The cavern’s roof was covered in a layer of bright blue and orange glowing moss that illuminated the city below in an ethereal light. The city itself was full of bright glowing lights ranging from hot pink to subtle greens. It reminded me of a massive urban city’s downtown filled with restaurants or strange little mom and pop shops.

The buildings were all clumped together, stacked on top of each other and looked like it was built out of whatever was on hand at the time. Stoic stone front buildings with slate rooftops were beside mud brick shacks and wooden log cabins. The hustle and bustle were audible even this far away as well as the scent of hops from a brewery at the edge of the city.

“Wow, I didn’t think anything this huge could be hidden.” I marvelled.

“This place is almost as big as Dastow, how have you kept it hidden?” Lin asked.

The pint sized goblin girl grinned and started to walk down a stone stairwell getting us to follow her. Glowing mushrooms in the wall lit up the stairwell with bright multicoloured light and made our guide look like she was covered in polka dots.

Knowledge World : Success!

Glowshrooms are a common sight underground, these illuminating fungi are a mainstay in many underground cultures. They provide a source of light as well as an ingredient to alchemy or cooking. They are naturally toxic and require some processing before they are safe to consume.

+2 XP gained.

“Wyrmbreath has been goblin kinds greatest city, it used to be under Raddagar the Black’s rule. He made it just for us as his workshop and we have lived here ever since. When the thieves guild got expelled from Dastow and started pulling in old favours, our king decided it was time to open up and let the coin roll in.” Tiff said.

Lin chimed in. “I wondered where the hot ticket items we stole went. I guess the thieves guild was always working with the goblins but were just tight lipped about it.”

Tiff laughed. “Oh sister, we have been working hand in hand for decades now. The king just made it formal.”

I looked around at the vast scope of the underground seeing the cavern stretch in all directions for miles. It must have taken years to hollow out the ground enough to make all this space, even with the minions. If Raddagar needed a whole city to manufacture items then he must have had quite the army and territory under his control.

“What’s that outside the city?” Rolada asked, her hand over brow. “It looks like a bunch of tents.”

“Some refugees without any money, the king lets them stay outside the walls and sends them the day old bread or whatever people want to donate. It stays warm enough down here during the winter so they won’t freeze.” Tiff said with a shrug of her shoulders.

As we got closer to the city my heart fell seeing the massive tent city outside it. Beast-kin like Lin and Rolada huddled together in ragged clothes, clutching each other for warmth. Dwarves sat together shoulder to shoulder holding signs offering to work for food. It wasn’t just some refugees, it was a full on crisis. There had to be over a hundred families begging for aid and I felt terrible seeing them this way.

There was a tug on my sleeve as Lin hovered near me. Her voice came out as a barely audible whisper and I had to strain to hear her. “Listen I can see you want to help but we need to focus on ourselves right now. We need to use the money we have for food and supplies or we won’t even make it through the winter, got it?”

I nodded but felt like I had torn a piece of my heart out in doing so. As Tiff led us towards the gates we had to weave around the dense network of tents just to reach it. There was a small fence around the edge of the dense tent cluster making a wide space between the walled city and the refugees. The final tent we had to pass was larger and nicer than the others, on its side was a green coloured symbol of a great tree.

I couldn’t help but take a look inside and saw rows of beds filled with people. The strong scent of sickness and strong cleaning agents assaulted my senses, making my eyes water. Behind me I could hear Lin whisper to Rolada but before I could turn around a small hand grabbed at my wrist.

A tiny black haired cat girl looked up to me wrapped up in a stained threadbare cloak. She looked at me with unfocused eyes and swayed on her feet. She looked terribly tired and under fed.

“Sir, do you have anything to eat, or money to spare?” she asked.

“Rose, please leave the man alone.” A woman croaked from a nearby bed. She weakly held out her hand to the girl.

Despite Lin’s advice I slid a few tarnished silver coins into the girl's hand and pushed her towards what I assumed was her mother. The girl started to weep and hugged me before stumbling over to show the woman what was in her hand. The two of them embraced and I turned to leave not wanting to spoil the scene.

A woman tried to enter the tent as I was heading out and we bumped into each other. She was a hair shorter than me with two fuzzy ears above her head and a thick grey furred tail behind her. The lines under her eyes told me she hadn’t been sleeping well the past few days and her fangs were visible telling me she wasn’t happy either.

“Watch where you're going, human or are you having fun mocking the ill beast-kin your kind kicked out to the wilds?” She barked.

“Sorry, honestly I was just taking a look. What is this place?” I asked.

She looked past me to see the tears of joy on the face of Rose. The woman’s aggression instantly vanished and she sniffed me once. Pushing me out of the way she went to talk to the two of them before returning to me.

“My apologies human, may Heinekia see you blessed for your generosity.” The woman said, bowing to me. “This is a healer's tent, as a priestess to her divine grace I am doing all I can to keep these people alive. Though I fear my limited mana points aren't enough.”

“Can you get them medicine or potions for their ailments?” I asked.

“I’m one of the few refugees they allow in the city without any hassle, but I have no coin to purchase anything and even if I do starvation is more of a concern.” She said, crossing her arms. “Rose is a little sweetheart. That money you gave her will probably be used on others before a morsel of food touches her lips.”

I knew our budget was slim but seeing the ill girl broke any resolve I had. I dug into my bag and started to fish out all the coins.

“Would this be enough?” I asked.

The woman looked at me in shock but moved in closer to see what I had. I put the pile of coins I had in her hands until they were overflowing. The priestess was at a complete loss of what to say to me as it seemed she doubted what she was seeing.

“This is… a charity I would have never expected. I would bless you but…” She said in a hoarse voice, her emotions wavering.

“Keep your spells for these people. I just hope it can help.” I said.

“Enough to aid these people and feed many mouths. Please if you are ever in trouble know you are safe among us.” she said tearfully.

I slipped away and found Rolada looking around the tents. The fox girl spun around and ran up to me, taking me by the hand. She marched us towards the gate of the city with Lin standing there tapping her foot.

“Found him Lin.” Rolada beamed. “Tiff got bored of waiting and went back to the entrance.”

“I swear Josh, don’t make me get a leash and collar for you.” Lin said, rubbing her temples. “What were you doing?”

“Helping a priestess of Heinekia heal the sick. I know you said not to help but I figured if I gave it to her then the money would be used by someone who could help the most.” I said.

I expected Lin to give me her usual retorts but instead the cat girl looked at the tent in question, visibly worried. She gave me a light punch on the shoulder and a sad smile.

“Well I guess we made the right choice with you Josh.” Lin said. She grabbed me by the collar and dragged me towards the gates. “I’m serious about the leash now, I turned around for one minute and you gave away half your loot.”

“Well I already got a collar.” I said in a joking tone.

Rolada’s ears shot up and she laughed into her sleeve, jogging to catch up with us. As we filled into a line outside the gates Rolada tugged at my bag as I saw curiosity take her. Figuring they might have more of an idea of what the collar was I took it out to show her.

“I got this from a stag hare, know anything about it?” I asked.

Rolada got on her tiptoes to whisper into my ear. “It’s a control collar, most of them are put on beasts to enslave them.”

“What do you mean most?” I asked.

Rolada pushed it out of my hands back into the bag. From her firm expression and nod of her head towards the refugee camp I got the picture. I looked at it with a bit of worry, that meant someone had specifically sent the stag hare, but if that was the case why did nothing happen because of it in the past few days?

I didn’t like the sound of it and pulled out my dagger, cutting the stone off the collar. As I did so a jolt zapped my arm causing me to nearly scream out. I bit down on my makeshift cloak as I fought against the stinging pain feeling my arm go slightly numb. The fabric collar had writing behind where the orange stone had been and after being exposed they evaporated away.

Knowledge Arcane : Success!

The mana crystal forms as the focal point of which the item's magic is channelled allowing non magic users to use it. When a mana crystal is removed from an item the spell it is used to power can short out resulting in the item becoming completely inert.

+2 XP gained.

Well good riddance I say. The orange stone still had a bit of energy under its surface which meant it was still good to use. I hoped it counted as a minor magical item so I could sacrifice it for my crystal or use it for something else.

“Josh, you got one of the things we need for the baths.” Rolada said. “I can help you use your fire magic on it so we can have a heating crystal.”

“It’s that easy huh? Sure, I wouldn’t mind a little study session when we get back.” I said.

“Come on nerds, stop flirting, we are up next.” Lin teased.

The gates had a cut out with a booth in it and sitting inside behind some glass was an imposing orc. He would have been imposing if he wasn’t squished inside the tiny booth with his arms barely able to move around the space.

“Alright show your character sheets, need your name, race and class. No funny business you hear me?” He said, his voice booming inside the small space.

In turn we each showed him our basic info with me hiding my keeper status. The orc took out tiny paper booklets and jotted down our names with incredible penmanship. He then stamped each booklet with a rubber stamp and slid it out to us.

“Adventurers get the first day pass for free, you will find inside the fees if you want to come by again.” The orc said, clearly bored as he waved us in. “Feel free to start a fight inside. I've been looking for some entertainment all week.”

His toothy grin at that statement made me pale, between the sides of the booth stretching to accommodate his size and the gleeful grin at the thought of combat I knew he was a cut above us. All the gate house guards looked more like armoured thugs than peacekeepers. As we went inside I heard one of them laugh behind me.

The district we entered first must have been the shopping street. As far as we could see there were crammed together stores with brightly lit signs inviting us in, discount signs posted on their storefronts and displays in their windows. If anything I felt more at home here than anywhere I had been so far.

At the edge of the shopping street there was one building that truly stood out. A mammoth of a store made of shining stone and a huge sigh lit up so brightly I felt like I was staring at the sun. On the sign with each letter bigger than a man it read Tired Lad.

“I hate super huge stores like that, it really hurts the little shops and the variety you can find.” Lin said. She mumbled under her breath. “Harder to steal from too.”

“Tired Lad is cheap but their stuff isn’t great, we should try the other stores first.” Rolada said, turning her nose up.

“Come on down to Rodney’s hidden store of wonders, buy today for ten percent off your first purchase!” A dwarf in the street yelled.

He wore a wooden sign on his chest and back for the shop as he paraded up and down the street trying to hand out filers. His voice was higher pitched than Sten’s and his beard was much shorter and well trimmed. As he got closer I saw acne spots on his face and realized the guy was only a teenager.

“What do you guys sell?” I asked him, waving to get his attention.

“Discount magical goods, bulk goods and anything else you can order sir. Step right in and be amazed, you won’t leave empty handed!” The teenager said.

We took a filer from him and flipped through the pages, the little paper booklet felt cheap and it tore easily in my hands. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the items on offer but if it had variety it could be a good start for us.

We walked down the street until we found the store but the front of it was much less inviting than the others. The lights in the sign had blown out, the window was boarded up with crude crass graffiti covering it and the door had an axe buried in it. The building was small too, barely as large as the small houses over my dungeon.

“Wow what a dump, but the stuff should be cheap though, so let's check it out.” Lin said, pulling us towards the door.

“Lin, no thieving. The guards here are huge and I can only cast a few spells.” I whispered.

“Never in a million years would such a thought cross my mind.” Lin huffed.

We opened the door and found a very different space than I expected. The store was massive, with a vaulted ceiling so high I could barely make out the masterful artwork covering it. A beautiful painting of a nude angelic woman opened her wings and arms to rain down a shower of golden stars down onto a village with goblins reaching up to catch them.

The store was three stories tall with the middle of it open to see the stacked up floors and the rows of shelving covering everything as far as the eye could see. Over top of the shelves were signs of what was in them but the dizzying array was too much to handle. I felt like I had been dropped into the love child of a mega mall and a catholic cathedral.

“Welcome, welcome new friends!” A voice called above.

A green flash dive bombed us and we dove out of the way just in time to avoid getting struck. It crashed behind us and a shelf collapsed, spilling a few hundred pounds of clay pottery onto the floor. The dusty debris then shifted and a goblin appeared in a bright flash over the mess.

“Welcome to my store, I’m Rodeny the Great. But you all probably knew that.” The goblin said.

He raked his fingers through his greased back black hair and straightened out his long floppy green ears. He then put onto his head a great wide brimmed blue hat decorated with silver stars. He also wore a loose maroon bathrobe over a white muscle shirt and boxers.

“Sorry I don’t think they mentioned you at the academy.” Rolada said. “But I loved your entrance!”

“Thank you my dear, and I’m sure it was simply an oversight in your curriculum. Now tell me how I can take your coin- I mean be of service.” Rodney grinned.

Lin took out a shopping list we had made and handed it to the goblin. Instead of reading it he rolled it up and ran it under his nose as he inhaled deeply. He smacked his lips and bobbed his head a few times as his eyes started to cross.

“Quite the list, but we should have everything except the silk cloth in stock. Damn Tired Lad executives bought up everything in a ten mile radius.” Rodney scoffed, tossing the list back to Lin. He raised a fist and screamed. “To the counter!”

He vanished from sight in a puff of smoke and reappeared in the air over a huge wood counter top at the very middle of the store. He then started to fall and Rolada beside me gasped as we watched the Goblin plummet to his death. At the last second he snapped his fingers and softly drifted down onto his feet.

“Great, we have to buy from a wizard. A crazy showboating wizard.” Lin seethed.

“I think she means it’s going to be too hard to shoplift from him.” Rolada giggled into my ear.

As we approached the counter random goods flew above us rearranging themselves on shelves or gently drifting down onto the counter top. By the time we crossed the store to him just about everything we needed was nearly stacked up and packaged for us. Rodney then hopped up onto the counter and slapped the pile with his hand nearly toppling it.

“Everything packaged and padded for the journey. For an additional fee of five silver I can also lend an enchanted cart that will follow you along. That baby can ford any river and climb any mountain you need.” Rodney said, dancing on the spot and ending it with a hand flourish handing us the bill.

“A hundred gold pieces?” Lin screamed. “Are you bloody mad, this stuff is worth at most seventy.”

“Well sweetheart if you haven't seen there's a crisis going on. Trade lines are disrupted and the market must adjust.” Rodney said, shrugging his shoulders.

Lin hissed and threw the bill back at him. “Fuck it, come on guys we are going to Tired Lad.”

Rodney jumped down running around Lin to cut her off. “Let’s not get to hasty sweetheart–”

Lin grabbed him by the throat and the goblin’s cheeks bulged out. She growled and said. “Call me that again and we will see how easy magic is when you're missing all your fingers.”

“Sorry.” Rodney wheezed. After Lin dropped him he dusted himself off and held out a new piece of paper. “I do have a simple quest for you three, and in exchange you can have all this.”

Rolada took a look at the sheet and asked. “Is this stuff legal?”

I peaked over her shoulder and saw a huge outstanding bill. From materials to food and water, and a section for magical items. There was a vast list of mana crystals to enchanted glassware and more that I couldn’t even wrap my head around.

“You see I filled this customer's order and they cancelled the payment as soon as it reached their door. Torched my best goons- I mean employees. Now they are on sick leave and I’m out of stock and gold. So I want you to go there and get either the product back or the money.” Rodney said.

“You want us to be repo thugs?” Lin asked. “Hasn’t been the first time I’ve had to shake up a penny pincher before.”

“I'd rather just buy what we can afford and head back.” I said.

“Oh and did I mention I’ll offer a discount right now on some gear?” Rodney said.

“Who are we going to get the stuff from?” Rolada asked, her ears flat and her expression skeptical.

“Oh just a…mad mage squatting on an old monastery.” Rodney said.

Lin grabbed Rolada’s hand and my collar dragging us outside. She spat out insults over her shoulder in a dark language I couldn’t understand. When we reached the street again she slammed the door shut behind her.

“No fucking way are we walking into that. Let’s sell the trinkets and see what else we can find elsewhere.” Lin said.

“It’s getting pretty late so we should find an inn too.” Roalda said, rubbing under her eyes. “I could do with a bite to eat too.”

“I think we are an upgrade or two away from trying a quest like that.” I said.

I just hoped we had enough cash to get most of what we needed, and that my heartfelt action didn’t screw us over.