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.

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Comments

[pure_havoc]

[well, food is always a nice....HOLD ON RIGHT ONE SECOND THERE]

...are those...steamed bao?

[just now realizing it's been months since he's had real home food and holy shit does he need an armload of fresh, piping hot bao...]

[sunsbreath]

Ephrim treads water uncomfortably, eyes narrowed at Haein. Is he above thinking about the next part of this in terms of petty revenge? Absolutely. He's been wronged more cruelly and personally before, by people far more important, whose opinions actually mattered to him. Is this stopping him from thinking of three different forms of vengeance? Oh, hell no.

He floats for a moment, still a little dumbstruck by how sudden the whole exchange had been. "Child," he says finally, making no movement to splash his way back to shore, "I am forced to believe that your parents have failed you thrice: once in your manners, once in keeping your feet under you no better than the drunkard you are, and once in birthing spawn of such weakness that it cannot think of a better way of facing the truth than to lash out at its source." Ephrim does have quite an opinion of himself for someone who lashed out at a boy ten years younger than he in a moment of weakness, but hey, sometimes this is how one copes.

[spacecook]

Yer only as old as ye feel.

[ He says cheerfully, and gestures with his metal hand for Minimus to lean down to his level. ]

What happened to ye there? You get mixed up in that nasty business with them Green Ones?

[spacecook]

Aye, ye got a good eye! ...Or two!

[ He lets loose a mighty guffaw, clearly cracked up by his own joke. ]

Got the recipe from another of our crew, tells me I've got a knack for 'em now. 'Course, ye shouldn't just take me word for it! Ye oughta be tryin' 'em for yerself.

[worthallthis]

There's not very many, no. One more, but we don't see that much of him.

[The invitation works, though, because Soldat closes the rest of the distance.]

Cyborgs that cook, too. I do a daily meal for everybody at the Invincible.

[So while they may not be a pirate-- right out of Treasure Island or something (harhar)-- they have two actual things in common.]

[worthallthis]

He can find them, see them, but they're pretty firmly on the ground now. "I forgot how to hope for a long time. I'm learning it again now. Kind of like it. How successful were you?" At healing, at dealing with the Scourge, at having hope. Take your pick, Ardyn.

[immortalaccursed]

Ardyn thinks over the question and decides to interpret it as a question about the Scourge. That's easier to answer.

"Not at all. Somnus ended it before I could find success."

His eyes narrow in hatred, not just at the memory of his brother, but also hatred towards Soldat. How he wishes this conversation could have happened in the privacy of his suite back at the Landmark...

He'd have set this awful person on fire by now for daring to ask him these questions.

Unfortunately, they're at the Night Market. They couldn't find a more crowded spot on the island if they tried.

[spacecook]

Is that so?

[ Is he referring to the daily meal, or to the suggestion of a third cyborg amidst them? Both? Both.

He squints his right eye and a laser like the sight on a sniper streams from it, scanning over the Soldier's arm. ]

Mighty fine piece a' hardware! Though not much fer utility, eh?

[ The laser disappears and as if to demonstrate this, his own hand changes into a knife as he begins cutting ingredients. ]

Cookin's a mighty fine way t' pass the time in these dark hours. [ He slides the ingredients onto a pan over a fire and they start sizzling immediately. It could be a torch, since it's giving off light, tucked inside the stove. ] If ye're lookin t' purchase, I'd be willin' t' let some stuff go for a few recipes a' yours.

[callada]

[A lot of this just flies right past him, but it's fascinating even if he knows he isn't fully grasping the nuances of what's being said. He nods, interested all the same, and eyes his reshaped lantern with renewed interest. It's modeled after something from this person's home!]

Your world must be beautiful. I can't imagine seeing entire caves of this.

[And it's bittersweet that Variks is now far from that place, stuck in a station under the lake, isn't it? Poor fellow.]

Thank you.

[callada]

Suppose so. You and your people here do good work though, I know that. That takes some doing in a cramped space.

[Goddamn was he just called out. The guy's sharp. He'll be one to come back to and talk with another time - right now the look of that stew is turning his stomach in an unpleasant way. It smells good, but it brings back thoughts from the recent period of torture that he's not quite able to, well. Stomach.]

Think I'll have to pass on the food for now. Not feeling well. Good luck with the trades.

[worthallthis]

Soldat untangles themselves from the ribbons, sets the fallen plush spirit toy back on the booth's counter, and waits for Rosinante to figure out he needs help with the infinite patience of someone who is used to waiting for someone to figure out they need help. The only reason they're not barging in to help without asking is because it's Rosinante, not Steve, and they know Rosi doesn't like that sort of thing.

"Here, I'll show you. These are very sensitive, probably to try and make it harder to win, so you're going at it too hard." They point out which direction of the little mini-joystick does what, and how hard to move it. Which is very, very not-hard.

[callada]

"Yeah, I still never have half the things these people want. But sometimes they'll take things they don't ask for. I've had pretty good luck trading food and information. And you're welcome to take any of the wood I've cut that's stacked north of The Invincible. Sometimes Pluto takes building supplies. Scrapyard's a good place to look too."

He shrugs and offers the controller to Haein. "You know anything about how to work these?"

[worthallthis]

Designed to be a weapon, not a tool. It's very strong, can do fine motor control okay if I focus, but mostly it's for hitting things. Doesn't change shape, but I can control the plates.

[They pull up their sleeve, and give said plates a ripple, then tighten them up to make it impossible to get anything in between the plates.]

I'd. Like to trade recipes, actually. If that's allowed. I like learning new things.

[spacecook]

[ Silver looks at him, then, and there's a dip to his chin like maybe he'd be looking over a pair of glasses if he had them. Or under the brim of a hat. It gives him a sharp and calculating expression just for a moment, like he sees more in Rosinate than the young man is letting on. Then he nods, as though he's come to a conclusion. ]

Aye, we heard all 'bout what were happenin' these last moons. Nasty business.

[ Turns out it's batter in that bowl, which he's pouring out onto an already powdered counter top. Some kind of bread? ]

You just come back let ol' Silver know if ye want any help with that, lad. I've gots me special stock just for this type a' thing.

[spacecook]

Ah, but what's a tool, if not a weapon?

[ He says this as his eyes trail down the flex of metal on his arm— but the moment of seriousness disappears almost immediately, Silver grinning. ]

Well let's talk shop!

[ He turns, giving the man his full attention, both hands on his broad hips. ]

What say ye t' a one-t'-one trade? Recipe fer a recipe. An' I'll even throw in a pack o' ingredients with 'em, special deal, just for another cyborg, eh?

[callada]

"Ah." No, it's not hard, but how was he to know that there was a brakes button? Or that the little thumb stick could respond so sensitively to the amount it was pushed forward or back rather than it being all or nothing. Some things are just not intuitive for someone who as never heard of an arcade or a video game, it turns out.

Well, he can fiddle with it a little more now. "What's the RC stand for?" he asks, nodding to the nearby sign.

[shookthesky]

Ardyn. I gotta admit, I was expecting one of them foofy, complicated names outta you. Like one that ends in a "the fourth" or something.

Good. You talked to the Hunt, then? What'd you think?

[callada]

[Ugh bread no wonder he feels sick. That, and that look, but he's used to scrutiny and would likely appreciate the man's cleverness were the circumstances more pleasant. He takes a small step back as if the dough or batter or whatever it is needs more space.]

I'll let you know. Might send others your way. What are you asking in trade?

[immortalaccursed]

Alas, I missed their little visit.

[He makes a circular gesture with his hand.]

I'm a recent arrival, I'm afraid.

I have, however, been briefed on their position. They feel we walk on the back of a dying star that must needs be put out of its misery. Is that correct?

[pure_havoc]

[yeah uh. sure dude you do your pirate jokes]

How much for one? What will you take?

[unwieldy]

Bringing Haein's parents into their squabble would normally seem like a low blow, but the truth is that they have failed him. His father more than his mother, and while Haein loves his mom unconditionally, he's not fool enough to lie to himself and heap praises upon her parenting skills. She had had a difficult time as a single mother and so dropped the ball more times than he can count, but he doesn't fault her for this. It had simply been the consequences of their circumstances.

Still, it's not something he's too fond of hearing from a stranger. He keeps his expression carefully neutral, wanting to appear unaffected.

"Stick around, old man, and you'll find there's more than three." That said and with a job he considers well done, Haein starts making his way back across the dock toward land.

[worthallthis]

Only fair.

[Soldat thinks a beat on what recipes they know that Silver might not know. Clearly, grilled cheese is not a thing anyone needs to be taught, even if they are fancy grilled cheeses.]

I have gumbo. Couple stir-fry recipes. Blueberry cupcakes. A stew I experimented with to make it last longer, that simmers okay over a full day. Good mix for alfredo cream sauce that doesn't clump.

[unwieldy]

Haein's taken aback by the offer to take wood, not really sure why it's been offered to him in the first place. As someone who's always been surrounded by people with hidden motives, it's... suspicious. He doesn't say anything in response, though his expression does look somewhat skeptical before he's pulled out of his thoughts by the question.

Stepping closer, he takes the controller from Rosinante and turns it over in his hands to inspect it. Nothing about it seems all that different from the ones he's seen back home. "They're fairly popular where I'm from," he says, then tests the controls for a moment. Once he gets the gist of it, Haein manages to maneuver the little car away from where it had crashed so that it zooms in their direction and stops neatly at their feet.

"Looks like it still runs just fine."

[worthallthis]

Nono, very very not-hard in how much pressure to put on the joystick thing, not on how hard it is to operate. The more sensitive the joystick is, the more difficult it is to operate if you aren't very careful with it. No judgment from Soldat. Or from mun. Those things are tricky.

"Remote controlled. Since control comes from that." A nod to the controller in Rosi's hands. "That's my guess, anyway. They didn't have these when I was young enough to play with them." And nobody let the Asset play with tiny toy cars.

[legalcy]

It’s what I did when I was alive. [More specifically, going after war criminals, but the intent remains. ] In a best case scenario, we will never have to use these restraints, but experience tells me never to expect an easy task.

[He pulls out his tablet and starts making a diagram on the drawing program. It only has two holes for the wrists, but the design is more reminiscent of a pillory than handcuffs. Two thick slabs of metal com together to create a very thick block that is nigh-impossible to break.]

This is what we use. What of these magical restraints? Would they cost extra?