video; un: tealeaf

[viciousmaukery]

[A few days after everyone's settled in, this pops up:]

—working now? Oh, good, that took so much longer than I thought it would.

[To those well-versed in such things, they might quickly identify the androgynous figure onscreen right now, dressed in an eyesore of a coat, as a tiefling: there are the horns, the tail, the lavender skin, the red and pupil-less eyes. To those who aren't? Jesus, it's another fuckin' weirdo, and he's giving the camera a bow.]

Mollymauk Tealeaf, formerly of Exandria and the Mighty Nein and now of Trench, at your service! I'm a bit lacking in funds at the moment, so if you have some coin to spare, come to Cellar Door. I've set up near one of the statues. [And he pans the camera up to show an artistic, distinctive statue of a woman dancing, with cloth draped over her arms. Then down to a little portable table with a set of tarot cards laid out.]

For just two coppers, or whatever the equivalent is here, I'll tell you what the future has in store for you. Doesn't that sound like a steal to you?

[Advertisement over, he gets serious, and adds:]

Oh, and—if anyone from the Mighty Nein is here? Let me know you're safe. [Please.]

Comments

[viciousmaukery]

[He turns to see—oh, it’s just some guy. He turns the video feed off (with some fumbling around, it’s obvious Molly’s learning to work the device as he goes), and waves hello.]

Want your fortune told?

[siriusly]

[Manabu blinks a couple times. this guy is...very purple. is he an alien?

...it's rude to stare. he bristles a bit, looking askance very quickly...before looking back right away because of the question.]

My...fortune? You mean like, telling the future?

[viciousmaukery]

[It totally is, but Molly's used to it, being a circus barker. He just lets the stare slide right off him.]

Yep. Two coppers a fortune, or it would be where I'm from. Here, it's whatever you're willing to part with.

[siriusly]

[Manabu's head tilts, plainly dubious...but also curious. there's weirder things in the world, right? but this is the sort of fluff Louis or David would be into more than him.

...unless it's not fluff and actually has merit here.

mention of part with makes him blink and look himself over. borrowed clothes and a satchel from the beach...he pats the pockets of his trousers just in case he missed anything that isn't his.]

Um. I'm not sure-- [he lifts a similar disc to what Molly'd been using to advertise, hesitates, than pockets that.] I'm a little...short on everything, but, uh--?

[wait. oh, hey. there's a stray coin in here? hopefully whoever owned these clothes before him doesn't mind.

he holds it out, shrugging.]

[viciousmaukery]

[You know what, whatever, Molly will take the coin. Just for kicks, he attempts to make the coin vanish into thin air, but the trick doesn't quite go as he was hoping it would, the edge of it visible between his fingers. He pockets it.]

Come sit down. [He sits behind the table, starts shuffling the deck with a showman's flair.] You want a quick read or the standard three-card, past-present-future spread?

[siriusly]

[obediently, Manabu sits, watching the little show with a puzzled expression. how's cards supposed to do anything but make you lose money? that's about the most he's learned of them from David.]

Is it like a kind of trick? Or like horoscope stuff people do with stars?

[viciousmaukery]

It's...hm, sort of like a horoscope but here, if that makes any sense. [says Molly, who doesn't even know how he'd go about making up a horoscope. It's all birth charts and astrological signs and shit, which is a lot of work just to bullshit someone.]

I have something of a connection, let's say, to a higher power than myself. Now the thing about higher powers is that they're never quite clear when it comes to signs and portents—they just guide my hand to the best card and leave some vague hints. I'm the one left to interpret them, and that can be a bit flawed.

[Shuffle the deck, cut it just the way he wants it. What's the best card for this person, he wonders.]

Besides, I never learned to read the stars.

[siriusly]

[skepticism starts to paint Manabu's expression when he hears higher power. it's a little hard to disbelieve in such things considering what had happened in Deerington, but it's still Manabu's natural disposition to question invisible puppeteers and patrons. the idea of Fate...he's struggling with that one right now, in light of all the terrible things.

besides, is it Fate's doing that he sat down and is listening to this purple guy talk? really?]

So it's just...a guessing game? [vague hints, flawed interpretations...

...did Manabu get scammed out of whatever-the-hell was in his pocket?]