Event | Landfall | Bresilyk | Markutte

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and all!
Date: December 3 - 11, 2013
Location: Markutte, Bresilyk (landfall)
Situation: Tu Vishan makes landfall at the winterbound republic of Bresilyk!
Warnings/Rating: Please include warnings in comment subject lines

OOC Post | Approved Items | Special Gifts
Aihsohlow | Phorezton | Markutte | Countryside

The commerce town of the tried. Temperatures within the dome are kept at a lofty 18C (62F) year round and the population of Markutte dresses less in furs and more in linens obtained through trade. Their long hair is frequently shorn short in the current fashion and they are, on the whole, less hardy than their kin in Phorezton and Aihsohlow, but even more friendly as they are currently in the throes of the Harvest Haul, a festival that concludes their rare growing seasons and agricultural bounties.

Trade. That's the foundation of Markutte and there are three town squares that are home to transient stalls and merchandise from the country and all surviving areas of Konryu. Many kedan have made their way here and occupy the occasional stall space, selling their wares and exchanging gifts with the citizens as they grasp the nature of the festival underway. Once again, visitors that make the trek here are expected to donate a gift that will be regifted at random, earning access and a stamp of their tin visa that resembles the oblong crystal coin used as currency in this realm.

Police are on the lookout for financial crimes here and will demand visas of any they suspect to be committed fraud, short-selling merchants, or thieving in any way, shape, or form. There are three vistas, one in each market square, upon which heralds stand and announce the crimes and punishments noted of the previous day. Minor theft is common and the punishment is a brand upon the criminal's neck; major theft results in a loss of a finger for each item stolen; fraud here is punishable by death, but only twice will there be an announcement of an execution during the landfall.

The auctions here are quite lively and characters can expect a minor bidding war to obtain their items, but each item is in pristine condition and provided to them wrapped within a thin set of furs as a thanks for their purchase.

Customs | Settlement | Auctions | Harvest Haul | Other

Comments

CUSTOMS

[ironwood]

Markutte revels in trade and, as such, is less stringent about its customs requirements than nearby Phorezton and even Aihsohlow. The city employs fifty officials at four separate access points to the dome, one to each of the cardinal directions. Questions of purpose are light and friendly, focusing on seeking out merchants and processing their lists on inventories to ensure that the local sales taxes can be properly calculated prior to items hitting the market. They prefer to see newer items contributed as a Harvest Haul gift before stamping a tin visa with a shape which resembles the oblong crystal coin used as local currency. While customs is a twenty-four operation here, there are long lines seeking access and parties should expect to wait for up to ten hours to get into the city; however, there are numerous parties walking up and down the lines with the offer of hot chocolate to keep them warm -- if they but listen to an advertising spiel for the companies that have sponsored this beverage round.

Closed; Isabeau

[alphatar]

“Gift donation?” It was a demand phrased as a question by the police officer at the entrance to Markutte. Even after walking all this way, some have been turned away because they forgot to bring something as a tribute to be regifted later.

This was a tradition that Korra wasn’t exactly fond of. It had an imbalance to it that lightly brushed against a nerve. Still, she rolled her eyes and held up a brown and tan fur scarf. “Tribble fur.” Korra explained as she crossed her arms, the surprise on the officer’s face when he took it improved her mood a little. Having dealt with animal furs most of her life thanks to life at the South Pole, Korra could safely say that fur was softer than any other creature they could come across.

“You may enter.” He reached over to stamp her tin visa. Korra actually stuck around to see if the next person could get in. While she didn’t recognize the girl with the brown hair and blue coat, Korra had seen her leave Tu Vishan along some of the other foreigners and she was ready to offer one of her hand made goods in case she forgot to bring something.

A sense of looking out for a fellow Keeliai citizen, as well as just being a good person the way the Avatar should behave. That and she had waited three hours to get in, she’s not about to let someone get turned away after waiting just as long.

[ironface]

Isabeau had found out about the gifts beforehand, and her biggest problem was making sure she had anything to give. She'd had a few small relics in her coat pocket when she got here; when she was leaving she took what looked like the most valuable one and hoped for the best.

When it's her turn, she presents it in the fashion she'd seen others do. "A relic." She doesn't know exactly what it is or what it does, being from Tokyo, and she's hoping he doesn't ask. Today's her lucky day, it seems, and he stamps her visa.

She makes her way through, stowing her visa, and catching the eye of the girl who'd been in front of her. Isabeau recognizes her, having seen her on the network, and gives her a small smile.

[alphatar]

Seeing them stamp her visa satisfied Korra and smiled back. Once they were allowed access, the warmth of the dome was a welcome change from the frigid temperatures outside.

"Can you believe that?" Korra pulled her hood down and stretched out her arms in front of her. It had been a long wait in line and now her space was unrestricted. "But some places are just different I guess. Korra by the way." She held out a hand, her fingerless sleeved glove covering her entire palm. "I waited to see if you might have needed something to give them."

[ironface]

Noticing the outstretched hand, she tries to hurry, though the cold is making her gauntlet uncooperative. She can't have good luck all the time, but she winces internally at leaving Korra hanging. "I thought I wouldn't, at first. Thank you for waiting."

Finally, she grasps Korra's hand firmly. "Isabeau. It's a pleasure."

[alphatar]

Firm handshake right off the bat, that's something Korra definitely appreciates and her grip is the same. Despite the cold, her hands are warm.

"No problem. I just think it's kind of a harsh thing to do, especially if people are coming here to spend money. Not every day we get to walk on something that's not Tu Vishan, you know?"

[ironface]

She almost laughs out loud; three sentences in and Korra already reminds her of one of her best friends. She catches herself, and nods.

"Is this the only place that requires a gift?"

[alphatar]

The laugh is unexpected, but Korra doesn’t fazed by it. In fact it makes her smirk. "No, they all do. Every time you come in too, not just a one time only thing. So if you’re planning on visiting a lot, be ready. I’m just going to get all my Christmas shopping done here in one trip if I can."

[ironface]

That was good to know, for future reference, and Isabeau's about to thank her before....

"Christmas shopping?"

[alphatar]

A knowing smile came across Korra's face as she heard the curious question, it's one she empathized with.

"Yeah, Christmas is on the twenty-fifth of this month- at least I think that's the date. Anyway, people give their friends and family presents for it around a decorated tree." When she mentions the tree, Korra just gave a shrug of her shoulders, she had no exact idea why that was.

"So buying from here while Tu Vishan stays is what I'm doing. There's got to be good stuff that isn't on Keeliai." Like her car.

[ironface]

She nods. Interesting. There's a lot of things here that she'd never thought about, be it from here or from other worlds. Gift-giving on certain days is definitely one of those things.

"I hope you can find everything you're looking for. Is that a tradition native to this world?"

[alphatar]

"Not in Keeliai. A lot of the foreigners come from places that have it. Besides everyone getting gifts for each other, there’s this big guy called North- or Santa Claus" She gives a hapless hand gesture, they apparently meant the same person. Why everyone couldn’t just pick one name was beyond her. "And on the night before Christmas, he leaves presents for kids to find in the morning."

It still sounds a little weird to Korra, but Jack’s confirmed that so she totally believes it.

[ironface]

She smiles as Korra tells it. That kind of thing, she wondered if stories like that were still in Tokyo. They certainly weren't in Mikado.

"That doesn't sound like a demon I've met. It's a good story, though. I wish we had one like that back home."

[alphatar]

"Me too. That would have been nice to have when I was growing up." A lot of things would have, even something as simple as friends. The mention of a demon didn’t get under Korra's radar, and she had to ask “You’ve run into demons?”

[ironface]

She starts; sometimes it's easy to forget that not everyone has common dealings with them.

"Oh, yes, all the time. Back home I'm a Samurai, tasked with protecting... Tokyo, now. Demons are, or were, our enemies, or our allies if we could befriend them."

[alphatar]

"Sounds like spirits to me. Have you found any since you arrived on Tu Vishan?" Being sensitive to spirits was one thing, but demons- well, Korra wasn’t sure how that would relate to her connection.

[ironface]

She shakes her head. "I haven't, though I haven't actively been looking. Have any appeared here before?" The ones she has would tell her if there was something she needed tot take notice of, though she can't help but think she's abandoning her duty.

[alphatar]

Scratching her head, Korra thought back on her time on Tu Vishan. Nothing but one instance sprang to mind, and even then she was unsure. Tilting her head to the side and lifting her shoulders, Korra offered "There was this satellite thing from space that crashed. They had these spectres in them. Lightning really did the trick on them, but I don’t think they were demons."

That was not too long after she arrived, so everything before that that might qualify was out of her reach.

"Sorry." Why she felt like she needed to apologize for not knowing, Korra wasn’t too sure of that either.

[ironface]

"No, don't be."Spirits are demons, as far as she's concerned; anything not human is. " I doubt we'd notice the same things, being from different world."

Spectres, though? That certainly piqued her interest. They could be nasty - at least, she remembers, back in her world. "It sounds like an interesting story."

[alphatar]

"It was- a total disaster actually." Thankfully no flaming chunks of metal have rained throughout Keeliai since, but Korra knew now that it could happen.

"Spirits being demons though," She raised an eyebrow with a grin. "you may want to ask what they think." Korra said there weren't any demons, but she didn't say a thing about spirits.

[ironface]

Isabeau starts, then laughs, then -

"Did I accidentally insult them?"

[alphatar]

"I don’t know, I’m not one." Not yet. Well, she was connected with her spiritual self so the statement’s not entirely true.

"You’d have to ask Jack Frost." Giving a coy smirk, Korra looked at Isabeau from the corners of her eyes.