tushanshu_logs | Event

Event | Yard Sale!

Characters: Come one, come all!
Date: July 21st - July 27th
Location: The City of Keeliai
Situation: The rationing is officially lifted and the kedan are celebrating by conducting one citywide yard sale! Think big! Think small! Think tribbles! Think all!
Warnings/Rating: Tribbles. Lots of tribbles. Please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

The morning of the 21st kicks off with heralds roving about the city of Keeliai to declare that the rationing edict has been lifted and that citizens no longer have to contribute one-fifth of their productions (juulan or physical goods) to the communal stores maintained by the police force. These announcements trigger a state of celebration across the city as kedan drag months worth of hoarded items to the street to sell, steal, or trade in a wave of mercantile goodness that stretches for nearly a week. Not even the rising tide of tribbles seems to dampen their spirit, with kedan citywide finding new and inventive uses for the fuzzy paperweights.

Characters are free to do as they will during this event, with police oversight relaxed in the aftermath of the long rationing and strained relations. Impromptu sales out of suites will rarely be inspected and purchase made elsewhere are no longer monitored. Everyone is taking a breath of fresh air, so to speak, and most do not want their first fun in months to be ruined.

OOC: See the OOC announcement for details and this post for subheaders in which you may ~~wreak havoc~~ celebrate the lifting of the rationing. Feel free to start your own thread header if you like! <3

Fire Sector | Earth Sector | Metal Sector | Water Sector | Wood Sector | Other

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ That grin is okay in this context. She'll be okay with it. Though the "boss" gets a mental eyeroll. Seriously, Kyle. Seriously. She's going to be stuck liking him or something if he keeps it up. ]

Thank you.

[ Moving off down the street, letting him pull the trolley. She has no clue what it really is and there's no way she'll touch a foreign object like that.

A bit of a way down she stops at a stall, talking with the old kedan running it. It's pretty clear from their conversation ("Oh, hello, I was hoping you would show up, I've got a series here that you'll like.") that she's a regular at his normal store. She even ends up with a pretty clearly discounted price, and walks away with another five books, her arms once again full. ]

I am finished now.

How fast do you read?

[There's a note of wonder in the question, he's been watching her movements and conversations carefully (hey, he might act like a dork, but he's not completely clueless). This is a lot of books and she doesn't seem to stop wanting more of them...]

As fast as I can.

[ It comes out quickly, clearly the automatic reflex of a slightly too clever child. There's a moment pause where she almost looks a bit guilty for her (almost not quite) sass and then gives a more proper reply. ]

Depending on the density and complexity of the text I would guess that I read anywhere between five hundred and nine hundred words per minute.

[He doesn't even bat an eyelid, just whistles in approval. Child prodigies aren't new to him, even if he feels a little sad they're deprived of a childhood.]

What kind of books do you like, usually?

[He could deduce from the trolley, but he prefers to hear it from her.]

[ Her childhood lasted all of a few days. It's a tale of woe. ]

Very occasionally there are books on mathematics. Those are my favorite. It is interesting to see how these people discovered mathematics similarly and differently than where I am from.

[ There aren't any mathematics books on the trolley, just a completely random assortment of books. Some are histories, some poetry of varying kinds, and others are fictions. She's working through a cross section of kedan literature, trying to understand their culture through writing. ]

[He pushes the trolley along, thoughtfully.]

Hey, how about a cultural exchange? There's thousands of cultures worth of knowledge on my ring, and then there's the stuff you remember. We could trade.

[ On some level, she wants to say "yes" without hesitation and second thought. It's her gut reaction. Not that of the Archive, but her individual being. Learning about the kedan is certainly something she feels is her responsibility as the Archive, but she also has realized that she is greedy for knowledge. She's never had the chance to learn something the way other people do, and she likes knowing things. Everything. It makes her feel significant and safe.

And then the next second all her logic as the Archive comes rushing back. It screams at her how bad of an idea it is, to turn it down flat. What could someone do with that much knowledge? She's outside of her universe, and the Old Ones were banished to the same place. They could be anywhere, look like anything, have numerous minions. How easy, how clever would it be to pull the Archive, the being created to destroy them, to another universe and tempt the knowledge from her? And she knows that she is an easier target than previous ones. She doesn't have the same baseline safeguards that her predecessors did. She is a weak link in the chain, and already the Denarians back home tried to exploit that weakness. The whole thing screams "trap."

And yet, it might not be. After some obvious time thinking, she replies a little cautiously. ]

Explain more. How would we do it? What do you want from it? Why do you care?

[Hm, he's hit a button with this one. He considers his own reply carefully.]

You said you're a repository of knowledge, right? Part of my job is to keep record of the civilisations I encounter. Culture. Language. History. Etc. And their wisdom can be shared. The stories are how we keep them alive, when there's nothing else. I care about... [he sighs deeply. Fields of corpses.] some things should never be forgotten.

[Even more carefully:] The how is all up to you.

[ She considers for a few more moments. Her desire versus the way of the Archive. In the end she remembers the concerns that her age and circumstances would make her unpredictable and dangerous, and shakes her head. Besides, even if she decided to share, there was a good chance the Archive would deem this a situation of non-neutrality. Even though she could override it if she truly desired to, that was a good sign for her to not share. ]

The knowledge of the Archive is not mine to share. I am bound to nutrality, and cannot interfere with the lives of others. While this may not be a matter of direct interference, I suspect I could not tell you despite my curiosity to hear what you know.

[He nods along.]

That's cool. I was just curious.

[No hard feelings.]

What do you mean neutrality?

The Archive is not allowed to interfere in the way the affairs of the world are played out. We exist separate from the rest of the world and should have no impact on the actions of others who determine the fate of beings within the world. Occasionally we are forcibly involved, but then we act only enough to ensure our safety. That is what I mean by neutrality.

[ Which, to some degree, also means limiting interaction with people to only official Archive business. But, especially here, it's impossible to do that completely, so she's sort of suspending that rule for now. ]

[He gives her a look that's almost sad, even though the surface is playful and teasing.]

You actually live in a tower guarded by a dragon?

[Metaphorically, but still.]

[ A dragon would be cool. Kincaid is called the "Hellhound" and he's her chauffeur, so that sort of counts? ]

No. We remove ourselves from society.

[ She pauses thoughtfully, coming up with the best way to explain the necessity of the neutrality. ]

The Archive knows everything written. If that knowledge could be used and shared, then whoever was able to gain that knowledge would potentially have the ability to do anything they wanted. Also, if the Archive was not required to keep neutrality, there is some argument that any death or hardship suffered by anyone would be our fault for not preventing. Keeping the Archive neutral is a way of ensuring that humanity can continue on a natural course.

[ Which is exactly why the Denarians had kidnapped her and tried to torture information out of her. They would have been able to pull off their Apocalypse flawlessly. ]

Non-interference. Got it.

[His tone suggests it goes deeper than just mere understanding of her explanation. His power works the same way as her knowledge does - they can't play favourites with this planet or the other, or take sides based on something too emotional.]

[ She catches that understanding and studies him for a moment, trying to decide if she should ask. But she is curious and they seem to be having question hour, so. ]

Do you have a similar experience?

I do. I'm pretty frequently required to act as a neutral third party during diplomatic meetings.

[He looks a little sheepish.]

Other than that, my job... well. I can't interfere or assist in a conflict unless asked to do so.

I also function as a neutral emissary, though usually more for conflict resolution than diplomatic meetings.

[ They can be neutral third party bros!! ]

But you can assist if asked?

That too, but I tend to level the playing field... literally, so there's less need for a resolution and more for a complete surrender.

[MAYBE A LITTLE TOO CHEERFUL ABOUT THIS.]

Only when asked. The question isn't always direct... like. You could say being brought here is an unspoken request for assistance, and so I'm bound by oath to give it.

My job is usually to act as a mediator in a meeting or duel, to ensure that neither party breaks the rules of engagement.

[ And then kills whoever does. It's sort of a zero tolerance policy. ]

Do you believe that you have been brought here to give assistance?

[ She is really curious about this, partially because she is bound to not give any assistance here. To anyone. Unless it's to keep the world from being completely destroyed. ]

The Emperor hasn't exactly kept it a secret that we're here to help, [he shrugs]. It saves me from searching through a treaty regarding jurisdiction and finding clauses to circumvent. Here at least I can play it by ear.

[Which he prefers. And then, curiously-]

What do you do if someone does break the rules?

[ She nods. ]

I suppose that must make it easier.

And if someone breaks the rules, I kill them. The Unseelie Accords that the Archive and others have signed onto are very specific about that.

[ Said pretty casually. She's been doing this since about when she could walk. At this point she's gotten very good at not getting her dresses dirty. ]

[He looks at her with renewed interest.]

Aos Sí?

[ Oh look you know things!! She likes talking to people who actually know things relevant to her world. ]

That is a name for them, yes. There are faeries, and the Queen of the Winter Court created the Accords. They dictate behavior between the signatories, one of whom is the Archive.

[He nods, following along. The fairies he knows are incredibly brutal and unforgiving, it's always a surprise when his fellow Leaguers thought the stories were supposed to be... cheerier.]

Who are the others? The Summer Queen, and? Our world? The human world, I mean.

[ She shakes her head. ]

No, humans have nothing to do with the supernatural world. The wizards, specifically the White Council, are in charge of protecting the interests of humans, and they signed on. The Summer Court signed it, as well as most of the major powers in the community.

[ Like the Denarians, Donar Vadderung, the vampire courts, the wizards, Drakul, some random people, and one non-supernatural dude who weaseled his way into it. There's really no point in listing everyone. ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject