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

chardismastic: (140.)

iii. (pre zombies)

[personal profile] chardismastic 2021-05-16 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ The beach is a welcome respite after the party, cool and dark and quiet — everything Rafe had been looking for as an exit strategy the second he'd realized he'd been dropped in the middle of the masquerade. Such events have never been his scene even when attendance had been his own choice, empty smiles sharing empty conversations to cover an agenda here, a motive there. Games he didn't have the patience for in the world he'd come from, and has even less reason to play now that he's wherever the hell this is on the way to wherever it is they're all traveling.

Now that he's out of the press of glittering bodies, has shed the black tie and tails to move more comfortably, another solitary figure is nothing. Easily tolerated even as they travel in parallel lines, keeping apace through the dunes. Though... Something about that figure nags at the corner of his mind. Something that rings familiar — the rhythm of their stride, the cut of their shoulders, the outline of their silhouette. Something that doesn't quite click into place until Nate speaks. Just one syllable but that's all Rafe needs to hear and then he knows.

His feet almost move of their own accord, closing the distance now that Nate's crouched down in front of a partial skeleton, a macabre grin glinting under the moonlight. (How fitting; you can take the guy away from the grave robbing but you can't take the grave robber out of—) He stops as Nate clambers back up, only a few yards away now as he watches his every mood with a laser focus.
]

That's one word for it.

[ Even with his mask still in place, he trusts Nate to recognize his voice. ]
pilferings: (they closed disneyland)

[personal profile] pilferings 2021-05-16 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah?

[ Nate nods, Loki's idea just about the best option they've got at the moment — especially considering how uncomfortably close the distance seems to be getting between them and the zombies that have now hit the edge of the sand, closer and closer. He does not want to have his brains snacked on tonight or any other night, thank you very much. ]

That's a good idea. Okay — okay, you do that. Maybe once we're gone, that breaks the curse? Sends them back?

[ It's a working hypothesis. ]

Gotta say, pretty handy having those powers.

[ And in a game of rock-guns-powers, it sure beats guns right now. (And rocks.) ]
hostile_encounter: (64)

[personal profile] hostile_encounter 2021-05-16 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
"It seems highly likely to me that we only have the illusion of good decisions right now." So maybe she's not doing so great with the sense of being so terribly out of control right now.
dothelokimotion: (Regret nothing until it's too late)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-16 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
I have no idea.

[ loki is knowledgeable and smart, but he's never been the best with long-term plans or thinking beyond the immediate. a fact that seems to rankle right now.

he sets up the illusion, watching the zombies get distracted before turning his heel to make his way back to the city. his stomach churns. ]


And thank you. I trained hard to have them.
tearsinajar: supersuits / ij (pic#10733607)

IT'S WHAT WE DO

[personal profile] tearsinajar 2021-05-16 04:18 am (UTC)(link)
You were afraid. [ Although her mask can cover up the deadpan look she gives him, it can't cover up the tone. ] We made a promise to never cheat. We promised we would never lie. And we promised to leave the life we once shared behind because it was too dangerous.

What could you have possibly been so afraid of? I hardly put the fear of God in you. So then — what?
kyley_b: (RL_KB_1)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-16 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
Kyle shrugs and runs his hands over the front of his suit. "At least we look good?" he offers.

"Besides which, we do seem to have agency. It may be skewed in favour of us acting a certain way, but we CAN choose not to do what this Ancient seems to want us to. It's like, that whole free will thing or whatever."
pilferings: (mr business)

[personal profile] pilferings 2021-05-16 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
Hey, you're preaching to the choir here. [ He fusses a little with his tie as demonstration. ] I've never really been much of a banquet halls and dressing up in a tuxedo kinda guy. It's always felt a little ... pretentious, you know?

[ For one thing the jackets are a little too tight, and the ties are a little on the suffocating side too. Give him a henley and a pair of worn (but not worn out) trousers any day. Something he can easily move in, something more suited to ... climbing rockfaces and cliff edges versus climbing social ladders. ]

So, you're telling me the kind of events you hold are worse than this?
grayshulk: (pic#12883380)

[personal profile] grayshulk 2021-05-16 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
The monster is not too close to her skin right now. At least, it's not so close that she doesn't notice that familiar hint of the trauma that seems largely unavoidable to people born with abilities. She regrets causing him to bring up the raw memories for him. She regrets the memories for herself.

"It was. It still is." Her voice is soft. She keeps waiting for perspective and for time to kick in, but everything stays raw.

"The drink sounds good, but it'll be hard to manage with my mask." She tries the edges of the mask, and it comes off this time with only a hint of resistance. "We definitely earned the drink."
grayshulk: (pic#12958751)

[personal profile] grayshulk 2021-05-16 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
Jen understands there's a limit to how much you can expect other people to believe or understand until you've gotten a read on their experience and exposure. On the other hand, she's never been much for keeping the big things secret unless truly necessary.

"An evil skull and a horde of the undead." She does not appear to expect to be believed.
pilferings: (sir i'm looking for a jamba juice?)

[personal profile] pilferings 2021-05-16 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
You're seriously asking me 'what's the worst that can happen'?

[ Do you hear that incredulity in your little brother's voice right now, Samuel? Because oh boy, it's there.

Nate could practically laugh, but he won't because at this rate he's already unvoluntarily-voluntarily signed up for this particular little quest; Sam's already committed himself to it, and stubbornness runs in the Drake family. Call it what you will: loyalty, guilt, a desperate need to protect his brother, but like hell is Nate going to risk another situation where they get separated because he wasn't there to provide some kind of back-up. ]


Okay, so assuming I'm not changing your mind any time soon — what's our play, then?

[ And no, he's not currently considering how he should have picked up a few more spare notebooks if it turns out the next location they move to lacks all of the modern comforts they're used to. ]
grayshulk: (pic#12883463)

[personal profile] grayshulk 2021-05-16 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
Running should help with that.

[She stretches and flexes her limbs slightly as she keeps her steady retreat. Forcing herself to be aware of her body in an attempt to ground in a moment rather than taking this easy opportunity to give into more aggressive impulses.]

Ready?
pilferings: (mama cleric beast didn't raise no fool)

[personal profile] pilferings 2021-05-16 04:58 am (UTC)(link)
All right, if that's true, that sounds like a terrible time. [ Worse than this? Maybe. ] And no, we're not getting to that point.

[ He hopes.



God, is he really going to have to reveal a secret to get this thing off? ]


While I stall for a useful secret: what kinda glue did he use?
kneecaptain: (154)

[personal profile] kneecaptain 2021-05-16 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
Secret Nazi glue.

[ Did he mention this guy was a Nazi? This guy was a Nazi. ]

I think he called it Adhesive X. That's why he couldn't get it off, it was some experimental formula.
hostile_encounter: hollow-art.com (15)

[personal profile] hostile_encounter 2021-05-16 05:12 am (UTC)(link)
"You're just glad about the pants." Giving him a hard time does seem to help at least a little.

She hears him out, she does. The gin she's managed so far hasn't left her able to ignore him completely. She is just innately skeptical about anything about being abducted. It might even be to the point of her projecting. "I have heard no words explicitly about free will. And even if it is a factor, the air of coercion is extremely strong."
pilferings: (owWWUH)

[personal profile] pilferings 2021-05-16 05:13 am (UTC)(link)
You're good — really.

[ Listen, Nate understands he probably looks ... old enough to be her dad, and so this might appear to come from a place of ... weird parental authority or something (which is already a terrifying thought in and of itself, Christ) but! Creepy skulls that prey on someone's innermost thoughts and can probably do a hell of a lot more, besides? He's dealt with creepy, cursed artifacts on many occasions. He's advising based on experience.

Of course he can't do more than gently nudge her on the right path before anything truly horrible happens. ]


Happened to go to a school for my creepy old artifact police badge, actually.

[ And now we're introducing dad humour — Nate, you've gotta stop. ]

What part of the skull with eye sockets that could see into your soul and draw secrets out of you doesn't raise a couple of red flags, huh?
darkdetective: (pic#14867970)

[personal profile] darkdetective 2021-05-16 05:26 am (UTC)(link)
Ready when you are.

[ but his feet are already moving. it's as though by even acknowledging the presence of the undead, it allowed them permission to cross the boundary of this world. their hands begin to emerge from the sand at their feet as they run, grasping and clawing to keep them from ever leaving. the beach seems somewhat broader now in their escape, though thankfully the lights of the street remain visible. it's not moments before their feet touch ground that the dead submerge themselves back beneath the earth, waiting. in the far distance of the shore, a small glimmer from the gem-laden skull reminds him that it's still out there, grinning. ]

New rule, don't go to the beach after dark. And no talking to strange skulls, though that seems given.
kyley_b: (RL_KB_1)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-16 06:21 am (UTC)(link)
"Well. Yeah. But I dunno, I look pretty spiffy!" Or so he thinks. He's not one for dressing up.

"I feel coerced into the situation, yeah," Kyle muses. "But not like I have no choice whatsoever."
aviate: (( hj ) awkward)

[personal profile] aviate 2021-05-16 11:29 am (UTC)(link)
[The feeling of putting his foot in his mouth isn't new, but familiarity doesn't make it any better.]

So does that make you some sort of ghost or are we talking legally?

[Being broke isn't that bad.]
aviate: (( hj ) attempting to think)

[personal profile] aviate 2021-05-16 11:32 am (UTC)(link)
They look way too human to be Martians.
aviate: (( gl ) and we've done it again)

[personal profile] aviate 2021-05-16 11:33 am (UTC)(link)
[He briefly wonders if he's that obvious.]

Yeah, I had a ring that let me create anything I could think of.
dothelokimotion: (We are not history yet)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-16 11:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ his brow furrows. ]

Create how, exactly? What form did they take?
kneecaptain: (pic#14867137)

[personal profile] kneecaptain 2021-05-16 12:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh. You mean the people. Yeah. [ He was just talking about the symbol. But mostly: ]

I was joking.
medeiun: ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏʟʟᴏᴡᴇᴅ ᴀʀᴛɪsᴛs (✦ — 𝟎𝟒𝟓)

[personal profile] medeiun 2021-05-16 01:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She feels his movement better than she sees it, her eyes darting around at multiple flecks of gold, but they abruptly cut to him as he ducks beneath her wing with a movement that's fluid and graceful, almost dance-like. It surprises her, and Maleficent's instinct is to round on him — still in a fight mode of her own, still assuming him for one of the creatures somehow, even if his movement completely contradicts their lumbering half-steps on rotting legs.

But it's a split second later that she realises he's not one of them, his features better illuminated in her magic's glow now that he's so close, and her own eyes widen in surprise of him. His eyes are almost like hers, only even more purely golden rather than tinged in green — his sharp, gilded gaze is something familiar and unfamiliar all at the same time.

....More familiar, though, than a human's would be. Whatever he is— she knows he isn't human, or not fully, which automatically makes him a more capable ally, in her opinion. The fey nods quickly, and then just as quickly sends another blast directly behind him. She can't see the two but she hears her magic make contact with their bodies, sending them reeling. As for what lies ahead — he's right. There could be armies more of them, and she hesitates, now seeing him as someone to confer with. ]


I am unsure if they are able to detect our scents, or if they must navigate by sight and sound alone. [ She lowers her voice as she speaks quickly, and even lets her magic dim further, trying to keep their position incognito. She's never dealt with the undead before; their capabilities are unknown to her. ] Perhaps attempting to sneak our way through would be a better tactic than using open force.

[ ....Though it's more her style to want to blast and slash things, they're painfully outnumbered. Of course, sneaking through hoards of the undead when one has giant wings is inevitably... a task. ]
medeiun: ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏʟʟᴏᴡᴇᴅ ᴀʀᴛɪsᴛs (Default)

[personal profile] medeiun 2021-05-16 02:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Not to worry, not to worry, she wouldn't really kill all of these innocent people. It's just a hypothetical question, really! Mostly! (Though she isn't certain they are innocent people; she isn't even sure they're actual humans. They almost seem like... an imitation, a concept that doesn't sit well in Maleficent at all). She'll keep waiting to see how the night goes, and whether the strange attendees of this party become even more strange. ]

No, they don't seem to be in control, do they. [ She agrees quietly, her eyes slowly gazing around the dancing crowds. ] Someone must have put together this frightful event. Perhaps they are waiting in shadow, watching.

[ She glances to the bar, casting the bartender there with a suspicious eye, before slowly looking back along the lengthy mirror that runs along one wall, lined in shiny, sparkling lights. Anyone could be watching them from behind it. ]

Whomever called us to this place seems to delight in playing games with us. Perhaps we could scout them out. [ "We" she says. It's not her style to work with someone else, but Maleficent is painfully aware she's out of her element here. He could be of use to her, and their goals are similar for now. Find who brought them here. ...Find out why. And she does not plan to be gentle with them when she does. ]
what_fourth_wall: (Say what???)

[personal profile] what_fourth_wall 2021-05-16 04:52 pm (UTC)(link)
"She-Hulk, Jen....I just like to call her Shulkie" He waves a hand as if that part doesn't matter so much.

"Wait what?" Deadpool stares at Kyle. "Um. Cartman. Towlie. Mr. Hankie. Imaginationland. Barbara Streisand. Cartman. Your dad riding his giant swollen testicles around town like a freaky bouncy exercise ball."

Unless that cartoon had been wrong, just exaggerating for cartoon effect and all. But still. He watched Kyle for how the word association would hit him. And also for if lightning would hit him for pulling cartoon knowledge into this.