[Lhavit Location] Cosmos Center

by **Kelpie** on October 10th, 2010, 8:44 am

The Cosmos Center is an elaborately carved building located to the direct right of the winding, decorative path leading from the Amaranthine Gate. One of the latest buildings to be built for the benefit of the tourists and newfound residents that trickled in, the light that shines from this building at night is far more prominent than the rest, like a beacon for those lost in the myriad of spectacles put on throughout the city. It was built by a member of the Dawn Tower, by the name of Yasek Dawn, and to this day, his granddaughter has taken over the work he put forth to ease the transition of newcomers in their first days in Lhavit.

Upon entering the Cosmos Center, one would notice that it is relatively simple in it's furnishings. Several artistically decorated desks made of white material are stationed off to the right, mostly occupied by secretaries ready to aid those who require assistance in obtaining a job, a residence or simply require information. The occasional potted plant can be seen around the circular room and several parchment drawings adorn the walls. A visitor need only tap the crystal bell three times to summon a secretary.

Youchi Sakana :

Oishi Sakana :

by **Tao** on October 29th, 2010, 10:48 am

59th Fall, 510

After a long day of wandering around the large and overwhelming city, Tao was tired and hungry. He wandered along the street, bag practically dragged after him with one hand, cloak sticking to his arms and back with sweat.

The city was beautiful; teeming with changing colours, exotic scents and flavours that he had never even heard of, intricate structures carved into rock with loving care and expertise. It was only as the skies began to darken and shops began closing up that he remembered that he was still homeless.

Today has not been a productive day. He thought, stopping once again for breath. He was now beginning to regret not buying that camping set and horse while he had the chance. At least if he had had supplies, he could have attempted to spend the night safely in a tent, rather than wander around an unknown city looking for the center that he was sure he had seen when he first arrived.

And if he had a horse, his feet probably wouldn't hurt so much.

He finally managed to locate the Cosmos Center by retracing his steps from the Gate. Luckily, the sun had not begun to set yet, and they were still open!

Perhaps I'll get a home today after all... He sighed wistfully as he stepped inside. The foyer was simplistic and very white; he couldn't help but feel a little bit like a tramp in his dusty, worn traveller's clothes.

He approached the desk, but no one was in sight. There was a bell sitting next to a sign that instructed him to ring three times, though, and he decided to put it to good use. The clear chimes of the bell echoed around the room as he fidgeted a little, waiting for someone to emerge.

by **Kelpie** on October 29th, 2010, 11:43 am

At exactly the third strike of the bell, a small, slim woman with hair tightly woven up into a rather messy bun emerged from a curtained doorway near the back. Youchi Sakana seemed to be mumbling to herself, absently tossing aside a strand of dark hair from her eyes as she approached Tao. But of, course, at the sight of him, she gave a rather large grin.

“Greetings, greetings, traveler,” She called merrily with a heavily accented Common, “I am guessing you are new? I haven’t seen your face around here at all. Let me guess, are you lost? Need a job? What exactly can I do for you?”

Shuffling around from one desk to the next, she began tidying up several stacks of parchment. When she was done, she gestured for Tao to have a sit across from her at the closest one.

by **Tao** on October 29th, 2010, 12:57 pm

Putting his bag to the side and out of the way, Tao took his seat, smiling uncertainly.

"Well... I am new... I just arrived today, and I don't really want to leave again for a while, so... I was told that you could help me find some lodging?" He replied once he had the woman's attention. He began to fidget with the hem of his cloak, silently hoping that his own accent wasn't too rough around the edges. He had noticed that not a lot of people in the area had spoken Common.

Perhaps there was somewhere he could read up on the local language, or classes he could take. He then began to wonder if he should ask the woman about it, or whether that was rude. He had a feeling he was beginning to think too hard on the subject.

Firmly, he told himself to focus on the matter at hand, put his cloak to the side, clasped both hands in his lap, and focused on Youchi.

by **Kelpie** on October 30th, 2010, 1:38 am

Youchi smiled brightly at Tao, and tapped the desk a few moments with a quill. “Yes, and you’ve come to the right place. May I ask what your name is?” She inquired, fiddling with the remaining stacks of parchment still left on her desk.

Youchi continued, “It’s a good thing the Cosmos Center is open all night and all day, helps travelers like you get settled in without being homeless, eh?” She chuckled lightly, “Let’s see,” grabbing a blank piece of parchment and dipping her quill into ink she began writing down various cryptic writing Tao would be unable to recognize.

“Lodging, you say. Well, since you weren’t born here, you only have a few options. I know the best place you can live without it being too pricey is the Solar Wind Apartments, down the path heading toward the Surya Plaza. I’ll show you in a moment, if you’d like. Other than that, the rates there are about five kina for a simple room for a month, and progressively gets higher depending on the taste of room you’d like. Ten a month for a nice room, seven a month for a simple two-bedroom room so on and so forth. Good thing about the SWA is it’s next to all the good shopping areas.” She winked, “Well, what do you say?”

by **Tao** on October 30th, 2010, 2:24 am

Tao waited for the woman to finish her long explanation before replying. He had a lot of questions that had suddenly come to mind, many of them making him regret not doing more research before making the trek to the new city.

"I'm Tao. Ah, Kuroya. K-U-R-O-Y-A." He answered first and foremost, spelling out his last name automatically. While waiting for her to write it down, he began thinking over how much money he had left. Just as he thought he had a good estimate, he realised that he didn't even know what a 'kina' was. Another regret for a growing list.

He pulled out a gold miza from his pocket to show Youchi. "Is this okay for currency? I didn't have a problem with it before now, but I don't know what a kina is, so..." He trailed off, tapping the his fingers on his leg. "Either way, I can't really afford anything extravagant."

by **Kelpie** on October 30th, 2010, 3:19 am

"Alright Tao Kuroya," She smiled and wrote it down at the blank spot on the head of the parchment she had under her hand. When Tao displayed the miza as the currency he was left with, Youchi simply laughed light-heartedly. "Yes, yes. Mizas are fine. Kina is the currency of Lhavit. Some people take it, some people don't so it's always safe to change your currency from miza to kina just in case. If you decide to leave the city anytime for an indefinite amount of time, you can always switch currencies again.

We do it here, so you won't have to go anywhere else, isn't that convenient?" Youchi dug around in her pocket for a moment then pulled out a coin made of a dark crystal-like material that had a small hole set in the center. "This is a kina. Literally "star coin" in our tongue. It glows under the light Zintila has given us with her stars, it's our currency." She placed the kina back into her pocket then and slapped the desk lightly with one hand, "But you needn't worry about that. Non-extravagant it is. I have written you all up for your prospective home, just need you to choose one to your liking and have you sign this paper when you're satisfied and you'll be officially leased, sound good?"

She stood, rolling up the parchment in one hand and her quill in the other, she gestured toward Tao to follow her as she made her way down the road and toward the rows of tall apartments ahead. "The first rows on either side are the simple apartments, the second levels are usually more luxurious, with nice furniture and what-have-you. You can tell when one is occupied by the small light that hangs in front of each door."

Youchi gestured toward several that were directly to their right, then she pointed toward a vacant apartment, "Check that out, most of them are the same, indoor-wise."

by **Tao** on October 30th, 2010, 6:01 am

Tao followed Youchi out of the Center and done the street, lugging his bag over one shoulder. When she pointed out the apartments, he looked up at them, and his eyes widened in what could be surprise. Like many other buildings in the city, they were decoratively coloured and carved. Despite walking around all day, the strange beauty of the city still awed him.

Making a beeline towards the cheaper apartments without hesitation, he inspected one of the vacant ones, double checking the door light. "... It's nicer than I expected." He admitted, looking back at Youchi. "How much is it... I mean, initially? Do you need a bond?"

by **Kelpie** on October 30th, 2010, 7:07 am

Youchi followed him leisurely, occasionally flicking back a strand of dark hair. She smiled at his comment, "No bond is required, the initial security deposit would be 100 kina, or 100 mizas, in the event that something happens to the room and you leave, it will be used for repairs. Of course we will return this money to you should you wish to leave at any given time."

She unrolled the parchment then, "So room A15 of the Solar Wind Apartments, leased to Tao Kuroya for seven kina a month? Is that correct?"

oocYou may keep your current 100 mizas and use the 500 mizas from the starting package to pay for this apartment, so instead of the cottage, add the SWA room A15 as your room!

by **Tao** on October 30th, 2010, 9:01 am

oocThat sounds much better than a cottage. XD Very well!

"That sounds right." He replied, looking a little surprised at how quickly it had all taken. He glanced at the document, but didn't understand any of it, and hoped that Youchi wasn't the sort to sell people off for hard labour as opposed to selling them houses.

He pulled out a cloth pouch from a pocket under his cloak and counted out fifty Mizas, then pulled his bag down off his shoulder to rifle through to grab a second pouch for the rest of it.

"Oh!" He jumped back to his feet. "You, uh, do want this now, right?" He asked, looking a little flustered.