lostcarnival | ⇨ ATLANTIS

Entry tags:

⇨ ATLANTIS

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I don't gossip," Childermass disagrees.

Which isn't true at all. This absolutely still counts as gossip and he is taking part of it. He just doesn't care to admit it, since normally he'd be the one listening to gossip, not taking part of it. Though gossip aside, he's settling into a fairly lazy swimming pace so Strange won't have a problem keeping up. Wherever they're going, not even he's sure, but they'll be leaving Atlantis behind soon enough.

"If it worries you, I don't consider you an enemy, either." Said as if that might make Strange feel better. Considering what Childermass has been keeping from him, he has to wonder if that will ever change for the worse, but that's a worry for another time. "As for what the Psionic thinks, well..."

God. Is there any way to say it without laughing? No, he decides. There isn't. At the time, it had been annoying, but in retrospect, it's downright ridiculous. Still, he'll make the attempt. He's supposed to be the serious one here, isn't he?

"He wanted to know if we were more than friends."

There, no laughing involved yet, but he sure sounds like he thinks it's funny. Time to see if Strange can even translate what that's meant to mean.

Edited (werds) 2017-01-15 06:18 (UTC)

More than friends? What could Childermass mean by—oh. Oh. Strange pauses swimming for a moment, frowning slightly. How on Earth did Psionic come to that deduction? Why did he come to that deduction? Yes, the two ended up at each other's sides more often than not, but a good amount of that was Childermass's fault in the first place (stop stalking him, geez). "But he knows I'm married!" Strange can't help but splutter, as if that would somehow change that more than friends idea in Psionic's mind, as if marriage was the be-all and end-all to the question and the possibility of affairs didn't exist.

Still...it is kind of funny. And, as far as rumors go, Strange knows that worse have been said about him. He starts up swimming again, shaking his head slightly, as he gives Childermass a cheeky little smile. "I suppose I didn't help matters. In his game, the first dare Psionic gave me was to kiss the first person I saw. As the first person was technically him, I gave him a proper sort of kiss on the hand as one would give a lady."

Childermass will stop only just long enough to crane around and catch Strange's reaction, then he is going to laugh before carrying on (which he never really truly stopped doing in the first place, since gliding through water isn't quite the same as stopping on dry land).

"As if marriage has ever stopped anyone."

They both know better than that, but they also know Strange certainly isn't the sort for it. All the madness, this entire carnival ordeal, that's pretty much the proof right there. Though thinking that makes Childermass wonder if he shouldn't just get it over with and tell him about his wife. It's not as if he could burn an ocean down in a fit of rage, but...

"Did you now?" He won't. There's already enough to talk about as it is and that isn't even including the Psionic's drunken game. "If that's his idea of a dare, I am glad I decided to stick with truth."

The madness, the carnival ordeal, the fact that his contract is designed to help him bring back Arabella in the first place..there's plenty of signs that while marriage might not stop somebody, it's certainly going to stop Strange.

But, back to gossip. Strange lazily continues swimming as he follows Childermass. "I honestly don't know what he would have given me for another dare. The poor fellow got distracted halfway through the game. I had to pause the game to explain to him just why so many Englishmen were named John."

And the fact that he was blind drunk, of course. Still, distractions can provide ample information depending on the circumstances. Just...not entirely with Strange's conversation.

"To explain to him— what? Why would that need to be explained?"

Of all the cultural clashes one could expect, why a bunch of people might share a similar name was not one Childermass would have anticipated. He even glances back hard at Strange to make sure he isn't having him on with that one, but there's no obvious sign of that (Strange is an awful liar, anyhow).

"I honestly have no idea," Strange admits, just as confused as Childermass. He's not having him on in the slightest and, instead, looks just as perplexed. Because he agrees: of all the things to be confused about, the fact that Englishmen share multiple first names just seems so small in comparison to the greater scheme of things.

"Apparently in his world, no two trolls share the same name. Which means that his world must not have that many trolls to begin with." Either that or an astonishing amount of creativity—or possibly both, Strange isn't entirely sure which one rings true.

"Or he was incredibly drunk and hadn't the faintest idea of what he was saying," Childermass offers as a third possibility. There's a lot they might be able to attribute to 'being incredibly drunk'. "There is at least one thing he mentioned to me that you should know, though. Something he was very serious about."

Which means it's time to move on to discussing more important things. Now they're out over one of the reefs that crop up around the city's outskirts and it's at that point he'll decide they should make their descent. Aside from the real fish (or mostly real, with a smattering of the bizarre or mythical) swarming in and out of the reef itself, there doesn't look to be anyone else out this way to eavesdrop on them.

It's interesting, too, which is certainly a plus.

Strange follows Childermass down to the reef. It takes him a bit longer than the other man, partly due to the fact that goldfish are slow, partly due to the fact that whoa, look at that thing! That's a massive fish, and oh look at that coral, have you seen that coral, what exactly is that anyway? There's a manta ray, he still doesn't know what the hell that is but look at it's fins!

The ocean is doing nothing for his already shoddy attention span. Still, he keeps swimming, partly distracted by all the creatures, partly keeping an eye out to see if he spots anybody he might recognize from the carnival. Eventually, they're floating closer to the reef, out of the way enough for a safe conversation.

"Well, go ahead. What was he talking about?"

Maybe they should have stayed up over it, considering how prone Strange is to distraction, but then Childermass wouldn't get to look at everything swimming around the reef either. He should've brought something to write with (more like draw with, but whatever). He wonders if that would even work out here.

"That they're considering striking back at whoever left the sigil. They know who did it, as well, or at least that is what I gathered from what else he went on about."

At the reef, he stops, reaching out to hang onto a sturdy enough looking piece of it (he might be less inclined to do that if he knew coral reef was alive, but hey, he can't know everything). If nothing else, he won't have to worry about rogue currents coming through. From there, he turns to look back at Strange.

"Do you know what a vampire is, Mr. Strange?"

Likewise, Strange floats down to a sturdy portion of the reef, sitting down on it, one hand gripping into the coral as a handhold. (And yeah, he's got no idea the coral's alive as well.) As for Childermass's question, Strange frowns.

"A mythical creature that lives off the blood of others," Strange explains, in a matter of fact tone. He's heard of the legends of the creature. Though...the fact that Childermass is asking if Strange knew about vampires in the first place means that they might not be as mythical as he thought.

"Are you implying that the sigil was created by vampires?"

"I am," Childermass confirms with a slight nod. "I don't know the entire story since he became very upset once he started talking about it, but it sounds as though the carnival had a bad run in with them. It's why there aren't as many workers as there used to be. Whatever happened must have been enough to frighten them off."

Or, you know, kill them. Death is always a possibility.

Edited 2017-01-16 19:38 (UTC)

Yeah, Strange has an idea that death is definitely a possibility. He also is just not gonna talk about it! If the Carnival did have a bad run in with the vampires, then it's entirely likely that Psionic either lost people he cared about in the run in with the vampires or had to fight against them himself.

A fact that certainly would have shaken up the man as Strange has a small little feeling that Psionic isn't much of a fighter to begin with. Just taking a guess here, it has nothing to do with the fact that he's a scrawny little nerd who got drunk after confrontation (says another scrawny little nerd.)

"I suppose we have another question to ask Joker," said with a little sigh. "First about the meeting, then about the vampires."

"It sounds like we'll have an entire list of questions to ask Joker by the time we get around to it."

And no one should be able to blame Childermass for sounding a tad bit annoyed by that. By no means had he thought this would be an easy year to live out, but he hadn't expected possessions, dangerous sigils, and possibly vampires. Even less so in quick succession.

Well, he supposes that just means there'll never be a dull moment.

"But that is what I found out. What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"After our little spat, I returned to watching the supervisors. Apparently, someone else had been as well. I didn't see who it was, but the Ringmaster left the area for a little bit to deal with the problem." The spell was trained to follow Joker, after all. He saw Koel and the Ringmaster spot something moving in the bushes, but as for who the person moving in the bushes was, he didn't see.

"I doubt it's a vampire, though. Everybody seemed a bit too relaxed once the Ringmaster returned. I'd assume it was a carnival worker...which means that whoever it is, they heard part of the conversation." But again, the problem is obvious: Strange has no idea just who that worker is. There's enough workers that it would be hard to question everybody and even if they did, Strange didn't know where to start. By the way, mind telling us if you decided to spy on a secret meeting? That'd be foolish.

"I would doubt that, too. I think we can assume, for now, that the sigil was placed back during those troubles and not recently enough for a vampire to still be around." Which means, yeah, he agrees. It must have been a carnival worker. "Though whether they heard everything or not doesn't help us. We can't exactly go asking around about it."

Because the problem is obvious. He may as well state it aloud, just in case. Childermass would hope Strange isn't foolish enough to try interrogating every other worker, but these days, it's a good idea to be absolutely sure.

"Did they do anything about the sigil itself?"

"They did. That little green person, the engineer, I believe?" After all, Strange hasn't met Peridot yet. "She made some sort of complex thing involving wires, bits and other sort of technological things." He sighs, a bit grumpily, before continuing.

"I haven't the faintest idea how she made the thing to begin with. First the cars, then the portable cameras Joker was talking to me about, now this...I didn't expect that the thing in Faerie that would confuse me the most would be technology."

Of course, Strange's derailing train of thought is also because they haven't gotten to the actual 'let's blow up the sigil' part in the sigil log and idek even if it'll work. So sorry Childermass, you get to deal with the magician with the attention span of...well, a goldfish, as he goes off about technology and kids these days with their cars and their cameras.

Thankfully, long and winding tangents aren't anything new and Childermass, who's lived way too long around magicians who do just that, can deal with it. The complaint is valid enough, even if he finds it funny enough to smirk about.

"But I thought we were meant to expect the unexpected in Faerie, Mr. Strange."

Yeah, there's a shark here that's being real cheeky right now.

Strange can't help but give Childermass a Look. Yeah, he gets what you're doing and that cheek is not appreciated. He rolls his eyes slightly as he continues to talk, gesturing vaguely in some random direction.

"You're correct. However, I expected a different sort of unexpected."

As though a Look is going to do anything to help you, Strange. Childermass readjusts his grip on the reef so he can throw an arm over the top of part of it instead and lean casually, as he often does, against it. That done, he'll raise his eyebrows and carry on as if he hasn't the faintest idea what that Look was even for.

"Well, you know, when something odd happens in Faerie, you shrug it off because ah, it's Faerie, that's to be expected."

Man, doesn't that just sound so familiar?

It does indeed sound so familiar, gee, Strange has no idea where he's heard that before, oh no wait he does, it is hardly fair to turn one's words against them but really, this is Childermass, it's to be expected. Doesn't mean he's got to like it, though.

That Look turns into a bit of a glower as Strange settles for pouting slightly while he sits on the reef.

"Even when some of the oddness happens outside of Faerie? After all, the Matrix had no magic."

Strange should take it as a compliment. It's not quite a mockery, just a bit of poking fun at. That's miles above the thinly veiled contempt Childermass has had for, well, most of London.

"Doesn't seem wise to exclude it," he replies, shrugging. He'll think more seriously about it now, dropping the rehash of their older conversation. "We're getting to all these places through Faerie, with magic from Faerie. It was faerie magic that put us into the Matrix and faerie magic that turned us all into..."

He waves around. At himself, at Strange.

"This."

"Into fish people?" Strange can't help but respond, that pout shifting to a wry little smile. There's no use dancing around the topic, Childermass. They're fish people. Strange is certain he's got gills and he definitely has fins. Childermass has fins as well and also...teeth? Whatever.

"And yes, faerie magic put us in the Matrix. And likewise, it took us out. But I still don't know if we can count the Matrix as faerie. After all, faerie magic can bring someone in and out of London but London certainly isn't the same as Faerie."

"Yes, into fish people."

God, fine. There. He said it. It's amazing and fucking absurd all at the same time, which can be somewhat difficult to parse. They're literally in the lost city of Atlantis. It's full of mermaids (and other mer-things). Except he's also a mer-thing now, which is something he's never actually considered.

He can't even claim it's like some kind of fairy tale since it seems they are literally stuck in one.

"And no, London isn't Faerie, but we both used England's connections to Faerie to get to the carnival in the first place."

"We did and I'm certain people from other worlds that have connections to Faerie did as well. And, I know that there are some people who work here because of a debt they incurred playing games. But there must be some people here from a world that isn't connected to Faerie that the Ringmaster still sought out to form a contract with."

Strange can't think of any off the top of his head, but he does have some suspicions. Psionic, for one. Definitely others, possibly his flatmate? Poor Lars seemed entirely ignorant about the world of Faerie.

"I honestly don't know if this thought means anything," he admits, "but it is certainly something to consider. Why seek certain people out?"

Edited 2017-01-18 15:11 (UTC)

"Or there are roads into Faerie no matter where you go," Childermass suggests instead. If England could have them, there's no way to be sure other places in the world do not, or even other worlds altogether.

"Although if she does seek very particular people out, then we're again faced with having to decide how a faerie's mind must work. We already know they don't think like we do, not exactly."

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