Event Log: May, An Inauspicious Arrival

[faileas]

Event Log: May, An Inauspicious Arrival

I. Boaltinn (1st - 3rd) Boaltinn comes around again. A handful of Mirrorbound will remember the holiday from last year, but for others, it will be brand new. In both Residential Districts, bonfires burn in central locations through the night, frequented by the residents celebrating another summer come to Aefenglom. Curiously, while last year the bonfires seemed quite segregated by human or Monster, this year, there is more of a noticeable mix at each, and Mirrorbound are invited to join the games and festivities quite happily. Characters are invited to try and jump through the bonfire's flames to burn away any poor relationship experiences, be it romantic or platonic, past or present; to aid them in this, those at the Eastern Bonfire will give those participating rune-etched accessories to protect them from the fire. The city has quite a bit to offer for this holiday: shared rose baths at public bathhouses and pleasure establishments that increase feelings of friendliness and talkativeness, poles draped in ribbons meant to be danced around, wrapping a ribbon around the pole to bring good luck for the summer, food stalls whose offerings are meant to be shared, and fortune-telling set up by Divination students of the Coven, who can tell your day is going to go. To see last year's Boaltinn prompts, you can take a glance right here! Much of it, including the bonfires, baths, and entertainments will be similar this year, so feel free to use those in your top levels.

II. An Unusual Arrival (3rd on) A full year from the arrival of the first group of Mirrorbound, the 1st passes quietly, with no one showing up in the mirror-lined halls of the Looking-Glass House. Dates and times are important in most kinds of magic, and this is strange enough that some Witches of the Coven get together on the night of the 3rd to try a probing ritual, attempting to gather some kind of clues that could be useful in prying out the cottage's secrets. Boaltinn is the best time for such things, when the boundaries are thinner, and magic is stronger. Those who are awake that night at 3 am might notice a pulse of harmless silvery light that spreads like ripples on water throughout the whole city, originating at the Looking-Glass House, but nothing further happens, and the Coven receives no answers. Well, nothing happens in the Looking-Glass House. Before long, the reports start coming in: people are emerging from mirrors, regular old mundane mirrors, all over the city. Anything with a particularly reflective surface could be an entry point for someone from another world! Inhabited homes, businesses closed and locked for the night, pools of still water in fountains or the river, these unorthodox Mirrorbound pop up anywhere and everywhere, causing chaos for the City Guard (folks aren't happy to find strangers in their bathrooms at 3 in the morning) and the Coven both. Out of nowhere, a glint of light catches your eye; your heart thunders in your ears as your body moves on its own, your mind consumed with inspecting the source. Your reflection stares back at you, just as curious from the surface - a mirror, a pool of water, your most trusted sword, something fleeting that your mind can barely remember - then ripples at your touch. If you are one of these unfortunate arrivals, it's likely a rude awakening for you, to find yourself somewhere inconvenient, somewhere other than where you've been. It only makes sense to be confused. Hopefully someone finds you and explains to you what's happened to you. Resident Mirrorbound will hear a message from Miss Nessie shortly after it begins, a call to arms: "Dears, I'm quite sorry to disturb you, but it seems your fellows are arriving elsewhere than the Looking-Glass House this month! We're trying to track them all down for the usual welcome, but we could use a hand or several! If you could just bring them by the Coven, the usual spot, that would be lovely." She'll give her usual orientation and pass out Watches, but no doubt the Mirrorbound will be more helpful in this regard, with so many arriving.

III. The Goblin Market (All Month) Life goes on in Aefenglom, despite the addition of so many new residents. With the City Guard decidedly busy dealing with the sudden flood of break-ins (or, more accurately, break-outs?), the vendors of the Goblin Market find opportunity to set up their stalls more openly than they have since the crack-downs some months ago. They pop up all over the city, but clustered more often in the Residential Districts and the Harbor District, where there are even fewer law enforcement agents out and about to run them off. These sellers, while not as devoid of morals as those major players of the Black Market, still have very few compunctions when it comes to lying, cheating, fencing stolen goods, and misrepresenting their wares to unsuspecting buyers. It's also the place to find those things that are- not quite legal, shall we say. They won't say a word if you don't. If confronted, they are quick to pack up their things and slip away, however; they know this city and its hiding places a lot better than you do. With a brand new batch of what the natives assume are Mirrorbound, many undergoing rapid transformations into their Monster forms, many of the wares on display are potions: supposed cure-alls for aches and itches, calming draughts for the full moon restlessness, some even claim their brews can halt changes entirely! Some concoctions are meant to increase a Witch's magical ability, or decrease it, or provide them a finer control. They offer potions that they say will eliminate the need for a Bond, or temporary Bonding potions of their own that they claim are more pure, stronger, than the ones offered by the Coven. Claims are only claims, though. A few remedies for the pain of changing or some regular temporary Bonding potions can be found here and there, but for every potion that works, there are twenty more that have less than pleasant side effects. A brew that will cause everything you touch to turn to solid gold for up to an hour; a potion that will invert your sense of direction - trying to turn right will make you turn left, trying to go forward will cause you to walk backward; a potion that will remove all traction from your feet, causing you to slide around as if cobblestone are the slickest ice. Worse, some shadier vendors sell things more sinister, including a potion that gives you the appearance of being moderately to heavily infected by the Cwyld. Even if you don't drink any, the vendors are not at all careful where they're sloshing those bottles around, trying to show them off, and they all activate on skin contact.

IV. A Wilde Hunt (7th - 22nd) All Mirrorbound, temporary or not, are likely to feel it. Monsters are always affected by the full moons, but this month, it is more. Stronger. Instincts rise to the surface as the Sisters emerge full and visible in the night sky, and for many Mirrorbound, they are undergoing rapid transformations into whatever type of Monster they are meant to be. Curiously, the natives get along like they usually do, noticing nothing out of the norm, other than the increased agitation and restlessness from Mirrorbound Monsters. Monsters' aggression fades when the Sisters start to wane, but as the new moons approach on the 22nd, Mirrorbound Witches will notice their magical reserves overfilling, and will find themselves stricken with the overwhelming urge to use it, until casting spells, pushing one's magical limits, is almost a compulsion. Those who are not in proper Witch-Monster Bonds will feel it even stronger, with no stabilizing magic to consume (for Monsters) or avenues to expend magic (for Witches) other than casting spells. (For those who are interested, the Coven does offer temporary Bonding potions which can be used to help alleviate the effects somewhat.) The Coven Witches notice the signs, and they take decisive action on the morning of the 6th, the day before the full moons. So many Mirrorbound, likely to be so heavily affected by the lunar cycle this month, many of them coming into new features and abilities at a breakneck pace, only spells danger for the city. They barricade off a massive chunk of Wilde outside Aefenglom, largely free of Cwyld and totally bereft of farms, homes, and Wilder outposts. They invite anyone who feels the effects of the moons too strongly to control to come out for a Hunt. The hunting grounds will be open nightly to anyone who needs to work off restless energy or overflowing magic; all participants will be warned that their safety cannot be guaranteed from others, but they won't be able to harm bystanders out here. The woods are thick, with the river cutting through them, and full of wildlife. There is room to run and chase prey, or room to play with your developing magic. Play cat and mouse with your friends or Bondmates, or stalk a stranger. If playing games isn't your thing, there is something else to hunt out here as well. With the deep Wilde entering into Winter, this patch of land so close to the city is much warmer, and fearsome Shades have emerged to search for prey. These were once living beings, Monsters, Witches, or animals, who have been overtaken by Cwyld infection long ago, leaving them dead but for the infection, white-eyed and seeking out sources of magic to consume and infect. Anything could become a Shade, but the most common out right now are the ferocious remains of bears, wolves, and nomadic Arachne and Turnskins. If not killed, these Shades threaten the people of the Outer City, when they inevitably escape the barricade. Careful to limit your contact, though; anyone infected upon their return to the gates will be escorted straight to the infirmary.

Welcome to May's Fourth Wall event, An Inauspicious Arrival! The comms are now open to comments from all registered users and will be until June 1st. Current players, if you don't want fourth wall characters tagging your posts, just say so in your text. Fourth wall characters can use this post for their own network top-levels, or this post for log top levels. This event is game canon; threads from this fourth wall can be used as application samples later and current players may use these threads for AC. As always, be courteous to each other! Let the mod team know if there are any problems and we will handle things.

As always, please direct your questions to this thread!

Comments

kainé / nier / witch / ota

[shithogs]

i. an unusual arrival

[The change is so sudden that at first, she doesn't even realize that it's happened. The darkness itself is proof enough that she's no longer where she was, the pitch-black of night foreign to her— so foreign that at first she thinks there must have been a collapse. Physically, she feels fine beyond being disoriented, but everything else is hazy and unclear, and she feels her heart begin to race as she turns to catch the barest glimpse of her own reflection in the dark. There's something more, a fleeting glance of someone's face that she can't put a name to, but the moment passes and all that's left looking back at her is her own reflection.]

What the—

[There had been something else there, she fucking knew it, and reaching out to touch the glass causes its surface to ripple, but it doesn't give way. Letting out a low growl of frustration, she sends a fist at the mirror in its wake, but the results are no better, and she ends up leaving a splintering crack behind in the glass.

Though it's hard to tell in the dark, she can see enough that it looks like she's in some kind of shop. Potions, a strong medicinal smell, bundles of herbs— an apothecary, probably, not that there were a whole lot of those around that she's aware of. Catching a glimpse of light from beyond the front window leads her to be more interested in finding her way out of here, and fortunately the front door doesn't need a whole lot of coaxing.

Unfortunately, with the shop itself closed for the night, the door being opened unexpectedly *not to mention roughly) from the inside causes an alarm to sound— magical, unbeknownst to her, but she doesn't care about that. It's loud, shrill, and bound to draw a whole lot of attention.]

Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me—

[She could just cut and run, but she's busy looking for the source, which isn't immediately visible. Whether you're someone else who found yourself here unexpectedly, or someone whose attention is being drawn by the alarm, there's a loud clatter as she ends up knocking over a table full of clay pots and jars in her haste.]

What the hell is this place?!

[Other than bullshit.]

ii. the goblin market

[Even having been brought up to speed on how things work here, Kainé finds herself in search of the familiar. There's not a lot of that to be found in this place, but markets and bartering are damn near universal, and as it turns out, a lot of the vendors who have set up shop are selling things that could be helpful to a new arrival like her— supposedly.

At the moment, she's sniffing at the contents of a bottle that's said to contain a potion that will help keep a new witch's magic in check.

She's not convinced.]

This shit smells like week-old dog piss.

[Her attention is on the vendor themselves now, suspicious.]

I sincerely hope you're not trying to take advantage of the situation and scam people. You got anything real to deal with this magic shit, or am I wasting my time?

[The vendor, for his part, looks mildly panicked. Intervene?]

iii. a wilde hunt

[The Shades here are not exactly like those she knows, but close enough. Upon hearing what they were called, her initial instinct had been to hunt, with or without the encouragement to do so. Many who have come out to the woods have opted to look to one another for help in finding their footing or practicing with their developing magic, but at the first opportunity, Kainé heads deeper into the woods, eager to find some degree of comfort in the familiarity of the hunt.

The first Shade she encounters is not what she expects, but all the same, the remains of an infected bear soon lay at her feet, and she pulls her blade free from its neck before the sound of movement among the trees draws her attention away. Whatever it is, it’s bipedal— another person, rather than a Shade?

She snorts lightly, her grip tightening on the pommel of her blade in the interest of being able to protect herself should the source prove to be foe rather than a supposed friend.]

No sudden movements.

[She narrows her eyes, trying to get a better look at who or what might be out there just beyond the nearest cluster of trees.]

Not nice to sneak up on people, you know.

iv. wildcard

[Something else in mind? Feel free to do your own thing, or if you'd like to work something out together, hit me up via PM or over at necrofancy. Feel free to add on plurk!]

additional prompts

[shithogs]

[reserving this for any additional prompts that may be added later on!]

Goblin Market!

[bravers]

[There's a woman in her underwear in the market.
There's a woman in her underwear in the market that's squaring up to a vendor.
There's a woman in her underwear in the market that's squaring up to a vendor that's looking like he's about to scream, run away, and let go of both his bowels and his bladder. All at once. While screaming. While running away.


It's not his business.
He's pretty sure of that. His presence isn't wanted or needed, and despite the fact that yes, the entire situation happening right beside him isn't going to end well, at all, not much goes through his mind but making sure it doesn't spill over onto him.

Wishful thinking.
Because, suddenly, the vendor turns to him, a panic-stricken look in his eyes. And he's babbling. Great.

Nonsense, miss! Our tinctures are THAT amazing at restraining magic, they even have a double purpose! THEY INCREASE MAGIC, TOO! So you get more! Magic!! And you can... restrain it better too! More magic, more control! Perhaps this gentleman can... show you... with an application...?

An exhale. A narrowing of the eyes.]

I ain't a witch.

[The mistake's easy to make. It's a magic stall. Monsters don't usually concern themselves with them. And Cloud's hardly showing any monsterous traits. But with a look to Kainé- ]

You're right though. It does smell like old piss.

[More babbling from the merchant. Ammonia! Simply ammonia! This tincture has been handed down by MY family of great witches!! Great warlocks, all! Perfected over generations! I can assure you, nothing as... base as urine is used in this! Now, for a meagre price of-

Ugh.]

bless

[shithogs]

[The vendor's reaction is almost worth the time she's already wasted here at his stall— it would be pointless to make more of an issue of this than she already has when she can easily walk away and look elsewhere, but she doesn't like the idea that someone else might come along and be a much easier mark for crooks than she was.

Pain in the ass.

She sighs as the vendor rattles off the many virtues of his products in a desperate attempt to convince her— them, because she's not the only one he's addressing any longer— and offers Cloud a brief nod of solidarity. Good that he's not fooled, either.]

Save the hard sell for someone else. You're wasting your breath.

[Actually—]

I'm sure the local authorities would be real interested in hearing about your business practices.

[Okay, so she doesn't have any actual evidence, but she has a feeling she doesn't need it. The vendor looks cagey, and his gaze is quickly moving towards other nearby merchants to get a feel of his surroundings.

Now, I assure you both, these are ancient family secrets! Proven remedies that—

She cuts him off by folding her arms across her chest and looking to Cloud directly.]

Sounds like a load of bullshit to me. What do you think?

♥!

[bravers]

...

[Normally, he'd... not really see the virtue in sticking around. Nor being any part of this. He's not entirely sure why she is either. To him, if someone happened to get suckered into something like this, then it's no-one's fault but their own. Even then, judging by the rest of the vendors, if this guy got moved on, it's not like it changes anything.

Normally.
He's far from good in a social capacity, let alone anything like this. He shouldn't linger, and unlike Kaine, he... really couldn't give a shit what the vendor was pulling. Calling for the authorities sounded a pain in the ass too, but...

He lingers. Because if anything, before Kaine mentions the authorities, the guy seems, on one side, to be revalidating the worth of the product. But there's something else, too. He can see the guy's eyes darken, he sees some sort of fear kick in. Then she says what she does. What she says, about the authorities, it only makes it grow.

...He just doesn't quite know what this fear's regarding yet.
So he lingers. And when he's asked, he answers.]

Yep.

[Verbose as ever. Not like he's got the opportunity to say more. What follows, almost immediately after Kaine's accusation is one of the merchant's own. Right after he takes a look to the other vendors (emboldened by them, perhaps?), he points a finger.

If you don't HAVE any money, then scram! I won't have the both of you making things up about my product! I won't have you scare away my customers with lies, or slander!

...Said finger is ...shaking.
Least the guy manages to keep his voice steady.

He doesn't get it, though. The fear. Probably because he can only see Kaine out of the corner of his eye. And he's got no idea how the woman's probably staring at this guy.]

arrival

[supersoldier]

[Sephiroth's returning from his stint at the Barrack's training grounds, on the path "home" — or, at least, what passes for it in this world. Masamune glints in the moonlight, held vertically behind him as to avoid undue collision with someone thoughtless enough to draw too near, but the street is relatively quiet this late, emptied of people. That's fine, of course. He prefers the peaceable silence when it's afforded to him, something so rare on this strange and foreign planet.

But these are the kind of thoughts that tempt fate, and that same quiet is utterly shattered by a ruckus blooming in a passing shop. He pauses, turning his head to look through the glass, but it's a moot point; the door's already ajar, as if someone had recently entered (exited?), and Sephiroth stands there for a whole three seconds, deciding if he wants any part of what's happening within. A magical alarm shrieks and fills his ears all the while.]

…

[Another loud clattering of pots and jars, louder than anything so far, seems to make his decision for him. Sephiroth opens the door wider with his free hand, stepping closer just enough to fill the doorframe and catch a glimpse of the goings-on within. A girl, confused, disoriented, and agitated. Just beyond her, the spiderwebbing glimmer of cracked glass, a broken mirror.

What the hell is this place?! she says, and it's immediately apparent that she's one of the many newcomers drawn in… unceremoniously to this world. Sephiroth speaks up. His voice somehow carries despite the chaos, and his eyes are slightly aglow in the dark.]

You're making a scene. Step outside and calm down.

[shithogs]

[Kainé has never been the type to give a stranger the benefit of the doubt, and here in the dark, disoriented and without anything familiar to serve as some kind of landmark, it's as true as it ever was. She turns sharply towards the entrance at the sound of another voice under the alarm, drawing one of her swords in one fluid motion to force distance to remain between herself and its owner.]

Don't tell me to calm down!

[There's nothing about any of this that tells her she should be calm, even if panicking rarely helps anything. Anger gets the better of her more often than she'd like to admit.]

Unless you have answers or plan on being fucking helpful, I'm not interested!

[supersoldier]

[She’s all furor and heat, illustrated by a drawn blade flashing in his direction. But Sephiroth remains steadily unimpressed, and it’s more her unwieldy attitude that makes his brow cinch rather than the threat of violence. His grip around Masamune does not so much as tighten.]

I may be more helpful if you decide to be more cooperative. Or would you prefer for me to walk away?

[Surely someone will react to this blaring alarm still sounding — the owner, maybe, will make an appearance, and likely stir her into more agitation when they find someone making a mess in their shop. She would do well to remain calm and focused despite herself; but already, she’s baring her proverbial fangs at him, and maybe she’s lucky that Sephiroth is not the sort to be so easily provoked.]

Sheath your sword. It won’t accomplish anything.

wilde hunt

[abandonware]

[Hunting was what she did most often — for the monsters that roamed throughout this endless swathe of forest at first, and now more frequently, for game — but she had expected none of the latter today, having seen the mottled traces of infection on the trees and other plantlife. It grew like a bed of molded moss over rocks, over flowers.

What she has killed today is something she's seen before — a "petalwolf." Its face has been eaten away by ravenous flowers, and the pain and infection both had driven it to attack. It was an easy enough target even with this. She's about to drag it over a bonfire to dispose of the remains when she hears another fight — distant, but with her heightened senses, close enough to track, and heads in that direction.

The warning makes her stop, for a moment, partially hidden in a copse of trees. Her eyes glow bright, eerie silver in the shade, but she's slow to step out, careful. The sword she's holding loosely at her side is covered in dark blood.]

Wasn't sneaking up on you.

[She motions to the carcass of the bear.]

I heard you fighting that thing.

[shithogs]

[Their stances almost mirror one another as the other woman slowly steps out of the shadows, but even finding her to be armed, Kainé finds herself more inclined to relax— if only a little. It's a person, rather than a beast that's been driven to madness or aggression by infection. She's picked up on enough since her arrival to know that people aren't as much of a threat as she would normally assume them to be.

She exhales, her hold on her own sword going lax, though only slightly, and she follows the other woman's gesture to glance at the remains of her prey.]

Pretty sure I did it a favor.

[Whatever it meant to suffer the Cwyld, she'd clearly put it out of its misery.

She nods towards the woman's sword, just once.]

Looks like you haven't done so badly yourself.

[abandonware]

[Her gaze flickers down to the corpse of the bear, the dark, sap-looking blood pooling beneath it, and gives an almost-imperceptible nod. She recognized this woman as one of the other humans, but she'd only met a handful so far that she thought of as being able to protect themselves. Anyone with a weapon that could hold their own caught her interest, albeit in the detached way she normally experienced it.] Yeah. Once they're that far gone, there's no saving them.

[She shrugs some.] They multiply fast. I'm just evening the odds.

[a pause.] There are more further in. If you're bored.

wilde hunt

[darkestbefore]

[ She'd been tracking a Shade, a massive one - and definitely having second thoughts about it, because she's still new here with barely any knowledge of magic yet. But she's not about to let it continue to wander and threaten people. That's why she's out here in the first place. So she perserveres through the strange woods, trying to follow the shambling path the thing had left in its wake.

She's trying to be quiet, but she doesn't have Hak's skill at stealth and hunting, so there are still softly cracked twigs underfoot and the rustling of leaves. Her bow is clutched in one hand and she's peering around trees, still searching, when a sharp voice calls out of nowhere.

She freezes automatically, fingers tightening around her bow as her eyes quickly scan her surroundings to find the source. It only takes her a moment, and then that answers what happened to the Shade she'd been following as well.

Eyes a little wide, because the woman before her is wearing barely anything and looks more than a little dangerous, Yona can only shake her head in response. ]

I wasn't trying to sneak up on you. I was looking for that...

[ She gestures at the slain Shade with the tip of her bow. ]

[shithogs]

[She exhales, her grip on her sword relaxing. The girl that appears from beyond the trees is small, hardly threatening, but Kainé knows that doesn't mean anything. What's on the surface rarely does.]

Didn't mean to snipe your prey.

[She'd just had some aggression to work out.]

From the sounds of it, there's plenty more where that came from.

[darkestbefore]

[ When the young woman across from her relaxes, Yona does as well, a relived smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She shakes her head slightly, looking a little sheepish. ]

It's alright. Honestly, I was a little worried it might be more than I could handle anyway. But I couldn't let it just wander off and keep hunting innocent people, either.

[ She can hear those sounds as well, and it has her glancing over her shoulder, smile melting back into a frown once more. ]

There's more than I expected out here. Even this close to the city...

an unusual arrival;

[confectionerie]

[ Fortunately for Kainé — or perhaps unfortunately, depending on how you look at it — Ann has found herself in rather a similar situation, with the city guard pursuing her after she unexpected tumbled out of a mirror into a stranger's bathroom. She doesn't know what they'll do if they catch her; all she knows is she doesn't want to be caught, and the alarm going off in a shop while she dashes by it probably isn't going to help —

Except...

There's a girl still in there, and Ann hears her shout through the door. Wait, are they in the same boat, here?

Skidding to a stop, Ann makes a snap decision, swinging around the doorframe and waving frantically to the girl inside the shop trying to stop the alarm. ]

C'mon, let's just get the hell out of here!

[ They're Thelma and Louise now. ]

[shithogs]

[You know what? That works for her. Staying put means an encounter with some kind of authorities sooner rather than later, and while she feels just a little bit guilty about the mess she's leaving behind, meetings with authority of any kind— whatever that was actually worth in her world— never went well.

Time to make a break for it.

She shoves the door hard enough that it swings back on its hinges and reverberates behind her as she joins Ann outside, taking off at a run— in heels. Ann is in good company.]

Someone's after you?!

[The urgency in Ann's voice made her assume so, at least. Nobody ran like that for no damn reason.]

[confectionerie]

[ Ann doesn't hesitate a moment once the other girl is through the door to break out into a run once more. The guards have caught up far more than she is comfortable with, and now she's got an accomplice. Or is she the accomplice? Did she just aid and abet a burglary?

But it doesn't look like Kainé has taken anything, sooo it's probably fine?

She hooks a right around the closest street, which is slightly less crowded. If they can find somewhere to hide out for a bit... ]

Yeah, but I don't know why! I just fell out of a mirror into someone's bathroom and they freaked out!

[ Which....any other circumstance would be an entirely reasonable reaction, but still! ]

Why were you in that shop?

ii

[exsoldier]

[ The markets are bustling and packed with people and goblins and Monsters alike, and Zack can't help but be drawn to all of it. Not just because there's the chance of finding something useful, but because he hasn't been surrounded by this much life in what feels like forever. It's similar enough to the grimier corners of Midgar that he finds himself just walking the crowded market and enjoying the energy around him.

Except then he hears a raised voice, someone who's outraged and accusing all at once, and turns to watch as a woman berates a goblin who's gradually hunching up on himself, like he's scared he'll be struck. Probably because it's not the first time, but that's why you don't go around trying to scam people.

That being said, Zack doesn't think that allowing a fight to break out here would be a good idea for a whole host of reasons, so he slides over to the pair. He hasn't missed the woman's hair color and isn't sure what to make of it, but he's already gathered from Aerith that people come from all kinds of different worlds. It might not mean anything. ]

It's not very nice to try and trick a lady, you know.

[ This is directed to the goblin. Zack's tone isn't threatening so much as admonishing. ]

So, do you have anything worth buying, or should we move on?

[shithogs]

[Kainé exhales slowly, channeling her anger into the gloved fist clenched at her side rather than letting it escalate into a full-blown outburst when a stranger steps in to intervene. She gives him a brief but undeniably skeptical glance— she's of the opinion that she had this handled, though she realizes the vendor may be grateful. She's not used to anyone just volunteering to step in and help her for any reason.

The goblin looks between the two of them before offering Zack a nervous smile.

I think that perhaps the lady might find something more like what she's looking for a few stalls down...! Yes, we're very specialized here, but if you're looking to control your magic, there's an expert just down—]

That's enough.

[Her tone is coarse, as it always is, but still calm and careful.]

I'll move on. But if I catch you trying to scam another newcomer with piss and ink, you'll regret it.

[She looks to the dark-haired man who had stepped in, raising an eyebrow at him.]

Can you believe the shit they're trying to pass off as useful around this place?

i.

[hoshikiri]

[Maybe Takame should be thankful that he came out of a puddle on the street rather than through someone's mirror. He was still soaked from it, not that it stopped him even if his body was starting to run cold. Even moreso at the blaring sound of an alarm that suddenly started as he tried to find some information within the city.

Instead of that he found several cracked clay pots barreling towards him, one of which he kicked the opposite way by sheer reflex breaking it apart completely. But even the sound of clay breaking didn't cut through the alarm, or the very angry shouting his gaze was now turned towards.]

Seven hells, what is happening here? [Said mostly to himself, but his presence was pretty conspicuous. He's Staring At You, Kainé.]

yesss

[shithogs]

[Took the words right out of her mouth— well, mostly. She would have included at least a couple of expletives.]

That's what I'd fucking like to know!

[She hasn't turned in his direction yet; despite the alarm blaring, she's taking a moment to right the table she'd knocked over. Whoever owns this place didn't do anything wrong— probably. It's not like she's here with the intent to trash it, anyway.]

All I did was let myself out of this bullshit store and this crap started up—

[She finally turns in the direction of his voice, eyes widening only slightly when she spots horns. What...?]

Who the hell are you?

iii

[extirpator]

[ the figure is a familiar one — far too familiar, and a little too distinct in what it was. he'd taken to the wilde, spent most of his time here, fixated on the prospect of hutning and killing Cwyld.

but when the mystery of this "stranger's" presences fades into nothingess, now overtaken by recognition, his heart slows to a stop. for a moment, he forgets he's a vampire and feels the rush of his blood going cold.

she shouldn't be here. they weren't supposed to meet again. somehow, they have. nier's eyes dart away, and he sheathes his katana instinctively, as thought she hadn't been a threat. a stupid idea, really. ]

I'm hunting the Shades. [ a beat. he doesn't make eye contact as he emerges from the thicket, the chains wound around his jerkin jingling. ] Not you. ...I'm not here for a fight.

[shithogs]

[Her grip on her own sword remains firm, but there's a faint shift in her expression as she looks him over, examines him. She catches a glimmer of something in his gaze before he looks away— recognition?— and feels the pull of something deep in her gut, something that sets her on edge.

There's been a lot of that in this place, to be honest.

She exhales, and some of the tension leaves her shoulders as she shakes her head.]

We have that in common, then.

[Except she's absolutely here for a fight— just not necessarily with him.]

Plenty of Shades to go around elsewhere.

ii

[oathkeeper]

[When the goblin market is in full swing Sora does like to make his rounds to see if can buy anything worthwhile. The market always has a lot of different kinds of trinkets and charms that he likes to try out or collect. Collecting things has become a bit of a habit of his!

And he is close by when he picks up on some pretty foul language and a lady that seems to be having a tiff with one of the stalls. Sora blinks and his long brunette-furred rabbit ears swivel with the sound of the conversation. Yikes.]

Hey, hey! Wait a minute! How do you know if it's fake or not?

[He frowns softly.]

You shouldn't call someone's hard work- that.

[shithogs]

[Oh, kid. She's sure he means well, but come on.

She grabs the flask once more and uncorks it, holding it out in his direction.]

Feel like smelling it for yourself? Bet you won't think any different.

[And if it really was legitimate, she's pretty sure the vendor wouldn't look like he was about to make more by pissing himself, the way his face has paled.]

I'm sure some of these assholes are on the up-and-up, but I know a crook when I see one.