EVENT: "What Things May Come"

[blacklock]

[Static, all across the Network, upon every Forge, interrupting every feed and every conversation, and then...]

[...a face.]

[The face belongs to a young man whose Elizabethan clothing appears travel-worn and threadbare, but his smile lacks for nothing. Or maybe it lacks something, but whatever it is, you can't quite put your finger on it.]

I was beginning to think I'd never make it, but at long last, here I am, at the ends of the Sphere and in the last great city: Anatole.

The name, folks, is Phineas. [He tips the top hat he wears, its frayed black edges faded like phantom fingers against the stark backdrop of the Mist.] Phineas Blacklock, to be precise, but you won't have heard of me. You see, I come from that way, from beyond the Ruins and through that old fog, but before you start flapping your gums, hear me out? Of course you will. You're fine folks, I can see that for myself...even if I've only got one good eye.

[A bare hand slides down from the rim of his hat to tap the mechanical eyepiece sitting over his left eye, a cold contraption of black and gold and clockwork, gears turning as he carries on...]

Thing is, I've been on the road for some time. Lost track of the number of days, but then, I was never really counting to begin with. Don't much matter where you wind up when you've been traveling as long as I have, just as long as you wind up somewhere, some time, eventually.

[He shrugs, and then, with a little slight of hand, produces something from a long, cuffed sleeve: a pocket watch. With the twist of a wrist and the opening and closing of his fingers, however, the watch becomes an ornately jeweled bangle.]

At the very least, I don't come empty handed. Couldn't have, but you know that, don't you? You're smart folks, I can tell. Nobody walks out there and returns unscathed unless they've got the tools...and have I got tools for you. Maybe they're more like trinkets, these? Well, in any case, you'll see for yourselves if you come visit, and you will. Bet you're folks who know a good deal when you see one, aye? So, I'll be setting up a little shop near the western entrance to your charming undercity, and there you'll find just about anything you can think of to improve the day-to-day quality of your lives.

And that, folks, is my solid guarantee.

[Another wave of his hand and, as the bangle vanishes, a lion's head cane swings down from beneath his arm, its eye sockets tarnished and hollow where, perhaps, pretty ornaments once sat a long, long time ago.]

Be seeing you.

[The feed cuts out abruptly, and at once you're free to resume whatever it is you were doing with your Forge before it was hijacked by this peculiar stranger.]


[Mods' Note: Action threads are welcome for anyone wanting to meet Phineas and stop by his shop little outdoor table with wares for sale for interaction. Ask him questions about where he came from, about what he sells, and if you're looking for something for that special someone, well be sure...he'll help you find just the thing. For more event details, pleas see this post!]

Comments

[madeinoblivion]

[At the western entrance of Dismas... Well, that's not too far from his apartment at all! Quick enough to jog out and see what this fellow from beyond the mist is up to, and still make it to the edge of the hunting grounds in time to barter for stock bones- he's promised Ramen y Soba cheaper ingredients by taking over some of the haggling himself, instead of taking delivery from the butcher.

The boy doesn't have many ivories to his name, nor should he be spending the few that he's been earning. But maybe the strange newcomer won't be averse to just talking.

Especially when the kid's all eagerness to see him there, elbowing through the early foot traffic to slam both hands breathlessly at the edge of the stall, wide-eyed and beaming.]

Are you Phineus?!

[A real ruins treasure hunter! Just what he'd wanted to be, before figuring out that was tricker than he'd hoped.]

You've really been out beyond the mist! How?! What tools to you need to see the rest of the world out there?

[blacklock]

[Replica Riku, upon his enthusiastic arrival, is greeted by Phineas first with a scrutinizing once-over using his good eye, followed immediately after by his undivided attention. The man from beyond the Mist scoops up something off his table and dangles it from a single finger in between them: a compass, so it appears, on a long and golden chain, shining brilliantly as though just recently polished.]

Yes, to answer your first question, and more-or-less to your second.

[He said through, not beyond the Mist, and for Phineas, the difference between the two is astronomical, one implying the Mist thins or even disappears farther out, the other implying that it stretches forever, the latter of which holds true.]

Thirdly, very carefully. And fourth...well, not this little trinket... [—he begins to roll the compass between his long fingers like some kind of coin, the chain rattling as it bounces around—] ... but it would certainly help. A compass, guaranteed to always point you in the direction of home.

Interested in traveling? Maybe I can cut you a deal. You look like a kid who knows how to get stuff done.

[madeinoblivion]

[He listens with the eagerness of one who's only been in the city of a month, but already has started dreaming about what could possibly lie beyond its boundaries, outside the zones that most would consider 'safe'.

It's instinct like the instinct that made the Real Riku tire of his peaceful island home, even though Anatole is a bigger place, and there are other things like the Undercity to explore. He's a copy of the sort of boy that had a wanderlusting heart, and in that he's still true to the original.

His eye immediately alights on the compass, and he reaches for his baggy jeans to clench a hand longingly around the pouch in his pocket. There are only few ivories in there, but nothing that would be enough to afford something gold. And he has rent on ahead-credit from his new dishwashing job, so really spending any munny at all is not a wise idea.

...But to find his way back, or at least have a better sense of direction, no matter where! That would help navigation problems and getting turned around in the mist a whole lot!

So he squares his shoulders, and figures it can't really hurt to ask.]

What sort of a deal? ['cause that sounded like he might be willing to part with it for favors instead of ivories, and that he could probably squeeze in. Somehow.] And which 'home' does it work for? I'm an outworlder, see- [Best to be upfront about that, and see if that's better met with a traveler than these crummy paranoid sorts that inhabit the city.]

[blacklock]

The best kind of deal, the best. Shouldn't take someone like you long to accomplish, not you. I can tell you've got what it takes.

[Phineas claps his hands together before him and the compass seems to vanish into thin air...or up his sleeve. Either way, it's out of sight, out of mind.]

Bring me five new customers and the compass is yours. There's a catch, though. Well, two catches. First, they must be Scorched like you, and second, you only have until sunset.

[He raises his hand, tugging down the brim of his hat.]

As for which home...well, I've heard that's where the heart is, aye? A man can only have one true home.

[madeinoblivion]

[That is a pretty good deal. A homing compass, just to do some promoter? That's like the same as those boys passing out flyers and calling out about the arena fights down in Dismas, or the skin shows. Five isn't bad, either.

Still, he's seen people haggle in the markets by now, pretend that a good deal is not such a good deal to go cheaper, and so he puts a hand to his chin and pretends to consider it for a little longer, giving Phineas an appraising squint.]

Where the heart is, huh? [He murmurs, frowning a little, because he's not sure that would work so very well at all.] (Maybe that's not so useful for me, then.)

[His one room apartment 'home' didn't really feel like home, but then... Nowhere really felt like home, either.]

Why do you only want Scorched customers? [He finally asked, cocking his head with a sharp, wry grin.] Are we the bigger suckers for buying up odds and ends?

[blacklock]

The answer to that question is...no. [Phineas doesn't even bat an eye.] It isn't good business to insult my customers, aye?

[Fingertips drumming on the tabletop, he carries on.]

I prefer Scorched customers because some of the things I have for sale are things they would be more familiar with. [As an example, he taps what appears to be an old discman, and then beside it, a battery powered handheld fan.] See, the native Anatolians? They don't seem too keen on outsiders, never mind the things associated with them, and in case you've forgotten...I'm not from around these parts. That makes me an outsider, too. And these trinkets? While some appear ordinary, none of them are. Couldn't make it through the fog with an ordinary inventory, you follow? Wouldn't waste your time trying to sell you an ordinary inventory, either. Like I said, not good business to insult my customers.

[Rolling his shoulders in a shrug, Phineas takes a step back, an easy smile appearing.]

Anyway, if the compass isn't for you, I'm not going to ask why. Not for me to know. But I will offer you something else. Five customers for a lantern that will keep the monsters in the Mist away from you. Handy for any explorer, certainly came in handy a time or two for me. What do you say?

[madeinoblivion]

You'd be surprised how many people trying to sell us stuff here have no problem with that. [He snorts, shaking his head, leaning in a little closer to look over the object laid out. They're all extraordinary? Magic? Is this guy an enchanter, or are they found prizes?

Really, this only tempts him to venture out further all the more.]

And you find all these things... out in the mist someplace? [He murmurs. Yes. Yes, there's a decisiveness in his jaw, in the little, nearly imperceptible nod- he does want that lantern, if it will make for easier exploring.]

Would it work in Erebos, too?

[blacklock]

I suppose that's the very fine line that separates many people from myself.

As for finding them, no...definitely no. These are mine, every last one. Every last cog, scrap of metal, shard of glass...all mine. It's taken years of hard work to create the collection I have. Terribly hard to part with, but a man's gotta make his living, aye? A worldly person like you would know all about that, I'm sure.

[Phineas cocks his head to the side, scrutinizing the replica.]

It'll work wherever there are monsters. My guarantee.

[Of course, the reverse effects may well be luring a horde directly to the one with the lantern...or worse. But he doesn't come out and say that.]

[madeinoblivion]

[Worldly? The kid gives him one of those flat, skeptically disbelieving looks. Was he mocking him? Did he somehow know, just by looking, that he was only a dishboy in his first week of desperation-work to scratch together rent?

He wished he could a living doing something more exciting than that. Which was why it was slightly disappointing to hear these were all crafted treasures, not found ones- something he didn't really consider himself capable of. He wasn't some kind of moogle, after all.]

Sure.

[He finally agrees, carefully, extending a hand for a shake.] I'll find some people for you. Before sunset.

Does it count if they come and see, but don't want to buy anything?

[blacklock]

[The merchant shakes the replica's hand but doesn't let go right away.]

Why should that count?

[A lone brow arches upward upon his forehead.]

Wouldn't be much worth something that could spare your life, would it be? That's what I think. They buy...or you're just wasting your time and mine. But you're a nice guy, a real convincing fella, so you can get it done.

[Phineas releases Riku's hand and collects a couple of rounded baubles and begins to toss them up into the air, one after the other, juggling them from one hand to the other in slow rotation.]

So...get it done. Then what you want will be yours.

[madeinoblivion]

[What a challenge. Well... does he even know five people very well with munny to spare on... magic somethings? Isley would, maybe, for stuff to fill his observatory. And things that guided people in the mist would be useful to the alliance. Draco probably had a better eye for the value of magical objects, and Kuja seemed to have spending to spare. Maybe there was something among these wares to help Shinji run the Noodle Shop, too.

Would it be easier to use the forge, to tell everyone? Did everybody even bother checking that thing daily?]

Yeah, I'll... get on that.

[He nods, even as he takes a few paces toward heading off.]