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

mewnifestos: (Default)

i mean i'm also sorry for anders just like.. in general, so it's cool

[personal profile] mewnifestos 2021-05-14 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Tragically, it's only disappointment he'll find, there. Well, not on Anders' face - he looks as cheerfully engaged as before, smile a touch amused as he accepts the offered hand.

But there's no flash of recognition there, either. Not even a glimmer of it. ]


Anders. No fancy titles, but I make up for it in plenty of other ways.

[ Punctuating that remark with a wink for good measure, of course. ]
what_fourth_wall: (Narrowed Eyes)

[personal profile] what_fourth_wall 2021-05-15 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
Deadpool stares at the watch as if daring it to say something to him.

"I hope it does talk to me. I have all kinds of fun conversations with voices nobody else can hear. But so far...it's just trying to do a disco color scheme. Shulkie said that's because I haven't decided who I want to be here yet. I guess I'm already behind the curve."

He plops down. "So you're Not-Carrot-Top-Kyle. What do you think you're here to learn?"
mewnifestos: (Default)

[personal profile] mewnifestos 2021-05-15 12:29 am (UTC)(link)
Even if he minded her grabbing his hand again, it's as much a practical measure as anything. But he doesn't, the comfort of some point of contact in the swirling morass of the fog a mutual thing. Though it still can't beat the incredible relief of escaping back onto those brightly lit city streets. (He never would have thought he'd find them so appealing.)

"They are, aren't they?" Where there's room to breathe, there's room to laugh - even if he still pauses to look back over his shoulder. Ugh. He can practically feel hands on him, bony and rotten.

He shrugs that phantom fear off with a shudder, his gloating good humor tempered to a somewhat more sincere concern, when he turns to her again. "You're pretty handy yourself, of course. Do you carry around mysterious flammable fluids with you all the time, or was that just a stroke of luck?"
dothelokimotion: (And consumes)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-15 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
. . . Did you have something else though?

Some form of weapon?
dothelokimotion: (The exact problem is currently unclear)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-15 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ loki shakes his head. ]

I'm afraid not.
queenking: ([up] laughing at u)

[personal profile] queenking 2021-05-15 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, ah, ah. [Saxsice wags a finger, chidingly.] A story is really only as excitin' as you tell it to be. So crumpet gamblin' could be the most thrillin' thing, if you give it the right flair. [Cue wiggly spirit fingers.

Then she snorts in a delighted, albeit unladylike way.
] The danger! Oversteeped tea ain't nothin' to mess with, mister. You truly live on the wild side.
queenking: ([neutral] sort of shy)

[personal profile] queenking 2021-05-15 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
--woah. [This is getting heavy. So Saxsice steps forward, waving her hands like that'll get him to snap out of it.] Yeah, we weren't kiddin' with the childhood trauma, I guess. C'mon, mister, I'm not -- whoever you think I am.
queenking: ([neutral] internal screaming)

[personal profile] queenking 2021-05-15 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
Saxsice's eyes go wide and she lets out a low, impressed whistle. Clearly Kyle wasn't kidding about things being fucked up. Like, on a deep, personal level. "Shiiiit, that's intense."

She rocks back and forth from heel to toe for a moment, then has to ask: "But did it work?"
unkindled_madness: (head in hand)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-05-15 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
[The words sound nothing like what Gast should be saying, and that does seem to give him pause. He stares at her.]

No, you're...

[He puts his free hand to his head, shutting his eyes. Gast is dead. He knows that. So how can they be speaking if Gast is dead? This person is a stranger, a stranger who can't answer the things he wishes he'd asked, a stranger who shouldn't have been party to the attempt.

He remembers the theatre, and-- He opens his eyes and looks sharply at the mask. Still unbroken.]


Hell.
mewnifestos: (Default)

[personal profile] mewnifestos 2021-05-15 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
I suppose you had to be there.

[ There's less humor in his puzzled dismissal, now, as he tries to parse the meaning in that explanation. Without asking a hundred more questions, though, he doubts if he likely will. Better to pare it down to just the pertinent ones. ]

So these Ancients did all of your magic for you? And now you just sort of pick up what they left behind?
mewnifestos: (Default)

[personal profile] mewnifestos 2021-05-15 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
Lucky you. No Blight where you're from, either, I'll bet?

[ If he's really lucky, anyway. But on this point, Anders' curiosity is a side more genuine. ]
queenking: ([up] definitely NOT shy)

[personal profile] queenking 2021-05-15 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
-- oh, cool. [Saxsice is momentarily distracted by the wings rising up and spreading out, seeming much bigger than they had before, likely due to the smaller, more cramped setting they're in. She actually rocks forward, up on her toes to see better, genuine amazement and delight on her face behind the mask.

This soon turns to a scowl, though, and she drops back to her flat feet, heels clicking on the smooth floor.
] You wound me, Mal. I thought we had a connection. [Saxsice pitches her voice into a woeful, morose whine, but the flash of toothy grin afterwards takes the petulance out of the statement.] But I get it, I wasn't the stylin' sexy little thing I am now, back then.

[Then she tilts her head to one side, still grinning.] You don't think so? Okay, let's give it a shot, yeah? Can't hurt. [Saxsice leans forward, eyes bright as she says in a soft, playful whisper:] I'm a werewolf.

[Then she reaches up and, with a sound like velcro being ripped apart (not that Maleficent would...know what that sounds like) the mask is removed. Saxsice rubs at her face a moment, wincing.] Woah. It worked.
queenking: ([neutral] chin up always)

[personal profile] queenking 2021-05-15 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
Bruce. That's a name I haven't heard in a hot minute. [She scrunches up her face, repeats it again in a gruff growl:] Bruce. [She might be...drunker than originally anticipated.

But then she pivots, offering a free hand to shake.
] Saxsice King, resident delinquent. At your service. [She's tipsy enough that the sound of something emerging from the waves still too-close behind them doesn't register yet.]
dothelokimotion: (The curtain is raised a few inches)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-15 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
No. My . . . ah, home, didn't know sickness or illness.

[ asgard was a bit too advanced for that. ]
queenking: ([up] i know your secret~)

[personal profile] queenking 2021-05-15 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
Overheard it somewhere. [Saxsice shrugs vaguely, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the bar. The gin burns less now, and she visibly relaxes at the looseness the liquor gives her. That, at least, is familiar here, as is having the bar between her and a stranger. Feels like home.] Kinda makes sense on, uh...a metaphorical level? Masks, secrets...whatever. [Another shrug and an eyeroll. If this is supposed to be teaching them something, Saxsice isn't getting it.]

You look like the kinda gal who can handle herself without weapons, at least. [There's admiration and maybe a touch of flirtiness in the comment, tongue flicking out over her lower lip as she gives the other woman a quick look over. Even from behind the mask, there's an air of "don't-fuck-with-me" that Saxsice respects instinctively.] Not a lotta people can say that.

...but I can. [It's smug, confident, a response to her question. Saxsice tips the gin and tonic up again, sipping slowly.] I'm tougher than I look. Been handlin' myself by myself for years now. [There's a wink here.] People always underestimate the little blonde ones, y'know.
queenking: ([up] double eyebrow arch)

[personal profile] queenking 2021-05-15 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
Yeahhhh. [Saxsice rocks from one foot to the other, wincing in apology.] Looks like, uh. Destroyin' that thing is a no-go. [She's wildly curious, of course, but there's a darkness in the stranger's expression that suggests asking who "Gast" is would be a bad idea.]
pilferings: (take this take this take this take this)

sorry for the delay! ;;

[personal profile] pilferings 2021-05-15 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
That's what I'm —!

[ Urgent as it is to gain some headway from the oncoming wave of zombified, waterlogged bodies crowding the shores, the sudden extra push from the teenager certainly gives the situation all the more pressure to get as far away from the beach as possible and hope that the sea-zombies decide struggling their way to land isn't worth the effort in the end. His own feet feel sluggish, sinking into sand with each step, but he manages to keep a decent pace.

Turning to glance briefly over his shoulder, Nate can only pray that it'll just be water and fog behind them. ]
Shit. [ Aaaand obviously that would be too easy, but Nate and the kid are faster at least, barring any surprises up ahead. ]

Quick — [ He shouts now, gesturing towards a crest of land up ahead. ] — up that hill!
mewnifestos: (Default)

[personal profile] mewnifestos 2021-05-15 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
"Transient? I wish." Anders scoffs, picking idly at the knees of his plain, borrowed robes. The state of dress they've been left in is almost too fitting for the parallels he's drawn in his mind. Funny how those details stand out so starkly to him, now.

"I'd have gladly taken a life of hardship, alone on the road, over being locked up in a tower, beaten and berated endlessly just for the crime of existing." There's no keeping the creep of anger out of his words, nor the slant of his expression, now, brow furrowing as he stares down at that skull, impassive yet endlessly entreating in its blank, dark gaze.

"Making yourself useful just to stay alive, though, I suppose we do have that in common."
kyley_b: https://fmdinisio.tumblr.com/ (yup)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-15 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
"Shulkie?" He watches as Wade just takes a seat, frowning.

"I don't know," he says irritably. "I don't HAVE anything to learn. I'm a normal, functioning young adult."

Lies.
pilferings: (but maybe???)

[personal profile] pilferings 2021-05-15 04:04 am (UTC)(link)
We were — we are! It's just — [ Nate exhales, really, really hating this thing on his face. ] It's my fault that he was stuck in that prison. It's because of me that he'd lost fifteen years of his life. And when I lost him — [ Quickly, he corrects himself: ] — when I thought I lost him, I didn't wanna bring him up again.

[ Nate had always been an expert at running, and running away. This was just one more thing he'd decided to run from. It was a secret he'd carried with him, along with some of the reasons he'd been so desperate to uncover Drake's legacy. It was a part of everything that made him him for more than a decade, and it was a secret he'd kept, even from Elena. Especially from Elena. ]

And it's not about the two of us catching up. He's in trouble, big trouble, and I've gotta — I have to save him. I wanted to tell you, I did. But — how could I?
hostile_encounter: hollow-art.com (5)

[personal profile] hostile_encounter 2021-05-15 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
"Yes, I want many drinks." This is not a particularly wise move for a woman in a strange land with little sense of guaranteed safety. This is exactly why she's going to do it.
mewnifestos: (Default)

[personal profile] mewnifestos 2021-05-15 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
Must have been nice.

[ No sickness? He's not certain he believes that, either, but it is rather interesting. ]

Though, I don't know, I do find healing injuries gets a bit dull, after a while. What's life without a dash of the occasional mysterious illness to spice things up?
kyley_b: (RL_KB_10)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-15 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
"Many, even," he says, sounding faintly amused. "Far be it for me to deny a lady or whatever." He looks for the next circling waiter to grab her whatever he has on his tray.

"This might be a bad idea, you realise."
kyley_b: (RL_KB_06)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-15 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
He frowns, eyes still hazy. "I was ten. Tripped the fuck out on acid when I was ten because San Francisco was so fucking unbearable..."

He stops and looks at the mask, then at Saxsice. He shakes his head and his eyes clear a little. "I. Sorry. Don't take this wrong but for a second you looked like a middle aged bearded lawyer."
pilferings: (mycaruba)

[personal profile] pilferings 2021-05-15 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, yeah? You something of a therapist, then?

[ Who else would have the chance to hear 'it all', right?

And is Nate just stalling for time, or the right secret to confess? No, of course not.

Maybe.

Ugh. ]