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; Raine's wandering Water Sector when she spots it. An old book, a familiar sort of binding, and surely it can't be but-- she has heard of Foreigners finding things from their world here--

She darts across the street, dodging a chef, and nearly trips into the ornamental fountain that's her goal. She rights herself, though, and carefully reaches across the collecting pool to the dry spot where the book rests. There's a tag on it, bearing an image that looks like a feather, but more important right now is the fact that the book has elven lettering on the front and she knows the nick out of the upper right corner of the cover, yelled at Lloyd about it herself. This is Master Boltzman's book.

If anyone happens to catch sight of her, she'll be outright grinning, absolutely delighted. They may even hear the word "Marvelous!" at unusually high volumes. This has made Raine's day if not her entire week.

B; Predictably, she does not let the book out of her sight for the rest of the week at least, and on multiple occasions can be found around the sectors, completely ignoring the many attractions in favor of keeping her nose in the book. It stays with her through her daily commute, too, and it's not uncommon to find Raine walking and reading. Usually she manages to keep herself from running into people, but more than once she's simply focusing too hard to notice there's a person or a wall in her way.

Duke has finally discovered the problem with his preferred method of abrupt comings and goings. Stepping backwards from peering curiously at a stall (Although nothing had been particularly familiar after the pair of dolls), intending to turn on that heel and be on his way... doesn't work out when there are people moving. He's about half-turned when he realizes there's someone right in the space where a collision might be avoided if he tried particularly hard, but...

Not while he's pretending to be less than he is capable of. He registers a book - ow - and hopes she won't drop it. ".. Apologies.."

Raine walks right into him, startles back, and manages -- barely -- not to drop the book, though she does lose her place. She winds up with it clutched to her chest, and the look she gives Duke shifts quickly from offended to curious. There are others with white hair here, of course, but it's always a matter of curiosity when she runs into humans with similar coloration.

"...It's fine," she says in a moment, dismissive. "I wasn't watching." There's something a little strange about him, despite the fact she's pretty sure he's human, and it's what keeps her there for a moment longer, head tipped and expression inquisitive, instead of dismissing the exchange as routine.

Ah, good, he doesn't have to try to catch it.

".. Neither was I." Duke almost grimaces after that. Of course he hadn't been watching where he was going, he's still facing the wrong way to have been watching where he was going. Being clumsy with words is likely why he hadn't found a job yet.

... He's being studied. Duke blinks once, absently watching the woman back. Did he really look that odd? Not entirely out of the question. A short mental checklist gives him nothing that ought to be out of the ordinary, so now he's wondering if there's something in a normal sorry-no problems exchange that he missed.

"... Your book is undamaged?" maybe that was it.

She lifts the book, transfers her attention to it just long enough to check it over again before back to Duke. "Nothing that wasn't already there," she says with a nod. Still studying him.

In a moment, Raine recalls that this is not, in fact, polite behavior for someone you've just met. "My apologies," she says, shaking her head, and proceeds with personal questions anyway. "There's something... you are human, correct?"

Well, that's good. A little odd that the book was damaged to begin with, but that's not his problem.

He tilts his head slightly to the side. "Correct." Asking why she asked might make his answer seem like a lie, but he is vaguely curious. Mostly because he was obviously a human, when home, as he lacked the pointed ears and antennae. "What would make you think otherwise?" 'There's something', that would be what makes her want to double check, right?

"Your mana, your..." A brief hesitation. Mana the way she uses it is apparently unique to her world, so far as she's found, and she has to explain it every time. "Life force, I suppose. It's more or less what I would expect from a human, but there's something different I can't quite put a finger on."

Hard enough putting what mana feels like into words. Elaborating this slight twist? No. It's a rawness, maybe, prickling at the edges of her awareness. Like it's unfiltered. Perhaps closer to the surface? Raine's frowning just a little as she tries to fit words to it and doesn't quite succeed. She'd probably have to dip into elven to find the right terms. "...Never mind," she says in a moment, shaking her head again.

Duke blinks, and maybe looks a tiny bit relieved. He can actually talk about this.

"It is likely because my world did not have mana until ... very recently. The life force that existed in all things, that allowed magic to function, was called aer." He.. would continue, as this was a topic he was actually fairly knowledgeable at, but... she didn't seem interested anymore.

"Ah!" Raine practically lights up, and all thoughts of abandoning the discussion in favor of obedience to social mores, or not peppering strangers with questions on magical theory, are pushed aside. She needs to know more. "Aer, yes, I've heard that term. That's odd-- in my world, mana has always been the force responsible for the persistence and propagation of life."

Yuri was less than helpful. Perhaps this stranger will be more so. Already he's told her more than she could badger out of Yuri. "How is it that your world has only recently acquired mana?"

Duke is the worst about how social things should work - maybe eventually one of them will realize that standing in the middle of the street talking isn't a great idea. However, this meant that either someone other than Yuri was here, or she had talked to Yuri. Vaguely interesting (perhaps it was interesting on the side of 'how can anyone stand him other than his friends'). But the idea that mana came first is more interesting.

"I do not know the exact details." He wasn't one of the ones who did it, just.. gave a boost of help right at the tail end. But aer was still something he had spent a long time working with. "As far as I was aware, an element was bound to aer, and a spirit was born of the process.." He sounds a little... conflicted, about the spirit part. "It was a move for stabilization. Aer was prone to falling out of balance, which would have negative effects on most in the area."

Whether or not they're impeding traffic takes a backseat to science. "Fascinating," Raine says, sounding like she means it whole-heartedly, and, "Explain. You do have spirits, then, and they're tied to mana. That follows. How many elements? Why was aer falling out of balance? Is there a source for aer, or is it simply something that's always existed? Can it be exhausted?" She's sounding more and more enthusiastic with each question, recalls only belatedly that she has to actually give her new target time to answer her.

Yes, she does, and eventually he's going to dump the same questions back at her regarding mana.

"A great many were recently created. ... Short answers - formula - or spell casting - elements are fire, wind, earth, water, light, dark, unaligned. Fire and wind combine into lightning, earth and water into ice. Aer falls out of balance due to the use of blastia, which was the technology that provided everything from clean running water to house lighting, to barriers, and because some had been hunting the race that maintains the balance. Aer surfaces in concentration from aer krene, which appear like glowing fountains. The fountains can dry, which had resulted in a desert. Life still exists there, however... " It's a desert. It's not exactly a great place to be.

"... Pick one to elaborate on." Please. He's not used to talking so much on a variety of things.

She'll be more than happy to answer, especially if he can withstand the explanations without his eyes glazing over.

Raine nods as he goes, assimilating the new and detailed information with what little Yuri had dispensed. She can almost understand that division of elements, and though she wouldn't want to take it up with Volt and Celsius, it makes more sense than anyone else's elemental system has to date.

She looks briefly horrified as she realizes she has to pick a topic, and cannot in fact have a ceaseless font of knowledge. She resolves that quickly, though. "Aer krene," she says, only a few seconds later, reproducing the unfamiliar syllables almost precisely as he said them. "You say it surfaces. From deep within the earth?"

OTA

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