This Sure Ain't the South (Open Thread)

Radiant Garden was getting a new visitor from the dark and he was going to be wildly out of place.

The portal that Dr. Facilier had been flung into by the loa opened just large enough to deposit the screaming man out before snapping closed. The ‘Shadow Man’ came down hard on the concrete, his body bouncing twice before sliding to a stop, his body bent upwards in a most grotesque manner. He groaned against the cold ground, inhaling sharply as his poor bone’s creaked and cracked from the sudden impact. Slowly he managed to get himself up on his knees, whimpering in pain the entire way up.

“We good, we good. Pain means we’re still breathin’,” he told himself softly, twisting his neck gently until he heard it pop. Then he let out a sharp sigh at the minuscule relief of pain. “Now to figure out what part a’ the city they dropped me off at.”

Wait, what was it they had said before? “No…” he repeated the dark spirit’s words quietly as he got himself to his feet, brushing off his suit jacket with both hands. “What’d they mean by that?” His eyes trailed up from the smooth stone ground before pausing, his brow knitting in confusion. Where in New Orleans was there such finely pressed cement like that? Everything was mostly cobblestone ‘round the city and muddy bog-land beyond that? Maybe there was some kind of new development somewhere he hadn’t heard about. His eyes continued their upheaval from the floor until they were looking at the horizon and they widened completely.

It was a tower, of sorts, by the look of it. It’s rustic, column-themed structure was only off put by the metal machinery that held up broken pieces of the once, supposedly grand building. Wooden beams splintered off of other areas where there had been reconstruction. It stood against the early morning or early evening sky, the mixture of pink and purple coalescing in the air. Rocky formations rose up around the perimeter of the tower itself, nearly barren of industry and populace. Dr. Facilier stumbled forward and planted his hands on the stone wall that surrounded the area he had arrived in. “What the…” he muttered out, his violet eyes scanning the tower and surrounding area once more. He blinked a few times, as if he was hoping to wake from a dream. But the world remained the same each time his eyelids pulled back open again.

“This sure ain’t N’Orleans.” He glanced up into the deep orchid sky. “Where’d ya’ll drop me off?!” he cried up to the empty air, seeking answers from the spirits beyond the veil. He waited a moment, his arms flung out to the sides, hoping for some kind of supernatural response. Then he felt it, a small flicker of something developing a presence in his mind.

Radiant… Garden, the deep, rumbling voice echoed in his mind, causing the voodoo bokor to cringe and wince at its intensity.

“Radiant Garden? I ain’t never heard of no ‘Radiant Garden’. Why’d you drop me here?”

Souls. He should have expected that. What had they wanted when he was in New Orleans? The loa sure weren’t changing their tune anytime soon, which meant his job was to still find souls for them to devour. Though apparently the possibility of him getting them from his old haunt was slim to none. He didn’t even know where Radiant Garden was on the map!

Though… with that, came opportunity. In New Orleans, he was well known – infamous even. Every person that lived in the city knew his tricks and knew he wasn’t to be trusted. He had relied on the scraps of visitors and tourists, deceiving poor trusting idiots out of money just to stay alive. Here at Radiant Garden, he was as unknown to the town as the town was to him. A clean slate; perhaps that was what his friends from the other side wanted. Stick him in a place of better opportunity to serve their own desires.

“Nothin’ wrong with a fresh start after all,” he said with a small smirk. He snapped his right arm out and brought forth his cane, the object materializing out of the air without any pomp. He twirled it between his fingers and brought it up, to tuck the shaft beneath his armpit. Then he reached up and adjusted his hat, twisting it gently so that it sat better on his head.

“Well Radiant Garden. Let’s see what ya’ll got to offer Dr. Facilier.” And with that, he headed down towards the grouping of buildings that made up Central Square.
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