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
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There's a pause. Then they answer honestly, if with clear unhappiness, "I know my name. Can't use it."

Now, this is interesting.

"Aw, that's a pity. Why not? Are you in danger?"

Nothing that simple or easy to fix. At least at this point, they know why, and can... sort of talk about it. It's clear the conversation is agitating them, though, the plates on the metal arm buzzing under their coat, expression and voice as flat and blank as possible. "Conditioning. Punished for it for a long time, until I didn't remember why anymore."

Ardyn does notice the discomfort but it doesn't dampen his curiosity at all. If anything, it heightens it.

"But your punishers are not here. Were I in your position I'd wear my true name with pride. I'd wear it for the world to see until it no longer hurt. My torturers be damned."

(Because that's not how conditioning works, asshole. Decided to come complain, did you? Well, you're starting to freak out, yeah, that's gonna get my attention.)

"Ain't that easy." They think back to the book that came on the ferry for some way to explain it. Programming wasn't really in there, but.... "Learned responses. Take time to overcome." That's in there, that might help explain. "Learned to be afraid of my name. It meant pain and fear and. Punishment. So even if nobody here's gonna hurt me for saying it. Still can't."

You're just dealing with a human here, Ardyn. Fairly long-lived one, for the species, hardier than most, with a little bit of a cheat to the system in the form of super serum, but still working with the same general hardware. And that hardware can get messed up pretty bad by some things.

"Yes, dear heart, I do know what conditioning is."

He'd been conditioned, too, after all, even if he prefers to not see it that way. His treatment at the hands of his brother, the gods, Niflheim even... it had all conditioned him to hate.

Over the long years love, light and kindness faded from his heart until nothing but dark anger, pain and spite remained.

"But a name is far too valuable a thing to lose. It is...how to put it...where we hang our identities, don't you think? Take it from a man whose name was erased from the books of history. My name is gone. You still have yours."

He tries not to jealously spit those words. He doesn't care that the soldier was conditioned to forget their identity, they can still access it if they try. He can't do that anymore. The last person who knew the name Ardyn Lucis Caelum died thousands of years ago. Everything he was is in the past.

"Ah, of course I do not mean to offend or to imply anything untoward."

A lie, though he covers it with a pleasant lilt.

"If I've crossed a line do forgive me."

"Ain't angry with you. Jesus." They do put their head into their hands, though, resting against their upraised knees from the crouch they've been in this whole time. Thinking peaceful origami thoughts. "I haven't lost it. I just can't use it. Maybe someday. But I ain't that guy anymore, either, so. Maybe a new name is fine."

They look back up finally. "I'm sorry you lost your name. That's. That's really shitty." This time, it is actual sympathy, instead of simple placation.

He waves a dismissive hand. He doesn't want any sympathy.

"Would you rather be able to use your old name or create a new one? Hm? Reclaim your old life or forge one anew?"

He looks around them at the eternal night and scoffs.

"Metaphorically speaking of course."

Edited 2020-04-13 01:23 (UTC)

That's honestly a question no one has asked them yet. Soldat frowns, considering it. "I don't know. Everyone seems to. Assume I'm going to want the old one back." But they're frankly not sure how comfortable they'll ever be with it... and there's truth to what they said, that they don't feel they'll ever be that person again. (Or a person, period. But that's something else entirely.)

They actually look over at Ardyn again, at last. "What would you want? If you could have your old name back. Would you?"

"No."

An honest answer, for once.

"My name is tied to my brother's loathsome bloodline. He's twisted it. The life I once had is gone now, long buried beneath the dust of ages."

He sighs and shrugs.

"Such is my curse... What I want now is simply for my existence to have meaning. We all want that, don't we? Hm? We all want to feel like the things we do matter."

Edited 2020-04-13 02:23 (UTC)

"I'd be fine not mattering much at all, at this point," Soldat says, folding their arms on their knees and resting their chin on them. "I spent seventy years mattering a whole lot, and it wasn't really worth it." (Handler. And the kid. All right, fine, you're right.) "Maybe only mattering for a few people," they amend.

Watching Ardyn, the moment of eye contact over but gaze on his face at least, they ask, "What matters, to you? What would you want to do that matters?" A pause. "If that isn't too many questions. You can tell me to stop any time. I will."

"When you've been struck from history there's nowhere to go but up," Ardyn rolls his shoulder as the Starscourge sends another wave of pain through his body.

"I just need someone to remember that I was here. That I lived."

And he intends to ensure that by bringing his brother's kingdom to its knees. He will have his revenge against Lucis, the light, the Crystal...everything...

Once he gets home at least. Once the King of Light can finally destroy Ardyn's essence and, in doing so, kill himself.

His smirk widens, showing a few too many teeth.

"But you have no such problem, do you? You exist for your friends, neh?"

Do they exist for their friends? Not actually something Soldat has considered. Maybe to keep them safe? (Not that we're doing a great job at that, lately. We'll just hafta keep trying. Yes. Glad you guys think I can do it, anyway. ~~You could be eating right now, not worrying about this.~~ Except the Pit, apparently.)

Soldat shrugs, arm purring a little. "Mostly I just exist because I don't really want to stop existing yet. But my current mission is keeping people safe. So. Maybe a little bit."

"A protector. How noble."

Ardyn leans his head back again.

"Would the old you have been so keen to protect others?"

Soldat is all prepared to say, maybe a bit sourly, Which old me would that be? but instead, the Asset lifts its head from its arms and says, flat but firm, "Yes."

And then withdraws as quickly as it came, leaving Soldat blinking and frowning like they're not sure why they said that. (Ex-fucking-scuse me? Want to explain that, Asset? Widows. .... Trainers. ... okay. Trainees in the cage. Captain America. Shut up. Shut up, Asset. No.)

But it does have a point. Maybe. Not about Steve, but maybe the others. "Okay. All right, yes. Whenever I had an actual choice. Which wasn't often."

"Then, forgive the observation, it seems to me like there is still a good bit of you left in there."

He pokes a finger towards Soldat.

They give Ardyn a brief, mildly annoyed look. (Got you there, pal. You shut up, too, Sarge. ~~What about me.~~ I'm going to indulge you. ~~Food!~~ Sort of, anyway.) Then they push up to their feet, and offer him the metal hand to get up, too. "Come on. I'm getting you a goddamn mocha and we're going to stop moping for a little while."

Mochas make everything better, at least for as long as it takes to drink one.

Ardyn notices the look of annoyance as he accepts the offered hand.

"Oh dear, was it something I said?"

Once he's up he leans to one side, right against Soldat as he steadies himself on his feet.

"But far be it for me to turn down a-- mocha, was it?"

He pats Soldat's shoulder.

"Oh! It is made with espresso here, I trust? And not some strange forest brew that will give us antlers..."

"You made an irritating point, that's all. And the coffee's safe." They hold steady under the lean, though it takes effort. Guy weighs hardly anything, sure, but he's tall and awkward and wearing a lot of clothes.

And also, too close. But they can handle it for a minute.

"It's the candy that might give us antlers or turn us purple or make us speak in rhyme for an hour." Soldat avoids the candy. But they frequent the coffee cart a lot, when it's in town. They nod in the direction of it, and start that way, making sure Ardyn can keep up.

Ardyn hobbles along behind Soldat. He is capable of moving more quickly than he is, but slowing down a bit means being able to sneak in an extra question or two.

"You speak from experience? How awful. I fear I'll never get used to this place."

Sure is a good thing Soldat doesn't really mind questions, for the most part, huh?

"I got around the rhyming thing by just not talking for an hour." It wasn't that hard. The first month the Night Market was here, they still weren't all that talkative. These days, they're positively chatty. "Spent most of my time recording music from the jukebox, anyway. Easy to not talk then."

"Well, I hope for your sake that the jukebox gave you music worth listening to."

He thinks back to the song that had played on the boat.

"Although, some of this stuff does get stuck in the head, doesn't it? Make him the cutest man car door hook hand..."

Soldat actually winces. "That's a real song that the spirits mangled, you know. I have it. It's actually on the jukebox." And now you've got it stuck in their head, thanks, Ardyn. "Impressive they used our words at all. But. Still. Mangled it."

"I heard the real one on the boat, I believe."

Ardyn turns to face Soldat, grinning.

"I prefer the spirits' rendition."

It's much more fun.

"Give him the sand that I'm not a hander...

"That wasn't even the real song. That was a very. Fancy. Version of the mangled one. Here." As they walk, slowly at Ardyn's limping pace, Soldat pulls out their tablet and pulls up the actual song, recorded from the jukebox in fact. They hold it up so Ardyn can hear it. "The real one makes a little more sense, at least."

Edited (html yay) 2020-04-13 21:48 (UTC)

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