"Toll, lad. One Tesson to keep the road safe." The gate guard smiled pleasantly.

An older man, human, with a massive nose and a fierce underbite held his hand out in expectance. The man was a kindly-looking grandpa type, a woven sweater under his chestplate looking uncomfortable in the heat, and a shortsword in a leather scabbard on his hip. He had his own chair at the gate, a well made antique rocker passed down from gate guard to gate guard. Cameron smiled in return and reached into the grey MOLLE backpack on his back to reach his coin. He had seperated the coinage beforehand into different pockets as it wouldn't do to show onlookers the large coinpurse Dastilan had paid him with.

He pulled a single Tesson out; A coin of the second lowest denomination, decorated with a unique stamp of an ox with a laurel on it's head on one side, and the Royal Crest on the other side, a pike shield with small ornate writing across it's face. Dastilan told him it'd buy him a loaf of bread, or a gate toll, the prices both being kept in check by the Courts to be affordable and simple to calculate. The man quickly palmed the coin, and put it in his own coinpurse, motioning to his left for Cameron to enter the town.

Vinewall was small for a town, but surprisingly well developed, it's main street was parallel to the main gate, and populated with double storey houses made of bricks and painted in vibrant colours. They were all detached from another, and the main street boasted a width large enough for two carriages to move in opposite directions. Many of them had light wooden trellisses covered densely with the city's namesake; A natural curtain of dark green vines provided shade on hot days, and the sprouting fuscia and rose coloured flowers gently wobbled in the breeze.

Cameron decided to take Dastilan's advice, and find a pub or an inn to settle down in and get the lay of the land. He hoped the beer was as good as his friends, and wondered if the Cervidian had expensive tastes. It didn't take too long to hear the sound of revellers talking joyfully amongst one another, and Cameron followed the ambience to an open garden housing an outdoor dining area. The establishment took up two of the spots that the surrounding houses did, and was awash with colourful banners and flowers suspended in the air a floor above from a whitewashed trellis canopy that let enough sunlight through to be called bright.

Walking in through the wide open doorway, he was hit with a barrage of smells and scents. All kinds of sausage, dried meat and crops from the field simmered on a griddle that Cameron realised had no flame. Magitech? To the right of the kitchen, a portly orcish woman held 10 tankers abreast, 5 in each hand walking to the indoor dining area and slamming them onto opposite tables to the cheer of the patrons. Her light green skin caught the light, the steam and sweat on her forehead shining like a trophy of her efforts. She spotted Cameron looking at the griddle with interest, and beelined for the new customer, placing a strong hand on the side of his arm softly, and calling to him.

"Greetings honey, you hungry?" She smiled earnestly, her small tusks on the bottom of her jaw slightly parting her dark lips.

"Absolutely. Anything you'd recommend?" She's an orc, right? Holy shit.

"The standard'll set you right, three lamb sausages, Tillia Mushrooms, Pale onions, and Yellow Boar bacon. Comes with an ale, or a watered down wine if you've got places to be." She grinned at the last comment. She knew she had a catch when she noticed Cameron couldn't peel his eyes off of the simmering food.

"That sounds amazing, how much? Cameron had hungry eyes.

"Five Tessons love. It's quite popular these days, with the farmers coming in from harvest. A good hearty dinner sorts them out. Sit where you want, I'll find you. Hope you enjoy the Blood Stained Dress!" The woman spun on her heels, going through the saloon door to the kitchen and grabbing more beer for the waiting customers.

What kind of name is that for a pub? Cameron settled on going up a floor to the outside terrace, taking a seat on a two person table and soaking up the sun. He was enjoying himself. The constant tug of his fears and worries seemed to hide in the face of his first true expression of satisfaction he'd had in years. His mind emptied, and he enjoyed the gentle white noise of the conversation taking place around him.

Wait a minute. Yellow Boar bacon? Cameron groaned. It had to be Yellow Boar, didn't it?

Another waiter, a skinny orcish teenager the spitting image of what he now realised was his mother, skillfully balanced the tray of food and drink on his hands, maneuvering around the customers gracefully before coming to a stop at Cameron's table. The teenager wished Cameron well, and left him to delve headfirst into his meal.

He was giddy. His first pub meal in a new world. He savoured it. The meat dripped a lightly seasoned grease onto the ceramic plate, as he pressed the bacon and sausages to his tongue in a fit of pleasure. He interspersed his carnivorous indulgence with the earthiness of the mushrooms and the familiar smell and taste of the onions. A perfect complement to the meal. The plate had come with a few slices of wholemeal bread, that Cameron used to soak up the grease and pile on the remaining meat and vegetables to form a filling sandwich. He chased his overindulgent mouthfulls of bread with the dark draught next to him. A strong, bitter alcohol, cold in the tankard sailed down his throat. The clean taste rinsed his mouth of grease, and he leaned back with an innocent grin on his face.

As Cameron was wondering what to do next, other than finding a place to bathe and sleep, his quiet introspection was interrupted by a nervous teenage girl of about 17 years old, by Cameron's reckoning. She had two stumpy horns in line with her eyes, and her skin was a light pink, the same colour as her eyes.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but, uh, are you a mercenary by any chance?" She waved a hand to get his attention, and spoke softly and anxiously, pushing her shoulder length light brown hair over her ears..

Cameron looked at her, and considered the question. Was he? He took the paid request from Dastilan, but it was a matter of course for him to help out the man he grew to call a friend. Besides, wasn't there a guild for mercenary work? Why is she trying to skip the middleman? Cameron kept the question in his mind, but decided to confirm the girl's suspicions. If it was a shakedown of some sort, he would just leave.

"I am. Though, what gave it away? I thought I did a good job of looking like everyone else." Cameron was genuinely curious. Did he stick out like a sore thumb and didn't realise it?

"Hmm, well, everyone else takes their time around here. We're kind of a sleepy town, and you walk kinda fast, uh, I mean like, with purpose?" The girl shrugged non-comittaly.

"My walk gave me away?" I guessed im still used to living in the city.

"Yeah. You walk like the adventurers do, but you don't look like a storybook character like they do. And, you look kind of mean. No offense."

"A storybook character? How so?" He took no offense to the 'mean' description. It was what he was going for before he grew complacent from the meal.

"You know, valliant heroes dressed in every colour under the sun, fancy decorated swords and bows and trying to save damsels in distress?" She giggled at her own description. Cameron snorted as well. He could imagine a band of twenty-somethings wandering dungeons dressed like cosplayers. They sound insufferable.

"Hah, right. So, uh?" He asked for her name in a roundabout way.

"Oh, sorry! I've been rude. Call me Mindy. Short for Mindikalati but most people forget it real quick. It's a traditional Ogre name."

"What can I do for you, Mindy?" He spoke in a professional tone, leaning forward into the conversation.

"Oh right! I need you to kill someone." She spoke the words casually. Cameron's expression fell.

The job turned out to be an undertaking of legally sanctioned revenge. A bounty had been placed for a wolf-kin man who had stolen and assaulted his way into a 'dead or alive' poster adorning the streets of a city to the west by the name of Old Plateau. The wolfman had fled east towards Vinewall, and had been in hiding for a few months. Bounty hunters felt the reward was too low, and not worth the effort, so the job had been as of yet incompleted.

Mindikalati was an Ogre warrior in training from the west, travelling with her sister. She was on a rite of adulthood for her village, which involved seeking victory in combat, and returning home with a unique combat art, or spell, whichever she found first. It was a tradition, meant for the young to see the world, and also return home empowered and tempered with knowledge the rest could learn, boosting the strength of the community as a whole. In her search for new techniques, she had rented a room in the inn, unaware the cheapness of the room was due to the wolfkin's rampant theivery of the establishment. He stole something important to her, and fled after the bounty notices came in. The two sisters had been chasing him ever since.

"So, you found him?" Mindy had since sat down, and ordered a lager of her own. Cameron raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Different cultures, I guess.

"We did. We asked the locals, and it turns out he'd come here once or twice and buy a bunch of food and stuff. We reckon he's gotta be camped out near here, probably in the woodland to the south-west." The foam of the drink rested on her top lip, and she licked the foam off.

"So, you didn't find him." Cameron sighed. Mindy huffed, but didn't complain. "Do you know the general area he's staying at all?

"We narrowed it down to the cliffs, but that makes it hard. He'd have a good view of anyone coming up to find him. We heard from the locals there's some old shacks up there, left over from an old hermit that died a couple years back. Seems as good a place to search as anywhere, right?" Her innocent smile seemed contrary to what she was asking the outworlder.

"Why would you need me? You're a warrior, right? Plus you have your sister with you." To Cameron, it looked like they had it well in hand. Mindy's expression fell, a look of frustration on her delicate pink face.

"Tealeato took a claw to the neck, the last time we found him. She's okay, but she's not fighting fit yet. We decided to get someone else involved, but adventurers and mercenaries don't really come to Vinewall. Until I saw you at the main gate." Cameron frowned. Was she watching me?

"And then you followed me here...?" He wore an analytical expression towards the Ogre.

"Oh, er, well you passed in front of the room i was staying in. Thought I'd check you out, see who you were. I didn't mean to stalk you, or anything." She spoke awkwardly, but Cameron didn't think she was lying. Just embarrased for the circumstances behind their meeting.

"It's okay, don't worry. I was just teasing." He grinned cheekily, but he still kept on his toes. I didn't even realise I was being watched.

"Mindy, who is this man?"

A tall Ogre woman, the spitting image of her sister spoke to Mindy with a soft, slightly raspy voice. She was dressed in a darkened armour, made of some sort of scaly leather that allowed her full mobility. On her back, she had a long, obsidian blade; A beautiful greatsword, with leather wrapped around the bottom quarter of the blade, and a ribbon-wrapped handle large enough for two hands. The punters around them spared a glance at the woman's arrival, but quickly went back to their drinks.

Cameron remained seated, and spoke welcomingly to who he assumed must be Tealeato.

"My name's Cameron. I think I can help you with your problem." He wore his best business-ready smile.

"How good are you at your job?" She stood over the table, a critical tone and straight forward words flying towards Cameron for 10 minutes straight.

"Very. I just finished a tough job not a day ago. I'm only in town to rest up and get some supplies." Cameron could handle it so far. It served as good training against anyone who wanted to ask him difficult questions, and he was doing rather well.

"What's your speciality?" Tealeato was sceptical, and asked her follow up question. She didn't think he looked like much. Cameron was hot on her heels, however.

"Long range combat. I've been told I'm hard to see coming. Magic doesn't mean much in front of me."

"That's a bold claim. You're a powerful mage, then?" She theorised he was a mage, rather than an archer. What's a bowman without a bow?

"Quite the opposite. Still, If you hit a mage before they see you, they're simple to deal with." Tealeato agreed, herself. She was more comfortable with armed combat than flinging spells back and forth.

The outworlder and the warrior continued their verbal jousting, Mindy long put to the side to nurse her drink with the two debated the terms of the job, and the skill and capability of Cameron. Tealeato pushed and pushed, and Cameron replied each time, feeling slightly pressured but not overall fussed if he lost the job.

"How will you protect my sister?" Tealeato's question confused Cameron.

"What? Why would she need to come? Isn't that why you're hiring me?" He looked at Mindy once again. She had a basic set of fitted leather armour, with a red cotton shirt and brown trousers ending in boots that reached just under her knees. She's outfitted, but she'll just get in the way.

"She has a responsibility to take her weapon back. It's a taboo to let yourself be disarmed, and she must get the shortsword back and slice the throat of the enemy who stole it." She said the words so casually, and Mindy's face turned worried, and she hid behind her tankard.

"Are you serious? You want a teenager to kill someone in cold blood? What's wrong with you?" Cameron couldn't believe what she was asking, and spoke his thoughts aloud.

"How dare you! I don't know where you've come from but here, she is an adult, and adults have a responsibility to defend themselves and their properly. She is well within her rights!" The rules and laws of their community had surved them well throughout the years, and she was stricken with rage towards the man that forsook them.

"Bullshit. She's a child. You'll force a child to murder for tradition? Who fucking cares if she didn't cut a man's throat just to... what? Resanctify a blade? Do you people live in a cave?!" He blew like a kettle top. He'd seen child soldiers in Africa, and would die before he enabled them here.

Tealeato drew a knife from a holster on her lower back, and pointed it at Cameron's throat. However, Cameron had already summoned a pistol beneath the table beforehand, his left arms loose on his lap with an fully automatic Glock 18c with it's safety switched off. Now, it was outstretched to the fuming Ogre, aimed at her head.

"I really recommend you don't do that." Cameron's voice was cold and calm. He knew he had the upper hand, and it showed. The pink - now red faced - ogre felt the quiet tension eminating from Cameron. She had no idea what that was in his hand, but she flinched at the fact it gave the man confidence that he would be fine. The customers around them felt the cold chill flowing from the corner of the balcony, and directed their gazes to the opposite directions.

"Sister! What's in that rock head of yours? Why are you attacking the only person here who could help us!" Mindy pushed herself backwards, a loud scrape of her chair against the floor, in a panicked state. She just wanted her sword back. She didn't feel ready to kill, and didn't want to, especially if the outworlder would do it for them.

"He's disrespecting our traditions! Our culture!" Tealeato was indignant with rage at the sacrilegious human who was daring to undermine their home.

"He's saying he's not comfortable enabling me to kill someone at such an age. Who else said something similar back at home before we left? You want vengeance, like me. We don't need to risk ourselves again. I don't want you to get injured again." Mindy softly appealed to her sister, her emerald green irises twinkling as the sun hit her watering eyes. The words hit a sore spot, it seemed.

"Me." After a tense, streched 5 seconds, she loosened her grip on the dagger and placed it back in it's leather holster. "I'm sorry. To the both of you." She quickly bowed, a dramatic 90 degree fold that tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulders, and left, quickly squeezing between the patrons behind her, face down with embarassment. The silence from before dropped, and the ambience returned. Cameron retuned his hand to his lap, releasing the sidearm from his hand and banishing it to the aether. He reached out for an empty tankard, and wondered when he had emptied it.

"I really do apologise for that. She's not been herself lately. All she thinks about is our family regaining it's honour, but it's a front. She's still shook up about her neck." Her tears had begun to dry on her face. The outworlders expression fell. He massaged his temples and relaxed his frowning forehead.

"It's fine. I don't blame her. It couldn't have been easy for her."

"It wasn't. Still, you shouldn't have to deal with this. Let me talk to my sister, and get back to you. I think I can convince her to just let me tag along. No killing from me."

Mindy left her seat, and lightly jogged after her sister. Cameron looked down at his empty plate. He didn't know if he was right to say what he did. He was an alien here, and his own thoughts and feelings about morality obviously didn't apply to everyone else. Still, he had to maintain a bottom line. Leave kids out of it, don't kill the innocent. Not a massive list, but one he had stuck to for most of his life.