logsinthenight | VISIT: THE NIGHT MARKET

Entry tags:

VISIT: THE NIGHT MARKET

characters: everyone.
location: the floating night market, docked at the harbor.
date/time: february 7-9.
content: the night market arrives.
warnings: n/a.

and i came down from the stars.

In the wee hours of February 7, strange blue lights appear just under the waves in the harbor, approaching the dock, until they finally surface entirely. They're submarines, glowing a dim blue now that they're up out of the water, and the fleet is five vessels strong. They've brought with them a floating bridge system to attach to the harbor's main dock to allow access to all five 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 six vendors that arrive:
Pluto, the Night Market's leader, who rolls out of her submarine in a custom-built wheelchair

Petra Solano, clever in both cosmetics and manipulation

Preston Goodplay, a playwright who makes up for his age in spirit

Kaz Brekker, a criminal entrepreneur specializing in violence and deception

Alastair Krajac, a Duel Monsters duelist and expert hacker

Sypha Belnades, a Speaker Magician with control over the elements

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.

Congratulations to Gemini and Inky who won our last AC lottery for a chance to play Night Market shopkeepers! Gemini is playing Alastair and Inky's playing Sypha, and we've also got our discord mod Leu joining us with Kaz! Be sure to hit all of these awesome shopkeepers up under the NPC header below! And as a reminder, please direct all plot questions/topics to one of the mod NPCs, as our players and discord mods aren't given any plot info beyond what's already available in the game. This visit, Kit is playing Petra and Danielle is playing Preston, so they can answer plot questions, along with Pluto. P is for plot!

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.

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.

PETRA
Cosmetic items - Eyeshadow, moisturizer, lipsticks, nail polish, foundation, powder, setting spray—if you can think of a makeup product, she'll be selling it. She'll also offer tips for shades and colors for each individual. That part isn't for sale, it's just an unfortunate side-effect.

Business advice - Do you want to start a business in this wasteland with no economics? Of course you do. Or maybe you just want to know how to maximize your profits and minimize your efforts in general. She's run quite a few successful ventures, so by all means.

Manipulation advice - Want to know how to get people in your life to do as you want? It's not good in the long run, emotionally speaking, but it's also very useful in the short-term. Petra's got you covered.

Potions - Did you miss Aaravos last market? Wanted to nab a potion and forgot? Petra has some! At a markup, of course, this isn't a charity. Potions to change cosmetic features like hair or eye color, potions that cause a swell of adoration or hatred in another person, potions that can even change your gender . . . it's all here. The catch: you have to tell Petra some story of when you suffered. Not necessarily dramatically—it can be an embarrassing moment or a deeply painful one—but it has to be interesting and detailed.

PRESTON
Costumes and Props - This theater kid is not only an accomplished writer, but a thorough costume and set designer! Though his work might once have been what one would call typical for a ten-year-old little boy with big dreams, being dead for an indeterminate amount of time without much better to do (and making adult friends) can really improve your craftsmanship. Preston's offering a great selection of handmade, one-of-a-kind costumes that span genre and era, so if you're tired of general store chic, this is the stop for you! The discerning eye may notice that his well-painted props appear to be made of paper, but they seem incredibly solid; he must have gotten some help from a certain Paper Master that visited Beacon during the Night Market's last appearance. Oh—if anyone finds themselves acting a bit odd after donning his costumes, there's no need to worry. These enchantments that cause the wearers to become rather in character will probably wear off after a few hours. No refunds.

Screenplays - Ever wanted to read the great works of William Shakespeare as retold by an excitable child? Ever thought that Julius Caesar would make a great comeback in a trilogy of sequels as a creature of the undead? Well, Preston has plenty of manuscripts that he's absolutely frothing at the mouth to share. In fact, you probably don't even need to pay for these. Like, please make a production and tell him how people liked it, later. You might just notice that you've obtained one of his scripts when he shoved it into the hood of your jacket when you weren't looking, even? Don't trample on the career he never got to have due to the unsafe condition at a scam of a children's camp.

Acting Advice - Exactly what you'd think. Actually, he'll just give you unsolicited advice to all your problems. He loves hearing about drama, especially the romantic kind, and the stories inspire him for future plays! Come tell him your stories and receive what is undoubtedly an expert opinion on the subject.

KAZ
Weapons - Need something to defend yourself? Prefer guns to all those knives in the Armory? Or do you just really, really want to straight up murder someone? Well, regardless of why, you've come to the right place! Kaz has on offer everything from fancy-lookin' daggers to fancy-lookin' guns, from poison to piano wire. (Just try not to wonder how many crimes these items have already been involved in.) If you're hankerin' for something more specific, it doesn't hurt to ask. It's not like he ever puts all his cards on the table.

Forgeries - If you want a key copied, some handwriting mimicked, or any other sort of duplicitous manufacturing, look no further. Kaz can get you a double of just about any object— though it might not necessarily be the real working thing. Maybe you just want an uncannily accurate reproduction of a Monet for your cabin, or maybe you've got something more nefarious in mind; Kaz certainly won't be asking for your motives. He'll probably still be judging you, though.

Double or Nothing - Say you're interested in one of these fabulous wares, but you're a little short on what passes for cash here in Beacon. You have one option: Kaz accepts payment in the form of secrets— particularly those which could be detrimental if shared. But you also have another option: betting. You'll need some form of collateral, of course, but if you win, you get to keep it, along with whatever else you want from the stand. Lose, and you forfeit both. What exactly are you betting on? Oh, just something simple like a coin toss or a card draw, something with a 50/50 chance of winning. Sounds fair, right? It's probably fine.

ALASTAIR
Hacking tablets - He can hack in to perform internal software and app upgrades, changes, and repairs. Included but not limited to: change a network username, upload more songs to Songbird, more storage space, new emojis, camera filters, fix any settings that got messed up. Accidentally set your tablet to Turkish? He can fix that. Fair warning that his music tastes are mostly mid-00s EDM.

(NOTE, to change your IC username just go to the network & tablets page and update your info - after Alastair agrees to do the task)

App coding - There's not much he can do in three days but if you want a new game or app coded, he can work on that and deliver an SD card on the next ferry. There are a few things he can't or won't do but you have to ask him to find out the limitations.

Minor tablet repair - He can't revive completely broken/dead ones but a cracked screen or a funky camera, he's got you.

Prices - In addition to the standard prices, Alastair takes computer parts, song downloads, and Duel Monsters cards in payment. He will dole out better services for greater quantity or quality (read: rare) cards if you've got 'em.

SYPHA
Spell scrolls - Sypha will happily and excitedly tell you she's a Speaker Magician, and as such has some control over the elements. She has spell scrolls for sale. Single use only! She has a few spells pre-written out, but might be persuaded to go the extra mile and transcribe something custom for you, if it's within the scope of her abilities. As payment, Sypha accepts secrets... about you or others in Beacon.

Fire Balls. Summons half a dozen fist sized fire balls that circle you and can be launched individually or all together at foes. Or friends, if you must be like that. Please don't be like that.

Ice Construct. Encase an enemy inside a block to freeze them temporarily, build a bride, pay for a wall, make a pane so thin and sharp it slizes through practically anything, make a pole for some poor fool to lick, freeze small-ish areas of water, make an igloo. Not big enough to build an entire castle. Can build a very frozen snow man. Lasts up to an hour or until you drop the spell.

Whirlwind. Use gusts of air that can carry you up and through the air (careful application is encouraged so as not to catapult yourself into the lake through sheer velocity), soften your landing or knock over people. Wearing a skirt with this is not recommended, but has proven to be hilarious.

Skill books - Sypha has a collection of small note books infused with specific knowledge. Now, the books are not for sale... but their contents are. You can absorb the contents of one of these books to gain a new skill - tanning, carpentry, caligraphy, sword fighting, cooking, first aid, fishing, specific languages, peotry, sowing... to name but a few. Just ask what you want to learn, and she will check if she has it available. Perhaps there are even some more esoteric or unusual skills you could gain this way...

The catch? In order to gain a skill, you have to give up a skill.

While the night market lasts, a new skill absorbed from a book sits on hand and forearm like an elaborate black ink tattoo, strange, swirling symbols - but the book you absorbed this from has gained new writing through the skill with which you paid. As long as the night market lasts, you can trade your skill back to Sypha... unless, of course, someone else already absorbed it. Then you might have to hope they trade it back in or seek them out to broker a deal. If you don't want to - or can't - trade the skill back, it becomes permanent a permanent gain and loss after the night market.

Sypha has to agree to the trade. The more specific and high value the skill is, the more you have to pay for it, too. Perhaps she could even be persuaded to transcribe you one of those spell scrolls into a skill book... but you'd have to give up a really valuable skill of your own for that, so better make a damn good offer.

Memory jars - Unassuming, but beautifully decorated jars that can magically evoke a memory any time it's opened. Do you want the scent of the bouquet your secret admirer gave you that one hazy summer night, when you didn't think you could ever be happy? Do you want to close your eyes and feel your mother's embrace? Do you want to hear your spouse whisper 'I love you' into your ear? It's all possible, no matter how hazy it is to your recollection - magic can reproduce it fully. Sypha can enchant the jar with whatever memory you wish, in as much detail as you wish, for you to indulge in whenever you need something to keep you going, to lift your heart in this dark place, and provide the comfort of things your death forced you to leave behind.

To get a memory to come alive like that on tap, you'll have to open your heart, and share a story very dear to you with Sypha. Speakers, she tells you, are all about bearing witness, collecting knowledge and telling stories to others. What you tell her must be true, and it must be real, and it must move you greatly. You don't have to recount the memory you want bottled - but you have to share something with her that is yours, and that is deep and worthwhile and true. Tell her your story, open your mind and offer up your heart... and she will bottle their contents for you.

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, and please keep in mind that these effects stack! 😃 Each question you ask it (or say at it, rhetorically or otherwise) will "cost" one status effect. And, yes, you can literally ask anything.

Finally, please use the Night Market Purchases page for all transactions! We're changing this up from how we did it last time so that we can better keep track of what's going where. You're still welcome to thread out purchases on this log, though! Just be sure to note it on the purchase page, as well.
•••
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.
•••

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It's the same and yet not, and the schicksal's hint-o-matic still has an almost magnetic pull, which is why Quentin stays away from it and only ventures far enough in to the market to look at the magical wares.

And the noodle men.

They have music, and while Quentin doesn't dance. Ever. Not while not drunk, he still likes to listen to it.

But, mostly, he spends the night at the coffee cart, getting warm by the heater and drinking as much coffee as he can get his greedy hands on, trying to not give in to temptation.]

The hazel-nut one is kind of great. If, you know, you're in to that kind of thing. Nutty things.

[ The last time the Market had come, Ellever had spent most of her time at the games and at the coffee cart. This time, she's mostly sticking to the cart and briefly wandering elsewhere, aside from avoiding the vendors. It's nice to get something nice and hot to drink and take her mind off of... everything that's been going on lately.

She's a little lost in her thoughts when she realizes that someone else is by the cart, too, and talking to her. It takes her a second. She shakes her head, as if that will knock her out of it. ]

Hazelnuts are good. [ Did she try that last time? It's so hard to remember, for some reason. ] Is that your favorite one so far?

No.

[Quentin cups his hands around the cup, for warmth and comfort maybe and blows on it.]

I like the plain black one the best, but. We're dead, right. If now it's the time to be adventurous, when is? Also, we don't know what's going to happen, so. I figured this is my one chance to taste all of them.

[Eliot came back. Came back on the ferry and not waking up in the church, and he's off living with someone else. But just knowing that dying here doesn't erase someone from existence... it helps.

A little.

He quirks a smile over the edge of his cup.]

Hi. I'm Quentin. And what kind of coffee do you like?

[ Ellever smiles. The movement is stiff; she hasn't smiled in a little while. ]

That's pragmatic of you.

[ There's now a pattern to the Night Market, but there's still the question of whether or not they'll be alive — undead? — to see it again. ]

I'm Elle. It's nice to meet you. [ She tilts her head to the side as she considers. ] I'm fond of black coffee, but if I can pick any of them, I like mocha the best. I don't even really have a sweet tooth? It's just nice. Much like... unlimited warm drinks here in Beacon, when we're... [ She chuckles quietly. ] As you said, dead. Aren't we lucky?

[ It's said wryly, as she glances over the drink list and tries to figure out another order. ]

Are you--

[And Quentin's eyebrows go up, all the way to his hairline before he catches himself and he grins, toasting her with his own paper cup of coffee. Nothing fancy, just regular black. Strong and faintly bitter.]

Your name is Elle. That's-- I know another El. It's probably one of those things that's aren't funny unless you know the whole story. But nice to meet you, too. Yeah, we're the lucky ones. We could be in the Afterlife, enjoying that for eternity but we get this shithole.

At least the rent is cheap.

[ She huffs out a little laugh. ]

Oh. [ They have yet to meet, but she knows of the other El. ] Yeah, it's short for Ellever, which is a really weird name so I just go by Elle.

[ Supposedly it means something in the language of the Nine, and that's yet another reason not to go by it unless she has no other alternative. A lot of people here in Beacon are fond of using her full name, because of formality or whatever else. And it's fine. Fine! But if given a choice, she much prefers her nickname. ]

You think the Afterlife will be nice?

[ Opinions on the afterlife seem to be the most controversial in all of history. ]

I like it. Ellever. It sounds like a name made for adventure.

[Or fantasy books.]

I know it will be. Or, no. So I don't know know, but everyone in the Underworld were just dying to go, so it can't be this bad? I think maybe you get to see loved ones again. I hope we do.

[Shit. First meeting and already, Quentin is bringing doom and gloom in to it. He clears his throat and take a sip of coffee.]

But. It could be worse? Than here, I mean. Maybe. At least there's no, like, river of fire or something.

[ Ellever's lips quirk wryly at made for adventure. That's what she'd thought of as a kid, going off on expeditions to find cryptids and prove them real or false. But then she'd ended up here. Mileage may vary on whether or not Beacon is a real adventure. ]

I hope we meet loved ones, too. [ It would be nice if she could actually meet her mother, someday. ] ...Maybe if there was a river of fire we could at least see more than a few feet in front of us.

[ It's a joke, and her smile shifts a bit more earnestly to show so. ]

We have heated buildings and food, so it's not too bad around here. We could be... winter camping or something. Not my favorite thing I've ever done.

[Quentin's smile grows a little bigger, and he wrinkles his nose as his hands unclench from around the paper cup.]

See a few feet? You mean, lose a few feet.

[He nods, hands gesturing to the town and the docks.]

Sure, if we're listing things that don't suck about this place. There's people here. Food, sometimes. I even have weed, but. It's still not what I thought dying would look like.

[ A chuckle bubbles out of Ellever. No one would accuse her of being optimistic — most likely — but sometimes it's better to focus on the good things. Or just the neutral things, failing many good things. The opposite is how spirals usually start. ]

I kind of thought there would be nothing, to be completely honest.

[ She shrugs lightly, sipping her coffee. ]

Not to be a nihilist about it or whatnot. But I didn't think there'd be an actual Afterlife like everyone thinks. I thought we might just... not exist anymore. So I'm pretty happy that I've got people to talk to and weird things to learn. Like Spirit languages.

Quentin Coldwater - open

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