The festival, it seems, lasts from dawn until midnight, and tonight is the second day. Soot says it’s part of the festival’s charm that it doesn’t have a real name. It’s like magic, he explains, that a little city appears in the streets for a full weekend. It’s just “The Festival” to everyone here.
It’s just coming to dusk when Tuff meets up with Fluff, who explains lightly that Gray is sleeping off the catnip and will meet them in the next few hours. They wander around, going from stall to stall of brightly colored drapes with shiny bits and bobs. Tuff almost loses Fluff as a light show starts, but a loud clanking of metal brings them back to the present.
The stall they find is marked with the merchant guild’s logo - and the cats inside definitely are the ones Catalina mentioned. She had also said that the sisters swapped on and off during the festival: Moss, the merchant who sold what could help you – at a price – and Nightshade, the merchant who sold you what could hurt you – or others – at somewhat more charming prices.
They approached as the pink cat seemed to be packing up. Tuff walks up as the purple meow beside her brandishes a long sword at the crowd. He flinches, but doesn’t step back like the rest of the crowd. Even hardy orc-cats would struggle with a blade that long.
“Are you Moss from the Merchant’s Guild?” he asks.
The pink cat looks up from her long scroll filled with notes and blinks twice. “Yes, little pet. I’m closing up for the day, though, and I’m afraid I’m sold out of most of the fancy potions anyway.”
Fluff looks upset. She’d been really excited when she’d heard Moss could make potions of invisibility. “Is it possible to place an order for pickup later?”
Moss makes a face which is definitely a no, but the purple cat beside her interjects, waving her paws comically. “Nighttime rules, my playground!” Nightshade’s eyes are mischievous… or dangerous; it’s hard to tell in the fading light. She drops a chest on the counter. “Tell you what, you buy whatever’s in the box I’m about to open, and I’ll make sure Boss here gets you a potion for the normal price.”
“Even a potion of invisibility?”
“Shade–”
“Fine.” Nightshade barrels on, pushing forward the chest another inch, then slams a spellbook that seems to be smoking next to it. “You can open the mystery chest at the normal cost, or buy this creepy spellbook at double the price, and I’ll get you a reservation for any potion you want.”
Moss looks terribly offended. “Nightshade this is my–”
“Tsk, tsk, Sis, you’ve closed for the day. I’m in charge now.” Nightshade turns back. “So what will it be: Creepy spellbook or mystery chest?”
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Whew!! I've really enjoyed writing this so far (so I do hope some of y'all are enjoying the little story). All of this campaign is super experimental, so it's honestly up to you guys to let us know if this format is something we should encourage to others! So far most of you have seemed to like it, but do let us know if you have thoughts.
Over the last two days, we hit one of the stretch goals! The DnD dice offered as a LE freebie to the promo incentive (either the 48 hour only unlock, or subbing on launch) will now have additional colorations. In the next week or so, Venetia, Jess and myself will show off our personal colors in these fun additions. They'll be available in the add-on store, or for full collections, you get one for free.
In the meantime, please try not to hurt Fluff and Tuff too much... but I guess Nightshade is going to do what she wants to do.
