returnjourneylogs | PORT: THE SKY-CITY OF BHUJERBA

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Loki's eye roll earns him a baleful glare.]

I wasn't-- [No, forget that. Let Loki think that's what he was trying to do. What did it matter?]

I'd figure it out. I've lived with nothing, on my own, for long enough. I'd have been fine.

[Unlike right now, defeated and hopeless.]

It was-- Just a plant. Found it in the greenhouse. It was supposed to just put you to sleep, not... [Render you comatose?]

[He catches that instinctive denial, whether Theo intended it or not. It's a relief, but not one Loki's about to show on his face. Maybe they haven't lost all chance at progress after all.]

I see. And you were prepared to use it on everyone who got in your way. [He sounds thoughtful, as if he's pondering the implications, but he's more concerned with getting Theo thinking about it.

He lets out a sigh, rubbing a hand over his face.]

Well, as plans go, I've heard worse. Made worse, myself. Frankly, I'm just glad you didn't get yourself killed, or worse. After all, I don't know that you'd survive the ship leaving. At least on board you get this second chance.

[And that's true. He is glad Theo's getting his second chance, despite his own efforts.

Loki nods at the room around them.] Still, you're staying here until we leave port. If you're anything like me, sheer stubbornness means you might try again. Safer to keep you confined.

[And it seems to have had an effect on him. He's introverted, but the true confinement he's experiencing here isn't something he'd endure forever. Thankfully they'll leave port rather soon.]

After, you'll be spending some time working in the greenhouse. Supervised, of course. But if that's where your interests lie, that's where you'll be put to best use.

[He sounds practical and dismissive, but Loki's fairly certain this will offer something to look forward to. Theo's not about to respond well to it if it sounds like that's what Loki intends, though.]

Understood?

[He's a little irritated by the idea that Loki would think that he would die out there on his own.]

I survived with nothing for a plenty long time. It wouldn't have been any different.

[He is, however, taken aback when Loki tells him he can go back to the greenhouse. He figured he was going to be barred for good.]

You-- You would seriously let me back in there. [A momentary pause as he considers it.] Won't the other wardens veto that?

[Loki could correct him. Explain that he doesn't think it would be surviving on the planet that would kill him but literally the ship leaving. But he's not about to follow up a show of trust with something that sounds like a threat.]

It was another warden's idea, actually. Whether you believe us or not, we do want to see you succeed. And if working with plants is where your talents and interest lie, that's probably the safest place for you to be.

Are you interested?

[He doesn't know what to say. He seems legitimately confused that the wardens would agree to that. It seems like a trap, but also, why would it be? To what end would this be a trap?

Theo struggles to reach an answer for a moment. He did like it in the greenhouse. He was free to research, it was quiet and he could be left alone to concentrate. Not exactly a hang out spot. Of course, now he'd have someone watching his every move, which wasn't appealing.]

I... Yeah. I do, I-I guess.

[He shakes his head though, still trying to process all of this.]

Aren't you-- Why aren't you mad.

[It's not a question, more of him thinking out loud.]

PORT: THE SKY-CITY OF BHUJERBA

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