In the center of a bustling city stands its crown jewels, a trio of grand, enormous pavilions. Within the facade of this old palace churns a city all its own, bodies chattering and exploring and roving about in search of the exotic and new and awe-inspiring. After all, no place could be better, for here, in the form of these stalls and displays for this fair, is where the worlds have chosen to convene. On the convention floor, they hawk their creeds, their products, their livelihoods, all competing for the attention of attendees as diverse as they are. But who is this 'they'? Why, anyone, from anywhere at all. From friendly small businesses to ominous corporations, from rebellions trying to gain ground to dying regimes attempting to rekindle their glory, from scientists and scholars to artists and storytellers. If an attendee can think of it, it could very well be here. Who knows what you'll find?
- Current Time: Noon/Early Afternoon (Day 2)
- Current Weather: Clear
Hello, Writer's Block, and welcome to the latest installment of the Character Development Threads! These shared story exercises give you the opportunity to develop your characters, practice writing, and have fun alongside your fellow writers, no signups, profiles, or GM approval necessary. Want to join? If the thread's gotten long, there's no need to fear Archive Panic- just head on over to our discussion thread
and say so, and we'll give you a recap of what's going on and good spots for working your characters into the thread; how you choose to do this is up to you. A little communication in endeavors such as these can go a long way towards having fun, helping others, getting that kink in your character worked out, getting your characters out of their comfort zone, or whatever you're here for, so if you ever have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to ask. We're all for helping each other out.
This thread's designated trope page is here, and its map is here
◊. Don't forget to add your contributions to the page!
In this thread, as the introduction and name suggests, your characters will be coming to a convention, a gathering open to the various and sundry worlds of our stories, whether as attendees hoping to see something cool... or as parts of the exhibition themselves. Yes, you, the writer, will be shaping not just the cast and plots, but the setting as well in the form of stalls and exhibits. Note that this necessitates that we keep a few small things in mind to keep things running smoothly.
- Our standards of location for this thread are intentionally vague to allow ourselves the freedom to make up stalls on the fly as our plots demand, as well as to account for the fact that wandering around between stalls and chatting with your friends is as much a part of the convention experience as the stalls themselves. For the sake of keeping track of people, in lieu of standard location tags in the vein of [Market Hall], we recommend that you also append the names of the characters you're with.
- Though you're welcome to bring a piece of home in the form of a stall and control the characters running it, you're also welcome to bring a stall that exists solely as a plot device without ever mentioning it again. The basic rules to keep in mind are to write a stall as long as it takes to fulfill its raison d'être, whether that's to develop a faction or similar in your work or to keep the plot moving along, and that stalls can be anything. More specific info can be found on the trope page linked above.
- If you find yourself unexpectedly busy in other endeavors after entering the thread, there are easy ways to back out, whether you're writing for attendees or stalls. Attendees can step out into the covered walkways connecting the convention buildings or the adjacent courtyard for some fresh air and relief from the constant noise of the crowds, while stalls can suddenly become flooded with enough nameless background characters to render the stall too busy to reply to any troper characters that were interacting with it at the time.
With all that out of the way, we cordially invite you to stay and experience the Character Worlds' Fair! Onwards!
(Credit for this post and much of the work on the thread belongs to Crystal Glacia).
Fair has now concluded.
edited 31st Mar '15 2:06:36 AM by nrjxll
Cloud Gate Hotel - Lobby (Nioba, Lihiri, Rey, Adrien)
"It's not actually enchanted," Nioba corrected Adrien, "It's just that my people designed the obano to cut through Azikathi Imperial Guardsman armor, which is probably the highest-grade armor on our world, and thus it's likely to cut through whatever armor Nazerno or his backup might have." She sighed as she watched Lihiri Fashioning the shortsword and a spare knife into counterfeit obanos. This is probably seven different kinds of sacrilege, she thought irritably.
"Done!" Lihiri announced cheerfully. The counterfeits were smaller than Nioba's - the full-sized version required a lot of strength training to wield, or else it might break the user's arm - but the blades were almost the same length and had comparable edges. The pommels were also different; Adrien's obano retained the pommel it had when it was still a shortsword, while Rey's obano was a smoothed metal square.
"Right, then," Nioba said. "I would strongly advise taking some practice swings, preferably somewhere with fewer people around. These are not swords that one wields for precise cuts..."
Cloud Gate Hotel - Room 1071/Room -217 (Jidra, Avatar of Carnage, Dimi, Nazerno)
From the safety of her hotel room, Jidra placed the headset upon her head and projected her consciousness out into Dimi's mind twelve floors below. The Furor entered his hotel room to find his Master splayed out over his bed, clearly in the grips of a hangover.
Nazerno glared at the slave. "Where you been, boy?" he demanded.
Jidra reached out the fingers of her consciousness and caressed Dimi's mind as though it were an instrument.
"I was performing reconnaissance, Master," Dimi responded.
Nazerno narrowed his eyes. "Well?"
"The green woman is setting our trap. The Avatar and the Liberatrix will be there."
"Well, good."
Jidra pushed her consciousness further into Dimi's mind, making herself appear. He gave a start.
"Oh, gods, not again..." Dimi murmured.
"Get him cleaned up and ready. The meeting must take place." She withdrew from his consciousness.
Dimi sighed, then grabbed Nazerno and dragged him into the shower. "We have a meeting to prepare for..."
By now, it should be clear to all except the most dense of us that sheep are secretly conspiring to kill us all and steal our pants.
[Entertainment Hall - Side Building]
Hvpvdqia followed the etis-tra to the building, then in response to Gerrune, she said, "Hvpvdqia. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." She also took a small bow as a greeting.
"However, I must mention the oddity inherent in requesting one's presence, without even knowing their name first?" she said to Gerrune, looking a bit suspicious.
[Showcase Hall - Western Amalgamated Tent] (Veneris, Iono, Ksana)
"In our reality, there was no warning - the fracture happened instantaneously and catastrophically," Iono said to Veneris, "we thought it was impossible as well - until it happened. I don't mean to be cold - just a warning for what might come."
Then, when Veneris went over to Ksana, and motioned for her to join them, she walked over warily, and said, "I'm sorry... I'm not much of a medic. I just know some basic training and magical healing - I'm not sure how much help I can be..."
edited 13th Feb '15 12:08:39 AM by Sonzai
Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.
[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]
Ghiln navigated her way through the simple interface without much difficulty, then stared wide-eyed at the overwhelming mass of data. Gibberish data. So that's how they did it.
Apparently the device was much less backwards than she'd assumed, which was both good and bad news. It would certainly be nice to figure out what some of this actually was, but it would also be much harder - probably, she admitted to herself, beyond her capabilities. Which meant she'd probably have to buy the tablet and use Qvn Jxilkr resources, and she still wasn't certain she could justify that - to her superiors, and more importantly, to herself.
Still, though. She'd gone far enough that she didn't want to turn back now. And besides, she was interested.
"All right," she said, looking up at the proprietor. Its environmental suit was as inscrutable as before. "I think I'll buy it, though I might need some, um, clarification about payment."
She hesitated. "Also, this isn't that important - but can you tell me your name? And the name of your species?"
[Market Hall - Nhesvrasila, Inc.]
Kel grinned, or at least the shvuim equivalent of it. "Sounds about right," he said to the draconic being. He glanced at the box, which was distinctly unassuming from a visual standpoint. But there's no reason magic - or antimagic - has to be flashy.
The thought brought another to his mind, though. Weren't some of his allies - well, Rey's allies - supposed to be able to use magic? She'd said something like that, though she hadn't really elaborated. "So how's it work exactly?" he continued. "Specifically, I'm wondering if there's any way for it to discriminate between different... different magic-users? Different targets."
[Showcase Hall - Ship of Marvels (Interior)]
"Certainly, Zer Wings," Madame voSudir said affably. She waved an arm forward. "Follow me, if you would. The Hazzer drone is going to be somewhat unavailable as a guide at this point."
She led Marion forward into the other room, which was quite similar to the first, with soft lighting from the floor illuminating various strange objects that either stood alone by themselves or rested within transparent containers. The closest of the latter held what appeared to be a technological suit of armor, scaled for a relatively close fit on a being with the proportions of a qrtxian. Its black surface seemed to constantly seethe with a rippling motion, like water on a windy day. Next to it rested a huge pale red metal pentagon, divided into five equal sections by carved lines radiating out from the center. A circular area in each section glowed brightly. The final closest exhibit was another glass cube containing three objects that all looked like headgear of some kind. one was obviously made for a species with a head shape very different from that of a human, while the others were simpler: a small silver circlet that emitted a faint red glow, and a blocky golden helmet ringed by purple gemstones.
Madame voSudir gave another sweeping bow to Marion that transitioned into a sweeping gesture with her arm to indicate the exhibits. "This section of the Ship of Marvels has more of a thematic build. On your right, you see two artifacts of qrtxian origin, on your left... hats." She paused. "Ahem. More accurately those are some of the famous head-wear of the Corinarch Empire."
She then waited again for any questions Marion had.
There are also more exhibits further into the room, of course.
[Entertainment Hall - Side Building]
"Hmmm?" Gerrune said, giving Hvpvdqia a cool glance. "Ah, yes, that. To be quite honest, my employer isn't interested in you specifically, but rather in where you've recently been." He produced a small triangular tablet from his sleeve and tapped at it until a monochromatic red hologram of the Ship of Marvels appeared hovering above it.
"We would like to ask you some questions about that ship, Hyp - Hvip - my dear. It should only take a moment of your time." His eyes glazed over for a moment before refocusing on her. "Please, won't you come inside?"
Meanwhile, Mister Drong the etis-tra leaned against the side of the building, looking sullen but staying silent.
[Cloud Gate Hotel - Lobby (Nioba, Lihiri, Rey, Adrien)]
Rey took the obano with a small grin - but one that was totally lacking in the usual sardonicism that most of her smiles had. "Nice!" Swords weren't really her thing, but it was still always a good feeling to get a new weapon, especially one that could be immediately useful. She could already feel the last leftovers of her physical discomfort disappearing just from seeing it.
Which meant it was time to get serious about figuring out what to do next. "Good idea," she said to Nioba. "I'll probably head up to my room for that, but first, we should figure out our exact plans." It was a little over an hour until her meeting with the bad guys at noon. "You have any idea what kind of backup Nazerno might have from this Empire?"
She glanced over at Adrien. He was still a bit of a mystery, but that could wait to figure out until later. "And, hey, what's nullshot?" Some kind of antimagic, maybe?
[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]
"Of course - I am Tevarian T'jok, owner and proprietor of this booth," Tevarian said, "and I am a Crethanian - and am from a star system about 23,000 light-years from Earth. I have to wear this environment suit due to differences in gravity and atmosphere, but it's not a problem. My job is traveling around the galaxy, meeting new people, and hopefully offering them something helpful!"
"And speaking of which, normally I would simply quote you a fine price in galactic interchange credits, but that's not usually very practical in a place like this," Tevarian said, "perhaps it would be easier for you to indicate what you are prepared to offer for it? I'm pretty flexible on price."
Tevarian thought about instead just coughing and pointing to the sign at the top of the booth, which said, 'Rare and Mystical Artifacts from Across the Seven Spiral Arms by Tevarian T'jok' but he was far too polite to do so. 
[Entertainment Hall - Side Building]
"That sounds reasonable to me," Hvpvdqia said to Gerrune, and would follow him inside if he walked in as well.
"However, I must also mention the oddity inherent in this line of questioning - as you could simply visit, or have someone else visit, and take much more detailed notes than I have," she said.
"Unless... this is some sort of visitor survey, in which case it would likely be much more convenient to set up near the ship in question."
edited 13th Feb '15 8:55:59 PM by Sonzai
Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.
[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]
Ghiln blinked and looked at Tevarian with no small amount of surprise. "Twenty-three thousand light years? That's quite a distance. The Galactic Alliance - my meta-civilization - isn't even a tenth of that size."
The species name, on the other hand, meant nothing to her - although given the distance he'd just stated, that was understandable enough. Though I wish I could find out more about that encounter suit. She checked the time again; still around 1100. Plenty of time to ask more questions, then.
For now, though, best to stick to the main topic. "The type of currency I generally use is the Alliance Standard Monetary Unit, or SMU," she said. "Other species normally refer to them as 'smus', but humans and g'vek do sometimes call them 'credits' - I don't know why, exactly. Either way, I assume they aren't interchangeable with the type you're talking about. Unless" - she paused - "does this stall have some kind of monetary conversion or exchange system?"
[Entertainment Hall - Side Building]
Gerrune honked shrilly. "I suppose, I suppose," he said, grinning; there were enough sharp teeth in that grin to be unsettling to a normal human, but he didn't seem to mean it that way. "But my employer and I are always interested in outside help. Your answers would be a valuable independent source."
He led the way into the small building. As Hvpvdqia stepped through the door, she was subjected to a series of various electromagnetic scans. Gerrune's eyes briefly unfocused again, as this happened, before reassuming their previous brisk cheerfulness. Inside, the building was almost entirely devoid of any decorations, though it was well-lit and painted a fairly warm tan color to offset its spartan nature. A table with two black padded chairs - one clearly designed for an individual of Gerrune's species - sat in the center. A series of empty shelves were set into the back right corner, while the back left corner had a sleek bronze computer console of some sort and another chair.
"Sit down, please," Gerrune said, gesturing at the chair. He tapped one of the rings he wore around his neck. "Mister Drong, do please shut the door." As the etis-tra did so, Gerrune sat down at the table and placed the triangular device - still projecting its hologram of the Ship of Marvels - in the center of it. "Now, would you tell us what about the ship stood out to you? In your own words, please; this is mostly intended as a starting point."
Cloud Gate Hotel - Lobby (Nioba, Lihiri, Rey, Adrien)
Lihiri snickered at the word "nullshot". "Null" had a very different meaning in Zinji slang...
"The Empire is extremely stingy with its military forces," Nioba replied. "Since the Azikathi themselves lack physical strength, any military commitment requires them to send Zinji conscripts, and they've always been worried that putting too many Zinji in the field might lead to a mass desertion or revolt. Thus, in addition to the Furor, they've probably sent an Avatar, like Lihiri, to serve as backup."
"Avatars are magic-users, in case you couldn't tell," Lihiri added, "and they're usually trained to use a specific form of magic - Avatars of Suffering, like myself, specialize in spreading disease or weakness in opponents. Avatars of Defense create shields around their allies. And Avatars of Carnage... well, the name should probably give you an idea of what they do. Suffice it to say that their magic doesn't leave many survivors in its wake. I would assume that they'll send an Avatar of Defense. The Avatars of Suffering have a history of being... quirky... and an Avatar of Carnage would require extremely careful handling..."
She caressed her temple. "It's been... a very long time since I've been a part of the Empire, but I remember them saying that you can't put multiple Avatars in proximity to one another... It's something to do with the way our brains function, that fielding more than one at a time leads to orders getting confused..."
Nioba caressed Lihiri's nape soothingly; trying to remember her past always seemed to cause her pain. "The Empire has put certain limitations on Avatars to keep them from acting up," she explained. "If you try to put two of them in the same place, the presence of one will inhibit the functioning of the other, and vice versa. So we may luck out, and if they do send an Avatar, it will not be able to function because of Lihiri's presence. Of course, Lihiri will be similarly disadvantaged..."
By now, it should be clear to all except the most dense of us that sheep are secretly conspiring to kill us all and steal our pants.
[Showcase Hall — Western Amalgamated tent]
Ksana vaguely waved a hand without looking at either Veneris or Iono. "No, no," she mumbled, "it's not physical, I'm not hurt, it's... It's..." She took a deep breath in through her nose and held it a moment before letting it out through her mouth. When she spoke again, her voice was louder, clearer, and inflection was coming back to it. "It's like... Imagine someone taking an acid-laced cheese grater to your soul, and you're a quarter of the way there."
Then she paused for a moment, snorted, and looked up. "Okay, that sounds silly. But seriously, that's the best way I can describe it. It's just..." She shuddered. "...painful."
[Market Hall — Nhesvrasila, Inc.]
"Unfortunately, no," said Shane. "You turn it on and magic can't be used within a six-foot radius. That's it. No ways to exclude someone from its effects or anything like that."
But there was the other model. Was that relevant? Probably. "We do, however, have a different model that works more like a shell. This version-" Shane held up the AFG. "-eliminates all magic in a chunk of space. The shell variation creates a barrier that magic cannot cross. Someone within the barrier can freely use magic within the barrier, and someone outside can use it outside, but they cannot use magic on opposite sides of the shell. Being inside the shell and attempting to manipulate magic outside, for example, will do nothing."
[Entertainment Hall — Ship of Marvels]
Marion raised an eyebrow at voSudir. "What's wrong with hats? Hats can be cool and interesting."
She leaned in to take a closer look at the helmet. "I'm assuming that's not real gold. Well, at least not solid gold. If it was, it'd weigh like sixty pounds. Gilded, maybe. But not solid." Her voice switched from skeptical to inquisitive. "And what kinds of gems are those? Amethysts?"
Laugh and grow dank!
[Cloud Gate Hotel - Lobby]
Adrien nodded. "I'm somewhat familiar, I think. What you describe of the Zinji sounds a lot like how Loanswords are treated. I've gone up against a few, and they tend to opt not to fight in the end if given sufficient reason."
He then hefted the improvised Obano in hand and frowned. It was considerably weighty, and appeared to be given more to powerful hacks than deft slashes. Not at all what he was used to.
Adrien looked up. "So there's no enchantment on this? Odd that your people would choose a sword as a weapon intended to defeat armor, as opposed to a mace or hammer. But I'll not complain, so long as it works. Though- what concerns me more is how we plan to deal with the magic-users. I'm not sure about the two of you, but my training said successfully engaging mages typically requires some kind of decisive advantage, especially if we want to take them alive. I'm thinking an ambush, maybe?"
Adrien then turned to answer Rey, "Nullshot is a kind of alchemical cartridge meant to be used against mages. It dampens their power through the release of a topical arcanosuppressant. The precise composition eludes my memory. If I had a few of those I wouldn't even need the gun that fires them- I could devise a contact-poison that should work just as well."
yey
[Market Hall - Nhesvrasila, Inc.]
Kel folded his arms; the gesture was done with both obvious care (given that he was, after all, in powered armor) and obvious ease. "Not bad, but I'm not sure it's exactly what we want either. How big is the shell?"
He considered. Might as well find out now. "And what am I looking in terms of prices for either of these?"
[Showcase Hall - Ship of Marvels (Interior)]
Madame voSudir gave Marion an odd glance. "Nothing's wrong with hats. I was attempting to be funny."
She shrugged and went on. "The artifact which you're observing is the helmet - well, I suppose more accurately it's a helmet - of Lord General Druxxas Ladrana of Corinarch, the so-called Hammer of the G'vek. The man who restored his family to a prominent position after they were toppled from the imperial throne in the early nineteenth century, Terran Common Era calendar. And it is indeed gilded; it was largely ceremonial, but the general believed in being prepared for the worst at all times, so underneath the surface that is actually a functional helmet. As for the gems - well, they aren't' gems, precisely; they're some sort of modified qrtxian crystal storage device. They haven't worked in centuries, but they were likely originally used to let the helmet act as some kind of external proto-backup."
She paused. "And I should probably add that that actually is the real helmet of the Hammer" - her voice sounded more than a little amused at the epithet - "not a reproduction. Hazzer and I have both had it authenticated; we had to, after the way it came into our possession."
[Cloud Gate Hotel - Lobby (Nioba, Lihiri, Rey, Adrien)]
Rey frowned, something occurring to her. "Hey, wait a minute. If the sword isn't enchanted, is the armor? I was assuming it'd be something like the stuff the Vakaza had yesterday, but if it's just good armor" - well, good armor for a medieval world. At least I'm guessing it's medieval - "then I might be better off just sticking to range. Like I said, it's my preference anyway, plus the obano's a bit heavy. Not really my style either: Kel's the tank, I'm the whipsnake." None the others probably had those, but the name, assuming it translated correctly, would be descriptive enough. Actually it's 'tank' that might need clearing up sometime.
She turned towards Adrien as he described the nullshot. So it's anti-magic, thought so. "Well, too bad we can't get any, then."
Placing her elbows on the table again, she rested her head on them. "Ambush was my original plan. I'd meet up with the bad guys and tell them I was taking them to you two, then let you and Kel spring them. But since they probably already know what's going on, that's probably out. And trying to play you-know-I-know isn't my style." She glanced at Nioba and Lihiri, eyes narrowed behind her glasses. "So, you know these fraggers more than we do. Thoughts on a plan?"
[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]
"Truth be told, the Crethanian civilization is quite small, only a few tens of worlds," Tevarian said, "but we do seem to have a cultural disposition for travel, and so have generally found ourselves at the edges of the galaxy one way or another."
"Also, most people in my experience refer to them as credits because basically all currency is borrowing on credit of some form or another these days," he said, "I think it has been for quite a long time, actually - at least where I come from. Of course, most of the actual checking and balancing is done automatically behind the scenes, so I can't really say I'm much of an expert on how any of it works."
"As far as exchange, I can convert most raw materials and tradeable items - but a direct conversion," he said, thinking for a moment, "I doubt I could do it. If I had an interdimensional currency converter, trust me, I would have brought it." And probably tried to sell it, he thought, because it wouldn't be useful anywhere else.
"But my guess is that there's a currency exchange booth, or something to that effect around here somewhere," he said, looking around, "I can't imagine anyone setting up such a fair as this without working that out beforehand."
[Entertainment Hall - Side Building]
"That sounds reasonable," Hvpvdqia said, following Gerrune inside.
Upon scanning her, they would likely notice many oddities. First of all, she looked more-or-less like a normal human at near-infrared, visible, and ultraviolet wavelengths - both in terms of her absorption and emission. However, outside these ranges, in radio, far infrared, X-Ray or greater, she appeared to be almost completely transparent. A studious observer might notice that outside these ranges, her appearance under these scans was more like a human-shaped cloud than anything else, but given her comparatively small size, this effect would be minute.
Hvpvdqia took a seat as well, folding up her umbrella and sitting it down next to her. The light rain that was falling from it stopped as well, although her appearance remained the same nonetheless.
"I would say first, I noticed that the ship itself has a very unusual hull geometry for an atmospheric craft, and was most likely launched from another, larger carrier. Or the owner spent quite a bit on directional shielding," she said, "and it would be nice if the MetaLink overlay was accessible by people without implants - that seems like an awful lot of work just to go to a museum! Another thing - they have all these cool artifacts, but they're all out of context for any interdimensional visitors - and they seemed less than willing to actually provide any generalizable context as well."
"Is this the kind of information you're looking for?" she said.
[Showcase Hall - Western Amalgamated Tent] (Veneris, Iono, Ksana)
"That certainly sounds like it," Iono said, "although I honestly have no idea how that would feel..." And would prefer not to find out, she thought.
"What I saw was certainly disturbing, but it was just a vision," she said, "I didn't really feel anything wrong about myself..."
edited 14th Feb '15 11:31:17 PM by Sonzai
Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.
Cloud Gate Hotel - Lobby (Nioba, Lihiri, Rey, Adrien)
"I don't expect we will have to worry about armor," Nioba said. "Nazerno is a slaver and bounty hunter whose usual job entails chasing runaway slaves through swamps. He used to be quick and agile, and probably thinks that he still is quick and agile, and thus, he won't think to wear anything heavier than maybe boiled leather."
"As for tactics, I prefer to keep things as possible - you convince them that our meeting was just you leading us into a trap, then you lead them to some place out of the way. We corner them, your partner disables the Furor with the... device, you shoot out Nazerno's legs with your guns, and then Adrien and I take off his arms and head with the obanos. With any luck, the Furor will disabled long enough for us to bind him, and from there, we can find out where his operator is."
"If they send an Avatar, I can block them from using their abilities," Lihiri added. "Well, probably. Maybe..."
"Look," Nioba said, "I know we made things sound very complicated earlier. From Lihiri and my perspective, it is complicated. The Azikathi Empire is one of the most technologically-advanced powers on our world, and it is more paranoid than a rat trapped in a shithouse. The idea that they're so eager to get Lihiri back that they're actually arranging an attack on this place worries me greatly. But having the best technology on a world that is still grappling with plumbing doesn't give them much of an advantage here, and with the expertise and firepower that you two and your partner bring in, I am sure that we will prevail."
"And if it all goes to shit, you can use the Disinfuriator to create a pulse," Lihiri chimed in. "I will die, as will the Furor and any Avatar that they send. But at least the rest of you will survive, and Nazerno won't be able to hold out for very long without backup."
"If I lose you, Nazerno will die immediately afterwards," Nioba said darkly.
Cloud Gate Hotel - Room 1071 (Jidra, Avatar of Carnage)
Jidra watched the Avatar of Carnage as it stacked the small wooden blocks on the floor. Evidently, at some point, it had realized that the blocks could be stacked to create little towers. Jidra found that unnerving. I didn't teach it that, she thought.
The Avatar suddenly became aware that Jidra was watching it and stopped. It hesitantly raised its eyes towards her, like a child who'd been caught misbehaving.
"What are you doing?" she demanded.
"Making them bigger," the Avatar replied.
"What?"
The Avatar gestured to the small tower. "When you put them on top of each other, they become bigger," it said.
"Why do you want to make them bigger?"
The Avatar considered this question for a moment. "They were alone," it responded finally. "Things are not meant to be alone."
Jidra scrutinized the words in her head, wondering if there was some hidden meaning behind them. Then, growing irritable, she kicked the little tower, knocking it over. "No more playing," she said. "The plan is nearly ready to commence. Prepare yourself."
The Avatar nodded and rose to its feet. It awaited its next orders.
edited 14th Feb '15 11:50:19 PM by StrixObscuro
By now, it should be clear to all except the most dense of us that sheep are secretly conspiring to kill us all and steal our pants.
[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]
Ghiln filed away the information about Tevarian's species, and what he'd explained about the origin of 'credits', for later. It was interesting, but not really on-point for the current situation.
"I suppose that makes sense," she said. "Finding something like that would be a good idea, then." She glared at her linkpiece again. "Unfortunately, I've been completely unable to connect to any local link for this fair since I arrived - I'm almost wondering now if it doesn't have one. So I'm not certain how to go about finding an exchange booth."
She thought for a moment, her face going blank with distraction, before refocusing on Tevarian. "How exactly did you set up your own booth, then, without first establishing how to handle this type of thing? Perhaps they mentioned something and you just don't remember it." She was slightly hesitant as she spoke - she didn't want to seem condescending - but it was a reasonable line of questioning to try.
[Entertainment Hall - Side Building]
Gerrune smiled again, twisting his fingerclaws together. "It's a good start, at least."
He touched another one of the rings on his neck and spoke more quietly: "Directional shielding, soon but not immediately." Then he turned his attention fully back to Hvpvdqia. "You must realize, miss, that implants are entirely ubiquitous where my people and the owner of the Fiar Chann come from. It's hardly an unreasonable assumption to make when designing a museum - though I can understand why someone such as you might see it differently. Likewise, I'm not certain that the exhibits - well, never mind that part, actually..."
For a moment he trailed off, before resuming speaking. "The ship itself isn't that uncommon a design - one of my associates could tell you the specifics, but I'm afraid they elude me. But it's not meant for rapid atmospheric travel. Krott voSudir may be a con artist, but she isn't the sort who worries about having to make rapid departures." He paused again, letting the silence stretch.
[Cloud Gate Hotel - Lobby (Nioba, Lihiri, Rey, Adrien)]
Rey blinked several times behind her glasses, staring somewhat baffledly at Lihiri. She wasn't particularly frightened of death herself, but there was a big stretch between that and being willing to die at a moment's notice. Particularly when you apparently have much more to live for. "Okay, um, I really don't think we're at a place yet where fragging suicide needs to be considered as an option. Let's... let's hold off on that discussion for now."
Shaking her head, she grimaced. Some of the couple's other points - such as the stuff about technology - sounded believable enough, and in line with what she had been thinking herself. But there were still some big holes in their plan. One in particular.
"And speaking of bad ideas, going back by myself and trying to convince them everything's part of the plan is certainly one of them. I want to kill these slavers as much as anyone, but that's a pretty big risk to take - like I said, I don't really go in for stand-up fights. That's Kel's job, and I don't know how the bad guys will react to him replacing me at our meeting."
Laugh and grow dank!
[Cloud Gate Hotel - Lobby]
Adrien began slowly, "Technically it wouldn't be suicide, as one of us would be holding the device instead of her, but I'm of a like mind. I'd much rather not have a hand in breaking up this little-" He hesitated, just for a brief moment. "-companionship the two of you have."
An awkward silence passed before he continued. "Actually, now that I think of it, I have a new idea. If we were to create this pulse, what range would it have? I assume by your choice of words it'd be omni-directional, would it be stopped by anything? Walls? People?"
Adrien glanced around the table, looking to see if the others caught his meaning.
edited 15th Feb '15 12:36:11 PM by Gault
yey
[Showcase Hall — Western Amalgamated tent] (Veneris, Iono, Ksana)
Veneris was darkly curious. Why had Ksana's response been so much more visceral than Iono's? She suspected there was something Ksana wasn't saying, perhaps some dark memory dredged up. Or perhaps Ksana was simply inherently more magical than Iono, so it was a more blatant assault on her senses and being. Still, Ksana didn't seem to hold it against Veneris or Western Amalgamated, that was good.
Corporate policy was pretty clear here: don't play hero if you aren't wanted. Veneris wasn't here to try and determine what inner demons — if they even existed, she might just be projecting her own insecurities and issues — had been uncovered in Ksana. So she said, "can I get you anything? Food? Water?" She recalled the water keg hadn't been set up and quickly headed out to do so. Ordinary water, completely clean and fresh, kept quite cold, along with a plentiful supply of cups. "If not, um... hmm." Was changing the topic a good idea?
[Camp Leatherneck]
Mary deployed the device by the case. "This should work through some steel, right?" It had leftover charges if not. She then activated it.
Within the case, a gash in the fabric of reality sat, imitating a physical object, and possessing the dim instincts of a virus. It reached out, seeking but not finding thoughts to contort.
edited 15th Feb '15 4:48:42 PM by KillerClowns
[Market Hall — Nhesvrasila, Inc.]
"The shell is the same size as the base version," said Shane. "Six-foot radius. Now, the regular version runs at one hundred Earth dollars, and the shell is one hundred and fifty Earth dollars. If you don't have those, we can take credit and let the fair handle it."
[Showcase Hall — Ship of Marvels]
"Hmm," said Marion. "Got to wonder why they decided to stick backup storage devices on a fully-functional helmet. You'd think that'd be a good way for them to get smashed, one way or another, which kinda negates the whole point of backups, you know? Of course, that's assuming you're right about them being used for a backup. Or maybe that's why it was a proto-backup, as opposed to a regular backup, and I don't know." She flared her wings.
She straightened up and faced voSudir again. "So how did it come into your possession, if you don't mind me asking? If you do mind, I totally understand."
[Showcase Hall — Western Amalgamated tent]
"No, I didn't see a vision," said Ksana. Her voice was steady now. "It's... I can feel magic, how it... flows, behaves, things like that. It's a sixth sense. And the stuff on the other side of the portal was... scary. At least it's gone now."
She glanced at Veneris. "So I'm fine. But free food never hurt anybody." She promptly swiped a burger and took a bite out of it. But she'd the sign explaining that the burgers were just meat substitutes, so it was a tentative, somewhat small bite. Then Ksana paused, frowned, and took another, larger bite. "You're sure this isn't meat?" she said through a mouthful of burger. Swallowing, she continued, "'Cause it's the best damn not-meat I've tasted." Chomp.
[Camp Leatherneck]
"Of course," said Peter, nodding. "The antimagical effect is unimpeded by any physical objects."
When the magflash went off, it was, on a physical level, rather underwhelming. The LED timer ticked down to zero, and on the charge counter, the little "5" ceased to be illuminated. The timer reset to five seconds, and all activity ceased. Metaphysically, however, things were more interesting.
Reality became more fluid, but not the way water in a cup is fluid, taking the shape of whatever container it inhabits. It was fluid the way a hurricane on the ocean is fluid: unpredictable, overwhelming, finding its way into every little nook and cranny. For lack of better terminology, reality began pouring into the gash. It couldn't fill it, of course, but anything trying to get out would get beaten back by the onslaught. At least until the magflash's ten minutes were up; after that, reality would gradually solidfy and become exploitable again, allowing the gash to reach out once more.
[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]
"Well, they did mention many things about physical currency," Tevarian said, "which I can accept virtually any form, like gold coins, bills, credit cards, etc."
"And no offense," he said, "but all of my other customers have had some kind of physical currency or at least a currency card to buy things with. This is the first time there's been any concern about it."
"How do you usually purchase things where you're from?" he said.
[Entertainment Hall - Side Building]
"Oh, interesting," Hvpvdqia said, "I suppose that's why they assumed everyone would have them, then."
"But if that's the case, she doesn't seem like a very good con artist to me," she said, "I mean, the admission to the museum was free - how could she even expect to make back her entrance fee to the fair?"
[Showcase Hall - Western Amalgamated Tent] (Veneris, Iono, Ksana)
"That sounds very interesting," Iono said to Ksana, "I've only met a few others with that kind of sense."
"And yeah, the burgers are quite good," she said, "maybe it's because they're not synthesized?"
Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.
[Market Hall - Nhesvrasila, Inc.]
Kel shook his head from side to side in thought. Well, that seems reasonable enough. He didn't know for sure how the Earth dollars he knew compared to the ones that Shane was referring to, but it sounded doable enough on credit. Especially assuming we can somehow get the Theocracy to pay for this too. It's a big assumption, but the gluvpaki are pretty generous with their security contractors.
"Yeah, okay," he said out loud. "We'll take the shell. I assume it comes with instructions?"
He paused before continuing. "And I may as well ask - anything else you'd recommend?"
[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]
Ghiln blinked in confusion. "Um, normally I pay for them through the MetaLink." More accurately, normally she didn't pay for things at all - that was one benefit to growing up as a Qvn Jxilkr - but she didn't need to mention that right now. "I do have a physical SMU credit chip in case I ever find myself somewhere without a link set up, though. But I thought the problem was that you didn't think our respective currencies could be converted...?"
[Entertainment Hall - Side Building]
"On the contrary, my dear," Gerrune said with a toothy grin, "she is a very good con artist. Or at least a very successful one," he continued in a more pious-sounding tone. "I feel as though I should not call any con artist 'good', after all. But she has the monetary resources to spend on something like this fair's entrance without trying to make it up. Her purpose could perhaps be to practice her skills without any pressure, or simply to relax..."
He leaned forward, eyes narrowing and losing more than a little of their smile. "Or it could be something else. Did she ask you about anything? Items that she might want in exchange for your patronage? This place does appear to operate heavily upon a barter system, after all."
[Cloud Gate Hotel - Lobby (Nioba, Lihiri, Rey, Adrien)]
Rey grinned ferally. "Let me guess. You're suggesting that we try and play the ambush setup so that the pulse can only hit the bad guys? Nice - if it works." She turned to gaze at Nioba and Lihiri.
[Showcase Hall - Ship of Marvels]
Behind her veil, Madame voSudir looked confused for a moment before quickly recovering. "Aha, yes. I can see the confusion. 'Backup' in common parlance where I come from refers to a neural implant connecting one to a planetary information network or 'link'. The term is originally from the old era of the qrtxians; I believe it was meant to suggest the implant being a 'backup' to a person's natural memories. The helmet was a proto-backup in the sense that it instead linked General Ladrana's mind just to its own data storage - what you called the amethysts."
She folded her hands together. "As for how we got the helmet, that's not a story I have a problem telling. It's just a tad long. You see, about five years ago Hazzer and I had taken the Ship of Marvels to a planet called New Grathar, in the Disputed Region - which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. New Grathar wasn't exactly a safe planet for us, but it had a lot of valuables drifting around." She smiled broadly. "And of course, it's always nice when I can bring a bit of fascinations beyond the mundane into lives that are otherwise troubled.
She tugged at the side of her vest slightly. "While we were there, Hazzer and I heard from a... I think the appropriate word would be contact of ours about," another pause, "certain relics of interest to myself. I went to visit the contact at his home, at his insistence. In retrospect it was not perhaps a very well-reasoned decision, but I had dealt with this being before and considered him trustworthy."
She grinned, but her eyes behind the veil were more serious, even a little bleak. "And in fact, he hadn't become untrustworthy. He had simply become dead. Killed by g'vek gangsters who were in the house right as I arrived."
edited 16th Feb '15 2:11:03 AM by nrjxll
[Showcase Hall - Western Amalgamated Tent] (Veneris, Iono, Ksana)
Well, Iono and Ksana seemed to have recovered, at least for now. She said, "well, Dr. Xiong is the one behind this project. It's... basically a lot of chemistry, I guess? And apparently Americans really love meat. She added more quietly, and with a roll of her eyes, "I mean, unless they can recognize where it's from." It had been far too long since she'd had a good sheep's brain. "But, yeah, apparently it's all about..." she tilted her head, "actually, I think all the flavors and stuff are synthesized, now that you mention it? I mean, it's really all just flavored algae, even if very well flavored algae. I gather it was actually the texture that was hard to do..."
[Camp Leatherneck] (Peter, Xiong, Isaac)
The case shook so violently that, despite its weight, it jumped about a half-inch off the table, causing Xiong and Isaac to jump back, Isaac pulling out a previously-hidden pistol and pointing it directly at the case. "Sweet zombie Jesus!" But then there was silence. He holstered the firearm and said, "Mary, hands on the addies." She put her hand on a red button near the door. "If in doubt, you hit that fucker. Probably fry the grenade, but beats a breakout."
He then very cautiously headed to the case and gingerly opened it. "Damn," he said. "Hold on..." he used his own — limited but non-neglible — training in magical purging to sense for the presence of the Eyes and Teeth. "Clean," he said. He headed over to Peter. "Totally, completely purged." He then offered a hand and said, "on behalf of Western Amalgamated, I wanna say I look forward to doing business with you."
edited 16th Feb '15 7:46:17 PM by KillerClowns
[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]
"Oh no, I doubt I can convert the currencies directly. So far, I've just accepted all the coin and bill currency directly," he said, "and for the people who have used credit or currency cards, their system did all the conversion for me."
"So, if your chip can do the conversion, then we could certainly try that!" he said, "sorry if there was any misunderstanding."
[Entertainment Hall - Side Building]
"Nope, she didn't ask me for anything at all," Hvpvdqia said, "I don't suppose she could have conned me out of anything, except maybe my time..."
"Hey!" she said, sounding more suspicious, "you're not trying to do that here too, are you?"
[Showcase Hall - Western Amalgamated Tent] (Veneris, Iono, Ksana)
"Maybe it's good because it's synthesized, then?" Iono said, sounding a bit confused, "sorry, I'm not much of an expert, and probably biased."
"This place is quite unfamiliar to me, although this experience has shown that it has plenty of challenges..." she said, trailing off, lost in thought for a moment or two.
"I should probably meet up with Mev and the others, though," she said.
edited 16th Feb '15 10:38:14 PM by Sonzai
Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.
[Market Hall - Tevarian's Booth]
Ghiln tilted her head noncommittally. "Well, I can't be certain, but I suppose it's worth an attempt. My civilization is known for its fairly advanced technology." She wasn't actually that certain it would work, but there wasn't much else she could think of to try, and if it did work that would be a lot of time saved on thinking of an alternative solution.
She reached into the outer layer of her casualrobes and produced the chip; it was small, dark, curved, and as with almost all qrtxian information tech, crystalline. With a friendly smile, she handed it over to Tevarian. I don't really think the chip should work, but let's assume it does for the sake of keeping things moving.
"Do you mind if I ask about some of your other items on display as well?" she said as she waited for the transaction to go through. She pointed with a nod. "That hourglass-shaped object, for example. What's that?"
[Entertainment Hall - Side Building]
Gerrune lowered his head in feigned sorrow. "So you think I am also a con man, my dear? But I always thought I had such a honest face. Is this why I was always the last one to picked for teams in my village growing up?" He sighed. "Alas."
Then he lifted his head and gave Hvpvdqia another grin that exposed lots of sharp teeth. "But to be entirely serious, my employer and I want nothing from you except information. In fact, we'd be willing to offer you something - possibly in a monetary sense, if that's something your, uh, you are concerned with - in exchange for certain services related to the aforementioned want."
[Market Hall — Nhesvrasila, Inc.]
"Well, it does come with instructions," said Shane, "but it's incredibly simple to use. Here." He picked up one of the display models and held it up so Kel could see the on/off switch, currently in the off position. "It's off." He flipped the switch. "It's on." Flip. "Off." Flip. "On." He flared his wings and flipped it one last time. "It doesn't get much simpler than that."
He pulled out a fresh box for Kel and laid it on the counter. "Unfortunately, I don't have any similar products for what you want, so I can't recommend anything more. Sorry."
[Entertainment Hall — Ship of Marvels]
"Ah," said Marion, wincing. "That's gotta... yeah." She cleared her throat. "So were they after the helmet? Or something else? Sounds like, if he had other relics, then that'd be reason enough to go after him and try to nick his stuff. Or did he owe them money?"
[Showcase Hall — Western Amalgamated tent]
"Really?" Ksana asked Iono. Chomp. "Huh. Can't imagine what that's like... using magic and not feeling how it behaves."
She glanced at Veneris. Chomp. "I can imagine. Texture's always a bit tricky. I've had tofu a few times, and it usually tastes fine, but it feels kinda rubbery. This doesn't. Maybe I could feel the difference in a blind test, but not right now." Chomp.
When she heard Iono was thinking about leaving, Ksana added, "Well, I'm fine now, so don't let me stop you." Chomp.
[Camp Leatherneck]
Peter let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Excellent," he said, taking Isaac's hand and shaking vigorously. He squeezed a little, but it wasn't a tough guy squeeze. "Now, pricing. Individual units sell for $250, while we also offer packages of ten, fifty, and a hundred for $2300, $11000, and $20000, respectively. Additionally, every set of ten bought — rounding up — comes with a charging station capable of holding ten grenades at no extra cost. We didn't know how many you'd want, so we have a thousand grenades right at the Fair, and can begin the exchange immediately."
Peter paused for a moment. They'd paid for gold last time, they might do so again. It was certainly within their right, but the higher-ups wouldn't be happy. Unless, maybe... "Now, I understand that one of your employees bought an AFG using gold. Given the nature of the transaction, that is acceptable, but given the liquidity of gold, we'll need to add a ten percent surcharge to any purchases."
Flashbangs run for about $75-$300 per grenade, so this price should be relatively reasonable.
Courtyard- Near Marketplace Entrance
Shay stared as Somlan had a sudden weird look in his eyes and a slight breeze touched her cheek. When he came to she listened as he explained how her power was different than where he came from. When he mentioned the shopping trip and asked if she had been around the fair she smiled, a plan in mind.
"This is my first time in Fair. So I'm not sure where we can find what we need, but since it seems we both wanted to see the marketplace why don't we have a look around? Not only would it give us a chance to see what the Fair is like but who knows, we might be able to find clues." she replied, her tail wagging slowly behind her.
Even if they couldn't find anything in the Marketplace, the Fair had all sorts of areas to explore. Not to mention it attracted people from all over the universe. Surely they could find some sort of clue on Aeron's whereabouts or something about him.
"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"
[Market Hall - Nhesvrasila, Inc.]
Kel nodded at the instructions. "Sounds simple enough to remember," he said somewhat drily. "And that's all right - I just thought it would be worth asking about."
He sent a command, and with a hiss a small section of the armor on his left arm slid open. Reaching into it with his other arm, he pulled a credit chip - small, green, and circular - from it and handed the chip to Shane. Feels kind of weird doing this physically, but I guess setting up a link for this fair would have lots of logistics problems.
"Here you go," he said, and took the box. Assuming there's no other issues, he'll leave after the transaction completes - or now if you don't want to bother writing it.
[Showcase Hall - Ship of Marvels]
Behind her veil, Madame voSudir gave Marion a thoughtful look, dark eyes focusing in concentration. Then she continued her story, shaking her head.
"In fact, events were somewhat more complicated than that. The gangsters had been employed by a very wealthy g'vek - not quite in the galaxy's top six hundred, but up there - to intimidate my contact into working for him to retrieve the aforementioned relics. Sadly, he hadn't reacted well to intimidation, and they were unfortunately trigger-happy, so..." She shook her head.
"Anyway, when I walked into it, I... managed to convince them to let me do the job instead. I can't take too much credit for it beyond the initial meeting, though - their employer had certain issues about the Corinarchi, and orl look a lot closer to humans then some other species, so I think he preferred having me as his agent than some other possibilities who might have been a wiser choice. But another part of those issues - and where the helmet comes in - is that he liked to collect Corinarchi antiquities... some of them apparently very valuable."
[Showcase Hall - Western Amalgamated Tent] (Veneris, Iono, Ksana)
"Dead gods," Veneris muttered. Then, out loud, "wow, I... you have my sympathy, for what little it's worth. But I don't think our universe is quite as unstable as yours... even if..." she bit her lip. "Just a minute. I've got a lot of questions to ask you, but..." she looked over at Ksana, who was clearly taking things even worse.
She headed over to Ksana, and knelt. Nearby, close enough to be comforting without being invasive. (By Maurosian measures, and theirs was a culture that valued personal space.) "I'm terribly sorry," she said, softly. "We should have been more considerate. I'll make sure you've got plenty of room before your friend returns. If there's anything we can do..." she motioned for Iono, who seemed to be doing better, to come closer. Perhaps Ksana and Iono might be able to discuss what they'd seen with each other, because Veneris wasn't entirely sure what was going on.
edited 12th Feb '15 6:26:10 PM by KillerClowns