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

[werethatgood]

I've already made my cho-oice!

[ She sing-songs lightly. ]

And I'm curious!

[imaginate]

[He puts a hand over his heart and makes a strangled noise.]

Alas and alack! Poor Yorick! He is slain. He is - [he bursts into helpless laughter] oh never mind.

[When the laughter slows to chuckles, he goes towards the back and picks out a large painting, huffing as he carries it to where she's sitting. It's a mix of subtle colours, soft greens and deep blues, of a waterfall on an alien planet. All kinds of flowers bloom but he's deliberately muted all of them, preferring instead to focus on the way the light catches the leaves, and how even the shadows seem to dance. The whole effect combined is one of serenity, aloneness, but not terror.]

[A place of rest.]

Between you and me? I think this is the best one.

[werethatgood]

[ She laughs again, with him, brighter, the non-future forgotten for the moment. She likes him, she does. Then, totally innocently, blue eyes wide and open. ]

I think somebody must be rolling in his grave, with that reaction to those words.

[ Then she sits up, attentive, quietly looking at the picture that he's showing. ]

Do any people live there? On that planet, I mean.

[ She's not questioning the fact that it's an alien planet. At all. ]

[imaginate]

[Her statement earns a few more chuckles, but they both focus on the painting after that. Kyle sees only the flaws - brushstrokes that could be more even, a shade too dark here and there. He was accepting - slowly - that imperfection is an option.]

A good friend of mine. He's the only inhabitant, you could say.

[werethatgood]

[ She can't tear her eyes away for a fair bit of time, then turns a softer smile at Kyle. ]

If it's half as beautiful as what I see, here, he's very, very lucky to live there.

[imaginate]

[His smile turns fond, nostalgic. His face hurts, and he think it doesn't quite reach his eyes, but he's making a sincere effort.]

I'll tell him you said that.

[A beat.]

So, interested in outer space?

[werethatgood]

[ She almost asks if she said something wrong. Aside from the fact that the friend is unreachable, of course. But he changes the topic, and she goes with that, instead. Although... ]

I like going places, I think. Though not on my own, of course. I... haven't been in space, though.

[ Just on different planets. Can you hear the 'it's complicated' there, Kyle? Just not exactly bad complicated. On the whole. ]

[imaginate]

[She hasn't. It's just a concerted effort to stay cheerful these days and he can't always maintain it. He hopes she didn't notice, and if she did, is glad she didn't push the subject.]

Very few people have been in space in the sense of travelling in it. Y'know. If you're not a trader, pirate, smuggler, dignitary, or invading army. Commercial travel is pretty rare.

[werethatgood]

[ He can still make her laugh, though. Very definitely can still make her laugh. ]

Please to cut down on the invading armies. That usually doesn't end well. Even if, say, two of them end up fighting each other, rather than doing much invading.

[ Cassie's eyes return to the painting, and she leans back in her chair, thoughtfully. ]

I, um. May have been on other planets, though. Just not... flying through space.

[imaginate]

[Somehow the smile he's been fighting to keep on his face gets easier to keep there. He might be disillusioned with the Guardians, questioning his family's loyalty to each other, and wondering if he was even made for the job since it's taken so much - but at the end of the day, they're good people, who do good work.]

Just between you and me, I don't think there'll be any for a while.

[Blackest Night, he thinks, heavily, and stubbornly holds to hope.]

Accidental teleportation? It happens.

[werethatgood]

I think I'll like that. Last two armies that had just truced, back home, almost went to war because they both wanted one of my friends. A break would be nice.

[ ... that's not even touching on Nate. Because she was not up for touching on Nate, right now. ]

[ But she makes a sheepish face. ]

Not exactly. Though I'm sure Franklin and Val must have done that at least once each. Possibly in time. Just not on me.

But, um. Uncle Hank - he's very very smart, kind of... the kind of scientist that makes things almost magic, you know? So he had this lab, he said it was in Pym-space. It could open doors into other places. Like, you could come in from New York, and then use another door and go out in China.

Except that Pym-space kind of collapsed - not his fault! It was a kind of an attack! - and then he used something else and turned it into... the infinite Mansion. Which - I'm not sure if it was infinite, but it was really, really huge. And it could open doors anywhere. Including on other planets.

I... think he could make a door to here, if he knew about this place.

[imaginate]

[A break would be very nice, he's about to offer, and then just gets barrelled over.]

Wow. Smart guy, huh? [Understatement of the Year.] You two related?

[Since.. 'Uncle', but her surname was 'Lang'... he assumed biological relation first above something chosen, since he didn't get any indication of the latter.]

[werethatgood]

Um. Not exactly. He's worked with dad. Like I call Uncle Tony that, he was, like, the first person to hire dad, I mean, for a good job, back when I was nine.

[ Back after Dad came out of prison. ]

I mean, I could probably call them Mr. Stark and Mr. Pym, or Aunt Sue Mrs. Richards, but... it just doesn't really feel right, you know?

[imaginate]

[Kyle nods along, and then-]

Which Mr. Stark? There's two here.

[werethatgood]

The one whooooo... Asked for help with caring for flowers?

[imaginate]

[Kyle... slowly shakes his head. And then gets an idea.]

Does Nova exist in your universe?

[werethatgood]

Yep! ... He doesn't, for the other one?

I haven't really talked with him, yet.

[imaginate]

He either doesn't, or doesn't yet.

[He shrugs, and then smiles, much more relaxed. Someone he's familiar with and thinks well of. Good.]

We know the same Tony, then.

[werethatgood]

[ Cassie huffs, but it's more a teasing show than anything else. ]

I guess.

[ But then the blue eyes brighten all the way again. ]

Nice! I mean, not that knowing different ones would've been bad. Exactly.

[ Because Tony Stark. She loves the man, but he's complicated. As most of the men her dad works with, to be honest. They're still her uncles. ]

Now, picking a present for him is gonna be a challenge.

[imaginate]

[Kyle shrugs.]

Alternate universes are weird.

[Points at her.]

What do you get for the man who has everything?

[werethatgood]

They really are.

[ Beeeat as she thinks that over. ]

His place is ... cluttered. So a stuffed toy just doesn't cut it.

[ More thinking. ]

OH! I've got it! I'll write him the kind of Christmas card that people really remember!

[imaginate]

[A stuffed toy might cut it for Cassie, though, and Kyle files that little tidbit away for the future. Birthdays, maybe. Or Christmas, if he sees her around more often.]

If you need help illustrating...?

[werethatgood]

[ Cassie considers that for a moment, then her face splits in a wide, more than slightly mischievous grin. ]

I can go for some stories that can use something like that...

[imaginate]

[He grins.]

Good to know. [A pause.] Want me to wrap this up for you?

[werethatgood]

[ She beams over. ]

Thanks! That'd be nice. And I'll let you know about the story. I mean, it might be weird and made up, but it should probably be fun to draw for.

[ Hey, she can pass it off as made-up, right? Maybe? ]