2023.02.09 Flea Market Treasures

02.09.23 Flea Market Treasure Hunt Part 1
A bunch of fae and Kinain hit the Flea Market, seeking sprites and magic.
IC Date	02.09.23
Players	Clementine, Janneke, Kieran, Persy, Sebastian
Location	Granny and Pa's Flea Market
Prp/Tp	Flea Market Treasures (ST: Clementine)
Spheres	Changeling

2/9/2023 - 08:15 PM

Clementine has left word that tonight is a good night to explore. It is one of the less busy evenings at the Flea market, and when the vendors are putting out more stuff before the Friday-Sunday busy times. So new stuff! Or at least, new to the flea market stuff. She'll wait at the entrance for the others, her bag on her arm empty mostly (yes there is a yarn ball or two in there!), as she waits for them to arrive.

Overall, the flea market is not super busy, but not empty. There is a food truck outside, and still a D&D game going on somewhere. Every so often you hear someone shout, "I CAST MAGIC MISSLE!" followed by a groan and someone says, "Again??"

Janneke has pulled herself away from the shop, having just hired a couple of part-timers from the pool of local college students. New-old stuff to paw over -- sounds like a great way to spend an evening! One oversized empty tote festooned with the logo of a band long ago forgotten is slung over her shoulder, and she's just finished a tasty morsel of some sort from the food truck. She makes a bank shot with the empty wrapper into a 55-gallon tub used for trash -- two points to the short chick! Wait... erm, the short chick with the combat boots. Um... amend that to the short blondeish chick with the combat boots. "Hi, Clem," she calls out amiably, approaching the waiting figure with a smile.

Persy is here as well, looking just like Clementine, though their styles are different and Clementine can actually tame her hair once in a while. Persy doesn't even try anymore. She's pretty sure that one day she will find a man who will accept her just as she is, crazy hair and wacky style and all. She's got her phone out and she's holding it up and out and talking to it. " --- here at the flea market with me..." She turns the camera a little bit. ".. and Clementine." As people start to come along, she puts the phone away and tucks it into one of the pockets on her long skirt. "Evening!" she calls out to Janneke, patpatpatting her pocket to make sure her phone is secure.

Kieran has shown up, as planned. The only addition to her normal attire is a tiny thing, barely even noticeable. It's a full-on sea bag, maybe a little larger than she is, strapped sideways across her back. Well-worn, it looks like she's very used to wearing it. But then, when you live from city to city, traveling on a motorcycle, you have to carry things someplace.

Sebastian has been hanging out near the D&D group for a bit. Magic Missile is hardly the only thing they've been arguing about. ("See, right here it says ninjas were still a thing during that year." "Yeah, in /Japan/, not in Utah.") He takes the opportunity to sneak a couple extra tentacle miniatures onto the board while the others are distracted for long enough, before making his way over to where the others are gathered. "Is the dollar bin still running?"

Clementine tilts her head to Sebastian, "No clue." She waves to Kieran and Janneke as they join the group as well. "I was thinking, we could all do a round, see if anything stands out. Then break off to do a deeper dive. Unless something really catches someone's eye first?" She looks to Persy, "Sound good, or can you think of a better plan of attack?"

Janneke smiles back at Persy and waves at the camera-phone. "Hi Persy! Evening Kee, Sebastian!" She eyes the sea bag and says, "Planning on a little murder along with your shopping?" Clem's suggestion elicits a nod, and JJ says, "That sounds good to me -- anything in particular anyone is looking for? For me, it's instrument parts, especially, but I also like old forgotten musical things. Sheet music too."

Persy nods to Clementine, giving her a thumbs up and she pulls a carefully folded bag out of another pocket. She unfolds it.. and unfolds it.. and unfolds it... to IKEAn proportions and beyond. "I'm always looking for something to go into a craft of some sort. Sometimes that's just stones and beads, but occasionally it has been known to be .. spoons or pill bottles." She waves a hand and pulls out her camera. "Does anyone object to being photographed or being a part of a tiktok?"

Sebastian waves back to the others, looking around for a place to sit and stay out of strangers' sight. "Not unless it get a hundred replies of 'Yeah, well you're stupid because you voted for the other guy'. Hate those."

Kieran nods slowly, "That sounds good... especially since if something really stands out, we might need all of us to figure out just what we're dealing with." She hitches up the sea bag a bit, "Fair warning, if this thing ends up fully loaded, I might need some help to not fall over backwards..."

Clementine grins, "I'm on the search for anything tea related. Tea cups, tea plates, tea pots, tea strainers. You know... all that stuff. You just never know what will be here." She looks over the various bags around and says, "You all are ready to shop til you drop it seems." She'll lead the way toward the first aisle, where they are greeted on each side by vendors.

On the right hand side, the crew will find a machine shop exploded within the stall. Some of the things look like jurassic technology, while there are some newer pieces as well.

On the left hand side, they will see various artwork/wall hangings. Some leaning up on the floor, others hanging on the sides. Some on easels. This includes velvet paintings of dogs playing poker, as well as tasteful landscapes.

Janneke waves a hand at the query about being in a tiktok. "Not at all..." She eyes Sebastian and says, "If you chant 'let's go Brandon,' I might have to break out the airhorn." She smiles, though - obviously joking - and tries not to disappear into the massive unfolding Not-An-IKEA-Bag. "We can always find you some ballast to keep you balanced, Kee. Or worse comes to worst, we'll load you on a skateboard and roll you and the bag home." She cranes her neck a bit, peering around her to see a preview of what's on offer, and when faced with the right-hand machine-shop-explosion, she heads there, sure fingers beginning to work through boxes of bits and bobs with an eye to rarer bits and more uncommon bobs.

Persy chuckles at Sebastian and pauses to ask the vendor if she can film. In the machine shop. He says it's fine as long as he isn't in it, and Persy promises that if he accidentally gets in a shot, she'll blur his face. Good enough for him. She uses her camera as a sort of visual aid too, peeking around corners so she doesn't have to disturb the pieces or so she can enhance it to read fine print. That sort of thing.

Sebastian glances over the dog paintings, taking in the little details that throw the kitsch into relief, but the bulk of his attention is on the machines. Each moving part is moved, to get a feel for what still works and what's rusted in place.

Kieran nods to Clem, grinning. "Totally ready to shop myself to exhaustion! I don't even know what I'm looking for... kinda just... here for the happenstance, you know? Whatever we find, we find!" She laughs as JJ starts talking about ballast. "Oooh, a skateboard. I like that. Maybe we'll find a segway stuck in here someplace!"

As they start to move, she mostly focuses on poking around in the artwork, looking to see if anything calls to her.

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->

Sebastian rolls Perception + Kenning vs 6 for 6 successes.

+7 +7 +7 +9 +9 +9

<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->

Kieran rolls Perception + Kenning vs 6 for 3 successes.

1 +7 +7 +9 10

<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->

Janneke rolls Perception(4) + Kenning(3) (7 dice) vs 6 for 1 successes.

1 1 5 5 +7 8 10

<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->

Persy rolls Perception + Kenning vs 6 for 4 successes.

1 2 3 5 5 +6 +6 +6 +9 10

<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

As they are going around, Sebastian is the first to stumble upon something. He's found a screwdriver, that if he looks closer into the dreaming side, it is actually a key. There is an inscription on it that he cannot quite make out here but he figures will be clearer if he takes it next to a balefire.

Kieran on the other hand is looking at the artwork, and just spots a smaller piece that is the picture of a landscape that obviously has something more to it. When she picks it up, she can sense more to it, and looking on the backside, there is chimerical markings on it like a map.

JJ is going through the bits and bobs, and she can sense there might be something around, but nothing is quite making sense just yet.

Persy is looking through the machine shop and stumbles on another tool. This is a multi-tool. Funny thing is, most of it seems normal. But there is one piece that if you pull out, she can find an inscription but it shines differently. Looking closer, it is obviously infused with something chimerical. Peeking in the Dreaming, that piece becomes another key.

Janneke makes a point to hold up any particularly interesting bits for Persy to film -- why not? Of course, her definition of interesting is probably not everyone else's, so caveat filmer. She passes something that looks vaguely like a torture implement to Sebastian, having no clue what it is or what it does, and then cheerfully finds a horridly scratched old bass pickup underneath it. "Hrm." She palms that for later negotiation, and says, "Given enough time and parts, I could build a segway. How much time and how many parts, I don't know. Much like that old thing about how many monkeys it would take how long to type the collected works of Shakespeare."

JJ lifts an ornate brass handle from the box she's pawing through. "Clem? This looks like it goes to a teapot. Do you have one in need of a rather nice handle?" She hrms some more, switching to a display of assorted tarnished items, renewing her effort with a furrowed brow.

Clementine walks over by JJ and takes a look. "Oh, this would clean up nicely. I do have a teapot that is missing a handle. Well, it was broken off and I just could not get it together right. Ceramic and all. This would be a nice replacement." She'll look over things with her a bit more.

Persy is happy to film this and film that, but then she leaaaaans way over and squints. Squint. SQUINT. She reaches but she has tiny little arms that won't go far enough, so she finds a little copper pipe and she uses that to reaaaach out, muttering and cursing quietly to herself, still holding her phone with her other hand and trying to just.... There's a little clink and something tumbles to the floor and she drops down with a swoosh of skirts to her knees and leans in, brightly colored booty up in the air, just the bottoms of her boots peeking out from the skirt as she wriggles her way underneath to grab the thing.

Sebastian passes the key to Janneke, taking the torture implement in its place. Whatever it is, it's got two sides on a hinge, either to clamp down on something or to do the exact opposite. At least he thinks so. "Do I want to know?" he finally asks, turning back to face her for a moment.

Kieran peers at the small landscape curiously before turning it over and carefully examining the markings. As she puzzles over it, she nods a little and tucks the picture under her arm long enough to give the rest of the art another once-over, just in case. That done, she starts back over toward the group.

"Eh, I wouldn't worry about the segway, but I might've found a segue." She flashs a grin, and holds out the artwork. "Check the back. Might've found a clue to a whole /other/ adventure."

Janneke looks at the screw-key in surprise, but takes it, looking it over with a slow blink. "You should hang onto this, this looks? cool," she concludes lamely as she hands it reluctantly back, "And I'm not sure what it does, I was hoping you could give me an explanation that wasn't? unpleasant." Her gaze moves to Persy's seeking rump, and then Kee's artwork. "Ooh, yes," she notes, and looks over the artwork as well.

Persy crawls out from under the dusty shelf and gets a lock of her hair caught on something. She pauses and wriggles and shakes her head around briefly, finally pulling herself free and coming up to her feet with a little stomp. Multi tool. "Hah. Bloody little fucker," she mutters, giving it a little shake. She shows it to the camera and then wanders over to see how everyone else has fared.

The vendor comes over to check if Persy is alright. Not often he sees someone down crawling for something or getting anything stuck - nor doing it while making some sort of video. He asks how she is and if she's found anything she likes.

Clementine looks over what the others have found, and is most interested in Kieran's find. "Oh my. See, that is what I was wondering we'd find. Not that thing exactly, but something to lead us to another location. Something lost. Like a ..a... message in a bottle."

Sebastian glances sidelong at Kieran. "You keep that up and I'm gonna start looking for a running gag," he murmurs. Then, turning back to the others, he gestures with the... device. "Well, I think it's like a conductor's baton, only when you need to deal with two different groups at the same time." Uh huh.

Persy holds up the multi tool as if she's going to war. "Just this." It's nothing, right? Totally. "I lost mine last week and I don't like to replace old with new." She gives the shop keeper a smile and a friendly wink. "I'll take it." She reaches into her shirt and pulls out approximately the right amount of money, maybe a little more and hands it over.

Kieran nods emphatically at Clem's assessment, "Yeah, exactly." She turns it back over and looks at the landscape. "I wonder if this is a guide to where things start on the back... I'm not a local, though... anyone recognize this place?"

Janneke brushes hair from her face, smudging a bit of dust on her cheek in the process. She gets an eyeful of Persy's find and beams, offering no comment so as not to drive up the barter price. "Running gag? Is it on a skateboard?" Groan. JJ nods sagely as Persy holds up the tool. "I know that feeling, tools never feel right when they're brand new." She offers the fellow a buck for the pickup, and dickers as needed. "I'm new here too."

Clementine looks over the painting and says, "I think I've seen this place once before. North of the Blue Boar Inn. There is a forest with a Grove. I swear it looks a lot like this, but different slightly. It is a good place to start." She is referring to the Grove of Tethys. "We can go there sometime and check it out. I just wonder if we found this, if there might be more around here. Scattered."

Sebastian nods to Clementine. "Certainly could be. Better look for anything else that's got a large flat piece out of sight. Like those, maybe," he suggests, indicating the poker series.

Persy has her phone back on again. She'll be doing a lot of editing, no doubt... probably. She doesn't show the picture though. Just in case. "Are we ready to move on?" She has one little clump of hair that is sticking straight up from where it got caught on whatever that thing was.

Kieran nods again. "Totally! Maybe more art by the artist, or related things... and there could be a lot more forgotten treasures hidden around here." She turns to look around the market again, pondering where /else/ might contain super-secret clues to lead into the unknown... or, you know, north of the Blue Boar.

Janneke takes in all of the discussions, and then moves to the artwork to take a quick look through the pieces to try and spot anything on the back side. Maps, coupons to the local taco joint, love letters... Once she's given at least a perfunctory perusal, she nods to Persy, "Sure, I'm game, let's see what else we have to see!"

Once everyone has paid for anything they are picking up here, including the teapot handle that Clementine decided on based on JJ's find, the group moves on. The next stalls are filled with Glasswares on the right (wine glasses, vases, dishes), while the left is filled with taxidermied roadkill. Yes, roadkill. Mostly squirrels all setup in various small scenes, or in costumes. Creepy to some. But there always seems to be someone in the stall looking at the creatures.

If they move down to the next stall, they will find a kitchen setup on the right. There are cabinets filled with china, and serving dishes. One that has lots and lots of utensils. There are cutting boards, and kick knacks, and even 'as seen on tv' items that slice/dice and sprialize!

On the left though is the craft stall. There are sewing baskets, embroidery art, pillows, old antique chairs to sit on, tables with decoupage. All sorts of things.

Roadkill? Say no more. Sebastian may not be a dog person, but he heads right over that way regardless, leaning down to peer at the rodents at eye level.

Kieran glances toward the squirrels for a long moment, but eventually shakes her head a bit, and turns instead toward the glassware, muttering something about lenses...

Janneke beelines for the glassware, carefully tucking her tote back so as not to cause any mishaps. There's always a use for an interesting vase, or dish, or... thingamajig.

THAT squirrel... that one right there. That is a NO from Persy. "Crazy eyes," she mutters darkly and waggles a finger in its direction. She looks away, then looks back rather quickly, squinting at it. SQUINT. Then she circles quickly around to the other side, shaking her head. "Nope," she says quietly. "No no no nope." Oh, look at the dishes. Yes, they're lovely. Quite lovely. She squints over her shoulder at the squirrel that she is QUITE sure is looking at HER.

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->

Sebastian rolls Perception + Kenning vs 6 for 2 successes.

1 3 4 +6 +9 10

<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->

Persy rolls Perception + Kenning vs 6 for 7 successes.

3 4 4 +7 +7 +7 +8 +8 +8 +10

<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->

Janneke rolls Perception(4) + Kenning(3) (7 dice) vs 6 for 6 successes.

2 +6 +6 +8 +9 +10 +10

<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->

Kieran rolls Perception + Kenning vs 6 for 3 successes.

3 5 +6 +7 +9

<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

Sebastian was the man and found quite the key before. This time, as he's looking around at the roadkill, he finds a scene of two squirrel's in a fight. (https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/hockey.jpg?w=2000 ) It isn't so much the squirrels that are of interest, but the acorn that is attached to the scene. That acorn seems infused with glamour.

Persy, as she is looking at the squirrel that she thinks is looking at her, the cape seems to move on it. (https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/thor.jpg?w=2000 ) But more importantly, in her head she is hearing a humming. Looking more carefully, the tiny hammer the squirrel is holding has a symbol on it that she noticed from the painting/map that Kieran found.

Kieran, with her luck looking at the glassware, she is searching around and finds a glass bottle. It too has a symbol - the same one as what Persy just found on the tiny hammer - that is the same from that painting/map. It shines more in the dreaming than in the autumn world where it is just imprinted in the glass.

Janneke, she is looking around in the glassware as well, and finds a goblet. It has gold on the edge around the top, and seems just ordinary at first. But upon closer inspection, it has a small print of a music notations - there is a melody that can be played that is printed around it. If she turns it over to see the backside, it has that same symbol on it.

This time around, Sebastian isn't so worried about drawing attention away from himself. The acorn is nice, but it doesn't seem /as/ big a deal as the key. But it's still nice, so he stays close enough to that spot to keep an eye on it while the others continue to look around.

"Bloody fuck," Persy mutters as she watches the squirrel for a few squinty moments. Then she sighs and stalks over and the owner of the booth actually looks a little worried about the crazy lady who's been challenging one of his prized squirrels and she snatches it off the shelf and turns accusingly to the shopkeeper. "How much?" The guy draws back a half step in the wake of her ... anger? Crankiness? He holds up his hands as if he's surrendering and tells her a probably lower price than he actually wants for it. Persy SCOFFS at him and pulls that money and a little more out of a pocket (Not her cleavage this time) and practically throws it at the man and crams the evil squirrel into her bag (but very gently, somehow) and, shaking her head, storms out and forges ahead to wait, arms crossed, foot tapping, practically in a pout.

Janneke hrms softly and lifts a gold-edged goblet, examining it with a keen eye, smiling faintly as she flips it over gently. Her blink is slow as she lets it rest definitively in her palm, then casually cuts a glance to the bottle Kee's found. Persy's exclamation makes her quirk a brow, then glance at her own find, and then hold out a five hopefully toward the booth owner as payment.

Kieran says, "Oooooh...." She snatches up the bottle and has her wallet out in almost the same motion. Haggling? Trying to get a decent price? Not this girl! He quotes her a price, she stuffs a sufficient number of 20s into his hand, and says, "Put the change toward her purchase!" with a nod toward Janneke before immediately giving the other woman a hip-bump. "This is gonna be /wiiiild/."

When they get back out to the group, she shows off the bottle right away. "Got more... I think this is all gonna come together!"

Sebastian wanders over and eyes the goblet, then the bottle, shaking his head. "Kee, you never told me you had a drinking problem. I would've been supportive. Just, if you see a carpenter's cup..."

The Squirrel Vendor looks happy with the money, but also glad for the oh so scary Persy to be out of his stall. Not that he does not get even stranger people in here all the time.

The Glassware vendor, he takes up all the money given to him, and says, "Come back again!"

Clementine has been looking around, and she just found the cutest creamer vessel that looks like a cow. She's purchased it and is joining with the others. "What all did you find?" She is looking it over with them. "This is... quite a collection."

Janneke says, "Most definitely," nodding her agreement with Clem. "I have a weird feeling we might want to try finding a quieter place to put it all together and see what we have."

Kieran looks around as well. "It's certainly adding up, yeah..." She peers off into the distance thoughtfully. "And I think JJ's right about putting it all together someplace more... secluded... but is there more? Have we seen everything?" She ponders, tapping her chin lightly with the bottle. "Be a shame to miss a clue."

Sebastian looks around anod nods. "Yeah, good thinking," he offers. "What's quiet at this hour, though? Might have to be someone's crash space."

Clementine suggests, "We may want to go over what we have, and can always make another trip back here. We can go back to the tea shop, unless someone else has a better suggestion?" She is open for it, but does agree they should inspect things closer.

JJ agrees, "I'm game for that, and I've been meaning to come by in any case." She carefully wraps the goblet in a spare t-shirt from the tote bag to keep it safe, and bags it carefully, holding the bag so as not to let it be broken.

Kieran sighs, and nods, "Yeah... yeah that makes sense. We can always come back."

Once they all have their things secured, the group will head out to reconvene at the back room of the tea shop. Mysteries will be checked into, and who knows what they can figure out! Stay tuned for next week!