VISIT: THE NIGHT MARKET

[inthenightmods]

VISIT:
THE NIGHT MARKET

characters: everyone.
location: the floating night market, docked at the harbor.
date/time: april 10-12.
content: the night market arrives.
warnings: n/a.

and i came down from the stars.

In the wee hours of April 10, 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 four vessels strong. They've brought with them a floating bridge system to attach to the harbor's main dock to allow access to all four 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 four vendors that arrive:

• Pluto, the Night Market's leader, who rolls out of her submarine in a custom-built wheelchair.


• Catherine, a coy-eyed blonde with a bombshell choice of wardrobe, who appears to be somehow teeming with secrets.


• Variks, the Loyal, a prison warden who deals in all variety of secrets.


• John Silver, an opportunistic cook who spent his life aboard a space pirate ship.

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.

All purchases must be logged on the Night Market purchase page while the market is open! Backdated purchases won't be accepted. However, as long as transactions are started ICly while the market is open, you're welcome to belatedly submit those transactions to the purchase page. Please do your best to log the purchases as close to the window as possible, though!

Congratulations to Sydney and King who won our last AC lottery for a chance to play Night Market shopkeepers! Sydney is playing Variks and King's playing Silver! Be sure to hit up 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, Danielle is playing Catherine, so she 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.


• 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

CATHERINE

• Confession - In the place of a standard vendor's stall is a small, modest confessional. Catherine keeps the door open on the priest's side, sitting inside it while she waits for her customers. Feel interested in airing out your grievances? Well, it might not be an official sort of purge, but hop into the curtained compartment and she'll give you a non-judgmental ear to listen. Just don't ask for advice; she's not here to give it. But if you want to pray to her, well, she won't object to being treated like a Goddess.


• A brief reunion - Just want to see someone's face again? A friend, a family member, someone you miss more than anyone else you've ever known? It seems that this mysterious lady has a knack for sensing who it is you desire to see again the most. Exactly how this works, she's not inclined to share, and unfortunately there's no real way to provide you with who it is she's able to show you... but a few meaningful moments could mean some peace of mind for some people.


• Adult toys - A padlocked trunk full of specialty toys and supplies (and apparent torture devices?) to tide over any individual who would consider themselves properly kinky (or perhaps just a tad adventurous in their intimate exploits). Anyone over the age of eighteen is free to browse the wares, but the stall's keeper will keep it locked for anyone who died before reaching a legal age of adulthood. Sorry, kids. Maybe when you've been dead for a few more years.

VARIKS, THE LOYAL

• Restraints & prison supplies - Cages, shackles, handcuffs, chains, rope. Want to keep a forest spirit (or fellow resident) contained and restrained? He's got you covered. Maybe it's for their own good, he may be the Kell of the House of Judgement but he won't question your motives too hard. What he has on display is mostly person-sized restraints and smaller cages for trapping forest spirits to use as currency elsewhere in the Night Market. But if you need something specific he may be able to accommodate.


• Lantern shells - Tired of carrying the same lantern around day after day? Change how it looks with a lantern shell. The "shell" looks like a shimmery 12-sided die in various colors but touch it to your lantern and it'll be absorbed and change your lantern into a specific color / shape / size, etc. They can be removed at will and return your lantern to it's default look. Get multiple shells and have a different lantern every day of the week! You're only as fashionable as your Ghost. Er. Lantern.


• ACCEPTED CURRENCIES - He'll take all the basics, with a preference for lanterns or lantern pieces, and also secrets. Secrets can be about yourself, others, places, the Wild Hunt... The juicier the secret the more valuable it is to him. He probably won't tell Pluto. Probably.

JOHN SILVER

• Ready-made meals - This extremely personable vendor will greet you jovially and invite you up in a very thick, very pirate-y accent— though it's probably not him that draws you up so much as the mouth-watering smell of cooking food. He has a number of ready-made meals, but he can also whip up something special if you have a specific request. And when he says specific, he MEANS specific... looking at those of you with Certain Dietary Requirements.
  
  Bonza Beast Stew: What's a Bonza Beast? Who knows! Where did he find one on this planet? You'll never find out, because it's a secret recipe. Have a bowl of this hearty stew, though, and you'll find that you'll be pleasantly warm and happy for a good long while.
  
  Wild Rosemary Quiche: Vegetarian and beautifully fragrant. Consuming this will make you particularly nimble for a while.
  
  Fish & Chips: What is says on the tin and possibly the best you've ever had. Wonder what that fish is...? The only side effect is that you have an almost insatiable desire to go swimming. Might want to be careful with that one...
  
  Steamed Buns: A meaty option and the veggie option. Both buns will increase good fortune for a limited period of time.
  
  Apple Rose Puffs: Sweet and delicate, they will also leave you smelling sweetly of flowers for hours afterward.
  
  Baklava: Nutty and sweet, after eating this you feel compelled to say whatever kind things you've been feeling or have been on your mind.
  
  Moonshine: No side effects, unless you count getting completely blasted very quickly.
  
  You can also purchase ready-made packages of ingredients with a written recipe included to take home and cook for later! Except the Moonshine. That you'll have to buy directly.


• Poisons - Ask the right questions, and you can get access to Silver's under-the-counter stash of goods. "Poisons" here is used loosely, as it includes concentrated doses of all sorts of concoctions. This includes: deadly poisons of varying intensities, poisons that induce sleep, poisons that will warm you from the inside or that will give you a bone-deep chill, poisons that are actually venom you can put on a blade, etc. All poisons are good for 2 doses, so use them wisely.


• Repairs - Nothing too complicated, mind! Silver is good with mechanical fixes, but not with anything too delicate.


• ACCEPTED CURRENCIES - Silver accepts all the regular kinds of currencies, but he does have a preference for gossip (which he loves), information, and building/scrap materials. He will also gleefully take recipes your character might know and ingredients that have been foraged or brought from the ferry as a form of payment. Keep in mind that the more you ask for, the more you will have to pay— and those poisons don't come cheap.

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.

QUICKNAV
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Comments

VENDORS

[inthenightmods]

DR. SCHICKSAL'S HINT-O-MATIC can be found on the purchase page!

PLUTO

[shookthesky]

[Pluto isn't flitting around all over the market this time. Instead, she mans her vendor booth diligently, typing away on her tablet when she's got some downtime. Occasionally, she'll roll over to her neighboring stalls to delegate some task or another to her workers. Her voice is soft but severe, commanding an air of authority as she rolls around in her wheelchair. Her lantern is fastened to the back of her chair.

If you missed Pluto's recent network post, you should probably check that out! Newbies will be able to access the post even though it's slightly before their time.]

[callada]

[Rosinante eagerly seeks out Pluto once the market has had time to get themselves set up and organized. He owes her, sure; he's utterly thrilled with what she accomplished for him last time and he's happy to provide his remaining share of the payment. But additionally, her network announcement has him very interested in the prospect of finally making some progress on the larger problem at hand.

He strides up to the booth and crouches so he's not looming completely over the top of it. The movement is a little stiffer than he'd like, but he's made a lot of progress in healing since the last ordeal.]

Pluto. Good to see you again. Thanks for what you were able to do for me last time. I couldn't believe the stack of papers on the ferry.

[notthatjason]

[It's...habit by this visit. Jason picks up two hot chocolates at the bar and makes his way over to Pluto. He does, however, have a little something new in his pack to carry with him. Things have gotten more serious lately or maybe they just have continued to do so. The swords he has used over time are fine, but he wants something he can trust in a little more.]

Hey Pluto. I brought your usual and a little something else. Do you remember our conversation from last time?

[legalcy]

[Pluto can rest easily. Minimus has been defeated. The Night Market cannot be partially shut down when there are no standards by which to judge businesses. Cybertronians cannot weep, but they can feel immense sorrow, and Minimus Ambus stared out of his window for hours after the terrible discover in the courthouse.

His gait is less aggressive when he approaches Pluto this time. And now he can divert her attention with another subject.]

What are the size restrictions for items brought from our universes?

[vampirella]

( she didn't check in with Pluto the last time the Night Market was in town, so it's been quite a bit since she talked. Carmilla might not be particularly memorable, but she doesn't care if Pluto remembers her or not. she's here anyway, and here on a mission. )

Do you know anything about the green eyed fuckers, and how much would you be charging for the information?

( straight, to the point. )

[worthallthis]

[And here we are, time to find out whether the Night Market people have some kind of viable plan, or if it's all talk. Soldat has one really important question here. Though they do at least start politely:]

Hello, Miss Pluto.

[And they offer her a mug of mocha, not from the cart, but their own mix.]

I'm looking forward to hearing your plan.

I'm sorry

[immortalaccursed]

[Ardyn approaches the booth with an almost child like swaying of his hips, arms outstretched in an inviting gesture.]

Ah, you must be the lady of the Night Market!

Hello and well met!

[pure_havoc]

[polite as he is, ain't no time to be beating around any bushes this time.]

Madam. I must know more about your plan, and I will pay what you ask so long as it's within my capability.

[pearlstrings]

Hello again Pluto.

[She always looks busy and he's used to that, but it's in Bruce's nature to try and avoid getting underfoot. He stands just out of her way, hands folded in front of him.]

I wanted to thank you for the last order. And also make a request, if it isn't too much trouble.

VARIKS, THE LOYAL

[kellofkells]

[Behind the table is an insectoid looking vendor leaning on a staff heavily with all four arms, letting it support his weight. He's very crouched over, trying to be a more humanish height, but even so he's still around seven feet tall. His upper arms are metal, and he's wearing armor, but it's honestly hard to tell what parts are synthetic and what might be a bug-like carapace.

One side of his table is cages and chains and metal shackles, while in stark contrast the other half is a series of shimmery 12-sided engrams in a rainbow of colors.

There's no signage, he either apparently thinks everyone will know what these are, or he wants to chat. ]

JOHN SILVER

[spacecook]

[ This vendor stall is a little bigger than most, but that's to make room for all the cookware behind the counter— and it seems like there's something happening on every surface. The man behind it hums or whistles a sea-shanty and his right arm whirs and changes shape, busily working through whatever food he seems to be preparing at the time. Above his head hangs his lantern, casting light on everything below. Warm, hearty smells float out over the market from here and on the counter is a menu detailing what ready-made meals Silver is offering. There's also a smaller plaque with a skull and crossbones on it in the corner that says Dead Men Tell No Tales.

Greet him and he'll turn immediately with a broad, boastful grin and a: ]

Welcome, welcome to me corner o' the Market! Why don't ye take a look at the menu there? I can make anythin' yer heart desires. Well— almost anythin'.

CATHERINE

[wedging]

[Catherine isn't going out of her way to pull in customers, but at least sits in her vending...confessional booth(?) with a winning smile, her heeled feet propped up on her padlocked trunk of goodies. If anyone lingers with an amount of apparent interest or curiosity, she'll twirl one of her curls around a finger.]

How about getting a drink for a lonely, thirsty lady? Something fruity and strong, if you can find it.

Rosinante | OTA

[callada]

It has been a few weeks since Rosinante spent much time out and about. Aside from a trip back to the surgery wing with a few others to make sure it's clear and safe now, he has spent much of the time in bed or not far from The Invincible aside from a few minor trips to keep from getting too bored. But finally, other than some stiffness and some still-lingering nausea he's certain is purely psychological, Rosinante is feeling up to just being out and walking around. Just in time for the market!

As has become a market tradition of his, he's done up his makeup in something somewhat seasonal for the day, with spring leaves and flowers decorating his cheek and lips done in a vibrant pink. He's currently at the:

RC Racing. "How the hell..." he grumbles to himself as he fiddles with the controls. The car moves in fits and starts, then zips off and crashes immediately into a barricade, which sets off a very small Rube Goldberg series of colliding objects ending with some of the market decorations landing on your head. Oops?

Coffee cart. Always a favorite, he's seated precariously in a too-small chair with his long legs folded up awkwardly, spiderlike, while he sips at a steaming cup of green tea. Here he's just observing as others walk around, overhearing conversations he isn't part of, but he's probably happy to catch up and chat.

RC Racing

[worthallthis]

Soldat's metal arm comes up automatically to block falling... plushies... and ribbons... okay.

"If you're tryin' to brain me, not trying hard enough," they comment, after working out what happened and finding it kind of amusing. "Need some help there?"

Coffee Cart

[paletteswap]

Kuai has a large mug of tea, holding it in both hands and sipping it while keeping an eye on everyone around them. He sits across from Rosinante far warier than he'd been previous tea dates. His optimistic nature has taken a beating in the past almost-year.

"How are you faring?" He's been worried about everyone. Not so much for their wounds which would mend in time, but for the memories, which would take far more than time to dull. Torture, pain, suffering, it stays with you even if distance starts to numb the pain.

rc racing.

[unwieldy]

Wow, here Haein is enjoying himself (that's a lie, he never does that) when suddenly there are objects crashing down on his head. Is this a murder attempt? Is this what everyone's been warning him about? Death by falling stuffed animals? Haein swipes at the last few falling toward him before he looks up and around for the cause. It doesn't take long before he spots the RC car and then its controller in the hands of... oh.

A look of recognition crosses Haein's face, and then it's quickly replaced by his typical scowl.

"Your clumsiness has an impressive reach," he mutters, recalling Rosinante's tendency to trip on air.

Coffee

[patriotnow]

[Ashford had been blowing on his coffee to cool it down before noticing a certain, unpleasantly familiar lanky character sitting in a chair entirely unsuited for him nearby.

His last encounter with Rosinante, though a while ago, had not...lets say....gone well.

He stops and stares intently, cup still held just below his chin.]

Bucky/Soldat | OTA

[worthallthis]

I. Vendors

Though there's nothing here they're particularly interested in buying (maybe the food, but really, they're more interested in learning how to make it than in actually buying it), Soldat does watch the booths with interest. They kind of wander up and down the dock, ready to chat if the mood strikes, with vendors or other Beaconites.


II. Jukebox

And as they always do when the Night Market is in town, Soldat spends a good chunk of time at the jukebox, recording more of the music that's not in Songbird or that they haven't already recorded. Getting better copies of some of the music they already have. Drinking lots of coffee.

This time they might need some convincing to actually dance. They're still kind of on the sad side.


III. Thinky Thoughts

After their chat with Pluto on the second day, Soldat sits by the bonfire rather than hanging around the actual Night Market, watching the lights in the distance, and thinking. There's a plan. It may or may not be a good plan, we'll see what Pluto has to say. Come ask them what they think of it.

I

[immortalaccursed]

Ardyn is sitting under a tree, people watching, when he notices a familiar face drift past among the booths.

"Aha! So, you are real, Soldier! I was starting to think I'd merely dreamed you."

Ephrim | OTA

[sunsbreath]

I. On the Dock

Ephrim has seen his share of village festivals, and despite the rather odd assortment of shops and games, he isn't particularly interested in committing to a purchase on his first day. He's procured a cup of coffee instead - blessed, normal coffee - and he sits on the edge of the dock, feet swinging idly over the water's surface, listening to otherworldly music float past from that odd box, watching the stars. His small, black, wrought iron lantern sits at his side, the shoulderstrap in a small nest of fabric next to it.

If the very sight of him doesn't fill one with the urge to push him into the water, he'll eventually note that there's someone nearby, but studiously ignore them. If the situation grows unpleasantly prolonged, then he'll say something, if only to take away any sort of enjoyment one might have being silent in his company. (Only he is allowed to be comfortable with him, thank you.)

"Tell me of the stars in your world." He nods up to them, wheeling in the sky over the lake. "Keep it short, if you please."

II. Wildcard

will match format, tbh just make something up or lmk if you want me to start thanks my pals

i.

[unwieldy]

Haein doesn't mean to stay at the Night Market for as long as he does. There's nothing that he especially wants, and nothing in his possession that he thinks would be of enough value to trade for. It's on his way out that he spots a familiar figure, and just the sight alone is enough to bring murderous thoughts to mind. He could continue leaving and not deal with this. Avoidance is one of his stronger traits, but...

So is his ability to be a massive asshole.

With as much nonchalance as he can muster, Haein makes his way onto the dock, behind the other man. There isn't an ounce of hesitation before he lifts a leg to place the heel of his boot against Ephrim's back and then shoves him toward the water.

I

[paletteswap]

"The stars?" He'd been standing nearby peering out at the lighthouse and thinking, not really paying attention to the other person silently nearby. Glancing up at the sky as if to remind himself what stars looked like he shakes his head.

"They look similar to this, I've never been able to pick out constellations very well, so I could not tell you how these differ." He frowns, taking a sip of his tea before continuing almost casually, "The ones here are being devoured though. There's less than there were when I first arrived."

[callada]

Out here away from all the lights of town, and over the water where there are fewer trees to block the horizon, is one of Rosinante's usual preferred spots to photograph the night sky for his charts. Now that the clouds have begun to clear more frequently, he's out here often, as if he can make up for time lost over an overcast winter. Eventually, after a few minutes of working at a cigarette while taking and studying his photos to make sure they're clear, Ephrim speaks, and he looks over.

"Hm? Well, they don't look like these ones, different patterns, but otherwise it's about the same. Points of light out there in the distance," he says with a shrug. "Why?"

There's certainly some scientific explanation for them, but it isn't one he knows much of anything about. Other worlds, presumably. The mythology and religion of his homeland is just mythology made to inflate the egos of people who think themselves gods.

I am here at last to ruin your day 1 of course

[donttalktome]

Listen buddy, this dock is not yours. While it may not be big enough for these two egos, it is certainly big enough for more than two people, so Will is going to stand around wherever he damn well pleases. He's decided to grab a coffee on his way to chat with Pluto (gotta figure out exactly how to interrogate her) and this is just a convenient place to drink it if he wants to avoid the people coming to get their own. So he stands at the edge of the pier a yard or two away, just blankly staring out at the water.

Thankfully(?), awkward silences barely exist in Will's mind, so he does a good job of simply existing in Ephrim's space, obnoxiously, until he's spoken to. At which point he immediately scoffs.

"You're asking me about stars and telling me to keep it brief? You know that isn't possible, right?"

Especially for someone who knows far too much about stars than anyone else would reasonably care to, and who also loves to hear himself talk. Like, duh.