tragedy tomorrow--

[phallicsymbull]

Gods of the theater, smile on us.

♦ Enter here for lots of mythic symbolism bullshit.
♦ Game ends at 8pm PST on Thursday, August 18th.
♦ There will be sexual imagery and possibly some discussion of violence and gore, but it's mostly weird puzzles.
♦ Contact me on Slack as Eastling or at hrairoo.

« There are two archways. »

« One is made of rough sandstone with ivy growing over it. From it hangs a curtain of rustling reeds. Push through the curtain? »

« The other is made of smooth white marble. From it hangs a heavy red velvet curtain. Push aside the curtain? »

Comments

ONE.

[phallicsymbull]

[ A small spit of sandy beach surrounds you, jutting out into a frothing ocean on three sides; the waves foam just beyond the archway you came in through. The other side is blocked by a sheer rocky cliff--but a huge cave mouth yawns open before you in the stone.

Standing within the opening so that only its horned head fully emerges from the cave is a gigantic weathered statue of white marble in the form of a bull. It takes up the entire space, so that to enter the cave you would have to walk through the legs of the bull. There are two problems with that.

The most obvious problem is purely a matter of propriety: between the bull's marble hindquarters hangs an enormous erect penis made of a similar material.

But beyond that, between the bull's back legs is a gate. Sweet, verdant scents drift from beyond it, and a great spill of ivy climbs all over it. ]

[voreaciously]

[Let's push through the curtain.]

[phallicsymbull]

[ You're on the beach now, with waves frothing around you and that strange giant bull statue looming in the cave mouth ahead. ]

[voreaciously]

[This is nice, at least. Water is always nice, and it's tempting not to head farther out, but that cave is curious. she'll head towards it]

[phallicsymbull]

[ The bull statue fills the whole place up, but there's room to walk between its forelegs and under its body. Just...avoid the giant marble bull penis that hangs down below it.

Between its hind legs is a gate covered with ivy. Before the gate stands an empty clay pitcher. Curled around its lock is a small snake. ]

[voreaciously]

[...okay but is it accurate to scale.

She has to take a moment to stare before moving on. Whether it's a moment or a minute is a mystery.

But a snake, huh. Look at this little cute thing. she'd have little to worry about even if it were venomous, but it's not, so can she carefully unwind it and put it in the pitcher?]

[phallicsymbull]

[ It's maybe a little bigger than scale, but not that much. This is a reasonably well-endowed bull statue. ]

Ssss...

[ The snake makes a soft, gentle hissing noise and curls more stubbornly around the lock, refusing to be budged. ]

From the strong comes forth sweetness.

[ Its soft hissing seems to form words. ]

Re: ONE.

[misspelling]

...My.

Re: ONE.

[phallicsymbull]

[ The waves foam on the shore around you. There doesn't appear to be anywhere to go but in the direction of the bull statue and its marble penis. ]

Re: ONE.

[misspelling]

[ ...GREAT. I guess that's where he's headed, though his steps definitely slow as he approaches the. uh. penis. ]

Re: ONE.

[phallicsymbull]

[ Enjoy looking at its marble glory.

The ground gets a little firmer and less sandy as you approach the cave mouth, but there's still not that much growing.

Between the bull's hind legs is a gate covered with ivy. Before the gate stands an empty clay pitcher. Curled around its lock is a small snake. ]

Re: ONE.

[misspelling]

[ going to...duck around the penis then, (wow, that's some detailed work) and extend his fingertips towards the snake, unflinching. he isn't afraid of it. ]

Hello.

Re: ONE.

[phallicsymbull]

[ It is pretty detailed! There's even...a small hole on the tip.

The snake lifts its head, though it remains curled inconveniently around the lock. ]

From the strong comes forth sweetness.

TWO.

[phallicsymbull]

[ Your footsteps suddenly echo strangely loud in a marble amphitheater. You've entered from an archway set in a tall marble wall that surrounds the entire place. Before you, rows of stone benches descend until they finally meet the ground in the center.

There, a circular stage rises up to command the attention. At its center is a cylindrical pedestal, on which rests something white. Surrounding the pedestal are four tall golden-edged mirrors. ]

Re: TWO.

[koheleth]

[ hums, partly to hear it echo the way his footsteps do. or to drown out his footsteps. well, it doesn't really matter why.

he heads down to the stage, walks circles around it to study it from outside the mirrors, first, in case there's anything to see out here. ]

Re: TWO.

[phallicsymbull]

[ It does echo, slightly distorted...

There's nothing to be seen beyond the stage for now. Closer up, though, you can see the white object on the pedestal is a mask. ]

Re: TWO.

[koheleth]

[ welp let's go pick up the mask ]

Re: TWO.

[phallicsymbull]

[ It's easily grasped; its expression is remote, but you get a sense of potential from it. ]

Re: TWO.

[koheleth]

[ looks in one of the mirrors, holding the mask up to face it also

he's not putting it on himself to be clear ]

Re: TWO.

[phallicsymbull]

[ In the mirror, the mask bears an actual expression. It seems to be smiling and winking suggestively.

Somewhere in the room, magnified by the echoes, comes the sound of something rustling and fluttering. ]

Re: TWO.

[inhibiting]

[ heads down the stage, looking around for anything notable ]

Re: TWO.

[phallicsymbull]

[ Aside from the mirrors, the only thing there is that pedestal; the object on it appears to be a plain white mask with a neutral expression. ]

Re: TWO.

[inhibiting]

Excuse me...

[ picks it up to turn over in her hands? ]

Re: TWO.

[phallicsymbull]

[ Nothing exactly happens, but you get a sense of potential from it, somehow. ]

Re: TWO.

[inhibiting]

[ turns it over in her hands a little before going to walk the perimeter of the room?? ]