Amhull City

Chris was up as the crack of dawn slowly revealed the beautiful morning. Birds were singing their songs and the kids were ready to keep on moving. Sarah was walking around and tying everything up, giving it one last check.

When she was done, they carried the sled back towards the carriage and got the Ox some water from a nearby creek. Chris watched as the Ox nearly spilt all of the water out of the bucket.

"Poor Ox…" then he looked over at Alice that was handling the animal. She had a hold of a thinner rope that definitely would not stop the beast if it decided to walk off in any direction.

Chris approached, "Hey, uh, Alice? Would you mind…passing me the Ox-cord?"

He then began to laugh as the children stared at his antics, even the Ox didn't find it funny as it gave a big huff and walked away from the loud idiot.

"Hahahaha, ah…I love puns…" He said with a smile on his face. Then Sarah smacked him on the shoulder from behind and hopped up on the cart, it was time to head out.

…

…

…

"Are we there yet?" Asked Chris as he leaned against the side of the carriage. Sarah just shook her head which resulted in him letting out a large huff of air. It has been over 8 hours…

[I am not a baby…my butt just hurts. No underwear on hard and unfinished wood? FUCK OFF.]

Chris leaned back and looked at Sarah, "How much longer do you think it will be? We have to be close, right?" to which she nodded and spoke, "Please just relax, we will be another half-hour."

Chris was slowly losing his mind…

[Does half-hour mean the same freaking thing here? I have been counting and we are easily over 45-minutes..oh wait!]

He stood up on the moving carriage and was immediately pulled down by Sarah, "You FOOL, never stand on a moving carriage!"

Chris was smiling, "Sarah, I saw the city!" and she let out a big sigh.

After a few more minutes, Chris could really begin to make out the city, and it was actually massive.

[Damn, look at that gate, it is WAY too big, what do they need it for?]

The line outside of the City was growing smaller as most merchants had already headed inside and the stragglers were left.

Chris saw many different heights, colors, and shapes? There were beast-like folk around, clearly ripping off the merchant stereotype. Dwarves that were in fullish-plate with large hammers. Some mage-like people in robes and carrying large sticks.

[THIS IS SO COOL! This reminds me of the renaissance fair! But here…the girls are much cuter? Wait…so are the guys? Wut?]

He turned to the beautiful Sarah and looked at all of the kids, [We are sexy bitches…] then he realized that it wasn't just him that had a nicer appearance, but with a limited sample size, he couldn't have know this was the standard.

The people of this world were much more attractive than at home. [New York had some bangin' women, but this? This is Los Angeles type stuff, is everyone here a failed actor from a small town?]

He shook his head and thought about it as the line moved forward, then the guard pulled them to the side.

"Miss, I need to check your Dwarf. Please stand aside." Said the random gate guardian.

"What is the purpose of this?" Asked Sarah, amicably.

"He matches a description, please step off of the vehicle."

[Ah shit…here we go again.] Thought Chris as he complied.

The guard pulled out a gray Orb, and it was similar to the previous but less vibrant by a lot.

"Please accept the verification." Said the man as he handed the orb to Chris. It was much colder and heavier than the other orb…

He felt the orb once again enter his body but saw no text like last time. It was just the feeling of being watched.

"Are you the escaped Dwarf from the Banem Mines?" Asked the man, taking more time to enunciate the words.

Chris looked at him in surprise, "What? No, I am not him." To which the orb did nothing as it was the truth.

The man continued, "Do you know of the whereabouts of this slave?" and Chris shook his head, "I am not really sure where he would be at.." and the orb caused a searing pain to travel up his wrist.

The guard was readying his sword, "Do you know where the Dwarf is at?!" Repeated the man with more urgency in his voice.

Chris nodded, "He is dead."

The orb did nothing.

The man looked at him with shock on his face and frowned.

"Did you kill him? How are you so certain he is dead?" Asked the man.

Chris looked over to Sarah and she shook her head.

"I-I did not kill him; it was a fortunate or unfortunate encounter between us." The orb sticking out of his palm did not radiate pain. It just stayed quiet.

The guard squinted but accepted it, for now. "Before you are able to leave the city, you will have to clear this up." Then Sarah chimed in, "We will be sure to see you beforehand. We can answer to the BEST of our ability. Now may we go inside, we have children to feed?"

She turned around to the kids, some were making pained faces and holding their stomachs.

It dawned on Chris, [SHE IS A MASTER!] and he watched as Alice came up and said, "Mommy…can we get some food? We are hungry…" the pouting look overcame the guard as he started to sweat in his armor.

He walked over to his Sargent and got a slip of paper, then he headed back over. "Do not lose this. The Captain will make rounds in a week, he will find you. You may enter." As the man held out his hand and Sarah handed over a few Silver coins.

[Is that expensive?] Thought Chris as they pulled inside through the larger gate.

The city was magnificent, it was really more of a fort given the large walls and "fuck-off" door. But the inside was much more pleasant to the eye, various stands were open with many goods on display. Ranging from small pieces of jewelry to books that had golden writing in the front. [OH! MAGIC TOMES! FUCK YEAH!!!!] He stood up and was immediately pulled back down.

Sarah leaned over, "Do not make a scene in the trade district. Nobles do not like rowdy commoners, trust me..."

She then looked over the group of children as the Ox was able to follow the flow of movement in the "carriage" lane through the center of the road.

The kids were all smiles as they had read the situation and were happy to help their mother. Alice even got a pat on the head for it.

Wealthy individuals could be seen with powerful looking men, they were purchasing some items for their master. Other servants wore more conservative clothing that did not display the status so openly. Some wore only basic garb, which was known to be the standard for non-nobility.

The number of Crests and Banners was less than expected, but some used their status to flaunt their affluence for no other reason than pride and vanity.

Chris shook his head. He remembered learning about medieval nobles and knights from the videogames back in high school. Those were the days, but now he just hoped they weren't massive "jerkoffs" as Chad would put it.

Chris was thinking about his old Mac-days at the orphanage. Apparently, that was the standard model and the government would not buy anything else. The game limitations sucked though, but Chris was turning to see Sarah smiling.

There was a woman in the distance smiling and waving. She had glowing red hair and was in her late 20's.

[Damn.] Chris was about to whistle when Alice jumped up. "BIG SIS'! GUYS, THERE IS BIG SIS'!" and the rest of the kids started to make a racket. Sarah sped up the carriage and parked it at the stables around back. The woman was walking along with the group as they went to tie off the Ox.

Chris was thinking about how stunning she was, a full-blooded human, that he could tell. But she was still enchanting.

He leaned over, "Sarah, so who is that woman?" and Sarah said, "She is one of my kids, she runs this Inn in the city. It is where we will be staying." And that left Chris stunned.

[Right…200. That has to be weird, how many kids are running around out there?] Then Chris had a scary thought, [How many of her children are in their middle to old-ages..damn. Age is scary.]

The woman was playing with the little ones and Chris thought about the reason she had enemies. A long life would let you make plenty, hell, Chris had just over thirty and he made an incredible amount, now imagine if you are a long-lived race that has to put up with it over centuries. It made sense to him why she did things her way, she had to do so to survive.

It was time to head on inside and get some food, hopefully the woman could explain the city and Sarah could train him in something. He was getting antsy about being an adventurer.