⇨ 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

[atouts]

He's since given up trying to figure out what Joker is meant to be (a shrimp, probably?), but all that scurrying still manages to be freaky to watch. People aren't meant to move like that, Joker! Though Childermass being Childermass, that he thinks that at all won't show on his face.

"Possibly," Childermass says with a shrug. He drifts forward to grab an edge of the cloth and reel it back in, wrapping it around his arm again as he does. "I might worry about hurting Lauren if it got too tangled."

Although that is what practice is for, isn't it?

[pipers_son]

“Yeah, that’s the tricky part…” Joker’s hand moves down to what’s probably still his hips, wooden fingers drumming against a chitinous shell. The rhythm thumps through the water gently. “We might have ta find a larger cloth, perhaps.” That would be harder to tangle, probably, at least if they maneuvered well enough…. At least water makes the prospect a little easier.

“I’m sure we have one somewhere in storage.”

[atouts]

"Even if we did, it would still need some weight to work," Childermass points out. He won't bother throwing the cloth out again, since they've already seen how it drifts about gently. "I could try holding it out in front of me instead. If he charged it and I moved at the last second, he'd cover himself."

Only that leaves the dilemma of 'but what if he's faster than you, Childermass'.

[pipers_son]

“True, that’s another way ta do it…” Joker lapses into thought, going over each method carefully in his head. Whatever is safest for his performers is what he’d like to do, and he doesn’t want Childermass to get accidentally mauled. Finally, however, he decides, “Well, let’s just give everything a try, see how it goes in practice. Some things ya don’t realize until yer doin’ them.”

[atouts]

It's fine. Childermass would just swim off being accidentally mauled, no big deal.

"Fair enough," he'll agree to that. "Although there's only so much to do without Lauren here. Unless you care to find a real shark for me to practice with, although then we would, unfortunately, be stuck with an invisible shark."

Or whatever else they might come up with for the act. Hippogriff won't work well under water, though he's decided to leave the actual new creature of choice up to the druid stuck being it. Shark, orca, giant crab, whatever.

[pipers_son]

“Don’t worry, he’ll show up sooner or later.” Joker waves his hand through the water idly. “We’re workin’ on somethin’ with him. Still, if he doesn’t show up in a bit, I’ll try ta make sure he hasn’t just gotten himself all tangled up in seaweed or somethin’.”

Which makes him sigh. Honestly, he doesn’t mind if they’re completely underwater, because worlds can be all sorts of strange, but such a sudden change… “I wish she’d at least let us supervisors know when she’ll do this sorta thing, instead of just assumin’ well handle it.” They will, of course, because that’s their job and they don’t have any choice in the matter, but, still.

[atouts]

"Oh? Does this happen very often?"

It's a question he's had since they arrived in Atlantis and Joker's complaint is as good a reason to ask it now as any other. Of course, it's Childermass, so it sounds like he may as well be asking about the weather rather than everyone being turned into fish people. It never does to actually sound worried, so he's trying to avoid it.

[pipers_son]

Honestly, in the carnival, this sort of thing might as well be as mundane as talking about the weather in other worlds, and Joker shrugs easily, not bothered by it.

“It’s been a while since somethin’ like this has happened, I think… I’ve heard stories from folks who were here longer than even some of us supervisors, although they’re all gone now. The Ringmaster chooses wherever we perform, and settles things so that we manage just well and don’t die. With the land of dreams, it was those dreamcatchers. Here, it’s changin’ a little bit, probably only while we’ve set up shop here. It’s how it works.”

[atouts]

"I am not sure I would call this 'a little bit'," Childermass refutes mildly, gesturing down at, well, all of his newly gained sharkiness with a webbed hand. That's a lot, Joker. Come on now. He isn't about to be upset over it, though, at least not openly.

Besides, there's already enough to do without adding 'be really mad' to the list. He gives his tail a flick and manages to propel himself back over to where he's left the usual collection of props left on the nearest row of seats. It's not exactly graceful, but he manages to grab onto the back of a seat before he overshoots and crashes. He does that much with practiced ease since chances are he actually has crashed a few times before meeting up here and doesn't care to repeat any of that with witnesses.

"She could have given out a warning, at the very least."

[pipers_son]

Honestly, fair enough point, and Joker snorts. “It ain’t permanent- well I doubt most of it will be- and that’s the most I can ask for.” So long as, at the end of the day, he can move around, Joker tries not to let himself be too concerned. Childermass is right in that line of thinking after all. There’s not a lot you can really do. Best just adjust as much as you can and go along with it. Being easygoing has its benefits.

“Anyway, sometimes there are warning, sometimes there ain’t, and it’s hard ta tell which way she’ll go, honestly. I mean… sometimes the Nightriders know the most, but it depends, really.”

[atouts]

"None of it would be preferable."

Sure, Childermass will take being a shark over most of the other sea life he's seen his coworkers got stuck with, but he doesn't really want any of the bits or pieces to stick around after! He's still trying to get used to the entire feather ordeal, thanks.

"Although I don't see what point there is to the Nightrider's crew if they aren't allowed to do their job beforehand," he'll add. Well, whatever. He picks through the props for a moment, frowning at them as he doesn't find much of anything to suit the current dilemma. "If I can find a fishing net, I could sew that to the back of it... That would give it some weight, at least."

[pipers_son]

‘None’ is what everyone wants stepping into the Carnival for the first while, but Joker can confirm that it’s a weak hope. Everyone changes eventually. It’s just a matter of ‘when’, ‘how bad’, and ‘how quick’. For now, he can only shrug at the Nightrider question before he scurries around the cloth.

“Maybe… I think I could probably get somethin’ out from the city. They’re fish people, so they outta have nets, right?”

[atouts]

"One would think so, though I imagine that depends on how they catch regular fish," he replies, shrugging as he does. "They must have at least some way of catching fish in mass."

[pipers_son]

“If they don’t, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.” Still, it’s a plan of action, and Joker starts to swim towards the exit. “Anyway, I’ll go and take a look! In the meantime, keep thinkin’ of something, and if ya get a solution, well, ya have me on the radio.”