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PORT: THE SKY-CITY OF BHUJERBA

May 4th, 2022 – May 11th, 2022
Welcome, bhadra, to the city-state of Bhujerba! The Peregrine touches down on May 4th, in a proper port — airships are the only way on and off the city, so the Aerodrome is a busy and bustling place. As a sky-city built on a mountainous structure floating ten thousand feet above the ground, it has little in the way of wilderness, but it has a sprawling city with deep mines stretching down beneath it. Look down past the railings when the thick clouds part and you'll see the world below; look up and you'll see great blue crystalline structures, a mark of the deep magicks that keep the city in the sky.

The full OOC write-up for the port is here. If you have any questions about the event, please ask here.

1. Disembarking

It's been months since the ship made port, but whether it's been days or months, it's always exciting to see somewhere new. The Aerodrome is thriving with people, passenger ships and merchant ships and military ships alike making berth in the docks, all contributing to the rivers of people pouring in and out of the building. The sounds of the crowd bounce around the vaulted ceilings, humid tropical air hotter still for the press of bodies everywhere. Navigating the crowds takes a certain confidence, lest you get knocked aside by a burly creature carrying a crate on his back, or separated from your companions by a throng of chattering flight stewardesses.

Of course, not everyone will disembark. Inmates cannot leave the ship without a warden as escort, and wardens are responsible for inmates in port — they don't have to be glued to each others' sides, of course, but it's harder to make trouble under a watchful eye.

2. The Cloudborne Tavern

Thanks to the Navarch, there are rooms booked in the Cloudborne for passengers who do not want to trek back and forth from the Peregrine. Staying above a busy and bustling tavern isn't always the most restful affair, of course, given there isn't really a closing hour, but it certainly makes for a life experience.

The tavern below is full of colourful characters, drawn by the ludicrously cheap pints. It isn't uncommon for people to get soundly drunk, but a watchful Seeq keeps an eye out on the place: get too rowdy or violent and you might find yourself thrown out on your ass.

3. The Lhusu Mines

Though the mines are closed, there's plenty to do in the labyrinthine tunnels winding deep into the mountain.

The Paling — Talk with the locals in the taverns and on the streets and you might notice a frequent topic of conversation: the paling's fall. The paling was a Crystal used to create a magick barrier that kept fiends at bay in the mines, so that the miners could work safely. However, something — or someone — has stripped the paling of its magickal energy, and now the fiends have overrun the abandoned tunnels. Sometimes they even make their way out and attack the locals. It is imperative that some brave hero makes their way deep into the tunnels, finds the paling, and recharges its magick power. But so far no one has been up to the task...

Hunting Marks — A bulletin board in the Cloudborne has posters for bounties, seeking hunters willing to deal with the fiends that spill out of the mines. Many are for looking for materials, such as bat fangs fresh from the jaws of the massive, four-winged bats, or bone fragments from the undead skeletons. Or, for the particularly ambitious: the mighty Nidhogg, a colossal snake with a highly venomous tail spike. A prize awaits the first to return with its skin!

Filthy Pirates! — Not everyone ventures in to mop up trouble for the locals: the mines are a considerable draw to those who are happy to risk the fiends for the chance to loot the goods left behind. Many people have fallen in these attempts, leaving gil, armor, weaponry and other goods strewn through the depths. Be careful, though: not all treasure is as it seems.

4. Shopping!

The marketplace is as busy as the Aerodrome, with massive crowds clustered around covered tents, wooden booths, and humble cloths laid out on the stone floor, all bearing incredible wares. The atmosphere is raucous: people haggling boisterously, children scampering between adults' legs, people hollering for others to move, move, as they shove their way through with carts of purchases or goods for sale.

Food is plentiful: turnips and onions are particularly popular, given the season, and tomatoes fetch a high price. Street food vendors sell stewed cockatrice (chicken-esque!), chunks of moist cactus, flank steaks on sticks, and something aptly called "bacon bread".

And, given the war going on and fiends loose in the world, there is no short supply of weaponry and armor. Swords, pikes, bows, axes, daggers, even a small number of rudimentary firearms, all available to those with ample coin. Armor is popular too, with artisans prepared to make it custom within a day or two — leather is affordable, but the price of metal could feed a laborer for a year.

Beware of pickpockets. Happy shopping!

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[ There's a brief moment upon hearing which wardens were affected where Grace blinks, rapid-fire; clearly startled, and notable due to her habit of frequently forgetting to blink at all. She keeps her expression studiously neutral. ]

Are they alright?

[ It comes out quieter than she means it to. And the second question is left to hang heavily in the air, like a dark cloud moving across the sunny Bhujerba sky. ]

[Viktor gave her a good scare, but that might be admitting too much on his behalf.]

They're fine.

[And Claire, an expert in avoiding questions, tips her head towards Grace.]

And how about you, then?

Well, worried about Loki and Viktor, now. How did Theo manage to get a hold of something powerful enough to knock Loki out? Isn't he some kind of alien?

[ Claire vs. Grace, avoidance fight! Let's get ready to rumbllllllle!! But no seriously she is actually worried about Loki and Viktor. They've both been way nicer to her than she deserves, even if she suspects Viktor at least finds her powerfully annoying. ]

[Nice try, Grace. Claire pauses in the middle of the street, causing some poor Moogle to nearly run into the backs of her knees.]

Grace. You're being more avoidant than usual.

[Hypocrite! She doesn't care that she does the same thing.]

It's-- I'm fine. I'm handling it.

[ Not particularly well, clearly, but. ]

The simulation kinda... took a lot out of me, I think? I mean, it did for everybody, right? It's just... I'll be fine. It's fine!

[ hey do you think it's fine?? Grace doesn't!!! But shh about it, maybe, so she can go back to pretending it is. Fake it til ya make it, baybee!! ]

[That doesn't really comfort Claire in any regard.]

What happened?

[ Grace takes a deep breath. Here we go. ]

I died again. It was... bad. It hurt. Also Jason was my brother, I guess? I... sort of raised him, and he wanted to go in because our parents disappeared in there, and I couldn't convince him not to go in, so I went after him, even though I knew we'd both die in there. And we got separated, and we both died alone, and it was kind of my fault, I guess. Also... I knew James in there, sort of, and we were.... well, the people we were in there were kind of... flirty? I guess? And then things got awkward and bad afterwards once the Simulation was over and now I think he's disgusted with me because he won't even talk to me and I can't even be in the same room with him, because... I mean, obviously, so that's ruined forever, like, goodbye best friend on the ship, great job once again, Grace.

[ Oh did you think you were gonna get a word in edgewise here? Wrong. She literally just stopped to catch her breath. She's absolutely starting up again before Claire has the ability to react to that information. ]

...And I can't sleep without having dreams about bleeding out and dying over and over again, which is less than restful, and it's just making me terrible at my job, I mean, I made Ellie hate me to the point I think she'd try to kill me if she saw me in person again, and that was with one conversation, and now half the other wardens think I'm incapable of doing my job because of it, sending me messages about how terrible I am, which is just the most helpful, so I'm stressing about having to go home empty-handed, and if that happens, you know, I die, and it's not like I have anybody I can talk to about this because my best friend here isn't talking to me because I ruined our friendship with my stupid crush and my real best friends are back home and I can't stop wishing they were here, or I was there, and I'm starting to think it'd all be easier if I just went home and died anyway because then at least I wouldn't be alone in all this.

[ ...so does that answer your question, or... ]

[Claire expected to have to do some more coaxing before Grace would talk. But it doesn't take much for the dam to burst. She opens her mouth to speak, once or twice, but thinks better of it. Best let her get it out and think before actually addressing any part of that.

Much of it is--a lot, and worrying, and Claire spots a recently vacated bench and leads Grace by the elbow so that they can get out of the way of traffic.

Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ. Where to begin unpacking all of that?]

Grace... you're not alone. If I knew about any of this before right now, I'd have been here. But I'm here now.

[ Uh-oh, now she's done it, she's getting dragged off like a kid that's about to get the detention of their life. See, this is why Grace never says anything!! When she does, it all comes pouring out like a burst pipe until she's empty and everyone around her thinks less of her. Every SINGLE time!! It's better for everyone if she just keeps her mouth shut, especially Grace... but she lets herself be led to a bench anyway, staring longingly at the bustling crowds, maybe only partially because she doesn't want to have to look Claire in the eye. ]

I don't want you to have to know about this, I don't want anyone to know about this. I'm handling it. I'm okay. I'm... I can do my job, and stay away from... from people, and everything's going to be fine. As long as I'm here for my inmates, that's what matters.

[ Time. Just wait long enough, and the problems will go away on their own. That's how this works, right? ...Right? ]

You don't seem like you're okay. You're having nightmares. You're talking about going home. You're worried about your relationships with people here.

[It's Maximum Mom time, and unless Grace pulls away, Claire's reaching for her hands to take in her own.]

The simulation was... difficult for a lot of us, and I don't think anyone should deal with the aftermath on their own. Maybe I can put some of your concerns to rest, Grace.

[ She doesn't pull away-- it's nice, the human contact. Although Grace always feels guilty when someone's unafraid to touch her. It means they don't know how dangerous that could be. ]

Aren't you already handling everyone else's problems? I mean, you have the health of the entire ship on your shoulders, and guaranteed half of them are lying about their medical status anyway, you have enough to deal with, the last thing you need is my stupid problems on your plate. It'd probably be best to pretend I didn't say anything. Please.

The Auto-Doc gives me some leeway. [She teases, giving her hands a squeeze.] Your problems are not stupid, Grace. Even I needed to talk to [SATAN] someone after the simulation to get my head on straight. I can do that for you.

[ Don't even THINK about suggesting Lucifer. Just because they're now on speaking terms doesn't mean she'd trust him with her innermost thoughts and secrets. That sounds like the absolute worst idea. But it was probably fine when Claire did it!!! Probably!!! ]

There's.... not much left to say. I think I said... everything, just now. Ugh.

[ Thinking about it brings a slight wave of dizziness; all those inner thoughts and feelings just came spewing out, and she absolutely did NOT want anyone knowing them. It's probably best-case-scenario that Claire's the one who happened to be on the receiving end of it all, but still. She touches one of her hands to her forehead, squeezing her eyes shut while she waits for the nausea to pass. She really did admit all that. Out loud. God. ]

[Poor thing. Claire uses her free hand to delicately tuck a strand of Grace's hair behind her ear. Where to begin?]

I think I know James well enough to say with certainty he's not disgusted with you. He's in his own head a lot. He's the type to step back and away when he thinks it would benefit you most.

[ Oh, god, now she's REALLY nauseous. And bright red. This is without doubt the part of that rant that Grace wants to discuss LEAST. And that's saying something. ]

It doesn't matter. It really doesn't. I'm used to it, I'm fine. People don't like me; it's normal.

Not much of what you just said is true, Grace.

[Claire frowns.]

What happened with Ellie?

She... took offense to something I said. It doesn't matter what. It was only a matter of time before someone started treating me like I'm used to. Everyone here has been too nice to me. I stopped expecting it.

[ A minute ago she was having fun, now Grace feels like someone's pulling her toenails out with pliers. This place is a floating city, right? Maybe she could just jump off. ]

Grace. You're very sweet. Of course most people will be nice to you. But don't let whatever happened with Ellie discourage you so. No one is on good terms with everyone.

[Claire included.]

[ Grace just shakes her head, grimacing. ]

It's different. It's what I am. People can't help it.

[ And anyway, does it really count when the only person who really dislikes you is William, Claire?? ]

Sounds a bit like an excuse, if you ask me.

[Or a cover to hide behind. Claire's not the best when it comes to knowing when to feel unsettled, of course. She tends to fall into oddities.]

[ The breath catches in her chest at that word-- excuse-- that one she heard so many times, from her parents, her teachers, her doctors, her physical therapists, her professors, her employers. The one they hurled at her when no matter what she said she couldn't explain to their satisfaction why she wasn't better. Why she wasn't exactly what they wanted her to be. Why she was always, always disappointment.

She shoots to her feet. ]

I'm sorry. Nevermind. I shouldn't have said... it's fine. Forget it. I'll just... I have to go, I need to get back...

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PORT: THE SKY-CITY OF BHUJERBA

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