nexus_crossings | The Start of the Storm

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event

The Start of the Storm

The god hosted Yule party left the Nexus in the state of beautiful Winter Wonderland. With the snow falling softly and steadily, and the beautiful festive lights twinkling in the darkness, the Nexus is left with a sense of serene nostalgia hanging in the cold air. This peace and joy clings to the streets for several weeks, buoying everyone’s mood as they look back on the past year and forward to ringing in the new one.

It starts in the Wilds, and the outskirts. The cold air suddenly feels like it freezes everything it touches in an instant. Light doesn’t quite pierce the gloom. Gentle snowfall becomes thick and falls hard. One or two people looking for shelter from their uninhabitable homes isn’t too noticeable. People can still enjoy their pretty Winter, blissfully unaware. Pipes freeze solid, paths become impassable, power cuts out, simple walks become baffling in the poor visibility. Soon it’s not one or two people, it’s many, it’s families. There are people coming in, bloody, bruised and scared, saying they were chased. Eventually the kindness of friends and strangers becomes strained. Spare rooms are packed to the brim and the storm that stays just shy of the bizarre torches somehow seems to have a slow, but unmistakable march closer towards a point where the Plaza, Industrial sector and Downtown meet. On top of that, people are complaining about PINpoints acting up or portals freezing over.

Streets are becoming packed full of people with far more problems than solutions. Huddling together and whispering about ghosts and monsters moving about in the shadows. In a place with no government, no organisation, no collaborative emergency services, chaos and confusion reigns supreme. And with chaos, comes panic. With confusion, comes frustration and anger. The Nexus is a powder keg waiting to blow.

That’s certainly how one Durant sees it. As a manager, Isidor is keen on organisation and order. Both things that are lacking in the Nexus at the moment. Groups pop up to help, but struggle to communicate effectively, or work together. Some people get free food twice, some people are still waiting for some at all. It’s madness, and Isidor can’t stand it. Particularly because she, her brother and sister-in-law are stuck here. So, when nobody else takes the mantle, Isidor Durant takes it upon herself to inject some order into this scrum.

In her fur hat and long coat, leather gloves and thick boots, Isidor can be seen directing people this way and that. There’s something about a confident person taking charge that means people instinctively defer to them. She becomes the point of contact quite easily, with people soon taking her direction regardless of whether or not they know her. Under her instruction, people are directed to a building that has tables set up, queues in front of them, and volunteers behind them taking names and telling people where to go. It might still be chaos, but at least now it’s organised chaos.

The question is: Where will your character go?

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((Below are comments for each desk. Tag any of them, threadhop, or post with your own character. I suggest putting your character’s name in the subject to help keep things clear. Comments marked with a snowflake ( ❅ ) have been coordinated with the mods and I as official event comments. The OOC Post is here! If you have any questions, feel free to message me or one of the mods!))

Threads of Note
Medicine/Illness | Shelter/Heat | Food | Security/Crime | Lost items/people | Misc resources/Donations | Volunteers | Expeditions | Planning Table/The woman in charge | Drulb's Deelz | A Ship in the Outskirts

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Outside the building filled with desks and buzzing with organisation, there is a stall piled high with crates. Underneath a worn looking canopy that might have been colourful once, a cauldron bubbles over a fire, sending a rich, meaty aroma wafting through the air.

A short, green creatures with pronounced features and a sharp-toothed grin, stands on top of a crate, waving and yelling in a grating voice. "C'mon, gather round! I got food, I got water, I got blankets big 'n' small! I got it all! At Drulb's Deelz!"

Perhaps the only reason nobody has shoved a sock in his mouth is the hulking mass of armoured fur standing beside him. Its sour, ape-ish face staring off sleepily into the distance as its mace hangs by its side from a lax arm.

"A stew, how enterprising of you. That will keep bodies going for quite a long while. Warm them right up to their bones."

Hazel pulls her scarf down away from her mouth before she speaks up. She's dressed for the weather, but she can't help but take a look at such a heady homey aroma. The scent of mushrooms and meat braising over a fire draws the Autumnal spirit to the canopy. Her smile is sharp but genuinely pleased.

"And what are you asking for your wares, I wonder?"

Miscellaneous mushrooms and plenty of bones and fat. It gets the right smell, even if it doesn't taste all that.

The goblin jumps on over, tugging the lapels of his jacket straight. If it weren't for his pointed teeth, his grin would only be sleazy. "Well hello there! Take a look yourself!"

He throws off the lid of a nearby crate with an assortment of protein bars, bread, rice and pasta, along with other less identifiable foods. "Only asking what you've got. Coins, watches." He tilts his head to look at her knowingly from under his eyebrows. "A pretty little necklace or two."

"I don't need food, but I suspect those inside will shortly. The winter is long and things are only just beginning."

There's an unnatural glint to her eyes. A spark of light that has nothing to do with the reflected light of the snow around them. Hazel is nothing if not good at her job and she has prepared for winter. Prepared the Nexus for winter. The torches are one protection. And another...

"I wonder if you'd be interested in information? I happen to know where a cache of food that's been set aside for this winter is stored." Several, in fact, though why should she give up all of that information?

Those long, pointed ears twitch. "I'm sure I can getcha something nice for a tall missy like you."

He steps closer, long fingers intertwining in anticipation for such a valuable trade. Eager or not, he's not about to just give her anything on the promise of information without a little bartering... "How much food are we talking here? You got a number of crates or jars or something?"

A wise man asks questions before embarking on a trade. The rest of this place may have ignored the goblin and his hired muscle for now but they really should have thought to make an ally of him instead. Hazel thinks so, at least. Her smile is coy but clearly pleased with the query.

"Two boxes, each holding eighteen sixteen ounce jars of preserved food. One fruit, one vegetable. Two boxes dried and smoked meats, one venison the other fish. Two jars of rendered fat for added calories, properly sealed. Three bags. One rice, one flour, one dried legumes." Repeat for each and every cache Hazel has stashed around the Nexus and well.

She is very good at her job.

Edited 2019-01-20 16:04 (UTC)

Oh it's so hard not to lick his lips at the sound of that. So much food. Good food, too. Full of plenty to fatten up a person for a long Winter. How perfect for a time like this.

Drulb doesn't lick his lips, but his tongue does flick behind his sharp teeth. "Pretty good stock if it's all safe and sealed..." His clasped hands unfold into steepled fingers. "What're you looking for it?"

Enough food for one, maybe two looking at Drulb's counterpart, to sustain comfortably for a whole winter. But these caches were meant to sustain the Nexus as a whole. She worked tirelessly for three months to ensure there was food properly preserved and sealed away for the worst of Winter.

Selling one of them to this merchant at least ensures that one way or another people will be fed.

"Why, a fair trade. I know how much you stand to make off of this information. I wouldn't dream of cutting into your profits. But surely you have something nice that won't be of much use this winter to offer in return?" She glances to the side where Tina is playing in the snow. It would please Reynard if she did something nice for the child.

"A lovely stuffed animal for a young girl and a sundress perhaps?" Not just anything will do for so much food, of course. But best to start the barter somewhere.

Edited 2019-01-20 17:14 (UTC)

Oh other people will be fed... they might just be one goblin and his henchman.

Here he is expecting a demand for diamonds or jewels and she asks him for a sundress. That toothy grin of his widens and he holds up a finger. "I think I have just the things!"

Of course he does.

It takes a fair bit of rooting around in the back of his mass of supplies before he returns. First he shows off a teddy bear, which looks perfectly normal! Apart from its antennae and the fact that its legs are three times the length of its body. "Look at this wonderful thing. Lovely and soft. Perfect for a little girl looking for a furry friend."

Hazel's hand claps itself over her mouth to hide disgusted twist of her mouth she gives when the goblin drags the teddy bear's legs that seem to go on forever out from a box to showcase to her. Her free hand hesitates a fraction of a second before she decides she doesn't care how soft that thing is, nothing is going to make her touch it.

She's about to ask what else the goblin has when a delighted squeal pierces the air.

"Ohmygawd lookit him! Hazel lookit! LOOKIT HE'S GOT DOODLEBOPPERS!"

"....Y-yes, that will do nicely for a toy." Regrets, Hazel has a few.

Hazel may be feeling her regret, but the goblin is so proud! How his grin is able to go wider is anyone's guess, but it does. Though perhaps it's just because of the spirit's reaction.

In contrast to the stuffed atrocity, the sundress he pulls out after setting down the bear looks quite nice. It's pink and covered in brightly coloured splashes that might be flowers, but it looks clean and new and normal. Drulb holds the dress up, pinched between his fingers, as he grins from behind it.

"A pretty dress, don'tcha think? Perfect for warmer weather."

"Tina hold still."

Hazel wants to make sure the dress will fit her. Ideally just a bit bigger than she is in case of growth spurts between now and late spring. It's a fine cloth and in Tina's preferred shade. It settles her smile back more certainly on her face.

She's not going to look at that horrible stuffed animal if she can help it. At least the dress is perfectly serviceable. The important thing is that Tina likes both. Reynard has always had a soft touch for the human. Doting on her will serve Hazel well, especially when Reynard is beholden to Winter so thoroughly right now.

"Yes, I accept the barter." She pulls out a rolled up piece of paper with a detailed map on where to find the cache. It's not far--the house may be snowed in but its root cellar is still secure. Inside the bounty Hazel has prepared will be all for Drulb.

Drulb takes the paper carefully between a finger and thumb, but quickly pulls it close to examine the contents. Seems legit. This is going to put him in a great position for the weeks to come.

"Pleasure doing business with you." That grin of his widens again. "If you need anything else- Or you need to shift some more stock, you know who to come to."

There's something admirable about a non-human trying to run a business. Especially at a time like this. It's probably the fact this goblin isn't like the rest of the bone cages inside that Nekomata sidles up to the stand and sets a fist-sized green crystal down on the table.

Look, if certain Mobian mages want to litter the Nexus with gemstone statues of himself he should have been prepared for people to vandalize them to have pocket money.

"I wyant as much preserved fish as will fit in this bag." Nekomata doesn't care if the gem is worth more than that, it's what she wants. She holds up a rather nice clutch for Drulb to see. "Cans, smoked, pickled. Whatever ya got, nya."

Edited (i hate writing her dialogue) 2019-01-22 14:53 (UTC)

Oh nice! A big fat gem! Drulb picks it up to examine it closely. He picks it up, turning it this way and that, holding it up to the light. Finally he takes a nice big bite into it… and doesn't so much as make a dent.

And to fill a tiny clutch like that? "Deal!"

He pockets the gem and scoots over to a sealed box. After cracking it open he gestures for her to come on over. "Hold it open for me, will yeh?"

Her fluffy ears perk upright at the sight and smell of the fish. She might be drooling ever so slightly. This is the best day. Stuck in the Nexus watching over her boss's idiot younger brother might suck, but a good day of ~~theft~~ scavenging means she's going to have a clutch full of yummy food and ample hunting grounds for anything else she might want to eat.

"Yesssssss. Fill'er up mya~"

There's not a lot of fresh fish around, due to the wonky portals, but it's the most likely to be of questionable quality, so he's definitely getting rid of that first. So he starts shoving a big mackerel in. That should be enough, right? But no! It falls in easier than expected. In fact, when he pulls out a salmon it all but falls inside.

Drulb stares at the bag, then at the demon, and back to the bag again. "This thing ain't so little as it looks, is it?"

And so he starts emptying the fish into it in earnest. He goes through one crate and starts with the next. "That thing's gonna eat all my stock!"

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The Start of the Storm

❅ Drulb's Deelz

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