Lucas remained quiet as he and his father followed the new guard captain into his office. The office, still under construction, was attached to the new gatehouse and like the gatehouse was made of the same gray stone. Lucas noticed glyphs drawn in chalk on the inside of the gate that were not carved yet into the stone and activated by an [Enchanter]. They had only been gone a few weeks and yet so much had changed.

Lucas noticed work going on inside the village as well, but he didn’t have time to focus on it as they were quickly inside and the door was shut to grant a small amount of privacy. The captain sat behind his desk and shifted a stack of papers, the only thing on the desk aside from a pen and ink well, to the side so that he could lean forward on his elbows and place his chin onto his massive fists.

“So, tell me who you are, where you are from if you’re not a resident of the Sucro Barony, and why you think there are gobs migrating,” said the large captain without any preamble.

“I’m Stan Hunter. I live half a day’s ride from here on the edge of the beast range and didn’t get a notification when the Barony was founded,” Stan paused for a moment before continuing. “I know there are gobs migrating,” he said with emphasis, “because I saw them and killed about fifty of the damned things.”

The captain’s eyes narrowed as Stan added emphasis to his words. Obviously, he had not been briefed on the surly [Hunter] when he took over the position.

“Well, Mr. Hunter. Let me be the first to welcome you back to Emmit’s Lake and the Sucro Barony. An [Identification Card] is required to purchase goods or services or enter the barony. If you don’t have one, the barony has gone to great expense to have the Adventurer’s Guild bring one of their Identification Orbs and set up a temporary office for the purpose of creating [Identification Card]s for visitors to the city at a reduced cost.

“Please stop by the new city hall and present your [Identification Card] to the clerk there. He will check the name on your [Identification Card] against the rolls of Baronial residents. You will need to apply for a license to buy or sell trade goods in the city if you aren’t a resident,” said the captain.

“Your claim about the gob migration will need to be verified by a licensed hunter before a request from the city will be sent to the Norvos Adventurer’s Guild. If that’s all you have for me, then I will have to ask that you refrain from threatening my guards. I overlooked it this time as you are clearly not aware of the changes to the city and surrounding area and because the guard should not have attempted to confiscate any items without going through the proper procedure. He will be reprimanded,” there was a pause before he continued. “Any future infractions of a similar nature will not be taken so lightly,” said the captain in an obvious dismissal of both Stan and his claim sat back in his chair and picked up one of the pieces of paper he had set aside when Stan and Lucas had entered.

“Before I go,” said Stan. “What happened to Captain Jenkins?”

“Mr. Jenkins,” said the new captain with emphasis on the first word, “was released from duty with a handsome bonus for his retirement. Baron Sucro felt that his own people were better suited to manage the transition of a ‘simple’ village into a center for trade in the kingdom.”

Stan nodded his head, placed his hand on his son’s shoulder, and headed for the door. Their cart was just outside, having been thoroughly searched by the guards and cleared of any contraband. They both mounted the seat without saying anything and Stan lead their cart towards the inn that they had stayed in previously.

As they entered the inn, Lucas noted that not much had changed inside. Blake still stood behind the bar. He was just as large as Lucas remembered and just as bald. Lucas wondered briefly if the man waxed his head since the light seemed to reflect off of his dome with a certain intensity that Lucas didn’t really expect.

He spent the briefest of moments inspecting the massive innkeeper before immediately searching the room for his true love. Helga was still as beautiful as he remembered. He wasn’t sure how much time passed while he stared at her working her way through the lunch crowd like a dancer, but the negotiations between his father and Blake were over and they headed back out of the inn.

The cart was gone, but Lucas assumed that it was in the stables since Stan didn’t panic. They just turned to the right and made their way down the street on foot. The streets were relatively dry. Made of packed earth instead of expensive cobblestones like one would find in a true city in near the center of the kingdom.

Lucas made sure to stay near his father as they walked down the street, past the fountain that he and the other children had played at on his last visit, and up the main street towards one of the areas with the most activity.

Lucas had never seen the town hall, now a city hall, before, but it appeared as if the new baron was working furiously to upgrade the facilities in the village. Outside there was scaffolding and lots of banging and sawing as a crew worked on expanding the hall. The town hall was still functional with a set up steps leading to a large room where meetings could take place. To the side was a hall that led to a set of four offices.

Stan walked to the first office and rapped on the door frame. The door was open and a small man sat behind a desk covered in paperwork.

“Excuse me,” said Stan. “I need to speak with whoever’s in charge of the tax rolls. The captain of the guard sent me to speak to him.”

The small man looked up and spoke with a nasally, almost whiny, voice. “That’ll be Mr. Crinshaw. He’s in the last door on the right.” He then went back to his enormous stack of paperwork without giving Stan and Lucas a second thought.

Stan and Lucas stepped back and headed down the hall past two more offices before stopping at the last one. This door was closed so they had to knock and wait. After a few seconds, Stan knocked again. Ten more seconds later with no response and Stan reached out and tested the knob.

The door opened without resistance to reveal a broom cupboard that had been converted into an office. There was a desk, but the person sitting behind it must have had to climb either over or under it to get behind it. It was either that or it was put together with the poor guy behind it already and he lived there now, thought Lucas. Their intrusion went unnoticed as the man was dead asleep with his face down. The desk was orderly and neat, with not a single item out of place. The pens were placed in their holder, in descending order of length, next to the ink well. There was a small folder placed in a rack designed for folders to sit. There was just one thing out of place about the desk.

Sitting in the center, in pride of place, was a small name plate that was poorly made from a block of wood and lopsided. On it, the name Mr. Crinshaw carved by either a dyslexic adult or a small child. The C and S were backwards, and the name started at the bottom of the plate and ended at the top, running at a diagonal.

Stan waited for a moment and then loudly cleared his throat and then waited for a few more seconds because there was still no response from the sleeping clerk. With a small sigh, Stan pulled something out of his pocket and threw it at the man. The small pebble, almost perfect for a sling, bounced off of the man’s head and fell to the floor behind him.

The man came awake almost instantly and with a violent outburst.

“I was on my mandated break! I only had my eyes closed for five minutes!” he yelled before realizing that his visitor wasn’t his boss but was instead Stan. “Oh! Excuse me, I didn’t hear the door.”

“I could tell,” replied Stan. “I was told to report to you so you could check my [Identification Card] against the tax rolls to prove I don’t live in your barony.”

“Oh, I can definitely do that. It’s a fairly common request for the Norvos Merchant Guild. Please, give me your [Identification Card] and I’ll update it to show your citizenship status,” said the small clerk.

Stan handed over the card and the clerk just stood staring at it for a moment before handing it back to Stan.

“You’re all set,” he said. “You are not currently a citizen of the barony.. On the back you will now notice the Sucro coat of arms next to the Royal crest with a mark through it indicating you have been registered as a non-resident in our barony. You are prohibited from buying or selling any of the items from the beast range and will be assessed an additional tax for any items you buy or sell in the city,” he said as if he was reading from a memorized script. “For large purchases or trade goods, you will need to purchase a [Trade License]. The entire list of items that require a license is available upon request.”

“How much is a [Hunter’s License]?” asked Stan. Selling items from the beast range was his primary source of income.

“A [Hunter's License] costs 25 gold and is good for 5 years. It also provides you with the same benefits as a [Trade License] so you save 5 gold.”

“That’s ridiculous!” said Stan. “That’s more than a year’s wages for most folk. I’ll just go to Norvos instead. It’s only five days by cart. So this [Hunter's License] only gives me ‘permission’ to hunt in the beast range and trade here in the village?” asked Stan.

“Yes, though most who need to purchase a License are residents who are prohibited from trading directly with Norvos,” said the clerk. “I’m not certain how you aren’t a resident. Anybody who travels here rather than Norvos probably lives close enough to be included in the baronial plot. Can you tell me where you live?”

“No,” said Stan.

He turned around and guided Lucas from the office. As they exited the town hall and turned to head back up the street there was a commotion behind them and a shout.

“Stan Hunter!” came a loud voice that seemed to cause everybody in the street to pause what they were doing. Even the constant sawing and banging from the construction stopped for a moment.

From out of the crowd came three of the town guards. The didn’t seem to be in any sort of foul mood and the surely weren’t here to arrest Stan since none of them had their weapons drawn or were particularly tense. The lead guard stopped in front of Stan where he came to attention. Lucas didn’t know what was going on, but he felt that this was the kind of respect his father deserved.

“Mr. Hunter,” began the guard. He wasn’t shouting like he was earlier, but he didn’t seem to have any volume except for loud. “Baron Sucro heard that you were visiting the city and has sent us to invite you to speak with him.”

“I reckon I don’t really have time to speak with your baron. Me n’ my boy were just fixin’ to head to the inn for the night and head home first thing in the morning,” replied Stan.

“I understand, sir, but he insists on speaking to you before you leave. I believe there was some mention of a goblin migration that you witnessed,” said the loud guard. He tried to whisper the words goblin migration but only managed to add emphasis to them instead. Half of the people walking by stopped and stared before hurrying off to, no doubt, stock up on supplies. A goblin migration was serious business this far from the army.

Stan let out the longest sigh that Lucas had ever heard before nodding his head. “I guess we’ll be speakin’ to your baron then.”

“Excellent! Please follow me,” said the loud guard before making a parade ground about face and heading off towards the other direction.