833 Quest Giver

After the statue had been unveiled Jerma led the mall to Piana's townhall, the building itself actually looked more majestic than the others near it, which wasn't surprising given it was the center point of the town.

Inside they steps into some sort of lobby decorated by life-like painting, carvings, and other works of art. Mathias step up to the reception desk where a smart-looking man stands with a neutral expression.

"Greetings, I am Lothi Firsir, can I help you with anything?" he asks politely.

Mathias nods, "Yes. I had recently gotten into a magical accident with my companions, this led to us being teleports in the sky in random locations. I was wondering if there has been any news of such occurring happening?"

Lothi gives him a weird look before turning and pulling out many shelves, glancing at pieces of paper before putting them back in and moving onto the next shelf. He continues to do this for a couple of minutes, eventually turning back around with a frown. "My apologies, there doesn't seem to have been anything like that."

Jerma "That's not good, the Holy Empire would know if something like that had happened, maybe they were dropped in the lands across the sea?"

Mathias sighs, "Perhaps?"

Lennon "I don't think so... It looked like Mathias feel from that bluey green crack they flew across the sky."

Lothi "Hm? Excuse me, did you just say Mr Mathias here fell from a certain blue crack" he asks, clearly interested.

Lennon slowly nods, "Yes..."

Lothi "Is that so?... Then I'd advise you Mr Mathias to not lie to me again, not only is it nonconducive to an effective working relationship, it also reduces the chance of us finding your companions."

Mathias nods, he'd always kept information to himself in the past, even when it wasn't needed. This was one of the reasons he'd managed to survive up until now, bandits, brigands, and knowledge seekers would've captured him by now... "Forgive my mistake, I'm still not familiar with this... Lands customs."

Lothi nods, "So, Mr Mathias... Which world have you come from?" he asks, shocking the mage.

Mathias "Excuse me?"

Lothi "I asked which world you had originated from, it is clear that you aren't native to this one."

Mathias leans his head to the side, "How do you know I'm not from around here?"

Lothi "The Holy Empire is more than aware of the existence of other worlds, we are also aware of a phenomenon known as the Universal Rift, it's a crack in space-time that you happened to fall through along with your companions."

Mathias "So my suspicion was right, this is another world... Have otherworlders come to these lands before?"

Lothi smirk, "You could say that, to find your friends I'd recommend travelling to the capital of the Holy Empire known as Ichor and try to get an audience with his majesty the God King, if that's not possible than the Queen would also be an option." he explains.

Mathias nods, "I see, is there a direct route to Ichor I should take or?"

Lothi "If you lack horses then taking a ferry up the Pontar would be the fastest, otherwise simply following the river east will lead you to Daevon... Head to Ard Carriagh after that and you will find directions to Ichor."

Mathias "Thanks." he turns to Jerma and Lennon, "Do you think we have enough food to last us the journey?"

Jerma shakes her head, "No, we'd barely last three days..."

Mathias turns back to Lothi, "Erm, what're the rules on trading currency?" he asks as he has quite as um of gold in his inventory.

Lothi frowns, "Eh... That's a complicated issue, all otherworlders have been ordered to have their bodies and items examined in Ichor before any of them can be distributed, the only reason we haven't bagged you up and put you in a status charm is because our sensors haven't detected any foreign bacteria, curses, viruses, etc on your body. Unfortunately, these scanners are only able to check general things..."

Mathias "Why can't you just scan my gold then?"

Lothi "Well... A couple years ago some otherworlders accidentally brought in a gold-eating fungus that consumed a portion of Ichor before the God King stopped it. Luckily it was only released in Ichor, otherwise the economy would have been destroyed."

....

Lothi "I suppose, I could grant you a loan for your travels... Or, you could do something for me while you're heading to Ichor?"

Mathias "And what might that be?" he asks, feeling like he's getting played.

Lothi "A village called Buki has been evacuated due to rumours of a monster being present there... The men formed a militia and ventured into the forest to combat it, but were all defeated and barely managed to escape. As an Otherworlder, you are likely more powerful than the people in this world... If you could, try to reach the village before the Holy Empire's representative turns up."

...

Mathias "Why?" he asks, wondering why he was needed if there was already someone on the way to deal with the issue.

Lothi "Indeed, "Why" are you asking questions when time is money?" he says turning the question around, "Here's enough Remi for your journey and a bit extra for the job, now off you trot, who knows when the monster will start causing damage.

The group leave with the sack of gold they'd been handed, Jerma efficiently taking them to places they could buy clothes, tents, rations and other travelling gear. They spend the night in the town, Mathias spending a couple hours in a tavern to try and find out some of the more "covert" things in the Holy Empire, though, his snooping didn't achieve anything as there didn't seem to be anything to hide.