Feel free to join in, and I'll scoop you up no matter where you are in the city soon enough. The prerequisite is to kind of open things up w/ a post where your character has been dumped in New York present day almost evening time. Your character doesn't know what's going on and you can convey this as complex or simply as you wish. So read on if you wish or just hop to the reply button and away we go!)
Falling, tilting, spinning.....
It was a feeling of exquisite vertigo that rolled from stomach and effected even the furthest of extremities. His fingers tingled and his body prickled as if being barely touched with tiny needles. Then there was a feeling of settling. His ears rung with the very sound of settling as his feet touched the ground. Was it ground? Did he even have feet? In this dark he couldn’t tell what state he was in. The tingling told him that limbs were still present. It was just this damnable dark! It was not what was normally referred to as darkness, where moonlight afforded you some sort of sight. It was in a pure form the absence of light altogether. What was odd was that this dark did not oppress, it did not crush down on someone or cause unease. There was an almost liquid quality to its presence, like one could swim through it with minimal effort.
Movement, warmth, whispers, voices....
How to get out of this dark? Then it occurred to him, one had to simply...
open your eyes... the whisper compelled him to obey.
A cacophony of sound rattled his skull and light speared his eyes, causing him to close his eyes. The darkness that was granted was not the same as moments before. It was almost a slight tint of reddish orange because the light persisted even through closed eyes. Talanwei struggled with all his might to get two firm figurative hands on his bearings. The young man's feet were on solid ground and he could feel the slight breeze of this place. There was an acrid smell of smoke, or something like it. There was the blat of a horn of some sort and a squealing sound. The young man also became aware of the dull roar of voices, passing him, close to him, shouting, simply talking...it was disorienting indeed. Slowly he opened his emerald eyes to the sunlight and one of the most odd sights he had yet seen.
The paladin was mired in a sea of people that moved like a current around him. Where he stood he could not see any grass, no rolling hills, and there was the occasional tree. However these trees seemed to sprout out of solid stone. Except for this stone was neither mountain nor natural rock but a flat expanse that stretched before him of dark grey stone. He was standing on a raised portion of this queer material and where most of the people around him were walking. On the road, if that was indeed what it appeared to be, were...well, of what they were the Achadiel was not entirely certain. The seemed to be carriages of some sort, but were not horse drawn. They seemed to be powered by some unseen locomotion. Looking upon the contraptions made Talanwei feel slightly dizzy and he looked at the ground in front of him.
What manner of sorcery...is this?
These thoughts melted because it was then that he took in his own appearance. First of all it was no tunic, trousers, boots or even his normal paladin mail. On his feet were an odd affair whose cloth portion consisted of a denim like material that was black with a depiction of a star on it’s side. Looking closely he saw that the words read in human "Converse All-Star". The soles were a material that was hard enough to walk on but definitely not leather. The pants were a darkened blue, faded on the thigh and were certainly denim however they were much softer than that which he was used to. The pants were loose on his legs and the edges were frayed where they touched the ground only slightly. Looking down as he was, the Achadiel caught sight of his hair. Normally a deep brown, it was a few shades lighter and shot through with streaks of black. Holding a few strands he looked at it quizzically and then finally regarded his shirt. It was undeniably cotton, well worn and close fitted to his lean upper torso. There was a slight difficulty reading the words printed under a distorted picture of a skull. It read "Ramones" also in human with white block letters on the black background. There was little time to puzzle over his attire as a man ran into him sending him back a step. The man was tiny so he rebounded off of the leanly muscled Achadiel rather soundly.
**~~**
Robert Plott was having a bad day. His suit hadn’t come back from the cleaners so he had to wear the same suit twice in a week. On top of that, he had forgotten his lunch on the train and had to go out for lunch. Then of course there was the morning full of appointments he had filled. Needless to say, Robert felt as if he had enough bad fortune to lament this day. Hell, if he was unlucky, he would miss the night train and have to take a taxi ALL the way home. Mr. Plott thought that it would be just his bad luck. As he was grumbling to himself, running over the train schedule that he had memorized, Robert ran full into another person. He had been going along at a good pace but the impact felt like he had hit a wall even though the other man had been forced to take a step.
"Hey! Watch where you’re going!" said the businessman who was a few inches shorter than Talanwei and looked the Achadiel square in the chest before he looked up into green eyes. Even though the paladin was not familiar with the mode of dress in this place, he was certain that the man was dressed in finer clothing than he currently was. Talanwei saw at the angry expression the man wore who looked as if he wanted an apology.
"My apologies good sir," said Talanwei and added, "Could you tell me...where I am?"
Robert looked at the odd looking individual with a furrowed brow and held his briefcase a bit closer to himself. The younger man looked as if he was out of place for some reason. Like he was looking a part that he wasn't playing. The hair was typical, a Ramones t-shirt, and worn blue jeans...the kid looked like he belonged in a rock band or something. However Robert wasn't into that stuff, if it wasn't Chopin, Pachelbel or Bach he wasn't really listening. Yet it was the clear way he spoke with a hint of an accent that made him pause.
"Is this perhaps, Worlds Mouth? The Western Continent somewhere?" asked Talanwei. He had heard of technological advances in those areas. The paladin had not seen these places first hand and the question was simply met with an odd look.
"What the hell..." muttered Robert starting to edge away.
"Hell? Is that where we are?" asked Talanwei looking up at the buildings. The ones that went higher into the sky than anything he had ever seen. It was an imposing sight and the Achadiel had not seen anything like this. By Illuminatus, there had not been trees as tall even passing T’aquar on boat. Talanwei’s statement actually made Robert laugh out loud softening his mood a bit. The older man shook his head and started to walk off.
"You can say that again. Take it easy kid," said Robert raising a hand as he walked off. The Achadiel nodded, so Hell it was eh? He committed that to memory as the sea of people swallowed the smaller man, Talanwei suddenly smelled something wafting through the air. The paladin suddenly realized that he was ravenous. It was comical to see the tall Achadiel following his nose through the crowd avoiding bumping into people as he went. It was easy enough to navigate through them but with the smell of exhaust from the cars passing, and the other things that assailed a nose not used to these aromas made finding the source of the smell harder to find.
"New York’s finest! Grab yourself a dog, polish, foot long, you name it we’se got it!" it was the voice of a portly man standing by a silvered cart of some sort. His hair was thinning on his head leaving a horseshoe of hair about a shiny head. On his apron were a few stains, some vivid yellow and others an orange-red. The man spoke in heavily accented human so that words like "York" sounded like "yowuk" or something similar. All of his words were accented like this making him a bit hard to understand to someone like Talanwei who had never heard a New York accent.
The cart itself looked as if were equipped to repel an assault of some sort plated with metal as it was. If this were the case the shiny face of the material did not lend itself well to stealth and the shouting man certainly did not help. It was then that Talanwei realized that it was from this very cart that the smell was coming from. Talanwei walked up to the traveling chef and looked at the cart.
"What sort of food stuffs do you deal in?" said Talanwei trying not to sound so formal and failing miserably. Ulysses Sanchez was the man’s name, needless to say his parents had an eclectic taste in names. This rock star reject talked a little too fancy for his taste. Kids these days, thinking they could try to be all smart around their elders. Even though the kid would probably buy a hot dog, Ulysses was not up for games today. The hot dog vendor looked at him with an arched brow, wiping his hands on a hand towel.
"Food stuffs? We only got hot dogs bub, no caviar here. You want one or not?" said the round vendor thumbing through the money he had yet to put in his pocket. The Achadiel saw numerous scraps of green paper that he determined were the currency of this odd place. Talanwei nodded slowly looking at the cart once more. Whatever it was he certainly wanted one. Ulysses surveyed the kid with growing curiosity, he looked clean enough, albeit a bit confused. If the kid was strung out on something he was probably hungry, but ever business minded, the vendor wanted to make sure the kid had cash.
"All right, foot long is two-fifty," said Ulysses waiting for the kid to show him some money. Talanwei was confused for but a moment and it dawned upon him, payment. The Achadiel reached into the pockets in the jeans he wore. He felt a fold of paper in the depths and a few coins of unknown value. He pulled them out and Ulysses was satisfied. The larger man began to craft a hot dog that, in his own modest opinion, was the best to be had from 40th Ave. to Broadway. He even gave it a little extra panache because the kid looked like he was starving. Talanwei palmed in his free hand the piece of paper that had a man on it and showed the numeral twenty in its corners. It looked the closest to what the man had put into his own pocket. As Ulysses handed the hot dog over, he held out his hand.
"Two-fifty, kid," said the older man and Talanwei handed him the slip of paper. Ulysses looked at it for a second.
Of course, high roller here has to break me of my ones...
"You got anything smaller than this?" said Ulysses to the young looking man. Talanwei took back his money and handed the man the largest silver coin he had. Ulysses laughed and shook his head.
"Hardy har, wise guy. The twenty’ll do ya just fine," he said holding out the quarter and reaching again for the money Talanwei had just taken back. The paladin felt that the man should make up his mind as he handed back the twenty dollar bill. It was a good thing that the man thought that Talanwei was simply joking or he could have taken him for the whole bill. The paladin looked at the amount of bills he was given back and then back to Ulysses wondering if he had been given too much.
"Well? G’wan! It’s the right change smarty pants," said Ulysses, mildly insulted but added as an afterthought, "Enjoy your dog man!"
"Many thanks good chef," Talanwei brought the hotdog close to his head as he made the merest hint of a bow. Ulysses eyebrows rose at the compliment.
Chef? Hell I just make hotdogs y’know?
His idle thought made him smile. Pausing for a moment, seeming to think, the older man reached into the iced portion of his cart and grabbed a Pepsi for the weird kid. With a flick of his wrist he tossed the can to Talanwei. The Achadiel caught it easy enough and looked at the vendor arching his own eyebrow in turn.
"God, what are ya, foreign, kid? Not all of us are jerks in the Big Apple. Take it and get outta here," said Ulysses, satisfied with his good deed for the day. Talanwei smiled and turned making his way into the crowd again. So the Big Apple was another name for this place? It was the oddest name he had ever heard for a kingdom, if in fact this was a kingdom he was in. Without thinking further Talanwei swiftly mounted the wide steps that led into a large city park and took his first bite of the hotdog he had been given. He closed his eyes for but a moment, for some reason he was ridiculously hungry.
The paladin concentrated on the odd meal and within the space of a few burns it was gone. Talanwei then turned his attentions to the can he had been given, frowning darkly. It was cold, as if it had been somehow chilled by some manner of sorcery. He then tipped it end over end seeing how the contraption was to be opened. The Achadiel tapped it against the wall lightly to no avail. It was then that he looked at what he assumed was the top of the can and fiddled with the tab seeing that it was pliable. With a little twist of his fingers there was a hissing *pssh-pop* sound that made him start ever so slightly.
First Talanwei smelled the opened hole in the can. This passed the first test, it did not have the look of poison. Putting it to his lips the liquid touched his lips with an odd effervescence and he was pleasantly surprised by the taste. Surprise quickly turned to distaste at the sugary sweetness of the drink. With a few gulps he quickly put the drink down and made his way out to the current of bodies moving down the street. The tall half adhiel had learned to keep his pace or the threat of collision would rear itself again. It was while walking with no particular destination that his thoughts bubbled to the front of his mind.
What am I doing in this place? Where exactly am I? Hell? The "Big Apple"? There has to be something that I was sent here to do. Illuminatus, show me your will...
Even while walking he reached for his God and no sign came, it was a sense of nothingness. There was a terrifying moment that he feared that for some reason this place would not allow him to touch Illuminatus. It was then that slow, bubbling warmth grazed the outer edge of his consciousness. Talanwei’s fear lessened but his concern remained. It felt as if he could not fully immerse himself in the Light or draw upon it. Some queer notion told him not to try this in a crowd of people and he resigned to wait until he was in private.
**~~**
Shelton Murphy was walking down the street thumbing through the fliers he was supposed to hand out. His friends called him Smurf as a mish mash of his first and last name. In elementary school he had beaten the daylights out of the last kid that had made fun of his name. It had not happened since. He was a eighteen year old young man just into his second go round of senior year. The schools didn’t like him. Hell, one just had to look at him to know why. He was just under six feet, skinny as a rail, with pierced eyebrow, lip, ears and who knew what else. Then on top of his head was a shock of crimson hair tipped in blonde and spiked to high heaven. This day he was dressed in a black down filled vest and a Led Zepplin t-shirt under which was white prevalently and black depicting a winged man, holding a guitar. He was in some cargo shorts also black and a pair of shoes that looked most suited on board the skateboard that was strapped under his backpack.
Looking at the fliers he held, it was a pretty glossy little paper about the size of a half sheet of loose leaf. It read off an address first, a grand opening of a club...lounge, whatever the hell it was it looked kind of cool. What threw Smurf off was the dragon curled about the picture of the Earth. He wasn’t even sure it was Earth because below this picture in curling lettering it read "Tazlure". Weird name for sure, but it seemed to jump out at the young man. Something otherworldly about it’s presence. His older brother was a DJ at the joint and had charged the boy and his friends with the task of getting some buzz out on the street for the opening tonight. He was compelled to do just this and was still looking over the flier when he plowed into somebody. Rather hard too and even though he wasn’t looking in front of him he was, in a snap, indignant. Shelton prided himself on the ability to walk through a crowd while reading something or otherwise not watching his path. So for someone to walk into him either they had to be seriously not paying attention or trying to piss him off.
"Hey, man, what the fu...~!" said the young man people called Smurf. Dropping a few of the fliers he stopped in mid profane utterance adding, "Ah, damn it bro! Look at this! You gotta watch where you’re..."
The teen had half expected the man to walk on without saying a word, his appearance tended to do this to most in the respect of avoiding trouble. Instead, this guy knelt and helped him retrieve his fliers that had fluttered to the ground.
Talanwei had this time been run into by a young man, probably younger than he himself. In this particular collision, which he seemed to be developing a penchant for, there was a mild eruption of paper that fell to the ground. Talanwei knelt and picked up a few of the papers and one word stood out like a brand. It struck him between the eyes like a smiths hammer.
Tazlure
Absently the paladin handed back the papers save one. He held onto it like it was a doctrine from Illuminatus himself. It was the only familiar thing from this world and he was not letting go of it for the life of him. Talanwei locked green eyes sparked with purple with the youth’s own cobalt.
"What is this place? Where is it?" asked Talanwei evenly. The young man looked at the flier as if he hadn’t seen it before.
"Oh that? Meh, I don’t know if I should tell a guy that can’t watch where he’s going..." Smurf wasn’t that bent out of shape about it, hell the guy had helped him when a normal person would have just bailed. However he didn’t know if he should just tell anybody about what was going on. As he stood, he reached for the flier Talanwei held. The paladin kept it from his grasp, eyes pleading with the boy. Shelton though that if he tried to take the flier it could result in a fight. He was no stranger with a scrap but something told him that this wasn't the way. Maybe it was the look in the guy's eyes, maybe it was the way he carried himself, Smurf didn't know but he looked Talanwei up and down. He grinned, putting his free hand into his pocket.
"Ramones...nice!" he then paused to think.
Chuck Taylors...blue jeans...Ramones, fuck, this guy looks okay enough.
Talanwei looked at his shirt, maybe this word was the name of some God of this land? From the boys friendly enough expression, it seemed as if he would actually get somewhere.
"Okay, here's the deal, that place," he said pointing to the flier, "Is a club, new joint openin' tonight. My bro's a DJ there and it's supposed to be a colorful scene. Lotsa weird folks, come to think of it, kind of like yourself if you catch my drift. Supposed'ta be some good music, drinks if you prefer, and some dancing if you get yerself a wild hair if ya catch my continued drift. Give it a look see and you won't be disappointed, promise."
Talanwei brushed the hair away from the side of his head, looking at the dying sun. Some of the words he didn't catch, most he did and they still didn't make a great deal of sense. All he knew was that this was the only thing that struck a chord in this weird place. It couldn't have been sheer coincidence that the "club" had the same name as the world as Talanwei knew it.
It was then that Smurf caught a glance of the guys ear, it was fuckin pointy! Then he just looked at the guy, what was his deal? He looked like any typical punk just screwing off a nice afternoon doing nothing. Something was off though, not quite...normal. Smurf didn't want to be a total ass but he had to say something.
"Dude, that's the coolest thing I've ever seen!" said Shelton in a reverent tone. He thought it was something that Talanwei had done to the ear, it reminded him of one of those guys from a video game or something. Like, one of those elf guys, that was it. Zelda maybe? Shelton wasn't sure, but he knew the pointy ears were wicked cool even if they weren't natural. The Achadiel looked at him quizzically, the comment jarring him from his thoughts.
"What?" asked Talanwei, unsure of what was being referred to.
"Dude, your ear...that's rock and roll bro," said Smurf nodding appreciatively. Talanwei frowned, not sure how to respond. The younger man then shrugged not thinking he would have taken the compliment the way he did. Talanwei seemed to be lost in thought and the younger man decided to leave him to it.
"Whatever man, you take it easy bro," said Smurf starting to walk. Talanwei was not ready for this and stammered.
"Um...how do I find this place again?" he called after the boy. Shelton then turned around and gave him two peace signs.
"Hey, you'll find it. It just...kinda stands out y'know?" said the young man. The sea of people swallowed him and Talanwei turned his glance again to the sun falling behind the large buildings of stone. These towers would make it difficult to see the stars, when they came. The Achadiel was also mildly worried, for by this time he would have normally seen stars poking through the afternoon sky. This world seemed washed out, as if the inherent color of everything had been put through a wringer and this was all that was left. It was all greys, blacks, and browns that made up almost everything he saw. No green grasses, no hills, nothing at all to remind him of home...except the damnable piece of paper. Talanwei then started walking again, not knowing his exact destination but inexorably drawn to it without even knowing.
No, no! It's fine, just ignore me! I see how it is! 
