Blackwood Grove, Fandom to Baltimore's Anchor Market, Monday Afternoon

[witchoftheflesh]

Okay, so...Adrian's Market jaunt had been pushed back a few days. Mostly because Pam, Rey, and Lydia had all told him that they were coming along with him. Adrian had tried - briefly, and not well - to point out why that was a terrible and dangerous idea, but all of his arguments against had been taken as arguments for and eventually Adrian had bowed to the inevitable and given in.

But they couldn't just go in. They needed a plan and, even more importantly, they needed disguises.

So first, a meeting here to figure out their story and get them all into the proper disguises, and then it was off to the Market.

If he were going anywhere that wasn't crawling with warlocks, Gilgamesh's enforcers, and had a slave pit to boot, Adrian would almost be excited. Sadly, that was exactly what each Market was like and so he was filled with dread instead.

"Do you think that they'll be more willing to listen to reason and stay here today?" he asked Boston.

The cat didn't even deign to reply, just opened one baleful eye long enough to look at him and then closed it again to nap.

"Yeah," he sighed. "Me neither."

[For the aforementioned ladies please!]

Comments

[joan_of_bark]

"Right, so what are we getting into, specifically," said Pam. "And what would people expect us to be?"

She was not the type to be swayed, no.

[mustbeawitch]

"Not witches," Lydia said, "but as long as we avoid the pointy hats I should think we can manage that much, at least."

Her campaign to get Adrian to leave his at home, let her show you it.

[joan_of_bark]

"I never did look good in a hat," Pam said dryly. "Inconspicuous is probably the best idea."

[mustbeawitch]

"That's why I thought it best to avoid black," Lydia explained, gesturing to her dress, which by many metrics would not qualify as 'inconspicuous.'

[witchoftheflesh]

"There are three basic groups that you can find in Anchor Markets," Adrian said, sipping from a mug of calming tea. "Denizens of Heaven, demon slaves, and humans. Of the humans, they're generally broken down to sorcerers, warlocks, and the households of either sorcerers or warlocks. So, my best idea is to have us be a sorcerer there with his family-slash-household? But, err, none of us are - currently - dressed for the part."

[joan_of_bark]

"And what would 'dressed for the part' mean?" Pam asked.

[witchoftheflesh]

"Like we belong to a household the exact kind of people you hate," Adrian said, sounding a bit sheepish. "Celebutantes, wealthy industrialists, that kind of thing. Where nobody would be caught dead leaving the house in clothing that costs fewer than five figures."

[thatwaslucky]

Rey had never been here before. And Rey's first question when she got there was, "Is this a situation where blasters and lightsabers should be hidden or visible?"

In case that answered the question of whether she was staying here or not.

[mustbeawitch]

"Neither are particularly common on Earth," Lydia pointed out, "so I should think they would raise more questions than anything if they were visible."

Honestly, this was a shopping trip, people. Had none of you gone shopping before? If you acted suspicious, everyone was going to think you were suspicious!

[thatwaslucky]

"It's so far sounded like it could go either way," Rey said, and she was trying so hard not to be too obvious in noting her admittedly lovely dress.

[mustbeawitch]

"It's a shopping trip."

Into enemy territory, yes, yes, but still.

"You save threatening the shopkeepers for after they try to cheat you."

[joan_of_bark]

"I think they might call a lot of attention to us in this environment," Pam noted. "Honestly, I'm not sure if guns are a thing here."

[thatwaslucky]

"That's sort of what I figured," Rey replied. "The way he talks about it, though, I'd rather be maybe overprepared."

[joan_of_bark]

"Maybe wrap them up in cloth," Pam said. "They won't look conspicuous and unless things get really bad, you can use them as a bludgeon."

[witchoftheflesh]

"Hidden. Definitely hidden. If it's come to violence, we're in a very bad way. The Market is full of guards to preserve the Eternal-King's peace and they won't hesitate if they think someone's about to make trouble."

[thatwaslucky]

Rey nodded her understanding. "Would I look out of place with a cloak?"

Since apparently they didn't do that on the mainland here, but they also didn't seem to do witches hats, so...

[witchoftheflesh]

"Yes," Adrian said. "Umm, I think we're probably all going to need to change, actually. The customers at Market are usually the richest, most powerful, and most glamorous. So...that's what we're going to need to be. Or, well, at least look like."

[mustbeawitch]

Lydia had debated long and hard about what one wore to a magical marketplace where one most decidedly did not want to look like a witch. She had decided that dark colors were right out, and selected the most charming dress.

Look, you had your priorities, and she had hers.

She greeted Adrian with, "Right, where's your shopping list?"

[witchoftheflesh]

It was a very charming dress, but charming was rarely the look most of the people at the Market went for.

"Oh, it's here," he said, pulling out a neatly-penned list of the ingredients and reagents he needed. "It's rather a lot since I've been putting it off."

[mustbeawitch]

It wasn't her fault if the Market people couldn't appreciate a good aesthetic.

Half of it seemed entirely reasonable to Lydia, whilst the other half she didn't even know what some of it was. But, "Why, I have this," she said, pointing at one item. "You could have asked. And can't you substitute yew gathered under a waning moon whilst Mars is in the eleventh house for that?"

[witchoftheflesh]

"Well, yes, but it would take a lot more than I thought I'd be able to get my hands on easily," Adrian said. "Unless the yew was spring-fed, of course."

Of course. That just made sense.

[witchoftheflesh]

Anchors Markets were the crossroads between Gilgamesh's Holy City and the living world. They were the only places where people could travel between Paradise - land of the dead and home to Heaven and all nine of the Hells - and the mortal world without having to die first. After five thousand years of rule, Gilgamesh had Anchors in every major population center on the planet, and all of them had a market selling earthly goods to the denizens of Heaven and Heavenly goods to the denizens of Earth.

Baltimore's Anchor Market was in the Inner Harbor. Adrian led them towards the back of McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood & Steaks on Pier Five, heading for a service door when the area was briefly empty of staff. "Quickly, let's go through," he murmured, and opened it up for them.

On the other side of the door was Paradise.

Not actual Paradise. That was still far away, but the Anchors worked by overlapping the worlds of life and death, which made them the closest to Heaven - or Hell - that you could get on Earth. Despite being inside a building, the Seattle Anchor Market looked like a giant open field under an endless blue sky. Gentle hills rolled as far as the eye could see in all directions like waves in a green-gold ocean. The air smelled of sweet grass and, if one breathed deeply enough, water. Not the water of the Bay, which, even at its cleanest, smelled of industry and mankind, but sparkling, flowing water, untouched by pollution, winding slowly through the meadows.

The rivers of Paradise.

From this distance, the Anchor Market looked like an old-fashioned fair. The hallways for the service entrance let out at the foot of a hill covered in brightly-colored merchant tents divided by paths of freshly-trimmed grass that never got trampled down no matter how many people walked on them. Flags signaling what each tents had for sale waved in the gentle breeze, and above it all soared the golden chain of the Anchor itself, rising into the sky like a glittering path straight to Heaven. The chain connected the two realms was held in the raised left fist of the golden statue of Gilgamesh, rising above the merchant tents like a god above insects. As always in his public depictions, the Eternal King was in full battle armor with the crown of Anu, god of wisdom, civilization, and kingship, on his head. His bearded face was stern as he stared up at his left hand. In his lowered right hand, he held the sacred sword of Ishtar. Cut into the Anchor’s foundation, positioned directly beneath the statue’s giant golden boots, were seven figures. Unlike the king above them, they were not made of gold. Their images had been carved from granite, the gray stone deliberately left unpolished so that their features would appear as coarse and monstrous as possible. Each one was a demon: a horned woman on her knees with her hands lifted up to the Eternal King in surrender.

It was a crowded path today. Anchor Markets were always busiest later in the day, when the denizens of the Holy City left their pleasure palaces to pick up supplies for the night's festivities. Every night was a party in Heaven, and the demand for new entertainments and novelty was immense. To cater to that endless need - and to sweep up all the quintessence the Heavenly hosts threw around like dirt - the vast majority of the Anchor Market was dedicated to the sale of earthly delights: mortality. Particularly beer, but also wine, liquor, chocolate, designer handbags, consumer electronics, movies, and pretty much every other comfort of modern life. Local vendors capitalized on this by buying whatever earthly goods were currently trending and reselling them at ludicrous prices.

Thanks to the pre-party rush, the grassy paths between the tents were crammed with Heavenly citizens in their dazzling finery. They paraded around like they owned the place, ordering their demon slaves to pack their belongings into bags and bins while they continued to traipse around the tents. Every few yards stood Guards of Gilgamesh; normal humans under their suits, but the metal they wore pulsed with so much quintessence that a full career of wearing it left the guards unable to remain in the living world. Because of this, Guards of Gilgamesh were promised a place in Paradise at the end of their service, a reward that made them fanatically loyal and functionally unbribable.

"Welcome," Adrian murmured through twisted lips. "To Baltimore's Anchor Market."

[mustbeawitch]

Had Lydia had Wickham's demonic vision at the moment, she probably would have just stared at the Anchor chain in intense alarm for the rest of the night, but fortunately for their hopes of completing their shopping mission shopping mission, he'd only lent her his luck.

"Now, where shall we start?"

[thatwaslucky]

Rey wasn't exactly comfortable in something this short, but it wasn't real and she didn't need to keep tugging it down every thirty seconds. And anyway, she was more aware on everything she sensed around them, which she wasn't particularly enjoying. This was going to be very good practice on focusing on multiple things at once. Even if she was on high alert for any immediate threats, she hoped she didn't come off that way.

"What is it we're looking for?" she asked.

[joan_of_bark]

"You have a list, right?"

Pam showed no signs of discomfort or alarm, except for a single raised eyebrow. Her hands were on her hips; she exuded a particular kind of confidence.

Hm.