“What is seen as common by some might be far from common for others.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

“So… are things like those commonplace here?” asked Reinhardt as he watched a bone construct in the form of a massive wolf that had six bladed limbs on its back tear through a horde of wild beasts that attempted to enter the city. The fighting was so one-sided he didn’t bother to offer to help as it was very clearly unnecessary anyway.

“Kind of,” replied the unliving citizen who was watching the massacre next to him while sipping on some ale and smoking a pipe. The unliving man was an older one, looking around middle-aged with hair that started to gray. Like most, he too was fit as a fiddle and looked to have quite a bit of experience as a warrior himself. “This whole area has enough mages in it to directly scare off the nastier monsters since they’re smart enough to stay away from the city, but dumber creatures… can’t really be helped.”

“I guess it’s not really something to worry about when none of your people are endangered even if the beasts went through, no?” noted Reinhardt as he too sipped on his ale, apparently it was a local one brewed by some of the unliving in the city, made with ingredients that they could find in the forest all around them. The flavor was sweet and mellow, with a refreshing aftertaste. “Good ale, by the way.”

“Glad you like it! My brother’s one of the ones who got into brewing that since he had nothing better to do. It took us quite a while to get the first farms going, but the land here’s pretty damned fertile, so once they took hold, they grew well indeed,” said the middle-aged unliving man with an amused guffaw. “It’s not as strong as dwarven stuff since what plans we have to build a distillery here are just that, plans, but it tastes quite nice.”

“There’s a time and place for everything, like they said. The strong dwarven stuff is good for when you’re looking to get wasted or just need to take your mind off something, but something that’s pleasant to drink like this definitely has its own place, too,” replied Reinhardt with a shake of his head. He then took another gulp from the wooden mug. “Even if you can barely get drunk from this.”

“Well said, well said!” commented the middle-aged man cheerfully. By then the fighting was long done and over with, with little more than the torn apart corpses blanketing the western side of the city where the bone construct went to work on the beasts. Said bone construct was currently pushing away the mess towards the forest and away from the city, aided by another multi-limbed one.

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In a way, it was almost like watching some maids cleaning up a mess, except they were massive constructs of bone that had been responsible for the massacre that caused the mess in the first place. It was a rather odd juxtaposition, but none of the city’s unliving inhabitants seemed particularly surprised at the sight.

It had already been a few days since Reinhardt and the convoy reached Paradise. In the days that passed, he mostly kept his mercenaries together so as not to disturb the locals too much. That said, the locals proved to be quite warm and welcoming, and before long the group mingled with the more. Since the locals didn’t mind their presence, Reinhardt allowed the mercenaries to go out on their own for the most part.

He had his daughters keep Astra company, partly to keep her safe because apparently beast attacks like the one he just watched were far from uncommon in Paradise, owing to the untamed forest all around them. Fortunately, staying near the center of the city pretty much guaranteed their safety for the most part, as most such beasts were handled before they could enter the city itself.

Ze’phane on the other hand knew how to take care of herself, and besides, the half-orc was mostly occupied in chatting up the locals. She was probably trying to learn more about the Silver Maiden, given that the living legend’s mood would determine the outcome of their requests. It was not a bad way to do things, Reinhardt felt. Both Astra and Ze’phane came with sincerity, and what he knew of the Silver Maiden hinted at a kindly soul given how many people she saved during her wanderings.

He hoped that the two would be able to get what they came to Paradise for, if partly out of selfish motives, because if Astra’s leg was truly healed, then the Marshals of Caroma would likely be in a good mood and thus would remember the Free Lances fondly thanks to their association with the event. It never hurt for the mercenaries to keep a good relationship with wealthy and influential clients, after all.

While the city of Paradise looked rather ramshackle at first glance, that was partly due to the limitations of the city itself, imposed due to its location. Since the city was situated deep in the Forest of Despair, it was highly inefficient to import building material from elsewhere. As such, they built the city only with what materials they could find in the vicinity, mostly wood.

If the city grew larger and the paths leading to it were further cleared and made safer, Then such imports would become more feasible, and the city could likely further improve its construction. As it was, the inhabitants seemed pretty happy despite the rather barebones condition of their homes, and the amenities in the city were surprisingly quite complete. Likely some of the unliving brought the enchanted amenities with them when they founded the city, or shortly thereafter.

The mercenaries had a pleasant stay in Paradise as they waited for the Silver Maiden to return, and sure enough, around a week and a half after their arrival, they were informed that the woman in question had just returned the night before and would see them in the afternoon.