In the beginning, there were Three. Three Gods, three principles that governed.

Ix, the Creator, brought all things into being. Some say that She brought the others into existence, that she was the first, but the other two have never spoken of it.

Ashmor, the Destroyer, sought to destroy all of Ix’s works. Ravening, unrestrained destruction that leaves not even ash behind.

Between those two principles, always acting to moderate their unending contest, was the principle of Balance.

- Heresies of Kaval

There were a few odd things about Talnier that struck me as we approached. I was no expert on medieval fortifications, so I’m sure there was a good reason for them. The most easily noticed strangeness was the towers. I could only see one as we approached, but I could see the tops of what looked like others further around the walls.

The tower that I could see sat outside the walls, at twice their height and connected to them by another wall at a right angle. I wondered if the entrance to the tower was a tunnel going through that wall, as I couldn’t see any other way in.

The walls themselves held the second odd thing, which was that instead of being topped by battlements, they were lined with stakes. Pointed up in the air, they looked too widely spaced to deter men climbing up the walls.

“It’s to stop flyers,” Kyle told me when I asked about them. “They don’t like landing on spikes.”

“Oh, right.” I’d seen the same technique used to keep pigeons off building ledges. The size and spacing of those spikes though suggested something much larger than a pigeon. “Do you know why the towers are like that?”

“Maybe…” he thought for a moment. “Could it be to kill-box animal hordes?”

“I don’t know what that means,” I said.

“You’ve got it right,” Cloridan interjected. “It’s a larger version of an adventurer technique,” he explained to me. “You block the animals’ advance, pen the attacking animals in with walls on three sides, then pour in fire from the sides” - he indicated the wall - “And behind,” he said, pointing at the tower.

“It only works on dumb animals,” Kyle said, “I guess they get a lot of them here.”

“Humans would just pick off the towers, they’re strong, but too exposed,” I said, musing through the strategy.

“Exactly,” Cloridan said.

“So can one of you explain why there aren’t any gates?”

“Gates are a weakness,” Cloridan said in an amused tone. “Your wall’s much stronger when it doesn’t have any gates.”

“That- but, you need gates? What about traffic and trade?”

“Most of it comes via the river, and you can see the gates for that up ahead. There are some smaller gates for wagons, but they kept them small. One on each side of the river.”

“I see,” I said, and soon enough I did. First came the river gate, a short tunnel that enclosed the river as it went under the town wall. There was a… portcullis? Was that still an appropriate name when it went over a river instead of a road? Whatever the name, there was one of them at each end of the tunnel, and they raised them one at a time so we could enter.

Floating under the gate, I could see the metal above us gleaming, which suggested they’d made it out of silversteel. That should help with rust problems. Once through, we entered the town, except that we didn’t.

Although the town wall extended across to the south side of the river, there was another wall on the north side, separating us from the main city. Contained within this narrow strip of land were the docks, and some low buildings that looked like warehouses.

“This town is really paranoid about their security,” I said uneasily.

“A lot of really nasty stuff can come down a river that starts in the wild-lands,” Cloridan said. “This place keeps that stuff from flowing downriver.”

“I thought that high Threat monsters couldn’t live in low-mana areas.”

“To an extent,” Cloridan explained. “It doesn’t kill them instantly. The main ones you have to worry about are the flyers, who move fast enough to get a long way before running into trouble, and the water-borne who can just float downstream even when they get sickly.”

“Mana-sick beasts are the worst,” Kyle added softly. “They feel it as a hunger, and they attack everything desperately.”

“Speaking of,” I said, “Look there!” I pointed, at the Griffin that suddenly rose over the wall.

[Identification] : Tawny Griffin (Male) - Threat Level: 15 - Properties: Tamed

“Tamed?” I exclaimed in surprise. Then I saw there was a guy riding it. They circled the town, gaining height, and then flew off upriver.

“Yeah, the Royal Griffin Rider Corps have a base here,” Cloridan told me. “This is one of the places they capture and train new flights.”

“How do they keep their beasts alive?” I asked. “That Griffin was Threat 15!”

“Beats me,” he said. “Whatever they do, it’s limited. You only see Griffins on the border or in the capital.”

At that point, we arrived at the docks, and everyone became very busy. We were met at the docks by four men with a cart, who seemed to know Cloridan. He exchanged words and handshakes with them, while I let [Intrigue] give them a going over out of habit. From the sound of this place, it was a habit I should get into.

[Intrigue] told me… that they were probably honest and that they knew Cloirdan, which was useful confirmation at least? Anyway, we loaded up our luggage and headed into the town proper. Felicia and Cutter rode on the wagon, Kyle took the lead and I brought up the rear with Cloridan.

“Four guys, plus us,” I murmured to Cloridan as we headed off. “Are you expecting that much trouble?”

“I would if we didn’t have the four guys,” he said. “The gangs in this town pick on new arrivals that don’t know what they’re doing. We look like we know what we’re doing, and that we’re not to be messed with. We won’t have any trouble.”

“I see. Are we going to have to hire guards the entire time we’re here?” I asked.

“Nah, it’s just that we’re going through the docks, and have readily transportable goods,” he replied. “Once we’re established, we shouldn’t have any - any more than than the usual amount of trouble.”

“Comforting.” I said, and then paused for a bit before asking: “I’ve been wondering, what's the real reason you came here with me? And don’t give me those chivalrous lines you spouted last time.”

“Chivalrous, hey? I like the sound of that.”

“It’s been a refreshing change, not having you talk like that all the time,” I said. “So don’t start again.”

He laughed, “Ah well, don’t think for a moment that I’ve given up. It’s just that with Kyle and Felicia being part of the group, I’m worried he’d think I was hitting on his lady.”

“Fine, but you still haven’t answered the question.”

“Well, I hate to admit it, but it’s the same reason as the kid.”

“Cutter?” I asked, surprised. What had Cutter wanted again?

“He can sense it about you,” Cloridan explained. “That you’re someone who will be going somewhere, that will do things. Helping you, we’ll go with you.”

“Are you sure it’s not just my [Charisma] you’re sensing?” I inquired uneasily. Was this a [World Walker] thing?

“Maybe. Or perhaps your [Charisma] is the reason you’re destined for greatness?”

“What, you’re sensing my destiny now?” I was really feeling uneasy now. For some reason, I was reminded of Milly, right at the start and the intense way she insisted that the right thing to do was hide, and move. I’d thought I’d been dumped on this world with nothing and no one to guide me, but was that really true?

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “It’s just a feeling. But when you said you were going to my old haunts, I knew that I could help. That you needed me to help.”

“That is really fucking scary,” I said. “It sounds like you’re throwing your life away in service to some sort of prophecy, that you can’t even express.”

“It’s not like that,” he reassured me. “I’m still in it for the profits, and we can definitely make some coming here.”

“We just have to make sure we keep them,” I said. He laughed in agreement and started pointing out the sights.

Dominating the town was the Baron’s tower, a structure that rose on the side of town furthest from the river. Taller than any of the guard towers, it was visible from pretty much anywhere in town.

“It actually dates back from before the Empire,” Cloridan told me. “It’s supposed to have belonged to a wizard back then, before the Empire expanded up here. The rest of the fortifications were constructed by the Empire.”

He pointed up the road to some imposing buildings. “That’s where the temples are, and the major guilds. We’ll check those out once we’ve secured our property.”

The four men led us off the main street, and into a fairly prosperous-looking residential area.

“I gave Therrien your requirements, we’ll see what he’s managed to find,” Cloridan said. We ended up stopping at a three-story house.

“It’s a little big, don’t you think?” I said.

He shrugged. “We’ll need 4 bedrooms, to start with. Workrooms for you, and Felicia… it adds up.”

He had a point, and it was pretty small for three stories. Space was at a premium here, even more so than it had been in Anchorbury. Cloridan’s friend Theirrien was inside, along with a man who turned out to be the owner. He showed us around the place, as we [Identified] everything to check the quality. It wasn’t as detailed as if we’d had [Craft (Carpentry)] or [Craft (Stonemason)] but it gave us an idea. A quick exchange of gold, and I was the new owner.

It might seem excessive to buy when the longest I’d stayed in a place up until now was two weeks, but real estate was so cheap compared to renting here. If you managed to sell it before moving on, it was actually free, as long as you had the cash to swing it. The finance industry was still in the Dark Ages here, I had half a mind to try setting something up. There was a problem with that though. If I managed to collect a really meaningful store of wealth, I had no guarantee that a noble, the king, or a powerful wizard wouldn’t swoop in and take it from me.

A problem for the future, right now we needed to move in. Supernatural strength made it easy, although we still left the heavy bits for the menfolk. I let Felicia and Kyle have the room that was actually furnished with a bed. Cutter and Cloridan were fine sleeping on the floor until beds arrived. Not on the floor, they had what they called bedding, which was like a mattress, but was really just rags in a large sack.

For me, I re-created my Ikea futon in the room that I’d chosen. I’d brought some of my furniture - a writing desk and a dresser, but the dresses would stay in the trunks for now.

With everything unloaded, Cloridan saw the boys off with some friendly words and coin.

“Can we go exploring now?” Cutter asked. He meant himself of course, but it was nice for him to include us. I looked at Cloridan.

“It should be safe enough,” he said, “As long as you don’t get lost and stay out of anything that looks like trouble.” He sounded just like a dad.

“Fine then, be back before sunset,” I said, trying not to think about that making me the mom. He yelled his agreement as he went out the door.

“Until we get to know the place, we should probably stay in pairs,” Cloridan cautioned. “No one’s going to think it worth robbing a kid, but unaccompanied women are another matter. It should be fine, but let’s make sure.”

I saw a new resolve to never let Felicia go anywhere alone write itself on Kyle’s face.

“Fine,” I said. “We’re going to need some food if we’re going to cook something to eat tonight, so do you want to come with me, Cloridan?”

“I’d be honoured, my lady,” he said, bowing.

“I’ll get the kitchen going?” Felicia said. “Get the fire started and such?”

“Sure,” I said, “You can use this,” tossing her the Fire Gem. She looked at it and took a second to use [Identify].

“I can’t use a Fire Gem to start a stove! That’s ludicrous!” she exclaimed.

“Why does everyone say that?” I said innocently. “Come on Cloridan.” I pointedly ignored his offered arm.

At the market, meat was cheap, as well as some fruits. Farmed products were quite expensive, but not prohibitively so. Gossip was free, as always. The latest rumour doing the rounds was a juicy one. Apparently, one of the Chosen was going to be arriving in town soon.