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cityofhex2017-01-03 08:45 pm
modmachine) wrote in cityofhex2017-01-03 08:45 pm
WEEK 04
Weather: If you ask the residents, it's freezing, though it technically hasn't dropped that low yet. A rather nasty rainstorm does pick up steam late Tuesday and last well into Thursday night, however, so it might be a little justified on the part of the unfortunate souls stuck out in it.
Moon phase: Monday the 21st is the last-quarter moon, and the crescent is hidden behind clouds until Friday night.
Carried on from last week: After Ryoji and Kitty open an Underworld gate, the ice from the week before melts away over the next day or so, unsealing the rest of them. The thickly-built man can still be found watching the construction site, though no further strange accidents occur.
It's Black Friday Somewhere - the Goblin Market:
On Wednesday night, flyers start getting tacked up in weird places; the ink used in them is an ancient sort that runs in the rain, but if you can manage to find one that's intact, it speaks of an open exchange of goods... But the location is left mysterious. Those with any kind of supernatural sight, however, will find that the running ink leaves behind a quite useful map when the flyer is taken down.
The Goblin Market sets itself up in the early hours of Friday morning that can technically be called Thursday night, booths full of oddities going up in the central park while the last of the raindrops still sprinkle through the trees. The market is separated from the rest of the park by three strange gates set around the perimeter, all of them formed of two poles strung with flowers. Passing through them causes a strange sensation like stepping through the surface of a pool; inside the market, Changeling masks are disabled, and other illusions have difficulty working properly. Only the Covers created by the God-Machine, whether they belong to angel or demon, remain unaffected.
Almost anything can be found here for the right price, if you know who to talk to or just wander around long enough, and there are changelings on the ground practically from the moment the stalls are set up. The market is open for roughly 24 hours.
A few highlights;
EVERYTHING ELSE:
The Hunt is On: The day after the goblin market brings an unusual number of gun-wielding farmers into town - as well as their richer, fancier counterparts. There seems to be some tension between the two groups of hunters; those who spot an encounter between the two near the central parks can almost feel it in the air.At nightfall, the two groups assemble at opposite ends of the park, and chase... something through the grounds that previously hosted the Goblin Market. Though it seems to be a competition, neither group is successful in taking their quarry.
Spooky Scary: Network Zero goes through bursts of activity, and it’s started bursting again with rumors of one particular warehouse in the Sixth being haunted. Indeed, anyone who wanders over towards it can find a scruffy-looking Cameraman with a handheld camcorder poking behind boxes and trying to catch… something on camera.
Long Nights at Church:The greeter normally stationed outside St. Madeleine's church belltower seems uneasy, glancing up at the empty tower repeatedly throughout the weeknight services. Finally, on Sunday night, after all the human worshippers have gone home, she takes one of the largest of the handbells from holiday practice and takes it up the tower, ringing it twelve times at midnight. Over the course of the next few hours, several other dwellers of the night climb the steps and make their confessionals into the empty space, each ringing the bell when they have finished.
Moon phase: Monday the 21st is the last-quarter moon, and the crescent is hidden behind clouds until Friday night.
Carried on from last week: After Ryoji and Kitty open an Underworld gate, the ice from the week before melts away over the next day or so, unsealing the rest of them. The thickly-built man can still be found watching the construction site, though no further strange accidents occur.
It's Black Friday Somewhere - the Goblin Market:
On Wednesday night, flyers start getting tacked up in weird places; the ink used in them is an ancient sort that runs in the rain, but if you can manage to find one that's intact, it speaks of an open exchange of goods... But the location is left mysterious. Those with any kind of supernatural sight, however, will find that the running ink leaves behind a quite useful map when the flyer is taken down.
The Goblin Market sets itself up in the early hours of Friday morning that can technically be called Thursday night, booths full of oddities going up in the central park while the last of the raindrops still sprinkle through the trees. The market is separated from the rest of the park by three strange gates set around the perimeter, all of them formed of two poles strung with flowers. Passing through them causes a strange sensation like stepping through the surface of a pool; inside the market, Changeling masks are disabled, and other illusions have difficulty working properly. Only the Covers created by the God-Machine, whether they belong to angel or demon, remain unaffected.
Almost anything can be found here for the right price, if you know who to talk to or just wander around long enough, and there are changelings on the ground practically from the moment the stalls are set up. The market is open for roughly 24 hours.
A few highlights;
- The Boss: Whoever this guy is, he's Big News. Dressed in what seems to be a suit made entirely of burlap sacks, he has a glittering woman on each arm wherever he goes in the market. The expressions on the women are dazed and dreamy; they sigh periodically. Three glittering children follow after him, occasionally being sent on errands for this or that in the market, and they'll stop long enough to wave if they come across Kitty before going back to work. Occasionally, their boss pulls a glittering beetle or some other insect out from the folds of his suit... and eats it.
- A pair of horned shopkeepers share a stall; one sells a variety of engraved weapons, and the other, star charts. Occasionally, the astronomer glances up at the sky and scribbles something down in a notebook in his lap. Strangely, though their booth has no cover, nothing within seems at any risk of getting wet, and the blade-seller can occasionally be seen flicking water away with his fingers. A banner across the front of their stall proclaims 'PROPHECIES CHEAP.'
- A large enclosure is home to a number of strange animals, ranging from small birds whose voices induce synesthesia, to glittering insects (not unlike the ones someone else at the market is snacking on), to chimeras, to a single, inexplicably normal giraffe. Every couple of hours, the animal seller has to leave to chase down one of several pink puppies that attempt to escape his notice and run freely through the market.
- At dawn and sunset, a golden-haired Fairest ascends the small stage in the back corner to sing. When she does, almost all the market goes still to listen to her voice. The only person who seems capable of moving is her black-wrapped companion; only his eyes are visible, and he rolls them regularly, but no one seems willing to test him by approaching the woman he accompanies.
- A young woman sells gears that are clearly ripped off pieces of Infrastructure, for those who know what to look for. She doesn't seem concerned by the fact that a number of them are covered in blood or other fluids, or by the single angel who is doing a very poor job of finding excuses to walk past her booth repeatedly. Closer inspection will reveal that her dark 'skin' is in fact entirely made of wood, and gears like those she sells have been carefully embedded in it.
- There is an informational booth from the local university, which seems to be accepting payment for winter tuition in whatever barter people have brought. It is by fair the most mundane-looking set of tables in the place, except for the slowly-growing collection of odd payments behind the registrar. Her assistant, a tired-looking adjunct professor, appears to be human, and occasionally rubs his eyes and mutters to himself over some of the stranger applicants.
- A certain Art Student from said university, who is distinctly staying as far away from that booth as possible, and instead looking at a half-a-table full of magically bright pigments. It might be a bit difficult to recognize her, though, with the hood high around her head blocking most of her face from view and the streaks of temporary pink dye in her bangs.
- A girl of about twelve, running about the market unsupervised, occasionally produces a strand of her gleaming silver hair to trade for seemingly worthless items. By day's end, these strands are one of the most in-demand pieces of merchandise in the market.
- A creature that looks like nothing so much as it does a metal statue of an antelope harshly appraises goblin fruit at the various stalls offering such. In the late afternoon, one seller takes issue with this assessment, and attempts to start a fight, but passes through the creature as though it were air. In fact, the goblin fruit seem to be the only thing that it can touch.
EVERYTHING ELSE:
The Hunt is On: The day after the goblin market brings an unusual number of gun-wielding farmers into town - as well as their richer, fancier counterparts. There seems to be some tension between the two groups of hunters; those who spot an encounter between the two near the central parks can almost feel it in the air.At nightfall, the two groups assemble at opposite ends of the park, and chase... something through the grounds that previously hosted the Goblin Market. Though it seems to be a competition, neither group is successful in taking their quarry.
Spooky Scary: Network Zero goes through bursts of activity, and it’s started bursting again with rumors of one particular warehouse in the Sixth being haunted. Indeed, anyone who wanders over towards it can find a scruffy-looking Cameraman with a handheld camcorder poking behind boxes and trying to catch… something on camera.
Long Nights at Church:The greeter normally stationed outside St. Madeleine's church belltower seems uneasy, glancing up at the empty tower repeatedly throughout the weeknight services. Finally, on Sunday night, after all the human worshippers have gone home, she takes one of the largest of the handbells from holiday practice and takes it up the tower, ringing it twelve times at midnight. Over the course of the next few hours, several other dwellers of the night climb the steps and make their confessionals into the empty space, each ringing the bell when they have finished.
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Casper glances at Bob, and then back at Lirisoir. Then he glances at Ryoji, before glancing back at Lirisoir, and scratches his head. "It's hard to have you stuck down here, maybe I could -" Bob lashes out and clamps down hard on the side of Casper's hand, biting down hard enough that when he pulls away there's sweet-smelling blood. Casper yelps and clamps down on the wound, forcing ichor to it in order to seal it up quickly. "What the fuck, Bob, it's not like it's a horrible idea!"
The bird just glares at him, and they stare at each other, beak to nose.
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...And he does want to know what Casper's idea was.
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He's not a hundred percent sure. It's not like he's ever done it... but he knows the theory and he knows that he can do something like that... "I mean... I can touch you. What's stopping us from just pulling you through the portal?"
Bob just pecks Casper's neck lightly, though he ignores it.
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But it's not Ryoji's call, so he'll just sit quietly, looking over at Lirisoir.
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He looks up at the ceiling and is quiet for a moment before sighing. "I belong to the sky. Our dead don't... We don't go to the earth like humans. Even if someone dies in the caverns, their body is brought out so their spirit can escape. I hate it down here."
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Casper pauses, a thought striking him, and he pales slightly. "This... might be an awful idea... but we do have a corpse here. ... Me." He looks at Bob, and frowns. "I don't know how well I could hold you, but... until we find your body... you could at least fly."
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Still pacing around, he says quietly, "Something mad, something visionary... Are you sure you don't... mind?"
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"It might be kind of weird... but since my soul isn't in my body it might work. It's worth a try..." And if anything goes wrong... well. He can probably possess Bob until he figures out what he can do.
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He reaches out for Lirisoir's hand, and there's a brief moment where there's an even stronger feeling of death and decay all around them. He tugs without really physically touching the spirit, pulling him in. A line of shadow stretches between the two until Lirisoir's pulled in completely, and the glow and feeling both fade.
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He's silent until after they've... joined, tentatively asking. "Are... are both of you ok?"
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"I... I think he's okay. I'll be fine... we just need to get out of here. He... he needs the sky."
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He moves quickly, but will be there to support Casper if he needs it on the way out. Having a soul that's not yours in your body is probably really weird.
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... Even if removing a soul from the Underworld is probably against every single rule. "I'll... have to find somewhere to rest after this..." Twenty bucks isn't going to buy a hotel room.
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Casper's probably not the first stranger he would have brought into the dorm anyway.He'll lead the way, still letting Casper lean on him as much as is necessary for him to get back.
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It'd be kind of awful if he intruded on anything. It's not like he can repay Ryoji or anything.
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He stays right by Casper's side all the way until the dorm, where he lets them in (and quietly prays no one else is around right now), opening the door to his room and ushering the boy and bird (and... dragon soul) in. "Do you need anything to drink?" he asks, making sure Casper sits down on one of the beds before moving to fill a glass of water.
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