Notwithstanding the counsel of various acquaintances, he had ventured into the dark side of Eos: the crumbling vestige that was Fersen.

He walked around and looked about, without a direction in mind, even as he tried to keep track the direction he came from, the direction of the airship station. What he saw, what he heard, and perhaps most importantly, considering his unique senses, what he felt, disturbed him more than he thought he would, etching a frown into his normally mild face.

There were beggars upon the streets, thieves and ne'er do wells--- he could sense the hunger, the desperation, the malice lurking within them, and it troubled him that so much of these blights could exist, that they were allowed to fester in the hearts of men.

The buildings, if you could even call them that, were much like the populace, crumbling and decaying, patched up and put together, more often than not in shambles. It pained him, too, that he could not think of anything to help--- for all his insights he only had so much strength and so much resources.

It was a stark contrast from any of the other districts that he'd been able to visit; Rosa with its grandeur, Ordan with its bustle, Altair with its curiosity, Byzel with its calm. Here there was only sorrow and hatred. He wondered what he could do, to change it--- for he wanted to change it, the sorry state of this place.

Once again, he felt them, and he was aware before they approached him--- he'd been passing by an alleyway and divined their intentions upon him. Still, even without his supernatural acuity, it was not like these people who were following him were trying to be stealthy. They were confident in their strength, it seemed--- for it was how they lived, how they survived, in this district.

He turned to face them, and he felt surprise register in a couple of them. "Gentlemen." he began. "I don't have much money, but you could have it. I don't want any trouble." He wanted them to have it--- but he wondered if they would be peaceful--- for some of them seemed to enjoy, more than gold, the thrill of the hunt. Perhaps he would need to fend for himself.

---

Razivia Tichy

Feel free to make the goons do stuff~

"I figured."

Smoothly, he transitioned into a stance--- he was not trained in any sort of martial art, as some mystics were, or at least he remembered nothing of the sort, but he had a certain instinct, of how to move, to evade, and so he readied himself, even as the thugs approached---

He started to slip away as they tried to pin him to the wall, but he was startled by a sudden arrival, and so was caught; he had been preoccupied by his aggressors to realize there was... someone else, and now that someone had intervened.

A woman with ears like a rabbit's, with nails sharp like daggers, struck the man who was upon his face, and demanded that they cease. The men seemed to know her, and seemed to regard her with some sort of terror, for he needed not his empathy to know that she daunted them. Well, that was... a more abrupt end than what he had envisioned, but perhaps it was smoother this way.

"My thanks." he said simply, but she already had harsh words of rebuke for him--- much like he imagined any of his friends would have if they knew he had wandered into Fersen. "It certainly is... different." he remarked, sadly.

"You do not seem like them." he said, cutting to the chase. "Tell me... why is Fersen like this?" The woman seemed intent to be rid of him, and yet she had helped him... maybe she could at least give him some answers.

---

Razivia Tichy

Ah, it seemed he was earning this leporine woman's irritation, although he supposed it couldn't be helped; she probably thought he needed help and with her intervention he would bolt out of there and then out of Fersen proper, but she didn't know that he could have evaded the goons by himself, and that he had come here cognizant of the trouble Fersen posed. To be honest, what took him by surprise was more the dejected aura of the whole place. The wilds outside Eos may be as, or even more, dangerous, but they did not feel as... hopeless.

It seemed she wanted to be rid of him; kind enough to look out for someone else, but too self-interested to deal with the aftermath. Well, it was understandable. Still, it seemed she was humoring him a bit. Her opinion was the state of Fersen was... well, the result of the leaders of Eos, through action or inaction.

He remembered the one politician he'd been able to speak to, to meet. He'd gone the trouble to distinguish himself from his fellow politicians, as someone who cared, but he wondered if he was doing enough... and what exactly he was doing. If the state of this place, and more importantly, its people, was this decrepit, then shouldn't actions to correct it be even more immediate?

Still, such thoughts were... for when he met a person of authority again. He wondered what Miss Behemoth would say, although she would probably scold him first and then be suspicious of him afterwards.

"Ah, well, I came here knowing it wasn't safe." he said, blithely, scratching the back of his head. "I wanted to see Fersen with my own eyes. It seems it was in a more deplorable state than I expected." He frowned deeply.

"...but if you're not from here, Miss, what are you doing here?" he wondered aloud. He knew the woman was probably frustrated at him, but he... wanted to know more about the situation, and he wasn't sure he'd find someone not hostile anytime soon. He hoped she could excuse his peskiness. "You seem to be pretty familiar with the place. Ah, and..." Here he managed to look a little embarrassed. He'd tried to keep track of where he came from, but with that little adrenaline-charged encounter...

"...I kinda forgot how to get back to the station, so directions would be nice?"

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Razivia Tichy