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

He shakes his head.

"No, you won't! And even if you do, it's okay, 'cause I can help you! I'm not a little kid any more... So we can do things together."

Maybe not as little as he used to be, but he was still small. He was also powerful, and clever. He wasn't the worst person to have watching your back. In fact, he may have even been the best.

"It's hard here... I never know what to expect." Things seemed almost random.

He nods a little. He likes that part of it, it makes things fun and exciting, but he knows Lauren doesn't like it.

"But why does that make it hard?"

"I can't plan that way. If I don't know what to expect how can I know what to do?"

"You don't have to have a plan, you can just figure it out as you go! That's what I always do."

"I'm not good at that kind of thinking."

Edited 2017-01-29 22:11 (UTC)

"But you could be if you practiced! I can help you, too!"

Was it really the kind of thing you could just practice? He wasn't so sure. He didn't want Susan to feel like he had to make up for Lauren's own inadequacies. He stares down at the table again, thinking. Was it okay to depend on his little brother? He felt like it wasn't. Nana and Father never told Lauren their concerns, but then again, if he could have helped them with something he'd have wanted to.

"Can you practice something like that?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't hurt to try, right? Then you won't have to worry so much."

He already knows Lauren is better at these things than he thinks, so if only he could get his brother to stop worrying so much and just do it for once, everything would be better. As far as he can guess at least.

He shrugs, honestly not sure if it was possible for him to worry less. He felt worried all the time, even before coming here. At least at home he didn't have to worry about randomly finding himself under the sea. Home if something bad happened he could leave, he could do what he thought was best. Here that was impossible.

The truth was that with everything being as chaotic as it was here he was afraid of loosing Susan without ever getting the chance to stop it. He'd always been afraid of loosing his brother, but never had the threat of danger felt so strong. He doesn't want to scare Susan, he's dumped so much on his brother already, said things he should have kept to himself. As usual when it came to the things he felt the most strongly about his words failed him.

"I don't want to loose you..." Susan was all he had. The last of his kin, his last chance. But how could he hope to protect Susan from the threats of a world he didn't understand?

"How could you lose me? I'm not going anywhere..."

He doesn't know all of what Lauren's thinking, of course, but he needs Lauren just as much as Lauren needs him. There's no way he'll abandon his brother or disappear on him, not when they're as close as they are. He's confident enough in both of them that he doesn't think there's anything that could change that.

He looks back to Susan, obviously looking a bit emotional though he's trying his best to hide it. "I mean what if something happens to you? Something that hurts you in a way that can't be healed."

"That won't happen! I'm always okay... You don't have to worry about things like that."

"Yes I do, because you don't. But you're not invincible Susan. And neither am I." He's not shouting, but he's upset and it's clear. He's near tears to be honest.

"I thought I was going to loose you in the matrix for a moment."

He knows Lauren's right and that something could happen, but the fact that it actually would happen doesn't really sink in still. He doesn't think about it, he just knows his magic is strong and he can rely on it, and so Lauren's worry doesn't quite make sense to him when it comes down to it.

"But you weren't going to, I can take care of myself, really! You don't have to worry, I know how to be safe, and when I have you I'm even safer."

He shakes his head. He's gotten so far off track. He only meant to apologize, and now they were on this. "I just. I only meant to say that I was sorry about before. And that I don't want to hear anymore talk about Phlan."

"...Okay. Sorry." He didn't even mean to talk about it, but it was hard not to when Lauren brought the conversation the way he did. Still though he's happy that Lauren is feeling better enough to apologize and that's what matters.

"I'm not mad about before so it's okay."

Lauren nods, suddenly feeling tired and weary. He shifts in his seat, moving to swim to their bedroom and spend some more time alone.

"Good... Thanks."

⇨ ATLANTIS

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