Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

"No problem, though your idea seemed to work. Chief usually makes it clear when he's awake."

 

"How's he do that?"

 

"Wakes most of the others up."

 

"Oh. Why?"

 

"Because he usually oversleeps and hates it when someone else tries to take advantage of that to avoid doing a patrol or something."

 

Crystal thinks for a few moments.
"That makes sense."

 

"What part of it?"

 

"Well, it kinda sucks when someone takes advantage of you, doesn't it?"

 

"Yeah, you're right. Guess we should be a bit more tolerant, too. Not like he's lead us wrong so far."

 

"How much is this dress?" Stephanie asks.


The group splits up, myself going with Artemis, Katie with Angela and Shadow Stephanie waiting outside the clothes shop. We all search around for possible leads on the relic.

 

Another half-spider descends from a deceptively high ceiling. This one, however, is well-dressed and not trying to web Stephanie.
"That one? Oh, well... it's supposed to be three and a half grams of gold, but it's been on the shelves for so long I put it on sale for one." They say. "If that's too much, I'm willing to negotiate."

Shadow Stephanie can see another half-spider lower itself from the ceiling of the shop, facing Stephanie.


Alice briefly shows the others a telepathic hologram of the city map. Seems there's six main areas; the commercial district, the black market, the residential district, a small industrial district, a group of mansions which have essentially become its own district, and the stronghold in the middle simply named "The Spire."
...With Stephanie enjoying herself in the commercial district, the others may want to tackle the other five.

 

"Hm...I guess I could treat myself." Stephanie says, summoning a few bars of gold.

Shadow Stephanie keeps an eye on the half-spider, skeptical.


Katie and Angela head off toward the residential district, while Artemis and I aim for the black market.

 

The spider seems shocked.
"W-well, that's gonna screw over the economy..." They comment. "I said grams, not bars!"


The residential district is... weird. Some houses are like what you'd expect a human to live in, others are styled like crypts or nests. A few even have cinders that act as porch lights to small faux volcanic domes.

The black market is about what you'd expect. Eyes watching you everywhere, everyone keeping their distance from others they don't know. Everyone's armed to the teeth, and some have a few things to sell or money to buy with.
The brightest light is a candle held by one of the merchants leaning against a mossy wall.

 

"Oh, sorry." Stephanie says, desummoning the bars and summoning a transparent bag of gold dust.


"This sort of looks like some kind of multi-guardian housing area." Katie comments happily.

"A-As long as we're not t-trespassing, t-they won't a-attack us, right?" Angela asks nervously.


I look for anyone who might sell something I'd like, while Artemis stays close to me, changing to her death guardian form with a touch of her necklace. Everything seems to start to die around Artemis, even merchants Artemis walks by feeling a little weaker for a moment.

 

Crystal thinks for a few moments.
"What does he do? Other than make sure the patrols are okay and stuff."

 

"Makes all the decisions. How much we eat, how far we go on patrols, how much we need to collect in the lowlands. That kind of stuff."

Shadow Stephanie can see the spider reel back before moving a bit closer to Stephanie.

The spider holds out a small scale, putting a small weight on the other side.
"You must be royalty with that much money! How come we haven't heard of you?"


The neighborhood is fairly quiet, and the only people outside are a group of humans playing a ball game of sorts with a harpy.


It's impossible to tell what people are selling without inquiring, it seems. As for Artemis, her death guardian form earns her plenty of glares on top of a few merchants reaching for their weapons.

 

"I'm not really around these parts." Stephanie says, putting the gold onto the scale.


"I don't think these children will know much about any artefacts." Katie says, giggling.


Artemis tucks her necklace into her shirt to conceal it as I head over to a random merchant.

"What have you got?" I ask.

 

"Then wherever you're from is very fortunate." The spider says, handing back excess and taking the gold up to a loft up near the ceiling.
"Thanks for your business! Have a nice day!"


The duo could try going up to other houses or go somewhere else. The district is large, and they've only looked down one street so far.


"Information. What's it to you?" They say, glancing over.

 

"You too!" Stephanie says, happily leaving with her new dress.

"Are you done pampering yourself? We need to find information about the relic or whatever." Shadow Stephanie asks.

"Well...maybe one of these shops will have people who know something? Besides, look at how pretty this dress is!" Stephanie says happily, looking over her dress.


The pair continue looking through the streets, looking for older or knowledgeable looking people.


"I have trade tender and a need for information. What are your prices?" I ask.

 

"Okay."
Crystal thinks for a few more moments.
"Hey, what's your name?"