[open] you bought a star in the sky tonight/ because your life is dark and it needs some light

[apotropaic]

Who: Open log. EVERYONE GET IN HERE.
What: Cockatrice Crafts --Baedal's brand new craft fair/market!
Where: Howl Barrow.
When: Sukkardi 12th of Ceidary.
Notes: This is an open post for everybody since we have so many new people joining. There'll be a sub sections in the post itself for general areas but other than that, feel free to mash you characters together like Barbies!
Warnings: None yet.

Baedal is a city that never sleeps, but everyone likes a long-lie in on a Sukkardi morning. At eleven o’clock, the Howl Barrow is climbing to a weekend buzz but it’s not quite there yet. But right off Carnelian Street, Cockatrice Markets is already has its doors open –and bubbles are floating down the street in welcome!

The Market is housed in what once would have been a small, high ceilinged factory building, but the inside and outside has now been painted all manner of colours and murals by local artistic residents. There are tables inside the airy structure, as well as in the outside alleyway, and a large mosaic chandelier dangles outside the entranceway.

It’s free entrance, fun, and like most places in Howl Barrow, friendly and inviting.

Comments

Philomena's stand.

[apotropaic]

Philomena’s stall is opposite the entrance –a particularly good spot, if she says so herself, and she would—and most of her table is made up of white displays on a pink backdrop, so it’s fairly hard to miss it! Her usual wares can be perused and underneath the price list there’s an advertisement another sort of craft:

Charms, talismans and amulets are available upon request.
The lady herself is keeping busy by working idly on some beadwork or putting out new stock, smile in place for everyone and anyone.

[rhinemaid]

Although Ilde had come here with the thought in mind of picking out something custom, as she picks through what's already out for ideas she's immediately derailed by something that doesn't require any tweaking to be absolutely to her tastes. --it must be said that diverting her with something a little sparkly is not, typically, very difficult to do.

Pointing at the choker in question, she looks inquisitively at Philomena. “I'd like that. Could you do bracelets in the same vein?” She will give you money, Philomena. Give her pretty things for money.

[apotropaic]

Putting aside what she was doing as soon as she hears the sound of a prospective sale (although she's always watching to see what receives the most attention), Philomena nods. "Definitely. I have enough of the square pendants back home, all I'd need is your wrist measurement."

Examining the choker itself, she ponders, "Would you like it with a ribbon tie like the choker? It wouldn't untie on a bracelet, the rest of it would stretch to fit when you put it over your wrist. Or do you want something that doesn't dangle so much?" Important Things To Consider.

[rhinemaid]

“I'd like the ribbon,” because she always wants a ribbon, and it's entirely possible that if everything in her jewellery box was taken away then she'd only find one and tie that around her throat, with a neat bow at the side, and be perfectly satisfied. More thoughtfully, “Um, shorter, I think, maybe this long--?”

Tracing the length of her palm, and just that far; it should hang from the inside of her wrist to where her fingers begin, but not her fingers.

[thebestwitch]

It's amazing how much just having the option to indulge in frivolous things can entice Emma. She finds herself drawn to Philomena's booth almost immediately; partly because of the fantastic location and partly because of the bright colours. She isn't sure what she'd even wear some of the items on display with, but she knows that she wants them. Look, it's a sparkly seahorse hanging from an iridescent cobalt bow. It cannot get much more perfect than this, can it?

No. No, it cannot. Emma looks through the collection with entirely unveiled appreciation. "Ugh, I wish I was filthy rich. I would buy the lot."

[apotropaic]

"And I would let you." Philomena looks up with a teasing sort of smile --and just as she'd seen through Ilde's glamour earlier, thinks witch the moment she sets eyes on Emma. Her stance shifts and there's a coy sort of curiosity underneath the friendly demeanour.

"What's your favourite?" The approval of the seahorse bow had not escaped her notice, but then you never know.

[thebestwitch]

Emma chuckles quietly. "I bet you would." Her gaze lifts and settles on the blonde across the table, briefly steeped in something like confusion. She's never been very good at actually picking out other witches - Marty couldn't get all the obliviousness for himself - but she's gotten better. There have been a lot of things to ping her radar since her arrival in the city, however. It makes her second-guess herself.

"Blue's kind of my colour," she murmurs, running a finger over the ribbon absently. "But I'm kind of digging that bracelet with the mushroom."

[caoineadh]

"Philomena, hi!" Is how Clio announces herself, her tone suggesting familiarity with the other woman despite the fact they've only had one brief network conversation - her social skills are sometimes not quite right, because there were different standards at the Estate.

She's not going to dive straight in to buying something, but her attention is definitely drawn to the purple skull bracelet. She needs it.

[apotropaic]

There's a sing-song, "Hey~" in greeting because Philomena will roll with whatever vibe someone is throwing out and is inordinately friendly herself. "Nice to meet you in person! Have you managed to have a look around yet?"

She sees you eying that purple skull bracelet, Clio, and she approves. It would look cute as hell with that colour of hair.

[caoineadh]

"A little, but I made a bit of a beeline straight here," It's said somewhat sheepishly, but there's plenty of time for looking around later so she isn't too worried about having come straight to Philomena's stand. This way she can spend as much of her allocated money for today here and then go to stalls not owned by people in her cohort (she takes the ~cohorts stick together~ thing seriously).

"I like your set-up," which can sometimes be as important as the wares themselves, no one wants to stop at a dingy-looking stall.

[agrat]

Lea has an aesthetic taste that tends to combine her culture with her actual upbringing; she's a street girl, she grew up wanting to emulate b-boys and girls, and that's where a lot of her interests continue to lie. She does, however, have a soft spot for candy-kitsch, especially with an occult spin, and that's how she'd classify much of the wares in front of her. (It helps she can tell the young woman at the helm is a witch, and 'one of hers', at that.)

She gestures just a little with her blow-pop, head tilted to one side.

"I really want two pair of these," she says, indicating the dangling butterfly earrings, "black and purple; I love them. And the full moon necklace, too, that is beautiful. Do you do length adjustments? Because if necklaces hit my tits wrong they just kind of nest there and it doesn't look right, so I like them really long or really short on the chain."

Hi.

[apotropaic]

"Oh God, right, I hate that with tank top boob shelf, everything's just bouncing everywhere." Hi indeed.

Someone at the stall over gives a startled look at the mention of breasts. In public, even! Which Philomena catches and returns with a stare of 'Was I talking to you?' Anyway, back to Lea. "I can make it any length you want, no problem, and I've got a little mirror so you can check how it looks as well."

She picks up a small compact mirror from the display, with an apologetic look of, "I'm hoping only the really itty bitty things will try to come through this one." And with her free hand, she makes a flicking motion with her fingers to ward off bad luck, which has almost become a nervous habit by now. Although considering the vibe the girl in front of her is giving off, she doesn't think she'll have to worry any time soon.

[agrat]

"Which is a problem I have more than I'd like." It isn't that Lea's large chested in general, but in juxtaposition with the rest of he tininess--the kind of waist people easily close their hands around, wrists that look like they could snap--it's more noticeable and pronounced. And also often leads to inquiries about whether they're fake.

She leans forward just slightly, smiling at either Philomena or the mirror or both.

"I don't mind," she says, "Mirrors are a thing of mine."

One of her foci, regardless of what Baedal uses them for. She has more in her house than most people would probably find entirely reasonable, but she also has special security measures set up to handle anything that might decide to journey through.

"Longer, I think," Lea decides. "How long have you been working on these?"

[thenormalsquint]

This is Angela's idea of heaven. She's been into far too many craft fairs in her lifetime, bought too many useless items because they sparkled, jingled, or just looked darling to her, spent too many hours chatting up the crafters and other customers. But she isn't stopping his habit anytime soon and definitely not in Baedal.

The majority of the items are a bit too gothic for Angela's taste, even though they are beautiful and she appreciates the time and work put into creating them. However, her eyes land on the sign and then a pair of crystal and rose earrings and wonders if the lady behind the table would do her a big favor.

"Hello, excuse me, hi. I love your stuff," she says with a wave just before hiking her purse up along her shoulder. "What kind of charms are you talking about here?"

[apotropaic]

Philomena looks over with a cheerful, "Hey," before considering the question with a nod. "Protection and warding off harm, mostly, although if you've got anything else in mind it depends."

She's been mentally preparing herself for anyone asking about love spells and whatnot, not that Angela strikes her as the type (or that she needs it). It's almost like a precognitive sense for bullshit headed her way, at some point.

[thenormalsquint]

If there's one thing Angela doesn't need (or want) is a love spell. She has pretty good luck in that department, even if the length of said luck is still up for judgement.

"I was wondering if you could turn these into charms for a bracelet?" she asks, pointing to the earrings. It's a little much asking an artist to change her wares into something different than envisioned, but it's still worth a try. If anyway, Angela'll just buy the earring the way they are and deconstruct them like she does everything else.

[gramarye]

Wolfgang thought he might be able to find something useful for the house that he needs (versus wants) here, and he believes in supporting the cohort, which is really why he came. It's just that he doesn't have any money, really.

So he brought someone who does.

His friend is about a half a head shorter than Wolfgang, a more-or-less human man who is exactly the type of gaudy eccentric Howl Barrow is full of, as this is his scene. He is extremely enthused about every stall they drift by, attracted to bright, colourful bits of impracticality. Wolfgang is much quieter, and given the way he's been hanging off his arm and is dressed largely for his benefit, one might be forgiven for thinking they're dating. (They are not -- the polite word for what Wolfgang is is opportunist.)

While his friend agonizes over narrowing it down to one piece when he already knows he's probably going to get both, Wolfgang is doing what he is here to do: shut up, look pretty, and carry his stuff. His gaze drifts around and when he notices it's Philomena's stall they're at, he looks up and smiles at her.

[apotropaic]

Philomena had been wrapping something for another customer when Wolfgang and his friend had come over, although she's got eyes on anyone hovering close to her pieces. She's saying goodbye a minute before Wolfgang looks up, and then it's a waggle-fingered wave in greeting before she moves to his end of the table.

"Hey, you made it." And she sounds pleased, because it's nice to see a familiar face, even if it's one she doesn't know too well.

"And I see you brought company with good taste." She flashes a smile to the friend accompanying Wolfgang, hands slipping into her back pockets in a relaxed gesture. The trick, after all, is to make people think you're not about to set about them like they're a cash piñata.

[gramarye]

"Yeah," he says, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking a little awkward. ('A little awkward' being his normal state, yes, but --)

His friend -- Firoz Alfarsi -- turns, smile dazzling in a way that is slightly artificially so, and plonks both the bracelets he was looking at down. "Well, I certainly know better than to try to decide between orange and chartreuse." (Wolfgang winces slightly, the hypocrite.) "Are you here every week?" he asks as he gets out his wallet.

[meanwhileback]

Of the few things Penelope misses about her shitty retail job back home, getting to look at all the neat artisan jewelry they sold and be inspired was one of the most notable. That said, now that she's in Baedal and has a better job, she can afford to actually buy jewelry. And when she sees Philomena's stand, a light bulb goes off in her head.

"Hey," she says, approaching as casually as she can, because she tends to frighten people when she's in business mode, and this vendor girl looks tough but she is also very blonde, so who knows. "So your stuff is cool. How would you feel about my using some of this for my print campaign?"

This counts as a Softly-Softly Approach, for Penelope.

[apotropaic]

Luckily the blonde is a bottle shade, but the attitude is 100% real.

"I say hey, I'm Philomena, and what sort of pieces are you thinking of?" She's not about to turn down free promotion any time soon, although there's always the initial investigation of names, reputations, and scoping out if the person is serious or not. At least for people who weren't born yesterday, anyway.

[meanwhileback]

"I like your darker stuff. It's sharp and morbid but it has a sense of humor. Totally unsurprisingly, that's exactly the kind of person I'm designing for."

Penelope does something here she never does. She shrugs her purse to the side and offers Philomena a handshake.

"Hi, I'm Penelope Lane." You may have heard of her.

feel free to reply to this with something way shorter lol

[asimovsdream]

Someone at the ExproAuth office Data is employed by has perhaps become a bit perturbed by the fact that the android never requires rest, because this is the second day off they've given him, and he hadn't requested either one. Although earning and saving money is a (novel) priority, he'd accepted the offer in order to spend an increased amount of time with Spot, as well as further his knowledge about the city.

At this point, Data has managed to see a decent amount of Baedal during the hours between his day and night shifts, but the locations only open during regular business hours have, for the most part, eluded him so far. The craft fair in Howl Barrow had seemed like an interesting opportunity that would otherwise be unavailable to him, and so far it has proven to be highly educational.

He's just about to investigate a booth advertising edible fire (in ten different flavors!) when he notices a familiar face. Seeing Philomena doesn't make Data feel happy, or excited, or pleased—not in the way he's felt real feelings before—but he does get a sense of recognition that goes beyond remembering who she is. She's the first person he met here, and the person who let him out so he could take care of Spot. There's goodness in that.

"Greetings, Philomena," he says, coming up to her table.

[apotropaic]

"Data!" Philomena lights up with a cheery smile. Apparently she has enough enthusiasm for the both of them (and/or the entire city, depending). She'd been in the middle of putting out new pieces to fill the growing empty spaces, but straightens up to address him properly.

"How are you? Are you and Spot settling into Baedal life?"

[asimovsdream]

“My systems are functioning at acceptable levels. Spot is also healthy,” Data says. “I am unsure of what is required in order be 'settled in,' but I have secured housing and jobs for myself.”

He looks over the jewelry on the table closely and reads all the signage, then says, “Your job seems much more... fulfilling.”