Where Stardust Gathers
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Thick plumes of smoke rose into the air as the sun settled behind the trees dotting the horizon, and the fires began to take hold. The day had slowly crept into the evening, and the fun had just begun. There were kids running through groups of people, their faces painted in bright, uneven colors, their hands full of treats and sugary confections that melted faster than they could eat them. Behind them ran parents, tired in the bones but smiling anyway, caught somewhere between obligation and indulgence. Their backs carried the remnants of the day before, folding chairs, worn towels to keep them off the grass, and half-empty snacks that had long since gone stale.
Beside them were vendors peddling their wares, their voices rising and falling like practiced songs, and games for families to play to try to win prizes, all ablaze with flashing bulbs that flickered in frantic, almost desperate patterns. The air was thick with heat, sugar, and smoke, laughter cutting through it all in bursts.
Among the various attractions, off to the side just enough to be overlooked, was a fabric-laid hut. It did not flash, it did not call out, it simply existed in quiet defiance of everything around it. Rich purple velvet draped over its frame, impossibly clean, untouched by the dust and chaos that clung to everything else. Where the rest of the carnival begged for attention, the tent seemed to swallow it, the light around it dimming slightly as though it were being pulled inward rather than cast away.
The only discerning thing about it was a single wooden sign, rough-cut and hanging just slightly crooked, with the word "Fortune" scratched into it in both Aurebesh and Paecian. A nod to those who knew, and a call to those who didn't. When passersby got closer, the air began to shift. The smell came first, natural woods and crushed herbs, something faintly sweet layered beneath it all. Honey, oils, something warm that didn't belong to the fires outside. And if they looked in, they would catch a glimpse of Juniper Le Fey seated at the table.
By that point, most were far too curious to turn away. They didn't so much decide to enter as they found themselves stepping forward without remembering when they made the choice, drawn in by something quiet and persistent. They were captured into her orbit, and they wouldn't leave until she was ready for them to.
Seated at the table, Juniper was adorned with a hooded robe that swallowed her form, the fabric falling in heavy folds that drank what little light remained. Only her high cheekbones and mauve-painted lips stood to greet them at first, the rest of her obscured, withheld. She was surrounded by trinkets, some noticeable baubles like gemstones and gold catching stray light, others much older, much darker in nature. Small fetishes carved from bone, their surfaces worn smooth by time, jars filled with questionable oddities that floated or settled in ways that suggested they should not exist at all. It all added to the mystique of Le Fey, layering the space with something that felt curated rather than cluttered.
Only by the time the mark sat down would she move. Her gaze lifted slowly, deliberately, as though she had known they would arrive long before they ever stepped inside. Her focused, dark eyes met their gaze with a knowing that felt like it stretched far beyond the moment, something ancient sitting just behind them.
"Welcome," she said, her voice smooth and low, threading easily through the quiet. "For a small price, and an offering, I can show you your past, and your future." As she finished, a deck of cards appeared on the table between them, not placed, not drawn, simply there. The backs were adorned with artwork that looked both modern and ancient at the same time, bright pinks and sharp lines layered over symbols that seemed to shift the longer one looked at them. The trim of the cards reflected the little light that existed in the tent, shimmering back hues of orange.
The air of the tent shifted with it, becoming cooler, the faint breeze that followed them inside dying without warning. Even the sounds and smells of the outside began to fade, dulled until they felt distant, like something remembered rather than something real. The space tightened, or at least it felt like it did, as though the world beyond the velvet walls had quietly stepped back.
"You will only see what you wish to see, unless you wish to see what you shouldn't." A devilish curl found its way to her lips, something playful slipping beneath the surface of something far less kind.
She pushed the deck forward, the motion slow, deliberate. If they chose to see their future, or their past, then they would cut the deck. Only then would Juniper explain the price.
OOC: Wanted to do a fun fortune telling scene with someone. Juniper Le Fey is a half Kiffar and has psychometry and is trying to use it in controlled situations.
