logsinthenight | VISIT: THE NIGHT MARKET

Entry tags:

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
comms	\|	network • logs • memes • ooc
pages	\|	rules • faq • taken • mod contact • player contact • calendar • setting • exploration • item requests • full nav

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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. ]

[Yeah, Rosinante has no idea what those shimmery things are. But it's interesting to see someone so unusual here. He can't say he's ever seen a person quite like this one, and that itself is something of a draw. He walks on over and leans down to look over the table, noting the various restraints, then nods to the mysterious colorful objects.]

So, what do those do?

[Oh tall. Very tall. He straightens up somewhat, not quite all the way but he's closer to nine feet now. ]

Engram. It changes your light.

Give me your Lantern. I'll show you.

[He holds out one three fingered hand, palm up, as if Rosinante will just pass over his lantern to this strange insect. Worth a try anyway.]

[Oh hey! Nice, someone he doesn't have to slouch so much to talk to. Not that he minds, but still.

At the offer, Rosinante makes absolutely no move to just pass over his lantern. It isn't like he thinks this guy will damage it, not here in the open where he's trying to do business, but still. He's protective of it, and letting someone else handle it is kind of uncomfortable.]

Do you mind just describing it?

You do not trust Variks.

[He makes a soft hissing sound, and tilts his head. Fine. They aren't friends yet.]

Lantern shell. Use on your light to change it, make smaller, easier to carry, colorful, disguised. Many things. Could make your lantern look like something specific, or like someone else's.

For a price.

[A hiss of ether behind the chainmail across his face covering far too many teeth as he laughs to himself.]

[Sorry, man. Call it a personal flaw.

All sorts of changes are possible, then. That's interesting. Half the reason Rosinante comes to see what these people have for sale is to pick up gifts for Mary, but the idea of being able to disguise his lantern as something else entirely is awfully intriguing. He's speculated recently that it's too obvious a weakness; that the green-eyes should be exploiting it by aiming for their lanterns with their weapons if they really want to do harm.

For now he'll ignore that weird laughter. Yeah, yeah, they all have their prices. He knows. If this is something he decides he really wants, he'll just have to ask what this fellow thinks is worth trading.]

If it's disguised as something, say a rock. Does it still cast light?

There is always light, but it can be diminished.

[Oh that's clever, he likes you already Rosinante. He stomps the staff he's holding down with a flourish, removing the top part that serves as his lantern.]

You wish to be unseen? Sneak without light? Variks can help.

[He grabs one of the glowy shells off the table, holding it against his lantern. It shimmers for a second then seems to be absorbed by it, changing the metal pole into a circular purple object he can hold in the palm of his hand. It's still faintly glowing but it doesn't look like a lantern flame anymore. ]

Can still be put out, light can always fade. But will no longer show you the way. Or show others to you.

[He turns the lantern servitor over in his hands, rolling it between all four of them.]

Where are you going that you require darkness?

[That's pretty good. In fact, if he can simply transform his lantern into something small enough to fit in a coat pocket, then it doesn't matter much if it has a slight glow, he can still hide it. All right, he can work with that - and nods appreciatively.]

Nowhere yet, just thinking ahead. How long do these last, and what are you asking for in trade?

Some last as long as you wish. Others only once. Easier are cheaper, you see yes?

[He seemingly pulls the engram out of the ball in his hands, turning it back into the topper to his staff. The purplish dodecahedron goes back on the table.]

This one as many times as I need. If you desire... a rock. Would not be much. You have broken lights? Pieces of other lanterns. Those who died or disappeared. I take those. Maybe craft new ways to contain light.

I know where a whole lantern is.

[He's already retrieved many of Dr. Scully's useful things as it's clear now she won't be returning. The lantern he'd been intending to give to Dr. Solis, though - but there are plenty of others, and this sort of thing could just as well keep him alive. Or someone else, assuming the contraption can be temporarily placed over any lantern he likes.]

Would a whole, unbroken lantern suffice for one of those that could make a flat stone about the size of my palm? Something I could fit in a pocket, that lasts as many uses as I need.

(no subject)

kellofkells - 2020-04-11 00:57 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

callada - 2020-04-11 01:06 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

kellofkells - 2020-04-11 01:25 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

callada - 2020-04-11 01:32 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

kellofkells - 2020-04-11 04:07 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

callada - 2020-04-11 23:44 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

kellofkells - 2020-04-12 20:40 (UTC) - Expand

[ the amount of prisonware(?) on the table almost keeps daylight away from this particular vendor, a little nervous around anything that appears to be restraints after his time in the medical centre. but he finds himself sticking around, drawn in by curiosity due to the vendor's height and appearance-

but then he sees the really cute and colourful-looking items and his interest peaks, there and then. ] Oh wow!

[ he moves closer now, his winglets hiking up in excitement as he looks at the colourful wares with unabashed interest. ]

These look so neat! [ day's optics are still pretty messed up but even he can tell there's a rainbow's worth of colours here. ] How much are they?

[ are you... even going to ask what they are... day... ]

[Wow. Is everyone on the surface super-sized? This is the biggest exo he's ever seen. Shrewd eyes notice that little flutter. Ah, an interested customer.]

That depends on you.

[He picks one up at random, holding it out to Daylight.]

What do you wish it to do? To look like? How do you wish to change your light?

[Feel free to hold it Day, it'll feel like touching an old tube television and weighs practically nothing.]

Change my light...?

[ did he mean he can change his- his lantern? it's the only thing that comes to mind when he tries to think what the light he's talking about.

and any serious thought flees daylight's processors when he gets the chance to hold one of the really neat items. of course he'd take the offer up because why wouldn't he? it's so colourful. he takes one presented to him - he makes sure to say 'thank you!', of course, because he was raised with manners. - and is inspecting it with clear interest, his winglets continuing their excited fluttering as he tries to drum up a coherent answer. ]

Oh. Um. [ he tilts his helm, optics flickering towards his lantern he has attached to his belt/messenger bag. it's nice and functional and reminds him of home and all but- ] I guess it'll be nice if it looked cuter? [ he says it with more confidence now: ] Cuter. Yeah. I'd like my light to have more personality to it in a way.

Ah. Give personality to little spark of you contained in lantern. I see.

[He makes a strange hissing noise as he tilts his head and surveys what's on the table, sucking ether over his too sharp teeth. Unfortunately "cute" is a little subjective, and what is cute to an Eliksni probably wouldn't be to the one in front of him.]

Smaller? Softer? Different color? Shaped like animal? Cute is not word we use.

[He nods to the one that Daylight is holding.]

That is like [He pauses saying something in a garbled language while he thinks of the word.] owl. Yes owl. Many uses. Can try if want. Touch to lantern then you see.

[If Daylight holds the engram against his lantern it will absorb it and transform into a small chubby light up owl.]

[ daylight's optics flicker in surprise as his lantern transforms, its appearance changing from the mining lantern he found himself with to- to

!!!?!?!?

the noise that daylight makes as he lifts up the lantern with big optics, his winglets fluttering like made, is impressively loud and weirdly young, even for his personality and his spirit. then he lets out a breathless and excited: ]

Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh-

This is so cute! I love it!! [ he looks at variks with big and sparkling optics, unable to hide his enthusiasum. ] I love this so much! How much is this? This is perfect!!

[Easiest sale he's ever made, thank you Daylight. There's a contented chittering sound while he considers. ]

You have extra lantern pieces? Can craft new ways to contain light. Or.. You have anything you want to tell Variks? Things from up here - Under lake we not always know what happens on surface.

[Tell him your secrets.]

Oh! I think I have something to tell you- [ that seems like a really fair trade. especially for something cute as this owl lantern, oh gosh-

day goes on to explain that he's working on a project to better understand the spirits' language and to widen the range of instruments others can use it with. with the help of others like elle and duster, they were able to figure out spirits can understand any and all musical instruments, not just ocarinas - it's just, um, viewed like accents. the further an instrument deviates from the family of instruments that the ocarinas fall under, the harder it is for the spirits to understand at times.

he also thinks - don't quote him on this, he's still trying to test this on other spirits when he gets the chance in the next few weeks - that the spirits have no need for a proper sentence structure. like, at all. he noticed, over time, how the spirits accepted his translations even when they weren't strung together correctly. it seems long as you get in all the words you want to say to them, the spirits will get the gist of the message. ] -so you could, like, go 'Hi, I'm a friend' or 'Friend hi, I am.' and get away with it with them. It's really strange but it makes the learning curve of spirit language a lot more forgiving.

[Is he an organic cyborg? A mix between organic and mechanoid? Yes, yes, he knows it shouldn't matter, but it would help frame his conversations.]

Are these for sale? [Minimus points at the piles of chains.]

Yes. Something you wish to lock up? Someone perhaps?

[His voice is a gutteral purr, hopeful to find out more details from what he assumes is an Exo.]

[Minimus pauses. Certainly this purr is an unusual sound for a mechanoid to make.]

I and a colleague are constructing a jailhouse. While we have the rooms built, but some chains would help in apprehending monsters or ill-intentioned residents.

A jail.

[Oh he leans forward because this is his area of expertise. Yes now they are talking about things he likes to talk about.]

I am Variks, Kell of the House of Judgement and keeper of the Prison of the Elders. Perhaps I have much you may require?

[A jailer. He knows what he's doing.]

Several shackles and handcuffs that safely apprehend an organic being would do. Do you have anything that could bind a spirit if they posed a threat?

Only organic?

[Seems odd from what he's assuming is a synthetic being. But maybe he's trying to assert his dominion over an inferior species. Variks can get behind that.]

Trap. Keep yes. But to stop what they do to..

[He gestures to his head, trying to convey the hallucinations the green-eyed spirits can cause.]

You need something more. Magic yes? Invulnerability. Smaller can be caged, snared. Larger requires other methods.

Are you hunting? Or protection?

We have very few mechanical beings, and we would required specialized restraints. [Hm.] Can you customize an order to a design from my planet using particular materials?

It's simply to prevent anyone under arrest from harming others or escaping.

Perhaps. Would need time - more than have here. Could deliver later. What is design to keep one such as you in chains?

[He looks at his own metal arm for a moment, there's nothing to stop him from removing it or even breaking it to get out of restraints, he figures the same is true for others. But then again, he's never seen an Exo rip off their own arm before.]

You wish to keep peace, with those who are here. Commendable.