ANOMALY DETECTED

[indigo_league]

Who: ANYONE AND EVERYONE
Where: ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE
When: NOV 25TH to 27TH
Summary: GET IN HERE AND MINGLE
Rating: BUT PLEASE MARK YOUR THREAD CONTENT ACCORDINGLY
Log:






Need a reminder of our Fourth Wall Rules or what is going on this weekend? Want to check what locations have been made available? Find all your answers here!

Comments

[goldeneyeball]

<sub>[Out of reflex, one corner of JW's mouth quirks upwards to mirror the jolly fellow, but he suppresses it. No! He wasn't going to be influenced by someone. Especially somebody as amiable as the Duke here.]

[JW lets the firewood fall onto the snow as he fishes in his pockets and pulls out his wallet. He thumbs a few colorful bills distractedly. He's kicking himself a little. Why didn't he bring his Sizzlipede with him? She always hung out around his neck when it was cold like this.]</sub>

Alright, show me what you've--

_{[The wind changes, blowing snow into his mouth. There is a deep crunching sound, almost a rumbling. He whips around on the spot in time to see thick curling thorns blocking the way he'd come, swallowing up his foot prints in the snow.]}

S-shit!

[omnicents]

Ah... this again. How unfortunate.

[For everyone! He can't get customers with the path blocked, and they can't leave either. Who wants to be trapped in a shop? Even a shop as exquisite as the Duke's. He shakes his head, and motions again.]

[This time, Snorlax heaves itself upright, slowly making its way toward the new blockage in the path. It licks its jaws - hello thorns, you look like snacks.]

Please, make yourself at home. This may take some time to clear. There is plenty of firewood to spare while you decide if you wish to make a purchase.

[goldeneyeball]

Again?

_{[He wheels back around to stare at the Duke, owl-eyed.]}

Giant thorns from nowhere is happening again? Is this a thing that's going on now?

<sub>[Maybe he and Rose had just stayed ahead of the spread in their wagon. Something like those vast swarms of particular Pokemon or the time everything lost its color.]

[He gives the Snorlax another look before dragging himself over to the fire and crouching down in front of it, looking very much like some kind of bug. He holds his face in his hands.]</sub>

Greeaaat.

[omnicents]

Again! Most vicious flora we find in these strange woods...

[Snorlax, though, is nonplussed by this. Just casually chowing down on the vines and thorns. Maybe that's why it's so huge...]

[Parasect scuttles over again. This time, it has a poker in hand, to tend to the fire pit.]

Not to worry. My friend there should be through it in no time at all.

[goldeneyeball]

_{[JW wants to grouch and sulk, but the large fellow's attitude keeps his own from dipping too far down. He turns to peer over at him, his glasses slipping down his nose a little.]}

I haven't seen you on the network. What do I call you, stranger? I'm James.

[omnicents]

[He spreads his hands, the top half of him inclining forward ever so slightly. It's not a proper bow, but the intent is clear.]

You, and many others, may call me the Duke. Or, if it pleases you, merely "Duke."

[It worked for Ethan Winters, after all!]

[goldeneyeball]

The Duke, huh...

_{[He is certainly dressed like a duke...but he's out here in the middle of the woods alone. Presumably selling things. Strange. But also he's a duke and that means he's some kind or rich so-and-so. And despite one of his best friends being a rich so-and-so, JW lets his hackles get ruffled a little. Being cold is easier when you're mad at the same time.]}

So what are you the duke of?

[omnicents]

Why, this shop, of course.

[... Probably. We don't know. The Duke doesn't even fully know. "This Shop" is probably as good a guess as any.]

Think of it as a name only. I am nothing but a humble merchant.

[goldeneyeball]

_{[Those hackles of his start to lay flat. So he doesn't own a country somewhere...]}

Oh...that's fair. So what do you sell? Oh yeah, about that scarf. Show me what you've got. I don't have a lot of money, but I can trade some items.

[omnicents]

What am I selling? Well! What are you buyin'?

[More of those big laughs.] Forgive me. A little joke from an old friend. But yes, please, feel free to peruse at your leisure.

[Sableye comes scrambling along, with an assortment of scarves draped over its arms. Which it waves at JW.]

[goldeneyeball]

_{[He's weirded out a little by Sableye's, well, eyes, but he selects a blue and white scarf and turns it over in his hands, feeling of the material.]}

You knit these yourself?