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nexus_sages2016-04-01 11:31 am
varnished_truths) wrote in nexus_sages2016-04-01 11:31 am
Entry tags:
Nexus Spring Market Fair
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.))
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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?"
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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?"
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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."
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"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."
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Schön weighs those options, then nods thoughtfully. "I can accept those. Anything else?"
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"Very well. I can agree to the boundaries of a Favor. The question then becomes, how many Favors are you willing to owe?"
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"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."
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"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."
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"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?"
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"There is also the possibility of some custom work, if you're willing to wait. I know of a mage who binds potent magic in ink. and bestows them on the willing by way of tattoo. You might name the protections and enhancements you desire, that way, although some patience would of course be needed."
"If you prefer the rings, I can make delivery tomorrow. Today, as you can see, I am bound to mind the store."
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"Of course. Take your time, think it over," the thin man assures him. "I'm often in the Nexus, and certainly not difficult to find."
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