Lost Carnival Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ringleaders) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
livinglot2017-08-28 12:37 pm
ringleaders) wrote in livinglot2017-08-28 12:37 pm
Entry tags:
⇨ New Location: GREYSOL
| PREPARATION↴ After leaving the previous location, and a few days before coming to Greysol, the Ringmaster puts a massive spell on the souls of every member of the carnival. Greysol is in a world where the souls of every human or sufficiently humanlike person takes the physical form of an animal. Plenty of characters wouldn’t qualify, but what’s the point of going to a dæmon world if not to show them what their inner selves look like? The spell causes dæmons to form for most characters. They will wake up, either from sleep or a daze, with what appears to be an animal pressed against their hearts or equivalent important symbolic organs, but they will almost immediately understand that this is not an animal. This is part of them. As dæmons are souls made physical they will have some element of characters’ soul color. At minimum their eyes are that color, and they may reflect some carnival changes, angelic/demonic nature, etc. For about a day their forms can change instantaneously into those of different animals. Children will remain like this, though there will probably be several preferred forms rather than randomness. Adults will ‘settle’ by the time the carnival arrives in Greysol, the number of forms they take dwindling until they become fixed on a single one. Look to the first comment for a more thorough explanation on dæmons. The spell doesn’t work completely evenly. Some souls are more heavily insulated and do not become external. Players can opt out of dæmons this way and have a few options for their characters. A glamour butterfly in their souls’ colors can follow them while they’re in Greysol. Alternately, they become witches wearing bird pendants to symbolize dæmons supposedly far away. Characters with significant animalistic aspects may take the forms of panserbjørn - slightly anthropomorphized polar bears. (If you don't want to type out dæmon - d & a e l i g ; m o n - all the time, daemon works too. It’s pronounced “demon”.) SETTING↴  Can you imagine my astonishment at learning that part of my own nature was female, and bird-formed, and beautiful? Greysol is a large coastal city that seems to roughly equate to late 20th century Western culture and mores, with a vaguely Victorian teslapunk-influenced aesthetic and somewhat uneven technology. Horse-drawn vehicles and just plain horses are common, but horseless automobiles and strangely 21st century-looking bicycles don’t cause too much of a stir. There are paved streets, skyscrapers, and electricity even if they call it "anbaric lighting". Hot air balloons and dirigibles can be seen in the sky. There are many moving picture theaters, black-and-white and with somewhat questionable sound, but small portable radios are common. Watches that bear a suspicious similarity to smartwatches are all the rage, though they are in fact simply watches and require winding. Every human and witch in this world has an external soul which most cannot go more than about twenty feet from, and non-consensually touching someone else’s dæmon is tantamount to assault. This presents some logistical difficulties in a big city, but humans have built Greysol to accommodate their other halves. Doorways tend to be wide, stairs broad and shallow, there are huge freight elevators in most buildings, and sidewalks are quite broad with human and dæmon lanes, though small souls are usually carried and flying ones can easily just stay above. Slick floors are never seen without hoof-friendly traction rugs and the like. Some of the street traffic consists of people riding their horse or similar dæmons, and you may see a giraffe soul at a lope, keeping pace with the carriage carrying his body. City life is harder on people with especially large dæmons, but they manage okay. It’s much more difficult for aquatic souls and there is constant discussion about and renovation aimed towards accommodating them. Because dæmons aren’t biological, concerns like temperature, salinity, filtration, and oxygenation aren’t as important as for real animals. Still, many can’t support themselves on land and are more comfortable wet. Those who can’t afford certain magic have to carry their souls in bowls, backpack tanks, wheeled tanks etc when out and about. Certain homes and public spaces have “water galleries”, systems of open-topped long tanks or enclosed giant windowed pipes that let dæmons swim to accompany their bodies. Near the docks there are several neighborhoods with an intricate series of connected canals and pools, some of which extend a ways out into the city. People who settle as particularly large sealife usually end up living on houseboats or in places like this. Thankfully very large waterbound dæmons are quite rare; there are far more walruses than whales. There are also benefits to having dæmons. Often the soul acts like a third hand. When someone is unable to speak clearly their dæmon still can communicate, though drugs and alcohol affect both. They help keep an eye out for trouble and have the senses that come with their forms, so it’s very difficult to go unheard by a wary rabbit soul, say. Someone with an eagle dæmon will never need a telescope, and the best trackers have the forms of animals that track well. Humans in this world experience a lesser degree of loneliness than on worlds without dæmons, enjoy somewhat better emotional stability, and seem to learn faster since they can observe things from more angles and discuss with themselves. Children with their shapeshifting souls can defend and protect themselves quite ably. Two people who don’t share a language can understand each other on some level while their dæmons are in physical contact with one another, though they still need translators for specifics. The love between body and dæmon is the single most celebrated bond in this world. Public displays of affection are almost everywhere you look, especially when people are upset. In this world “your other half” never means spouse, and naming conventions in this particular culture reflect that. A dæmon’s name is used like a middle name on paperwork and in formal settings. If you visit a cemetery you will see that cremation is the most preferred method of handling the dead, because this lets the physical body dissipate just as the dæmon did on death. All memorial markers include the dæmon’s name with equal emphasis as first and last, and representations of their forms are ubiquitous on the larger markers. All images of human-type people, on down to the stylized figures on bathroom signs, include some representation of dæmons, even if they’re rarely the central focus. Pets and many childrens’ toys are downplayed compared to on many other worlds. Every human has a permanent companion from infancy, exactly suited to their temperament, that loves them and will do more than even the best-trained pet. Some animals are still companions to whatever degree, but most domestic animals are utilitarian. Animals see dæmons as humans, and they are, but a cat soul, for example, has a better understanding of cats than an armadillo soul would. Magic is a known quality and not generally feared, but because it takes years to learn any spells of substance, humans on the street tend to assume human magic is very limited. Many middle-aged or older men and women make a career of creating water bubbles - gravity-null bubbles of water that encase aquatic dæmons and allow them to fly slowly. Demand is great and the bubbles are much glamorized. Witch magic is much more mysterious and assumed to be far more powerful and versatile, though the only difference is that witches have the time and inclination to learn for centuries. In fact all magic can be traced back to knowledge discovered and shared by witches. That other realities exist, similar in some ways and radically different in others, is well known. This world has discovered ways to reach them. In the past there used to be great expeditions and adventures and some very strange visitors. Unfortunately, with the way artificial portals to other worlds work this meant there were soul-eating invincible creatures in this world too, which at one point swarmed. It was a dark time, which only witches and some quite old humans remember personally, but it lives on in popular culture. These days, in order to prevent this happening again there is very limited congress with other worlds. Unsettled children and adolescents are safe and the Spectres can’t cross deep water, so there are still facilities on certain islands, and children who go there to create windows and bring things back from the other side. PATRONS↴  ► HUMANS: Only unusual in that they have dæmons, and expect you to as well. They become uneasy seeing human-shaped people without their souls, even if it's as simple as "he’s in my pocket". The concept of a human type without a dæmon is as horrifying and repulsive to local people as seeing someone walking around with no head or an opened-up chest - some people would adjust to the idea faster than others, but you would have screams, fainting, outbursts, fear and pity. Their depictions of other worlds, whether labeled fiction or non, usually involve dæmons or other obvious manifestations of souls just to get around that discomfort. These humans can also learn magic through long study. Most characters will be glamored to look human. ► WITCHES: Extremely similar to and interbreeding with humans, witches in this world are all ethereal androgynous people, nearly all women, whose dæmons always settle as flighted birds. The upper limits of their lifespans, when not cut short by disease or violence, are determined by their sense of loss related to outliving their loved ones. All witches very slowly grow taller throughout their lives, so the older a witch is the easier they are to identify, even if they don’t advertise it. Witches spend much of their lives studying and learning magic, and have learned to stay as far away from their dæmons as they wish. Their inherent powers include immunity to extremes of temperature and the ability to fly using cloudpine branches. Those working with and around many humans usually wear gold necklaces bearing images of their dæmons when their souls are elsewhere, which helps put humans at ease. Witches prefer to keep to their own affairs and are baffled by capitalism, and many were around in previous centuries when humans hated and distrusted them, but there are a few pausing in the city or even living there with their mortal spouses and children. Some characters will get to be witch-based and glamored to look it too; if they have dæmons these are inherently able to fly and will be glamored to look like birds.  ► BEARS: Panserbjørn are huge, slightly anthropomorphized polar bears which speak and have thumbs, retractable claws, and astonishing dexterity. They're very rare in such 'civilized' surroundings as the city, much preferring their looser bear society or outright solitude, but everyone knows about them and there is a market for bear-made items. Bears are masters of shaping metal and have no dæmons, but regard certain things they make, usually armor, as their souls. In their right minds, untroubled by human doubts and aspirations, bears can read human intentions and cannot be tricked. Some characters who are already bestial in shape (IE a quadruped/dragon/etc) may take on the form of bears while here, but it will be rare. They won’t have bear minds, but may have a better aptitude for sensing lies while in bear form. ► DUST and ANGELS: In this reality "Dust" is an elementary particle generated by consciousness, gathering around people and things people have created. Dæmons are made of it and it gathers thickly on panserbjørn souls. Very few can see it or detect it aside from in the injuries or deaths of dæmons, but it's everywhere. More is generated when people make art, tell stories, or come to understand each other better. Dust is part of nearly every magic people use in this world and a source of knowledge and wisdom. It also sometimes forms into conscious entities called angels. Normally invisible except in near darkness, angels are more like works of architecture than like winged humans. They are nearly intangible and all but the strongest have barely any ability to affect the physical world, but they can easily pass from reality to reality and are able to fight Spectres. Most angels are caught up in some kind of inter-reality conflict and may take a passing interest in carnies with angelic or demonic natures left over from Portland, but they’ll move on without making trouble. Dust is not a usual sort of patron, but there'll be a hella lot of it around for the Carnival. No characters will take the forms of Dust or angels. DANGERS↴  ► AN EXTERNAL SOUL: Suddenly all the strength went out of her. It was as if an alien hand had reached right inside where no hand had a right to be, and wrenched at something deep and precious. She felt faint, dizzy, sick, disgusted, limp with shock. One of the men was holding Pantalaimon. He had seized Lyra’s dæmon in his human hands, and poor Pan was shaking, nearly out of his mind with horror and disgust. She felt those hands… It wasn’t allowed... Not supposed to touch… Wrong. Sensations between dæmon and body are shared, but people usually unconsciously block out many of them. They can’t block pain. Any hurt caused to either half will be felt by both. When humans fight each other, the taboo against touching someone else’s soul holds so in human or witch combat body fights body, dæmon fights dæmon. When fighting bears, normal animals, or hostile creatures from other worlds dæmons fight directly, but sufficient pain to either half will disable both halves. A killing blow to a dæmon kills the body at the exact same time, so it falls without a mark. Two people’s dæmons can touch each other without a problem. People take great comfort in touching their own dæmons. A dæmon touching someone else without their consent will feel strange and electric and stressed, but the person being touched may not feel anything special. Someone touching someone else’s dæmon consensually will feel strange and electric and revelatory on both parts. Finally, someone nonconsensually touching someone else’s dæmon will feel some level of discomfort which they can overcome, but the other person will be incapacitated, feeling tremendously weakened and sick and horror-stricken. Touching someone’s soul is a huge deal. The taboo against touching someone else’s dæmon is built in, something even babies at the grabby stage understand, but there are some genuinely terrible people here, as anywhere. Some of them have discovered they can incapacitate or kill victims very easily by disregarding the taboo. People who will do this are utterly and instinctively hated by nearly everyone if it’s found out. They’re very rare. Carnival members have a sense of the taboo but it’s less powerful and inherent, and they could hurt someone. ► SEPARATION: It was as if he’d said, “No, don’t kill me, I’m frightened; kill my mother instead; she doesn’t matter, I don’t love her,” and as if she’d heard him say it, and pretended she hadn’t so as to spare his feelings, and offered herself in his place anyway because of her love for him. He felt as bad as that. There was nothing worse to feel. In most cases, getting too far from your dæmon will kill you. Being more than about twenty feet apart causes increasingly sharp emotional and physical pain, described as intense sorrow and love and a wrenching ache which only eases when they’re touching again. It’s possible for one half of someone to literally use their bond like a rope to drag the other somewhere they’re really conflicted about going, so death by separation can’t just casually happen. However it’s entirely possible to be killed by any circumstance which carries one half of you away from the other too fast to keep up. Careful about elevators and sheer cliffs. Witches, and some humans, may learn to be further from their dæmons, but it requires going into places where dæmons can’t follow, experiencing the pain of deliberate step-by-step separation, and living. Characters who have been dead or had their souls removed may have gone through a similar enough process that they and their dæmons can be apart without issue, though they’re at their best and sharpest when both halves are together. ► SPECTRES: Well, when a Spectre catch a grownup, that’s bad to see. They eat the life out of them there and then, all right. At first they know it’s happening, and they’re afraid; they cry and cry. They try and look away and pretend it ain’ happenin’, but it is. It’s too late. And no one ain’ gonna go near them, they on they own. Then they get pale and they stop moving. They still alive, but it’s like they been eaten from the inside. You look in they eyes, you see the back of they heads. Ain’ nothing there. Properly known as Spectres of Indifference, these are creatures from the interstitial space between realities, let into this one when humans started opening portals. Spectres appear as vague, insubstantial shapes that seem to be made out of mist or heat-haze or light reflecting on water. Even in the best lighting it’s impossible to make out what they look like, but their shapes may seem humanoid or treelike. They eat the souls of adults of any species, a deeply unpleasant process that usually only takes a few minutes. No magic or weapon on this world can harm or contain them, and they’re able to seep through the tiniest openings in walls. Only angels are unharmed and can take them on. A person whose soul has been consumed breathes and may with great effort look towards something that’s hurting them or trying to attract their attention, but is incurious and understands, feels, thinks, does nothing. One standing in running water will do nothing but make the constant small motions to stay upright until they die of thirst. Someone in this state can be kept alive indefinitely but they will never recover. It’s worse than death. Fortunately, the Spectres can’t cross deep water, and so presently all Spectres in this part of the world are confined to Kerner Island, which hosts a portal facility. Children and teens whose dæmons are unsettled are completely unable to sense Spectres and are of no interest to them, so they are the only people to be found there. More details about the dangers of Spectres to come later. ► SOME RANDOM CREATURES FROM OTHER REALITIES: Not infrequently something that can fit through a child-sized hole in the air slips through a portal made on Kerner Island, and is more than a fourteen-year-old with hasty security training can handle. It might stay on the island or be able to leave and cause trouble elsewhere. The local authorities would be able to handle it eventually and it shouldn’t be too much of a problem for carnival workers, but it would be embarrassing to get savaged by a random Tektite. Reply to one of the toplevel comments if you want to suggest a small hostile non-sentient creature from some other canon. REWARDS↴ Soon after leaving this world charater’s dæmon forms will fade away and their souls will become internal again, but characters can purchase a spell, possibly discounted if there have been sufficient threads involving dæmons, to manifest theirs temporarily. Outside of the Carnival, only people who can see spirits will be able to see or hear their dæmons, no glamour needed. CHANGES↴ Characters who turned into armored bears can keep an uncommon change related to bears or metal. Characters who had dæmons can have an uncommon change related to them after the event ends. Their souls took new shapes, and when they became internal again it’s possible that something carried over. These may be relevant animal features or something to do with being formed of golden motes. IMPORTANT NOTE: This is out first play-run guest location! That means that this event is being run by Beyond that, this is a PLOTTING POST, which means you can use it to make plans! The game chat is also a great place to discuss plots, so we welcome you to pop on in if you haven't already! A mingle log will be posted at the beginning of September. |
Scout
The panthac is about the size of a small bobcat, not counting his tail. Since Scout will be a witch for this event he can fly, and when in Greysol will be glamored to look like a small ocellated turkey. She's a witch, but they can't go far from each other; she's a very young witch.
Personalitywise Tràka is much more quiet and reserved than Scout tends to be, rarely speaking where others can hear him, and not as friendly to most of the people she's friendly with, though he may accept some affection from other dæmons. He watches everyone much more closely than she does, embodying her distrust and paranoia and the anger and grief she hides. Scout will be uncomfortable about what a relief it is to have the sense of someone to share this with. When Tràka speaks it's quietly and efficiently, and he may let slip things Scout prefers to keep hush.