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

outofdenile: (Waking alone)

[personal profile] outofdenile 2021-05-30 10:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"This is my second stop," she says, glancing once over her shoulder to mark the space and direction as she follows after him. "I got here with everyone else. What about you? When'd you get here?"
bookerlesigh: (pensive)

[personal profile] bookerlesigh 2021-06-04 06:58 pm (UTC)(link)

"About the same. Got whisked away to here pretty quickly. Starting to pick up the faces of the locals pretty dependently." There was a quality, to the other travelers. Personality that extended beyond the surface.

Booker steps into an alleyway, then through a square of product boutiques and into a corner store hidden behind some dirty draped fabric, where there's a smattering of boxes containing produce. "You'll want tomatoes and some peppers. A nice cheese, too, that'll melt well. I'll grab a bottle of wine for you."

outofdenile: (to make them elaborate this isn’t)

[personal profile] outofdenile 2021-06-05 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
Nile pauses at the entrance of the alley and casts a long look in Booker's direction before moving - it's not a suspicious look, but it is assessing.

"All right." She moves to start sorting the vegetables. "You know he'll be able to tell, right? I don't know his wine preferences."

He's clearly going to learn this happened, then.
bookerlesigh: (considering)

[personal profile] bookerlesigh 2021-06-05 05:51 am (UTC)(link)

If they can find some crustaceans, Nile will be in for a treat, but Booker hasn't been able to find anything that wasn't in a can.

Booker's lips press together lightly, acquiescent. He knows, and Nicky will know, and Nile is obviously here, right now. He glances at Nile momentarily before ducking his gaze away; he draws this particular line at suffering through over-stated wine, and if Nicky wants to meet him there... it might as well be a start to the many different lines they have to cross.

Still, he takes two bottles off the shelf, offers them both to Nile. "This one will be just fine," he says, and he indicates the other, "But this will pair well with the sauce." And Nicky will actually appreciate it.

outofdenile: (The sunflowers? The old black oak)

[personal profile] outofdenile 2021-06-05 06:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Nile shifts her weight back and regards him. She's not making the choice for him. "So which one am I taking?"

It wasn't like she wasn't going to tell Nicky anyway; they needed to talk about this, but this was another layer of the thing.
bookerlesigh: (booker happy)

[personal profile] bookerlesigh 2021-06-05 11:51 pm (UTC)(link)

Of course she turns it back at him, and he can't help the quirk that comes to his lips, the fondness for her push back.

"This one," he says, and he's not going to subject Nicky to sub-par wine, so he places that one back on the shelf. "You didn't get it from here though."

outofdenile: (The sunflowers? The old black oak)

[personal profile] outofdenile 2021-06-07 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
Nile reaches out to take the wine. "Yeah? Why's that?"
bookerlesigh: (Default)

[personal profile] bookerlesigh 2021-06-07 01:25 am (UTC)(link)

"We wouldn't want good old Pete at the counter to get in trouble for selling it, right?" Booker nods to the genial old guy behind the counter, who's looking at some papers.

outofdenile: (The sunflowers? The old black oak)

[personal profile] outofdenile 2021-06-08 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
"...right. Wine's contraband." Except at the fancy parties, apparently. "It's all right. I don't think Nicky'd tell on Pete."

You, on the other hand...

Hell, Booker.

Nile raises her chin a little. "Where are you holed up?"
bookerlesigh: (considering)

[personal profile] bookerlesigh 2021-06-08 04:08 am (UTC)(link)

"No, he wouldn't." Nicky's not that petty, but he'd be remiss if he didn't say anything.

"Here and there." The temple, benches, the beach, a motel. It's almost like the smaller the area of escape is, the more nomadic he becomes. "I get by."

outofdenile: (Default)

[personal profile] outofdenile 2021-06-08 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
...no, she doesn't like this at all. It's not right that he should have to go through whatever this is on his own. Nicky can do what he wants, and she's not going to make the call that Booker should come with her until she talks to Nicky, but Booker should come with her.

And at least know where their camp is.

"You know the jetty on the west side of the island? Our camp's there."
bookerlesigh: (hmm)

[personal profile] bookerlesigh 2021-06-09 01:21 am (UTC)(link)

Booker nods, once - he knows where the jetty is, and he appreciates having a place to look for them. Doesn't imagine he'll be using it, but the knowledge is reassuring.

He'd even reciprocate, if there was a place he could list.

"You guys need anything?"

outofdenile: (Default)

[personal profile] outofdenile 2021-06-09 02:24 am (UTC)(link)
This is awkward and weird and she doesn't know exactly how to deal with it.

"Nah, we're good."

...lame. Zero forward motion. Ugh. Nile regards him a little cautiously before lifting up her hand with the Scrywatch on it.

"Did you get one of these?"
bookerlesigh: (considering)

[personal profile] bookerlesigh 2021-06-09 03:02 am (UTC)(link)

Weird as it is, it does feel reassuring that they're doing okay. Thankfully, this little island seems to provide most of everything they need.

Booker's fine with the conversation though. He has no desire for forward motion at the expense of effort.

"Yeah," he says, and he pulls up his sleeve - orange, though he doesn't pay the hue of it much heed. "Looks better on you."

outofdenile: (or what they do.)

[personal profile] outofdenile 2021-06-10 12:51 am (UTC)(link)
Nile doesn't bother to suppress the flash of a slight smirk. Got you. She shifts the ingredients she has in her arms to tap a quick message on watch to him:

And now I know how to find you. :)
bookerlesigh: (:})

[personal profile] bookerlesigh 2021-06-10 05:20 am (UTC)(link)

Oh no. He hadn't been thinking of that when she brought it up, and he looks at the message, half amused, half sheepish.

It's the little smilie, that does it, really.

"Right. They're little pagers." Or something. "So we'll keep in touch." Which he does want to do.