As promised... here he was. A number of stalls were set up around the surprisingly clean 'town square' shaped area of Orion's ruins. Here, he'd actually cleared some rubble, and swept the ground; strings of enchanted lights glimmered above the stalls. His sign--hung weeks ago--had invited anyone to set up shop in the empty stalls, if they so wished. As an afterthought, he'd hung a second sign today: a large one, one that said

THE COLLECTOR'S FLEA MARKET

in huge, bold letters. Beneath:

________

Purchase of any Enchanted Item for the cost of your stone, or your life.*

Set up your own shop in the stalls available. Join me for a day of glorious commerce and delightful social interaction. Oh, and stop by for a free tea.

* only a small portion.

________

Now, here he waited, idly strumming his little stringed instrument--a guitar, or a banjo, or something in between--waiting for his first customers of the day. A large number of items--glittering jewelry, wicked weapons and a massive wagon, among others--waited to meet their new owners... And, as advertised, a steaming tea kettle sat atop a small burner, cups set to one side with sugar cubes and a little mug of milk.

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The Collector's Flea Market has begun. Any enchanted items may be purchased for one Give Life or Give Stone; those whose reproductive cycles are on cooldown, or who are under four cycles old, may offer a Greater Gembound's gemstone instead. These items are sold on a first-come, first-served basis! Gembounds are invited to set up shops of their own. (Players may use the following tents artwork or their own, or may add to or edit these! Please post the following code in Update Me to have your stall added to this first post, OR make a new thread with the code if you prefer--tag it [Flea Market]!)

Code:

<img src="tentURL" width="200px">
<b>Character Name:</b>
<b>Goods Available:</b>
<b>Prices:</b>
<b>Thread Link:</b> (if separate thread)

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Open Markets:



Character Name: Azure
Goods Available: Dyes, Jewelry, Affix Dye casts
Prices: Random cool items! Whatever!
Thread Link: Azure's Dye And Jewelry!

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Available tent icons!

Available Items

Reminder: first come (item requested IC), first served!
Gembounds may also request something else, custom or otherwise; the price will remain the same.

Click to see Already Purchased Items!

OWNER: Rainstorm Diadem of the Mind A dark metal crown, fitted with a number of smooth-cut, gleaming amethysts. There's a feeling of powerful latent magic about it, as though not all is yet revealed... PART THREE OF THE WIZARD'S TRIUNE. ELEMENT: MAGIC LEVEL: 100 DURABILITY: 50 SPECIAL: This ring allows a cast of Mind Reader to seek out specific thoughts or memories, even when the target is not currently thinking of them. MATERIAL: Unknown Metal, Amethyst ATTACK: N/A ADDED: Cursed: (This curse is Hidden. GM tag for the first failed use of this item to reveal it.) DEFENSE: 0 WEIGHT: 1 EQUIP: Crown Currently owned by: Rainstorm

OWNER: Rainstorm Amulet of the Watcher A small crescent pendant of dark metal approximately an inch across. This pendant is studded with twelve tiny, softly glowing amethysts, and is hung on a similarly dark, slender chain. Casting Hindsight with this pendant equipped allows the wearer to seek out specific memories, be they moments in time or memories of a particular desired entity. There's a feeling of powerful latent magic about it, as though not all is yet revealed... "But who is doing the watching..?" PART ONE OF THE WIZARD'S TRIUNE. ELEMENT: MAGIC LEVEL: 100 DURABILITY: 10 SPECIAL: Enchanted: allows the user to view targetted memories with use of Hindsight while equipped. MATERIAL: Unknown Metal, Amethyst ATTACK: N/A ADDED: Cursed: Each use dims one of the tiny amethysts, extinguishing its light forever. (This curse is Hidden. GM tag for each use of this item to reveal it.) DEFENSE: 0 WEIGHT: .5 EQUIP: Pendant Currently owned by: Rainstorm

OWNER: Rainstorm Ring of the Poltergeist A dark metal ring, fitted with a large, glittering amethyst. There's a feeling of powerful latent magic about it, as though not all is yet revealed... PART TWO OF THE WIZARD'S TRIUNE. ELEMENT: MAGIC LEVEL: 100 DURABILITY: 10 SPECIAL: This ring allows a cast of Telekinesis to move up to three objects at the same time. The objects must be within a few yards of one another, and in line of sight and fifty yards of the caster. MATERIAL: Unknown Metal, Amethyst ATTACK: N/A ADDED: Cursed: (This curse is Hidden. GM tag for the first failed use of Telekinesis while wearing this item to reveal it.) DEFENSE: 0 WEIGHT: .5 EQUIP: Ring Currently owned by: Rainstorm

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☆☆☆★★★ Ring of the Ancient An ornately wrought silver ring set with a flawed turquoise gemstone. This ring, when worn, helps the wearer mend from even severe injuries that would normally return them to their chrysalis... at a cost. Aging isn't a concept in the caves, but those relying on the power of this ring find themselves appearing to grow physically older and weaker with each use. For every wound that is healed, the ring appears to take something away... ELEMENT: MAGIC LEVEL: 80 DURABILITY: 20 SPECIAL: The ring heals injuries incurred by its wearer, no matter how severe, over the course of a few hours. MATERIAL: Silver, Turquoise ATTACK: N/A ADDED: Cursed: Each wound healed leaves the wearer considerably physically weaker and older-looking; the more severe the wound, the greater the toll it takes. This change cannot be reverted via chrysalis. DEFENSE: 0 WEIGHT: 1 EQUIP: Ring Currently owned by: No one

☆☆☆★★★ Last Legs "It's got one foot in the door, one foot in the grave. You don't stand a chance, even toeing the line. But break a leg!..." ELEMENT: MAGIC LEVEL: 70 DURABILITY: 60 SPECIAL: After loading, roll for each use of the wagon. It cannot be wrangled until Barely+ roll. A Crit Fail loses the wagon until a later thread, and permanently loses all contents. MATERIAL: Wood, Flesh, Bone ATTACK: 3 ADDED: (CURSED): Occasionally runs off and loses loaded items. DEFENSE: 2 WEIGHT: 260 EQUIP: Wagon: pulled/drawn Currently owned by: The Collector

☆★★★★★ FANGSTONE MACE An ancient stone mace, strong despite its worn appearance. The stone has been knapped and hammered to leave jagged, crooked protrusions that can lacerate and impale as the weapon itself crushes bone. A latent magic touches it, for those who can sense such things, and a faint green sheen is visible in bright light. This weapon's full power is not yet discovered. ELEMENT: unknown MAGIC LEVEL: 100 DURABILITY: 200 SPECIAL: This weapon's full potential has not yet been unlocked. MATERIAL: Stone (Enchanted) ATTACK: 5 ADDED: N/A DEFENSE: N/A WEIGHT: 8 EQUIP: Held, Weapon Currently owned by: The Collector

☆☆★★ ★ ★ A Pretty Bag An enormous leather bag, sling-shaped and designed to sit across a pegasus' flanks, to carry his young. Created from fine piebald-patterned alligator leather, forming an attractive rich brown-green and white play of colors. ELEMENT: MAGIC LEVEL: 20 DURABILITY: 40 SPECIAL: n/a MATERIAL: Alligator Leather (Enchanted) ATTACK: N/A ADDED: (CURSED): The bearer of the bag relives memories from the last moments of the gembound Elias, from his perspective: from here and here. DEFENSE: 5 WEIGHT: 25 EQUIP: Carried Currently owned by: The Collector

☆★★★ ★ ★ AGRAGON'S FINAL FLAIL A flail mace made of one thick bone connected by a black iron chain to a misshappen ball of bone spikes, teeth and claws. "The last of his weapons, leading to the last of his death throes. Each spike, another unfortunate victim." ELEMENT: MAGIC LEVEL: 50 DURABILITY: 200 SPECIAL: (CURSED): Drives the wielder to use the mace, enhancing the desire for combat and bloodshed. MATERIAL: Bone, Black iron ATTACK: 5 ADDED: N/A DEFENSE: 0 WEIGHT: 5 EQUIP: Weapon Currently owned by: The Collector art credit: skull by Tim Evanson on Flickr

Rainstorm wanders in to trouble, just as they always have, and always will. At first, they're curious, wandering closer through the empty stalls (clearly set up for other gembound to set up shop) and stop near one that has things atop it. The figure nearby, is a little odd - someone they know they shouldn't speak to, but the shinies on the table have them interested, and they want one to at least hold on to.

The price, Rainstorm can't read, but they'll pay it anyway for their curiosity.

They point to the Amulet of the Watcher.

"Could I have that one?" What price do they pay? Rainstorm is curious to see what this stranger will ask of them. They look over... there's some other interesting things here. "And that?" At the Diadem of the Mind.

The rumors said the Collector was a shady character. That his items often had side effects, no matter how powerful they were.

Yellow didn't care.

If he could give them the power they needed, that was all that mattered. They were so tired. Tired of evil and chaos sweeping by, leaving nothing but hurt and destruction and death in their path, and being able to do nothing about it. Even their magic had failed them. Enough. It had to end. It had to end.

Yellow darted in front of the Collector's stand. "Hey." They took a moment to clear their throat. "People keep attacking me and my family. With fire," which was spat with particular loathing, "magic, and fangs. I'm tired of people getting hurt and evil people getting away with it and not being able to do anything because my magic isn't powerful enough, or fails at the wrong time. I want something that'll give me the power to defend my family and help them when they're hurt. I want something that'll let me kill all the bad guys so they can never hurt someone again." Hatred flashed in wide, orange-gold eyes. They wanted. They desired this more than anything they had desired before. They meant it. "Do you have anything for that?"

The request was direct, to-the-point, no-pleasantries-added. Their eyes darted, curious, to the delicious-smelling tea kettle, the empty cups, and the milk, but it was barely an afterthought. The desire to have power and protect burned too strongly for anything else to be more than a blip on their mind's radar.

Rainstorm's arrival would be met with a low and sweeping bow, the guitar set aside and a little teacup set out for the bird's beak, if they so wished. "Ahhhh," the Collector crooned; "welcome, and good evening-! You are my first customer, you know. -Tea? ...As for those... Do you not wish to know what they do?" he asked, amused. The Diadem was larger than the bird's whole body--or, at least, the bird could easily slip through it, with plenty of room to spare. The amulet, with some creative tying, though--that would fit. "As for cost... Two shards of your living stone would do."

As of this post, Amulet of the Watcher and Diadem of the Mind are on hold for Rainstorm.

Yellow's arrival was met with another little bow. "I believe I have something that might just fit," The Collector said, drumming claws thoughtfully on the chin beneath his hood. "Something that would allow you, even, to reflect a blow struck against you, now and then. Admittedly... at times, it is... let's say chaotic. Unpredictable. But, such is the nature of powerful magic. And when it does work..." Crimson pinprick eyes gleamed. "The destruction intended for you would be inflicted on your enemy with little warning. The cost," he went on--waving it away as though it were very little--"would simply be a piece of your gemstone, if you would be so kind. Interested...?" he asked.

@Rainstorm @Yellow

Yellow considered the Collector’s offer, but… it didn’t feel like enough. Something to reflect attacks against the sifaka themselves was surely powerful, but it did little to sate the yawning abyss of desire that had opened deep inside them. They wanted not just safety for themselves, but for their family as well. And they wanted not just karma for their attackers, but vengeance wrought with their own little hands. Metaphorically.

”Do you have anything more?” they asked the Collector, their intent golden stare never wavering. ”Something that would let me defend my family, as well as myself? Something that would help me destroy evil people with power of my own, instead of relying on their own magic reflected?” They would be willing to pay more, if necessary, but a gentle whisper from Mother in their mind hinted that a good haggler didn’t raise the price on their own.

Not that Yellow was doing a great job of hiding how badly they wanted this already, but they would follow that advice.

The Collector leaned back, scarlet eyes unblinking, seeming to pierce through Yellow.

"Well, well, well," he purred, voice soft. "And here I thought you'd wish harm only those who bring it." A hairy hand extended from his robe, turning this way and that as he inspected his own claws, as if thinking. "You wish to bring harm, then-? Tell me... of what sort? I stock weapons, of course," and a careless gesture indicated the obviously too-large mace and flail, "of many sizes--but is magic, perhaps, your preference..? What sort would you wish to wield? The items that I offer would generally enhance one spell or another... I have nothing that will wreak wholesale destruction, shattering every gemstone in your path." He considered, hands splaying out apologetically. "As unfortunate as that may be."

@Yellow

Little black fingers curled into fists as they thought of everyone who’d caused them and their family harm in the past. The gaseous cat. The huge chaos dragon. The wolf-dog. The fire leopard. The monstrous army in Leo who’d almost killed Bone. "Some people are all the way bad already," they said with a vehemence that did not belong to such a small, fluffy creature. "There’s no reason to keep letting them have the first strike." Always, always, the victims started off innocent and unknowing, until the chaos beasts broke the peace with death and destruction. Why keep letting them have the advantage?

They thought hard about the options the Collector offered. "I use Pressure magic, mostly, but I could learn others." They shook their head at the mention of wholesale destruction. "That’s fine. Destroying everything isn’t my thing anyways. And if my family or innocent people are nearby, I can’t hurt them. It should be targeted, and accurate." Total destruction for enemies of the Hive and of peace, but no violence for the poor unwary bystanders.

A thought occurred to them. ”Is it ok to ask for more than one item ? Something that would protect the wearer or heal them would be good.” They were thinking of Halcyon, now, of their miserable failure to help the Drone when they’d been under attack. ”It doesn’t need to reflect attacks, if that would make it more unreliable. All I want is for my family to be safe.”

"Of course," the Collector murmured--"though each item would, naturally, come with its own cost."

He considered further. "The reflective item needn't be directed purely at magic. Nor does it only protect the bearer... any attack, in proximity, would do so long as the wearer intends to protect against it. If that suits you, so be it. As for your magic of the wind and space... Do you know the magic, perhaps, that affects the pressure around your target? To squeeze..." His hands raised, indicating a space between... then narrowed that space. Indicating... crushing.

"I do have something that would work for you, if you do... an old item belonging to a storm-bird who deemed himself, 'The Wind God.' An old steel collar--tarnished, by now, I'd think... Ahh, well, nothing a little polish would not manage. But it would allow this magic to target multiple enemies, at once--instead of only one. Or, to enhance the... shall we say, severity of the spell on a single opponent. A squish... becomes a crush. Shattered bones. Leaking blood. All that sort of thing," he added, with another dismissive wave of one hand. "It would just about fit you, I think. Mind you, you must be skilled with this magic. Carrying such a powerful object also intensifies... misuse. Which--as you can imagine--might be deadly."

@Yellow

Yellow listened intently, unconsciously wringing their little fingers as they fretted about whether it would work, whether it would be enough. "But--you said it was unpredictable," they pressed, voice tight with anxiety. "What does that mean? Does it just fail to reflect the damage sometimes? Or can it fail in a way that hurts the wearer? I just-- I don't want my family to get hurt. That's all." Especially not because of an item they gave their siblings.

The description of the second item brought even more anxiety crashing down on their shoulders. The Collector's casual description of wounds and blood had nausea roiling in their gut, but... that was fine, right? As long as it was only being used against bad people, it had to be fine. Those bad people would probably do worse in an instant if they had the opportunity, so they deserved it. It was the caveat that had them worrying. Their magic had failed them before, at key moments. Could they really risk having it backfire even more powerfully?

"I'm worried that I'm not skilled enough, then," they confessed, though the admission made them want to grind their teeth and yell with frustration. "My magic... I know that spell, but it's failed before when I tried to use it, just when I needed it the most." The memory of their failure was still a raw wound in their mind, and admitting it to the Collector brought the shame back all over again. Self-consciously, they shrank into themselves a little. "What about something that makes magic more reliable? I can... make it stronger on my own, I think. As long as it works when I need it to."

Rainstorm pauses. Yes, they didn't ask what those items did. But did it truly matter if they looked cool? Mostly for a collection rather than to wear, considering the crown is larger than their own body. The pendant, sure, they could wear it - but why would they with the potential of damage?

"I suppose I should have asked, still." They hum. "I guess I would like to know what they do. I still want them regardless, though. They look cool." Rainstorm says. Is that a weird reason? Oh well.


And with that, they wonder what this guy could want with their stone... They know you make children with it, but what could this one need with so many? Well, they already agreed to taking them, so paying the cost would be important...

They chip two small pieces off of their stone. And push them closer to the collector.

"Tea would be nice.."