lostcarnival | ⇨ 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

"Ah, sorry, sorry~." Joker's apology seems pretty relaxed, however, and he smiles at her as he scuttles up through a hole in the wooden floor. He'd say it's a good thing he has at least a little bit of glow on him for all this gloom, but, frankly, it's too cumbersome to open up his wings in an enclosed space like this to bother with.

"I've been peeking through for a bit, but yer right in that it's a little spooky, huh?"

Well, it's a good thing then that she's not actually all that upset. Being briefly startled isn't nearly enough to detract from Miko's good mood in the face of SPOOKY SHIPWRECKS to explore.

"Yeah! Who knows how long this thing's been down here - or what's lurking inside." She grins, wiggling her fingers as if to imply... something. Honestly, who knows what.

In Joker’s experience, he suspects it’s probably lots of crabs and fish, honestly. As much of a heart attack as it would be to come face to face with a shark in one of these things, they’re old, and too cramped. Still, who’s he to ruin someone’s fun? Lazily twisting, he grins at her.

“But that’s not stoppin’ ya, I see.”

"No way! I can handle whatever this place has going on; if something tries to go after me I can just kick its butt now, anyway!" Miko you're underwater, even magic-enhanced punching is probably gonna be tough.

“Technically, can ya kick somethin’ when ya don’t have legs?” Oh, he knows that’s now what she means, but Joker has never been so above it all that he won’t reach for low hanging fruit.

Hey, Miko can't fault him for going for an opportunity when he sees one.

"No, but I can punch it! I can probably move faster than anything that's in there, anyway."

"Oh yeah?" Now that's something to hear. Letting his legs rest against the wall of the ship, he grins at her.

"Ya sound pretty tough, then, for bein' such a tiny thing."

She puffs up with pride, the bright orange spikes on her back raising a little for a moment.

"Well, I was hanging out with a buncha giant robots before I got here; no way am I gonna be scared of some oversized fish now!"

Robots, robots… Oh, that’s right. The giant metal people. Suddenly reminded of someone, Joker gives a slight snort before resolving to shove Starscream out of his head. “And what’s a mite like yerself doin’ hangin’ around giant robots for?”

"Kiiind of a long story, but I ended up involved in their whole secret alien robot war thing, which was pretty sweet! Totally got to help them save the world and stuff." She snorts. "It sure made still having school and all that easier to put up with."

“...Y’know, wouldn’t be the strangest story I’ve heard.” At least, not while traveling with the carnival, that’s for sure. He shakes his head, faintly amused. “Although I would have ta say that yer one of the younger people I’ve ever heard of savin’ the world or anythin’ like that.”

Miko laughs. "I bet! I wasn't even the youngest kid helpin' them out, though. Raf was only like thirteen when I left, but t'be fair Raf's, like. Some kind of freaky genius super-nerd."

That... sure is a thing to call someone, Miko.

Freaky genius super nerd… Joker snickers into his hand. “Sounds like someone that would be right at home with Peridot.” She’s pretty tiny, although he wouldn’t even think to guess her age. Other species, he’s found, can be like that.

“Ya meet her yet?”

"Don't think so! But if she's super in love with computers and tech and all that, then yeah, they'd probably get along great."

Miko, you can't predict that about someone you've never met. But, as far as she's concerned, that would probably be about all it took as long as Peridot didn't like. Try to kill him or something.

“Well, chat her up sometime.” Pushing off of the wall he’s been scurrying along, he swims through the water again to look into yet another hole curiously. “Lord knows that some of ya will be stickin’ around for a while, so might as well get ta know everyone, right?”

"Guess I'll see if I see her around, then." Which... she probably will, since it's not like it's a huge carnival, but anyway.

"Might as well! And what d'you mean by that? How long do some people stick around for?"

Draping against what looks like a port hole, Joker hums. “Well…. A year is the least everyone’s gotta work. So that long, probably. But some folks do something foolish ta get inta more debt, or they make more contracts with the Ringmaster…. Like me, I’m gonna be here for a good few years more, ha!”

"Yeah? Which one did you do, doing dumb crap or making more contracts?"

She doesn't mean to imply anything either way. Maybe, probably. Though, if he did do something dumb, she definitely wants to hear about it.

Tapping his fingers together, he points at her. "Both," he drawls, and then winks. "But the dumb stuff was on the job, and isn't responsible for me bein' stuck here."

Although, he supposes, making contracts is dumb in its own way. But whatever.

"I just got a lotta stuff I want ta see happen, and this is the easiest way ta make it happen."

Miko laughs, increasingly delighted with... this whole conversation, honestly.

"Yeah, seems like it would! How much stuff can the Ringmaster do, anyway? Like, obviously it's a lot."

⇨ ATLANTIS

treasure hunting

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