Poison

[Arekk]

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LITHIOS​

Ethos City, Merchants' District​

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INTERACTING WITH: [member="Kirie Ito"] ​

Compared to the urban utopia of downtown Ethos City, the Merchants' district is filled with modern buildings, lighted streets, and unbarred shops. All living beneath the shadows of massive corporate arcologies. For many, these arcologies are home. For others, they're hulking monuments to where things went wrong.

Famous for its cyberware, the Merchants' District has been around since the beginning of Lithios uprise in technology and as a society. Now, it's a market for all things - legal and illegal. A melting pot of the haves and have-nots. The sights, sounds, and smells of the market hit you from the moment you step out of the cab.

And as your companion? A heavy and unforgiving rain, grey sky and angrily looking clouds.

For Ar'ekk, a cigarette and shelter from getting wet by sitting under the tinroof of a mobile Bantha grill and wet noodles shop.

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[Kirie]

From the relative shelter of the steetside restaurant, Kirie draws her coat in tighter to keep out the fine mist generated by ceaseless rain. Clouds of steam and bursts of flame appear and fade from across the counter, where skilled cooks live paycheck to paycheck delivering local cuisine to hungry customers such as herself.

Outside, young, rich professionals, the sons or daughters of executives, stroll leisurely down the street, showing off their glowing tattoos and wild punk hairdos as they daintily hold stylish umbrellas to protect their pampered look. Amongst the throng, foreigners looking for the latest gadgets stop and gawk at display windows beneath luminous neon signs. Still others slip quietly into side alleys and damp basements, seeking the latest in black-market biotech.

Each of them plays their part, keeping the machine running. Maintaining the status quo.

She looks on in exhaustion. Lithios is symbolic of the Galaxy's worst: A planet that exploits its citizens and environment for financial gain, and shares the profits among the corporate oligarchies. It was disgusting, but it was the way things worked here. No matter how hard she wanted them to, things didn't just get better by willing it.

Cigarette smoke curls through the air from the man next to her. She stares deep into her bowl of broth, wishing she were somewhere else.

[member="Arekk"]​

 

[Arekk]

LITHIOS​

Ethos City, Merchants' District​

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INTERACTING WITH: [member="Kirie Ito"] ​

The skyscrapers sorrounding the district are a jagged nest of mirrored knives thrust into the sky, rending the clouds as they ascend into the heavens. It's the ideal breeding ground for all manner of illicit trade - drugs, gambling, black market trade, cyberware trafficking, and everything in between. The only law is the criminal law.

Behind their backs there is a carnival of chrome and neon, rife with every manner of technology and artifice one can imagine. The entire area has the feel of a regular night market, save that spice is sold in lieu of steamed buns, and vendors hawk their latest body enhancements in the back of their shops rather than folk art when you are not looking.

His gaze focused next on the girl sitting on the stool neighbouring his while he slurped a handful of wet noodles and delicious Bantha grill steak, chopsticks clenged betwixt his fingers. Feeling like invading the stranger's privacy and looking away after such thought, Ar'ekk gave his cigarette a strong toke before liberating smoke out of his nostrils.

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