Streets and Alleys of Ozmodias

As eve wander past, she would notice, first of all, a large number of carts selling fried things on sticks. One fried thing seller in particular stands out, as something is a bit...off about him. He seems...crooked. He doesn't fit with the flow of the street. It's very subtle, but he doesn't quite belong. We waves at Eva, but the timing of his waving is off.

"Hello, miss! Would you like a deep-fried octopus on a stick?"

The way his clothes fit, the way he stands...it's all just a little bit off.

The salesman looks at the satchel. The movement of his eyes lag behind the movement of his body slightly' leading to a very disconcerting effect.

"Killings? Hmm...I've heard something about that, yes. I don't know much, though. I don't follow that sort of thing. Bad for my stomach."

He grins enthusiastically, and holds up a fried octopus.

"This is good for your stomach, though! Or maybe for that cat in your bag?"

"Nonsense. All cats like seafood."

The seller leans in a little.

"Heeeeere kitty kitty kitty..."

He stands back upright and shrugs.

"Eh. Cats can be shy. Is it an indoor cat or an outdoor cat?"

With a sudden motion and a whirl of tentacles, he plunges an octopus into the oil.

As she shuffles away to the next stall, someone else walks into the alley. Two people, actually. The man makes a rather odd sight, with his handsome features, white hair, fancy clothing, and white peacock on a sparkling leash. By his side is an attractive woman with similarly colored hair, who seems to be impatient at the pace they're moving. The peacock squawks. Around the street, people start waving and greeting the man.

"Hello, Mr. Mayor!"

"Good morning, Mayor Fletcher!"

"Hiya, Mayor!"

The man waves at the people, greeting many of them by name. Some small children run up and start admiring the bird.

"Anything you'd like, miss?"

Eve would be pulled out of her distraction by the seller, holding up a sausage.

Robert shrugs.

"All I'm saying is that people will talk. Look, they're whispering already."

He subtly tilts his head towards a group of old ladies, who are indeed whispering and gossiping among themselves.

"See? Anyway, it's not my reputation I'm worried about. They don't care who I'm with as long as the roads are clean and the harbor keeps going."

"Let them talk. They're stupid for doing so. I'm your distantly-related cousin, not your current flavor of the week," she said with a roll of her pretty blue eyes. She bit into her sweet bun when Even approached the mayor.

"Mm!" Rosamond was clearly excited with the young girl's questions and quickly swallowed her bun. She stepped over to Eve and turned so they were shoulder-to-shoulder and somewhat united against Robert.

"Yes! There have been grisly murders in Ozmodias, isn't that right, Robert? And one of them was Mr. Butcher the Butcher, Ms. Baker the barmaid, and Mr. Candlestick maker." She leaned towards Eve to give her a stage whisper, "I don't know what he did for a living, at least, not yet."

"We should go investigate, shouldn't we, Robert? Because it's your duty as Mayor to find this grim murderer, isn't it, Robert?" Rosamond was asking her cousin in a loud enough voice to catch attention.

Eve tried not to giggle at Rosamond, but listened carefully. She nodded and looked over towards the Mayor.

"Well, I'm somewhat of an aspiring hero of sorts, and I don't much like the idea of murders...as that's how I lost most of my family." Stiria chirped from her bag. "My..pet..as well.." She grinned. She leaned in closer to whisper.

"By the way, certain..salespeople are a bit to personal when it comes to their questions.." She glances over to the octopus salesmen quickly before looking down.

"Hello," Rosamond said with a cheery smile when Robert introduced her. As she was already pretty much at Eve's side, it was a pretty casual greeting. She frowned a little to hear about Eve's loss, and that of her pet. "All the more reason to catch this fiend!"

Excited that Robert was finally going to take her to get some work done, Rosamond stepped away only to be waylay-ed once again when Robert stopped to buy a croissant for himself and his fire-breathing peacock. It seemed that Robert and Eve were going to bond over their fire-breathing pets, and while Rosamond was all for building friendships, she had a real drive to find the murderer.

"Let's walk and talk!" she said, linking arms with both of them to get them on the way to the Butcher's shop crime scene.

Eve giggled as Rosamond took her arm, and looked cautiously up at the Mayor. He seemed trustful enough.

"Well..My Stiria isn't a pet so much as a familiar..as she's a erm..dragon." She blushed, looking down but tightening her arm around Rosamonds. Stiria chirped happily as if to make her presence more known to the other two, letting her scaly red tale hang limply out of the satchel.

"As for myself, my name is Eve Lithian. I'm a dragon trainer." She smiled proudly, but made sure to keep her voice low as to not let others hear. Not everybody took so kindly to the idea of dragons, and some even sought to sell them for their hard scales.