“Next!” Plume felt his bonds come loose as the gate guard waved the wagons forwards, the sturdy rope falling from his arms and allowing him to drop off the back of the wooden cart.

“Now remember,” Larry said. “Don’t say anything about ships, oceans, seas, sails, boats, pirates, or skimmers. Only pirates say any of that stuff, and the guards here are strict enough on elves without you setting them off. From now on, you’re just a poor half-elf we saved from slavery in the forest. You gotta make up the rest on your own.”

“Got it,” Plume said. “Just a poor boy, from the forest. No, not from the forest… eh… no matter which way I look at it, the only elves around here are the pirates, though.”

“An adventurer!” Larry hissed as they began to walk. “Your mother was an adventurer, and your father a pirate. Make up some sob story and you’ll be fine.”

“What do we have here, then?” the guard asked, taking a scroll from Frederick’s sweaty fingers and skimming over the contents. “Cargo, from the forest of course… medicines and wine?”

“That’s right,” Frederick nodded, patting at his crates. “Mostly wine, of course.”

“Of-” Cecilia began.

Plume flinched as Larry gave her tail a tug to silence her sudden exclamation, and the guard narrowed his eyes at the group before gesturing towards the canine woman.

“You there,” he said. “You’re from the forest, right? What type of wine is this?”

“Eh? I don’t know that kind of stuff,” Cecilia said. “Were we carrying wine?”

Frederick’s hopeful smile dissolved into a grimace of despair, the guard’s frown growing deeper as the beast-woman spoke. Turning around, she shoved Larry aside, clutching her tail protectively.

“That hurt, too,” Cecilia said to the mage. “You have to be gentle if you want to touch my tail.” Already short, Frederick seemed to lose another six inches with a sigh, reaching into his pocket to drop a handful of coins into the guard’s open palm.

“Okay!” the guard replied with a smile. “You’re good to go!” Plume smiled as the armored man waved them forwards, but his grin disappeared when a thickly muscled arm blocked his path through the gate.

“Let me guess,” the guard said. “Your mother was an adventurer, your father was a pirate, and you’re just a poor boy coming to join the guild.”

“Ah…” Plume stared up at the tall human, seeing the sword swing at the human’s hip as he leaned down to look the former pirate in the eyes.

“Save it,” the guard said. “You’re not getting in.”

“Wait a moment.” Geoff was suddenly there, his wagon paused on the way through the looming archway of the gate. The reptilian man grinned up at the guard, reaching out to grasp onto Plume’s left shoulder. “This one’s with me.”

“Oh, that’s fine then, Geoff,” the guard replied, bowing his head ever so slightly toward the unremarkable looking beast merchant. “Have a safe visit.”

Plume followed the lizard-man through the gates, turning back as the guard called out for the next lot of wagons. “Thanks,” he said. “But… what just happened.”

“You just came into my debt,” Geoff said, waving a hand as the young man missed half a step. “Don’t worry, all you have to do is tell the guild Geoff sent you when they ask why you’re there. I’ll get a recruiters fee if you rise up the ranks.”

“Thanks,” Plume repeated with a sigh of relief.

“Oh, as for the guards… They’re supposed to check the crates, but the west gate is always too crowded for that. A little bribe helps grease the wheels.” Geoff grinned as he clambered back onto his wagon, flicking the reins to get the horses moving. “Well, Frederick and I come by rather often, so he probably wouldn’t have asked for a bribe if that forest-dweller had backed up his story.”

“She isn’t the brightest, is she?” Plume asked. “Those brothers neither.”

“Don’t be fooled by the humans,” Geoff warned. “The beast-woman might be simple indeed, but those two are another matter entirely. Nobody lives very long out on the plains unless they have their wits about them.”

…

Manitas City was an oddity in the land, even without it’s placement. The citizens swore fealty to no king, allegiance to no lord, and worshiped no god. Instead, it was ruled by the most widespread of neutral organizations: the adventurer’s guild. The guild protected the city and oversaw trade with the dwarves and beast clans, and the council ruled over the guild in its entirety.

Guild Master Roethus took his seat in the middle of the room, the semi-circular table curving away to surround Christoph and Diana as the council followed suit. Diana looked over the council members, seeing many familiar faces amidst their ranks. Five of the twelve seats were filled by a group of heavily armored and somewhat impatient looking warriors, the Crowns of Flame which represented the combat guilds as they had done five years ago. In contrast, the four robed members of the Silent Chains sat quietly, the mages content to wait for Roethus to speak. One final position would normally have been filled by the most suitable candidate from the unpartied adventurers, but two people sat side by side in that space. Were they a party of two, or was one only here to support the other?

“Let’s begin with the introductions,” Roethus said, leaning away from the table to rest against the tall back of his ornately carved chair. “As you know, I am Roethus, master of the guild in Manitas City.”

“I am Serana,” the unfamiliar woman said. Serana? Diana spent a moment digging through her memories before deciding she’d never heard of her. “I represent the many unorganized adventurers in the city.”

“I am Gilder, leader of the Crowns of Flame.” The oldest warrior in the party, Gilder was enormous for a human, multitudes of scars layering his face and what other patches of skin were visible beneath his armor. “We represent the combat parties, both in and around the city.”

“Harold,” one of the mages said, raising his hand. A reptilian? Besides Geoff, Diana had seldom seen their kind outside of the swamps of their homeland. “The Silent Chains represent the production based parties in the city.”

“Very well,” Roethus replied, turning towards his guests. “To begin, please state your name and place of birth.”

“I am Diana,” the elf said with a raised eyebrow. “Born of the Milwood, although I can no longer claim the forest as my home.”

“My name is Christoph Smith,” Christoph said. “I go by Christoph in this world, although I was born in another.”

“You are the Christoph summoned by the Church of the Creator?” Serana asked with a frown. Had Roethus known this man was coming to the city? Turning her head, she saw the other adventurers engaging in discussions amongst their respective parties. To her side, her partner frowned in shared concern.

“The church declared you a demon, then.” It was Gilder who spoke, his party sitting alongside him. “Why should we let you into our city?”

“The church was mistaken,” Christoph replied. “I am more akin to the crystal beasts than the spawn of Tempter.”

“Even so,” Harold said, “the guild’s relationship with the church is… strenuous at best, and it has only gotten worse since you slew one of our ambassadors.”

“That was never something I wanted,” Christoph replied. “I had no wish to fight Henry to begin with, and I will not apologize for refusing to die. A duel is a duel.”

“Relations with the church are not an issue here,” Roethus said, raising a hand to cut off Diana’s reply. “First and foremost, we must be certain you are not what the church claims you are. Manitas City abides by the rules of the Convention, and we cannot afford to anger the dwarves or the forest clans at any cost.”

“Although I respect his grit, I say we throw him out,” Gilder said. “Even if he isn’t a demon, Manitas City is no place for a monster.”

“I’m still human,” Christoph said, glaring over at Diana as she began to chuckle softly. “I just eat the crystal monsters instead of the normal animals.”

“What proof do you have?” Harold asked, scales glimmering as the lizard-man threaded his fingers together in front of his face.

Christoph rose from his seat, shedding his cloak pulling his tunic off to bare his torso. Diana suppressed her eye-roll with a sigh. Boys did like to show off their chests, after all. The council stared over at the crystal-studded human as he turned to show them his back, gemstones gleaming where they had grown from his bones to break through his skin.

The gems had spread somewhat since she had met him in the forest, crystals covering his right shoulder and shoulder blade in addition to those on his knuckles and elbow. Perhaps they would continue to spread with time, or they could be tied to the amount of mana he accumulates at once? Diana shook her head. If the world serpent was involved in this, there was still no sign of it.

“This is proof enough for me,” Roethus said, allowing Christoph to don his clothes once more. “A demon would be unable to produce mana crystals, being a fundamentally spiritual being. This man is most certainly a corporeal existence.”

“Fine,” Gilder said. “The guild takes on anyone who wishes to join. Assuming Roethus is pushing for acceptance, the vote hereby passes. We can discuss his tentative rank some other time. For now, let’s get on with the real issue at hand.”

“Is that my cue?” Diana asked. “Or is there something else you like to chat about?”

“Diana the Researcher,” Gilder said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Five years ago, you abandoned your quest and your duties to the guild. As an adventurer of the highest order, this carries a heavy penalty in itself, but to also have disappeared without a word to the council… what do you have to say for yourself?”

“I wasn’t even aware I was being sanctioned until recently,” the elf replied. “I did kill the dragon, after all. Rather than fleeing my failure, I was simply playing around for a while before coming to collect my reward.”

“There is no reward for you,” Harold said, scaled brows lowering as a frown covered his human-looking face. “The dragon was slain by the Creator’s Church. One of their Paladins, a Sir Claude, took the title of dragonslayer.”

“Claude was an acquaintance of mine,” Diana said. “I’m sure he never said so, but it’s true nonetheless. Did you really think that any human could have slain that wyrm alone?”

“Of course that’s what we thought, but what we thought does not matter,” Roethus said. “You had a duty to report back to the city. Do you know how many people died when the pirates got word of your disappearance?”

“I don’t control the pirates,” Diana said. “Shouldn’t you instead be thanking me for the years I kept your highways safe?”

“This is not a joke!” Serana’s partner rose from his seat, fists thumping down on the thick timber of the table. “People were killed!”

“Sit, Farrow,” Serana said. “This is not the place.”

“No,” Harold said. “He might not have added to the discussion, but Farrow is correct. If the council was to welcome Diana back with open arms, it would be a disgrace towards those who once relied on her for protection. Even now, the citizens look skyward and shiver whenever a sandstorm rolls over the city. The people have lost faith in the guild because of your actions, Diana.”

“You cannot afford to ignore me now,” Diana said. “Manitas City is not the Milwood.”

“I have an idea.” Roethus readjusted his spectacles, feathers bobbing on his eccentrically decorated collar as he moved. “There’s way for Diana to regain the trust of the people, and repay her debt towards the guild at once.”

Laughter burst out from Diana’s left, and she turned to see Gilder sitting back in his chair as he roared. “Roethus you bastard,” he said. “Is this what you had planned, then?”

“I second the motion,” Serana said, raising her hand to display her vote. What motion? Diana turned back to see Roethus grinning back at her from behind his glasses, Harold’s reptilian visage remaining decisively blank.

“You see,” Roethus said, “we’ve been having some trouble with the northern highway for some time now. It seems that the Ouroboros’ newest hatchling has decided to make the sand pits its home.”

“You want me to kill another dragon?” Diana asked. A wyrm in the sand pits?

“It does make sense,” Christoph said, ignoring the daggers she glared in his direction. “It was a dragon subjugation quest that you abandoned, after all.”

“Don’t worry,” Serana said, smiling at Diana’s expression of outrage. “It’s not like we’d make you go alone. You managed to slay the last one with the help of a Paladin, right? In that case, we could send one of the gold ranked adventurers along with you.”

“On that note, Christoph here is most impressive,” Roethus said. “Defeated Sir Henry in a duel, as well as surviving a fight against the Executioner Gideon and Dragonslayer Claude himself. Also defeated the Guardian of the Forest, destroyed the pirate ship Charodontia, and slew both the captain of the Charodontia and the Landshark’s Regret. I hereby move to bestow Christoph with the rank of Gold.”

“I second that motion,” Serana said, holding up her hand again. “Presumably, you like to volunteer for aiding Diana in her quest? I wish you both the best of luck.” Diana turned towards her companion, already fully aware of what his answer to that statement would be.

“No way,” Christoph said, shaking his head at Serana’s proposition. “The only reason I was travelling with her was because I couldn’t find a way to make her leave me alone. I told her not to follow me here in the first place.”