The guards seemed friendly, the people were pleasant and the wide open streets had plenty of folk going about their business with room to spare. As we walked towards the market to see what might be on offer I marvelled at colourful stacked houses on either side of the street. The foundations of the buildings were a solid stone colour, with hexagonal pillars supplemented with brick and mortar.

I reached out to touch one of the walls feeling the rough stone and a prompt appeared.

“Basalt pillars?” I flicked my finger across the info window looking for key information. I could see all the way to the docks by the lake from our position and I looked at the clear blue waters. “This place used to be a volcano.”

Lin rubbed her ears and leaned on the basalt wall. “I definitely drank too much. It sounds like Josh is turning into a dwarf and is about to tell us the history of rocks.”

Yara cautiously watched a group of armed mercenaries pass by, their worn scale mail and poorly kept weapons offending her. “He hasn’t licked the rocks yet. I think we are safe. As for us, we should keep moving.”

We headed to the market where the scents of candles, spices and oils assaulted our senses. The market was a large open square with plenty of shops around the outskirts, and rows of stalls in the heart of the square selling everything from knives to alchemical components to pets. Standing tall over the heads of the people was a huge monument of ten sword wielding warriors, all of them in various combat stances.

“Yara-a-a,” Lin rested her head on the demoness’s shoulder. “How much do I have to pay your goddess to make my head hurt less? I drank way too much.”

Yara attempted to keep a levelled, stoic face, but the corner of her lip curled, and her magenta eyes danced with mirthful light. “I’ll go find her a cure Josh, we can meet at that restaurant over there.”

I followed her raised finger, seeing ‘The Wyrm’s Flame Grill’ sign hanging over a patio with sitting customers. The smell of roasted meat, barbeque and fresh pie came from it making my stomach growl.

“Sure, meet you there in a bit,” I said.

I patted Lin on the shoulder, wishing her a swift recovery, and in return she handed me a fistful of gold to add to my pockets. For all I knew it was my gold to begin with, but all the same I gave her a hug and promised to get them both something.

I walked down the market stalls seeing notifications ping in the corner of my vision as I inspected the mundane household wares on offer. As I passed by an open wagon the store owner caught my attention. He was wearing bright blue robes and wearing a face veil covering all but his startling bright green eyes. He had vials full of powders and crystals shards dotting his shelves.

Knowledge Arcane : Success!

+1 XP gained.

Fire blossoms grow in ashy fields after a volcanic eruption, carrying traces of the flame essence from the heart of the land. Inks from these plants greatly augment Ingi rune writing. They can even be used in the creation of blast bombs with a skilled alchemist.

The plant itself looked like a dandelion, but it was a vibrant orange with a red core. The plant was inside a jar full of sand and ash, with a tiny bead of water on the surface. Despite the harsh conditions the plant was flourishing, and the vials of dried powder around the jar were in clay vessels, unlike the other vials sitting on wooden shelves. I reached out to pick up a vial to inspect it, and the man laughed behind his veil.

“A brave man I see. I place you as an adventurer or an explorer, no?” The man had a slight accent, rolling his speech.

I hesitated and held my fingers near one of the vials instead, feeling the roaring heat coming off it. “Damn, I could boil water with that.”

The blue robed man spread his hands out. “Raw primal fire magic at work friend. Am I out of line assuming you might be one of magical tastes? The aura of your wands seem to match your own.”

Scholar Livy

He probably has some innate magical detection with an item going on. See the eyes? He’s trying to hide it. Still, he's no charlatan, student Josh. Those are some quality ingredients for magical creation.

I might even have a few designs here of how to use that crushed fire blossom to make an ink for fire enchantments.

“I dabble a bit,” I said, resting my hand under my chin. I tapped my foot and looked between the items, seeing others that caught my eye. “Do you have anything for ice magic?”

As he placed several other labelled vials on the table I tried to get a feel for what he might be. A progress bar appeared over his shoulder, and it quickly filled.

Insight Check : Partial Success!

Roshanir, Half-Elf, Level 6 Dye Alchemist

…

Skills

…

Talents

…

I had nothing on his stats, but as for skills and talents only a few showed up. He had a low rank mana pool talent, but no spellcasting, instead having an ‘Alchemy’ talent. A prompt told me it was his class's ability to make spell-like mixtures, replicating some spells I could cast.

The only other skills and talents that appeared were ones for ‘powder extraction’, and seeing the vials full of the stuff it was easy to see what the outcome of that was.

The blue robed man placed a hand over his heart and gestured to the rainbow of coloured vials ahead of him. “I have several elemental based plants you could use for your various spell crafting needs. Fifteen gold per vial.”

Scholar Bo

I believe Scholar Livy has placed the cart before the horse. This merchant is a charlatan, those vials are worth 10 gold at a maximum!

I tugged at my cloak's collar. “Yikes, a bit more than I was hoping for…” Looking at the colours I focused on what types I already had access too, so I could expand from there. “I think your prices are a little high sir, but what would you say for the frost leaf, spark dew vine and fire blossom powder for thirty gold?”

The man roared with laughter, throwing his head back as he rested his hands on his sides. “I placed you for a mage, not a jester! I see I am the fool here. A good jest, but no, the canals can only allow light vessels passage. If you want such favourable prices you need to wait for the barges to be able to pass the ice.”

I felt the tips of my ears burn. “I see. Well see you whenever that is.”

Seeing that I was leaving, the man instantly changed his tune. “What I mean to say is…what about thirty five?”

That break, that moment of hesitation I saw with him set my mind back to earth. It was a rare occurrence whenever I had to barter since I worked at a brick and mortar store with set prices. But those rare times had proven that if you were willing to drop the deal, but the other guy wasn’t, he really wanted it.

I reached into my pockets and found the handful of golden discs I had with me. “Thirty gold, twenty silver.”

After a little back and forth with the scholars in my ear telling me to inspect each vial we settled on thirty two gold coins flat. It hurt me down to my soul to see such a massive haul leave me. That was around how much I could get from one of our deadly dungeon dives. The man and the scholars both assured me that the powder could make it far, possibly for dozens to a hundred scrolls, wands or enchants. Of course such things had other costs, but for now the inks were covered.

I wandered around a bit more, passing by the restaurant and seeing Lin and Yara were near the back of the line. Giving myself a bit more time I looked at the larger stores seeing what was around. ‘The Enchanted Emporium’ had a massive glass window with a few pieces of armour, cloaks and blades on display. Behind the glass there were rows of potions and more equipment pieces. My perception picked up on the ten spell rune traps around the windows and doors for any would-be thief trying their luck.

The ‘Stonehammer Anvil’ was a stout brick shop with iron barred windows and the postings promising custom items or enchanted item repairs. I was fairly set on weapons for the moment and eyed a bookstore called ‘Haven for the Bookworms’, with a sign showing a sword covered by a stack of books. I dipped inside, finding a small shop with plenty of customers and overworked staff.

Wanting to be quick I found a section with fun fiction stories and fables. They were fairly inexpensive, with plain covers, each costing a silver. I picked a few at random thinking they could be a great addition to our library and went to a tired looking human, with an ink splattered apron on. He bagged my books and took my coin without any fanfare.

As for the rest of the street there was a herbalist, custom tailor, jeweller and a writing shop across the bookstore. I heard the sound of machines inside, and through the window, past the quills and ink pots was a printing press, making books.

Knowing I was probably out of time I dipped into the last shop that grabbed my attention, a confectionery shop with a delightful gingerbread motif on the front of the store.

“The house of sweets? A bit cheeky, but I like it,” I said, feeling my grin grow. It had been ages since I went into a candy store, and the wonderful smell of sugar coming from it made my teeth ache. I entered inside, hearing a bell announce my presence. Yet I saw no one around the counter. “Hello?”

A voice came from a set of swing doors at the back. “Just a minute dear, I’ll be out with the cupcakes soon!”

The main room of the shop was in two parts. The one nearest to the door had seating around three tables by a small fireplace, which was full of little old ladies, and the rest was one giant counter with displays of cakes, cookies and candies. A large apple pie made my mouth water, but I was going for something I could carry in my pocket.

A slim, elegant woman with flowing dark hair, piercing green eyes and a graceful presence danced into the shop, placing a tray of fresh cupcakes topped with icing on the shelf. She had a captivating smile and wore a bright white lace apron with sky blue clouds dotting her sleeves. “What are you looking for my dear? I promise my sweets will brighten any day!”

My focus was locked on the chocolate cupcakes, my gut wanting, demanding just the barest hint of chocolate it had been denied for months. “I was looking for something for my friends. We are travelling a lot at the moment.”

One of the women behind me whispered harshly. “Oh, a mysterious stranger rolling into town. It’s just like one of your books, Beatrice.”

The shop seller ignored them. “Salt water taffy would be a perfect fit. They last a long time, and can be great to distract you on those long treks.” She had a paper bag in hand and scooped colourful wax paper wrapped taffy into the bag. “Two silver per imperial pound.”

She had me sold, and I put ten silver on the table. “Load me up, miss.”

The heavy bag was placed in my hands, the money was taken and the woman inspected me carefully. “How many friends are you travelling with?”

“Two,” I said. As soon as I answered I felt something, a twitch that moved down my spine. I felt like I was being watched, inspected like a bug under a microscope. Hissing laughter came from behind me. But when I looked back I saw the old ladies were busy reading, knitting or gossiping with treats in hand. “Why?”

The feeling vanished as the woman offered me the tray of cupcakes, the concern I had evaporating like smoke on the wind. “It’s a slow day, why don't you take some for you and your friends? I wouldn’t want them to go to waste.”

One of the ladies behind me blurted out. “Morgana you fiend! You just flirt with every fine man that walks in here.”

I placed a few coppers in a tip jar and took three of the offered cupcakes. “Thank you a lot, miss. I’m sure next time I’m in town I’ll be dropping by.”

Banter between the old ladies erupted as I made my way out. I found Lin and Yara sitting on the patio at the restaurant, looking at the menu. I sat down next to them and slid the sweets over to them. “Cupcakes?”

I barely had time to reach for mine as two different hands shot down to claim a sweet. Lin sank her fangs into it and purred happily. “Josh, you're going to make me fat. I can’t believe last year I was borderline starving.”

Yara nibbled on hers and turned the small cake around in her hand. “We just ordered and got you the same meal as us. A cut of steak, fries and roasted veggies.”

“You guys have french fries?” I asked. “Those things I told you about. Deep fried potato sticks?”

Yara tilted her head. “Josh, what do you think we are, savages? For all you know your world might have gotten the idea from us. Besides, I’ve never heard of this ‘french’ thing.”

I worked my jaw and paused in thought. That was a good point she made. Elves, dwarves and demons, all kinds of fantastical creatures and magic. What if all the stories, mythos and fiction came from people like me visiting Ewyernar? Cultures influencing each other in different worlds? Maybe there were more ways back and forth than Icharn had let on.

A man exited the building carrying a tray heavily ladened with what I assumed was our order. He had a striking cut figure with an athletic build, and a vibrant orange scaled tail following behind him. He looked like an elf, but with patches of orange scales around his cheeks, with curled swept back horns behind his pointed ears and a head of white hair. He reminded me of the two dragon maid girls we saw in Wyrmbreath. He placed our meal down, reached into his trousers and produced a small steel wand tipped with a red crystal.

He waved it over the amazing looking meal, and the wand spat out a small line of flames he swept over the french fries, melting the cheese sprinkled over the top. With a small flourish he turned the base of the wand to turn it off, and slid each of our meals with a cold glass of water to us. “Please enjoy.”

“I was told you guys melted the cheese with your breath attack,” Yara said. She cut into the steak, and raised a brow. “Now that is a good steak. I see your prices are warranted.”

The server eyed a table behind us. “The lords of the council have put out rules. Said it wasn’t sanitary or safe for our customers. Could spread illness.”

Lin ate one of the cheesy fries, and looked skeptical. “You breathe fire right? I’m pretty sure that is what some clerics use to cure sickness.”

The server awkwardly shrugged and we thanked him for our meal letting him move onto other tables. The rather cozy feeling of sitting together and eating a hot meal lifted a weight off my shoulders I didn’t even know I was carrying. The steak was easy to cut, and lightly salted, letting the flavour come out. The fries made me feel right at home, and the vegetables, most of which were new to me, tasted lovely. The only thing I was hesitant about was the mushrooms on my plate. I usually liked mushrooms, but today after our battle I pushed them off to the side.

Yara had no qualms about them, and gladly jabbed in my direction to claim them. “So Lin and I did a little talking around here. Turns out this place is more of one massive city, broken up into little zones around the lake here.”

Lin leaned in, looking much better. “Every shop here and in the other small trade towns are tied to one of the ten sword lords. Descendants of those guys in that big statue over there. If you want to do business you need the grace of one of the sword lords or council members here. Sounds like classic thieves guild extortion to me.”

“Damn, I was hoping to open up some trade. They have a lot of shops here, and even a repair shop for enchanted weapons,” I said. I jabbed at the steak in dismay. “It’s not like we can march up to their city hall and ask.”

“Don’t need too. Looks like one is coming here for us,” Lin said.

An orc approached us swiftly, his comically large feathered helmet swaying in the light lakeside breeze. His armour looked less practical and more ceremonial than anything. Even the jewelled arming sword at his hip looked rather impossible to hold properly.

He stopped at our table and bowed at his hip, his black hair spilling out of his plumed helmet. “My apologies for interrupting your meal, but my scout has reported you were the ones responsible for the forest fires?”

Perception : Success!

+1 XP gained.

People eating at the other tables started talking a little louder about random nonsense, most twisting in their seats to face away from us.

I folded my hands on the table, and eyed my companions. They were relaxed, but each had a hand next to their pockets. Probably in reach of weapons, potions, scrolls or whatever else we might need. “Perhaps. Is there something we could help you with?”

The fanciful orc stood up, and showed us a friendly grin. “Is it also correct that the caravan arriving at our gates claim you hold that abandoned town on the river towards Fernwood is true?”

I rubbed the lordship ring on my finger and nodded. “I figured they needed a hand.”

The orc saluted me and held out a wax sealed scroll. “My sponsor wishes to offer you a hand in opening diplomacy to your lordship. With the small request of clearing the route between us, and your holding we can initiate trade.”

Lin and Yara leaned ahead, now curious of what I held. I broke the seal and found a simple, yet well crafted map at the top showing the route between one of the many rivers feeding into the lake, and where it connected to my river. At the bottom of the map it listed the requirement of me checking on the river route, and sending a representative back to initiate trade with the document.

“We send armed men with our river teams sir, so worry not we can keep ourselves safe. Just clear it up for us and I can promise you favourable terms,” the orc said. He crossed an arm across his chest, thumped the breastplate and left.

Behind him were several other similarly dressed men and women of different races, each frowning seeing I was holding a scroll in hand, and not the one in theirs. They cleared the scene, leaving the market void of bedazzled military personnel. In their place came the regular guards, carrying on as if nothing had happened.

“Okay, so clearly they all want to talk to us, and are now mad he got to us first,” I said, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

Lin lightly kicked my foot. “Hey look at you. You're a real lord already, making enemies.”

…

After Yara paid for the meal we headed towards her stop, the temple district. I kept the scroll I had been given hidden, and felt the eyes of various guards follow us as we walked about. As we walked the streets we saw a fanciful contraption cross our path. There was a goblin riding a copper wheeled wagon with brushes on each side, puttering along, sweeping the roads clean.

Yara wrung her hands together, eyeing the area as if looking for foes. “These guys are desperate. The mercs have bad gear, the guards haven’t polished their boots and it looked to me like those guys are running out of murder rocks to harvest. I think they want the route to Fernwood more than the trade with you. Since it has both a rangers and a fighters guild.”

The street cleaning contraption puttered past us, and seeing we were rather alone I whispered back. “Well, if they would rather skip by us and not stick their nose into our business I’m more than happy with that.”

Lin nodded, and eyed the rooftops. “There’s politics going on here, and not the friendly kind. This cat knows better than to stir the pot here.”

We crossed the street finding a small park in the city, with four stone churches at separate corners of the park. The small stone fountain and benches in the middle of the park had several people chatting together while kids ran around flying kites, or playing with chalk on the clean cobblestone tiles.

Yara made a beeline for one church, the one of her patron goddess. Lin and I could barely keep up, and Yara threw open the brass capped doors, storming into the place. The entry of the church branched off into two halls leading to small stone rooms where curious children looked at us from classrooms, while the twin doors leading to the heart of the church were closed.

Standing ahead of us, blocking the doors were a pair of conversing demons. A male blue skinned demon wearing a sleek black doublet and pants, and a female demon with lavender skin, and a rather modest white and gold dress. Their horns had golden rings around them, and they looked at us curiously. The woman opened her mouth and clamped it when she locked eyes with Yara.

She smoothed out her dress and clasped her hands. “Judicator? How can we help-”

Yara grasped her by the collar and snarled. Her tail thrashed, bat wings sprouted from her back, flaring out to shake out her cloak, and hot gold coloured flames appeared in her clenched fist. “What in the goddess name are you people doing here?”

Lin and I looked at each other, then the twelve or so clerics that ran into the hall.