People, a veritable sea of them. How one place could ever be so crowded, even with such festivities such as this always boggled Alaustriel's mind. Used to his own race's rather smaller populations and to the solitude of the wilds, being cramped like a canned sardine was not something the young ranger enjoyed. One had to always be vigilant in such circumstances so as to not be stolen from or menaced by in certain spaces, as well as fight through the throngs just to get to your destination. The discordant smells and sounds also did not help and if anything added to the dizzying and muddling of his senses. 

An ever so slight frown etched itself on the elf's face, cursing his own slight appearance for working against him in such times like these. Though the crowd was only adding to Alaustriel's annoyance, he continued onward, jostled by just about everyone bigger than him, which even included a couple of the human children who were ahead of him by mass.  After all, when many people congregated en masse, it often meant that the meeting place would be flooded with goods and supplies that were normally spaced out much farther and over a significantly vaster area, which meant much more traveling time. Here, an adventurer could easily pick up all their essentials and trade in their own. Import and export at its finest. 

Despite having been born a high elf, Alaustriel had thoroughly explored the professions of his wood elf cousins and picked up the craft. Forestry came naturally to him, and thus his affinity towards woodworking earned him quite a few bags of coin. Wooden figurines, expertly crafted bows, and even wands ready to be charged with magic were all made by his own two hands while traveling about the various regions were sold in Starter Town. Though they weren't masterworks like those who truly committed to the craft, neither were they of any quality below high average. He had his pride after all. 

Most of the coins were then spent on supplies, mostly salt, spices, herbs, and oils from abroad as well as a few camping supplies that he had to replace. He didn't need much after all, and often planned for long expeditions since he preferred the roads left traveled and the only thing he would splurge for were ingredients to make food taste better and toiletries to hygienic purposes. Anything else he could simply gather from the wilderness or trade for with other travelers. It was after he was quietly exulting over the find of various pouches of high quality tea that he heard a commotion in the distance.

Curious to see it in person, the green-clad youth wandered towards its source with pointed ears tuned towards the sounds. Soon, he found that it was a human child (from his perspective) loudly stating exactly how villainous and evil she was... and failing miserably due to her looks. And he was most certain it was bravado or a role to be played, like those actors from the theaters and operas. Feeling a bit bad for how everyone was all but ignoring the poor girl, he politely clapped. "Bravo. Would you like a candied apple as tribute for not outright destroying me?" Alaustriel said with a calmly even tone and straight face, even as he held a stick with the dessert perched atop it: a crunchy green apple glazed with sugar and roasted about a flame evenly so that the surface was caramelized and the insides juicy enough to squirt out on the first bite with just the right amount of tartness to make it so that the treat was not overly sweet.