The green eyed elf frowned in response to what Richard had said. “Cough… Ehem… I would prefer it you would not use that term, adventurer. I am an astori, just like you are a human. So, please use the proper terminology.” Richard just gaped at the man… elf… astori… whatever and his magic ball of light. The elf fidgeted a bit and asked, “Are you alright, adventurer?”

“Maybe he’s still addled. Or maybe whas’ left of ‘is brain got fried by the wand.” The familiar high pitched voice jolted Richard back to his senses, and he looked to the right of the ast… aster… elf.

Richard made out the familiar looking little person from before. “You! You bastard! You tazed me!” Almost reflexively, he tried to reach through the bars to grab the little guy, who was partially hidden in the shadows. Unfortunately, the midget was too far away, and he moved even further away.

The high pitched voice spoke up again, almost whiningly. “See, Finovin, I told you he was a violent one. See how he’s tryin’ to attack me. That’s why I had to use the wand on him. He was refusin’ to comply wih my orders.”

Richard stopped trying to lunge through the bars for a second and pieced together what the midget had just said. Suddenly, he felt angrier than he had ever been. “What is this? A cop frame up or something? Refusing to comply my ass! That midget over there chased me with his stupid gryphon and almost tore off my head. Then, he got down and yelled some shit I didn’t understand. When I finally figured it out, he was already pointing his damn stick, wand… whatever at me and blasting me!” Richard had no clue if there was such a thing as unlawful arrest or excessive violence by law enforcement in the World Labyrinth, but he wasn’t going to let the damn midget get away with it.

The elf sighed and sideways at the little person, who was now completely hidden off to the side. “Welks, this is the fifth time this week I’ve gotten a complaint about you. Consider yourself on report, and you’re no longer authorized to carry your wand. Return it to the armory until I approve its use again. Do you understand?”

The high pitched voice belonging to Welks indignantly replied, “Oh yes… you big lummoxes always stick together don’t ya. Well, I…”

“Welks! I will not repeat myself.” The elf’s face turned hard for a second, and Richard realized the elf was definitely more dangerous than the midget.

A quiet, grumbling reply came back. “Yes sir.” After that, Richard heard light foots steps fading away.

Finally looking back at Richard, the elf said, “As for you, adventurer, it seems you are very unfamiliar with things around here since you were surprised by my appearance. Usually, I wouldn’t waste my time in here, but you intrigue me. Consider this your opportunity to convince me to let you out.”

When the elf didn’t say anything more and just stood there as though expecting an explanation, Richard sighed and told an abbreviated version of his story, leaving out some of the dramatic stuff.

After Richard finished, there was a moment of silence, before the elf said, “It seems as though you had a good amount of bad luck. But… I can see no real lies in what you’ve told me. We are familiar with the name Martin. He has a… mixed reputation but nothing bad. Very well, I can release you once you’ve paid your fines.”

Richard smiled in gratitude until he realized what the elf had said. “Fines?”

The elf, who was unlocking the prison door raised one of his eyebrows in question. “Yes. Fines. You used the node without authorization. It was locked dozens of years ago as per the Serenthal City Council’s orders due to its proximity to the city. You never know when a horde of monsters might use it to invade through. Your friend, Martin must have overridden the lock somehow… most likely with an artifact. “

When Richard just stared in confusion, the elf sighed. “There are very few nodes, and they can be dangerous due to what they can do. However, more importantly, they are a large source of revenue for the various powers that control them. When you used the node near the city, you not only broke the law, but you also have to pay a fine for using it illegally. That’s why Welks… umm… arrested you.”

Leaving aside the part where the elf actually said ‘arrested,’ Richard couldn’t help but feel he was being taken advantage of by the guards or whoever they were. It seemed bureaucrats were the same everywhere. “So… what’s the fine?”

The elf opened the cell gate and said, “20 gold should be fine. Come with me, and I’ll write you a receipt once you pay.”

Richard wondered how much 20 gold was in the World Labyrinth but suddenly had an uncomfortable feeling it was quite a bit. “Umm… I don’t exactly have any money.”

The elf, who had been turning around to lead the way, stopped and faced back towards Richard while still holding his floating, liquidy ball of light. “No money… that is very… unfortunate… Of course you wouldn’t… now I wonder… “ After looking Richard up and down for a bit, the elf sighed and said, “There may be some ways for you to work off the fines. Also, you’re going to need some money if you plan on staying in the city. We also don’t look too kindly on… vagabonds. Just follow me, and we’ll see what we can get set up for you.”

Richard nervously followed the elf, while glancing into the dingy, dark cells that they walked past. He saw shapes of people curled up on their stone beds, but most of the cells were empty. It was a bit weird, especially when he noticed that some of the cells had had rusty bars, never mind missing the metal bars completely in some cases. As for the grime covered floor that seemed to move in places, Richard avoided looking at it as much as possible. Even he felt something go ‘squish’ under his shoes, he adamantly avoided looking down.

Ahead of them, there was a doorway with bright sunlight filtering through a small, barred view port. The elf banged on the sturdy looking door, until a bearded face looked through the port. The face vanished as quickly as it appeared and the door swung open, creaking loudly. Outside, it was bright... with a wide hallway leading to an open yard of some kind. Richard squinted as walked through the doorway, avoiding the burly man standing off to the side. Like the elf, the burly man was wearing some kind of blue and green patterned tabard over his clothes.

When Richard looked at him, the large, square jawed man growled and crossed his arms. Richard quickly looked away and sped up to keep up with the elf, who was striding down the hallway. There were a couple other hallways off to the side as well, and more men, including a handful of elves were busy going about their business. All of them were wearing the green and blue tabards, and more than a few of them had sheathed swords belted to their waists.

More importantly, there was large variety to all their features: black hair, blonde hair, brown hair, red hair, beards, smooth chins, sharp noses, broad noses, green eyes, blue eyes, black eyes, brown eyes, brown skin, pale skin, black skin…. the list went on and on. It was like being back in some city in the United States. Richard began to relax a bit since he didn’t look too different from any of them, except being a little skinnier.

The large yard they entered had dozens of ‘guardsmen’ as Richard was starting to think of them. All of them were armored in a mix of brigandine, chainmail, and plate armor and were pummeling straw dummies with swords, spears, halberds, axes, maces, and a half a dozen other weapons he couldn’t recognize. None of them paid much attention to the elf or Richard as they made their way across the yard.

At the far end, they encountered two fully armored guardsmen, lounging on either side of a sturdy looking wooden door. The moment they caught sight of the elf, they stood up straight and saluted, thumping their clenched left fists against their steel cuirasses. Both men wore helmets that only revealed what their chins and eyes looked like, and they stared straight ahead as though they were on inspection. The elf didn’t pause and just pushed open the door and strode through.

Richard glanced at the men as he passed them, a little intimidated at their suddenly forceful presence. Inside, it was a bit different. The well lit hall had dozens of desks and people, including some, who were wearing ordinary clothes. It looked like… some kind of office or maybe even medieval police station. The buzzing noise of people speaking rose and fell. Richard peeked at all the different people, keeping an eye and ear out for anything curious.

That’s when something… someone caught his eyes. Just as he was walking past one wooden desk, Richard found himself locking gazes with a little, brown haired kid. Of course, the kid had a small, triangular face with a cute, button like nose and green colored, innocent seeming eyes. He was dressed in a mini blue and green tabard as well and was holding a metal quill that seemed one size too big for him. There was something awfully familiar about the kid… hmm… Richard stopped and stared at the boy, and the boy stared back, tilting his head a little……. before smiling a nasty smile.

Richard suddenly recognized him. “You….!”