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.

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He'll take that as a passive request and hold out the pack for Soldat to take one if he likes. "I did get extra last time I ordered. Got to get more on the next ferry, though."

He's gone through them more quickly than expected in the last few months with Will always bumming from his supply, but again, it isn't like he minds. Once the pack is back in his coat pocket, he sets his lantern down on a nearby unoccupied table to open his lantern for a light. "I know Rastus doesn't like them, but he'd like me less if he cut me off."

You're the absolute best, Rosi. Soldat accepts gratefully, and swings their own lantern around to light it. "We'd all like you less, probably. I. Actually remember what withdrawal felt like," they realize. What started off as a simple tease turns into a memory, more sense than specific, but it's still new. "I was a real grouch."

"Yeah? Before here?" He can only assume, since Soldat doesn't smoke as constantly here as he does. Probably before the arm, he realizes. Huh.

So he just lets that be a rhetorical question with no need for an actual answer as he then shrugs and continues. "I only had to go two weeks here without, in that first month after I and Gene and Wade all ran out after trying to share what we had. Headaches and shit. No fun." Which he punctuates with a slow exhale of smoke.

It feels oddly nice to commiserate with someone. Not something he does here often.

"Early on in the war, before the first experiments," Soldat answers, flipping the lantern's shutters closed again and sliding it back over their shoulder. "Sometimes it was hard to get them. And after the first experiments. They didn't do as much." They have a long drag from theirs. "Not unless I had a whole ration's worth at once."

(Helped with the hunger a little, though. Not helping much now. ~~Could eat it.~~ We ain't gonna eat the cigarette, Pit. I don't think even my guts could take that.)

"Yeah? You actually tried that?" he asks, amused.

Yes, of course the thought had occurred to him also. Cigarettes aren't exactly made in double sizes often, so given smaller people typically smoke one at a time themselves, he'd only get the equivalent amount of tobacco by smoking two at once. But it turns out given how likely he is to accidentally burn himself normally at home just trying to light one, the few times he'd tried two at a time when younger quickly ended in disaster.

That mental image is hilarious-- sadly not what they meant, though. "Yeah, go through six in a row, one right after the other, sometimes the metabolism is still trying to deal with the first five, so the sixth actually hits a little bit." They look down at the one in their hand now ruefully. "Now, like this. It's just. The motions feel right, I guess. That's all it is now."

It's entirely psychosomatic, these days, though Soldat doesn't know the word, even with their foray into the PTSD book from the ferry. The motions and the memory of comfort taken from them is enough to make it worth one now and then. Maybe not chain-smoking like they did in the war, but... now and then.

"Ah. Yeah, that's where I'm at. One after another, I mean. I wonder if anyone here this time can get us something stronger. Pluto, I guess."

Would be worth asking about, but he already owed her, and then paid extra for information on their plan to defeat the World Eaters. Besides, he makes do just asking Rastus for the regular sort of cigarettes. They're perfectly fine and what he's used to already - but something a little stronger would be welcomed.

After a glance in the direction of Pluto's booth, though, Rosinante turns and gestures for Soldat to come along. "Speaking of Pluto, and all that Wild Hunt business, have you had time to think over their ideas?"

"I made the cook laugh, and he gave me a gallon of something he swears will get me drunk." Soldat hasn't tried it yet, so they can't say for sure if he's right. It'll be interesting to set aside an evening sometime and give it a go, make sure Misty's there to chaperone just in case-- after all, who knows what the Asset or the Bottomless Pit will be like when their shared head is swimming?

Setting the controller aside, Soldat follows and frowns a little. "The Hunt. They're like HYDRA. The strongest has the most right to live. No stopping the ones who would hurt." The arm plates rattle under their coat. "Can't ever. Can't ever." This is non-negotiable, to them. No joining the Wild Hunt.

On the other hand: "Pluto's plan at least is an attempt."

Good. That's helpful to know - for while he had pegged Soldat as one who probably wouldn't ally with the Wild Hunt, the intensity with which they refuse that argument is confirmation. That makes Soldat a reliable guard against their intrusion, should the Hunt decide to take a more active role in their goal of eradication.

"It's an attempt," he agrees, while keeping an eye on their surroundings. The market is full of potential eavesdroppers; best to keep the conversation in their favor. "It's the only real plan in the works that I know of. There are a lot of people worried that siding with anyone will splinter the people here into competing groups, but I don't see why that means we shouldn't all agree that the person with the plan to stop the World Eaters is someone we should walk away from."

"It's not a very complicated plan," Soldat says, maybe a hair dubiously. Has Rosinante spoken to her? It seems too simplistic to even work. And didn't they already try bombs on the thing? They're glad someone has a plan... but is it the best plan? They have no idea. "What do you think about it?"

He pauses at the end of the row of stands and booths and games and looks back at the market, then takes a step backward alongside the last booth so he's not just broadly in the open and beckons for Soldat to do the same. Probably best to at least make it less obvious that they're talking privately before he snaps his fingers and the sounds of conversation and bartering and music all cease around them.

"I think it's too heavy-handed for something there's no guarantee will work. It's like Dr. Solis said, they tried bombing the one before, decades ago. We know that didn't work because it and others are still here. So why would it work this time? All it will do is raze the world's surface and give them a clearer path to what's left of the light," he replies, sounding entirely unimpressed. "They've been under the lake for so long that they're probably getting desperate. Reckless."

At least Rosinante agrees with them. Soldat glances around at the (invisible) silence bubble, nods, and says plainly, "Yes. But I don't know what other options there are. Are there alternatives?" Besides the Wild Hunt's plan of just dying again. That's not an alternative.

Clearly overwhelming firepower is not always the answer. A targeted shot is cleaner, but with what weapon, and what vulnerable point do they take aim for? They need more intel. But they don't have more intel. "I have portal records. Environmental data. Details. But I need to compare to Solis's records to see if anything changed from the first portal opening. She hasn't answered my letter yet."

"She must be busy. Last I heard from her she was working on how to repair lanterns more completely." Which, gods, he hopes she does. He's in a pretty unpleasant state and hasn't dared risk Pluto's attempt at providing healing after hearing it doesn't always turn out right. He's patient and he's made do like this for a while now; he can wait for Dr. Solis to complete her work.

"If you don't hear from her, run them by Pluto, since she maintains the portal from the other end of it. Or, hell, see if Ingram can make heads or tails of it," he suggests, intentionally leaving out Will's title for Soldat's sake, though he knows it doesn't mean they're any more likely to approach him. Still, it's a lead and someone should look into it. He doesn't have any other alternatives but they'll need something.

He'd leave it at that, but has an abrupt thought and holds up a hand. "Hold on, what if - you're on good terms with some of the spirits, right? And the spirits want to help. I wonder if we could enlist them to scout for the nearest World Eater on the surface here, and try to get better information about it?"

That would be amazing. Getting rid of the goddamn Bottomless Pit and the desire to eat anything and everything. Maybe even getting rid of the Asset, from the little crack.

But that doesn't mean not having access to her records isn't going to be a problem. The Data already came from Pluto, to there's nothing more to get there to help. But if other people want to look at them as-is (and they notice all the avoidance of titles, and appreciate it), there's no reason why not. It's not as if Soldat understands all that data, even if without something to compare them to from before the World Eaters got here, they're not sure how much use the data will be.

They frown a bit at the suggestion. "Not as well as I used to be, before my friend. Left." The one they're closed to at this point is the scrapyard dog, and no one's sending them out for intel. "But it's worth an ask."

"I should try and get on better terms with them," he sighs. "I keep realizing how much they can do for us if we can work out how to ask them just right."

It isn't like he has a great reason for not trying. There have always been others more focused in communicating with and befriending them, is all, while he has been more focused on other projects. But the stars are coming back around to the summer sky and there is less that's new to learn about them other than continuing to follow the number that goes out each week. Building boats proved a waste of time -

But there's still that metal hull sitting at the scrapyard. Next time the ferry comes in he'll have to have a closer look at what it's made of. And he can ask Pluto, too, about the spirits in the lake. Since the market can come and go safely, obviously they know how to ward those creatures off.

Guess he's got a new project to work on.

"And I've been. Moping a lot, lately," Soldat admits, somewhere between sad and embarrassed. "So I haven't built any specific connections with any since my friend. Besides the dog in the scrapyard. I guess. I'll work on that. And find someone to ask."

They've been so hung up on losing people, they didn't hardly get outside their own head-- and then the torture thing happened, and then the Wild Hunt thing happened, and... it's no excuse, really. They've got to get back to work, more than just patrols and lunches.

Right, that owl-like creature Soldat had been so heartbroken to see leave. Rosinante had noticed, but hadn't asked - he hadn't realized Soldat would be so attached to a spirit, initially. But there's a lot he still doesn't know about the guy in general. For someone who struggles with people and who thrives in combat, they clearly have a lot of sentimentality buried in there.

It's good. Some day it might help remind them they're human. Those feelings, the need for connection, are things that should be encouraged.

"Well, maybe having something to do will help you," he suggests. "Always helps me, knowing there's something I can work on, and that people are relying on me to get it right. Just have to keep moving forward."

Owl Friend, and then Crowley and Aziraphale so shortly after, and both of those right on the heels of realizing they killed Steve... it was just a lot to hit Soldat in a very short span of time. It's no excuse, though, no matter what Misty says. They're on a time limit here, and they need that intel.

"Yeah," they say after a beat. And then their expression goes from uncertain to a little wry. "What a mission. Befriend a spirit who can scout for us. HYDRA would never. They taught me stealth, how to blend in, but not a lot of spywork. Have to have a functioning brain and personality for that."

Funny coincidence, isn't it? Not that Rosinante so much as moves an eyelash to suggest that's his own line of work. He's simply a Marine well-versed in tactics and strategy.

"Well, I suppose if it wasn't your mission, they wouldn't have," he says in a mild attempt at consolation. The comment about being a functional person isn't one he really wants to address right now - Soldat is being self-deprecating but from what he's seen, they're not entirely wrong either, though they're getting better day by day. "If it's something you want to learn, I'm sure there are opportunities for it here. Does it interest you?"

They hesitate, giving it a beat of actual thought-- (Could be useful. No. I think I'm with the Asset, on this. It's not something I'm suited for.)-- then shake their head. "No. I think-- I don't want to deceive anyone. Been deceived enough, don't think I'd like doing it to others. Probably wouldn't be any good at it, anyway." It's not like they've managed to properly lie here at all, anyway, that they're aware of, beyond the simple "I'm fine" one has to say sometimes-- and even that, not usually successfully. Omit things, sometimes, but not often, and often not successfully there, either.

Not worth the time to train them, they decide. "I'd be of better use making friends. I'm okay at that."

"Better at it than I am," he acknowledges with a self-conscious quirk of his lips, which vanishes when he takes a draw of smoke. "You have other things you're good at, too. If the spirits' 'fire snatchers' warning was right, and if the Hunt takes themselves and their goal seriously, we'll need someone on the lookout constantly to defend against them. Several someones. And if they press hard enough, we might just have to hunt them back."

And that, he suspects, is something Soldat would be very good at. It's something he hasn't brought up with Cao Pi or any of the others he's spoken to just yet, but it seems obvious to him that if the Hunt are persistent and disruptive, and damaging to themselves and their efforts to eradicate the World Eaters, then they may have to take some offensive moves against them. Otherwise, all the Hunt has to do is wait for the right moment when they're already recovering from something the green-eyes do, and they'll be able to finish off everyone in Beacon quickly. Waiting, and insisting only on self-defense, would be their downfall.

Ah. That is something Soldat is good at. They nod, expression going a little more grim. "If that becomes necessary." If any members of the Hunt dare to hurt anyone in Beacon, they're going to find the best assassin of the Marvel Universe suddenly has a very personal problem with them.

And they have a lantern-targeting rifle.

"Hopefully it won't come to that. But if it does." Rosinante can certainly count on Soldat to fight back, to protect what's theirs.

There are some things Rosinante just isn't very optimistic about and this is one of them. Better would be to win over members of the Hunt, and convince them that their plan of complete obliteration isn't necessary or beneficial in any way; that there is value to the strange life they've carved out, and value in preserving it. But not all of them will be convinced, and extremists can be dangerous.

So he nods - hopefully it won't, but he isn't counting on it. "Good. It's not the sort of thing people here will approve of, but we need to be prepared to do whatever we can to keep them safe."

He'll have to go and speak with Kimiko again sometime. Get to know her better. Some people just need time to realize their life has meaning.

Thinking about Misty's caveats to when revenge was allowed and when fighting was encouraged, Soldat says, "Depends on the people. And what happens. They killed plenty of green-eyes because they took us." They don't imagine it will take all that much to turn a lot of Beacon fully against the Hunt. Probably about the same things that would turn them back into a stalking assassin for a while.

The Hunt has indeed helped them, and it's a large part of why he will likely never advocate any action against them that's too pre-emptive.

"They've shown they're not completely against helping us if they think it's to their benefit, and I do think that if we could get them to cooperate, they would be useful allies against the green-eyed spirits, which are a common enemy. But situations change," he says, trying not to sound too resigned. He's hopeful, but he wouldn't go so far as to say he's actually optimistic.

"If you make any progress with the spirits, let me know," he then says as he snaps his fingers again and the sounds of the market around them flood back in. That's enough of plotting the potential demise of people they share this world with. Unpleasant business.

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