⇨ ATLANTIS

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: The morning of D44 and onward.
Where: The ocean realm of Atlantis.
What: The carnival abruptly arrives at an underwater realm, and everyone is transfigured into merpeople just as suddenly.
Warnings: Body horror, I guess.

THE CITY OF ATLANTIS↴ The visit starts without much warning, but at least there is a full week of free time before performances start. In the meantime, your characters will be given ample opportunity to adjust their acts for an underwater audience, get used to their new fishy appendages, or just spend the whole time enjoying the sights and sounds of Atlantis city. King Triton will not be immediately seen, but it's possible to gain an audience with him if you get in contact with the ambassadors of the kingdom. Just, make sure that you're not wasting his time. He's a lot less patient with nonsense than the Ringmaster is. ► FISH FRIDAY: You fell asleep, whether or not that's something you usually do, and the next morning you wake up as one of the merfolk. A few last additions may grow in after you're awake, but for the most part everyone will have a method of swimming and a method of breathing underwater transfigured into them upon waking. Don't worry about your belongings - everything is waterproofed, and technology will work the same underwater as it does above it. That doesn't mean there won't be plenty to get used to, though. ► GREAT BLUE YONDER: The ocean realm where Atlantis resides is enormous, and the depths seem to be unending. Despite the fact that there doesn't seem to be any surface, sun glimmers all the way down to the ocean floor. Atlanteans use creatures like whales and dolphins as rides and beasts of burden, and they can be seen swimming in and out of the city as constantly as roadways filed with cars in earth civilization. Beyond that, there's everything you would expect to see on the ocean floor here - huge reefs of coral, both familiar and exotic, enormous ocean plants, deep ocean trenches, and all kinds of weird critters living in them. There are a mix of mythical and standard ocean creatures, and are likely a combined populations of many oceans worth of beings. ► THE ATLANTEAN MARKET: The Atlantean market (aka the "merket") is a long trench between rows of buildings in the middle of the city, lit with bio-luminescent plants and rocks, and filled with all kinds of weird mer stuff that you can buy. There are a great many individual booths, mostly with hand crafted wares and objects that have been salvaged from various sunken ships. The Ringmaster has already traded a large number of goods to the merfolk here, and has taken the profit to award each worker with 100 Atlantean Gold to spend as they please. One gold is worth roughly five USA dollars, for a comparison of how much that is. There is a top level set up below in which characters can make their purchases, and you can also handwave the purchase of random common, necessary items (food, drink, etc) at your convenience. ► TREASURE HUNTING: Right now, the only major salvage areas are a few left over sunken ships that have mostly been picked over by the merfolk. However, you are welcome to head over to them and explore, and see if fortune smiles on you when it comes to finding anything that hasn't been taken yet. The current options are three similar looking brigantine that all probably came from the same world. Merfolk do not seem to consider them to be anything extraordinary, though magical items and gold have allegedly been found within them. Whether or not anything is left, is the real question. ► LIMELIGHTING: Merfolk are curious and generally socially forward, as a species. This mean that they find the carnival's workers to be a fascinating novelty, and also are unafraid to make that fascination obvious. Given the opportunity, merfolk will demand your character's attention for bombardments of questions and for general socializing, especially if they are particularly unusual for some reason. Don't be surprised if you get invited to stay at total stranger's houses, or dragged off to a merfolk bar to surprise party with their friends. They'll let you say no, reluctantly, but they will also be pleased as punch to get up in your gill. It's also possible to make some money, this way, if you're willing to do street performances, or are willing to sell your "skills" in a more private environment. Yes, there are opportunities to become a fish hooker if you are so inclined. Merfolk may also offer money to take you as arm candy to various public events, escort style. They don't consider this to be a particularly socially inappropriate thing to do, either. You can ask general questions about this setting over on the event post. There are top levels below for buying Atlantean merch, and also for making dolla dolla, if your character is inclined to try.

Comments

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[atouts]

Luckily for Tanyuu, if there's one thing Childermass — a now very shark-like Childermass — excels at, it's ruining someone else's day. If that someone else happens to be a pretty mermaid, so be it. The gesture for help is enough to get him to change whatever course he'd been on before and lazily swim around in a wide circle to intercept the two.

He comes to a stop directly in the mermaid's path, so abrupt about it that there's a near collision. It's not something he'll apologize for, either. Instead, he's looking down at them both with the most bored expression he can muster. The 'maid earns herself only one glance before he dismisses her and turns to Tanyuu alone.

"As reluctant as I am to ruin your fun," he begins without an ounce of sincerity about doing just that, "the Ringmaster has been looking for you. It would seem there's been a wardrobe malfunction."

[fourthscribe]

The mermaid manages to stop in time with a flare of her fins and flick of her tail, and Tanyuu's own reaches out to curl around a nearby rock as an anchor. The expressions on the two women are very different, Tanyuu's muted and very thankful relief versus the mermaid's annoyed and offended scowl.

"Wardrobe? Just tell them to take it off if it's such a problem!"

Tanyuu pats her arm with a weak smile and starts the process of politely disentangling herself, still blushing fiercely. "If she's calling for me, it's probably not that simple. Did she tell you who or what the issue is, by chance?" The glance she casts Childermass is hard to read just by virtue of her features, but the thin line of her mouth is signal enough of the stress and urgency of needing to get away. Whatever the excuse, make it big and urgent!

[atouts]

For the mermaid's efforts at being offended, she'll only find a continuation of how ignored she's being right now. She may as well not be there at all to Childermass, which is, of course, his intent.

"Oh, yes. She did. Giant eels," he answers Tanyuu, thinking up some outrageous story as he goes. That's right. Eels. "They got into tailor's tent and apparently decided half the costumes were meant to be eaten. In particular, anything with sequins. I assume they mistook those as fish. They do look somewhat like scales from a certain angle, I suppose."

[fourthscribe]

Childermass's cold shoulder earns him a hearty glare from the mermaid, crossing her arms and sulking.

"Giant eels? Oh goodness." Tanyuu releases her hold on the rock and casts the mermaid an apologetic look, which seems to mollify her somewhat. "I'm terribly sorry, but I do have to go..."

"If it's a mess that big, I guess you'll have to. You know where to find me, though, right?" The flirtatious wink rockets Tanyuu's blush right up again, and she stammers out something that could be an agreement before grabbing Childermass by the wrist and swimming off as fast as she can.

[atouts]

And there they go, off as quickly as Tanyuu's tail can take her. That's a surprise to Childermass, if only by a little one. Usually, when he's dragged along somewhere, it's metaphorical, not literal. He casts a glance back over a shoulder at the mermaid left behind and then picks up some of the slack by swimming along, rather than making her pull him along all on her own.

"You really didn't want to go with her?" Childermass asks as they make their escape, going from the stern and serious of before to sounding a hell of a lot more amused than he rightly should be. "She didn't seem that hideous."

[fourthscribe]

"What?" Tanyuu looks over at Childermass with an honestly baffled look, though with her face as flushed as it is it makes for one hell of an impression. "What do her looks have to do with anything?"

[atouts]

"Hm. Nothing, apparently," Childermass says after looking back again and catching the bafflement. He mentally crosses those sorts of jokes off the list, if they're going to go over poor Tanyuu's head. It's probably for the best. "I do hope you're all right. They're a very grabby lot, aren't they?"

[fourthscribe]

"Yes, they're...very curious." She heaves a sigh and slows down a little, taking a glance behind them to be sure the mer has swam off by now. "I wonder if they even have a sense of boundaries."

[atouts]

He'll at least give it a moment of thought and a look around at the other merfolk they're passing by before shrugging.

"Experience thus far points to 'no'."

[fourthscribe]

Tanyuu laughs softly, looking over to Childermass with amusement. "Sounds like you've had trouble with a few hangers-on, yourself."

[atouts]

"Only the ones who've been the wrong kind of forward," Childermass admits with a shrug. "I've since found they aren't too used to being told off, either."