Encounterlogs
Nicos Odd Encounter Sr Lance 241007
In the dimly lit interior of the Pulse Fitness Center, Nico's routine workout takes an unexpected turn when he notices a group of men dressed incongruously for the location. Their interest lies behind a mysterious door, previously unnoticed and seemingly out of place, that leads to a hidden corridor illuminated by torchlight. Driven by curiosity, Nico follows, discovering a passage that hints at a world far removed from the normalcy of a gym. This corridor, part of the Goblin Market, is a nexus for the supernatural community, replete with doorways to arcane dealings and objects of immense power. As Nico navigates this underworld, he stumbles upon an auction orchestrated by The Golden Shadow, a group with a notorious reputation for moral ambiguity and a fervent pursuit of wealth, where the item of note is the heart of a Zmey, a Slavic dragon with significant destructive potential.
Nico's presence at the auction is marked by his decision to remain an observer, a role that enables him to witness the ethically questionable commerce without direct involvement. Despite the temptation to engage further, especially when confronted with the magnitude of what’s being sold—a heart capable of obliterating towns—Nico opts for discretion and a hasty retreat, prioritizing his safety over the allure of the forbidden and potentially catastrophic. His interaction with a vampiric figure underscores the evening’s surreal experience, offering advice on the dangers of curiosity in a world teeming with secrets best left undiscovered. This encounter encapsulates Nico’s introduction to the darker undercurrents of Haven, a juxtaposition to his initial mundane setting, and sets the stage for his eventual departure from the market, unscathed but undeniably changed by the knowledge of what lurks in the shadows of the supernatural.
(Nico's odd encounter(SRLance):SRLance)
[Sun Oct 6 2024]
In the Pulse Fitness Center
The walls of this spacious, well-lit gym are adorned with motivational quotes and vibrant teal accents, igniting a sense of determination. The dark gray floor boasts a resilient rubberized surface, absorbing each footfall with a slight rebound. Mirrored walls stretch across the left side, offering a reflection of dedication and progress. The air is filled with the energizing hum of people pushing themselves to new heights, while upbeat music provides the perfect rhythm for intense workouts.
It is night, about 55F(12C) degrees, and the sky is partly covered by wispy white clouds. There is a waxing crescent moon.
(Your target and their allies have stumbled upon a secret auction, hosted by The Golden Shadow. The item on sale is a powerful artifact, capable of causing immense destruction. The Golden Shadow, not caring about the potential disaster the artifact could cause, is auctioning it off to the highest bidder, who could use it for nefarious purposes. It's up to your target and their allies to either outbid the competition or figure out a way to sabotage the auction and steal the artifact before it falls into the wrong hands.)
It's a fairly normal evening at the fitness center, all things considered--not that many people are working out after midnight. This makes for a curious sight, when Nico is in the middle of one of his sets: A group of twelve men, dressed for business rather than a workout, arrive. Two of them are wearing the distinct earpieces of people involved in professional security. They pay no attention to anyone who might be pumping iron in the gym, and instead move for a door in the back of the room. Nico has no memory of there ever having been a door there before. Even more curiously--there shouldn't be anything on the other side of that door other than the parking lot. But they all file into it, and there's a hallway beyond, oddly lit by torches instead of flourescent lights. And then they're through, and the door is closed.
But it's still there. Tempting Nico to open it.
Nico is snapped out of his workout routine by the arrival of the men, glancing up at the door that... By all rights, should have been a wall. Glancing around, he lets out a quiet sigh, reaching for his phone. Assuming, of course, that he has some semblance of signal.
There's nothing stopping Nico from using his phone. Haven's a misty place, but there's nothing interfering with electronics at the moment. Despite the passage of the mystery party of persons, nothing else is out of the ordinary.
Nico lets out a quiet sigh, chuckling as he rises to his feet, toweling himself and the bench off as he tucks his phone away, fully dressing himself before proceeding towards the door. Resting a hand on the handle, he attempts to crack it open, just the barest fraction of an inch, enough to see through.
There's a long hallway on the other side, with various nondescript doors placed along it. It seems to be of old stone construction. The temperature on the other side is faintly cool, in the way a room with a lot of cold stone will become over time. There's the sound of conversation somewhere down the left end, but from here it's difficult to determine just what they're saying or what might be going on beyond. Every now and then there's the crack of something like a gavel--some kind of official meeting, maybe?
Nico takes a breath, holding it for a moment, before exhaling slowly and opening the door more, creeping his way in before closing it as quietly as he can behind him. Trying to pace silently down the hallway, rolling from heel to toe, he attempts to silently listen at the door.
What soon becomes clear is that what's taking place is some kind of auction. It's not the first auction to have taken place in Haven this evening--but it is in a peculiar venue. If Nico is aware of supernatural matters, he'd be aware that he's found one of the hidden doors to the Goblin Market--a commercial space which is connected by dimensional gateways to various businesses owned by supernaturally aware proprietors. Various chambers snake off from this entrance hallway, some of them full of people about peculiar business--a glimpse through one open doorway shows what looks like alchemical potions and ingredients. One person that walks in the distance, either not noticing Nico or not payin him any mind, seems to have four arms. This is not, all in all, a normal place.
But that close door--there's various people calling out bids in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars. Eventually, the auctioner calls for going once, going twice--and then "sold!" along with a crack of the gavel Nico heard earlier.
Nico is, in fact, aware, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. No weird cultists? No kidnapping voice over the radio? Fantastic. Still, caution is the better part of valor, so he cracks the door open, much like the first, trying to get eyes on exactly what is for sale, and what could be worth such an amount.
It seems that Nico's presence does not go entirely unnoticed. There's a woman wearing a business suit on the other side of the door, who gestures obligingly towards the room writ large, when Nico tries to discreetly investigate. Perhaps his presence was sensed when he drew near -- or perhaps she's just a very good doorman. But what's clear is that maybe fifty people are present in the room, of various nationalities and ethnicities. Up on the platform is the auctioneer, and two heavily armored individuals who have the telltale signs of the most cutting edge cybernetic augmentations. Both they, and the gavel-toting auctioneer, wear emblems which indicate they are members of the Golden Shadow, a PMC organization which is quite famous in the supernatural underground as having absolutely no morals whatsoever other than a love of money.
"And now for our next item," the auctioneer calls out, as a small cart is brought up onto the stage. "This is the item which I believe most of you have been waiting to see, recovered from our ongoing operations in the Ukranian theater. Our opening bid will be five million dollars."
"Greetings, sir," the doorman says in a light, welcoming voice, pitched low to avoid disturbing the ongoing proceedings. "You're just in time. Are you here to observe, or participate?"
Nico presses his lips together, evidently a touch concerned at being caught out, but strolls in regardless as if that were always the intention. With a winning smile, he strolls in, speaking in the same hushed tone to the doorman. "Just to observe, sir. I'll admit, I overheard the auction, and curiosity got the better of me." His gaze shifts to the stage, eying whatever it is currently on the sales floor.
Nico actually said 'miss', since apparently he missed the doorman being described as 'she' earlier.
The doorman (door-woman?) indicates an empty seat. "I see. And which organization will you be observing on behalf of?" Somehow, she's produced a clipboard, and seems ready to take notes at a moment's notice. Perhaps significantly, she does not ask Nico's name. Maybe that's a normal part of doing business here.
The auctioneer indicates the cart. A cloth is removed from the top of it. What's concealed beneath appears to be some kind of medical container, like the boxes used to transport organs for transplant. Inside is a giant heart. Every once in a while, too slow to rightly be considered alive, it beats. And with each beat, a tangible sense of malice washes over the room. The auctioneer seems wholly unaffected, even if some of the guests are visibly uncomfortable. "This," says the auctioneer, "Is the heart of a Zmey, among the most powerful Fae creations to still be present on our Earth. They are also known as Slavic dragons. Imagine, if you would, the rituals you could conduct with something like this. The energy contained within is enough to destroy a small town."
It would probably not be in the world's best interests for nefarious organizations to get their hands on this thing.
Nico looks visibly stumped for a moment, then a touch queasy at the beating heart and its effect, before raising a hand to the back of his neck. "I, ah... Don't belong to any organizations, at present. But, given that everything here seems well and truly out of my price range, I'll be going, now." With that, he attempts to pop the door and beat a hasty retreat, at least back out into the hallway.
No one stops Nico. The law of neutrality in the Goblin Market makes it an unusually safe space in the supernatural world, given the ruthlessness with which the goblin king punishes those who violate it. "Do take care," says the very obliging woman who addressed Nico, before he slips out. One person does look over his shoulder to watch him leave, but it probably has more to do with the haste with which Nico beat feet than anything else. So it is that Nico returns to the cold air of the hallway, without anything like pursuit.
Nico pulls his phone back out, hand tremoring ever so slightly as he taps out a shaky text. Coming to lean against the wall, he takes a few breaths to steady himself. Evidently, the effect of the heart, less so the gore itself, got the better of him for the moment. Still, he types out the text, before letting his hands fall to his side as he waits for a reply.
While Nico waits for a reply to his text, another person emerges from one of the nondescript doors down the hallway, closer to where Nico entered. It's a tall, gaunt figure dressed in various shades of black. Perhaps sensing the tremor in Nico's hands, and the nervousness it represents, he turns his eyes on the man, offering an unnaturally wide smile, with elongated canines. "Why hello there," the man says, his voice a cheerful and normal contrast to his ghoulish appearance. "Your first time in the Market, perhaps?"
Nico snaps his head up, taking in the man's ghoulish features, before nodding once, "Yeah. I've heard about it, in passing, but never understood it was quite so..." He trails off, searching for the right word, "... Diverse, in both product and clientele."
"Many who have products to buy and sell in the supernatural world come here," the vampire -- he is a vampire, right? -- tells Nico. "But there's strict rules about behavior. Perhaps, if you find yourself nervous, the best outcome would be to forget what you saw here tonight--and return to your normal life. You know what they say about curiosity and the cat."
Nico inclines his head, steeling his nerves as he pushes himself off the wall, flashing a wry grin that, while fragile, remains in place. "And I'm sure you, sir, know what they say about satisfaction after the fact, hm? If a guy's to know and be involved, he has to understand. This is just..." He shrugs, "One more odd thing in a laundry list of odd things."
"The world is full of strangeness," says the vampire, with a knowing smirk, "As we who live in death know most of all. If you wish to grow in knowledge, take care that it is you who masters the secrets you obtain, and not the secrets which master you." He brushes himself off. "Meanwhile, I am here to purchase blood. Unless you are selling yours, I should attend to my business."
someone in the market, a bidding war is ongoing over a dire artifact, ripped from a dead dragon. Odd things, indeed.
"The world is full of strangeness," says the vampire, with a knowing smirk, "As we who live in death know most of all. If you wish to grow in knowledge, take care that it is you who masters the secrets you obtain, and not the secrets which master you." He brushes himself off. "Meanwhile, I am here to purchase blood. Unless you are selling yours, I should attend to my business."
Elsewhere in the market, a bidding war is ongoing over a dire artifact, ripped from a dead dragon. Odd things, indeed.
Nico shakes his head, chuckling. "Unfortunately, no. While psychic feeding is a necessity for those I tend to be around, I've no particular desire to be used as a juice box... Though, I should thank you for your advice, heeded or otherwise." He flashes a smile, nodding. "Have a good one, hm?" With that, he strolls off down the long hallway, back towards the door he came from.
So it is that Nico came face to face with the war profiteers who seek to enrich themselves before the end of all things, and those who would enrich them, and another facet of the underworld present in Haven. Perhaps wisely, Nico has chosen not to try and interfere with the proceedings, instead prioritizing his own safety.
The time may come when he is the one dictating the pace of such things. We shall see.
over--feel free to leave!]
Nico's presence at the auction is marked by his decision to remain an observer, a role that enables him to witness the ethically questionable commerce without direct involvement. Despite the temptation to engage further, especially when confronted with the magnitude of what’s being sold—a heart capable of obliterating towns—Nico opts for discretion and a hasty retreat, prioritizing his safety over the allure of the forbidden and potentially catastrophic. His interaction with a vampiric figure underscores the evening’s surreal experience, offering advice on the dangers of curiosity in a world teeming with secrets best left undiscovered. This encounter encapsulates Nico’s introduction to the darker undercurrents of Haven, a juxtaposition to his initial mundane setting, and sets the stage for his eventual departure from the market, unscathed but undeniably changed by the knowledge of what lurks in the shadows of the supernatural.
(Nico's odd encounter(SRLance):SRLance)
[Sun Oct 6 2024]
In the Pulse Fitness Center
The walls of this spacious, well-lit gym are adorned with motivational quotes and vibrant teal accents, igniting a sense of determination. The dark gray floor boasts a resilient rubberized surface, absorbing each footfall with a slight rebound. Mirrored walls stretch across the left side, offering a reflection of dedication and progress. The air is filled with the energizing hum of people pushing themselves to new heights, while upbeat music provides the perfect rhythm for intense workouts.
It is night, about 55F(12C) degrees, and the sky is partly covered by wispy white clouds. There is a waxing crescent moon.
(Your target and their allies have stumbled upon a secret auction, hosted by The Golden Shadow. The item on sale is a powerful artifact, capable of causing immense destruction. The Golden Shadow, not caring about the potential disaster the artifact could cause, is auctioning it off to the highest bidder, who could use it for nefarious purposes. It's up to your target and their allies to either outbid the competition or figure out a way to sabotage the auction and steal the artifact before it falls into the wrong hands.)
It's a fairly normal evening at the fitness center, all things considered--not that many people are working out after midnight. This makes for a curious sight, when Nico is in the middle of one of his sets: A group of twelve men, dressed for business rather than a workout, arrive. Two of them are wearing the distinct earpieces of people involved in professional security. They pay no attention to anyone who might be pumping iron in the gym, and instead move for a door in the back of the room. Nico has no memory of there ever having been a door there before. Even more curiously--there shouldn't be anything on the other side of that door other than the parking lot. But they all file into it, and there's a hallway beyond, oddly lit by torches instead of flourescent lights. And then they're through, and the door is closed.
But it's still there. Tempting Nico to open it.
Nico is snapped out of his workout routine by the arrival of the men, glancing up at the door that... By all rights, should have been a wall. Glancing around, he lets out a quiet sigh, reaching for his phone. Assuming, of course, that he has some semblance of signal.
There's nothing stopping Nico from using his phone. Haven's a misty place, but there's nothing interfering with electronics at the moment. Despite the passage of the mystery party of persons, nothing else is out of the ordinary.
Nico lets out a quiet sigh, chuckling as he rises to his feet, toweling himself and the bench off as he tucks his phone away, fully dressing himself before proceeding towards the door. Resting a hand on the handle, he attempts to crack it open, just the barest fraction of an inch, enough to see through.
There's a long hallway on the other side, with various nondescript doors placed along it. It seems to be of old stone construction. The temperature on the other side is faintly cool, in the way a room with a lot of cold stone will become over time. There's the sound of conversation somewhere down the left end, but from here it's difficult to determine just what they're saying or what might be going on beyond. Every now and then there's the crack of something like a gavel--some kind of official meeting, maybe?
Nico takes a breath, holding it for a moment, before exhaling slowly and opening the door more, creeping his way in before closing it as quietly as he can behind him. Trying to pace silently down the hallway, rolling from heel to toe, he attempts to silently listen at the door.
What soon becomes clear is that what's taking place is some kind of auction. It's not the first auction to have taken place in Haven this evening--but it is in a peculiar venue. If Nico is aware of supernatural matters, he'd be aware that he's found one of the hidden doors to the Goblin Market--a commercial space which is connected by dimensional gateways to various businesses owned by supernaturally aware proprietors. Various chambers snake off from this entrance hallway, some of them full of people about peculiar business--a glimpse through one open doorway shows what looks like alchemical potions and ingredients. One person that walks in the distance, either not noticing Nico or not payin him any mind, seems to have four arms. This is not, all in all, a normal place.
But that close door--there's various people calling out bids in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars. Eventually, the auctioner calls for going once, going twice--and then "sold!" along with a crack of the gavel Nico heard earlier.
Nico is, in fact, aware, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. No weird cultists? No kidnapping voice over the radio? Fantastic. Still, caution is the better part of valor, so he cracks the door open, much like the first, trying to get eyes on exactly what is for sale, and what could be worth such an amount.
It seems that Nico's presence does not go entirely unnoticed. There's a woman wearing a business suit on the other side of the door, who gestures obligingly towards the room writ large, when Nico tries to discreetly investigate. Perhaps his presence was sensed when he drew near -- or perhaps she's just a very good doorman. But what's clear is that maybe fifty people are present in the room, of various nationalities and ethnicities. Up on the platform is the auctioneer, and two heavily armored individuals who have the telltale signs of the most cutting edge cybernetic augmentations. Both they, and the gavel-toting auctioneer, wear emblems which indicate they are members of the Golden Shadow, a PMC organization which is quite famous in the supernatural underground as having absolutely no morals whatsoever other than a love of money.
"And now for our next item," the auctioneer calls out, as a small cart is brought up onto the stage. "This is the item which I believe most of you have been waiting to see, recovered from our ongoing operations in the Ukranian theater. Our opening bid will be five million dollars."
"Greetings, sir," the doorman says in a light, welcoming voice, pitched low to avoid disturbing the ongoing proceedings. "You're just in time. Are you here to observe, or participate?"
Nico presses his lips together, evidently a touch concerned at being caught out, but strolls in regardless as if that were always the intention. With a winning smile, he strolls in, speaking in the same hushed tone to the doorman. "Just to observe, sir. I'll admit, I overheard the auction, and curiosity got the better of me." His gaze shifts to the stage, eying whatever it is currently on the sales floor.
Nico actually said 'miss', since apparently he missed the doorman being described as 'she' earlier.
The doorman (door-woman?) indicates an empty seat. "I see. And which organization will you be observing on behalf of?" Somehow, she's produced a clipboard, and seems ready to take notes at a moment's notice. Perhaps significantly, she does not ask Nico's name. Maybe that's a normal part of doing business here.
The auctioneer indicates the cart. A cloth is removed from the top of it. What's concealed beneath appears to be some kind of medical container, like the boxes used to transport organs for transplant. Inside is a giant heart. Every once in a while, too slow to rightly be considered alive, it beats. And with each beat, a tangible sense of malice washes over the room. The auctioneer seems wholly unaffected, even if some of the guests are visibly uncomfortable. "This," says the auctioneer, "Is the heart of a Zmey, among the most powerful Fae creations to still be present on our Earth. They are also known as Slavic dragons. Imagine, if you would, the rituals you could conduct with something like this. The energy contained within is enough to destroy a small town."
It would probably not be in the world's best interests for nefarious organizations to get their hands on this thing.
Nico looks visibly stumped for a moment, then a touch queasy at the beating heart and its effect, before raising a hand to the back of his neck. "I, ah... Don't belong to any organizations, at present. But, given that everything here seems well and truly out of my price range, I'll be going, now." With that, he attempts to pop the door and beat a hasty retreat, at least back out into the hallway.
No one stops Nico. The law of neutrality in the Goblin Market makes it an unusually safe space in the supernatural world, given the ruthlessness with which the goblin king punishes those who violate it. "Do take care," says the very obliging woman who addressed Nico, before he slips out. One person does look over his shoulder to watch him leave, but it probably has more to do with the haste with which Nico beat feet than anything else. So it is that Nico returns to the cold air of the hallway, without anything like pursuit.
Nico pulls his phone back out, hand tremoring ever so slightly as he taps out a shaky text. Coming to lean against the wall, he takes a few breaths to steady himself. Evidently, the effect of the heart, less so the gore itself, got the better of him for the moment. Still, he types out the text, before letting his hands fall to his side as he waits for a reply.
While Nico waits for a reply to his text, another person emerges from one of the nondescript doors down the hallway, closer to where Nico entered. It's a tall, gaunt figure dressed in various shades of black. Perhaps sensing the tremor in Nico's hands, and the nervousness it represents, he turns his eyes on the man, offering an unnaturally wide smile, with elongated canines. "Why hello there," the man says, his voice a cheerful and normal contrast to his ghoulish appearance. "Your first time in the Market, perhaps?"
Nico snaps his head up, taking in the man's ghoulish features, before nodding once, "Yeah. I've heard about it, in passing, but never understood it was quite so..." He trails off, searching for the right word, "... Diverse, in both product and clientele."
"Many who have products to buy and sell in the supernatural world come here," the vampire -- he is a vampire, right? -- tells Nico. "But there's strict rules about behavior. Perhaps, if you find yourself nervous, the best outcome would be to forget what you saw here tonight--and return to your normal life. You know what they say about curiosity and the cat."
Nico inclines his head, steeling his nerves as he pushes himself off the wall, flashing a wry grin that, while fragile, remains in place. "And I'm sure you, sir, know what they say about satisfaction after the fact, hm? If a guy's to know and be involved, he has to understand. This is just..." He shrugs, "One more odd thing in a laundry list of odd things."
"The world is full of strangeness," says the vampire, with a knowing smirk, "As we who live in death know most of all. If you wish to grow in knowledge, take care that it is you who masters the secrets you obtain, and not the secrets which master you." He brushes himself off. "Meanwhile, I am here to purchase blood. Unless you are selling yours, I should attend to my business."
someone in the market, a bidding war is ongoing over a dire artifact, ripped from a dead dragon. Odd things, indeed.
"The world is full of strangeness," says the vampire, with a knowing smirk, "As we who live in death know most of all. If you wish to grow in knowledge, take care that it is you who masters the secrets you obtain, and not the secrets which master you." He brushes himself off. "Meanwhile, I am here to purchase blood. Unless you are selling yours, I should attend to my business."
Elsewhere in the market, a bidding war is ongoing over a dire artifact, ripped from a dead dragon. Odd things, indeed.
Nico shakes his head, chuckling. "Unfortunately, no. While psychic feeding is a necessity for those I tend to be around, I've no particular desire to be used as a juice box... Though, I should thank you for your advice, heeded or otherwise." He flashes a smile, nodding. "Have a good one, hm?" With that, he strolls off down the long hallway, back towards the door he came from.
So it is that Nico came face to face with the war profiteers who seek to enrich themselves before the end of all things, and those who would enrich them, and another facet of the underworld present in Haven. Perhaps wisely, Nico has chosen not to try and interfere with the proceedings, instead prioritizing his own safety.
The time may come when he is the one dictating the pace of such things. We shall see.
over--feel free to leave!]