Connections

It has been four days since my last visit to the library and I finally have an understanding of how this city works.

There are indeed no real leaders, except the city council, yet some bosses do exist. Gangs are everywhere in the city, once I started paying attention it was easy to notice the colors, most people wear a combination of two or more colors which shows their affiliations.

For my upcoming plans gangs are not that important, if they try to interfere it will be troublesome but otherwise my actions should not affect them in any way.

Another thing I started noticing where the other races present in the city, namely giants and elves.

The elves were hiding in plain sight, all the tall people my height or higher were elves, the hat just hid their slightly pointy ears. Most of them also have lighter colored hair, and are extremely thin, as in almost no fat on their bodies.

As for giants, they are extremely intimidating, their size is one thing but their presence is what truly makes them different from humans, it is awe-inspiring.

If I were to compare it to something, when a giant looks down on you, which is due to their size mostly, it feels as if your father is mad at you, some sort of primal fear.

That sensation is why humans despise them.

There is a local alliance between races so they don't fight but there is almost no interaction between humans and giants.

As for their size, I barely reach their elbows, and I am elven sized, a human's head is usually around the height of their palms, which are bigger than a human head, so they look scary.

I have yet to properly interact with one as of yet, but if my plans are to work I will need several giants to work with me, or for me.

Luckily they don't seem to hate humans like we wouldn't hate a dwarf that ironically does not exist in this world. In a way, humans are the dwarves of this world.

Most elves are irrelevant to my plans, except a select few, the ones that make clothes.

Almost all tailors are elves, both male and female, so they are included.

In my effort of discovering the city I went and met most of the merchants and crafters around, some are nice while others not so much, my interactions with most of them were kept at a minimum, a hello and what do you sell, then I asked them if they have a catalog with prices.

All the shops had one of them and that is the key, I can see most of their wares in a handy book with all the prices next to it.

I, of course, did not memorize them, but I can say that there are a total of 27 shops opened in this city. I say shops because the stalls in the square do not count, most of them belong to one of the shops.

These shops sell almost all the items that people in the city buy and use, they have a total monopoly over prices.

Most shops belong to humans while others to elves yet none to giants, except one single tavern, I also included bars and pubs in the list yet I did not include inns, as they ironically belong to the gangs, or so I believe.

Knowing this, I can take the first step to becoming successful.

----------------

Ahh the docks, the best smelling place in town, except the bathhouse, of course.

The smell of saltwater is in the air and the screams of sailors trying to talk to each other over the sound of waves crashing against the rocks is something you could never see back home.

The port area is located to the west side and is separated into three areas, the warehouse district, the entertainment district and the giant living district.

Yes, all giants live down by the docks as they are mostly sailors and builders. It is said that giants built this city, and that couldn't be more true.

They are also the best sailors of all the races, I'm not quite sure how it works but they do it. They own boats and go fishing daily, then bring the fish back and sell it at the market in the entertainment district, that is why there is no fish sold up in the square.

Because giants own all the fish and they don't sell it there, simple as that.

Now, it is pretty early today so I head over to the only and biggest bar in the entertainment district, mostly populated by the giants and foreign merchants. The building is nice, built in a corner next to a brothel.

I wave back to a scantily clad woman on the second floor of the brothel next door as I walk into the bar.

It is not the first time I have been here before but I left without buying anything, I was only scouting after all.

As I approach the counter and sit in a huge wooden stool, giant-sized, the waiter or barkeep or whatever comes over.

He is a giant big enough to cast a shadow over my whole body as he stands between the window and me. Time to make a good impression.

''What you want''. I already knew that giants speak slowly but it was quite surprising hearing it for the first time. It sounded more like ''Whaaaaat.....yooooouuuu....waaaant''

Vocals seem to be extended and there is no pause between words and yet oddly enough their accent is the closest I found to the standard one.

Without saying anything I lift my hand with only a finger out showing the universal symbol for one.

He nods and returns in a while with a mug, made of wood, I think, it is giant-sized so to me it's more like a bucket.

I only nod at him and lift the mug with both hands before taking a sip, it's warm and not very tasty, don't know what it is but I don't quite like it.

The giant leaves me and goes back to chat with the other giants drinking at the counter, it is midday so the bar is quite empty.

After several minutes and half a bucket of that thing down my throat, I had enough courage to call out to him. Here goes nothing.

As he passes by me I say out loud ''What do you call this drink?''.

The giant stops and gives me a toothy grin before saying ''Grog''. My neck hurts looking up at him,

''I see, never had it quite like this before, not bad, must sell well'' Flattery first.

''Yes, it is my personal brew, very hard to make'' I believe you big guy.

''Very good indeed, what do they call you friend''

''I am Olan, barkeeper of the Giants Fist'' So that's what this place is called, it was written in another language so I had no idea.

''Good day Olan, I am Caspian Season, a merchant by profession'' Another odd thing is that people in this world introduce themselves with their professions, or jobs, not all of them do, but it's like saying 'Hello this is my name and this is what I do'. Never noticed it until I talked with all the shopkeepers.

''A merchant, good, do you sell alcohol?''

''I happen to not carry any on me right now, but you see Olan, I need your help, do you happen to know what one would have to do to hire some strong giants''