Firecrackers could be heard exploding throughout the city of New Moscow as the great city celebrated its centennial anniversary. Musicians played loudly on the streets, and vendors from all over the known world sold exotic dishes from small wooden stalls with banners draped along the front. Windows, doors and any almost any other surface possible were hung with streamers that blew in the wind. Multi-coloured confetti fell from the sky, shot from canons atop the wall that surrounded the city, making the day seem all the more magical.

Even in the streets of the Odin District, the festive spirit seemed to have touched the usual poverty stricken zone. It was apparent that attempts had been made to clean up the streets, and due to the light manner of the day, violent crime dissipated. Windows were washed, and pots of flowers were set up in the streets, the doors of bars were wide open inviting anyone who wished to have a casual drink to enter.

All of New Moscow seemed to adopt this jovial spirit, as they walked throughout the city observing the various events. The Square was the centre of all festivities, various stages with different performances that lined the perimeter of The Square. It was difficult to pay attention to one performance at a time as they all were very entertaining as performers flipped or danced or sang. In the middle of The Square, where normally a great fountain resided, a grand stage had been set up around it. It was there that Governor Ivan would make his speech for the night.

The great gates of New Moscow were opened wide for anyone to enter the city. They were expecting a great number of people, considering that New Moscow was the financial centre of the world, as well as one of the world's largest cities. In fact, the governors of Nile and Astana, were going to visit the city as well as a number of other officials that were coming from the farther cities in place of their governors. It was to be a day that no one would ever forget.

Patrick walked, or rather, bumbled through the celebration. He wasn't accustomed to this sort of thing. He tried to stay away from groups as much as possible, and only braved the crowds when he saw something particularly interesting, such as a dancer. It was bad, yet good luck that he managed to enter this city while on his travels he thought.

"Parent wouldn't come to this sort of thing" he sighed as he muttered to himself, returning to the depressed state as when he found out she disappeared. She would only go into civilization on occassion, and he would stay at the outskirts until she came back. "But if she didn't disappear, I wouldn't have have gone here, so it works in the end!" he brighten like the other festive-goers, and went towards that large stage he saw a few dozen steps back.

((There, a medicore post in this empty topic, we're all around New Moscow right?))

In the distance of her office, Tanya could see some sort of light show going on. It looked like fireworks. She didn't like fireworks. There was something about them that made her shudder, the loud noise which reverberated into the body and the piercing bright lights as well as the acrid smell of gunpowder, all nauseated her.
She glanced at her clock and sighed with relief that her time of labour was up. It was terribly boring having to investigate petty thefts, even if it did bring in good income. Packing her things and exiting the building, a sweet smell of food tickled her nostrils. She started to salivate as she realised what it was; barbecued sweet meats*, her favourite treat. She realised that despite the fireworks, this would be one of the rare times that she would be able to purchase this exotic snack and so into the moonlight she walked, her heels making an oddly loud "tap, tap, tap" against the foot path.

As she reached the The Square, confetti rose around her feet and a festive cheer greeted her. On a stage to her left exotic dancers tapped their feet and swished their arms in an effort to mimic a fish and the audience watched, trance-like and completely absorbed. Tanya spotted the stall selling her favourite snack and waited in line impatiently. Looking around she spotted some people she knew, Jake from the firm she worked as was chatting happily to what she presumed to be his girlfriend. Her eyes sparkled with delight, probably from a joke Jake had told. A shiver ran down Tanya's spine as she recalled that Jake had been her first crush; the crush that had rejected her, and here she was, looking jealously onward and trying to find out what this woman had that she didn't. She felt alone, so very alone and so very angry that Jake had rejected her for that slut so many years ago!

"Hey sweet-cheeks, want some lovin' tonight". It was more a statement than a question, and Jake was horrified when he turned to see who had spoken it. "Come on, you don't want this f***** to rule your life forever do you?"
"T-tanya, what do you think your doing!?" cried Jake in protest. He tried to pull her away, but she was surprisingly strong and knocked him aside.
"What the f*** you on 'bout baldy! She clearly wants me so get your sorry a** outta 'ere and go f*** some slut at Odin". Jake looked back at his colleague aghast, she had never spoken this way, to anyone. "Oh ho ho! Don't-chu look at me like dat boy, I saw you in dat seedy little whore house f*** the s*** outta that woman!"
With a quick knee to Jake's stomach, Truong walked off, dragging Jake's protesting girlfriend toward Kremlin Ruins.

*I do apologise that I don't know what the actual names of these are called. They originate in Hong Kong or Singapore and they're little flat discs/squares of ground up pork. They're glazed in honey or something and are quite nice.

((I hope I've done this right...))

OOC: Absolutely fine Sakura ^.^, and yup we're in and around the City of New Moscow for now.

Trisha walked through the crowds observing the various performers on the stages. There were so many people in The Square, more than she had ever seen in her life. To imagine they had come from such far places as Rica or even Manda was remarkable. She had never been one to have the lust for travel, especially after her older half-brother had left her and their father to journey throughout the world. His leaving had not been on good terms, so a stigma of sorts seemed to be attached to the notion of travelling for herself, besides she could never leave her father all alone in their flat.

Unlike most Mentals, she was not shy nor afraid of using her abilities and she casually opened herself up slightly to the various emotions. It was a habit she had to feel what everyone else was feeling around her. All these strangers made the prospect even more tempting as she felt joy, happiness, love, jealousy, a bit of anger, regret, pride, gratitude and a plethora of other emotions she couldn't exactly discern from others. It was like swimming through a pool of water except the water was so much more than a simple fluid, but the feelings of others.

She closed her senses off from the flow of emotions as she smelled something that seemed very delicious. Following her nose, she ended up at a Mandese stall selling a meat she had never seen before. Never one to shy away from trying something new, she took out her purse and bought two of the meats that caused her stomach to grumble of want. She bit into the first and was pleased with the taste. It was better than it smelled! The mixture of succulent meat with sweet honey glazed on it was to die for. That was when she felt the sharp twang of emotion. As an empath, even when she shut herself off from emotions around her, any sudden change or release of emotion was picked up by her. What she was feeling now was fear. Intuitively, Trisha looked to her right and watched as a woman brusquely dragged another woman away from the Square.

Honestly Trisha wasn't sure what to do, was it best for her in such situations to entangle herself in other people's business> Living in the Odin District, she had learned that sometimes it's best not to inquire too much or sniff around where you weren't invited. Ultimately she decided to let it slide, or at least for now, she would enjoy the rest of the shows and hopefully nothing would happen to the woman. It's not like she would be raped by another woman. She took another bite of the sweet meat, that seemed to not be as sweet as it was before, and turned her attention to one of the dancing performances.

Can I get some kind of general setting for this so I know what I might be getting into?

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=29970&start=0 ^.^

For days, the city of New Moscow had been little more than a distant speck on the horizon. Now that Elias had finally arrived, the city seemed almost larger than life. People bustled about, vendors hawked their wares, and further off, travelling performers were giving lively performances for the enjoyment of all who were present. Elias, however, did not find crowded places to be very enjoyable. There were too many thoughts running around, and most of them ended up in his overly sensitive telepathic brain. It was stressful, to say the least, and it was one of the many reasons that the old man preferred the wilderness over any city. Places like this were good places to find mentals, however, which was why he endured them. Thankfully, the smell of many days travelling kept people from pressing too closely.

His first thought upon entering the city was to replenish his water supply, which was running on empty. He made his way to the public fountain and reached into his satchel, pulling out his canteen. Dipping it into the water, he brought it to his lips and drank a long, hearty drought of the life-sustaining liquid. Filling the vessel again and returning it to his satchel, Elias’ thoughts turned to food. He hadn’t been able to catch anything much on the day before his arrival, and he was hungry. He spotted a stand that advertised “The best smoked meats of New Moscow” and headed towards it. The vendor was engrossed in conversation with his neighbor, a thin man selling exotic fruits. Despite repeated attempts to catch his attention, the larger man at the meat stand either did not hear him or was downright ignoring him. Elias suspected the latter, but the former was just as likely due to the noise of the crowds that cheered on a nearby group of acrobats. The aged man sighed, then transmitted a thought to the vendor, making sure it would sound nice and clearly above the conversation he was having. “Excuse me, how much for this salmon?” The man jolted upright, turning around on the spot. He gazed suspiciously at Elias, then at the salmon, eventually looking back up at the Spaniard. “Eight bronze*,” he said hesitantly. Elias reached into his satchel, took out six little brown coins*, and put them on the stand. “This enough?” The vendor nodded his head, obviously anxious to get rid of the odd man standing in front of him. “Yeah, sure.” He packaged the meat with some brown paper and handed it to Elias, who smiled and thanked him. The old traveller turned and headed back to the fountain, sitting down to enjoy his meal.


*For greater accuracy, what kind of currency is used in this game?

**I realized that I failed to include any money in Elias’ inventory. Can this little use of retroactive continuity be forgiven?

i hate introductions so you guys go on ahead
no really dont worry i wont flake!
really!

Fireworks flew through the air in The Square that even Arthur saw light up the sky all the way in the Odin District. The mood around the district felt a lot lighter than what it normally would be. This gave Arthur a sense of relief and a good time to relax. "Maybe I should check out what's going on in the square," Arthur thought to himself, although it's been so long since he's been back. Still uneasy about heading into such a large crowd, Arthur cloaked his mind using his mental powers.

When midway through The Liberty district, Arthur bumped into a woman being dragged by what seemed against her will by another woman. Slightly concerned, he tried to get closer to gather some information. All he heard was the woman dragging the other was swearing at the other quite violently about "man stealing" and things of the such.

"Well this isn't really my problem, so I won't get involved." Arthur thought to himself as he continued to walk to the Square.

It wasn't to hard to spot the womaniser known as Jake. Frank's information was right on the money as usual. After being somewhat violently scolded or otherwise by another woman, probably a lover's quarrel, he stepped up behind the poor man.

"So you like Odin's huh?" he asked as he placed his hand on Jake's shoulder, "Nice place but the whores are terrible. I could introduce you to a better place for v***** activity."

Jake laughed nervously as he could just about guess why one of the best information brokers in New Moscow was soliciting his attention. As they both walked to a corner of the square where they could still see the main stage but remain mostly out of sight, Jake looked around nervously. Something was definitely up, Frank thought. Something big.

"Alright Jake, spill it, I know you handle some seedy back room deals with the major players," Frank said.

"You know this kinda stuff gets people killed-"

Frank cut him off.

"No, you listen to me! No one is going to kill you since you are one of my people. Nobody messes with one of my people and gets away with it without a nasty rumour floating around. I already know the snipers prowling the roof tops tonight but I still don't know why they're there except for one thing, they're not out there for some pussy like you."

That wordplay almost had Frank smiling if only he wasn't trying to do his job. There was still time before the Mayor's speech and the representatives of the other cities to show themselves to the public but as he knew, the snipers on the roof top were tight lipped. It would be rude to ask them anyway as they considered themselves professionals. The only way was to get information from the bit players. Jake hadn't a clue about Frank's mental ability but he no doubt had been grilled by whatever passed for the law around here already so it could take a while before Frank had the answers he needed. He hated time constraints.

Pitre casually walked through the crowded streets, his gun slung around his shoulder and the scent of flesh disturbing nearby passerby. He normally didn't enter a major area, instead choosing to remain in the forests or wastelands, but the thickness of the crowd gave him an advantage in terms of sneaking through without causing too much ruckus.

In reality, he used this chance to pass through to another forest. He was in constant migration, a man with seemingly no ulterior goals, just left to wander the land endlessly. He lost often lost himself and his mind seemed to go off and sleep as he walked in a trance-like state.

Then the smell of meat struck him. Fresh flesh, something he desired for a long time, suddenly drifted into his mind. He inched forward, seeking out the food as if it were his prey. The food in question was located at a stand, fresh huts of meat hanging from the hastily constructed rafters.

Pitre possessed no money, instead planning on robbing the dealer with his fully armed presence alone.

Stomping away and dragging the hysterically screaming woman, Truong bumped into a man. He looked like he would be in the army. The man looked back slightly apologetically and went on his way.

"There someting* familiar 'bout him..." he muttered hoarsely.

Truong dropped the sobbing woman where she lay and skulked after the man. The man's head bobbed up every so often in the crowd, the black and white bandanna flashing in Truong's eyes. Truong was losing the man, he knew he had to walk quicker. With a start, Truong stumbled over some seating, much too absorbed in finding the man than to watch where he was going.

Smoothing the blazer and skirt down, Tanya brushed her now messy hair out of her eyes. People around her just stared. No one offered her a hand to get up, no one asked if she was okay. She got up and walked clumsily away from the scene. Spotting her favourite snack stand, Tanya went to line up again. She spotted Jack, and quickly turned around while undoing her bun. She had heard from other colleagues that she was unrecognisable from the back if she changed her hair; they were much too familiar with her hair in a bun, and while she was aghast at the remark back then, she didn't mind it so much that it had come in handy. Keeping her face firmly in the direction of the stall, she noticed a glistening in the forest behind it. She blinked and it disappeared, but she still thought that there were a pair of eyes staring at something behind her.

*lol fail attempt at making him sound more "asian"

From his back alley, where he lived for most of his current live, Kain stepped out onto the cleaner streets of the Odin District. Fireworks filled the sky as he looked up, colours dancing through his vision. For once in his life, he felt happy on both the inside and the outside. Normally, he didn't see the point of most celebrations, but an anniversary of New Moscow, the place where he grew up, was a decent point for celebration. He decided, after a moment of thought, to walk through the streets, though they were crowded with idle party enthusiasts and dancers, along with a manner of drinkers.

OOC: It's fine, I assume that most of the "sane" players have some sort of money in their pockets.

Upon seeing Pitre approach his stall the salesman smiled pleasantly, as he customarily did to entice them closer to buy his food. The entire festival was a gold mine, he would be going home with a very large sack of money. Hopefully this time that good for nothing son of his wouldn't spend it all on gambling, sometimes he was tempted simply throw his son out of the house, but alas the boy was a charmer. His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden pungent aroma, he almost threw, but gulped shallowly as the bile returned to his stomach. Some of his customers also took note of the sudden smell, and moved away from his stall. The one man he had spotted earlier remained. He wondered how this person could stand this feral scent of rotting flesh and wilderness, then it dawned upon the salesman that the very man who stood before him was in fact the source of the dour odor.

"How-" he gagged "How may I help you?" asked the salesman to the threatening looking man, while holding his nose.

Kain noticed the stench, which made him fumble in his pocket for anything that would filter it. However, he did not find such an item, but as he pulled put his hand, his silver coins fell to the floor, leaving Kain shocked at they hit the floor.

"Damn," Kain muttered under his breath. "I've just dropped half my savings, which is rolling away!" Immediatley realising the situation, he chased after his dropped money, which was rolling away from his reach. Kain tripped, and went crashing to the ground.