ENTRY 288: Liangamish
The Liangamish Tholus near the Amenthes Fossae on Mars is an artificial hillock carved from local stone and built into the shape of a large phallic dome, ornamented with penis-headed columns, and fantastic, intricately detailed phallic sculptures, carvings, and the accouterments. The architectural style is claimed by experts to be loosely derivative of Asian and Indian fertility temples of old Earth, but experts who have examined the building claim that while the outside architecture is smooth and symbolic or representative of human genitalia, inside the temple the artwork gets progressively more strange, detailed, elaborate, and dark, incorporating fanastical creatures and aliens, skulls and bones, perverse couplings, genital mutilation, and architectural considerations that suggest blood grooves and ritual chambers for self-castration.
Despite, or perhaps because, of the elaborate and strange sexual symbolism and artwork of the site, it retains a steady tourist trade, with the the Liangamish Tours microcorp controlling access to the site, giving guided physical and virtual tours, ensuring visitors don't damage the site, and selling souvenirs. Honeymooners in particular are known to visit the site and kiss or rub the Central Phallus, a freestanding iron pillar in the geometric center of the Tholus, which is often given to be good luck and promote fertility. An objective outside investigative agency performed a series of surveys and biomedical scans and found that there is a sleight positive correlation between fertility and kissing the Phallus, but argued that this may well be the result of other factors. This has not stopped the microcorp from disseminating the study's finding widely to attract more tourists.
Liangamish Tours has been searching for the original artisan or artisans as part of plan to expand the site, with detailed designs already in place for new tholuses centered around breasts, vaginas, and anuses, but have so far failed to discover much on the origins of the Liangamish site or its creator(s). Initial construction steps toward new or expanded tholus sites have also met unusual delays and faults, which has given birth in the media to the rumor of a curse - ironically, Liangamish employees and officers appear confused as to whether this is an idea they came up with or not, and interviews and Mesh-based digital archaeology gives conflicting evidence as to whether is it is a plant and to what degree the Liangamish Tours employees actually believe in the supposed curse.
Despite, or perhaps because, of the elaborate and strange sexual symbolism and artwork of the site, it retains a steady tourist trade, with the the Liangamish Tours microcorp controlling access to the site, giving guided physical and virtual tours, ensuring visitors don't damage the site, and selling souvenirs. Honeymooners in particular are known to visit the site and kiss or rub the Central Phallus, a freestanding iron pillar in the geometric center of the Tholus, which is often given to be good luck and promote fertility. An objective outside investigative agency performed a series of surveys and biomedical scans and found that there is a sleight positive correlation between fertility and kissing the Phallus, but argued that this may well be the result of other factors. This has not stopped the microcorp from disseminating the study's finding widely to attract more tourists.
Liangamish Tours has been searching for the original artisan or artisans as part of plan to expand the site, with detailed designs already in place for new tholuses centered around breasts, vaginas, and anuses, but have so far failed to discover much on the origins of the Liangamish site or its creator(s). Initial construction steps toward new or expanded tholus sites have also met unusual delays and faults, which has given birth in the media to the rumor of a curse - ironically, Liangamish employees and officers appear confused as to whether this is an idea they came up with or not, and interviews and Mesh-based digital archaeology gives conflicting evidence as to whether is it is a plant and to what degree the Liangamish Tours employees actually believe in the supposed curse.
Using Liangamish
A mystery, wrapped in an enigma, which could be the site of an H. R. Giger-themed pornographic film - and hey, feel free to use it in your game if that appeals to you. Liangamish is an adult-themed location which is taboo enough for the inner twelve-year old in every gamer, and with just enough is-it-or-isn't-it rumors and unresolved origins about it that the gamemaster can do pretty much whatever they want with it. As a scene, it's creepy and yet sort of silly, with carve stone penis-monsters that PCs can momentarily stumble on in the dark and then feel foolish about. Who built it and why are entirely up to the PCs, but as it stands it is a good slightly-out-of-the-way tourist spot (like Stonehenge), a decent scene for a wedding or post-wedding hijinks, the not-so-secret meeting place of an exsurgent cult, the remnant of an old Earth religion, etc. Gamemasters that don't like or aren't comfortable using "phallus" and various related terms every other sentence are entirely welcome to replace the distinctive theme with teddy bears or hippopotami or whatever else they find interesting, though that does mean they'll miss out on the opportunity to use images of Asian fertility temples and H. R. Giger art as props in game.
Seed
- The Liangamish Curse doesn't just prevent further destruction - individuals that have damage the site, such as removing materials from it, often face bad fortune or death. So when the superstitious flat Juice Boxer finds a stone penis among his things, he is scared bad. He asks the PCs for their help in returning the object to its rightful place as quickly as possible - made all the more difficult because Liangamish Tours has temporarily closed the site after recent marsquakes may have damaged the stability of the building.
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