#liscor city watch

[thewanderinginn]

Interlude — The Library

It might not look like much, a two-story mansion in Liscor. But that was because space was at a premium in a city like Liscor.

Even with the new district, richness wasn’t just in having crystal-glass windows shining with magic like the Mage’s Guild. Richness was, as any city goer could tell you—space.

The Watch House was actually one of the richest buildings in the city by some metrics, having been the former army’s headquarters that the Watch had taken over. And while they had access to Invrisil, Selys’ mansion had always felt rich to Mrsha for reasons she couldn’t explain until Ryoka and Kevin, both city-enjoyers, explained it.

It had surprised Erin too, though she had understood the concept; she came from a place with space to grow. Space had, therefore, a variable value that increased the less you had.

Such concepts made Mrsha’s head hurt, which was probably why she was rioting in Selys’ huge waiting room with the beaver security dam in the center of the lovely water feature that led onto wood flooring.

Well, it used to be elegant, rich, paneled wood carefully varnished to show off the expense; wood was another sign of wealth in Liscor, which had to import it.

These days, the wood had been scratched by beaver paws, and they’d ripped off floorboards. Selys had replaced them with cheaper materials and given the Fortress Beavers all the lumber they wanted to build a dam. Even the Fortress Beavers had changed; they weren’t the ragtag survivors of the Defenders of the Cave.

Read More...

[reliaofdreams]

Wistram News Network Special Report: Alba Winter Solstice

You would not know it by the terrifying reports on the scrying orb nor the hushed tales of gore told ‘round the dying embers of the fire place, but Alba Winter Solstice was once a cheerful and naive girl dropped in the woods outside of Liscor. It was a cold and unforgiving world she found herself in, and no matter how many chances she gave to those she met, she saw no mercy. Ignored by the city watch in her darkest hours, harassed by the haunting visage of the local necromancer into giving up her meagre food stores, and finally attacked by an angry horde of goblins. We know not what truly occurred that fateful night, but the watch found Alba with no tears nor light left in her eyes come morning, and perhaps, nothing more than hate in her heart. By the time other of the so-called “Earthers”, Naomi Phoenix, discovered her, she was appalled to find Alba had made blood pacts with a passing Roshal caravan. Naomi would later say, “It was like Alba had completely, totally, 100% lost the plot. How could an American steeped in modern values even think of doing something that stupid? Now excuse me, I’ve gotta go run some things with my girlfriend Persua.” We did not get word of any comment from Gottfried Leinus, Emperor of the Unheard Empire, though our sources say there was much angry gesticulation on His Majesty’s part. Among Miss Solstice’s initial captures included Princess Lyonette du Marquin of Calanfer, a deaf white Gnoll, five male hobgoblins with red markings, and even an antinium, though high level experts suggest that she doubtless nabbed other figures of note but erased traces they ever existed with a skill. For instance, the [Grand Strategist] of Pallass, Chaldion, claims the city lost a Named Rank potion-maker but cannot say for sure how he came to such a far-fetched conclusion. Similarly, the Forgotten Wing Company appears to have mysteriously lost much tactical acumen, as have Desonis and Salaszar. Gazi Pathseeker said of Alba, “That dead gods damned girl stole my main eye and if she wasn’t freakier than a selphid’s grandma and twice as deadly, I would drag her all the way to Reim myself and either conscript her into the Seven or dash her remains on the city walls. My king jokes, but I only teleported here safely by the skin of my teeth. The first time I met her she had the look of a flesh-chosen, and was torturing shield-spiders in some ditch. Don’t mess with Alba.” We were going to reach out to Miss Solstice for a comment, but before we got the chance she appeared in spirit form out of thin air and said she had known of such for some time. When we got our bearings and prompted her directly on the how’s and why’s of her business, she replied, “O-oh people always stop by! They t-tell me about how they’re m-more thankful for my food t-than they’ve ever been before, how they are intoxicated by the w-wonderful smell of it all, how much they want to sleep here f-forever and ever! Really, I feel s-so happy and excited when I get t-to talk with whoever walks in, they always look s-so confused and scared and hurt at first at w-why they’re here, then w-we chat for a bit over Draughts and we do some oThER STuFf a-and l-l-laugh it, ah o-off a-and bear our hearts out to each-other and its all g-good! …...they’re happier when they leave, you know … they take the pAiN love but they’re still so, so happy......” That was about when we here at Wistram News Network sprinted out the door and moved to an undisclosed walled city far, far away.

[inncorrectinnquotes]

Trustworthy

Zevara (about Erin): “Watchman Klbkch, do you trust this woman?” Klbkch: “I absolutely trust her.” Zevara: “She's not some kind of madwoman, then?” Klbkch: “...I absolutely trust her.”

[magmasliveblogs]

1.12

aaaaaaaaaaand im back with the 14th chapter! irl stuff is semi dealt with so i have time for the three updates! to recap: last chapter was an interlude, where we discovered erin was summoned as part of some ritual to summon heroes. only one group was actually summoned to the ritual site, with the rest being summoned across the world. to recap the last actual chapter, erin saved pisces from execution by withdrawing her testimony of him being a [necromancer] 

Erin woke up. Generally this was an ordeal. Today however, it was fairly easy. Because the real ordeal would come later.

Such as right after breakfast. Erin stared glumly at the three shriveled blue fruits on her plate. She bit the first experimentally and chewed. And chewed. And chewed.

“Rubbery.”

It was incredibly difficult to chew the fruits. The skin on these ones were so tough to bite into, it did remind Erin of eating rubber. Not that she’d ever done that since she was a baby.

Plus, they’d lost their delicious juices and tasted—well, flat. There was no sweetness left in them, and they were quite, quite unappetizing when you put all these qualities together. But Erin ate them, mainly because she had nothing left to eat.

“I’m in trouble. Yup, yup.”

It wasn’t that she was out of blue fruits. There were plenty—well, some—still ready to be harvested from the orchard. But they, like all food, were in limited supply. Besides, the issue wasn’t that. It was her guests.

“Who’d want to eat blue fruits all day? Raise your hand if that sounds like fun.”

Erin didn’t raise her hand. Granted, they were tasty and made a good fruit drink, but when you got down to it, they were still just fruits.

“And I want food. Real food. Not fruit. I want bread! I want pasta! I want pizza and soda and salad and ice cream—actually forget the ice cream. I need meat. Or fish that doesn’t bite back! I want sushi, cheeseburgers and fries, toast, waffles…cereal…”

Erin pressed her hands to her rumbling stomach and tried not to cry.

“Even instant ramen would be nice. Is that too much to ask?”

It was. She knew that. But just thinking about the food made her tear up a bit. She could handle Goblins. She could deal with rude Necromancers and fight off evil rock-crabs. She could even handle giant fish that tried to nibble on her when she took a bath. But she wanted food.

“Plus, I need to feed my guests.”

Erin nodded. The math was simple. No food = no guests = no money = starvation. But the little flaw in the equation was that in order to get the food, she’d need to spend the money. And she had no way of doing that.

“Unless I go to the city.” 

finally! we are going to the city! its been so long since she initially noticed it! 

Now, that was a thought. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thought, but it was the only option she had available. The city. Erin went to the window. Relc had shown her where it was…

“There.”

Erin stared at the small buildings in the distance. It looked far. But then, everything looked far around here. And the city would have things. Like food. And clothing. And toothbrushes. Still, Erin didn’t want to go.

“It’s far. But I have to go. Maybe? Yes…no. No? Yes. I need food. And I need to feed my guests. It’s my duty as an innkeeper.”

She paused and thought about that last statement. Erin collapsed into a chair and cradled her head in her hands.

“Am I an innkeeper? Is that what this world is doing to me?”

Maybe. It was probably the [Innkeeper] class.

“Soon I’ll grow a huge beer belly and start hauling around kegs of ale. That’s what innkeepers do, right?”

She didn’t actually know. It wasn’t as if she’d ever paid that much attention to medieval history, at least the parts that were actually history.

“They never mentioned innkeepers in the legend of King Arthur. Or did they?”

There was no Google to help her so Erin abandoned that train of thought. Really, she was distracting herself. The problem she was facing was simple.

“To go to the city or not, that is the question. Actually, there’s no question. I need to go to the city. I need to go…shopping.”

Shopping. It would be a lot more appealing if she wasn’t trying to buy things to survive. But it had to be done. She knew it.

Still. Erin really, really didn’t like that idea. She liked people, she really did. But she had a negative reaction to A: leaving her safe inn, and B: travelling to a far off city probably full of giant lizards and insects that walked on two feet.

erin. its the difference between being uncomfortable and being dead. i know that being alive is much better than being dead 

Glumly, she stared at the three sticky blue fruit cores on her plate. She walked outside and threw them as far as she could. The juices left her hands feeling unpleasantly sticky, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.

“Guess I’ve gotta go to the stream. Who knew washing your hands was so much work?”

Erin grumbled as she wiped her hand on her jeans. Then she paused. And looked down.

Her jeans were blue. The blue fruit juice was blue. But against all odds, the blue stain still showed up quite visibly on her clothing. Or rather, the blue fruit stains. And they weren’t just on her pants.

Erin’s shirt was a nice, commercial t-shirt with a lovely company logo on the front and back. Really, she wasn’t that attached to it, but it was perfect to wear when she was just staying at home. It wasn’t her choice of clothing.

…Which was good, because Erin would have cried if she’d inflicted the same damage on a t-shirt she really liked. She gazed down at the blue stains covering her shirt. She poked at the rips and cuts on the sleeves and the burn marks on one side. She lifted the shirt, sniffed once, and gagged.

For the first time Erin felt at her hair. She raised a hand and smelled her breath. She thought about the last time she’d brushed her teeth, taken a bath, or even used soap. Then she tried to shut down her mind.

“Well, that settles that. I’m off to the city.”

good that we are finally going, but i do find it kinda funny that its her hygiene thats the last straw 

Erin walked through the grass. She wished there was a nice road to follow, but for some reason no one bothered to pave a road through the empty wilderness. Come to that, she wondered again why anyone would build an inn in the middle of nowhere.

Maybe there used to be more people in the area. Or maybe there was just an idiot who thought he was breaking into an untapped market. Either way, Erin was grateful for the inn.

“But why does it have to be so far away from anything?”

Erin walked down the slope. At least there was that. The inn was located on an incline. Not a steep hill, but a really long slope that gradually went down the more she walked. It was nice, until Erin looked back and realized she’d be climbing up all that way again soon.

“Wow. That’s a big hill.”

She stared for a while and kept walking. Relc and Klbkch had called the journey to the city a walk of about twenty minutes.

“They lied to me.”

Or maybe they just walked really fast. Erin could actually see the city Klbkch had called Liscor in the distance. It was still small, but given how close it seemed now compared to before and multiplying her velocity by her legs and given energy divided by her willingness to keep walking…

“Thirty minutes. No; probably an hour. Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Erin sighed. But exercise was good for her, right? It built character. Or something.

perhaps the guards have movement/speed related skills? or are they just taller/have longer strides 

“So, what do I need?”

She took a quick inventory check. Her coins were securely packed into the bottom of one pocket. They were heavy. She had her clothes on, which was important, and she looked like…well, like a homeless person. But she had money. So what should she buy with it?

“Um. Clothing. Right. And soap. And a toothbrush, if they have toothbrushes. And toothpaste…which they probably don’t have. But something. And I need food obviously, soap, towels, laundry deter—more soap, and a comb.”

Erin walked a few more feet.

“And a sword. I need a sword. And a shield? And armor? And uh, anti-Goblin spray? Oh, and books! Tons of books. Maps, history books…can I read any of that? Well, Relc and Klbkch speak English. So that’s weird too. And I need bandages, a sewing needle, someone to teach me how to sew…”

Erin felt at her pocket. The coins jingled. She wished there were more to jingle.

“And I need to rob a bank.”

Okay. Erin retraced her thoughts.

“What’s essential?”

She counted off on her fingers.

“Clothing. Food. Toothbrush. Soap. And a lamp.”

She snapped her fingers.

“Right. A lamp! And a sword.”

She felt at her pocket.

“…Just the lamp.”

you are not rich erin, you cant afford a sword and all that stuff.  

Flat grass, flat grass, all I see is flat grass.”

Erin sang as she walked. She wasn’t sure if there was a tune, but at least the singing kept her company.

“Horses eat grass, but I’ll pass, so I’ll go to the city fast. Or I’ll die of starvation! And once I’m there I’ll eat ten pears and—hey, is that a Goblin?”

Erin turned her head suddenly and the small head ducked down. She squinted. Yes, that was definitely a Goblin. It was hiding up on a small hill to her left, but she knew it was still there. Watching her.

Well. She was being followed. Erin wasn’t sure what to make of that. She looked around and two more heads disappeared as their owners dove for cover. They didn’t look like they were trying to ambush her, just follow her.

“Hm.”

Erin bent down and searched the grass. Eventually she found what she was looking for. She waited until one of the Goblins decided she’d forgotten about them and poked his head up again. Then she turned and shouted.

“Shoo!”

Erin hurled the rock. It missed the Goblin’s head. And the hill. But the green midget took the hint and disappeared in an instant. Erin sighed to herself.

“Great. They’re like cockroaches. Evil, giant, green cockroaches. With teeth. And sharp knives. And red eyes.”

She wondered what she should do. Then she thought about what she could actually do.

Erin kept walking.

The city kept getting larger the further she walked. She felt at some point it should stop getting bigger, but soon the buildings loomed in her vision. They were no skyscrapers, but they were taller than she felt medieval buildings should be. But the city was still far away. So she walked.

And she was being watched. Multiple pairs of eyes stared at the young woman as she walked through the grass. They watched her for signs of weakness, for things that could be exploited. She was watched. Occasionally she turned around and threw a stone.

goblins! goblins are watching! 

When Erin got to the city gates she stared up for a while.

“That’s a big wall.”

It was a big understatement. The wall was high. And that was high even by wall standards. It was nearly forty feet tall, which Erin had no way of knowing was perfectly normal for a wall. She had no way of knowing it was forty feet tall either. She just thought it was big.

But what was unusual about this particular wall, and what Erin did notice was the way the gate was constructed. It was no iron grating of a portcullis with handy holes to shoot and poke at enemies, but two solid metal doors. Erin wondered why, as the gates looked solid and hard to budge. They were, and for a reason. But she didn’t find out that reason until much later.

hmm, large plains, solid doors, everything is built on hills. does this area flood often? 

Erin approached the gate. There wasn’t really anyone else going through at the moment, so she felt very alone and small as she walked up to them. She stopped when she saw the guard.

He was big. He was armored. He was also a Drake, and he had yellow scales rather than green ones. Pale yellow, so Erin was reminded of popcorn. He also had a curved sword, and so it was with trepidation that she approached.

“…Hi.”

The Drake flicked his eyes down towards Erin and then resumed looking off into the distance. He was holding a spear at his side and a metal buckler on his left arm. Since he wasn’t using either to bash her to death, Erin considered this to be a good first start.

“Um. Nice weather, isn’t it?”

Again, the guard glanced at her. Again, he didn’t respond.

“…Right. It’s just that I’m new here. And I’m Human. Nice to meet you. My name is Erin. I uh, know another guy who works with you. Relc? And Klb…Klb…the insect guy? So yeah. They know me. I’m no threat. And uh, I saw some Goblins running around a while back. They’re not here right now, but I felt you should know.”

The Drake sighed audibly. And loudly.

just, ugh. i would normally skip this interaction because i dont like awkward scenes like this, but its very short 

“Go on in, Human. Anyone can enter the city.”

“Right. Thanks. Uh, have a nice day!”

Erin smiled. He didn’t smile back.

“I’ll just be going. Now.”

She walked past the guard. As she walked through the iron gates she heard him mutter under his breath.

“Humans.”

see? 

Erin’s smile froze a bit on her face but she kept walking as if she’d heard nothing. Everyone was grumpy when they had to stand and deal with obnoxious tourists. And besides, he was just a guard. She walked through the imposing gates into the city. And then she had to stop.

Because she had entered Liscor. A city of the fiery Drakes, built with the help of the industrious Antinium. Home to the prideful Gnolls and the occasional Beastkin, not to be confused with one another. Visited by many races, home to countless more. And now entering—

One human.

oo gnolls! that means dog/hyena people, yes? also beast kin! this probably mean other animal people. 

also, this is the end of the chapter! will erin experience a good bit of racism? is there a reason humans arent that common in the area? are these plains flood plains? 

see you on the next post! ive got to eat so after that i shall post the next two chapters 

[inncorrectinnquotes]

You Like Me

Klbkch: "You like me." Relc: "Sorry?" Klbkch: "You like me." Relc: "No, I don't." Klbkch: "Yes, you do." Relc: "No." Klbkch: "You definitely do." Relc: "And how did you come to that conclusion?" Klbkch: "Erin. You snubbed her. You snubbed her because I died protecting her. You like me." Relc: "No. I snubbed Erin because she wouldn't stop bugging me." Klbkch: "No. You snubbed her because you like me." Relc: "Keep talking, I'll prove my point." Klbkch: "It is okay, Relc. I like you, too."

[inncorrectinnquotes]

Oak

Relc (while kicking in a door): "I betcha don't know what kind of wood this is." Klbkch: "It is oak." Relc: "Nope - it's oak."

[inncorrectinnquotes]

"The use of unnecessary violence in the apprehension of the crazy human innkeeper, Erin Solstice... has been approved."

Zevara, at the end of her patience

[inncorrectinnquotes]

First, Second, Third

Relc, comes into work looking a bit damaged: "Does anyone here know first aid?" Zevara: "It's probably not serious. Second or third aid will do."

[inncorrectinnquotes]

Red Handed

Zevara: "We're going to catch those crooks red-handed. [Relc raises his hand] Yes, Relc?" Relc: "What color are their hands now?"

[inncorrectinnquotes]

Adding Things Up

Zevara: "I put two and two together and I got Erin."

[inncorrectinnquotes]

Personal Business

[Klbkch attacks Relc] Relc: "Hey Klbkch, I don't want to pry into your personal business, but is something bothering you?" Klbkch, still in denial over his stress level, still fighting Relc: "Not that I am aware of."

[inncorrectinnquotes]

Reaction Reasoning

Klbkch: "Do people react that way because we are Guardsman, or do you just have that effect on them?" Relc: "I'd like to think it's me."

[inncorrectinnquotes]

Nobody Knows

Zevara: "You know, Erin, that's why you're so hard to deal with. Nobody knows what you're going to do next, including you."

[inncorrectinnquotes]

Optimism

Jeiss sees Relc flirting at a bar. Jeiss: “He knows it never works, so why does he always go for the same type?" Beilmark: "Optimism!”

[inncorrectinnquotes]

Shortest Book Ever

Zevara: ""All of Relc's secrets". There's the shortest book ever written."

[inncorrectinnquotes]

Not A Crime

Zevara: (Reading charges) "Insubordination! Conduct unbecoming a Watchman of Liscor! Violations of Articles 13 through 27 with a repeat on 26!" Klbkch: "That was when you altered the salute by performing a vulgar gesture instead." Relc: "You gonna lock me up, Captain?" Zevara: "If you didn't outclass every bit of Guardsman talent in Liscor, your tail would have been in handcuffs a long time ago." Relc: "Zevara, it's no crime, or it shouldn't be, for a Guardsman to try to get decent support from Liscor's Army." Zevara: "Did you really yell "Give me my enchanted spear or give me death"? Wow. Did you really call a [General] a NINCOMPAC?”