lostcarnival | ⇨ ATLANTIS

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⇨ 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.

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His head jerks up as he hears the laugh. Embarrassed as he is, laughter makes him feel especially anxious. His first assumption is always that someone is laughing at him, even if they aren't. Of course this time as he looks up he meets Lars' gaze and from the wide grin he's sporting Lauren knows this time he's assumed correctly. His face flushes an even brighter red, his feelings of embarrassment now magnified by feelings of angry. He has to get out of here, coming by himself was a bad idea in the first place.

"Sorry... I-I have to, um, go." He mumbles, not even moving to look at the women who are speaking with him before he turns and tries to move away. They keep blocking his path though, even when he does turn, and he can't physically move them without touching bare skin.

"I really do have to go..." He repeats, even quieter than before. Where was Susan when he needed him.

Lars knows the feeling well; he always assumes the worst of people, carrying that same fear on his shoulders wherever he goes. Maybe that's why when he sees Lauren flush shamefully and struggle to escape without success that Lars's expression falls a little, his shoulders slacking. He almost looks remorseful, or sympathetic—almost. It's a little gross just voyuering on what's basically his own personal flavor of hell. He saves face by slipping his expression into an eye-roll, giving an impatient, derrissive sigh.

He swims towards Lauren and his admirers pretty quickly, thanks to his long and powerful tail. He realizes he's throwing himself into the fray here, but he doesn't suffer as bad in the spotlight as Lauren does. And it's not altruism, really, so it's cool—it's just too annoying to watch.

"Hey," Lars cuts in, lifting his tail between Lauren and his nearest admirer in a slight curl. "He ain't interested." The women insistently giggle, and one of them softly touches Lars's tail. His face immediately flares up red, and he snaps his tail downwards. The abrupt movement gets them to stil, looking concerned. "Stop that! No, listen, he's not like that," Lars blurts thoughtlessly, even though he has no clue where he's going with it. So he follows it up in the way he thinks is the most sensitble.

"He, uhhh, like... you know, he only likes... dudes."

Aaaand, save. Lars is immediately having to suppress his laughter.

What the fuck? It's not like Lauren cares if a bunch of mermaids think he's gay, but is that really the best thing Lars could think of???? Why is he trying to help Lauren now anyway? Just seconds ago he was laughing at Lauren, and now he was trying to help. It basically didn't make any sense.

Still, he wasn't going to miss an opportunity to escape if one arose. They were all holding still and looking at Lars, so maybe he could just sneak away. Except that he was a terrible swimmer.

"Lars. Can you... swim me to the place that I have to go?"

OR SOMETHING?????? He just wants to get out of here.

'The place that I have to go?' That was the best Lauren could think of?? GEEZ

Lars rolls his eyes, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, fine," he humors Lauren emptily. "I'll take you to 'the place you have to go,'" Lars mocks, with a dumb voice and air (water?) quotes and everything. "C'mon."

The expression of the mermaids shifts, and they all exchange glances, giggling in an almost eerie way for its ethereal quality. Lars glances back at them, cracking a smile that's not as confident as he wishes it was. But he's doing better than he was. He waves at them, turning, and gesturing at Lauren to follow him.

"Have fun, you two," one of them coos after them.

Lars raises an eyebrow, giving pause, and looks over his shoulder, looking confused.

"Uh, you... too??"

Unfortunately their hints don't escape Lauren's understanding, and he winces wondering if it's even possible for him to feel more embarrassed than he does right now. He briefly debates telling Lars exactly what the mermaids were likely thinking right now, but in the end decides against it. Lars was a confusing irritable type, or at least that was the impression he'd given Lauren. It was probably best just to let Lars assume whatever he wanted when it came to things like this.

He doesn't want to say thank you, but Lars did help him out, even if he had laughed at him first.

"...Thanks."

Once they're decently away, Lars is given pause when Lauren thanks him.

He squints at Lauren, looking him up and down—he can't decide how he feels about this guy. He's pretty sure he doesn't like him, but he also sees enough in himself that he feels badly for him. Or at least, that's what just happened. Conversely, that might be part of why Lars doesn't like him. Part of him really does wish he just left Lauren to suffer, so he could laugh about it and pretend that he didn't suffer the same agonizing embarrassment not too long ago.

There's also... uh. Well.

"Whatever," Lars says irritably, crossing his arms, deciding he's uncomfortable. "You gotta assert yourself, man. I thought you woulda." After all, Lars's first impression is almost getting his ass beat by Lauren, which he mysteriously does not begrudge the druid for at all. "...Then again, I guess it was a bunch of girls, too."

He looks away, at a bit of a loss. He barely understood his own reactions most of the time. He's even less sure how to explain his feelings to someone else. He's also not sure he wants to.

"I don't really like talking to people."

"Pff, no kiddin'? Prolly cuz you suck at it," Lars says so flippantly he may as well be commenting on the weather. He's no social butterfly himself, but he likes people—overall, anyway, despite his orneryness. From his own angle, he adds, "I mean, lotsa people just suck in general, too."

Lauren scoffs, glaring back at Lars. He's only been talking to Lars for a few seconds and already he's annoyed. If Lars hadn't come along though, he would still be trapped in bare bosom hell.

"Why do you talk that way?"

At first, Lars looks at Lauren kind of absent-mindedly, like he hadn't really been listening. Then he blinks. Does he mean his—accent? Or like, the nasally quality to his voice? Or how he swears a lot? Or—

Suddenly feeling weirdly self conscious, Lars's palms come to slowly rest on his biceps, as if trying to obscure his narrow, bare torso.

"Huh? Like what?"

"Do something nice while you say something mean. Why do you do that?" If he notices Lar's discomfort it doesn't show. In reality he just doesn't care at the exact moment. Lars has stumbled upon one of those rare moment's where Lauren's desire to understand something outweighs his anxieties.

Lars rarely does nice things for a lot of reasons, including because usually the embarrassment of the consequences are too much for him. Like right now.

"What! That wasn't nice!" he blurts defensively, his shoulders hiking. "That was—just—decent!! These people are freaks, man! Some lady tried to buy my body!"

That response only confuses him even more. Lars acted like doing something nice was a bad thing. Or maybe he simply didn't like Lauren questioning his motives. But how could he not question them? Maybe the woman who'd solicited his services was just as confused by his actions as Lauren was.

Whether it was nice or not though, it was appreciated. He has a feeling saying that would be even more unwelcome right now, but it feels strange to feel a sense of gratitude and simply not express it. He really is at a loss for what to say.

"... Why do something decent then?"

Lars's tail raises and sort of coils in a weird way. It's a lot of excess to try to muscle into one place. His posture hunches as he crosses his arms, shrugging. He can't look at Lauren.

"...I dunno."

Maybe part of him still felt bad about getting all in his face, that one time. Like hell he could ever admit that, even if he wanted to, which he super didn't.

"It was embarrassin'." Lars is impulsively trying to put heat on the situation unnecessarily, because being a jerk is just easier. It's also like, what he does. It's what people expect, and he kind of prefers it that way. "Couldn't watch."

Sympathy then maybe, he supposed even the worst sorts felt it sometimes, and Lars was far from the worst sorts. Lauren nods, letting the line of questioning drop. He really doesn't like to make others uncomfortable, he knows the feeling too well to wish it on someone else.

"I'm not sure what I could have said to make them stop." Some people had a way of turning every no you said into a yes, the people here seemed basically immune to the word no.

Lars is weirdly surprised when Lauren mercifully drops it, and relieved. He blinks, then shrugs a shoulder.

"I dunno, I just screamed at 'er that I wasn't a whore. I kept flippin' 'till she and her friends left." That, and, well, some folks intervened. But Lars was mostly hollering incredulously through that as well.

He snorts.

"Prolly embarrassed 'em. Hilarious."

"I don't know if it's possible to embarrass them." Lauren offers with a wry smile. The seemed pretty unflappable. Except the ones with flippers.

"Well, either way, they lost interest."

A part of Lars—the very big teenaged part of him, that's predictably gross and irrational—kind of wishes he'd gone with it. It woulda made for a better story, too. Good elevation points. Though he might have left out the actual monetary aspect...

"Don't get me wrong, they were hot an' everything." He narrows his eyes, his tail falling near his face deliberately. Lars gestures to it by gently patting the frilled end with the back of his hand. "...But, y'know, fish butt."

Yes, Lars, that's why you declined, and not because you're a giant shy baby who is also sometimes sort of sensible.

And now his confusion returns.

"So you would have whored yourself out to her if you had legs?"

"Well—no!" He hadn't thought about that one too closely. He scoffs irritably, showing his rows of needle sharp teeth as he rolls his strange ultraviolet eyes. "There's all kindsa reasons not to, the tail's just one of 'em! It's dirty, and dangerous, and doin' it with strangers probably sucks."

He wouldn't know, since he hasn't been able to actually do it yet. Which is something he definitely does not want to admit to, but at the same time it makes it difficult to comment on the likelihood of it 'sucking with strangers.' It is dangerous though, he knows that much, definitely not a profession you should resort to unless you have need to. Which, no one would need to, if they lived the right way like they were supposed to in nature, but that's a philosophical rant for a totally different time. Maybe things were different here anyway, how would he know. He is trying not to judge things by their cover too much these days.

So instead of saying any of that he just nods, in agreement.

"They are... fairly attractive though..." he can definitely understand why someone might be tempted to make a dangerous and dirty decision is what he means to say. "And they don't... Seem to wear proper clothes."

Yeah, he's totally blushing just thinking about it.

Lars pauses, then laughs, seeming taken aback by Lauren's response. But in a way he can identify with, so it's cool. "Haha, right?! Well, I mean, it's proper around here. Apparently." He snorts. "I'm gonna miss bein' somewhere where there's just super hot women floatin' around topless all the time, even if I can do without the solicitation. Good atmosphere."

Lauren shakes his head, obviously he does enjoy looking, but he's also been raised to respect a ladies modesty. This place makes it very difficult for him to do that.

"It's too much."

Lars raises an eyebrow, then holds his chin. "Yeah, with the attention, I guess. I kinda like it."

Not that Lars handled it well... He only enjoyed it in retospect.

"You know, when they aren't doin' crazy stuff like tryin' to buy nobody."

Lauren sighs, shaking his head in distaste.

"I hate strange places like this. I never thought we'd see so many odd things."

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mossbuds - 2017-02-12 00:15 (UTC) - Expand

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⇨ ATLANTIS

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that'll teach me to rename my icons

u scrub

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