There was a queue at the checkpoint right at the entrance of Scribel. Iris was there as well, huffing with a large backpack on her shoulders, tired from the road. She had no energy to spare to fiddle about, so instead she closed her eyes, trying to get some rest upright. Sadly the sounds from all around were obnoxiously louder this way.
“Oi!” A woman shouted from the side of another from somewhere in front of Iris, “How much longer will this take? It’s almost sundown!”
“Yeah! Our feet will bleed at this rate!” An older woman chimed in.
A couple of people behind Iris were whispering to each other in hissing tones, coherent with the light smell of a swamp creature that denoted lizardfolk:
“(Brother, are you aware why we are not moving?)”
“(Patience, lower spawn, the men are abuzz with excitement)”
“(Is there a fight fleeing toward us? Or hunters?)”
“(No, it is currency fraud. Some shell-hunters try sneaking in)”
“(Ours?)”
“(Not. Crim’s.)”
Iris’ comprehension of lizardspeak being low as it is, she still caught the gist of it. Contraband, huh?
The queue moved forward a bit, before pausing again. Iris, eyes still closed bumped into the two women from earlier.
“Hey, watch it!” The shorter one said, the other giving Iris a glare. She responded with an apologetic blush.
“Sorry…” She simply said, and took a look at the couple. They were rather lightly dressed for the weather. Locals, she guessed. She herself wasn’t as tolerant of the cold, and was glad of the baggage keeping her cloak close to her body.
“Let it be, Clarice. This girl seems like she crawled out from the sticks somewhere, so manners would be unexpected,” the taller girl smiled gently, her eyes slits.
Well, they seem bored, Iris thought to herself. She decided to ignore them, and looked away to the rolling hills on the side. Far into the horizon darkness was approaching.
“You are too kind, Flora.” The shorter girl said, finger on her chin. Iris noticed she was glaring at her pendant, “Hey give me that!”
“Sorry, no,” Iris responded. The girl reached out to pull on it, causing Iris to flinch back and bump into the lizardmen.
“What big idea iz?” The lizard hissed.
Iris decided it would be boring to apologize this time around, and stepped aside to glare at both of them. She enchanted her eyes to glamour the rabble with fear. The short girl cowered behind her big sister, who looked distressed, while the lizardmen’s forked tongues started darting out. Yet the small girl had a sneer on her face. Iris quickly realized the lizards had taken her spot in the queue. She sighed, throat parched, and headed slowly toward the end of it. She didn’t have much choice really.
An hour later by torchlight she entered the bridge into the city, and looked around to ask for directions. The guards were too busy finally changing shifts. The witch felt lost for direction, and sought to ask the local spirits, but to her dismay they were as busy as the mean townsfolk from earlier.
The streets seemed empty, except the main street, which still had back and forth traffic. Townsfolk were bringing home buckets of water on shoulder mounted yokes, presumably as dinner preparations. One of them was a large wolfkin woman. She stood out with her fierce expression. Some chimneys were already billowing out smoke. A couple of kids snuck quickly past her, obviously past curfew. They saw the wolf woman, shouting out “Sira!” and running away. She noticed one of the kids had horns. Sira herself looked away annoyed, and paused for a moment to readjust the yoke. This gave Iris a good entry point, so she asked her, looking up:
“Excuse me, would you know the way toward the Adventurer’s Guild?”
The wolfkin scratched her chin, and pointed down the street, instructing “Turn right over there, and keep walking riverside, until you see the large sign on the left.” It was simple enough.
“Thank you!” Iris nodded, and smiled as widely as her tired self could. Following the path laid out eventually brought her to the building itself…
“This should be all, yes?” Iris asked the receptionist she registered with. She activated her card, and put it in a pocket in her bosom.
“Yes, due to the late hour, I would recommend you find a place to rest, before looking for work. The quest board is updated early in the morning. Good luck!”
Iris really needed a drink. Something substantial. She made her way toward an open pub, and had a mind to order ale, before noticing a strange drink:
Broth with egg and yogurt? And it’s called Core Slime? What kind of town is this anyway...