middleofsomewhere | Winter Faire

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Winter Faire

”Shortly arriving in World#5562102022. The dressing carriage is open for your convenience.” The announcement might be unexpected so late in the month, but soon enough further information arrives on their SCA’s.

World#5562102022: Home of the famous Winter Faire. Voidtreckers may spend the evening here. Please remember your Snowcoins. Enjoy.

The dressing carriage is open for characters to choose from an array of winter coats, hats, gloves and scarves. There are also ice skates in a variety of sizes and shapes, suitable for all passengers.

THE PLAZA

The Express comes to rest in a station roofed by sheets of ice. Streamers of light run up and along the arches overhead, sending flashes of colour through the structure at intervals. A wooden path leads through stands of sparkling trees to the faire proper.

The faire is a large one, mostly made up of a large market of wooden huts. The market is held outside; while it's dark when they arrive, there are floating lights twinkling in the darkness that illuminate the area. There is snow on the ground and a light flurry in the air, the perfect amount of snow to be atmospheric without anyone being too damp or cold.

There are both ice paths and ordinary wooden paths through the market. In the centre of the market there is a large ferris wheel, where guests can sit in glass bubbles filled with soft cushions and blankets as they view the snowy market from above.

THE ICE RINK

There are two large ice rinks, and ice paths weave through the market, with many of the eateries having 'ice gardens' where skaters can rest and drink before continuing their skating. Wooden railings run through the middle of the ice paths, both to form two one-way lanes, and to give new or wobbly skaters something to hold onto.

There are benches at the entrance to the large ice rinks for people to change into their ice skates and cubbies for them to store their shoes; the ice paths connect to both rinks. There are also skate aids for those that need them, carved wooden animals to hold onto and push along the ice for balance. An animal that looks like a furred penguin dominates.

THE SLEDDING SLOPE

To the north of the market, there is a snowy field with a hill perfect for sledging, and sleds to borrow for any who want them.

The whole field is deep with snow, with a well trodden path leading up the hill and sledding tracks leading down. To the side of the slope are snowpeople and snow animals, some better built than others, and plenty of snow to add to this collection.

THE WOODLAND ENCLOSURES

To the south there is a small woodland where a member of staff will allow guests through with warnings to be peaceful and not disturb the creatures.

The trees are bare of leaves and white with snow, some with frost forming crystal snowflakes on the branches. There are indeed woodland creatures within the woodlands: deer, rabbits, strange white pompom-looking creatures. They are comfortable with people, and won't flee.

THE FERRIS WHEEL

In the centre of the market there is a large ferris wheel allowing guests to sit in glass bubbles filled with soft cushions and blankets as they view the snowy market from above. The ferris wheel moves slowly, allowing plenty of time to take in the view and enjoy the company, the soft seating, or both.

Bubbles can fit up to 6 people, though the attendants will allow groups from single guests up to six. The glass can be made one-way, so that guests cannot be viewed from outside.

THE MARKET

All the activities in the faire are free. Everything in the market, from a mug of beer to a blown glass ornament costs one snowcoin, the snowflake tokens that passengers received on station day. Each passenger has ten to spend.

FOOD STALLS

The actual market sells drinks: hot chocolate, mulled wine, beer, spiced apple juice and cider amongst some more alien picks like a bright pink concoction that is delicious but very alcoholic; food: sausages, bread, cakes, roasted chestnuts, candied nuts, stroopwafel and a whole collection of unrecognisable but delicious things.

All are available to take out, though many of them also have a bar area where shoppers can sit, drink and people watch.

SHOPPING
The stalls don't sell much that would be considered useful, but are filled with trinkets, decorations, cute hats and other clothing, sweets, glassware, jewellery, toys… and much much more.
After a good few hours in the market, things are beginning to wind down and stalls start to close. The Voidtreckers will receive a message on their SCA telling them it is time to return to the Express. Once all passengers are on board the train will leave the ice-covered station and return back to the Void.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You got it.

[Nita makes a wryly bemused face.]

'This is what happens when you're not quick on your feet,' maybe? Er, wheels...

[She's not the best at this, or so she thinks. But maybe it'll bring her brain into order more than throwing snowballs had been.]

Hmm. Needs some workshopping. [He's not great at it either.

He trudges back through the snow to her side and bobs his head at her.] I don't think we've met. I'm Devero, he/him for pronouns.

Maybe 'give shit, get hit'? Go with something simple.

[Though Nita has no idea how Devero feels about swearing...

She holds out a gloved hand to shake - and is mentally prodded by the peridexis to drop the gesture instead. Cultural differences, Bobo explains.]

Ah; I'm Nita. She/her. Just arrived for this month's madness, then?

Edited 2020-12-26 20:46 (UTC)

Hah! That's perfect! [Apparently, he has no problem with swearing.

He does look slightly uncertain about the offered hand, and he's grateful when she drops it. He moves his own hands-- kept to himself, of course, low and close to his abdomen-- through the now-familiar series of gestures it takes to generate an ID card for his Interface to store, snapping a pic and finger-spelling her name and noting her pronouns.

Even as he does, he's talking;] That's right. Got on at the last platform.

[For a moment Nita briefly wonders if he has his own Instrumentality, what with the hand gestures - but his unfamiliarity with wizard Advisories from the train meeting suggests not. Ah well.]

Well, we haven't visited any worlds twice, so in terms of stops I can guarantee this is a first for both of us.

[She gives a reassuring smile that's (probably) brighter than she's been feeling this afternoon.]

And it's a pretty nice world not to have to worry about a mission for, I'll give the whole deal that much.

So this thing usually only stops on real worlds when it wants us to fight for it, huh?

[That kind of makes him want to hurl another snowball, but he restrains the urge. (For now.)]

[Nita has to think about how to answer that one.]

We've definitely gotten vacations before - but the last one we had, a good chunk of the people we had at the time ended up with mental bonds to each other, sharing memories due to some sort of magic in the place.

I asked; apparently that part of things hadn't been anticipated at all. And judging from the books about the place, the ancestral rituals behind it weren't common knowledge either.

...That does very little to reassure me. [Not that it's her job to reassure him or anything, just. Ugh. He is not remotely reconciled to this part of being here, and learning that even an apparent leisure stop had resulted in magical memory sharing bonds? No thanks.

He decides to give into the urge after all, stooping to pack a fresh snowball and hurling it straight into the train's side. He may or may not yell it as he says;] Give shit, get hit!

[Nita again snorts, aiming a wry look at the train for a moment before settling back and scuffing through the snow a bit.]

So, what's the norm for where you're from, Devero?

[She makes an all-encompassing gesture at the train.]

Because from what I've heard, this seems to be a step up for some people - and I definitely have a hard time grasping with that.

It's a step down. A big step. [His voice goes deep and bitter as he says it. Being cut off from the ubiquitous network and the comforting convenience of the advanced technology of his world has been an adjustment. (It also just might be why he wanted to step up and start venting his frustrations against the train via snowball.)]

It's fucking absurd that the train was designed to operate internally like an antique when it's clearly a sophisticated interstellar craft!

So...

[Nita's not sure that's an answer to her question.]

How did your world get to that level of technology? Why's it the norm there, when for all we know it isn't on Enrara, or wherever else they drew inspiration from?

[She feels the need to explain.]

I've been to other worlds before - well before this train put itself into the picture - and I've seen all kinds of technological advancement, sometimes existing side-by-side. What the 'best option' looks like for some people can seem way below the level we're used to - but that doesn't make us better just because we have it, or are used to it.

And I've learned about some civilizations that mastered everything short of interstellar travel... but never thought that life outside of theirs could exist. Or that peace among their own species was possible.

[Is she thinking of the Shamask-Eilitt, and how their war almost destroyed Earth when they revived? Yes, yes she is.]

Edited 2020-12-30 20:44 (UTC)

[It wasn't an answer to her question, she's right about that. Then again, asking a guy only acquainted with the existence of interdimensional travel within the last two weeks why and how his society developed the way it did compared to other existences is... a lot.

He doesn't answer immediately, but his expression is creased and he's obviously thinking about it. Finally:]

I can't really explain why my world is the way it is compared to other worlds. All of this is completely new to me. But I can tell you that the historians all say that technology wouldn't have proliferated the way it did on my Earth if it weren't for the apocalypse plague. After we managed to turn the lights back on all the way around the world, we had to find ways to do.... almost everything, with a tiny fraction of the population that had run those industries before.

So that's when the developments of robotics and automation really took off. We couldn't waste people on menial labor or basic shit anymore, we needed everyone left operating at a higher level so we could rebuild. We had to come up with tech to fill in the gaps.

[Nita grimaces as Devero explains, because... Well.

'Death of most of Earth's populace by disease' is a lot to take in, regardless of what you're used to.]

So it was a matter of emergency, vital to survival.

[She sighs, picking up one last gob of snow and sticking it onto the train as she uses it for a leaning-spot]

What I've learned about the multiverse, back home, is that there are billions of alternate dimensions. Versions of Earth where the continents never separated, versions where whole different kinds of life prospered - and that's not even coming to 'modern history' variants, where conquests failed, or were conducted by completely different people. Those Earths look different, even though they'll still consider themselves humans, or Earthlings.

Me?
[She shakes her head, a self-deprecating look on her face]

I'm just a girl from a 21st-century New York. One with wizardry, on an Earth that mostly can't let wizardry be wide knowledge yet. Plagues... they've happened, I know, but not on that scale.

[~~Not yet.~~]

So your-- wizardry, it allows you to travel interdimensionally? There's no way you're just a girl with that kind of capability!

[Everyone on this train is so incredible. So powerful so strong, so gifted. High-ranking magical priests, soldiers who've fought gods, girls with the power to visit other worlds, polymath geniuses, and who knows what other amazing abilities. It's enough to make a man feel totally inadequate.

He tries to hide it, though. That's for him to deal with.

Jamming his hands into his pockets, he leans back a little as he looks up the gleaming side of the engine.] Ever since I boarded, it's become clear to me that-- that there's more out there in the multiverse than I ever could have imagined. Adjusting to it has been a shock.

[He looks back down at her.] Why don't you just leave?

Edited 2021-01-01 19:16 (UTC)

[Nita has only a wry look for that.]

People keep saying I'm hot stuff, yeah. But I'm far from the only wizard, even on this train.

[She could get why it'd be hard to adjust to such a radical shift in the paradigm...

And she's not sure if Devero means 'leave her own world, go somewhere better' or 'leave the train, if you can travel that far', but even with that second idea it's not all that straightforward.]

But - the Powers that gave me the Oath for this wizardry - even They only have domain over a comparatively small part of the worlds. A sheath of sheathes, when there are others far beyond, other Powers with their own rules.

This whole Voidtreckers deal? Never heard of it before. But when I took that Oath - in Life's name and for Its sake - it didn't come with a 'and screw the duty that barges in without asking' clause, even for things They couldn't have imagined.

[Turning to give that wry look to the train for a second-]

More's the pity.

... That and, practically speaking, teleportation wizardries won't let us go through the outer walls of the train, only car-to-car. Not exactly in a hurry to find out how much 'worse than anything I could prepare for' the void itself is, when the transport's already an Unknown.

[All the talk about powers and sheathes and such is a little beyond him, but he follows her generally. If nothing else, he understands about duty.

He looks up at the train too, his expression solemn.] We may not have chosen to be here, but now that we are, all we can do is make the best of it. This is our community now.

[But that's kind of heavy and he'd much rather chat practicalities.] So there's actually a-- a buffer, keeping you inside the train? A magic buffer?

[Nita nods - and she's not bothered by the conversation shift, after all that.]

Probably in the same sense that people call the wizardry I know magic-

[That is, as much science as Power.]

But, yeah. The outer walls and the engine itself are blocked, everything else is free game. Whatever material it's made of, doesn't exist in the worlds I knew of before this.

[So whatever makes a void engine is hardy stuff!]

It's analyzable, though; I have a friend with an Earth affinity, we did a study of the molecules that make the material up if you wanted a look.

Because of course they are. [The train was such an infuriating combination of accommodating and imprisoning.

He looks a little surprised by the, well, scientific way she talks about analyzing the substance that makes up the... impenetrable?... part of the train. Not too surprised not to nod, though.] Yeah, I think I'd like to see it. Do you remember what the main compounds were?

I can do you one better.

[And if anyone had thought she'd left her Manual behind, on the train, well, the suddenly-appearing blue-hardcovered book would put those concerns to rest.]

How are you with holograms?

[She starts flipping through her Manual for where she'd put her and Xander's notes from that session.]

[Asking someone like him how he is with holograms is like asking someone today how they are with phones. He does look a bit puzzled that she's asked that while she's holding one of those charmingly analogue paper books, but--]

Uh, just fine. [He watches curiously.]

(OOC: Feel free to give them a poke on the FAQ or Character Shenanigans if you want more details!)

Right, then.

[And a glowing blue hologram does indeed pop up, once Nita gets to the correct page!

Apart from being a molecular compound that isn't recognizable based on anything from (presumably) either of their worlds, though, it really does just seem to be... metal. Nothing supernatural or magical about it.]

[Are Devero's eyes glowing as he watching the holo spawn out of what seems to be a book, or is that just a reflection from the image itself?

He leans towards her, hands behind his back as he peers closely at the molecular structure of this trainstuff. Uuunfortunately, he's no metallurgist, and finally he frowns and has to admit it.]

I thought that might mean something to me, but doesn't. Guess it's been a while since I've had any chemistry.

Edited 2021-01-06 00:28 (UTC)

[It's not as if Nita would blame him for being excited... if that's what the hypothetical glow was, anyway.]

Eh, it's all right. The problem is, it's not a metal that exists on any world I've heard of, or is already known to the Manual in general.

[Which really drove home the 'you're outside the Powers' worlds now' aspect of this whole journey.]

Wherever it comes from, it's probably treated in some manner to make it robust against the void. Possibly a trade secret.

[Which, on top of them being 'on the run' from the Ministry, didn't leave her feeling optimistic. Nita sighs again.]

Mm. Who's to say it's not an alloy, at that? There could be anything mixed into that makeup, and without the right scanners and the right references to compare it to, we might never be able to figure it out.

[He straightens up and rubs the back of his head, displacing his hat slightly as he does. He looks again at the big black engine that they've, ahem, decorated, and sighs.] So many questions, and barely any fucking answers.

If this were a void active world-

[Nita starts, then cuts herself off, only to start again.]

... You think this is a world where we could find out?

[Let alone should, but that's not as important right now, if Nita's judging Devero correctly.]

THE PLAZA

THE ICE RINK

THE SLEDDING SLOPE

THE WOODLAND ENCLOSURES

THE FERRIS WHEEL

THE MARKET

FOOD STALLS

SHOPPING

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cw pandemic talk

Re: cw pandemic talk

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/keels over/ Devero is going RIGHT for my soul, here. Duty... ;;

Duty...........

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Note: this is all the mod-given info we've got on it so far. XD

copy that!

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