Life doesn’t have to be on a race track from one violent encounter to the next. Go slowly and go carefully, avoiding combat when you can. This way, you’ll find it far easier to hold onto your life than not.

Lavanya Sanghvi - the Monster Bane - Adventurer’s Guide to Surviving the Idroan Wilderness

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Passing through the gatehouse, he took in the surrounding sights: the dried blood clogging the cracks in the streets, the multi-story buildings with signs of combat marked on their walls, and the pulsing crowds rushing about. This was a settlement several cuts above Riverside and yet it appeared to have been victim to intense invasions just the same.

Without dallying any further, he went up to a guard and asked for directions to the market. On his way here, he had theorised that anyone with the ability to locate people would likely set up a business, and so that was the first place he would search. Although he tried asking the guard directly about the matter, the man blinked in confusion before shooing him off. As such, he set off north following the River Derwent but quickly found himself distracted by the sights and sounds and smells pulling at his attention.

Twenty minutes later, he had to admit he was utterly lost as he scanned the dingy street he found himself in. Predictably enough, the unkempt individuals skulking in front of the seedy buildings immediately circled him. Their faces were worn and bony, and he glimpsed cruel, wanting glints in their eyes.

“Hand over the pack,” the lead one called, pointing a dagger at his rucksack.

“I wouldn’t recommend this,” Silas warned. On the streets, he had been frightened of gangs, them and coppers, but now he pitied the scrawny men and women around him, clearly on desperate ends.

“I don’t give a shit what you recommend,” the leader said, inching forward. He twisted the dagger and trembled anxiously, moments away from lunging.

Silas tensed and prepared to strike first when a memory crossed his mind: he saw Grace sliding off his spear’s end, the damning smile on her face. He shivered at the haunting image, but his moment of introspection must have been eyed suspiciously as the gang leader rushed forward, chaotically followed by the rest.

As the stained blades closed in on Silas, he leapt forward, hopping over the leader and exiting the circle. He sprinted down the alley before the street rats could stop him, all the way back to the River Derwent, ignoring the resulting aches. At least he hadn’t spilt further human blood on his hands.

Now on high alert, he kept to the river and followed its winding route, cautiously watching his surroundings to make sure he wasn’t followed. Luckily, it seemed the street rats had long given up on him, and he arrived at the centre of town without incident half an hour later.

Situated inside a large, domed building, the market hall held a dozen stores selling weaponry, healing herbs, and various other expensive goods. Outside the hall, there were rows of stalls with iconic striped tarpaulin, selling lesser but perhaps more essential goods such as fresh produce, cheap armour, and booze.

The most successful businesses, however, had their own stores on the street front with fierce warriors standing guard outside. In fact, Silas spotted an alarming number of warriors patrolling the square with red armbands, their auras thick with violence. Still, he didn’t intend to start trouble and so didn’t let their presence overly affect him.

After familiarising himself with the layout, he retreated to the edges of the central square, away from the hardpacked stenches of sweat and dirt, browsing the wares more out of curiosity than anything else. It was an hour or so later he struck up a conversation with a blacksmith.

“Do you have any weapons stronger than this?” he asked, gesturing at the swords and maces and axes on show.

The stout man gave him a curious look, and on seeing he was serious, frowned slightly. “Sir, you must be joking. These weapons are all made of ore from the mountain behind us,” he said, starting his practised sales pitch, “Good metal, solid weapons with a proper edge. Not like those System weapons - these will take heads clean off. And since you seem a powerful man, I’ll give you a discount. How about it?”

Silas shook his head with a slight smile - contrary to the blacksmith’s claims, he could tell there was nothing special about the weapons. “I’m alright. Say, do you happen to know of a way to find people?”

“Like people you know?” the blacksmith asked with interest. He seemed bored enough that he was happy to chat. “Right, I’ve heard there’s a Seer who can do that, but he’s under the thumbs of the council. So, if you want to get to him, you’ll have to go through them.”

He then gave Silas a quick rundown of the council, eyeing the redguards warily as he shared his grievances with them in a hushed voice. Despite this, he gradually grew more and more animated until he finally threw caution to the wind and forced Silas to step in and calm him down before any of the redguards noticed. After this, the man made one last feeble attempt at selling his wares, looking drained as the Duellist left.

Silas briefly stopped by an engraver’s shop but figured it wasn’t worth the wait after noticing the snake-like queue leading out from the store. He resolved to come at a later date, preferably early in the morning, and went on his way.

Thankfully, the council building was easy to find as it stood apart from its surroundings in both sheer size and extravagant design. It was a white, multi-story building chequered by panes of darkened glass, its protruding facade held up by spiral pillars. Despite this, what caught his eye the most was it appeared to be built entirely of marble, milky marble with forked, inky impurities akin to dark lightning.

There were people pouring in and out of the building with vetting at the foremost gate, done by the same redguards he had seen around town. Joining the queue, he didn’t have to wait long until he reached the gate.

“Pass your weapons here, including any hidden ones, and give me your name and reason for coming to the council building,” the guard said robotically, reading the script he undoubtedly repeated for hours.

“Silas Wycliffe. I’m an envoy from Riverside here to talk to the council about an alliance.” He figured this would lend him more authority than simply asking for the Seer. Besides, he felt it was a good idea to be allied with a larger human settlement in case Lyfort ever went back on their word.

His words made the guard momentarily blink and stare into blank space as if encountering an internal error. Then, the man came back to his senses and nodded at Silas. “Are you? Well, good for you. Wait to this side and I’ll have someone come get you.”

Just as the guard said, a few minutes later a secretary came to collect him, swiftly leading him to one of the upper floors. Knocking, he entered an office not too dissimilar to Kore Brightmind’s, tastefully furnished while still displaying wealth. A fittingly bookish woman of middling age sat behind a wide oak table, regarding him with a faint smile.

“Silas Wycliffe, an envoy from Riverside and, as you forgot to mention it, also its mayor,” she introduced for him. “I’m Jane, the minister of defence.” While she didn’t have a considerable aura, she carried herself with such confidence that it was clear she was experienced in managerial roles.

“Ah, yes, I was about to mention it,” he replied lamely, wondering what else she knew about Riverside and him. His response wasn’t a lie either as he had planned to mention it, only now he had been caught with his pants down.

She nodded agreeably, meanwhile, her eyes scrutinised him as if trying to glimpse at his soul. “Anyway, it’s splendid you’ve come to us: you can join us in our next council meeting and give your case,” she paused, the specks of light in her eyes flitting playfully. She leaned back into her chair and laced her fingers together atop the table. “But first, I imagine there’s a particular reason why the mayor of Riverside came personally.”

“It was out on my way,” he answered, “I’ve mainly come because I heard you’ve got a Seer who can locate people. I had hoped to ask him to find my family.” He closed his eyes and settled his heart: he felt somewhat naked revealing the true purpose of his trip to a stranger even though there was nothing to be embarrassed about. Either way, he hoped she could relate to his feelings and make things easier for him.

On opening his eyes, he saw her blankly staring at him, only for a brief moment, however, as in the next she wore a downcast expression. “Montigo is all booked up for the month, and even I don’t have the power to force him to take another session. You see, the whole process is very taxing on him.”

“Can I see Montigo and talk to him about that?” Silas asked.

She shook her head with the same expression. “Unfortunately not.” She didn’t expand on the point even as the seconds passed.

Finally, Silas took the bait, “Is there anything I could do? To get a session with Montigo, I mean?”

“Well, I personally have a session organised with him in a week; if you do a few minor tasks for me, I guess I could let you have that,” she said with a wrinkled brow. There was a faint smile on her face, but Silas saw in it the grin of a fox in a chicken coop.

“Alright,” he said, “I’ll do it.” He knew she had played him, but there was nothing he could do. Nothing sensible, at least.

“Perfect,” she replied, going on to explain the details. His first task would be to help with the horde attack in two days, something he would have done anyway as he was in the area. The council would formally meet two days after that to discuss the aftermath, a meeting she said he should come to. Then, he was to do her dirty work and meet Montigo when the week was up. While it wasn’t the ideal plan for him, he considered it a safety net in case his other attempts at meeting Montigo went wrong.

Shortly after they agreed, her secretary returned and gave him a hotel key, explaining that the room was all his for the duration of his stay. By the time he left the council building, the violet sun was chasing the orange out of the sky, pulling a shadowy veil over the world as it passed. He made it to the hotel in a manner of minutes, finding his room clean and, astonishingly enough, with access to hot water, a luxury in this life and his past.

After a shower, he crawled into bed, falling asleep seconds after.

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It must be noted that with sufficient credits, one can build a settlement far greater than the megacities of the past. The System provides everything you could desire and more even while it drags you through the meat grinder.

Giada Marino - Scholar - Intricacies of the System