Nexus Spring Market Fair

[varnished_truths]

Seemingly overnight, one of the grassy areas edging the Forum has been taken over by a spring market and fair. Part state fair, part craft fair, part Renaissance faire, there are attractions for all comers. Tents and booths of every size, shape, and color are lined up more or less tidily, sometimes with wide avenues between them and sometimes with paths skinny enough to crowd a single person. Goods and treats from the far-flung corners of infinity are on display. The general organization has magic and alchemical goods grouped together and slightly separated from the other tents; arts and crafts fill the area around it. Goods such as clothes and jewelry, plants, and vintage and antique items are in the back. Food is front and center, between the entrance and the rides. This is perhaps not an ideal placement.

To one side is a brightly-lit collection of rides and games familiar to anyone who's been to a state fair. A ferris wheel, flying swings, and all manner of reasons to regret that last funnel cake are blaring tinny music and sporting blinking lights. Remember: rides first, then eat. Classic games that test strength, agility, and luck offer plush prizes sure to delight anyone until the fur rubs off. There are also some animal rides near the exit.

In the back of the roughly-fenced-in area are the exhibits. There's a petting zoo with creatures mundane and more exotic, all promised to be tame; practical demonstrations of new magical and technological wonders; a juried art show; and a stage hosting a variety of performers changing on the hour.

((This is an open event. If your character wants to have a booth selling wares or food, set one up. If your character wants to perform or provide other services, go for it! Please note what sort of service you're providing, if any, in the subject line of your top-level comment. Basically, just run with it and have fun!

I offer pictoral inspiration and ask that any pictures used in comments not be more than 300 px tall (and it looks better if you can keep it about the same height as your text). Code to have your text wrap around your picture below.))

<img src="blah.png" height="300" style="border: 0pt none; float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px">

Comments

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

"Impressive," Schön murmurs at the moment he's meant to. But then the tale turns tragic; "ah, now that is a pity. It may be that I could find a host of protections for your Shepard which all play nicely together, but alas, it would not be your own work."

[thepizzalord]

"Honestly, I don't really care whether it's a Dresden original or not, as long as it keeps her from being a crispy critter again." Harry won't let stupid pride get in the way of that. "Some is better than nothing."

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

"Noble sentiment," the thin man murmurs. "Perhaps you could tell me precisely the sorts of protection the lady is likely to need? It would help in making the proper arrangements."

[thepizzalord]

Harry's not used to singling out types of damage; he just goes for protection against everything and adds more as necessary. Though he hasn't been without his blind spots in that regard either. Under the glove on his left hand, the horrible burns attest to that fact. "Energy weapons are around, but she's usually being shot at with kinetic stuff. Then there's good ol' concussion force and fire from explosions."

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

"Mm-hm, mm-hm. Might I ask what you're willing to countenance in the way of cost?"

[thepizzalord]

"Well normally I'd offer potion-brewing or spellcasting in exchange, but sounds like you've already got that covered. Unless there's something I can do that you don't know about." You can never be too careful in the multiverse. There are all kinds of magic that don't exist in certain places.

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

"I am never averse to being owed services by another mage," Schön admits. "Your mention of temporal magics intrigue me, but I believe you also said that was one of your precious Council's taboos." It's not usually good business to make the asking price for something an eventual execution--although some people will take it even so.

"Perhaps you could tell me a little bit about what you can do, sir Warder, that I might judge the value of your work?"

[thepizzalord]

"Back when I was still in Chicago, I worked as a paranormal investigator," Harry says, and he manages to find one of his very few remaining business cards in the pocket of his duster. It's battered and creased, but still readable. "Anything a detective can do, I can do better. I'm also an expert at blowing stuff up or setting it on fire," he adds with a grin.

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

Schön takes the card, looking it over. With deft fingers, he's managed to replace it with one of his own, a matte white card with black embossed letters reading "Schön W. Freund" and under that, "Entrepreneur," underneath which a string of digits, probably a PINPoint, is printed in clear gloss, only becoming visible when the card is held at the proper angle to light.

Reading over Harry's card, he murmurs quietly to himself, "no love potions, good, good. Ah, and one of the older-model PINPoints, very nice." Tucking the card into a pocket and looking up to Harry again, he offers, "I think we may be able to reach an agreement. Would Favors owed be an acceptable currency?"

[thepizzalord]

He tries very hard not to react outwardly to that, but questions like that get his hackles up. "Depends on whether or not there are limits," he answers carefully. He's been burned by way too many deals with Fae to agree to that right off the bat.

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

Caution among mages promising Favors is not only to be expected, but commended. Schön appears unruffled by Harry's wary reply. "What limits would you prefer were set?"

[thepizzalord]

Oh boy, he's never been very good at this. Loopholes are the bane of his existence, and he's not a lawyer or anything, so he has to choose his words carefully. "No asking me to kill anyone, or compromise the Laws of Magic or my morals, for a start. My life and soul, and those of the people I care about, are not on the table either. And no selling the debt to someone else," he adds, recalling the rather unfortunate fact that Queen Mab owns his debt to the Leansidhe now. Thank goodness they're in different universes. Supposedly.

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

Most of those don't seem to faze Schön, but he gives an irritated sigh at the "morals" clause. "I'm afraid I need to challenge your demand that nothing conflict with your morals. I don't know your morals, so you could simply refuse any job you dislike and claim it as moral grounds."

[thepizzalord]

"Well yeah, I thought we were still negotiating. I wasn't just gonna leave it like that and expect you to agree," Harry says, looking a little wounded that Schön might think he's that blatantly naive.

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

"My challenging that requirement is also part of the negotiation," Schön points out. "So, if you would, please, define the boundaries of your morals? Better to sort it out now than quibble over questions of default later."

[thepizzalord]

"I won't do something that hurts women or kids. And I'd rather not get involved with religious artifacts and stuff like that." He's already dealt with that enough, at this stage. "Also if I'm on a mission, any favor's gotta wait until we're done. Mission meaning actively going planetside, not just cruising space."

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

Schön weighs those options, then nods thoughtfully. "I can accept those. Anything else?"

[thepizzalord]

Harry has this annoying nagging feeling that he's forgetting something important, but nothing's coming to mind. "I guess that's it."

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

"Very well. I can agree to the boundaries of a Favor. The question then becomes, how many Favors are you willing to owe?"

[thepizzalord]

"I guess that depends on how good the spellwork is," Harry answers carefully. "Favors are pretty big stuff."

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

"And the quality of the spellwork will depend upon how much you are willing to pay for it," the thin man counters crisply. "Protection is a big thing, too."

[thepizzalord]

Harry grimaces. Hell's Bells, he hates bargaining. "For something exceptional, three Favors." That's a huge amount, by his universe's reckoning.

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

"Three Favors, for something exceptional?" The thin man gives a quiet "tsk," noting, "they shall need to be exceptional Favors. I will brook no quibbling, no whining, when I come to collect."

[thepizzalord]

This is sooo going to get him into trouble down the road. "You make that sound so ominous."

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

"I've merely grown weary of mortals who renege on their bargains," he admits, by way of explanation. "Now, let me think; I know of a cloak woven of threads spun from a starless night, with which a thief stole their name from the tongues of their foes and the pages of the Book of the Dead. It grants scant enough protection from blows that land, but so terribly few ever can. Or there is the jeweled breastplate of Monika the Gregarious, who wore her beauty like armor and her armor like beauty, and grew more radiant the more beset she became. Or perhaps you would prefer the Nine Rings of Athlastan, a set of magic jewels which, taken together, protect from so many forms of harm--steel and flame, frost and storm, the clenching hand of death itself. Do any of those sound to your liking?"