“Yea, yea, I know we need ‘em to help clear out the damn cave. That doesn’t mean you can tell me I gotta let ‘em stay in my barn! Did ye see how that bard fella was looking at my daughter?!”

- Farmer Jack, on being told that a band of adventurers needed a place to stay and that the Farthingham town council had ‘volunteered’ his barn for the purpose.

The Bridgehead, Bridgetown

Moving between worlds should feel miraculous - a feeling of freedom, of adventure, the lure of going to new places and meeting new people!

It doesn’t. Believe me, I’ve walked the Bridges enough to know. It’s actually much like walking for an hour or two between towns, but instead of the intervening hills or fields or forest you’re surrounded by a mind-twisting grey void. It even maintains the country road’s oh-so-lovely odor of cow farts, because you end up in line behind an ox-drawn wagon far more often than you’d think, and the stupid magical tunnel that you’re walking through wasn’t designed to have proper airflow.

So you can probably understand the subdued joy I felt when I exited the Bridge onto C’thon, officially designated as World Gamma-Theta-Nu-649 in the Federal Exploration Corps logs.

“Ah, fresh air at last!” I spared a moment to glare at the departing backside of the ox-cart filled with mining equipment. “And good riddance to you, sir and/or madam,” I said under my breath, before taking a look around and getting my bearings. Ko, sitting on my shoulder, fluffed his feathers in the gentle summer breeze and joined me in surveying the area.

Bridgetown wasn’t that big, a few thousand people in it at most. From our vantage point atop the Bridge’s raised platform we could see pretty much the whole town. The Bridge had opened up right next to a half-mile-wide river, and FExCorps had done their normal job of creating a fortified settlement to use as a base of operations and a hub for settlers to work out of.

Unusually, though, even after a couple of decades this one hadn’t expanded very far, only growing three outlying villages, which I could barely see on the horizon. A twenty-foot wall completely encircled the town, with only a couple of docks and a warehouse on the riverbanks extending outside its protection, next to the stone bridge across the river. The town’s buildings were a mishmash of mage-shaped brown stone near the Bridge, shifting to mud-brick adobe near the river, and reddish sandstone blocks on the far side of town, though they all seemed to use the same orange clay shingles on their roofs.

The townsfolk I could see seemed reasonably healthy and content, but not flush with cash. Tunics and pants were workaday wool, linen, or cotton, with a handful of leathers thrown in, but few silks that I could see. Patches and holes in the fabrics were few and far between, but only a couple of people in the crowd moving goods around the plaza were wearing obviously new clothing. Not a particularly wealthy place, then, but not struggling.

It was summer here, and a distinct increase in temperature and humidity from the crisp late autumn we’d just left behind in Eghem. The town smelled of a combination of working draft animal, warm brick, the faint tang of human sweat, and a whiff of fish coming from the river, where I presumed the docks supported a small fishing fleet.

I felt a smile creep across my face, already looking forward to working here. It was almost like my home town of Seraph. Though, admittedly, if the stories I’d heard were even half true, this place had a lot worse problems to deal with than my old stomping grounds used to.

My companions seemed just as relieved as I was to breathe air that didn’t smell of bovine. Faraday stretched wordlessly, the bundle of armor strapped to his back clinking faintly as it shifted. Cherubix, standing on his shoulder once more, was practically vibrating with the need to dart off and investigate all the new sights and people.

“Oh, it’s so quaint and rustic-looking! Do you think there are many other brownies here? Oh, oh, that would be fantastic! No wait, maybe it’d be better if there aren’t I’d be able to clean so many houses! Hey, those people are looking at us! Helloooo!” She began waving madly at a group off to our right.

She wasn’t wrong - we had a welcoming committee. And they didn’t look entirely happy to see us. My smile froze, then redoubled in brightness as I put my game face on. Time to go greet the locals.

I pivoted towards the trio, reaching up to steady Ko so that he didn’t have to work to keep his balance, and started to walk over. Judging by their positioning and body language, the halfling man in the middle was the boss, the human woman on his left was… hm, not an underling, but following his lead. The scary-looking catfolk was definitely acting as if he was taking the halfling’s lead, so we could probably just make do with dealing with the head honcho. I’d need to keep an eye on the woman, though, just in case she turned out to be more independent-minded than I first thought.

Approaching to almost within comfortable talking range, I started my spiel. Best to get the first word in, set the conversation’s tempo from the start. “Ah, hello! I see we are not unexpected, how wonderful! We are Dezi and Ko, pest relocators extraordinaire. If you’ve got pests, call the best - Dezi and Ko!” Flashing my best saleswoman grin and flourishing a small bow, I stood up straight and continued, “And the rest of our party, Sir Faraday of the Order of the Light, and Cherubix, elementalist supreme. Tell me, whom do I have the honor of addressing?” By the time I’d stopped talking, I was reaching down to shake the halfling’s hand.

He blinked, apparently not expecting such a direct or overtly mercantile approach, but then squared his shoulders and shook my hand. Nice solid grip, no attempt to overcompensate for his small size like some halflings I’d met. Not necessarily a good sign, but it likely meant that he wasn’t a petty tyrant or a bully.

“Ahem. Ms. Arbodor, my name is Theo Featherscratch, mayor of Bridgetown. Good to have you.” Sure it was. The tone of voice implied quite the opposite, which wasn’t promising.

“This,” he continued, gesturing at the catfolk, “is Dosashi Marahm, captain of the town guard, and this” nodding at the woman in FexCorps uniform “is Major Tor-Harrek, the commander of the town’s FExCorps detachment.”

Ah, so this was apparently going to turn into our obligatory “don’t make trouble in my town” talk. Fun. No point in interrupting, then, he’d likely just get pissy about it and keep going on ahead anyway. I gave the two officers a brief, friendly-looking acknowledging nod, making sure to smile and make eye contact. Never act like you’re afraid or nervous in front of authority figures, they’ll think you’ve done something to warrant it.

The mayor, though, paused for a moment, eyeing each of us carefully, before shaking his head. His expression was still solemn, but there was a bit more good humor in his eyes than there had been when we’d first approached. “Gotta say, you three don’t look nearly as scary as your files suggested. And, frankly, it’s not like we don’t have plenty of, ah, pests roaming around out there.” Throwing his hands out wide, his voice rose in volume, enough that nearby townsfolk could clearly hear him. “Welcome to Bridgetown! Hope you enjoy your stay, and that you can help us out around here. We’re awfully short on folks willing to go out and get their hands dirty, you should have plenty of opportunity to make some coin.”

The mayor looked up at the tall-folk standing to either side of him. In a more normal tone, he said “I think I’ve said all I need to, you two can take care of things from here.” With a jaunty wave, he turned on his heel and started walking away. “You lot need anything from me, my office is in the big red building off the town square; can’t miss it. Best of luck!”

I blinked. The guy in charge had never handed us off like that - they either made sure we knew that they’d be dealing with us personally if we screwed up, or never spoke to us, staying aloof so that their underlings could hang their wrath over our head. This was different, and that… hmm, that might have implications, though I wasn’t sure yet what they were. I looked at my companions, wondering if they had any more idea than I did about what had just happened, but Faraday just shrugged, and Cherubix was busy waving merrily back at the mayor.

But we still had to deal with the two military types. The major and captain eyed each other briefly, before the captain shrugged and turned to walk away, saying briefly, “Heh. They’re all yours, ma’am.” Looking over his shoulder, he spoke directly to us. “This one already has a job for you lined up, if you’re willing. Come see him in the central guardhouse once she’s done with you; ask around if you get lost.”

Huh. Yeah, something was definitely up. I’d never had an encounter with local officials that started off so warily and ended without at least some kind of token threat.

Although… Looking at the major, who was calmly watching us with steely brown eyes, I started wondering if that might be because they were just comfortable in the fact that they didn’t need to do any threatening.