The Night Auction

[undergroundmods]

"" (Watch on YouTube)

The auction house
At exactly half past eleven on Saturday night, the auction house in Knightsbridge opens to its supernatural customers. Inside the elegant surroundings are a wide range of antique, unusual and plain odd items.

As midnight approaches, the seats gradually fill up. The auctioneer, a spindly pale-faced man in a waistcoat, calls for attention. Bidding opens at midnight and ends when all items have been sold or the sun comes up, whichever comes sooner. Let the bidding commence.

On sale tonight
Enchanted Necklace
A necklace which is enchanted to become a map of the city in which the owner is standing.
Starting price: £12

Monkey's Paw
The preserved paw of a monkey, able to grant every individual who touches it three wishes. Caution is advised.
Starting price: £20
Will be sold to Faolan

Runic Coin
A heavy silver coin for use in spell work, carved with runic patterns.
Starting price: £25

Skeleton of a Lady
The bones of a woman called Eliza, preserved by magic.
Starting price: £30

Antique Pagan Jewellery
A set of brooches, pendants, rings, and earrings made in honour of the ancient gods. In various conditions depending on the piece itself.
Starting price: £40

Vanity Mirror
An enchanted mirror that speaks, forever complimenting the person who looks into it.
Starting price: £50

Mogwai
This adorable creature is an extremely rare and unusual pet. The mogwai is nocturnal and should be kept away from water and sunlight.
Starting price: £50

Vampire Compass
A compass that always, without fail, points to the nearest vampire.
Starting price: £60

Bestiary of English and Welsh Faeries
A 17th century two volume bestiary of the lesser inhabitants of the Other Realm, with detailed and sometimes gruesome illustrations.
Starting price: £200
Will be sold to Gilbert Norrell

Antique Harp
Beautiful Victorian Stumpff harp with carved figures, in need of restoration work. Under enchantment.
Starting price: £500

Gleipnir
According to legend, a section of the chain that once held Fenris.
Starting price: £2,000

Notes
Bidding opens at midnight GMT+1 and continues until 07:29 the next morning! Note that while anyone can bid on any item, the items that are listed as being sold to certain characters are reserved for them to win the bid. The last highest bid in the thread at the point when the auction has closed will win the item.

When characters bid on the item, all they know is the description given by the auctioneer, as above. However, some of these items have other properties – both good and bad – that will not be apparent until after purchase. You'll find out what these are after the auction has concluded.

For more information, please refer to this OOC post.

Comments

PRE-AUCTION

[undergroundmods]

The auction house opens at 11.30pm. Use this thread for any pre-auction mingling!

[falsify]

Eames isn't foolish enough to show his face at this kind of thing; too many variables to consider. Especially with recent tensions. So that's why Alice is here. This kind of event is what she was made for, after all. Eames-- or Alice, rather, moves around with a casual grace that suggests she's used to, and very comfortable in this sort of event. In your average social situation she may be a little uncomfortable, but here she's almost downright excited.

(Eames gives these characters a lot of thought, you see.)

She'll be around, asking questions before the auction begins. "See anything you're interested in?" being the main one you'll get if the two of you don't happen to be well-acquainted. But she's always amenable to getting to know new people.

[kleptofaeniac]

Kenzi approaches Alice easily as her conversation partner drifts away, because by now she considers herself a friend of the girl. She looks as if she's decked herself out for this auction, and who could blame her? Everything was an excuse to dress up if you had the right attitude.

Kenzi knocks her shoulder against Alice's and smiles cordially down at her. Her heels made their usually average height a large difference.

"Hey, weird sister."

[thelittlemerman]

Finnick fits right in at this elegant affair. Dressed handsomely, he's downright jovial with the other guests, no matter what type of supernatural they seem to be. He's good at fitting in, and this is a great opportunity to meet and greet with others who take an interest in magical objects.

Armed with the result of a few wise investments, Finnick's looking to spend some money tonight if he can. If nothing else, it'll bolster the image he's trying to project - confident and somewhat lavish. It helps that a few of the pieces around here are to his taste.

He can be found carefully reading the descriptions for each item, his eyebrows drawn together in concentration.

[anniesgonemad]

"Finnick?" Carefully, given that Annie has her iron-and-silver bracelets on, she taps him on the shoulder. Annie also looks the part, her hair curled, in a turquoise dress that reaches the floor, but it's clear from the way her eyes shift back and fourth, how she seems to hover rather than stand, that she's out of place.

"Sorry, I thought I lost you." In the sense that somehow, in the crowd, they'd been separated. She'd kept calm, because he had to be in the room somewhere, and it wasn't too hard to find him. Still, it was enough to cause her concern. "See anything you like?"

[hurtfew]

Norrell is not normally one to attend these sort of things, but he had heard there would be a few books in this sale.

Where there are books, Gilbert Norrell will always show his face. He cannot allow anyone else to have them after all.

He keeps to himself, mostly, carefully perusing the things on sale and making a face every so often.

When it comes to the actual bidding, however, he will bid persistently and relentlessly -- even if it goes beyond the value of the book, he must have it.

[wolfmarked]

Skip has taken the time to look pretty posh for this. After all, it's a large, public auction. Here, the artist has to make her appearance, rather than the normal girl. Her oldest brother keeps his ear to the ground for things like this and made sure she knew about it. There's not a lot she really wants, no, but it never hurts to look.

She can't help but notice an old, faded-looking book with writing on its spine she can't read. It's certainly interesting, at least, and she admires it for a good few moments.

BIDDING

[undergroundmods]

To bid on an item, reply to this thread with the name of the item in the subject line, and your starting bid! Anyone can join in the bidding.

Bidding will open at midnight and close at 07:29.

ANTIQUE PAGAN JEWELLERY

[wolfmarked]

£50

[undergroundmods]

Congrats on acquiring this lovely set of antique pagan jewellery! Included in this set is a silver ring made in the shape of a snake. There is a charm upon it where, when it is worn and stroked in a certain way, it uncurls and slithers its way around the finger wearing it before settling back in the original position.

VANITY MIRROR

[falsify]

£50

[undergroundmods]

Congrats on acquiring this enchanted vanity mirror! Beware: The compliments of the mirror may or may not be true, and prolonged exposure to it will result in ever increasing vanity, often with a murderous result if left unchecked.

ENCHANTED NECKLACE

[specifiercity]

£12

[kleptofaeniac]

£20

GLEIPNIR

[falsify]

[Because fuck it, am I right?]

£2000

[undergroundmods]

Congrats on acquiring a section of Gleipnir's chain! Whether or not the chain is actually Gleipnir is debatable, but it is at least impossible to break without magic. The metal contains silver, and as such is highly toxic to fae. It is especially good at shackling fae, as any fae bound by it will be unable to use any magic that might break the chain.

Even holding the case that contains it will make Eames feel somewhat ill. Touching it directly is not advised.

VAMPIRE COMPASS

[specifiercity]

£60

[undergroundmods]

Congrats on acquiring this vampire-pointing compass! It does exactly what it says and nothing more.

RUNIC COIN

[acrookedchild]

£50

ANTIQUE HARP

[thelittlemerman]

£500

BESTIARY OF ENGLISH & WELSH FAIRIES

[hurtfew]

£200

[ Late, but, since he was marked to win and nobody else bid for it I assume this is fine...]

Remaining items

[brightwitch]

As per the auction rules, Sylvia finds herself taking home Eliza's skeleton and the mogwai. Quite what she'll do with them is anyone's guess.

MONKEY'S PAW

[reticence]

£20

[ooc: my apologies for putting this up late :x i wasn't certain whether i needed to put up a bidding thread on it considering he would win it (and he couldn't go bidding very far above this if there were to be counter-bids either...)]

POST-AUCTION

[undergroundmods]

Enjoy your purchases!

lancelot & faolan

[reticence]

Faolan had tried his best to acquire something interesting at the auction that might be a way of saying 'thank you' to the other man, although as he stares down at the only item he managed to be able to get his hands on, he's wondering how much of a mistake this is. A monkey's paw, it had said? He'd put his money down on it, as he had for the majority of the items that had stared low and in his budget, as he knew he wasn't going to end up with all of them. He just hadn't anticipated ending up with this one.

As he walks up the path to Lancelot's house, he tries to think of how he's going to present this to him. It isn't exactly the gesture of gratitude that he had intended it to be. But it's still a gesture, isn't it? He stares down at the thing in his hand. Maybe not after all...

He's just about to turn and leave, keep it for himself and try and find something better, when the dog starts barking. And he knows that he's got no other choice now, Lancelot will undoubtedly look out and see him fleeing the scene. So he has no choice. Steeling himself to the best of his ability, he knocks on the door.