[Area] Grand Desert region, Korous - Late modern era

The red sun is hot and bright and the east winds continuously blow, though thankfully they have calmed to merely a slight breeze. The city can be seen just over the ridge, not too far away.
The sand is very light in texture and is almost a greenish tint of yellow? Maybe it's just an odd trick of some sort.

The walk seems to go without incident and eventually you reach an actually paved road, trying in vain to emerge from the obscuring sands.
The bustle of the city can be heard, the shwoosh of cars zooming down roads, with the occasional obnoxiously loud hot rod motor between shwooshes. Like sheesh, don't they have sound level ordinances or something?

By the time you arrive to the town proper, it's fairly loud. Someone in a large red... dunebuggy? zooms past without a care in the world, pink scarf streaming in the wind. A few pedestrians walk alongside the road, many of them in somewhat eclectic outfits.
It seems the cowboys have come and gone from this city and were replaced by rave party scene kids. Wait, there's still some dude wearing a 10-gallon hat across the street, there's still some semblance of normal here... kinda.
Unfortunately, there appears to be no street name signs anywhere.

Welcome to Canyon city.

You make your way down one of the roads. Thankfully, the roads actually have crosswalks and stoplights at the busier intersections.
Most of the townsfolk don't really take the time to look at you. whether they're just busy or you blend in really well, it's hard to tell.
The stoplights have the standard red/yellow/green setup and the crosswalk signals have a red X displayed for stop, a yellow flashing ! for warning, and a green arrow -> for go.
There is a sign that says "Old Town Market Square up ahead", in surprisingly legible letters. There appears to be a furniture store to the left and some sort of tricycle shop to the right.

What will you do?

Old Town Market Square is bustling with activity. With the thinner roads, mostly cyclists and those on foot have taken center stage upon the roads. A wide variety of traditional shops and stands line the streets.
A couple of nubbling children dash past you, taking care not to bump into anyone. They seem to be having fun.
A very buff looking guy with a cracked horn is expertly haggling prices with a trinket salesperson. He seems to be trying to get an odd looking necklace for a cheaper price, while the salesperson seems to be insisting that it was made with a rare material only found on certain tropical islands somewhere.

At another stand, which appears to be a cheesy tourist trap-style gift shop, there are some small rocks for sale, a ton of t-shirts and jackets that say "Canyon City" on them are on display. There is also one of those spinning racks of fake mini-licence plates with some "common" names on them. Most of these names aren't really all that common at all. A few seem like they're slightly recognizable as names, like Edward, but then a really weird one shows up like Viflew or Joc or Rinte. One must wonder how exactly odd names like that came into common use around here.
A hobbyist metalworks shop is somewhere nearby. It seems the specialty there is weird abstract metal sculptures of a vaguely menacing nature. The pricetags are absolutely massive.
A scraggly looking bum is wearing a sandwich board with the words "The end is near!", with a simple drawing of a nearly depleted hourglass at the bottom. She seems to be yelling at everyone she can get to listen to her.

"The Voice of Time has told me of the terrors of what is to come! The sands of the Grand Hourglass are running thin as of late! I have been told, when the last of the sands has emptied, our time here will be over! OVER! Each grain, as the story goes, stands for each and every one of us here! We will all DIE! How it will happen has not been revealed, but it has been alluded to end in fire! OUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED!"

She seems to continue on for a while like this. The passing shoppers seem to be doing their best to ignore the loud yelling, though a few here and there look legitimately concerned. A child begins crying but his guardian assures him that that crazy lady is just spewing nonsense.


The metal statues are sort of hard to pin down conceptually. It seems to be mostly up to personal interpretation.

the ragged woman pauses from her fervent doomsaying.
"W-what is it you need to discuss, madam? I'm trying to spread the truth here."
Upon closer inspection, she appears to have been crying recently, as evidenced by the dried tears that appear to have ran down her face. She waits nervously.

She takes a moment to try and process what has been told to her.
Challenge fate? that's impossible! That which is fated to take place cannot be stopped... right?

> Who's that you're talking to there?
The ragged signholder jumps, it's been a while since she's heard things.
'just a noblewoman with wild ideals. Not worth reasoning with.'
> ...I'd recognize that whelp anywhere.
'...wait what?'
> er, DΘN'T LISTEN TΘ HER, SHE CΘNT▲INS ΘNLY LIES.
'but-'
> YΘU D▲RE TΘ QUESTION THE VΘICE ΘF TIME?!
"n-no..."
She shakes and cowers at seemingly nothing.
> Good. Now CH▲SE HER ΘUT ΘF THE ARE▲. Normally I'd have you destroy her, but this is a public zone.

With a moment of awkward silence passed, she noticeably changes in attitude.
"Y-YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE! GET AWAAAAAY!"
And with that, the ragged woman lifts off the signboard and rushes towards Elsey, screaming like mad.