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

Eh? But the tailor tent doesn't ha-

[AND THREE AND TWO AND-] HEEEHHHHHH!!! [The jellyfish jolts, and the glow flickers violently with surprise, hands fumbling as they take the bag. If they were above sea, she swears it would probably be steaming now. As it is, a few bubbles billow around it, the water feeling much warmer.]

Y-Your magic has music in it?!

[Giggling, Ash makes a circle in the water with one claw.] Other way around, babe. My music has magic in it.

HEH!? S-Seriously?!

I didn't even see the guitar! [Yah weren't lookin very hard, Carly.]

See, now there's proof if anything is that you aren't around the trailer much.

HEY!! I meant here, you know!! Where's your guitar if I'm hearing music?!

[Guitar's where it always is, sop Ash flicks a finger over her shoulder to tap the neck.] I don't NEED it. I make my part of the music and the rest always comes naturally.

AH-

[She's still adjusting to seeing with this weird glow around, so sue her.] So it's there right now...

S-Still though, that's really cool, that it just plays itself when you use magic...!!

Oh, it has its disadvantages. I can't even hum a song to myself without a symphony breaking out. [Which honestly didn't bother her, but could be a real nuisance to people around her.]

Heh? That's a disadvantage..?

[....If anything...] ...That sounds really cool!! And convenient, too! You could have all kinds of music playing whenever you wanted...

Yeah, okay, imagine what would happen if you were lying in bed sound asleep and I came in and thoughtlessly hummed something to myself.

I would hear an entire wonderful symphony in my dreams~

[Carly no]

Yeah, for about two tends of a second before the screaming guitar solo woke up and you justifiably threw things at me.

W...well....

You never know, [she manages with a swallow, twiddling her fingers a bit.] I'm a pretty deep sleeper, after all~!

Hey, if you manage it, I'll be impressed. But I'm sure not going to test it if I can help it, in case I'm wrong.

I guess that's fair...

[She stammers-] Bu-But you shouldn't hold back either! Even if it bugs me once, maybe I could get used to it!

Way too late for that, babe. I trained myself out of it way back in elementary school. I don't make music without intending to any more, period the end.

...Oh.

[Welp.] I guess it won't be a problem...ever, then.

Heh, sorry. Trust me, it's better this way. Anything that I'm not covering, something I came up with myself? Something ALWAYS happens when I perform those.

What happens when you're just doing a cover then?

I get the music as part of the package, but I can choose whether or not I want to actually work magic through it.

Woah....

[And she thought occasionally locking herself in places with demon magic was bad..] A-And that's been since you were little..?

[The humor is practically gone from Ash's voice now, and the effect on her is dramatic. Serious Ash is a very different beast than Amused Ash.]

Yup. All my life. Starting back before I was too young to know any better about what I was doing. The first time you come this close -- [Ash holds two claws so close together there's barely a hint of space between them] -- to killing a friend because you were just fucking around, that stuff sticks to you.

S-So it was just inherited or something..?! [Y ik es. At the least, on Carly's part, there is no humor in her own voice. Just genuine fear, and genuine worry...and concern.] ...did they...

...What happened..?

'Inherited' isn't an easy word in this case. Catpeople are inherently magically-inclined, but normally it takes some training to manifest that. Like I have a cousin who went to school to be a witch... but her brother is a chef. [Ash shrugs at that.] And he's also lead vocals in a band, and there's never been a hint of trouble with that. Actually he's the least magical person in that band...

[But that's getting away from the point.]

But we're a weird species, 'cuz we were made by magic. Apparently without regard to the consequences.

[She's deliberately avoiding answering the 'what happened?' part, yes.]

You were...made by magic? [It seems to be working, in any case, since now Carly is latching onto a more confusing topic. She seems to try, at the least, to think about what Ashleigh is saying...

...But at the very end-] ...Made by magic..? Like, your ancestors were, or something..?

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