Welcome to the New World (Open)
[There were shops. Useless shops, nearly empty shops, shops with broken windows and battered doors and shelves mostly cleared off. But at least there were goddamn stores.
Ned was picking through one, grimacing at a spilled bottle of detergent, stepping over the squished packages of unidentified snack cakes, just looking. There was something useful here. There was always something useful, after the commoners had finished their rutting.
And sure enough, near the back, he found several undamaged bottles of wine. A corkscrew was discovered as well.
Then, miracle of miracles, an unbroken glass, one out of a set of four. Fastidiously cleaning it out and then wiping off a stool, Ned took his seat behind the counter. He poured himself a generous portion of the wine - a disgustingly cheap white, but it would do.
Glass held lightly between two fingers, Ned surveyed the shop.
He could set up here. There were supplies, enough to be worth a small amount of power. And power was the only currency that mattered. Favors given and exchanged.
Yes, this would do nicely.]