Cursed Night Market

[pantheraliam]

Welcome

You’re not sure how you got here, but you don’t seem to mind. You feel a pervasive sense of calm with regard to your environment. You have entered what appears to be a night market. Perhaps the concept is familiar to you, or perhaps it isn’t. Colorful stalls, glowing with lantern light, line the path before you. You know what you need to do to return to where you came from. Investigate the various stalls - buy and sell what you have, until you’re able to purchase a path back. The merchants will take any currency that you have on hand. If you don’t have any, you will find some coins of an ambiguous nature in your pocket.

Rare Items

The first stall that you encounter boasts that you can buy and sell rare items. After trading a coin, the merchant hands you something - insists you take it. You don’t recognize the item, but the person behind you does. It is something extremely dear to them. If they check their person, they will find the item missing. If you attempt to return the item to them, you will find that you are unable to. Helpfully, the merchant offers that the person the item belongs to must tell the buyer a story about the item before it can be returned.

Fortunes

The second stall you encounter claims to buy and sell fortunes. Trading a coin, the merchant will relay to you a fortune, but, as you listen, you realize that it isn’t your fortune at all. With a cackle, the merchant explains that you must deliver the fortune with the person behind you. Neither of you can leave the booth until you have revealed to them their future.

Memories

The third stall you encounter claims to buy and sell memories. You can choose to sell the merchant a memory you would like to forget, or you can ask to buy someone else’s memory. Selling your memory will transfer it to the person behind you. In return, you will gain one of their memories. Buying a random memory will instead cause you to forget one of the people most important to you. In some instances, you might feel a great urgency to find someone, although you don't know who it is.

Dreams

The fourth stall you encounter claims to buy and sell dreams. Trading a coin at this stall will cause you and the person behind you to be transported into a shared dream. The dream may be about the highest point in your life or the lowest. It may also be about a close friend, there or gone. It may reveal your greatest desire or your greatest insecurity. Or any number of other things!

OOC notes

Suggestions on prompts: if you’re going to write one where someone will be seeing/receiving something from your character, it’s helpful to describe it in detail in the brackets in your TL. I know some of these prompts are probably a little confusing, but, I mean…it’s roleplay. Just fuck around. No one’s gonna police how you do things here.

Please feel free to top-level, tag in, and share this meme wherever you’d like - it is open to anyone. The four stalls mentioned are prompt suggestions, but you can go crazy and have any stall do basically anything you want. Please see/use subject line CWs. This musebox doesn’t have a dedicated rule list because it’s just for my personal shit, but please be kind, follow standard RP rules - just be nice! Do the right thing! If you have any questions, hit me up here.

code by Flyleaf ❖ inspired by event code by 10billionghosts ❖ background via unsplash

Comments

[thebomb]

[The emotion seems genuine enough, though Armin doesn't know this man whatsoever. Still, if he has any reason to lie, Armin doesn't know that either. It's an awfully personal anecdote, and he truly seems to want that mirror out of his sight.]

You could sell it. [A helpful contribution.] I hear that buying and selling is supposedly our path home.

That being said, I do understand that something like that might be difficult to part with.

[theartificer]

Sell it? [He lets out a slight chuckle.] I am not sure if a broken mirror will fetch much in the night market, but I just want to get rid of it.

[It is unclear whether he refers to just the mirror or the emotions associated with it. In any case, it is clear that the elf intends to throw this mirror into the deepest ravine he can find, never to be seen again. If he can make a little bit of money by selling it, then so be it. If not, it’s going into the abyss somewhere.]

The same for your defiled conch. I doubt that would fetch much, but something tells me you plan on keeping it.

[thebomb]

[Armin does plan on keeping it, but he doesn't say so. He addresses Saelfen's concern, instead.]

With all due respect, I have to disagree. After all, this isn't your usual market at all. People here deal in dreams, memories - items that you know, like that mirror. It has value beyond money-- Ah. Well, that can be both a positive and a negative thing.

Point being, if you've been given that item, and the way home is through buying and selling, the only logical conclusion is that selling that mirror would get you a step closer.

[theartificer]

[The longer he listens, the more Saelfen wonders if this cracked mirror is worth anything to him. His hatred for his family is truly what drives him, what motivates him to keep going despite all odds. While he makes every effort to hide his past from others, the scars his family left on him are undeniable.

However, does it make sense to keep such an item? To hold onto the hurt? Saelfen shook his head. He must convince himself to sell the cursed mirror.]

Perhaps you're right. [He mutters under his breath.] The faster I sell this, the faster I can find my way out of "here".

[It's unclear whether he is referring to the night market or something from his past. Nonetheless, he heads over to the next stall to see what this seller has to offer. He then turns to face the blonde, his gaze full of curiosity.]

Are you searching for any other items besides that conch?

[thebomb]

[The conch now in Armin's hands, he follows Saelfen to the next stall. They're in a precarious position. He'll wait to see what Saelfen experiences before taking the risk himself, if he can.]

Honestly, I wasn't searching for anything at all - aside from that path home, as I mentioned. It seems we've been forced into a game that we have no choice but to play.

[theartificer]

Constantly being coerced into nonsense. [He sighs, exasperated.] The story of my life.

[While lamenting his misfortunes, Saelfen comes across an ornate purple vial that appears to be made of pure amethyst. He looks at the vial for a while, his blue eyes narrowed in scrutiny. Of course, he knew what it was, but he appeared hesitant to claim it.]

Tell me — [He casts a glance at the blonde from the corner of his eyes.] Have you ever regretted something so much that you almost wish you had let yourself fall instead?