Midnight Market/Summary

The Midnight Market is a secret, black-market bazaar that pops up in various hidden locations throughout the city. Known only to the right circles, the market is the place to go for rare, illegal, or difficult-to-acquire goods and services. From arcane relics to human trafficking, hitmen for hire, or forbidden knowledge, if it can be bought, sold, or traded, you can find it at the Midnight Market.

Only open at night and only in the same location until the next turning of the moon, the market attracts a diverse clientele of criminal kingpins, underground movers and shakers, and shadowy supernatural entities. The temporary and transient nature of the event makes it unpredictable, and the stakes are always high. Players attending the market must navigate dangerous deals, avoid being swindled, and, if possible, come out with something that gives them an edge in their pursuits.

Themes

• Dangerous Deals: Every transaction carries the risk of betrayal, loss, or retaliation. Players must be cautious about who they trust and what they buy.
• Power Through Commerce: The Midnight Market isn't just about what you buy, but who you know. Networking and forming alliances are as valuable as the goods on display.
• Time Pressure: The market only lasts for a short time, adding urgency to every decision. Players must choose wisely where to spend their time and resources.

Intent

The Midnight Market serves as a secret, neutral ground for all Mortal + (Sorcerers, Psychics, & Mediums), Traditional Mages and those Bygones who are affiliated with the Traditions characters, offering a place where supernatural abilities are subtly understood but never openly discussed. The intent of the Market is to provide a common space where these individuals—those who have touched upon the supernatural can gather without fear of revealing deeper affiliations. Whether you’re a sorcerer, psychic, hedge wizard, awakened traditional mage, etc., the Midnight Market is designed for you to explore your potential without the pressures of belonging to a specific supernatural society, like the Garou, Mages, or Vampires.

This bazaar is a place to trade knowledge, acquire rare goods, and network among peers. It emphasizes the mortal side of the character, catering to their need for growth, secrecy, and personal power. Here, alliances are formed based on individual merit, without the shadow of larger organizations looming over transactions. The Market operates on discretion—no one will ask who you are or what faction you belong to. It is understood that those who come to the Market seek to enhance their mortal lives or abilities without stepping into the dangerous politics of the supernatural world.

Above all, the Midnight Market is a space where those touched by the extraordinary can come together in relative safety, sharing in the strange and powerful without the risk of full exposure.

The Riddle of the Road

This riddle gives just enough mystery and atmosphere for those "in the know" to navigate the Midnight Market’s elusive, ever-shifting location. So if you don't or can't think of an IC connection that would draw you to the Market directly, perhaps you've heard of this riddle, learned fragments among the various mystical / magical shops / communities you belong to and overtime piece it together to discover how to find it's location. Fragments of the Riddle could be found at local witchmarts, paganwares, bookshops, libraries, etc.

To find the place where shadows trade,
You’ll need no map, no guide, no aid,
But walk the road where light grows thin,
And follow where the night begins.

At the witching hour, when whispers call,
Behind the veil, beyond the wall,
Seek not the stars, but glance below,
Where secrets stir, and shadows flow.

No door will show, no sign will gleam,
Yet pathways twist beyond the stream,
Step where silence meets the stone,
The Market waits for those who've known.

So heed the words, and trust your feet,
The Market hides on every street,
But only those who know the rhyme,
Will find the place, and beat the time.

Rolls

Brand new to Sorcerer / Psy? A mage that's curious about the market? If you can't think of an IC reason how you would even have heard about the Market or how to get to it, consult the information below:

Intelligence + Investigation
This roll focuses on gathering practical clues, context, and piecing together specific information sources the character has encountered. Intelligence + Investigation could help gather practical leads—such as rumors, local histories, or sightings. Investigation tells you WHAT the Market is.

Fragment Locations: They’d likely know about or have collected scraps of the riddle, overheard in occult shops, mystical libraries, and at gatherings where magic-users share lore. Each fragment seems intentionally scattered, likely a way to weed out the uncommitted. The character recognizes that the riddle likely has roots in lore surrounding an underground gathering or market. They've heard whispers that somewhere within the city , at an unpredictable location, there’s a “market” where those with magical knowledge and wares gather. The “witching hour” reference likely points to a specific late-night window when entry is possible. This Market moves around, however, staying at one location only for one turning of the moon.

Riddle Themes: By analyzing the rhyme and wording, they’d conclude that the Market’s entry is tied to times and locations where the boundaries between the everyday and the mystical thin. Notable locations include places associated with superstition or history—older parts of the city, forgotten alleys, bridges, or places rumored to have ties to the supernatural.

Physical Clues: Each stanza seems to hold a practical clue, hinting at an intuitive pathway rather than a concrete location. The phrase “step where silence meets the stone” implies it might appear in quiet, secluded urban areas. They’d surmise that looking for environmental signs like a sudden hush or an inexplicable feeling of stepping through a veil would be crucial.


Intelligence + Enigmas
This roll allows the character to analyze the riddle’s deeper symbolism and hidden meanings, interpreting it as a coded set of instructions. Intelligence + Enigmas would likely be more useful in directly finding the Market’s entrance based on the riddle. Enigmas tells you WHERE the market can be found.

They recognize symbolic elements in the riddle, such as “the road where light grows thin” symbolizing dusk, alleys, or the edges of the city, and “where the night begins” referring to places untouched by modern lighting, like older parts of town. They realize it’s less about following physical directions and more about intuition.