Dark City Part 2: Orientation

The line took slightly longer than we thought, and when we arrived at the reception, we put down our party token and information. The Human male behind the counter took it, looked it over, and put it in something clear. "Information checks out. Recommended party, Damn, another new arrival that didn't know where to go. I told the boss that we need to make that clear, so you don't have to wait in the long line of nobodies." The man said, his voice almost a monotone. His complaints were probably very valid.

"Sorry for the wait," He said a couple of seconds later. "Next time, you can go through those doors on the left with your party and wait in the much shorter line. For now, since you have already arrived at my window," He said, looking at us expectantly while holding that barely above monotone, "Is there anything I can help you with today?"

"We would love to get a map of the city and the key information that can help us adapt to the city," I told him with a smile, and he sighed.

"Okay," He replied and reached down under his desk before pausing and looking at us. "We have three tiers of maps. We have the basic map with general things like an inn and the teleportation place. We have the advanced map with certain shops and includes more inns and the teleportation functions in the city, and we have the highest class map that is publically available for purchase at the guild. It has almost everything an adventurer group would be looking for in the city when they are here."

"I will take one of each then. How much would that cost?" I asked with a smile. I wanted to see what the adventurers guild was like, and the three separate maps seemed almost like a scam to me. If all three maps were similar, then it was obviously a scam, but if each grew more detailed with more points of interest on the map. Then I would be happy.

The receptionist looked up at me, his face bored, and replied, "That will be one gold, five silver, and ten copper." His expression was bored, like he was used to all of this and that he hated his job.

I pulled out two gold and handed them to him, and he sighed. He pulled open two trays, counted out the change, and handed it back. "That is your change, and here are your maps," He said as he leaned under the counter and pulled out three maps. Each looked of better paper, and I pulled out the first map.

It was a simple map with barely any detail on it. These are just some major roads, and I realized this was a free gold grab for the guild. It was so simple that someone who purchased this map would come back in line demanding their money back in the real world. The second map had some major streets on it with some points of interest that were relevant and needed. It had places to repair weapons and tools and the best way out of the city.

It was the map on the best paper that I liked the most. In fact, it was folded and thick, so I knew that it was also much more extensive. "Please, Let me finish helping you before inspecting all the goods, Ma'am," The receptionist asked.

"Sorry," I replied unintentionally, "I think we will be back as we want to accumulate to the city before picking up more quests." I finished, and the receptionist nodded.

"Have a great day, and may the goddess shine brightly upon you in this dark city." He then turned left to go do something quickly, ending all conversation.

I turned to the ladies and shrugged before leaving. As I turned back, I noticed that the receptionist was already back, taking the next person in line. I shrugged again and no longer put any thought into him anymore as I left out the front door. "So a place to sit down and look at the map?" I asked.

A series of nods went around, and we made for the nearest inn on the map. We found a place quickly called the Dash and Done. I smiled at the message they were sending before we all stepped inside. We quickly found a large table and placed the chairs off to the side, stacked that seemed to be the staple of the place as other people looked at maps with food and drinks to the side. A barmaid with bunny ears came up to us a second later. "Hello, what can I get for you?" she asked with a smile.

"Can we each get something you are cooking in the kitchen and something to drink while we get ourselves orientated?" I asked.

"Perfect, Is there any specific drinks you want? And does our special meat and potatoes sound good to you all?" She asked with a large smile.

"I think water is okay and meat and potatoes sound lovely," Viccy replied, and I nodded with her.

Fidel and Iona nodded along when Gloom added, "I will take an ale instead of water though."

"Me too," Naughty added in, and I smiled.

"That will be all, thank you," I finished, and she nodded, heading off. I quickly then unfolded the large map, and details of the city came out. I wanted to whistle as this was a fairly detailed map of the city, I believed. "So for now, we want to find an area I think we can set up shop around. I think the hellfire church might be a good spot to be near for our affiliation plus for Naughty bunny," I began. "Let us start with finding that and see where it is in relation to the city and if we can find an inn nearby to stay at. Once we have done that, we can start looking into finding if we want to stay here more permanently." I finished with nods around the table.

It took a minute before the maid came back, and we were all looking down at the table thinking when the maid put down various water and some Ale for Gloom. "Here are your drinks food will be out in a minute." She told us.

"Thanks!" I replied but barely paid any attention as Viccy cried out, "Found it!"

She put her finder down around the edge of the map near what looked to be the more run-down part of the city. I looked it over and saw a small note on the map of the building saying what the building was. It was the hellfire church, situated just a street or two down; there was an inn, and there was a small branch of the Adventurers guild three streets down from it.

I smiled, looking at it, and I pointed to an Inn on the same road just a few blocks away. "Doesn't look like the best area, but I wonder if there are any city quests or even quests outside the city where this is since we are not far from the exit of the city either," I added with a smile.

"Still, that inn is close to what I suspect are the slums. That might mean if we leave our stuff at an inn, we might get robbed," Gloom said, taking a large swig of ale.

"Hmm, Well, we could purchase a place that we can call our own and have Ellie ward the place against intruders," Iona said, and I frowned.

"Well, That works for me, although we would have to get supplies first for me to do that. But I think that it is the best course of action and making plans beyond that wouldn't do us much good if we find this isn't the best place to set down roots." I replied in thought.

"Dinner is here!" The barmaid came in with a smile, her arms full of plates of meat and potatoes. I picked up the map and put it away, and she began to put the food on the table somehow with practiced ease. I pulled up the chairs we had set aside earlier and sat down as the barmaid set food in front of us.

We waited for her to be done setting the food out and putting down cutlery, and we began to eat. I had not realized that I still wasn't hungry when everyone began to eat. It was then I realized that I still had the buff from that feast working on me and I sat back feeling a little embarrassed. Everyone else didn't seem to notice, so I took this time to think instead.

Dark City was different from the Elven forest, and I wondered what the quests inside a city would be like instead of outside the city. Something told me that they would be extermination quests or information-type quests on criminals instead of retrieving a certain amount of this thing or another thing. I did not think that the Adventurers guild would have those types of quests and that we were going to be working more for the hellfire church than the guild in the near future.

I couldn't help but wonder if we were about to get ourselves into a lot more reputation and affiliation games moving forward in Dark City in comparison to the Elven tree city we just left.