Crimson City

[JW%]

((The game allows for full jump in with whatever character you feel like. No rules save for being respectful to other writers, no restrictions save for the same. Out of Character conversations, for planning for scenes you'd like to happen or for characters you'd like others to play, are to be taken here: tsdcv3.proboards.com/thread/5857/crimson-city-ooc?page=1&scrollTo=190513 ))

This was a city of fools... and demons. The tall skyscrapers that dominated the skyline were tightly spaced, and yet had enough room for the sprawling slums and squat structures of two or three story buildings like warehouses and housing projects, for pawn shops and laundry mats, looked down on by buildings that seemed to have no purpose other than looking down on others. Massive gleaming spires that seemed to be blood red in the setting sun.

This city had been built on iron working, it later transferred it's focus to technology, but the massive buildings gave tribute to the roots they dug into with their color, less blatant when the setting sun wasn't lighting them with liquid crimson reflected from the windows, but still with a reddish hue implying iron and brick even when it was not built of such.

Janus stood on the rooftop, taking in the view of the city from the hill top. This wasn't a crazy city. This was an ordered, enjoyable city. He was only two stories up, he could fling himself off the roof and land without harm thanks to the same abilities that drove him to seek shelter from the direct light of the sun or kept him from crossing bodies of water.

But he didn't. It was an ordered world after all. People didn't believe that creatures like him existed, and he worked actively to keep it that way. It was better that way, more enjoyable for him, and the many like him. No, instead he took the fire escape, descending to street level easily by the time the light was fading. There were clubs he would prowl, haunts he would explore this night. He liked to keep things from growing into a rut, so he picked the nightly hang outs at random.

And he knew he was not alone in his nightly hunt.

[Fiery Firefly]

And indeed someone was watching him from an alley way.

The creatures red eyes stared at the vampire curiously, she knew it was something non human. But Azra stayed hidden behind the trash cans.

After all a hyena wasn't something that was supposed to be seen in a city.

[JW%]

This part of town that Janus walked through was part of the worn down section. Wind from off the river blew through the streets, tossing a bit of paper debris and causing Janus' long coat to flutter along with his waist length hair. His walk was one leisurely, but with purpose. He projected confidence as though to declare that he belonged here, that there was nothing odd about his walk beneath the dim neon signs advertising old 24hr video rentals or cash for paychecks services. If he knew that eyes were on him, he didn't show it, he didn't seem to care. The sound of a stray animal knocking against a trashcan as it went about it's nocturnal business didn't bring any reaction from him more than a dismissive glance in the direction of the sound.

He crossed the empty street and walked into one of the park areas that had been established in a foolish attempt to enrich the community with recreational spaces. The basket ball hoop had been bent and broken, and all that remained of it here was a concrete skeleton. Worse still came when he left the concrete, walking into the hard packed dry clay earth. This had been intended to be an area with green grass and growing things. All that remained were trees without leaves, clawing at the darkening sky with their nude branches.

His goal was several blocks down. Here there were abandoned warehouses, old processing plants, things that would have gone with the still busy docks further away and by the river, had business not dropped during these economic recessed times. The rich had money, the poor did what they could to get by. These idle rich were more than willing to lord their wealth over the poor, putting on displays while 'slumming'. That was what Janus was looking for.

He'd seen a car driving down the street that cost more than some of these buildings did, not that anyone here owned the building they lived and worked in. Now there were plenty of reasons why a car like that could have been prowling through the streets. After all, they weren't that far away from the more prosperous sections, the high rises and such. They could be driving to a meeting at the docks, they could be going to the 'China town' or 'little Italy' areas, which weren't as hard hit as this foundry district where iron and steel had been processed for shipping all over the nation when it had still been being used.

Or the car could be driving some spoiled rich children to an underground dance club. They popped up frequently here, efforts to 'revitalize' the area by making a party hotspot in disreputable parts of town. The combination of the glitter and the danger would draw patrons, and invariably the profits would go to the person who had established the club, who themselves was rich and trying to help the downtrodden by making them wait tables and tend bar for imported socialites. And of course when even the waitresses, bartenders, DJs, pop idols, strippers, or whatever the club was offering were also imported, really the only way the local population saw any of the money is if they mugged one of these debutantes. That was the danger, however unlikely, that gave the thrill an edge the idle rich hungered for.

From this range Janus could sense the pulsing sound of a good dance beat coming from a building still several blocks away. He could almost smell the building packed with dancers, doused in enough perfume and cologne as to hide the sweat they were doing their utmost to build up. It was an enticing buffet he was striding towards.

Of course, he wasn't hunting for that kind of thing. There were many predators that would be drawn to this kind of watering hole, alpha predators, pack hunters, scavengers, each had their own tactics, and not everyone had the same idea of what prey was worth their attention. Tonight he was looking for information. Rumors. Despite the intent in his walk, he was advancing at random, trying to get a feel on the pulse of the city, to gather from numerous sources and pull the reality of what was happening together in a holistic manner. If he happened to find something else worth closing his jaws around it would be a happy coincidence, a convenience he wouldn't turn down. But there were bigger things on his mind.

He had been feeling rumblings... the seelie courts up in the hills, with their old money and older magic were watching. The augers and oracles of the Athena Insurance Agency were giving dire but vague warnings that drove up premiums. The firm of Crowley and Lovecraft at Law was growing more hesitant to take on new contracts and was discouraging... new immigrants from filling out the paperwork to enter the city. Everything was creating tremors in the food chain but as yet no direct threats were being revealed. The Witches were blaming the Wizards as they always did. The fey were blaming their own ranks. The Church and it's hunters was pulling back to consolidate and reinforce it's strongholds, while those they hunted were pulling back and avoiding challenging them. So many things felt wrong.

Yet all he had to go on were feelings. So tonight he would follow his feelings.