freeformRPG

The problem of holding a time traveller's convention is that you only technically need to hold one.

That is, until you have one person continually revisitting and filling up the place themselves.

This isn't the type of problem that "beginner" time traveller's worry about, of course. Doc Brown only really began tinkering with his time machines, he's still a bit away from managing the finesse of this type of temporal manipulation.

But for those better grounded in time travel...the Doctor Who's, the Doctor Fate's, the Time Lords, the sociable Qs, the ones who surf the time stream without a care for where the current takes them...the Celestial Time Traveler's Convention was created.

No one really remembers exactly how the CTTC was created. You could probably piece it together if you found the right people, but then you'd have to assume that they remembered all of the pertinent little details. Some even think that this place was created in five different ways, thus ensuring that the convention, or at least a version of it, will always exist even if the rest of the Universe's timeline is horribly altered.

Some think that the CTTC will exist even after the rest of the Multiverse collapses, but those people are probably just deluding themselves.

It is crucial to remember that the timeline was artificially engineered to function in a specific way and is safeguarded by any number of super scientific and mystical means. You can't change the past of the CTTC simply because there is no past to alter; only the "present" is a valid term at the CTTC. Travelling to the CTTC, if you can figure out how, is only allowed by the CTTC's own "sentient sense of temporal preservation," and you will only be allowed entrance at the proper "node." You may show up before your most recent visit, or after your next one, but know that you may never show up while you are already there (we think. It's never been *succesfully* done, but it's not been mathematically proven to be impossible.)

Having said all that, welcome to the Convention! We have a good number of Workshops just about to start, a Trade Floor for businesses in the Temporal Dynamics industry to hawk their wares, and party rooms, dance halls, and other places where you can just hang out and relax (or calmly collect your thoughts if you've just narrowly escaped some horrible time-related disaster.) Enjoy!

*The trade floor has much the look of any convention, and more specifically, a geek convention. As the convention centers around time travel, this should not be surprising.

As such, the floor seems to be divided into two sections. The back section is full of independent resellers; those who are fascinated by time travel and have managed to stumble here by various means, and can't seem to leave at the moment -- and thus decide to pick up a bit of a profit in the meantime. They are the fanboys of the time travel community. They sell t-shirts, figurines, and certain odd gadgets they've picked up who-knows-where, especially merchandise you would expect to find in the front section of the floor but can't (which will be explained in a moment). All of the booths' products overlap with those of their competitors, and really, if you look at a sampling of three booths or so, you've seen all there is to buy here. But it's fun watching the price wars and haggling, and even more fun to participate in such.

The front section, on the other hand, is full of overlarge booths from overlarge corporations. These booths are extremely flashy, constantly trying to outdo each other in decor, strobe lights, music, and free giveaways. You can't actually buy any of the products that these companies sell, for some strange reason, and furthermore the free giveaways only rarely are anything even somewhat related to the products they sell.

In fact, the entire front half of the trade floor is a massive PR extravaganza, and is not intended to have any substance at all.

However, due to the kinds of things these corporations are known for, the nature of the constant one-upmanship is rather... dangerous, to say the least. Every booth involves at least one major space-time disturbance, and even though they seem to be kept somewhat in check, if one were to really stop and think about the hazards involved, they would likely leave the convention as soon as possible.

But since the PR people are there to put a great spin on it and keep everyone hyped up, no one seems to really ask questions, and instead simply stare at the booths in awe.*

*Affy Person (A younger version than the one running the restaurant in downtown Celandine) wanders the trade floor, idly wondering how he'll be getting back to the donut stall*

On the one hand, I think my Temporal Rift Creator was a success....on the other hand, I need to get back to Joanna's ASAP to figure out just what went wrong...I wonder why the other me didn't tell me about this place before kicking me in? Ah, well...

*Approaching a table*

Sir, do you know where I might be able to find some black hole generators? Singularity Starters? Horizon Event Organizers?

*The man behind the booth frowns nervously before gesturing at a Flux Capacitor*

Ah, no thanks. I was able to put one of those together from the stuff in my pockets. Thanks anyway, though, I'll go try one of the magic tables instead.

*After a similar conversation at a magic table, yet another science table, yet another magic table, and an alchemy table, Affy grumbles a bit about the place feeling more like an intellectuals refugee camp than an actual convention before picking up a pamphlet to see what workshops are being offered*

Hmmm...."The Voyage Home: When Amateurs Misplace Themselves Horribly." That could work!

*A massive dimensional rift opens and Spishack wanders onto the trade floor, a few random castaways from within the interdimensional abyss also staggering in before the rift closes.*

*Someone hands him a pamphlet and he drifts around a bit, reading.*

*When he finally looks up, he finds himself in front of a corporate booth that isn't very flashy at all, but seems to attract quite a lot of people anyway. Suspended by a very barebones-looking steel frame is a massive, silver-grey opaque bubble. An elegant staircase leads up to the bubble, and a couple of frenzied PR representatives are standing at the base of this, using loud, upbeat techno music and flashy, shiny lights to attract people. Well, that and their own loud, upbeat selves, anyhow.*

*The PR people suddenly notice Spishack, and have a frenzied discussion. One of them picks up a walkie-talkie and yells excitedly at it, occasionally pointing at Spishack as if the person she's talking to can see.*

*Five seconds later, a small swarm comes down the staircase and directly at Spishack, who is quite startled, as he was looking at another booth entirely. The swarm seems to consist of several more bubbly, happy PR people, a couple of Red-Shirted Employees, and a few oversized cockroach-creatures.*

*The cockroaches begin to make strange clicking sounds at Spishack, and his surprise turns to recognition and he smiles as he replies in the same speech. The PR people, having no other way to get rid of their excess energies, dance a bit to the music emanating from the booth, occasionally cheering for no apparent reason, and the Red-Shirted Employees look around vaguely, their hands in their pockets, apparently waiting for their next task to come along.*

*One of those redshirts is tapped on the shoulder by Affy Person, who opens up his pamphlet*

Excuse me, but could you help me find the "The Voyage Home" worksop?

...and what's the commotion at this area for? Why's everyone thronging around that guy?

*The redshirt looks somewhat annoyed.*

[Ted] Eh, he's just Spishack, our boss. *shrugs* I don't know where the workshops are, I haven't been to any. *turns to another redshirt* Hey, Bill! Where're the workshops at?

[Bill] Um, I think they were on the west side of the building... or was it the northeast side? Um... er...

*Bill pulls out a map and the two redshirts study it, arguing over where the workshops are. As they argue, they unfold more and more sections of the map, which soon approaches the size of your average billboard, but curiously never seems to grow any thinner. From behind the map, the argument gets louder and louder, and eventually one of the shiny happy PR people comes to investigate -- bouncing along with the usual hyper, overcaffienated joviality their kind exhibits.*

[Joy] Hi there! My name is Joy! I'm from Spishack, Incorporated. *She briefly seems to analyze the Affy Person.* You seem like you may be looking for something. I suggest you try up in our booth -- we're just about to start a demo! If you're looking for anything at all, I'm certain you can find it there!

Oh, is that so? Well, I am a person who is in need of a way to find things, that's for sure....oh, sure, why not? I'll watch the demo.

*Most of the crowd filters up into the bubble now. The bubble must be much larger than it appears from the ground, because the members of the crowd seem to shrink immensely before reaching it. The bouncy bubbly shiny people gesture to Affy to join them, before heading up the staircase themselves.*

*Affy cautiously follows*

A lot of the ladies here have read it. I have not but I have owned it for at least a year now. With the movie coming out, I may read it real soon.