Ferngath

After two and a half days and another monster slaughtering, we found our first town. Or, maybe I should call it a fortress.

The "town" was within a large clearing, larger than any natural clearing I had seen in a forest. A dense wall of thick spears surrounded it, leaving only entrances to the north and south. It was on raised ground, using dirt that had been carved out of the deep moat. The path in wasn't much wider than the wagons that the merchants had.

As our group began to cross the bridge, I glanced into the moat, which was more of a 6-foot by 6-foot trench. The walls of the trench were smooth. Far too smooth to have been made naturally or by hand.

A watchman who stood on a ledge behind the tall wall waved us in. "Welcome, travelers!" he called over the sound of busy people from within.

Mayliam waved back shyly before the wall blocked our view of the white-haired man. As we passed under the arch, the volume multiplied. Meaningless chatter permeated the wooden walls. It was impossible for me to tell what anyone was saying.

A heavier woman with sun-yellow hair and large matching eyes approached us. "Welcome to Ferngath, travelers. Where are you all from?"

"Farsfield." Elengail answered, a shadow crossing over her face, then disappearing.

"Ah. Such a pleasant place! Are you planning on staying, or just passing through?"

"We're passing through, but we'll probably stay for a few days."

"By all means! I'm Cathney, I run the best inn in town."

"Sure you do!" a woman called sarcastically out from a window above. The buildings were three stories, packed tightly, and covered with windows.

"It's the truth, you accursed woman!" Cathney shouted back.

"Only because you run the only inn in town!"

"Then what are you complaining about?"

Kendalyn and Mayliam shuffling uncomfortably caught the innkeeper's eye.

"Sorry you had to see that, folks, " Cathney said, quieter and to us, "Sidthy is an arrogant sass that you'd be best to avoid. May I guide you all around town?"

"That would be appreciated," Elengail answered.

The heavy set woman lead us down a side road, which was lined with market stalls. This was where most of the noise was coming from. That said, it wasn't as bad now that we had survived the initial burst.

"We didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves. I'm Elengail. The blonde is Faivere. The blue is Mayliam. The green is Kendalyn. The man is Argolex." the girls waved as they were introduced. I nodded at my name.

She started talking excitedly, but I had a hard time following her words. She gestured energetically at everything, but that barely helped. I only hoped I could figure it out later. What I could tell now, was that she was probably stating the obvious. She didn't have to tell us there was a weapon shop when we nearly walked into spears held by a weapon stall. Ignoring our guide except to follow her, I spread my focus to my 360 vision. There were lots of people, but not as many as I had initially thought with the original clamor. There were a lot of weapon, armor, and magic item shops. And most of the customers seemed to be adventurers or warriors of some sort or another.

Most had leather sacks, which seemed full and bloody. Monster parts, most likely. Weave-baskets were with the few non-adventurers. In one way, that made sense. No dripping blood for adventurers' kills. On the other hand, though, the leather would stink forever, never being used for anything but corpses.

I spotted a pair of thugs in an alley on the other side of the street. They watched and waited. One of them eyed Faivere, then moved on.

Then I saw it. Not something I had been looking for. Actually, it stood out because I saw nothing. I stopped and stared.

"Argolex?" Mayliam asked, stopping with me.

The rest of the group turned to us.

"Cathney, what that?" I pointed at the nothing. The hole. The black window out of this world. It was positioned on a wall, at shoulder level.

"A chaos pit. A hole made by one of them accursed."

"Accursed?"

"Them with the Chaos Scars. Real crazy men, they are. If you see one, tell the guards immediately." she gestured to a pair of guards standing idly between market stalls. They wore gold trimmed green uniforms and carried fine-looking spears.

Mayliam and Elengail gave me worried looks.

"Thank you. I understand."

"And, are you okay, boy? That's a lot of bandages. Do you need to change them?"

"I fine."

"He protected us four from a goblin horde that destroyed Farsfield. His off-hand has a nasty cut down it and he's missing his left eye. He lost lots of his vocabulary and memory with the blow to his head."

I nodded with Elengail's lie.

"And you traveled in that condition?" Cathney exclaimed.

"We must." I answered.

"Well, no more! Let's get you some rooms. I'll set you up with new bandages. We'll talk about payment later."

She pointed the direction they had come, and started marching in that direction. We followed, and I brushed up to Elengail. "Thank you," I whispered.

"I owed you. Plus, I'm sure you're not like that guy."

I didn't argue. Among the others, only Faivere watched me cautiously. She pretended she wasn't when I looked her way, but her head swiveled right back when I looked away.

Cathney lead us to a building much like the others, except it had twice as many windows.

"Many rooms?"

"Yes," Cathney said, "the only inn in town needs to be able to take care of all the visitors."

"How many used?"

"Currently, three-quarters. It's hunting season among the adventurers right now. But, with Ferngath being in the middle of the forest, we're not as popular as Edgeline, the town a few days north, just outside the forest."

"Good know."

She led us in. Faivere gasped as she entered. Mayliam paused a moment, then went on, and Kendalyn's eyes sparkled with wonder. In contrast to the drab outer wall, the lobby was ridiculously fancy. Bright red banners hung everywhere, and the simple desk was ornamented with gold. It felt brazenly royal.

"How many rooms will you need?"

"Beds in room?" I asked.

"Usually two. Some singles, and one vacant family-sized with six beds."

"How much is the six-bed when compared to two doubles and a single?" Elengail asked.

"A double is two silvers and six coppers, a single is one silver and six coppers. The family room is five silvers."

Eighteen coppers more for split rooms.

"How long does that cover?"

"One night. That said, I hear this young man deserves the hero treatment. With that, I'd half the cost of one room."

Elengail turned to us. "What do you think?"

"Four silvers and fifteen coppers for private, or two and a half silver for together. I say private."

"Twelve coppers is a silver, Argolex."

"Ah. Five and three for private. Two and six for together."

"I'd like to be all together," Faivere added, not looking at me.

"It is significantly cheaper to share," Kendalyn noted.

"I could go either way." Mayliam said, glancing at me.

"Can we say it's decided? The six-room?" Elengail looked specifically at me with that question.

I shrugged.

She turned back to Cathney. "We'll take the six-room. How much more for bandages?"

"I can send prepared bandages for a silver."

"That works."

"Three and six, then?"

I pulled out the silvers and coppers, and set them on the counter.

"I thought you couldn't use your left arm," Cathney noted, raising an eyebrow.

"I can," I replied, speaking slowly to give myself to find the right words, "it just cut. Protect from dirt."

"I see." she took the coins and passed a key back. "One floor up, last door on the right."

"Thank you."

"No, thank you, Hero." she said with a sly smile.