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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!


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dothelokimotion: (No one listens when I talk)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-03 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ loki shakes his head slowly. ]

No. I thought it may be reminiscent of Midgard, but it seems otherwise.
unkindled_madness: (ping)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-05-03 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
[Sephiroth blinks and turns his head to look more directly at Loki. No one has recognized him here, one fact that's lent credence to the wild notion of being from different worlds.

Was Loki's pronunciation a little strange? No matter.]


You're familiar with Midgar?
dothelokimotion: (A thing which exists to be not known)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-03 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
[ loki doesn't take much notice of it, still eyeing the branches. ]

Partially. It's been centuries since I've spent my time there.

[ the new york stuff doesn't count. not to him anyway. ]
unkindled_madness: (confused)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-05-03 02:06 am (UTC)(link)
[Centuries?]

You have an odd sense of humor. The city hasn't even existed that long.
dothelokimotion: (Horses should not be trusted)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-03 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
[ okay, now he turns to sephiroth, perplexed. ]

I speak of the planet. Earth. Midgard is what my people call it.
unkindled_madness: (melancholy)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-05-03 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
...I see.

[Sephiroth looks back at the effigy, his posture a little stiff. Embarrassed, maybe, that he was... eager? to encounter something familiar. After all it shouldn't matter.]

We speak of different worlds, then. When people name my Planet at all, they call it Gaea. Midgar is its largest city.

[A coincidence. That's all.]
dothelokimotion: (Talk with an air of scorn)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-03 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
That is another name for Earth, I believe. Or the goddess of Earth.

[ greek, if loki recalls his readings correctly. he may be out of touch with the present day culture of midgard, but he remembers the lore of old well. ]

Earth of another reality. You'll come across many variations of it, no doubt.
unkindled_madness: (talking)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-05-03 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
I wonder. I may not even get one entire century.

[A sideways glance at Loki. Not outright disbelieving, but skeptical. If that wasn't a joke, then what would he claim to be? Some sort of alien in the guise of a human?]
dothelokimotion: (He had lived for the future)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-03 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ hmm. he looks human enough, but loki knows there are new variations of them wandering around. the beast. the soldier. ]

Human lifespans are short. But what I meant was people here trickle from different realities. And the wall between them is thin.
Edited 2021-05-03 02:28 (UTC)
unkindled_madness: (wary)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-05-03 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
You seem to have some experience with that.

[But, not enough to escape?]
dothelokimotion: (Minutes before librarians ate him)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-03 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
Some. Though it is not my area of expertise.

[ that, sadly, would go to the magician. even if it sours loki to admit it. loki hums, before continuing. ]

Were you looking for people from your reality?
unkindled_madness: (arms folded)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-05-03 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
No. You surprised me, that's all.

There's no point to a search like that.
dothelokimotion: (We are not history yet)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-03 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
[ his brow furrows. ]

Why would there not be?
unkindled_madness: (melancholy)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-05-03 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
There weren't many of us brought here. If another person were to be chosen, out of everyone on my Planet, what are the odds that I would even know them? Much less trust them?

[He could no more count on such a person to be an ally than any of these other strangers.]
dothelokimotion: (Settles in as the gentle present)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-03 02:58 am (UTC)(link)
[ hmm. interesting that the man would jump to trust. ]

All odds are possible in any universe. Though I don't know if we were chosen or simply found.

[ loki is a firm believer in anything is possible. he's not the kind of person to dismiss a single possibility. ]
unkindled_madness: (arms folded)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-05-03 02:25 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not clear on the difference.

[Chosen, or found? But, maybe there's more random chance to the latter option.]

Unless you mean to say that we were taken because of some chance opportunity. There are certainly others in greater need of "redemption."

[There's definitely some contempt in that statement. There's no way this is about judgment.]
dothelokimotion: (Money doesn't grow on trees)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-04 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ to loki, the difference is quite stark. after all, he was "found" by odin, to be used. in no way, in no universe was he ever chosen. ]

I highly doubt anyone can be redeemed by a few colours and someone else's opinion.

[ but he's not chasing it. really. not at all. ]
unkindled_madness: (arms folded)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-05-04 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
[He scoffs, in full agreement.]

Which is why I also doubt that's the real purpose of bringing us here.
dothelokimotion: (Regret nothing until it's too late)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-04 02:03 am (UTC)(link)
[ loki tilts his head at him. ]

Then what do you think it might be?
unkindled_madness: (arms folded)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-05-04 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
That, I don't know. But the notion that this is somehow for our own good? It's nonsense.

[He was fine where he was.]
dothelokimotion: (Comfort was the answer to all)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-04 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
[ loki waves a flippant hand. ]

Of course it is. But why impress upon us such nonsense? What are they trying to do in this narrative?
unkindled_madness: (unimpressed)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-05-04 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
Distract us? Other people believe these things more readily.

[Some unseen being with godlike powers brings them to an unknown world and he's sure many will accept it as divine action, even without devout belief.]
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. ]
unkindled_madness: (curiosity)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2021-05-04 02:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[Sephiroth shrugs, as though he can't either. He's not exactly the epitome of an average human, but... apparently closer than the man beside him. Not just long-lived, but immortal? Sephiroth will remain skeptical of that, but he gives him a look of appraisal. Would he die if he were killed?]

If you aren't mortal, I imagine you're less easily impressed by power.
dothelokimotion: (Regret nothing until it's too late)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2021-05-05 01:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ the answer is "probably but he'll keep coming back to haunt you". it's an answer loki doesn't look too deeply at. it twists at him, another tangled skein in his mind. his grin twists, wry. ]

Power by itself is not impressive. Creative applications of power is always worth noting. This is . . . different, but not new.

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