welcome to the kingdom of akvos.It will happen at random- you could be asleep, or wandering the Temple, or a variety of other options. It will feel a little strange, like a sudden warmth spreading across your skin, and then your bracelet will light up. When you blink again, everything has shifted - changed, developed, like in that blink of an eye you have advanced . . . where, exactly? A NOTE FROM YOUR FRIENDLY . . . WAIT, WHO IS THAT?But before anything too weird can happen . . . your watch flashes again, beeps once, and on it has a new message, a hologram-sparkly image with a young man who (to some individuals!) looks quasi-familiar. He is thin, with large eyes and speaks quietly, but with great purpose. Whoever this is, it doesn't seem to be a person that is a fan of much pomp and circumstance. . . but wherever he is, he is speaking on dry-land, though he looks like he's just recently gotten out of a pool.
 "If you are watching this, then you are a member of the Circle, and have triggered a protective rune that I have cast within this Kingdom known as Akvos that has activated this message. I do not have much time, but my name is Kathashun. I need your assistance, and I am not sure whether we will ever find one another again. But if you are listening to this, heed my words: take care, because you know not what your actions do. The magic in this world is powerful, and whatever is seeping through this planet may not be able to be stopped, but trust me when I say that when we meet -- "
There is a noise, a banging on a door, and Kathashun's eyes dart to the left, before a voice off-screen says, "As much as I love listening to you talk, we need to go." There's a moment's pause before Kathashun refocuses his attention on you, and his eyes (normally a deep brown) begin to change into what appears to be a liquid gold color, and the message begins to crackle.
"We will meet again. Heed my words; find the Princess."
And, just like that, the connection dies, leaving you to the depths of the ocean.
Welcome to Akvos.  ARRIVAL A: THE PALACE OF WAHINE.The first group arrives at the Royal Palace of Wahine, smack-dab in the bustling center of what appears to be the lost city of Atlantis. It is in an area of Akvos that is completely underwater, with gentle currents wafting through the water that guide people on their merry way.
There is plenty to locate here, depending on what you want to find. There are dozens of musically inclined merfolk wandering through the courtyards of the Palace, a shopping area selling intricate jewelry and other decorative pieces, and even the Queen herself. Feel free to set up threads regarding any information you discovered in the World OOC post, but here are some ideas for those needing a place to start!
Prompt Ideas:
- Are you musically inclined? There seems to be a band of colorful mermaids striking up a merry tune with reed flutes, horns made out of massive seashells, and is that a bass playing the bass? You bet your ass it is. . There's even a potential spot for the Circle to join in, if you're so inclined! They may even pay you for your services if you're really good.
- The Queen has offered a reward for any information concerning the location of Princess Kea, who has been missing for a little over a week. A band of scrappy young investigators (complete with matching uniforms) is eager to begin, and has a list of potential "clues" to track down in the Palace area, ranging from: the Princess' prized hair-comb, her harpoon, information on her favorite restaurant, and her beloved pet flounder. None of these items are actually within reach except her favorite restaurant, which will happily either (1) talk about how amazing the Princess is or (2) accept help in the kitchens to serve up a busy restaurant time. Either way, you can earn some seashells.
- The Royal Guard is looking for some mercenary work to comb the city for clues, and seeing as the Circle is oh-so-eager to help out with whatever is going on in Akvos, they're willing to give you a shot! The only problem is that you have to be ready to swim, so be prepared to swim endless laps in circles around the perimeter of Queen Wai's massive home to seemingly no avail. . . . do they actually need the help or are they just laughing at you? Dammit.
- The Palace of Wahine has an underwater library, which is pretty expansive . . . how do they have all of these materials underwater? There are several helpful octopus-libraries that are using their various tentacles to grab books, scrolls, and other materials off of the shelves to hand them to nearby patrons, and there's a lot of material here about the history of Akvos! You may also find a pretty interesting comic book series revolving around a powerful mermaid who looks suspiciously like Queen Wai, who thwarts the evils of inequality. If you ask Queen Wai about it, she will assure you that she has nothing to do with it, and her constituents are creatively minded people . . . but she doesn't seem to mind the good press.
 ARRIVAL B: THE DEPTHS OF MARKOLOS.The second group arrives in a rare pocket of air in Akvos -- a massive cavern, with multiple alcoves along the walls. Here, the population seems to be rather bleak in comparison to the rainbow-colored folk in the Palace of Wahine -- merpeople with larger eyes, sharper teeth, and darker scales. You have successfully located the hunting grounds of the Kingdom of Akvos, known as the Depths of Markolos -- an impossibly deep sinkhole that stretches into the depths of oblivion.
The local population here doesn't actually know what's at the bottom of it, but lately, there are odd happenings in the Depths that the population will tel you about. For one, dead fish seem to be appearing with increasing frequency, and the temperature of the Depths has dropped to a frigid point. Layers of ice have been found below the surface that were not there previously, and there is plenty of talk of whether or not their food supply for the Kingdom is endangered by whatever is causing this random bout of ice.
Prompt Ideas:
- Have you ever tried spear-fishing? An angler-fish mermaid, with haunting eyes and massively sharp teeth, is eager to teach the Otherworlders! She's pretty nice, despite her scary appearance, and will pay seashells to folks willing to stay in the "shallow" area of the Depths to spear pretty easy looking fish. She will also lend out fishing equipment for those want to give it a try!
- The Brig is located in the Depths, and if you violate the law in other areas, you will be brought here. The cells are small and cramped, with no beds or cots to speak of, and you are fed less-than-great quality raw fish while in here. Petty thievery and the like will be punished for two days, and once you are released, you are stuck in the Depths You can also talk to some of the prisoners here, who will be interested in swapping a surprising amount of seashells for fresh raw fish. They also like to gamble. :)
- There are some side-tunnels in the Depths along the walls that contain shellfish to hunt and scavange! The only problem is that some of them have a fairly strong current, and -- voila, it is a massive Slip-N-Slide. Sneaking into one will rocket you through a tunnel and spit you out at a lower level of the Depths, but be careful -- you might wind up face to face with a pretty terrifying looking fish that is a bit too big for you to handle, so explore these tunnels with some care.
- The mermaids here will warn against going too deep into the Depths, but there is nothing to stop you from exploring. In addition to the ice clustered along the western wall of the cavern, there's plenty of creepy looking fish in the depths. In particular, the mermaids will warn you against infuriating a creature named Honohu -- who is this beloved little Leviathian-looking monstrosity who will absolutely attempt to eat you if you go too deep. Enjoy?  ARRIVAL C: THE FIELDS OF AKOVOSIAThe third group will be deposited in a beautiful coral reef, full of color and swaying seaweed. It is an impossibly beautiful sight, and the merpeople here are equally bright and colorful, to blend in with tehir surroundings. There are no shortage of clownfish and angelfish-esque merpeople floating around, collecting plantlife, creating new clothing, or even hunting poisonous smaller fish for usage in their medicinal techniques.
However, the more you explore the fields, the more you begin to notice odd patches of dead coral. It almost looks as if certain random patches were afflicted by some type of illness that has completely robbed it of its color. The merpeople nearby will not know very much about it, but if you continue digging and asking the right people, perhaps you'll find out the source of this sudden illness.
Prompt Ideas
- Have you ever gone dolphin-racing? . . . or, well, they look like dolphins, complete with saddles and harnesses that the merfolk are entirely too eager to pass off onto the landfolk. It seems they race these dolphins in the currents for sport in between their collecting of plantlife and hunting. Feel free to ask the curator of these beings, a burly-looking mermaid who will happily lend you a dolphin for a seashell an hour.
- Batter up! You can find what appears to be a weird baseball/rugby crossover sport, in which the merpeople crack hunks of coral with sticks . . . but then tackle each other at the different bases instead of, you know, tapping them lightly to signify them being out. They're always looking for new players to join, but be warned! They take their sport seriously.
- Investigating the beautiful coral reef will garner a lot of pretty looking rocks and other types of intricate material that could be used for crafting, which is always up for collecting for money. Mermaids will be wandering around with baskets to collect various goods, so feel free to help out!
- Finally, there are a lot of mermaids just sitting around shooting the shit, gossiping, fussing about home, and collecting materials to make what's needed in their day to day lives. A few of them seem to be knitting some type of material underwater -- weird, right? But feel free to obtain some cool textiles fresh off the proverbial racks, for a price.  ARRIVAL D: THE THUNDERDOME.The last group to arrive may think that this is some type of stupid joke, as the merfolk around this area really do refer to it as the Thunderdome. It is a massive underwater cavern, filled with thousands and thousands of jellyfish. It seems that the merfolk tend to these beings for a multitude of reasons -- one, for food, two, for venom, and three, for . . . electricity?
The jellyfish in this area seem to crackle with energy, and the merfolk in this area will inform you that this is where they obtain power which they charge their weapons and lights with. The bioluminescence is pretty startling to see, and the jellyfish themselves seem to be relatively harmless. But there is a certain area of the Thunderdome that is flickering in and out of darkness . . . an area where the jellyfish seem to be a lot less bright. The merfolk don't really understand what's going on, but whatever is happening in Akvos seems to be affecting the jellyfish in a negative way. They don't seem horribly concerned, but. Here we are.
Prompt Ideas:
- The armory is located in the Thunderdome, and you can buy a bunch of cool weapons here! Glow in the dark swords, electrified knives, bows, and harpoons can be found here, varying in price. They all seem to be rust-proof, too, given their environment, and the craftsmanship here is like no other. The people here really take their craft seriously, so happy shopping.
- The main attraction here, though, is definitely the jellyfish. They deliver a rather nasty shock, and anyone who touches them will glow a weird blue color for at least three days afterwards. The merpeople seem to know how to fix this, but likely will not do so because they warned you not to touch the damn things, you stupid landfolk. Navigate them carefully, and you may even be able to earn some coin in helping shepherd them!
- A group of mermaids are looking for people to fish out the sickly looking jellyfish in order to be treated by what appears to be Akvos' version of a veterinarian. The sickly looking ones are the ones that are flickering dim, and while the veterinarian has no idea what is going on with them, they want them out. Just be careful not to touch them, though. You will definitely glow blue for a few days, even though these ones are ill!
- The mermaids in the Thunderdome enjoy practicing their skills with each other, in terms of weaponry, battle tactics, and the like, but they also enjoy their downtime too! Find little pockets of folks hanging out, chatting, and playing some weird game that involves what appear to be coral dice and flattened stones. It almost looks like they're gambling seashells or something . . . time to get in on the action, if you can learn the rules, anyway. Additionally, please feel free to write up and work with your own prompts! These are presented as jumping off points for your characters, not limitations. The idea of this world- as with all the others- is to explore. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask them back on the various threads back in the OOC post from before! REMEMBER: For the entirety of this log, you can only physically interact with those in your group. For the first two weeks, the network will be completely defunct. After two weeks, you may send intermittent text messages to those in other groups. From this point forward, the Circle has become involved with the Kingdom of Akvos. What your character finds out, decides, and does from here on out will affect the future of this city- one way or another! But what you do is completely up to you. What you discover, explore, and uncover will be yours to discover, explore, and uncover. Who knows what you might find? :) |
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acatalepsy_logs2018-11-12 08:55 am
3
Who gives a shit?
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Yo I give a shit!
[ Only to pause. Grey hair. Looks older than 40 but maybe close. Kind of paunchy.
Here's the king of leaping to conclusions, leaping once more. ]
YO IT'S YOU! I OWE YOU A KNUCKLE SANDWICH!!
[ Someone's forgotten how to swim in his haste to get closer to his perceived enemy, so Hank is in no danger of actually being punched unless he comes too close to the teens kinda aggressive flailing. ]
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[Hank does not, in fact, want to swim up within flailing range but this is too weird to just float away so he tries to just stay where he is - harder in water than on land, but he tries - and grimaces, trying to remember if he's ever even met this kid.]
Yeah, it's me. What the fuck'd I do?
[He squints, tilting his head. Maybe...?]
Have I arrested you before?
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[ He brandishes the Astoria gifted bracelet on his left wrist, though it's almost hidden beneath the bulky black band there. ]
Bein' a huge bitch over my spellin', an' mockin' me fer not knowing shit! The hell was yer beef wid me, dude?! I was jus' tryin' to agree wid you!
[ At least the flailing seems to have tired him out a little and he stops trying to go anywhere, though he's still looking at the old man like an aggressive dog waiting to bite. Just... come closer, would you? ]
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Know what? Swimming sucks. And, hell, the kid’s not waving his arms around any more, so. Fuck it. Hank lets himself start drifting closer.]
I don’t know, that first part sounds like me, but the second part’s not ringing a bell. Why would I piss off some random asshole on the internet [Yeah yeah, network, same difference] and then show him what my face looks like? That sounds like a dumb fuckin move.
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I dunno dude, why wouldchu!? Maybe you wasn't espectin' me to actually find you!
[ The currents are working in Beat's favor and he figures another few moments and the old fart'll be within punching range. Though he knows somewhere at home his sister would be upset if he didn't confirm this was his target so:]
... You are Jake, right?
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No I'm not Jake. You were real sure I was this other asshole a second ago, what happened, you get a better look at my beautiful face or?
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Dude! Don' make it weird! Jus' ... thought of my sister bein' disappointed if I repeated history.
[ Ugh but now Beat's torn. Isn't "no I'm not Jake" something Jake might say to keep from being punched? ]
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Well, we live and we learn and all that shit. You make a habit of handing out knuckle sandwiches people haven't even paid for? I should start doin that. Lets people know where you stand right away, you know.
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[ That's as good as a yes, right there. ]
Yo, prove you ain't Jake!
[ How? Beat doesn't know, he's not the one in trouble here! ]
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Look, why don't you just hit me? It's been a long fuckin- [A long what? A long day? A long week, before that? What about before he was even yanked out of Detroit? Does he say it's been a long year, a long few years? A long life? After half a second's hesitation, Hank abandons the sentence. It was only gonna end in a bunch of melodramatic bullshit anyway.] I'm tired, okay? And really not into proving shit. So unless you got some sort of superstrength or some ridiculous shit-
[He spreads his arms, letting himself float closer.]
Just get this over with, do what you gotta do so I can get back to my- whatever.
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Nah dude, nah yo, that proved it. Sorry 'bout jumpin' yer grill like that, Jake got me all fucked up an' ready to fight, an' di'nt correct me when I jumped to guess how he looked.
[ Except he offered and Beat was too stubborn to listen. Sighing, Beat takes off his beanie to rub his hand through his hair, scratching at the back of his neck. ]
Sorry, old man. You uh... you aight? [ To just be like fine punch me. Dang. ]
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People keep asking me that. I can’t be the only one having... trouble. Dealing with the whole, you know, under the sea thing. You woulda hit me in a second if you hadn’t forgot we were under water, wouldn’t you? Something about that’s got to bother you.
[Hank’s voice might be a little more plaintive here than he wants it to be. He is not the weird one for being knocked off his already sort of wobbly metaphorical balance by all this. He’s not.]
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[ He doesn't even know how punching would work underwater, so he tests it out by punching at a piece of coral. Today Beat's learned about: friction and how water decelerates punches because of it!
Another punch or two and he shrugs, awkward. ]
Uh, I'm guessin' even if I had hitchu dude, you wouldn't have felt much.
[ Well that makes him feel vaguely useless. ]
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[That's not really what he'd been looking for, but what's he gonna do? Ask this kid for emotional support? No. It'd just be nice to know that being under fucking water is getting to someone else like it's getting to him, but- No. Shut the fuck up, Hank. Let it go.]
You're gonna have to figure out somethin else to do if you see this Jake guy. Maybe set a jellyfish on him.
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Heh, dude. Good idea. Think the mermaids won't mind 'em being used like throwable tasers?
[ There's no mermaid around to hear that question or Beat's pretty sure it'd be like everything else. Do Not. Though they do use them to charge their weapons, he's seen a few do that already. ]
Oh uh, name's Beat. Sorry 'gain fer the whole wantin' to punch you thing.
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[It's not his best joke but fuck it, his standards weren't that high in the first place anyway.]
And you know what. I think that's an amazing idea. Just do it when their minders aren't lookin and you're golden, long as you don't mind getting zapped to hell and back.
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Street name, dude, ain't my real name. Real names long an' kinda shitty an' ain't no one need to hear it.
[ The idea of being zapped - again - makes Beat grimace and eye the jellyfish off to the side. They're enough away there's no worries about drifting over, but the current will fix that if they don't fight against it. ]
... Maybe gonna pass on that, yo. Unless I can find some gloves that protect against it. Or a slingshot.
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So, what, did you really name yourself after punching shit or do you just think music's that awesome?
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[ Oh. Look, Beat gets it: a rock is heavier than a jellyfish (right?) and if a rock doesn't go far, the jellyfish won't either. So there goes his jellyfish slingshot idea. He looks rather disappointed. ]
Botha those yo, but it's also my last name all 'mericanized. Bitou, Beat.
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You think it's cool?
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I knew a guy back in school, some other kid - I'm not sayin me, just. You know. A kid - started calling him 'butterass' and you know what? It stuck. He tried callin me Hank the Skank later but only like, two or three people kept up with that, so. I got lucky. And then you get these punks who try to make a name for themselves by doin it literally, the name thing, and they pick like- I don't know, I'm not up to remembering the really good ones right now, but street names guys give themselves are either like, wildly overcompensating or just gross, so. Anything with even a little bit of dignity? Yeah, I think you're doin ok. 'Beat' catch on okay where you come from?
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Dude, now I ain't sorry I tried to punchya, cuz it meant I got to stick 'round long 'nuff to hear that shit. You know what? Yer all right. An' yeah I guess it's been goin' aight. Parent's hate it but yo they hate everythin' I do so. [ Shrugs. ] Don't tell anyone else my real name, so it's call me Beat or whatever they wanna make up on the spot.
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That's the way to do it. Don't give em any other choice. But I guess that would be a little harder to do with the people who picked that other name out for you in the first place.
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