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Entry tags:
- ! event log,
- a discovery of witches: kit marlowe,
- dc: harley quinn,
- detroit: become human: chloe,
- detroit: become human: connor,
- dragon age: anders,
- final fantasy: sephiroth,
- locked tomb: harrowhark nonagesimus,
- marvel: carter ghazikhanian,
- marvel: jennifer walters,
- marvel: loki odinson,
- marvel: wade wilson,
- my hero academia: takami keigo,
- oc: elenore evans,
- oc: saxsice king,
- penny dreadful: victor frankenstein,
- south park: kyle broflovski,
- uncharted: elena fisher,
- uncharted: nathan drake,
- uncharted: rafe adler,
- uncharted: samuel drake
Destination: 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!
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.
iii.
[ Yeah. Nate's one of those who had passed by the skull, then ignored it, refusing to engage with it after he'd realized that the thing made him unbearably nervous in a way he doesn't appreciate. Sure, it might fetch a pretty penny at some black market auction, but is it worth the risk of this thing pulling out all kinds of secrets and confessions out of him in the meantime?
Probably not.
So seeing this strange man not only pick the damned thing up, but fling it into the zombie hoarde that has started to crawl out from the frigid waters, and then call it back like frisbee?
It's pretty impressive. Also wild. Also — what the actual fuck? ]
You sure aggravating those things is the right move here?
no subject
ah, but whose fault is that?
he throttles the thought. ]
I don't particularly care at the moment.
no subject
[ That's how it works, right?
Anyway, this guy has got to be crazy. Or he's got some kind of a death wish, and as Nate draws closer to him, maybe to tug at his sleeve or physically pull him out of harm's way of the wet, rotting corpses, he realizes he's in the company of the gryphon guy from the castle.
Well, great. He'd had a good impression of him then, was impressed with the way he'd handled that ferocious (but awesome) creature even, but this — ] You got a way of calming these guys down too? [ He's gesturing to the pile of limbs crawling ever closer towards them. ]
no subject
No. They're mindless. My powers won't work on them.
no subject
[ And since when are things ever easy? Nate pats himself down as though he might miraculously find some kind of zombie-killing weapon on his person, but he's in for an expected disappointment in that department. ]
And guns? Guessing you don't have a gun or a — sword? Do you have a sword on you?
[ Loki looks like a guy who might carry a sword. ]
no subject
then he straightens himself with a sigh. there's no point lashing out when people are here to see him lose it. ]
We can go. I can lead you back.
no subject
Okay, point taken.
[ So he's obviously got ... some stuff he's going through, but Nate gets that. He's been dealing with a hell of a lot on his own side recently, but as he shifts his gaze from the clambering bodies being toppled over like a pile of gruesome, lopsided dominoes thanks to this guy's magical powers (admittedly a hell of a lot more effective than guns or swords), he still can't help but feel like they need to ... permanently do something about this situation. ]
We can't just go back. What if they find a way up to the city? All those people back at the party — we'd be leaving them vulnerable.
no subject
what good indeed. swallow it down. ]
I can cover our tracks with an illusion. It should keep them occupied.
no subject
[ 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.) ]
no subject
[ 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.
no subject
He glances back over his shoulder before he clambers up the beachy dunes in his dress shoes from tonight's masquerade in order to catch up to Loki. The zombies do seem to be stalled at the moment, some of them even slinking back into the waters now that there's enough distance and distraction between them. That's reassuring. ]
Geez, do you think that kind of thing happens a lot here? [ He asks off-handedly, jerking a thumb back towards the congregation. And then he exhales in relief, glad to have left that close call behind. (For now.)
Lightly: ] You didn't go to that magic school of wizardry to train, did you?
no subject
No. Did you need to go to school to learn manners? I'm sure we can find one for you.
[ there isn't much bite to it. loki isn't all that annoyed, distracted partially by the feelings stewing in his head. some inanity will have to be shouldered while he's here, sadly. ]
no subject
[ Nate lifts that same hand from earlier in a sign of surrender. He'll relent from making Hogwartsian jokes in the future — you got it bud.
In a more sober manner: ]
I'll be thinking twice before I visit any other beaches in this world. At least not with some proper defense.
no subject
I doubt this will be a constant reoccurrence . . . but yes it's wise to stock up on weapons if you can.
no subject
[ Nate follows his gaze back to the beach where the haze of Loki's magic still seems to be in effect, the soggy skele-creatures slowly retreating back into the deep waters. So there's the confirmation he needed on whether they'd come up and wreak havoc in the city.
What a goddamned relief. ]
But — uh. Thanks. You know, for having my back out there. I can't imagine a worse way to end the evening than getting snacked on by sea-soaked zombie-pirates.
no subject
Think nothing of it.
no subject
He jerks a thumb back towards the lights and the glitz and the glamour, opting to change the subject. ]
So. You headed back to the city? Mind some company?
[ He can't imagine a reason why anyone would want to stick around here anyway. ]
no subject
[ a bald lie. loki often prefers company to being on his own. makes it easier not to get lost in his own mind. ]
no subject
Because as it is I've got the serious heebie-jeebies and I'm gonna need the buddy-system.
[ Yes, him. He's not above admitting those goddamned soggy zombies kinda freak him out, okay. ]
no subject
[ loki has fought faster, meaner zombies. these barely rate as a threat. ]