Palace Lands: The City of Lumina Cloth

For the last two cities the Adventurers have arrived to, they have been welcomed by their King and Queen. Between Potimas and Lorelei, they have been welcomed with open arms. After a good week, with some pitstops, of travel eastwards from Naval Monte, they have finally arrived at Lumina Cloth.

It is night, yet there is something different about this place. Even at a long distance, they could see the laser lights in the air, painting various figures above the city. Enormous towers stand along the skyline, with massive televisions that, even at a distance, they could see were televising glorious Arena matches.

Now, arriving in the massive port, they hear the sound of parties all around them. Alcohol being poured, a few drunken ladies falling into the waters, then coming up giggling. A few gentlemen are using water magic to make a boat go fast through the harbor. Massive ships that look more like houses than anything else are running dancing competitions. And as they arrive at the docks themselves, a transformed Parrot-Flamingo Were Fang steps onto the board and starts handing out liquors in a drunken stupor and remarks something about; "WELCOME TO THE PARTY~!" Before stumbling off to another board that's getting closer to the port's harborside.

There's lights. There's dazzlement. It's easily nine in the evening, but there are so many lights in all the houses and highrises here, it's like it's still in the middle of the day. Along the main road ahead, they see a parade of dancing people, flourishing green clothing. Every single race seems to be here, celebrating, even if some of them are in the usual smaller counts than the others.

    Rizadoman steps off the boat and looks around slowly, he hadn't been expecting this. So many other places had been very formal with their greetings but this place. Maybe they had shown up during some celebration period, perhaps it was celebrating the arrival of the buns. Stepping forward a moment the lizardman looks back at his compatriots, " I guess we can join in on the party, however remember that this is our first impression so be on good behavior. " With that said Rizadoman does his best to look for sober or atleast less drunk people to get an idea on whats going on.

    "I wonder if they're celebrating our arrival?" Fukaziroh muses, not at all seriously. It's kind of obvious this elaborate setup has a different focus, one that's kind of obvious even at a moment's glance. Sometimes though, a little ego is a fine thing to brandish, either as a weapon or as a shield.

    "Ooooh we should get a drink!" Fuka says to no one in particular. "We should get *several* drinks! Join the party!" And yet, she makes no move to actually do so. Perhaps surprisingly she's not a party girl. She just likes to act like she is. A celebration is fine, but not a meaningless one and currently she has no idea what this whole celebration is about. Besides the televised tournament that is.

    Merek looks to the people and along the city while he takes the time to nod, wearing his dark attire while taking the time to adjust his gloves, "Alright. Well, I'm not all that sure about the party, although I could actually use a bit of shopping," the man admits.

There is a party going on.

/Instantly/ Prophylaxis feels his inner introverted nerd curdle up into a tiny ball of resentment and self-loathing and begin hissing into the void like the angry little fury-orb that it is. His eye twitches just ever so slightly as a deluge of memories sluices over his mind. "Nope," he decides, "Not gonna deal with this. I'm heading into the city, there's got to be someone who knows what the hell is going on and /isn't/ drunk and-or high off their asses."

The celebration largely goes on without their interaction. They'll note there's a notable amount of Were Fangs and Cait Siths doing much of the catering. There's also a significant amount of Adventurers just partying their brains out, with the Landers impressed at just how much alcohol they can have while still /functioning/. There's the loud calls of 'chug chug chug' from one corner, while there's some people in... very little dress... dancing on a boat nearby, throwing kisses at the arriving Adventurers. Notably, amongst it all, there are rough looking Landers that seem to be around to keep the peace. A big burly Liger Were Fang hoisting up a man who's drunk on the side of the road, and starts carrying him off to whom knows where. But it seems to be normal, as nobody bats an eye at this. "Let's go rest off this alcohol at the station bud." They might hear if they strain, amongst all the loud music, and the chorus-like singing everywhere around them.

Heading deeper into the city, they'll note that the partying is less heavy outside of the port. It's almost like its own biome of people. A lot of cafes that are open, where people are just sitting outside, enjoying themselves. There's the loud sounds of what sounds like a casino making electric noises in a building a ways further back. There's a foursome of Dojos, each at one corner of a plaza, who are having an exhibition match at the center of said plaza. According to the Landers nearby, they are fighting for the 'plaque in front of the building of the store'.

    Rizadoman stops near the Liger who seems to be at least sober and when he hears the mention of a station he would split from the party if neccessary to follow the Liger to the station. After a few minutes he would speak up to the Liger, " Excuse me sir, whatss with all the partying ? Some sort of big celebration?" If needed he would do his best to help lead the one that needs to rest to the 'station'. "I'm sorry, I should introduce myself, I am Rizadoman of the Moon Tree Alliance in Yamato. We just reached this land recently and we are trying to meet the locals. Though I don't think any of us was expecting this. "

Gwen has been enjoyng the trip so far, new lands new people and this one was quite intering really. Aside from it having a fabric related name. Moon cloth? Light Cloth? It gave her ideas for later. She's also been buying up as many crafting and cooking patterns as she could on this trip. The thought of getting more, got Gwen excited. She's off the boat, god help you she's vibrating with excitement. she'll look to her friend for a moment. 5R
"This is going to be great It also looks like there's a party."

She'll keep with the group as Rizadoman ask som questions.

"I am Gwen Pendragon of Olympus Alliance and the guild Crescent Moon of Yamato. No we were not expecting anything like this..."

    Fukaziroh is quick to begin drinking, apparently with gusto, apparently eager to get in a celebratory mood. This may worry some people. She's actually careful though. Having fun, being seen to be having fun and joining in with the city's celebrations, is important. But making sure to be on good behaviour's important too, even if Rizadoman hadn't outright said so. And that means drinking to the point of having to sleep it off at the station isn't an option.

    Fuka does note how it seems to be cait sith and Werefangs working while everyone else celebrates. That's not necessarily entirely weird, but Fuka can't help but wonder if there's some kind of caste or class-based thing going on here. So she watches carefully while remaining seemingly indolent, trying to see if the reactions to the party's werefangs and cait sith are different to the party's humans and fairies.

The Liger halts, looking over Rizadoman. The Liger is enormous, even for a Were Fang, looming over Rizadoman. "Heeeyyy uuuuh, Ligerman welcomes you, mister Lizard Man. You uuuh, you must be new. No, this ehmm, this is just how this place is every day, sir." He's polite in how he addresses Rizadoman, even if he seems to be a bit on the duller side. "This is The party, every day is the party, the specific party chosen for this place, Lumina Cloth's party. We uuuh, celebrate each day of our lives, and the lives of those around us sir." He continues to explain, clearly having no idea what a Moon Tree Alliance or a Yamato is.

The amount of light and sound howling at him from all directions, it reminds Prophylaxis of the occasional 'business trip' the folks at work used to make to Shibuya and Shinjuku. He could hardly stand this much racket drunk, let alone after a full year without exposure to any of it. Prophylaxis sighs and rubs at his temples before approaching one of the landers spectating the... Martial Arts Tournament? Huh.

Well, this /is/ Not China after all.

"Pardon me," he asks, "Do you know where a man might find someone with authority around here? The Hero of this place, for instance, or Lumina Cloth's leader?"

There's a beat.

"If the info's good, the next round of booze is on me."

Being leader of the Divine Dragons has its perks, apparently.

    Rizadoman blinks at the Ligerman and tries to process what he is told, " You are teling me that there is a party here all the time? Day and night? " There were certain alliance members who would fit in to this environment a bit to easy , however for RIzadoman himself he is already missing the Thor Kingdom's quietness. Taking a deep breath he realizes there is one more important question for the Liger, " Who's in charge of this city?" On a plus side the Ligerman was the first erson to understand he was a Lizardman without question, so that was nice.

Prophylaxis chats up some of the nearby Landers, who give him a bemused look. "A Leader, Wang Li asks? The Leader of this place is whomever has the most money of course, bunny-boy!" They laugh, finding Prophylaxis' question rather amusing and one of them stuffs a drink into his hand. "Have a drink friend, and just enjoy your time here in Lumina Cloth!" He then pats his shoulder a few times and returns to watching the show. Seems a simple round of booze is not enough to drawn their attention. In fact, the people here are all rather lavishly dressed. Certainly more lavishly than the Cait Sith.

"Ehmmm, so, the leader of this place are the people with the most money, mister." Ligerman answers Rizadoman politely. "Which can be anyone at any time." After which, the giant Liger looks like he is going to step away. "If you will excuse me mister, I am going to get this ehmmm, drunken man home. Perhaps I will see you again another time?"

Gwen looks the Liger over for a moment and will inspect them to double check on if they are just a local or an adventuring sort. Meanwhile she thinks for a moment.

"So money based huh?"

Gwen ran a business but well to be blunt it be more the Market Steet and other big crafter sorts who'd hav a thing here.

"Riza we best let him do his thing we should head deeper into the party or the city hopefully we can find someone there."

    Rizadoman frowns at the mention of the system of ruling here in the city. Forcing a smile to the Ligerman, " Thank you for all your help." Taking a moment he looks at Gwen and nods, " Yes we should try to catch up with the others." WIth that he gives a friendly head bow and makes his way back towards the direction the rest of the group had wandered off to. As he goes he is really trying to process this information he was given, its surprising to say the least.

This place runs on... money!? Prophylaxis groans with the voice of every tired, ardent follower of Science who has run face-first into the power of Money over the course of their careers. Alas, this is the power of capitalism, and its might holds sway even here.

Well, this explains why the other areas of the Palace Lands were so bereft of adventurers. None of these people seem to have any sense of personal responsibility! "'Bunny-boy?'" Prophylaxis parrots, his voice low and terrible indeed. "I see. Thank you for the information. Money, is it?"

Very well.

They can work with that.

    Rizadoman wanders from the port area to the center , looking over at Gwen to try to use her as a way of talking out his thoughts. " So this town is ran and ruled by money. I suppose the economy can be completely closed loop, no going in and none coming out and that could mean that they are all somehow able to survive. However it doesn't explain the materials and all that. How can they keep it up? " There was a missing piece to that puzzle.

Gwen will leave the Liger Man to his job. She looks to the rest of the group. "We might as well go mingle to see what we can find here maybe we'll luck out and at worst there will be some good food, right?" She looks to Riza for a moment. "There has to be an answer to that and we'll have to go -find that out."

    Fukaziroh stumbles over to Rizadoman, seemingly as plastered as her small size and apparent fondness for booze and partying would imply. She then stumbles right into him. "Some money coming in." she says in a quiet (and sober) voice. "Look at the workers. Not everyone indulges in the high-stakes social game." she notes. Then stumbles away again, apparently drunk off her socks.

    Rizadoman considers the point Gwen is trying to get to , almost getting it then Fukaziroh stumbles into him, says her piece and stumbles away. " Some of us should probably mingle a little less. " Letting out a sigh he remembers a recent conversation, " Ok ok, one drink. One drink and then we can figure out our next step and try to regroup. We should have really joined a raid group for this. "

    A wise Naga once said follow the money and so that is just what Rizadoman was trying to do. A few coins there, a few coins here, a lot of coins at the cheese palace booth. Who know there was a palace made entirely out of cheese. In fact the only thing that pulled him away was the sound of pachinko machines. It was an odd sound but it was something so as he made his way towards the casino he would try to gather those of his party he could spot in the crowd.

Gwen looks to Riza for a moment and seemn to be on baord with him she'll attempt to tar making some coins here is the various gambling games. Why not it might ge soem attention and let her pick up on chatter. So away she goes to gamble and mingle while keeping in contact with the party on chim link.

As they team continues to explore and ask around, they quickly learn - and are reminded of - the amount of martial proficiency in this city. There's talk about sponsored and self-made fighters who travel to the other regions and offer their capabilities up to those cities. A lot of money coming back to Lumina Cloth thanks to the Hunters Guild and the sheer skill of the people of this Kingdom. The alcohol export and other things are clearly all important measures too. The groups also find plenty of Adventurers. A significant amount of them at the slot machines, or fighting in the Arenas. There's a group of Adventurers just coming back from a Hunt, showing off large tusks from some kind of animal or monster they'd slain, which gets them standing ovations. Something the Adventurers are revelling in.

    Rizadoman blinks as he stares at the magically powered items and the modern feeling to this city and something feels off. " Something is truly off about this place in regard to.... something" Taking another moment or two to consider as he continues to look around and notice things it finally dawns on him. " Everyone here looks quite tough, like they could handle themselves. Even the landers. I wonder if the landers could act as sort of mercenaries , maybe the adventurers as well. Thus keeping the coin coming in. Yes this all makes sense now. " He is completely oblivious to the moderness of everything around him.

    Fuka, tagging along with Gwen and Riza, snickers at Riza's revelation. "That's what I was telling you, silly!" she laughs. "You need less alcohol if it too you this long. Or maybe more alcohol!"

Gwen has been getting the feeling this place is very moden but running on magic. She wonders how the people from the NWA would be taking it. Gwen would be lying to herself i she dien't wnat the magicla TV set up for the fighting league back in Yamato.

"Yeah lots of Landers con yellow, here too Riza. They are no light weights here. I'm more betting on a fighting league and local monster replling for the locals. I'll say this it looks almost like Vegas by way of Fantasy China..."

    Merek listens along while everyone speaks then will follow with people to watch the place. "Well, it looks like it's pretty advanced, maybe it's Alv." While he does that, he will take the time to check on what any merchants that are about might be making.

"In a casino," Prophylaxis says, emerging as if from within the lizardman's shadow, "The House always wins. Do you remember what was said? The ones with power are those who have the most wealth. Money flows into this place, and is then spent by fools whose inhibitions have been swallowed up by the spirit of the city. Their wealth is squandered and spent, and they go out into the world to collect more. The question then, is, who is the one the money is ultimately flowing to? Who is the spider at the center of this web of depravity...?"

Prophylaxis-- might be more of a bat than a rabbit or a cat at the moment, perhaps. "Also, the city itself is weird isn't it? How modern of a place it is, considering every other Alvish town or fortress we've encountered."

    Rizadoman was nodding as Gwen helps support his conclusion and Fukaziroh adds some drunk rambles about how she was trying to say something about it, but well you can't trust drunken rambles. Suddenly a voice from behind him turns and he looks behind himself to find the doctor, confused about where he had come from. However he also had a valid point, just because it sounded like money was always changing hand and thus leadership, there was likely one person at the top. Probably in charge of this casino, at least that is how it always goes in stories he has read involving casinos. Looking at the monitors though it does suddenly dawn on him the modern nature of them. " Yes it is all very pecular . I suppose to get a meeting with this up top we would likely have to get noticed, in a positive way. "

Gwen says "Yes Mr. House always wins in the end friend."

She notes to Riza and Prophy.

"So we'd wanna look into the ownership of the fighting league the caisnos and the like. I getcha, look you know how i can be. I should try to get into the arena fight and be as fashion and forgien as possibe. I could go full Liberty Prime..." She muses at this. "Maybe not full Liberty Prime..."