#The Carnivale

[lettersfromtheashesgame]

Dramatis Personae

My friends have all done some incredible work coming up with fun and unique characters and communities that really run the gamut of Post-Apocalyptic settings, and I'm excited to see how these relationships change over time. Each community starts with friendly relationships with 2 other communities, so for the sake of brevity, I've arranged this list in order, so that the communities directly above and below them are friendly (with ends wrapping together).

Some secrets are spoiled in these descriptions.

Here we go:

The Meadows, lead by Absydee Rainwater, a mostly hippie place with some culty vibes.

The Pharm, lead by Evelynn Harrington, holed up in an old hospital and actually able to still manufacture some good stuff.

The Neon Mausoleum, lead by Alastor, some neon goths in the old ruins of Salem Massachusetts who may or may not be a death cult.

The Kibbutz*, lead by The Professor, a mostly idyllic community based out of the ruins of Yale University, with access to their old moldy books in the library.

The Feathered Perch, Lead by Maggie Veruna, Airborne Flightsmith, who may or may not be actual birds. it's a little unclear. Definitely bird themed!

Blia, lead by The Moogan, extremely bureaucratic people who constantly are at war with each other over an old airtraffic control tower at Logan Airport.

Hazelwood Farmstead, lead by Alena, on the surface the most idyllic pastoral community in the bunch. Definitely no secret cannibalism here.

Blackwater Park, "lead" by King Kobold, these are the Mad Max raider faction, and their leader is barely able to string words together, so the advisor is there to translate.

Rust Falls, Lead by Sheriff Abernathy, Built into an old factory district, they are rich in metals, but poor in arable land or potable water. Also the Sheriff may be hiding something.

Kyarn Meeting, lead by The Grannies, an Appalachian Mothman-Worshiping Cave-dwelling Cult.

Mills Golden, Lead by Sir Margrave Current, able to scavange basically anything you want, and are very prideful about it.

And there's the cast! Next I'm going to get into some shenanigans that have already happened, and maybe share some of the cool stationary designs that I've seen.

Edited 7/8/24 to add:

Carnivale, lead by Admiral Conrad "Conner" Hershal, an old-world cruise ship being dragged around by a pair of tugboats.

*The player for the Kibbutz is Jewish, and also my mom, so don't be giving me (or her) shit over this. She can name her community however she likes.

[smellroy]

James Fitzjames is many things to many people…but most importantly she is a terrifying cigarette mom.

[gradexmovies]

[beaulesbian]

THE TERROR (2018) S01E06 "A Mercy"

- It’s Captain Fitzjames’ Carnivale. - That’s tonight? - Yes, sir. All night. Until the sunrise.

[ac-art-and-stuff]

Gideon Coal is the hearth, the warmth within the home, the steady heat to cook wonderful meals, the beating heart to warm the chill of a soul, the stocked woodshed, the ray of sun through a window. A protector. A guardian. A friend.

Kremy Lecroux is the stew pot, the silverware, the favorite spoon, the homemade bone broth, the smell of spices, the foundation, the walls, keeping his family safe however the wind howls. Keeping his family fed. Keeping his family.

Morning Frost is the books, the smell of sugars breaking down, the turning of dog-eared pages, the little spaces in the margins of recipes where someone has made their little touches, keeping the knowledge for those who come after, for those who are willing to learn, for those who crave to know

Gricko and Hootsie Grimgrin are the music of the home, the soft hoot beyond the window at night, the familiar creak of the floorboards, the hushed lullabies of rain on the roof, the absence of loneliness, always welcoming, always comforting, always soothing, always soft.

Torbek is the devourer, the one who consumes, the one who can appreciate the wholeness of the warmth of a hearth, the taste of a good meal, the pages he knows by heart, the knowing that he isn't alone, even when sometimes he feels himself a stranger in this house. Torbek is home with Carnival Lecroux. Torbek is home.

[blukitty-fr]

Desert Electrician - 2639276

Loosely based on the Lightning Sprite familiar.

[valtsv]

the terror a novel by dan simmons is. Bad. but i do think it was worth reading personally to experience the goodsir medical malpractice extended director's cut, peglar being gay and homophobic while gossiping with bridgens about mr hickey, and every time crozier described fitzjames like he was in a call someone a faggot without actually calling them a faggot competition

[3liza]

Carnivale is the only accurate representation onscreen that i can remember seeing of how to prepare absinthe properly. one of many reasons its one of the best tv shows ever made

[brainman1987]

I’m sure it was VERY confusing for Gricko those first few hours (and a little confusing for Cinnamon too)

(( @gricko-grimgrin and @opheliajupiter99 for the wonderful being that is Cinnamon))

[johntorrington]

thinking about the cat seemingly just hanging out in the back of one of christos’s behind the scenes videos. what’s he up to. what’s his story

[porcelainpocketfighter]

(image source)

It's kind of interesting that the god of innovation looks like a dinosaur. Idk if there was any deeper intention behind those design choices besides rule of cool (who doesn't love dinosaurs?) but now I'm thinking, like: Stormcatcher is one of the oldest beings on Sornieth, it makes sense that he looks like an ancient creature, but those aspects of his design take cues from theropods specifically. You know, the things that modern birds evolved from (and still are.) Lightning Flight is all about progress, invention, forward thinking no matter what. Even their region's name, The Shifting Expanse, has more than one meaning: the desert sands shift from one place to another, and these dragons are always adapting their technology and ways of life. So Stormcatcher's design could be interpreted as a bridge between the concepts of "primordial being" and "being of the future". A "missing link", if you will. I think it would be funny if he had feathers.

[meduseld]

Anyway thanks to the brilliant @samuelroukin our long national nightmare is over: Henry Collins in AMC's The Terror 2018 was dressed as a jester for Carnivale.

This guy:

Is these guys:

They're fools. Which makes sense when you consider that in the Tarot:

That's right laugh jester!

It's all cocaine and executions downhill from here!

[girlkissergideon]

he's trying

inspo below the cut

idea taken from these beautiful tags from @meraarts because it was the cutest thing ever

[valtsv]

the carnivale sequence in the terror is already one of the best parts of the show but it would've been even better if it'd had an unsettling dreamlike dance scene