PORT: THE SKY-CITY OF BHUJERBA

[returnjourney]

PORT: THE SKY-CITY OF BHUJERBA

May 4th, 2022 – May 11th, 2022
Welcome, bhadra, to the city-state of Bhujerba! The Peregrine is due to touch down on May 4th, in a proper port — airships are the only way on and off the city, so the Aerodrome is a busy and bustling place. As a sky-city built on a mountainous structure floating ten thousand feet above the ground, it has little in the way of wilderness, but it has a sprawling city with deep mines stretching down beneath it. Look down past the railings when the thick clouds part and you'll see the world below; look up and you'll see great blue crystalline structures, a mark of the deep magicks that keep the city in the sky.

Passengers will be here for one week. Their duties in port will be to stretch their legs, experience the local culture, and pick up anything handy for their continued work on the Peregrine. The Navarch has secured passengers some rooms above a local tavern for those who do not want to trek on-and-off the ship to sleep.

The Navarch will announce the port the day before landing, along with any additional details. A log will follow.

You can use this post for any OOC plotting! If you have any questions about the event, please ask here. You can familiarize yourself with port basics on our events page.

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Questions & Answers

Port Statuses

Money: Wardens will have their usual spending allotment. This planet uses a currency called gil, struck coins in various sizes and precious metals. While the coins are fairly uniform in size and style, they are struck with different rulers from around the world. Inmates get their usual "taxi fare" amount, which will get them a ride to the Aerodrome on a rickshaw.

Overboarding: If your character is going overboard, they can be a local, a visitor from another part of Ivalice, a sky-pirate, a laid-off miner, a merchant, another species, or anything you can imagine.

Cloaking: The Peregrine appears to be a light cruiser airship while sitting in the Aerodrome. The ATVs are largely unnecessary this time around, but should the wardens wish to take them out, they are cloaked to look like carts drawn by giant yellow birds.

Technology: The sky-city has some technology, but it's very mechanical and powered entirely by magicite, stones that contain highly concentrated magical power. There is no computerization. This magicite, should passengers get their hands on it, gives off tremendous energy when heated; a single stone could run a massive airship for six months. In irresponsible hands, it could simply make smaller machines explode.

Culture: Bhujerba is a highly diverse place, full of merchants and traders from kingdoms all over the planet, but decades of colonization has all sorts mingling with ease. There are numerous species: run-of-the-mill humans, the hefty piglike Seeq, the reptilian Bangaa, and the diminutive and rabbit-like Moogles. Dress is colourful and frequently revealing garb, often with light leather and metal armor. Architecture is sprawling and built with dedicated craftsmanship; even the humblest, smallest building are adorned with mosaic tiles, engraved stone, and hand-worked metal decorations. The Bhujerban dialect intermingles with the common tongue, which Earthlings may recognize as similar to Indic languages.

Climate: Bhujerba is tropical, so this time of year you can expect a lot of heat and humidity!

Landmarks, Animals, and Objects of Interest

The Politics — The city-state is ruled over by a Marquis, who has made it his life's mission to maintain the neutrality of the city — many other nations of this world are at war or being actively consumed by it, and Bhujerba is well-known for brokering peace treaties between them. Closer to home, there is some tension about the closure of the Lhusu Mines, the richest source of magicite in the known world; the closure gives the magic time to replenish within the stones, and the city does depend on this magic to stay afloat, but no mines means no exports means plenty of lost jobs.

The Lhusu Mines — Recently closed, but no less appealing to explore. Security to get in is practically nonexistent: the only deterrence to going in is the fiends. Four-winged blood-sucking bats and undead skeletons have quickly overtaken the tunnels, prepared to kill anything that ventures into their territory. Why go in at all, you ask? Plenty of other people have tried, leaving behind money and weapons with their corpses.

Merchant's Market — The marketplace is bustling all day, selling weapons, armor, clothing, magic potions, antidotes, jewelry, house wares, and all sorts of things.

The Cloudborne Tavern — The main base for passengers who want as much time off the ship as possible. The tavern is full of colourful characters and boasts ludicrously cheap pints. A bulletin board has posters for bounty hunters, the most noteworthy of which seeks people willing to deal with the fiends that occasionally spill out of the mines, or, if at all possible, someone who can fix the paling that used to the keep the fiends at bay.

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Comments

Q&A

[returnjourney]

Questions go here!

[rank1]

Travis is banned from port due to the incident last time we made port, but you can find him jerking off in the empty dorms meandering the ship being generally too cool for this weird-looking fantasy shit. No, he doesn't care. He does not care! He is too cool to care.

(Until he finds out there was an opportunity to do a real-life dungeon crawl, anyway. ALINAAAAA... you don't have to listen to what William and some other wardens say... be a rebel, come on...)

More plotty:
- Wardens to catch him meandering to the loading bay to see if someone will let him off.
- Fellow ship-bound inmates... shenanigans? Poking around places? Staring out at Bhujerba from the observatory...
- A situation wherein Travis and possibly another ship-bound inmate are a nuisance to whatever warden is on guard duty.
- Bonus to above situation: Travis is happy to play decoy/distraction while another inmate steals a warden communicator to get them into fun places.

[counterstep]

would it be possible to purchase magicite powered weaponry or magicite forged weaponry?

[returnjourney]

Magicite is best used to power machinery and mechanical type things, so the only weapon with magicite that will be available to the general public will be basic firearms. These firearms pack a pretty considerable punch, though you might want to make your shots count: suitable ammo won't be available on just any planet.

bucky barnacles

[counterstep]

Bucky will mostly be off-ship in port but will offer to chaperone any inmates that wish to disembark. He'll be fairly intrigued by the local culture and whole of Ivalice so there's the potential to either be whisked back quickly so he doesn't have to watch for sticky fingers or being dragged along for the ride.

Since magic exists differently from how it persists in his own world, he'll be messing around with magicite a lot and potentially blowing things up.

PLANNING:

• research local politics and history
• buy personal weapons
• buy various magicite
• pet the kupo
• buy food things for cooking on the Peregrine
• learn about sky pirating

SEEKING:

• bounty hunting for that bonus gil
• please carry his shopping bags
• something about a runaway chocobo with two peregrine passengers in tow
• babby's first spellstone destroys a building
• political buffoonery

[lessandmorethanhuman]

Alex would totally be down for bounty-hunting. (He will be so SO SO mad his shapeshifting being locked.) Also please yes buy food things for back on the Peregrine?

[counterstep]

tbh i'm sad it's locked since bucky would think his biomass shifting is the bees knees, even if it's mostly weaponized and not like, y'know, practical for day-to-day anything that isn't murdering.

...and bucky will be watching those stick fingers of yours. if you're gonna nick something for travis, it probably won't be on buck's watch. lol

[sanctus_dei]

Oh god why this port of all things. WHY.

edit: Theo is going to spend two or three days exploring this city and absolutely falling in love with it. That's when he'll finally try to make his escape and fail miserably.

I'll probably make a separate log for his escape. I think the only other inmate interested was Jerry, and they'll most likely do so on their own to maximize their attempts to not get caught together.

Theo is going to dose his warden, Loki, with the plant clippings he's been cultivating. Since this is Loki, he figures he probably needs more than he'd need for a normal person to knock him out - he saw him use powers on the network, so a fair assumption. Problem is, he is going to use too much and think he's actually killed Loki with it, and it'll all go south from there. I'd love to have some wardens catch him red-handed.

[lessandmorethanhuman]

Alex is so mad his shapeshifting is locked because he is all about that bounty hunting to get more gil! He'll try anyways, so maybe he can borrow a weapon or two to make it easier. He'll also likely try to buy more creature comforts (pillows! Food) for himself, and maybe to share.

If anyone would like to do anything specific, the main thing I'm interested in is the bounty hunting for more gil and potential shopping and/or looking into the history. This is a very cool port in Alex's eyes, so he plans to behave. He might also need a distraction from his recent broodings over 'who' and 'what' he is.

Hit me up with ideas and/or plotting?

[lessandmorethanhuman]

Then just help him with bounty hunting so he can *buy* things rather than steal ;). He might still smuggle it back for Travis but at least it'd be legit.

Loki

[shiftedshape]

Okay so I have one major thing planned at this point: Theo knocking Loki out in an attempt to escape. This is the loose timeline I'm thinking on at this point, with possible edits based on what I just asked on the FAQ.

-May 4 and 5: Loki takes Theo out to see shit, spends some time exploring a little himself
-May 5 (or 6) : Theo knocks Loki out, he goes completely comatose
-May 5 thru 7: Loki is unconscious but (hopefully) been brought to the infirmary
-May 8 thru 9: Loki wakes up but is groggy and annoyed, goes and glares at Theo in solitary probably
-May 10 and 11: Loki stays in the tavern and goes exploring on the planet to try and keep from sulking and feeling shitty about his wardening :T

Other things I'm interested in playing with:

-Loki would definitely be interested in magicite and would be willing to pool funds to buy some (looking at you, Viktor)
-The heat is going to get to him extra hard after he wakes up and is weaker, which will make his attempts to enjoy himself on the planet all the harder as he will be Cranky
-I think his magic will be mostly on the fritz after he wakes up, tbh, which could be fun
-*Before* he gets knocked out, he'll be interested in the posts seeking bounty hunters and will talk to people about maybe getting a group together to take one of them on, with the intention being giving the inmates a chance to do something good(ish)

Let me know if any of that sparks anything for you! Otherwise, seeking:

-Someone to find him knocked out somewhere after Theo takes off
-People to come visit him while he's groggy
-People to hang out with when he's trying to forget how much he sucks at this

[grindset]

for posterity:

getting in on this, may or may not get knockedtfo for a few hours - will see where he fits once it's rolling.

[grindset]

V may or may not also be eating shit due to plants, gonna see where he fits in. if not surly mutual commiseration, then assistance in recovery, or whatnot. either way, he craves that arcane mineral, let's get some.

[counterstep]

bucky in a 30s era bathing suit, sun hat, sunglasses, and a bag with beach supplies walks up and Cannot Believe you're interrupting his vacation.

proceeds attempting to apprehend theo, has a loki sized dose thrown in his face, and manages to grab him by the ankle with The Arm before blacking out, all in said attire.


(I'm joking but I mean maybe sunglasses at least since it's bright as hell down there)

[grindset]

you know who definitely won't blow things up with a magic rock?

this guy. perhaps you should entrust him with them and/or your money.

[omniavincit]

Questions I'm sure everyone here is equally invested in:

Do horses exist in this universe? As in, will people think you're crazy if you talk about them.

What would happen if you zapped an undead skeleton with the Beauty Sleep Zapper?

[counterstep]

that's actually an acceptable trade off lol
make the money to buy the things

i could also see them rushing a bounty or two on the last day to buy some last supplies before they leave port haha

[counterstep]

but how do you know about magic rocks?? do tell, viktor. bucky is ALL ears. :)

i had this other idea of bucky getting lost in a library. maybe something they could also potentially do. or well. viktor is probably less lost. or equally lost and better at hiding it.

[lessandmorethanhuman]

>>
<<
Just don't ask where Alex got the knife if he's not 'borrowing/given' one by Bucky
(He bought it at last port and has kept it smuggled since, but he hasn't done anything to hurt anyone. He just feels better having it in case.)

[grindset]

probably less lost. built-in nerd compass.

and he will talk All About Rocks, just you wait.

Rhys Strongfork

[smugreport]

Due to his (bad!!!) behavior at last port, Rhys is effectively grounded. He will be supremely bummed out by this, because a flying city with tech he's never encountered is as cool as it is valuable to him, but a lesson will be learned.

Speaking of lessons, in an attempt to boost his status amongst wardens (and because he genuinely doesn't want to see some of them hurt) he's going to be snitching about what he knows of Theo's plans.

He's being pretty selective about who he tells because he doesn't want word getting back that it was him who did it (former warden Lucifer, current warden Loki and only friend Claire are on the docket) but if you'd like your warden warned we can try and work something out!

ALSO PLEASE someone smuggle him back some magicite c'monnnnnn

[nineteenfortyfive]

Dude your only friend is the ship mom? Damn........

[nineteenfortyfive]

One (1) slap

[smugreport]

[sanctus_dei]

And not matching Hawaiian shirts this time?!

[sanctus_dei]

Theo panicking and just slapping anyone who comes within 6 feet of him with plant clippings

[counterstep]

oh those are still in his closet

WOULD YOU LIKE ONE??

what if theo is put in solitary while being forced to wear a Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts lol

[counterstep]

bucky's nerd compass is broken! that's why he had to bother nerds all the time!

also idk why but i'm just picturing viktor hoarding a giant pile of rocks like a dragon with treasure lol

[counterstep]

he did nothing wrong!!!!

[sanctus_dei]

I cannot think of a crueler punishment for him!!

[grindset]

he will sit on them in his nest and what will hatch? science.

[returnjourney]

No horses, chocobos only, final fantasy destination.

Also, the undead skeletons are immune to sleep (and petrification and disease! fancy that). Have fun when they keep coming at you, William. 🤗

[shiftedshape]

[expectaspectre]

We're Buying A Toaster Oven And It's Totally Not A Date (Or Is It)

[nineteenfortyfive]

upgraded to twoslap

[shadowsran]

Are everyone's communicators still functional off-ship + are they disguised in any way?

[returnjourney]

Commlinks are still functional — to a point. They won't be in range if characters leave the city and they'll have an unreliable signal deep in the mines (the roaming fees cost the Admiralty a fortune).

They can be cloaked, as seen here and here!

[omniavincit]

Slams their hand in the destroy-it!!!

[n0ught]

OK in attempts to actually get involved in things again: I am 100% down for stealing a communicator. Stop leaving Jack and Travis alone together!!!

(obsessed with the idea of jack, rhys, and travis all being left alone with a single warden to look after them. breakfast club in space)

[murderology]

VERY LATE POST but Jerry is going to be doing an ESCAPE thanks to Theo's brilliant plan with the plant clippings. Naturally, this will go tits up, so someone should problem catch him. I realize I'm late as hell so if you'd rather handwave I'm cool with it, Jerry will likely contact whoever caught him depending on how it goes to maaaaaybe apologize, but again that depends on who it is and how it goes. Sometimes, he really does feel guilty for being an absolute shit. Sometimes.

Until then he'll spend the first couple of days messing about the city and casing it out for when and where to make his Great Escape.

[shadowsran]

TEMP HERE, ready for wrangling. I think since oocly pairings roll over tomorrow I'd lean handwave, but I can do whatever's most convenient/fun.

[murderology]

Yeah that might be a good idea! How do you wanna do this? I can see him hesitating to throw the clippings at her because...she's really friendly. He would have the most regretful wince and probably be all "I'msosorrybutIgottagetthefuckouttahere" and then probably end up missing or getting it on himself or something.....LMAO

[shadowsran]

I think that works pretty well with her stuff, actually! Especially if he takes a couple days to check around first, Misty's probably watched it happen with Loki and is already moderately more on guard - they could have a comically pathetic little struggle about it and either he lands enough on her to just get away short-term or he gets it on himself and they're just mutually KO'd for a hot minute, my gut instinct is to go with whatever is funnier.