logsinthenight | EVENT LOG: PLEADER

EVENT LOG: PLEADER

EVENT LOG:
PLEADER

characters: everyone.
location: the floating night market, docked at the harbor.
date/time: december 12-16.
content: the night market arrives.
warnings: n/a.

yo voy a volver tu vas a ver.

In the wee hours of December 12, the lights return, appearing just under the waves in the harbor, approaching the dock, until the lights surface entirely. They're submarines, glowing a dim blue now that they're up out of the water, and the fleet is three vessels strong. They've brought with them a floating bridge system to attach to the harbor's main dock to allow access to all three submarines, and they start to unpack...

By "morning", under the light of the full moon, the Night Market is open for business!

This time, it's three vendors that arrive: Aaravos, an expert in all things magical; Michelle Cheung, master of papercraft; and Pluto, the Night Market's leader, who rolls out of her submarine in a custom-built wheelchair. They've brought a handful of helpers with them to set up the market and run the various booths and games. Though they have no torches among them, the docks are lit with the blue glow of the submarines, their lights rippling slowly in intricate patterns and shapes, reminiscent of carnival lights.

•••
Accepted currencies at the Night Market include: Building and scrap materials, old tablets, old lanterns, captured forest spirits, torches, information, and most importantly... Plutonium. Of course, attempting to barter is always an option... but these currencies are your best bet for dealing with the various vendors offered by the Night Market.

Here are the vendors and their inventories for the current Night Market visit:
PLUTO
Special orders - Pluto can procure items just like Rastus, but she can get you specific goods from homeworlds. The more specific the request, the more it will cost. Items ordered through Pluto will arrive on the next ferry.

Heals - A borrowed gun-looking device allows Pluto to heal even the most grievous of injuries. This item doesn't belong to her, though, so... results may vary. If you want proper healing, you'll have to wait until the Night Market's medical unit shows up in the future.

GPS coordinates - Looking to discover more locations and resources out in the forest? Pluto can hook you up with hints to do just that.

Lantern charms - These charms can be attached to your lantern to provide BENEFITS as well as DRAWBACKS. The following charms are currently on display, with these labels attached: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Intelligence, Charisma. You'll be given instructions for use at the time of purchase, or you can try asking Pluto for more information.

AARAVOS
Drugs - You want it? He's probably got it! Cigarettes, marijuana, alcohol, and pretty much whatever else you can dream up is worth inquiring about.

Magic potions - These potions last for no more than 24 hours unless otherwise noted. The following potions are currently on display, with these labels attached: Hair change, genderswap, body swap, love potion, luck potion, night vision, weather in a bottle, fake an injury, invisibility potion, furry shit, daemon shit. What does all of this crap do, exactly? You'll be given instructions for use at the time of purchase, or you can try asking Aaravos for more information.

Lantern charms - These charms can be attached to your lantern to provide BENEFITS as well as DRAWBACKS. The following charms are currently on display, with these labels attached: Disguise, Energy Boost, Charmer. You'll be given instructions for use at the time of purchase, or you can try asking Aaravos for more information.

MICHELLE
Handcrafted paper contraptions - Michelle can craft nearly anything out of paper, and don't let the lightness fool you—she can make her paper sharp and solid as steel. As long as you keep it out of the water (or do something to protect it from water damage yourself), your one-of-a-kind paper contraption is built to last! (She'll accept the typical Night Market currencies, as well as payment in the form of books. Any book will do! She'll even provide something to help you if you chose to go on a mission to steal a book for her from the library. These library stealth missions can be handwaved while making purchases from Michelle; just let us know in the form below if you'd like to pursue this.)

DR. SCHICKSAL'S HINT-O-MATIC
AMA - Does your character have any burning questions they just need to have answered? Dr. Schicksal's Hint-O-Matic is a phonebooth-looking device with a screen prompting the user to input a question. When a question is asked, Dr. Schicksal's Hint-O-Matic will spout out an answer! Questions can be typed in via keypad or spoken aloud, and answers will be automatically read aloud for characters that can't read the screen. These answers are always true, no matter what the question, but this information comes at a cost—your character will be blessed with a random status effect for the remainder of the month. We will check permissions posts before issuing a status effect, so there's your hint for what to expect. 😃 And, yes, you can literally ask anything.
•••
Other than the vendors, the Night Market has brought with them the following attractions:
COFFEE CART - The coffee cart offers every variety of hot drink a person could fathom, and it's complimentary! A few small tables have been set up in front of the cart around an outdoor heater, glowing happily as it warms this little section of dock.

CANDY SHOP - Sweet treats offered at the candy shop are also free for the taking, but be careful—some treats carry with them a random status effect that will last for the next hour. The treats and resulting status effects are left entirely up to you players, so feel free to create your own hijinx! This is us trusting you not to break the game, so don't abuse this privilege, and feel free to ask us if you're unsure about limitations! Not all treats will produce an effect, but those that do will have no tells, meaning characters will not be able to strategize when eating the candy. (In meta terms: if you want your character to engage in wacky bullshit, but they're a party pooper and hate fun and wouldn't willingly indulge, this is your opportunity to trick them into shenanigans.)

CARNIVAL GAMES - The small section of carnival games includes ring toss, skeeball, balloon darts, a shooting gallery, a fishing game, a plinko game, and an RC racing game with toy vehicles. The rules are all somewhat nebulous, but feel free to play out your characters interacting with these games on your own! They're all free to play, and prizes include knitted forest spirit plushies, wind-up goldfish that float through the air, and buckets of those plastic spider rings and finger topper guys that cost like one ticket apiece at Swings-N-Things.

WHACKY WAVING INFLATABLE ARM FLAILING TUBE MEN - They are also here, and they have a jukebox with them with an unfathomably large selection of songs. This area of the dock is probably meant for dancing.
•••
Finally, though you can trade with the various NPC vendors in this log, check out the new Night Market Purchases page for fast-tracked transactions.

QUICKNAV
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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

1. Don't read the last page-- but I stay. Market, beginning.

[The boats are already docked and ready when he makes it down there. The blue lights flickering over the faces of the other townspeople, and there are new people milling about putting out more wares and setting the displays in order after rifling hands have been through them.

And Quentin wanders around slowly, looking but not touching. Watching, but not really talking to anyone. There are so many things-- healings, charms, potions and paper crafts that could put anyone to shame. He watches the demonstrations when someone asks one of the vendors for one, but keeps to the edges of the crowds.

There's really nothing here that he needs. Not enough to pay the price that they're asking.]

2. The night is flawless, don't you let go. Market, middle.

[But he finds the games, after finding the Answer-i-matic booth and asking his all important question, the answer buzzing in his head and making him restless. He's almost high with it, the relief and the heartache of it.

BUT-- there are games. The kind he vaguely remembers from when he was little and his dad took him to fun fairs and merry-go-rounds. It brings back the bitter-sweet memories of his parents.

Quentin heads for the nearest ones, throwing darts at balloons that refuse to pop with magic and he throws rings in the rign-toss game, losing more times than he wins, but it's-- fun. In a way things haven't been uncomplicated fun in a while. Which is also the reason he turns to the person next to him with a crocked smile, darts in hand and says:]

Here! You try! I bet if you throw it just right? You can win that large one over there.

3. I'm the mess that you wanted. Market, end.

[There's nothing at the vendors he wants. Nothing he needs, not even after winning and losing at the games. And the constant pressure of the crowd is getting to him. Like sandpaper against his soul, in ways that are almost familiar.

It used to be like this back home after a party. After spending too many hours having to be social with people he doesn't really know, and it's an itch under his skin. An itch that says - leave. So he does, making his excuses about needing a bathroom and Quentin flees the docked submarines and the flashing blue lights. The people and the noise.

He's heading back to town, a paperbag with his winnings over his arm and an extra large cup of coffee in in his hand.]

[ without much warning, he slips over and catches quentin's hand, taking pace with him and not doing much to mask his intended interruption. ]

It's okay to explore a bit closer, you know. [ which he knows they both know, but there are only so many ways to encourage your usually people shy partner. ] Get your hands a little dirty?

Uh huh.

[Quentin drags his head around to look up at Eliot, lacing their fingers together and trying not to get too distracted by the flicking blue lights.]

But just-- look at them? And they can leave whenever they want? One of them can get things from home, or so the sign says. Do you think there's a chance I can get a working cellphone?

[ he laughs. ] I mean, if by working you mean it turns on, sure. I don't think there's regular cell signal around here though. So. That would severely limit the ability to use your, ah, "real" cellphone, Coldwater.

[ squeezing quentin's hand then, he shrugs. ] They probably have different rules that apply to them. Universal laws. Whatever you want to call it. So try not to think about it too hard, mm?

That one's rather cute though, don't you think? [ he gives q a soft nudge to his side and gestures toward aaravos. ]

[Shrugging with one shoulder, Quentin looks but his eyes flick away quickly, too many things to see and so many people all in one place. It's-- a lot. After weeks of limited people in his general vicinity and there's just so many flashing things, so much noise that it's really kind of distracting.]

Hmm, looks fine? Oh, look at that one. She makes everything out of paper.

[The showcase is of impossible things, things one of them could probably make with enough paper and enough magic, but it's still impressive. Quentin's eyes drat from place to place, booth to booth.]

I know. About the phone? But. It would have been nice. If I could get one. Or, tv?

[ ah. expect quentin makepeace coldwater to only have eyes for the cute girl. no matter though. it still give quentin something to actually focus on instead of letting his eyes wander too much in overwhelmed confusion. ]

I wouldn't mind some TV, if there's signal. Maybe some Netflix? And then we could chill. [ he smiles playfully. ] I'm behind on all the shows I'm supposed to keep up with though. And movies. [ eliot sighs dramatically. ] You can't possibly imagine how much torture this has been. At least you have books you get to read. I can't even watch reruns of Two and a Half Men here.

You did Netflix and Chill? Oh wow. The closest I got was Netflix and snacks, but that was also with Julia and James? That might have been why.

[There's the ring toss and the game to shoot darts at the moving targets to win the big prizes and Quentin kind of veers off, like those games has their own center of gravity and he's helpless to stop himself from going over to have a closer look.]

We could ask? Either these people or the bird-person back in town? We can ask for a TV, or movies. I haven't watched anything but the news for-- too long. And here, well. Yeah, it's books. I like books. The Librarian is creepy, but the library is nice.

I'm pretty sure I won't. But I'll give it a try.

[This is the old man dragon from the town hall, and it's pretty obvious one eye is blind, all clouded over the pupil. You wanted to watch an old man dragon miss a balloon with a dart, right, Quentin?

He accepts the dart, at any rate, looking amused rather than annoyed.]

[Curious and with a small smile, Quentin hands the dart over. Sure, the guy looks old. So very old, with his gray hair and clouded eye. The wrinkled hand that reaches out to take the dart from his own younger one.

But, Quentin still vaguely remembers being this old once, and how young he'd felt, inside his old skin.]

You have three tries, so. Maybe if you use the first one to, uh, aim?

[Dragon man!]

[Everything about the guy is colorless: hair, skin, even his clothes are gray. His eyes, clouded and clear, are the only spot of color to him. He accepts the dart, eyes the balloons, and takes a couple steps back from the booth to try and see his target more clearly.]

If I were diving on this, I could hit it without even thinking about it. It's this close-up, on-the-ground stuff that gives me problems.

[His first throw misses by a wide margin.]

So.

[Quentin's really only paying the dart any attention because looking straight at Stone would be too weird. He can just feel his face doing something completely stupid every time his eyes flick over to Stone for too long, so he keeps his attention on the dart and the target.]

Have you tried squinting? Also. Are you a man that can turn in to a dragon, or were you, uh, hatched? A dragon?

Neither, technically. I guess I'm actually an alien, compared to you. There are no humans on my world. My species is called the Raksura, and we're shapeshifters, with two forms: one like this, and one with wings, scales, and a tail.

[He steps further back, tilting his head to get the best view, and his second dart is much closer.]

Alien?

[The tone of Quentin's voice is full of awe and unasked questions, but he clears his throat instead and watches the dart and the almost hit.]

And-- uh, so you're really both? At the same time.

[And also.]

Don't we look strange to you? Being just one thing and not two things.

I'm used to it. I spent a lot of time among groundlings-- that means people who live on the ground, rather than in the sea or the sky. There are so many different species on my planet that it's easier to kind of lump all the same types together, than remember each individual people's name. Most of them aren't shapeshifters, too.

[He takes the third dart, takes one more step back, and throws-- and hits. The balloon pops. Stone grins.]

You can ask anything you want. I like talking about my people and my home. Just don't be surprised if I ask you questions, back.

That's--fine. You can ask questions. So, wings? And you can fly? That's really kind of-- that's something. Was it hard, learning to do that?

[Flying. Maybe it was like birds, and Stone got kicked out of a nest somewhere up high when he was old enough, or maybe it was something less terrifying and more like flight school? Would a species of intelligent people choose one over the other?

Quentin ignores the dart hitting and the balloon popping until a prize is pushed across the counter, it's some kind of plush toy with too many eyes and teeth and no face.]

Uh, I think that's for you.

Reminds me of a sealing we ran into once in a cave.

[He accepts it, though, tucking the thing under one arm.]

Most of us learn to young, around when we first start shifting out of our baby forms, so it's not really that hard. Kind of like learning to run, only with further to fall. There's always adults around to catch the babies if they do that, though. I was on catching duty for a long time, myself.

Quentin Coldwater - open

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1, bet you thought you'd seen the last me

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