tushanshu_logs | [EVENT] YARD SALE

[EVENT] YARD SALE

Characters: Come one, come all!
Date: June 3rd - June 8th
Location: The City of Keeliai
Situation: To welcome the warm weather, the kedan are hosting a city-wide yard sale! Buy, sell, trade, haggle to your heart's content.
Warnings/Rating: Shouldn't need any, but please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

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A few tenured Foreigners might remember the last instance of a city-wide yard sale from three years prior, but to most, this will be new. In an effort to raise spirits, capitalize on the near-perfect weather, and just make a few spare juulan, the kedan are turning the city into a maze of hastily erected stalls and tables, where everything from kitschy handcrafts to illicit illustrations, to nebulous inventions that may or may not actually do anything, are being sold. In a way, it's a little bit of clearing the air between kedanese neighbours.

Despite the currently cool view on the Foreigners by the kedan, they'll be able to get fair prices and full selection all across the city for the Yard Sale, and they'll be just as encouraged to set up a spot and sell something of their own, even if it's simple.

It's the spirit of the thing, after all.

FIRE SECTOR

The extravagance of the Sector remains evident even in something as low-key as a street sale, and because of that, many an enterprising kedan are flocking to the district to see if they can score some really high-end items for very little cash - items such as jewelry, merchandise from the spas that dot the Sector, and many other luxury items. Some of these are bought up with the likely intention to be resold at higher rates later, but no one seems bothered by that probability.

Some of the numerous brothels have placed scantily-clad "saleskedan" outside their doorsteps, who are surprisingly glib about advertising their services. It's widely understood that it's a look-not-touch demonstration though, and anyone who makes an unwelcome move is likely to get a headslap from the nearest person. Liquor houses, on the other hand, are offering finger shots of their prized blends, with bottles available for purchase as well.

Haggling over prices is expected here and approached with the excitement of a gambling challenge! In fact, some sellers may just bet the purchase on whether you can guess the correct outcome of a coin flip, a high-or-low card draw, or even something that looks like roulette, except with a rainbow of colours instead of numbers.

EARTH SECTOR

Clothing and textiles are the key items being sold in this district, with a special emphasis on detailed beadwork, leather tooling, and precisely coloured weaving. A few of the clothing merchants are holding a competition of "who can copy a Foreigner's outfit most exactly" and the wise would encourage this, if only to get a copy or two of hard to replace items. The results will be sold at a discount to interested parties, but tipping for acknowledgment of their skill is generally expected and widely appreciated.

Other types of items being sold are pottery, of both the functional and decorative types, and stoneware like statuary. If you're looking for a replica of a carved idol back home, this is the place to commission it.

The kedan here are less receptive to haggling, simply because their stubborn natures clash with the objective. They'll budge a little, but underbidding them by too much will turn them sour and grumpy.

METAL SECTOR

Here is where the majority of quirky inventions are showing up, some useless and some genuinely helpful. The Metalworkers have already cleared everything being sold here as non-proprietary, so there won't be anything groundbreaking as far as technology goes, but a lot of the items are more geared toward personal conveniences than anything really high-tech.

For some bizarre reason, the most prominent thing for sale in the Metal Sector are clocks. Every kind of clock one could think of has found its way to the streets and stalls. Clocks for every occasion: a clock that will chime only once every fourth Tuesday but otherwise keeps perfect time. A clock that will chime in the morning if it's going to rain, or at night if you should drink an extra glass of water before bed. Clocks that are counting down to the next time you're going to have a streak of bad luck. And newly popular, clocks that are counting down to the turtle's sinking.

Kedan in this Sector are fairly ambivalent to haggling; they will, but they don't usually initiate it. They are pretty defensive of their inventions however, so calling their wares useless or similar will probably end up raising the price, just so they can try and make it go to someone who'll appreciate their genius!

WATER SECTOR

It’s almost possible to have a full meal in this Sector without spending a single julaan, such are the free samples on every corner. The delicious smells encompass hundreds of different types of food, simple or complex, prepared or fresh, all sold from market stalls lining the streets and canals. If a particular specialty takes your fancy, you can always buy a large amount at a low price to take home - or you can eat it right there. It’s not uncommon to see families of kedan holding impromptu picnics in parks, or even occasionally in the middle of the streets.

Foreigners will be welcomed here, as chefs and bakers leap on the opportunity to test their delicacies on Foreign tongues and palates. Some chefs might even offer Foreigners the chance to work for them for the day as glorified food-tasters, making sure whatever they cook is suitable for selling to other Foreigners.

With so many free samples available (and almost forced on to unsuspecting passersby), haggling is seen as bad form in the Water Sector. It’s certainly possible, but don’t expect to make any friends while doing it. Oh, and watch out for the sea prunes. They may smell divine and cost a single julaan for a full bag, but they taste disgusting and will result in minor cases of food poisoning for the Foreigners.

WOOD SECTOR

Like in the Water Sector, a lot of the market stalls lining these streets sell food. Unlike the Water Sector, this food is rarely prepared. Most of it is produce either bought from, or being sold by, the Woodsmen - fruits and vegetables grown outside the city. Some of the Foreigners might recognise it as a kind of outdoor grocery store or a large farmer’s market.

Also being sold in Wood Sector is furniture, usually carved from - you guessed it - wood. Some of it is crudely carved, made to look natural and to add a touch of the outdoors to any kedan’s home, whereas others are very delicately and intricately carved to mimic interesting patterns or perhaps even particular animals and places in the city. Chairs, boxes, chests, figurines, tables, shelves, even small beds - these have all been made with long hours and large amounts of skill, making the practice of haggling a delicate one, and not undertaken lightly.

There are also a disproportionate amount of stationary stores selling things like black charcoal, blank journals and books, and thick parchment. They’re willing to sell entire batches for ridiculously low prices.

SKY SECTOR

The newly built Sky Sector has been quickly establishing itself as the art hub of Keeliai, angrily dismissed by those kedan who consider the worth of craftsmanship to be in the usefulness of the finished product, and happily embraced by those kedan with self-described ‘old souls’ and the ability to see life in a slightly different way. The new art studios in Sky Sector are using the yard sale to advertise; they’ve set up a large and grandiose outdoor gallery to show off the various types of art, ranging from small abstract paintings and jewelry to large statues and dedications. The smaller objects are frequently given away to anyone admiring them; many might leave the gallery with a small pair of free earrings or a frame carefully wrapped in paper.

These kedan will quite happily haggle over any of the larger pieces, and they seem to have a particular interest in doing so with Foreigners. They almost make a game out of it; talking as fast as if the gallery was an auction, deliberately trying to confuse and obfuscate. They’ll be delighted by any Foreigner capable of keeping up, and may even gift them the piece in question with no further haggling required.

CENTRAL KEELIAI

The center of Keeliai is, in many ways, a mish-mash of everything all the other Sectors are selling, with one notable exception: coupons. Businesses across the city make sure to have a table or a stall in Central, where their advertisements can reach a greater number of people - and one of the easiest ways to advertise is to hand out free coupons! These coupons vary as widely as the businesses handing them out do, but they all give the bearer discounts on the stated goods/services, and all coupons remain good for weeks after the yard sale ends. A single twenty-minute walk through Central can net you enough coupons to fill a decent-sized book.

In the spirit of neighbourly forgiveness, a small group of kedan are walking through Central and offering coupons good for an entire Sector, or for a particular chain of restaurants across the city, rather than just one business. They’re loathe to offer these to Foreigners, but will reluctantly do so if pressed. Unfortunately, if Foreigners try to use these coupons after the yard sale ends, they’ll quickly discover not all of the ‘participating’ businesses were informed of their participation - though most store and restaurant proprietors will honour the coupon anyway, just so they don’t develop a reputation of going back on their promises.

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OOC: The descriptions of the various sectors are only a guideline, and many other items can be found for sale all over the place. The only thing that's definitively banned everywhere are the sales of weapons and drugs.

If you haven't posted to and been approved on this thread regarding your character finding a possession of theirs, please do so before having them (or someone else, whichever way you want to do it) discover the object(s)!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A.

[He's overdone it on the coupons.

To be fair, they're practically throwing them at him in Central, but then he gets it in his head to collect as many of them as possible in the morning and it sort of...spirals out of control. He's never been a shopper, but the idea of cheap stuff rears its head and the craze overtakes him like a soccer mom with a newspaper and some scissors. He sorts them by district and then darts off with his pockets stuffed to spend the day taking advantage of the sales he can find.

And at first, it's fine.

Then he starts noticing the merchants getting a little huffy with him. He ignores it at first, and gets pushy when they get worse, and when he realizes what's going on he switches tactics, puts on a doe-eyed stuttering act to look innocent. But they gave it to him in Central and golly gee, he didn't know these weren't for foreigners! He's only trying to feed his starving family/air condition his tiny, cramped apartment/insert suitably tragic tearjerker reason here.

It's fine up until he tries to pawn a mini-freezer off a guy in Metal and gets recognized as "that kid on the network who wanted to open the shop," at which point you'll find him darting out the front door, skipping the first two steps with angry shouting following him out. Whoops.]

B.

[You have no idea what he's going to do with all that food, one kid couldn't possibly eat all that, especially not a kid Hiro's size - and yet there he is, with a backpack and an armful of miscellaneous samples he's squirreled away from the vendors or things he's actually bought. Sausage, some bottles of spices, a sack of something that's probably flour, whatever passes for a tomato equivalent around here -

And a goddamn lot of cheese. What the hell is he doing with all that cheese.]

C.

[He fights some kid over Megabot's controller, because holy shit that's his and he made it himself and you can't even use it, anyway, asshole -

He emerges victorious eventually. He also emerges filthy with dirt, mussed hair and a split lip, but he's got the controller and it's his and he throws his hands in the air and whoops while a sullen Kedan child skulks away in defeat. He's just lucky the kid wasn't bigger than him. You might find him just after this.]

D.

[A little while later, though, and you may run across a more somber Hiro, holding a red toy robot in his hands and absently brushing a thumb over the white feather marked on its chest. The corner of his mouth quirks upward, half a smile, and he lets out a soft breath that's almost a laugh.

Stupid.]

{ OOC; Feel free to switch to prose if that's easier for you! }

[It's all a bit of a blur, trying to take everything in at once. One minute, her only nephew is headed off to register for college while she works her café. The next minute, she's waking up in a whole completely different dimension wearing a second turquoise necklace that she's told to never take off because it binds her soul to this world.

And she wouldn't believe any of it if it wasn't for the fact that she, very clearly, is no longer on Earth. It's not the architecture so much as those around her. They're... clearly not human. Very clearly not human.

For the first time since practically forever, Cass has a moment to breathe, and she's not quite sure how to handle it. She doesn't have a café to run anymore, and she doesn't have her nephew--and it's the second that concerns her so much more than the first. She had just lost Tadashi, and now to effectively lose Hiro, too... And Mochi. She was going to miss everything. But it was better off they were back home where things were normal.

Except that wasn't quite true, because luck would have it that she wasn't alone--and just merely needed to have some way of realizing that. She only has a chance to begin to sigh, finally starting to accept that she's alone when Hiro whoops.

Her eyes go wide. Cass knows that voice. She rushes through the crowd, apologizing as she bumps into a few Kedan on her way towards the direction of that voice. He might not be there for long, and she doesn't want to lose him.]

Hiro! Hiro!

[Hiro's victory is short-lived. For all the thrill of adrenaline still rushing through him, the surge of elation because yes, he has Megabot's controller back now, he freezes in place at the sound of his name and the voice it's coming from.

He doesn't know whether to panic or continue to be elated because now that's two things important to him he's just rediscovered.]

Aunt Cass? [He spins on his heel, dropping the controller in his shock, and yep - there she is charging toward him, a reversal of when he'd chased her down at the festival over a month ago.] Aunt Cass!

[He pauses a second to grab the controller off the ground (no way is he forgetting that) and then he's practically tripping over himself to meet her halfway, out of breath and running a hand through his already-messy hair.

He pulls up short at the last second, a look of terror flashing across his face as he remembers his split lip, but all he can really do is hurriedly wipe away the trickle of blood on his sleeve and hope she doesn't notice.]

You came back!

[She's relieved when she hears him calling back. Cass had been worried about losing him--rationally, she could have tracked him down, but that doesn't stop her from worrying at the moment in a strange and confusing city. There are other things that she will worry about later, but for now, she needs to see that he is safe.

It isn't long before she spots his hair first, almost lost in the crowd. She catches sight of the rest of him as she finally breaks through the crowd, but she can't take too much stock if his condition, still focused on getting to him.

So for this moment--and only this moment--Hiro is lucky enough that when she reaches him, she pulls him into a hug. For better or worse, she also doesn't immediately comprehend what he said. Nope, she has to squeeze the life out of her nephew, first. Then she'll kill him for the split lip. Maybe.]

I'm so sorry, sweetie! I didn't know you were here....

[She should have looked for her boy instead of wandering around lost herself. Hiro's a very resourceful young man, but that doesn't change a thing. Cass still has a responsibility to him as his aunt.

And she's so very relieved to find him in one piece.

... But from the sounds of it, well, Hiro might have some concerns of his own. There's some memories that have gone by the wayside. Namely every single one that she had made here previously.

There's so much more that she doesn't know.]

You what?

[For a moment, she almost sounds like Tadashi when he'd shown up at the hotel finally, and Hiro's so confused trying to register what she means by it he doesn't even have time to be relieved she hasn't noticed the split lip or the dirt or the rest of his mess. For the moment, he lets her get her hug time in, though he squirms in her grip and cranes his neck trying to get a better look at - is that a soul gem? He's never known his Aunt to wear two necklaces at once.

He hasn't met anybody who came and went and came back again, that he knows of; he knows time does funny things here but still, this is new and weird and a little alarming.]

No, no, but you were here before - and then you weren't - and now you have a soul gem? I think? You didn't before - [Even with his arms clamped at his sides, he still fidgets with his hands and...oh god.] Please tell me you remember.

[Hiro doesn't pull away, but he squirms in her grip in uncharacteristically. Uncharacteristically because it's not the reaction of a teenager that's suddenly decided that hugs are for children, but because there's a nervous energy about him, on the verge of panic. Not the usual "oh god I'm gonna get in trouble" panic but something deeper. Especially in his voice.

Cass might not be able to read Hiro like a book like Tadashi, but she can read him well enough to know something is wrong. Well, why wouldn't they be? He's trapped in another world, which she wouldn't believe if it wasn't for the proof all around them.

And what he does say gets her to pull back in confusion to look at him with her hands resting on his upper arms, and she takes in the dirt, busted lip, and hair messed up even more than normal. Now had this been a normal situation, she would settle on the correct conclusion that Hiro had been in a fight. But no, Hiro is acting unsure enough and she is feeling unsure and lost herself that she interprets it as something more like back when he was bullied in school. Not quite, but the general situation is close enough.

As for what Hiro says about her being here before, Cass has no memory of it. She looks confused and worried, and after a few attempts, she just shakes her head. Nope, no memory of this place.]

I don't remember being here, but--

[Her right hand comes off his arm to briefly touch the larger, deeper colored turquoise necklace to acknowledge she has a soul gem, but she can't finish that sentence because her hand is already moving to try and touch his cheek. Cass drops the other subjects for the moment because this is the most important part of the conversation:]

Are you okay? You're not living on the streets, are you? Hiro, your lip....

[And if she's allowed to touch his cheek, she'll smooth her thumb across it. This moment is immediately followed by a second hug. Hiro might be fourteen now, but there are so many things that could happen to even an older boy in such a strange new city. Seeing him safe means that her imagination doesn't have to go wild with a parent's worst fears.]

I'm fine, Aunt Cass, it's nothing -

[But he has this sinking feeling she forgot, as he says it, and it shows on his face. He shouldn't be surprised, with the way things work coming to and from this place, but still...ooooh does he not want to have to go through this again. Disbelief. Crying. Yelling -

At least Tadashi knows this time. That hasn't changed. Maybe this time will be easier...maybe it'll be better. And maybe, with the soul gem, she'll stay longer.

He takes her wrist in his hand with a sad little smile, but doesn't tug her away just yet.]

Better than fine. And I am not a hobo. I do have a place to stay, and no it's not a box, it's a house with house stuff in it and I'm staying there with -

[- and he pauses for a second, and winces, before letting it all out in a rush because may as well get it over with -]

- with Professor Callaghan, and Tadashi.

[No need to ask this time how long she's been here or what's the last thing she remembers at home; her reaction should tell him all he needs to know.]

[Oh, good. Good. He's got someplace to stay at least. Which is good work for a fourteen year old boy on his first day in a strange new place. ... Except it didn't sound that way, from what he had said before. It sounds more like he has been here a while. Which is impossible. Or at the very least very confusing. She's in another world, after all. And this whole soul gem business is just--well. Cass isn't sure that she believes it, but she doesn't want to risk it and take her second necklace off.

Her relief is very short-lived. What comes out of Hiro's mouth is even more impossible. Cass's eyes widen and her mouth opens in a little 'o', and her thought. Just. Stop.

She forgets how to breathe as her stomach flips and her heart starts to hammer. Cass slowly begins to be able to think. It's got to be a joke. Hiro has to be joking. Her brows furrow, trying to understand.

But, no. Cass knows her nephew better than that. Hiro was so devastated about losing Tadashi that joking about this? And why would he add Callaghan as part of it? Telling her a lie so easily discovered as false? It isn't like him. Or really, it isn't lie him to lie about something like that.

She's too quiet as she tries to bridge the gap between what should be reality and what Hiro just told her. Her responses are always fast, instantaneous honest responses that don't need to be filtered. Usually. Recently, she's been having to force cheer around her nephew, trying to help nudge him to pick back up the pieces and go on with his life.

Her mouth downturns--but not in a frown. Cass's lower lip quivers just slightly before she presses her lips together to stop it. Her eyelids droop lower over her now glassy eyes. It hurts. Tadashi's been dead for weeks, and it still hurts. It'll still hurt months and years later. Hiro was a troublemaker, bud he wasn't cruel. Why would he say something like that to her?

Maybe he's lost it? Maybe this place has broken him? Or maybe he has a fever. But an entire house?

Hiro's Aunt doesn't know what to think. The only thing she can settle on is that his statement has her well and truly upset. It's hurt her. Cass slowly lowers herself onto her knees so she can look at his face better, not removing her hand, only turning it against his skin so the position isn't comfortable. She reaches her other, now trembling hand, to cup Hiro's other cheek, pressing both hands a little more firmly against his face. It takes her working her mouth three times before she can speak, and her voice comes out weak when she does, barely able to get her nephew's name out.]

H-Hiro....

[She sucks in a breath. Her voice is a bit steadier, but the volume still isn't there.]

Why would you say such a thing?

[It isn't accusatory. No, it's worse. She's in very clear pain--pain that she's been trying to hide from her nephew who was grieving over the big brother that was always there for him.

Cass isn't going to let herself hope because it's impossible. There's no way. It can't be real. Tadashi is gone because he tried to rescue Callaghan and the building exploded. It's impossible....]

[Well, that answers that question. Hiro's mouth turns down in a tight frown, and this time he does pull away, because now he needs some space.]

I'm not making this up -

[There's a little desperation that inches into his voice, but mostly it's just resignation and drooping shoulders. He guesses he deserves this, he's earned his reputation for being a liar and a troublemaker, at least with his family, but it still hurts that not once but twice she doesn't believe him, even when he's trying to tell the truth. He's not trying to upset her; he's not trying to make things worse, but somehow it keeps happening anyway.

Great going, Hiro.

He steels himself and shoves the feelings somewhere he can ignore them, reminding himself that it'll be worth it, in the end, when he can make her understand. When she sees Tadashi's really alive and okay here.]

You didn't believe me last time, either, but he's here and he's alive and okay and - [He lets out a frustrated, quiet noise.] - and you probably won't believe me this time, too.

[So he's not even going to explain, this time. He's going to back up a couple steps to give himself some space before she tries to grab him, or something, and he's going to fish out his handset and dial his brother and prove it. Once this is done he holds the radio out at arm's length for her, brow knit tightly in determination.]

You talk to him.

OTA

C

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And then I realized my email reply borked my HTML. Whoops.

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A (backdated to before Cass' arrival, hmm?)

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B.

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