"Many an Unliving mage has shown very strong tendencies to immerse themselves into research, often ignoring everything happening around them. Whether this behavior is an aftereffect of their transition into unlife, or mad wizards just lend themselves better for becoming unliving, is still hotly debated to this day." - A lecture on the history of the Unliving

"So what's the ruckus downtown all about?" Cal asked the matronly elf, as the sound of fighting seemed to be getting louder, yet none of the passer-by seemed even the slightest bit worried.

"Oh, just some horned sentinels on migration. Every year some youngsters in the brood that don't know better would be attracted by the vein and rush over. Nothing a little cleaning up can't handle." Said the matronly woman with a shrug. "Wanna see, dearie?"

When Cal nodded, the older elf held her arm, and the next thing she knew her vision was distorted, and she found herself a good distance away, on a rooftop perfectly positioned to view the fight. The matronly elf brought out two folding chairs and set them up, before she conjured a plate of cookies and offered some to her.

"Want some? Freshly baked."

"Sure, they smell amazing." Cal replied with a shrug, as she went with the flow and watched the fight as it unfolded below. The horned sentinels were gigantic centipede-like creatures, so named for the three prominent horns on their head, framed by their fearsome, serrated mandibles. Each of the creatures were easily five meters long and as thick as a grown man's waist. Clearly burrowers, half the creatures were still partly underground, their upper bodies skittered and attempted to gain entry on the buildings near them to no avail.

Cal counted at least thirty of the creatures. And at least twice that number already dead and littered all over the open area that likely served as a sort of town square.

And around those thirty creatures were eight individuals who easily kept them in place and whittled down their numbers without even the slightest difficulty in the process.

Nearest to Cal's perch were a pair that worked in a tandem, a human-sized woman in white and a tall, bulky figure that wielded a wooden log for a weapon. Any creature that charged at them would be expertly deflected to the ground by the woman with her quarterstaff, only for the wooden log to have its head splattered moments later like clockwork.

On the far side of the square stood a goblin dressed in reds and blacks. One that threw vials as he gleefully cackled at the nearest creatures. Vials that either contained horrifyingly powerful acids or exploded violently on impact. When one of the creatures got close to him, he just conjured a massive fireball twice his size with the flick of a finger and simply burned the creature into a crisp.

An old dwarf in blue kept the road next to the goblin sealed, with a liquid barrier of water that fully barred the passage, as any creatures that came that way found themselves picked up by tendrils of water and thrown back to the center of the square. The next road over had a tall, unusually slender orc who directed a flowing stream of metal like a conductor, from which blades formed and made mincemeat out of any creature that approached.

The last group was a trio that worked together. An old, wrinkled tortoise-therian calmly held the creatures in the vicinity with expert usage of earth magic while he gave the other two, both younger therians, one a mouse-therian and the other a bird-therian, what seemed to be a lecture. For their own part the younger therians made short work of the immobilized creatures with lightning and void magic, respectively.

Cal just watched the spectacle while she munched on the truly excellent cookies - she really had to ask for the recipe later - since the situation was obviously well under control.

One of the creatures actually charged their way, but before Cal could even take out her halberd, the elf matron who sat next to her made a shooing gesture at the incoming creature, and the next instant, it was gone.

She found out where it went when the creature landed in a gory splatter on the same spot it disappeared from a minute later.

"Oh, c'mon Martha! That's gonna be a pain to clean!" Complained the bulky figure with a log as he polished off the last of the creatures with one brutal thwack of his log. Some of the splattered creature's guts landed on him by accident.

"Oh, sod off, Hans." Replied Martha, the elven matron. "We both know Fib will have this place sparkling clean within the hour. Just stick around while she washes it off!" She added as she ribbed at the bulky man in jest.

"Brought a guest, Martha?" Asked the woman in white. Now that she turned this way, Cal could confirm she was a human, probably pureblooded, tall and lean, with silvery-gray hair tied to a severe ponytail, and an attractive face. And that she looked far younger than her companions, probably in the early twenties judged from her appearance, although Cal knew looks can be deceiving.

"Aye, the dearie here just arrived in town, thought she'd appreciate a little entertainment."

"And cookies. Speaking of which, these are excellent, I must ask for the recipe." Cal cut in, while her hand nabbed another cookie from the plate.

"Someone with good taste!" Said the bulky man - Martha called him Hans - as he laughed uproariously. Now that she took a closer look Cal realized he was a rare Dwarf-Elf mixed breed. The combination was rare mostly because individuals of those two races has very different aesthetics and thus rarely found members of the other race attractive. The man seemed to embody the best of the races, easily two meters tall, but with a broad body filled with powerful muscles. Pointed ears and handsome gentlemanly facial features were discernible under his thick, groomed beard, which forked into three branches and were weighed down by golden rings. A monocle perched on his right eye, and somehow stayed in place despite all the combat just now.

"Ye came here on a rowdy day, let us make it up to ye by treating ye to lunch!" Hans added with a wide grin.

"It would be impolite to reject an invitation from a gentleman such as you, I'm certain, so I accept." Cal said in reply, similarly with a grin on her face.

"You three go ahead to the repose, would you? I'll get Fib to give me a wash real quick and catch up." Said Hans.

This time Martha did not teleport her, and the three women walked to the eatery named the "Giant Bear's Repose" on foot, and they sat on an outdoors table for four. They had just settled on their seats when Hans caught up, as he swooped in with the form of a swallow before he transformed mid-swoop and dropped his large frame straight into the one open seat on the table. His hair still slightly glistened with moisture, but his clothes were somehow perfectly dry.

"I am called Celeysria Ambervale, of the archipelago, this is an… interesting city to say the least." Cal introduced herself after they put down their orders to the waiter. By this point it was already obvious to her that the three individuals that treated her to lunch were no ordinary people. The prowess they showed against those horned sentinels more than spoke for itself.

"Aideen deVreys." Replied the silver-haired human woman. "But you can just call me Aideen."

"Huh. Same name as the Silver Maiden?"

"Am her."

"For real? Not pulling my leg?"

"Yep." By now everyone else on the table grinned widely. "And this oaf here is Hans-Grell Zwergenbaum, acting mayor of the town till we get tired of him."

"Enchanted to make your acquaintance, miss Ambervale." Said Hans with a polite nod.

So it turned out Cal was treated to lunch only by the two most influential individuals in Western Alcidea.