2151/Shopping Trip

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Shopping Trip
Date of Scene: 24 August 2017
Location: Unknown
Synopsis: Summary needed
Cast of Characters: Mina Harker, Kaelyn Silverleaf, Juggernaut, 1326




Mina Harker has posed:
Ah, New York City! The land of opportunity! If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere! It sounded like such a wonderful place to go, especially after spending the past few decades heavily sedated in a deary London asylum.

Of course Mina is still Mina, and it takes her a remarkably short time to find her way *out* of the Big Apple, with a cabbie's help. She's shopping for something very specific, and the cab ride takes her to Bludhaven. The woman pays the cabbie and disembarks, dressed in what she hopes is fairly modern attire. Jeans, turtleneck, leather jacket and boots. And of course that signature red scarf about her throat. Deep breath, exhale slowly. Then she steps boldly into the shop.

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
It's a nice day to be out and about, and currently, Kae is in the back of her shop, a small-ish store called Enchanted Grounds, Coffee shop and Occult supplies. The smell of a particularly nice hazelnut roast can be picked up even outside the small building as one of Kae's workers is grinding and blending beans, there's even a bean roaster inside! The store it self is a brick building, mostly the dull red and black clay common to such things, the building appears to be very old, yet immaculately restored. There is a roll away gait tucked neatly under the copper awning, The windows have bars, but they're the more the decorative kind, there to help protect the stained glass windows that the owner has decided to use. Various runes surround the outer edge of the stained glass, with the center being a clear thick tempered type affair. The bar style is really kind of gothic, something someone would get at a blacksmith shop maybe.

The door to the place has a simple wooden open sign, with another wooden sign below it saying "We accept Lady Visa, Master card, NewWorld Express, and Discover-y." Yes, she shops at a ren fair it seems. Inside the shop it seems bigger there than it does outside. Of course it could just be a bit of a trick in the way the building is layed out. Simple shelves line the walls, in the back part of the large room, there are also shelves some having books, reagents, crystals, rocks, new age and occult things as high as the ceiling. The back shelves have even more, and it's obvious there's a storage place in the far back. For really expensive items, displays have been put out along with touch-pads that have a simple search program to see if the shop has the items theshopper may want.

The coffee shop actually dominates the first quarter of the building too, there being enough room for maybe 20 people to sit and lounge around while drinking coffee, or eating a sandwitch or some other baked confection. Wendy, the barrista is well grinding beans and roasting them too in one of the bean roasters that are behind the counter.. Wendy is well dressed up like what one might expect a which to be dressed up like, even with the brimmed hat. Thre is also another, a wooden affair with mortars pestals and other mixing things, with a large selection of herbs and teas behind that counter, there's also the cash register there... Kae's other helper Tina is currently sitting behind that, she too is dressed like a sorceress or witch in a very nice, fancy costume, complete with apron...

It's not long before Kae comes wandering back up front, the curvy redhead pausing as she looks to the two helpers and ummms.. "Thanks for opening and all, I got the order y'all wanted and the books... And why do you guys keep on dressing like witches!?!" The two look back and say simultaneously "It -fits-." Kae pauses and sighs, feining defeat and then puts a few bags of the beans requested on the barrista counter, and makes her way over to Tina and sets 2 -large- tomes up there, big leather bound books, and a couple jars... "Replacement herbs, and the rare books we were asked to find, if you'll check em into inventory and get to grinding those herbs down..."

Mina Harker has posed:
The auburn-haired woman enters the shop, leaving the beret in place. Boot heels click purposefully as she strides up to the counter. Nostrils twitch, and her stiff posture relaxes visibly with the sights and smells of the shop. When she speaks, it's with a very -proper- British accent. "I say, my good woman." she offers, addressing one of the baristas. "Could you make a proper cup of Turkish coffee?"

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Wendy is all smiles as the young blonde-headed woman asks "With or without the Grit. And Small medium or large?" she asks curiously, now turning to one of the bins and pulling some arabaca beans out. She carefully scoops a pre-measured aount out, and drops them in a grinder. Kae tilts her head at the mention of Turkish coffee, and shrugs before the redhead now slips behind the barista counter and gets her green tea mix.... She gets a dirty look from Wendy and Kae shrugs, smiling, before Kae mixes up her extra strong iced green tea late in her favorite stainless insulated tumbler, before putting things back and wiping where she had her tumbler... Kae grins again at Wendy, then nods to the person ordering coffee before she makes her way back to the other counter, and fetches a book behind it. Kae then occupies a seat over in the lounge area.

Mina Harker has posed:
Mina Murray smiles almost curtly, green eyes bright. "With the grit, of course." She glances about the shop before her gaze shifts back to watch the coffee being prepared. "You do more than sell coffee here, however." It's a statement, not a question. "Would it be too bold of me as to inquire what other products or services, or are the pointed hats only for show?"

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Kae glances over the top of her book as Wendy speaks "We sell herbs, occult supplies, find and aquire rare books, and antiques.. Mostly books though of late. Kaelyn there can find other things for you as well, we have crystal balls, stuff to make clockworks, athemas, well pretty much anything one might need for most of their occult needs... We even do the occasional charm for folks should they need it. We make and sell incense, draughts, hollistic medicines..." she goes through a littany of things, as Kae studies the other person curiously...

Then Kae grins a bit "Pointy hats aren't just for show..." She says simply "Those girls are really good at what they do." She adds and grins a little.. Tina then mentions with a smile "Thanks boss!" Happily pointing out through her words that Kae is probably the owner of the store, even if Kae isnt in 'uniform'.

Mina Harker has posed:
Mina Murray's gaze narrows a touch at the description. "I would be very interested in discussing a collaboration, perhaps." the Brit replies. "I also have an interest in rare books, particularly tomes and journals from the region of the Carpathian Mountains..." It sounds so much more benign than saying 'Transylvania', after all.

Turning towards Kae, then, she offers "My name is Mina Murray. I'm a collector, although I'm new to the Americas."

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Kae grins "Oh, we get requests for books from Tansylvania all the time." She says and shrugs "Even the occasional written dissert on Vlad the Impaler..." She grins a bit and leans forward "We have a number of very good historical books on Vlad and even Dracule if that is what you're after. If you're looking for antique, I have a number of transcribes from the area." she then tilts her head "Finding originals from that era is difficult in the extreme, hand written books are hard to come by and also people willing to part with them are rare too, it's why I have the transcribes I do. I oft run across books and people, and the people aren't willing to part with it, so I transcribe the book verbatum onto similar, but new vellum... I do the binding my self." she says and grins again...

Juggernaut has posed:
    So there's that one scene in that one movie about dinosaurs going amuck where the ground rumbles from heavy thumping footfalls that are drawing closer and closer. The force of said steps rattling glasses and vibrating water and other liquids with the gradual increasing of intensity. This happens now. Vague tremblors that shudder the building followed by the eclipsing of any outside light as a huge shadow engulfs the exterior and just pauses - momentarily swamping over any ability to see the outside in detail due to the immense shape whose details are blurred out by the stained glass. The only thing certain here is that...It Big.

After a deliberate pause as if whatever that is, is considering something or another, the immense figure steps forward and the sound of the shop's doors being pushed open can be heard. An absolutely gargantuan man fills the entryway now. A red headed, big jawed, slightly hairy bruiser tha tlooks more like he belongs in some basement-dungeon gym then some coffee shop of magic and ancient books. He squeezes his way in with the skill of a bruiser used to manuevering in a world far to small for him, and then spreads out to his full size, basically dominating the front of the store with his physique and presence while looking about with ice cold eyes.

Volf Boiardi (1326) has posed:
>>...Encrypting sigil #533bA

>>...Uplink online. Greetings User.

>>...Mission diagnostic downloaded.

Moriarty, Volf's handler, had sent the mission dossier for his first assignment, as the Department of Homeland Security had promised. Living in a flat in New York City, on the DHS Pest Control's shell company budget, Volfgang San Patrizio Boiardi had been given a week to acclimate to the neighborhood, and make himself known in his stomping grounds, to initiate his cover and adjust to the city again. He had acquired an old Pontiac Transam Firebird to fix up, gotten a membership at Trader Joe's and bought all the basic non-perishable staples that a hitter needed to lay low, and even invested in a calico cat to keep him company. He had gotten the signal from a mail delivery of an issue of the New Yorker, and logged into a comic book art server via his three hundred dollar fingerprint-proof laptop. He clicked on the proper image - art of Superman by a local Village Voice political cartoonist - and entered the name and password required.

Having parked his car four blocks up in Bludhaven after the long commute, in a parking garage with a credit card payment system that he could use under his preferred grid alias, 'George Cartwright', he hit the street. His assignment was Cain Marko, a local Mutant of questionable affiliation. They had caught traffic over Echelon's tap on one of his associate's phonelines that he was interested in a bookstore, and now, Volf was on a reconnaissance mission to see what he was looking for. Normally, they wouldn't harass the Juggernaut this way (it was a dangerous proposition to even give him a parking ticket), but a curio shop dealing with magic was a potential threat when someone with the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak was involved.

Braccato slowly shuffled down the street, hands in the pockets of his garment district raincoat, trailing along the sidewalk a block up from the magic shop. He frowns quietly as he watches the Juggernaut enter, his eyes sweeping from Juggernaut's back, across the street, looking to see if Marko has a spotter.

Mina Harker has posed:
Mina Murray's nose twitches at the actual mention of Transylvania, her face becoming more stoic when Vlad himself is mentioned. "Transcriptions will suffice for my purposes." the woman replies. "I'm looking for notes or journals or memoirs of a Doctor Abraham van Helsing or perhaps Quincey Morris. The year would have been 1897."

She feels the tremors behind her, turning slowly to give the huge man filling the doorway her full gaze. "I say." the British woman mutters half under her breath. "I believe that would be an Extra Tall."

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Kae blinks ad mildly corrects the extra tall thing "Double Venti." She says, this is a coffee and esspresso bar right?! The girls behind the counters look up and up and up at the gentleman, before Tina, the one behind the counter with the cash register says "Welcome to Enchanted Grounds! How can I help you?!?" Kae blinks again at the giant ginger person curiously, and now glances back to Mina... "Van Helsing? He's quite popular, I may have some memoirs...." The curvy redheaded woman now stands and makes her way to one of the back corners of the shop, this with a rounded shelf that seems to well go into the wall.. She then turns the thing, the shelf rotating and revealing slots all the way to the 10 foot ceiling of the old building... She then slides a ladder over and climbs up, She spins that shelf some, and starts looking at a few books...

"1897 you say?" asks the woman curiously, thing about her accent, what with Kae's travels is an extreme 'lack' of accents, but having lived in multiple countries till this point might do that... Finally she pulls a few volumes and descends with them, sets them on a cart, and then even pulls a few cross volumes that might have memoirs that Mina may be looking for, before she returns with 1 victorian era book that was printed from a hand written account, and a half dozen transcribes... She sets these on the small table near Mina and then glances to the giant of a fellow now, green eyes studying them as Wendy sets a 4 cup sized pot of freshly brewed Turkish coffee on the same table and a small covered bowl with demerar sugar in it. "There ya go, if you decide you need more just say so... You can check out at the counter when you're done." She says, boy is this shop trusting.

Juggernaut has posed:
    Seemingly oblivious to having been trailed and likewise being dismissive of the cheerful greeting being sent his way, the red haired behemoth, instead, sweeps his gaze across the room, occasioally turning his head like the movement of a tank turret atop his vast body. His nostrils flare, causing an audible rushing intake of air as he sniffs the air and he then snaps his gaze down at girl behind the cash register for a long while. All the while he says nothing. It might feel something like having an earthquake personally notice you.

Eventually he begins to move, answering nobody, but stepping out of the way of any line that's formed and beginning to now closely examine the shelves and the walls. Clearly he seems to be looking for..something..though it may be unclear exactly what.

Volf Boiardi (1326) has posed:
Volf's eyes trail farther down the opposite sidewalk as he approaches the curio shop, before he stops outside. He stands beside the door, slipping his hand out of his pocket and pulling out an iPhone. He presses the touch screen three times, first opening a prompt, then entering a window, before hitting a purple Greek character. The window closes and the iPhone returns to the state it was in before. He slips the phone back into his pocket, having signalled the state police office in Bludhaven that there's an active Homeland Security monitor operation active in his area, before turning about and stepping into the shop.

Ducking his head down for a moment as he enters, his mouth in a tight line, he looks across the shop in an indifferent but friendly manner. It's a magic shop, one that is marked on the grid as a ringer's operation. That means his X-Factor psionic mask is a hot bullet into the craws of whomever operates this place, if they have any sort of mentalist ability, magic or otherwise. He better be polite. Wearing a Superman logo t-shirt beneath his coat is probably his shoe-in, as it is throughout the Tristate Area.

He quietly shuffles along, dragging his feet to appear as a local miscreant, cocking his head as he observes the woman up on the ladder.

Mina Harker has posed:
Mina Murray brightens at the sight of the ancient volumes, as well as the smell of the Turkish coffee. She seems surprised, but pleasantly so. "I say, thank you very much. Truly." She moves to the table with the coffee and the books, settling comfortably. And for all her eagerness the woman has the decorum to pour the coffee and add sugar... two lumps... before turning her attention to the books.

The man in the Superman t-shirt causes her to lift an eyebrow as well as offer a small smile. The big man's movement are not unnoticed either, and Mina takes a small sip of the strong coffee. Fingers drum idly on the books, then she slowly opens one.

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Most of the volumes Kae brought are transcribes, ones that the woman probably did her self. Each is made on vellum and hand bound in leather. They are, as far as books go, very nice.. The oddest thing, is that the handwriting is not just close but identical, as if she'd used a printer, but it's obvious that the books were actually hand written. Of course the victorian pressings and the other pressed books are done by a press style typesetter of the era...

Kae now watches the giant, and picks up her tumbler, before looking to the person with the superman shirt. Tina and Wendy both say "Helloo! Welcome to Enchanted Grounds, if we can help you with anything, feel free to ask. Otherwise make your self at home and you are most welcome to peruse our wares!"

Kae blinks at the cheerfulness of the two girls and then stands.. "I'll be back." She says to Mina with a smile, then starts to make her way past the goliath.. On her way by she mutters "We find things too..." she says with a smile and goes into the back room for now. As the curtain is slid aside there is al kind of contraption briefly visible, including an 18th century press, and there are books, loots of books, and these are actually insainly old in appearance, some of these books by them selves would make the entire encyclopedia brittanica look like a postage stamp if it were combined into one volume... There's other items back there too, alchemy stuff, potion making things, a small cnc mill/lathe setup, even sheets of copper brass and nickel are all visible... There's even a faceting wheel for working on gemstones in the back and a pile of semi-precious rocks.

Soon enough, Kae wanders back out with a gigantic volume, this massive book as thick as her calf, and as wide as her torso, as tall as her torso too! She settles that ner Mina, along with some white cotton gloves...

Juggernaut has posed:
    To those with the abiltiy to sense the magic and the supernatural, Cain is practically a walking nuclear bomb in their midstd. Each cell bursts and burns with energy tied to the crimson cosmos, sourced from a spiritual 'gem' like place located somewhere on his person..that is unites him with someone..something..else? IT's like he's a walking artifact. Probably wise not to look to long at him with eyes that an see him for what he is - not that he requires such visual effects to stand out. As high as the ceiling in this place is, his massive height stretches uncomfortaby towards it and his shoulders width and overall girth probably make moving past him nimbly a difficult deal.

Nevertheless Kae manages it and Cain flickers his gaze towards her to watch her as she leaves. When she returns with the massive tome he narrows his eyes slightly and then turns to face her and Mina more directly. He then gestures at Kae, curling his fingers at her with a few times in a sort of 'c'mere' sort of gesture.

Volf Boiardi (1326) has posed:
Volf's lips quirk to the left, as he withdraws his hands from his pockets and makes a two fingered salute from his eyebrow. He slowly walks through the shop, a wave and a smiling nod given to Kae's offer. He circumscribes the shop with his lazy walk, looking at various trinkets and strange manuals and tomes, looking up and around. He positions himself to Juggernaut's left, and busies himself with a rotating rack of magazines, all back issues of poetry. He picks one up, and furrows his eyebrows in confusion at the Gaelic writing, opening it up and leafing through it, not doing an efficient job of looking preoccupied, since he can't understand the language.

Mina Harker has posed:
Mina Murray's brows lift as the massive figure turns towards them, her only uttered response a small "Mmm." Delicate fingers rest upon the larger tome, the smaller ones forgotten for the moment. "This is quite a place you have." she offers to the proprietress. "I really must impose upon you for a more thorough exploration sometime."

But even the larger book is unattended as the big, redhaired man distracts her further. She sips her coffee, gaze never leaving him. And after a moment she utters a soft word that sounds like 'Hide'.

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Kae pauses, hard to miss a behemoth doing a comehither... She turns and walks toward Cain and smiles, hands now clasped behind her back as she cranes her neck to look up with him. Her green eyes twinkling as she says "Can I help you?" she asks curiously, grinning. Wendy on the other hand is trying to get Mr. Superman shirt, to buy coffee, it's her job! "We have a special going on now with a really nice chickory coffee... We make a very nice cafe au let, and even can make you some benyets to go with the coffee.." She adds, the young lady grinning from behind the counter. Tina now looks to Mina and makes her way over to sit near by. She smiles slightly "You should come by during the witching hour. Kae opens up the whole shop, though those allowed in are select..." Tina hands a card with said 'invite' on it and smiles, before standing and going over to chat quietly with Wendy...

Meanwhile, Kae is standing and looking up at the human wall... "There anything you need me to find? Questions? You have?" Kae asks.. "Or would you like some coffee or tea?"

Juggernaut has posed:
Cain Marko flickers his eyes to Mina briefly and also takes note of Volf, seemingly for the first time. He looks over them both but then returns his gaze to Kaelyn and..smiles for the first time. It's not a forced smile and isn't entirely unpleasent in intention but one gets the feeling of a huge great white shark grinning down at a little clown fish. "..Hello.."

He pauses, deep voice rumbling and vibrating through the area into the pits of the stomachs of nearby listeners before he continues, "I was wonderin' about that book you brought out.. You got any other...secret stashes floating around in here?" Of course he nods his head towards the huge tome she dropped off at Mina's table.

Volf Boiardi (1326) has posed:
"Coffee, huh? You got any chai? I was raised on the expensive stuff, you know, Bolivian blends or Yemeni rich, but I can't resist some bargain brand chai spice," Volf says, putting the magazine down. "Something about the softness of the texture, really reminds you of drinking liquid sugar cookie," he continues, making a wafting to the nose gesture with his hand. He follows after Wendy, merely ambling about the shop now, letting daily business take over now that he's got his hook in, and Cain is talking openly.

Mina Harker has posed:
Mina Murray takes another sip of her coffee, when something else entirely distracts her. The tell-tale jingle of a cell-phone's stock ringtone goes off in her jacket pocket. She retrieves the thing, squints at it annoyedly, then pushes the screen after a moment. Looking a bit awkward, she holds it up to her ear. "Hello? Mm. Yes, yes, of course. I will be there presently." Looking at the phone again, she finger-stabs it to end the call as she rises. "I beg your pardon. Could you please hold these books for me?" Drawing a man's wallet out of her jacket, she drops a pinkish 50-Pound note on the table. Then she briskly heads towards the door.