Midnight Market

The Midnight Market is a meeting of the supernatural forces in a given area. Generally considered neutral territory, the Market is often held on either the night of the full moon or its opposite. The Market gets its name from when it exists; perpetually between the hours of 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. Suspended in the sliver of time at the end of one day and the beginning of the next, it exists separate from the mundane world; a pocket pushed into the space between the mundane and the mystical world.

Each community has its own midnight market though not every enclave can support a communal path to get there. Some Markets, such as those in New York and other larger cities, move the Market around so that no one area has undue influence over what happens there. In smaller areas, the market is held collectively and protected by the members of the community.

For those Enclaves who can't support a path to get to the Market, the normal means to gain entry involves a bridge, generally where one can get 'inside' a crossroads. This may be a tunnel under the road or an overpass. Opening the path varies from tradition to tradition, but generally it involves some natural portal like an archway. Through the inscription of symbols, or the tapping of stones or sometimes even the singing of a particular song, the Otherkin can walk through the arch and arrive at the Market.

Upon arrival to the market, the general flavor is colored by the magical 'bones' of the area.

Imagine walking through a stone arch in a park or under a bridge and in one step be in a medieval setting like the set of Robin Hood. The appearance of the Midnight Market is entirely dependent upon the 'essence' of mundane world where the Enclave is based. Places where the energies are old will tend to appear as though they are reflection of some medieval landscape. Other places where the energy may be mixed between the old and new, might have a patchwork of elements that vary from the medieval to the modern; London fog with a splash of Middle Eastern bazaar.

This is the Color of the Midnight Market.

People come to the Market to find whatever is needed. Small bits of dragon (thought to be extinct even within the Witch World), the odd fetish, and dried mandrake root is just scratching the surface. Where people get the most out of the Market is all of the networking that occurs within the rows of stalls. Needing a spell cast for you? Needing some help with a particularly pesky imp? Bodyguards, Servants, Seers and the like will often ply their talents for the highest bidder.

If its information that you need, the mystical coffee houses, along the same lines as a Turkish cafe, are where the news of the Otherworld are discussed and the pulse of the worlds are monitored. Several powerful Otherkin make themselves available to those who need to find out what is happening either above or below the magical radar.

Though the neutrality of the Midnight Market is observed by most, the need to occasionally enforce the peace requires that the grounds are patrolled. The leader of the peace-keepers is traditionally known as the 'Sheriff'; a definite connection to the ancestral European roots of the Market.

The Sheriff and those who serve him, the Wardens, are commonly identified by the wearing of a black cloak and a red hooded mantle. The authority of the Wardens or the Sheriff only stretches to the boundaries of the Market, but in some Enclaves their rank can extend to the mundane world as well. When walking in the mundane world these badges of office can manifest as a black trench coat and a red scarf or bandanna.