotion: (Truth takes us to dangerous places)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-04 05:01 am (UTC)(link)
[ thor. for a moment, loki's heart aches at the mention of him. he wonders where thor is now. whether he escaped thanos. what happened to the remnants of asgard.

he forces it down. sentiment. it'll do him no good here. ]


A good meeting, I hope, or do I need to hide knives under my pillows?

[ jk, loki does that anyway. ]
dothelokimotion: (The curtain is raised a few inches)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-04 05:01 am (UTC)(link)
[ a light scoff. ]

Well. I can't speak for mortals.

[ they're weird. ]
bookerlesigh: (booker happy)

[personal profile] bookerlesigh 2021-05-04 05:03 am (UTC)(link)
Booker's clocked most people in this place, either by the yellow sigil a choice few of them are wearing, or the general sight. Most of them aren't worthy of worry, and even if his years of experience fail him - well, it's not like anyone here can kill him. The risk is worth it for the booze.

The ones with the sigil are easier to keep track of, and likewise, he recognizes the hair that comes out from the mask she's wearing, the bump of her cheeks below it. Funny, she didn't strike him as someone of note. Then again, his attention to detail has been declining steadily the whole night.

With a look around him to make sure the question was directed at him and not someone else, Booker downs what's left in his glass and huffs half a laugh. "Got it in one. Can I get you something?" Seeing as he's already in the market, and he looks a little closer at her, pays a little more attention to her eyes and the slope of her shoulders.