Fox Curio's Floating Bookshop game 2024-07-06

Bookseller

Coins: 175 Name: Tun Age: wise Species: Capybara How did you come by the bookshop? It was given to me by a mysterious person. Who were you before? You were a traveller, wandering the land doing odd jobs and relying on the kindness of strangers for a place to rest. Now you desire a place you can call your own and where you can settle down for a year or two. What are books to you? Your friends since childhood, telling you stories and taking you away on adventures. During which moon were you born? Brimming moon – Those born under a Brimming moon are fast-moving, adaptable. They get caught up with ideas and swept away by others and obsessions. They are fidgety and dislike sitting still. They make excellent water guides, called ❦riverstriders. 2nd day Three items I always have:

• A silver monocle with a long chain
• A well-loved knitted shawl that always keeps you warm
• Odd socks of varying colors, patterns, and lengths

Bookshop

Fox Curio's Floating Bookshop 2024-07-06 bookshop layout.excalidraw

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Books: 429 Quirks:

• In strong winds, a mournful singing can be heard. Possibly the wind going through the windows … or …?
• The front door jams in cold weather. Personal items in the shop:
• A large knitted rug with swirling, hypnotic shapes
• A couple of blue paper lanterns that float in the air
• A large illustrated map of the land Items left by the previous owner:
• A plant with large, round green leaves. It seems to move slowly when you are not looking directly at it.
• A pen that writes notes to you when you leave the room.
• A rickety wooden chair in the corner with maroon cushions. It is very comfortable if a little wobbly.

Customers

Gurg

Card: Ace of Diamonds Age: Unknown Adult Gender: male Species: Frog Hometown: Kiawake Occupation: Unknown Observations: Drawing or a description: Partner suffers from depression ❤️♡♡♡♡♡

Twilight

Card: Jack of Spades Age: Unknown Adult Gender: male Species: Bear Hometown: Kiawake Observations: Drawing or a description: Believes in Astrology ❤️♡♡♡♡♡

Benji

Card: Four of Hearts Age: Unknown Child Gender: female Species: Stoat Hometown: Kiawake Observations: Drawing or a description: Young and very curious. ❤️♡♡♡♡♡

Journal

Bloom 1

I’m moored in Kiawake for the next 5 days at least, until the thaw. When I arrived, Gason the postowl greeted me. I asked him for an ideal location to set up shop, and he made a suggestion that brought me to this spot. It’s still chilly, so I made some hot tea and drank it from the chair next to my bed.

The shop is so full and cozy now! It was a pain getting my things into it. All that was left from the previous owner was a plant that seems to move when I’m not looking, a strange pen, and this rickety chair with maroon cushions that’s not much to look at but sure is cozy to sit in. I’m so excited to open for my first day of operation! I’ve loved books since I was just a pup. The thought I’ll get to share that with folks up and down the river is thrilling. It’s an adventure of sharing adventures, and I’m up to the task.

It’s warm today with a light breeze. Maybe this will speed up the thaw. I’ll open up the shop, at least for a few hours. It’s a great way to kick off my first day.

I open the shop, and it’s slow-going to start. A frog comes in, looking forlorn. I ask if I can help him find something. He explains that he and his partner will both miss Rinse today because his partner has fallen into a depression. Rinse! I nearly forgot about it! I’ll return to that later though.

I introduce myself, and the frog introduces himself as Gurg. Gurg asks if I have any books that might help his friend. I dig through the shelves and find my copy of The Only Way Out Is Through which helped me a great deal when I was depressed. Gurg likes the idea. He says the advice he’s gotten from most of the residents has been “get over it” which hasn’t been especially helpful. This book’s approach of dealing with depression by actually being in it is refreshing.

He decides to take it. I wish him luck, and he leaves the store. I really do hope it helps his partner. Now, I’ve gotta close up shop and get to Rinse!

Just about this time, I hear a crash! A tugball has just liberated all of the glass from one of my windows. I look out and just see a group of kids running away from the shop. Seems their game got out of hand, and now I need to replace it. For now, I’ll cover it with a sheet and join the festivities.

Rinse is an interesting holiday. Most holidays are about pleasure-seeking, but a big part of the Rinse celebration involves pain: the pain of swimming in the still frozen water of the river. I had convinced myself to skip that part and just enjoy the warm drinks at the end, but seeing everyone else coming out of the water, obviously frigid but with an aura of something else. Relief? Clarity? Enlightenment? Whatever it is, in this moment, I think I want a piece of it for myself, so I think I’ll swim too.

Rinse is about a fresh start, and that’s particularly appropriate for me with the new bookshop. I can also rinse off the funk of the tugball incident. Ugh. It’s discouraging, but I’m not going to let it get me down. Maybe rinse will help. At the very least, I’ll be distracted by the freezing cold water. 😅

I find a hole in the ice. It’s surrounded by others encouraging the divers. Some have already had their turn, and others are simply there to observe and encourage. I look for a few seconds. I feel the cold radiating from the ice. I realize that thinking about this won’t make it any easier… so I dive in.

The cold hits me like a brick wall. I feel like I’m dying. Then, I realize I’m not, and I retreat into my thoughts: euphoria over having just served my first customer, disgust over my broken window, fear over how this will play out, wonder about the identity of my benefactor who left me the shop… I’m leaving all these things behind in this water. Well, the bad ones anyway.

I swim up to the surface and several of the bystanders grab my arms and pull me out. They dry me with towels, sit me down next to the town fire, and hand me a warm tea. This is my second tea of the day, but this one is so much better than the first. I get a lot of attention being the only unfamiliar face. People ask me how my swim was, what I washed away, and what I’m doing in town. It’s a warm and friendly welcome, and it gives me a chance to tell people about my shop. They seem very excited to visit!

I ask about a glassmith, and Gason the postowl happens to overhear. He says he will get word to the glassmith for me. That’s a relief. Even if I can’t do anything myself, I have at least gotten a start on fixing the problem.

I finish up my tea and head back to the shop. Clouds have started to thicken and, as I’m on my way, it begins to hail! Luckily, the storm isn’t intense, but it looks like I won’t be opening the shop back up.

Customers: 11 Earnings: 75 coins Books sold: 71

Bloom 2

Today will be my first day of full operation! I start by cleaning up some small pieces of hail that came in through the broken window. The glassmith won’t be here until tomorrow, so I’ll have to deal with that for today.

Just as I’m about to open a shop for the day, another tugball comes through the very same window. I look out and see the same kids. This has to stop, so I put off opening and decide to chase them down.

I’m an old guy, so I’m not the sprinter I once was, but I do know the fable of the tortoise and the hare. I keep a steady pace as the kids, now noticing they’ve being chased, run as fast as they can. It’s not long before that catches up to them, and so do I. The kids are pretty young, so it should be easy enough to get this stopped.

I tell them they can’t play near my shop because it’s very expensive to replace the windows. If they do, I will need to talk to their parents and charge them for the repairs. This elicits several wide-eyed responses from the kids who promise not to play near the shop anymore. We’ll see if it holds, but I’m satisfied for now.

When I return to the shop, there’s a bear peeking in to see why the door won’t open. I approach them from behind, say “hello,” and welcome them to the shop as I unlock the door. They return my greeting, introduce themselves as Twilight, and ask if I have any books on astrology. I don’t buy into the stuff myself being a skeptic, but I do have a small collection of books that I show them to.

They decide to buy one, and, while cashing out, proceed to give me an earful about the practice of astrology. They ask for my sign — which I don’t even know — and they helpful inform me what it is based on my birthday. This segues into a fortune-telling that I didn’t ask for but will gladly listen to because… why not?

They tell me that my struggles are about to lead to success, which I’d love to believe since I’ve now left my old life behind to focus solely on the bookshop. They tell me one of my burdens will soon be lifted. I assume this will happen tomorrow when the glassmith arrives to make the repair. They also tell me my past goals need to be re-examined. This telling falls right into all of my prejudices about fortune-telling: the “fortunes” are so broad as to apply to everyone all the time.

I do ask if he has any thoughts whether the kids will stop playing tugball near the shop. He replies, “huh?” a bit confused. I point to my broken window, the curtain used to cover it flapping in the slight breeze and see a look of understanding grow onto his face. He doesn’t see anything about that. He takes his leave.

While I was getting my reading, a young stoat came into the store and started browsing around. After Twilight left, I went to find her to see if I could help her.

“Hello! Can I help you find something?”

“I’m Benji!”

“Welcome to the shop Benji!” Benji smiles a big smile that travels from her mouth up to her eyes. “What are you looking for?”

“Do you know why my family eats birds? I asked my mom, and she didn’t really answer. It’s just that, I have some friends who are birds and I wonder why we eat other kinds of birds.”

“Hmm, that’s a good question. I’m not sure, but we can probably find out in a book!”

“Do you know why the river water stops during Brisk?”

I get a sense Benji isn’t fully committed to answering any particular question, but I still look for a book that would shed some light on the Stoat diet. I find one and show it to her.

Benji looks at me and says, “I don’t have any money.”

We site down in the chairs for a bit, and I try to help her find the answer she’s looking for.

“So, see? It says here that you stoats need lots of energy and protein, and the birds provide a good source of that. You’re also well-adapted to catch them.”

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense.”

Another customer comes in. I tell Benji that I need to check on the customer, but that she’s welcome to hang around if she wants and read more of the book. She takes me up on that and sits in the leather chair, kicking her feet as she thumbs through the book, looking at pictures more than doing any reading.

Weather: Warm, with a light breeze. Pollen drifts in the air. Warm w/o breeze in the evening. Customer forecast: Busy. (6)

Customers:

• Jack of Spades- An astrologer. They tell you about the stars’ movements and their fortunes. They tell you about your fortune, too. They are a bear, owl, rat, snake, frog or hare. When you get to know them, they give you specific advice based on the stars.
• Four of Hearts- A young animal. They ask you a curious question unrelated to books. They are a frog, stoat, vole, bear or fox. When you get to know them, they share their favourite book with you.
• Eight of Hearts- An important figure. They wear clothes of splendour and be either the harbourmaster, a captain, the mayor of the town or a political figure. They are haughty or humble. They are a fox, badger, swan, eagle or, otter. When you get to know them, they tell you about their fears.
• Ace of Spades- A chatty animal. They talk incessantly about the weather, their plans for the day, their opinions about townsfolk or their family drama. They are a magpie, cat, frog, lizard, mouse, shrew or goose. When you get to know them, they tell you juicy secrets about other customers.
• Four of Diamonds- An oblivious animal. They seem unaware of their tail and it constantly bumps shelves, you and other customers. They are a raccoon, skunk, possum, squirrel or anteater. They are friendly but oblivious. When you get to know them, they tell you about their work helping others.
• Five of Hearts- A traveller. Dressed in strange clothes, they tell you marvellous stories of far lands. They are a turtle, fox, mouse, rat, bird, beetle or snake. When you get to know them, they share sneaky adventures they’ve had and show you trinkets.

Event: A game of tugball gets out of hand and a stray ball smashes through a window. You’ll need a ❦glassmith to fix it. While you wait, you’ll need to cover the window to stop drafts and insects from coming in. (Again?)