Announcement
Woops, I released the wrong chapter a minute ago!
“We killed the bandits, the quest is over.” Tyrael showed the notice to a guard, who took it from her and nodded.
“The… three of you?” he asked, looking at the small, cloaked figure standing behind the two adventurers.
“That’s right, the three of us.” she answered.
“Sorry, I know this is a pain but, well, I have to keep a log.” he said, opening a book and pulling out a quill pen. “A Party of 3, one elf, one lizardman and… a halfling? Dwarf? I’m going to need your friend to lower their hood to verify.”
I flipped the hood back, revealing that I was neither of his suggestions, and the guard began to freak out. Before he could raise his voice in alarm, Gox the lizardman shoved him against the wall, cupping his hand over his mouth.
“Sorry about this, but we’re going to need you to look the other way this time.” he said, pressing a large bag of coins into the guard’s hand. “If you keep silent until we leave tomorrow, another bag is yours.”
The guard looked at the purse of gold coins, likely more than he could make in a year, and nodded nervously.
“G-Got it, but if you cause any trouble…” he stammered, unable to look away from the goblin standing so casually before him.
“I can’t promise anything, yer adventurers tend to like trying to poke me with sharp objects.” I smirked, putting my hood back on.
“P-Party of 3, elf, lizardman, and a d-dwarf.” He finished logging our arrival, and let us pass through the small wooden gates. “Enjoy your stay at Halftown.”
Since the raid was being prepared at Bridgeport, it wasn’t a good place to go, so we went the other direction, to this small town. It was called Halftown because it was about halfway to the capital from the starter location of Bridgeport, not very creative of the humans.
Why were we infiltrating a human settlement in the first place? Well, outside of the sword on my back, the rest of my equipment was barely more than scraps.
“The armorsmith is on the north side of town, if I recall.” Gox said, leading the way. “Armor sized for a dwarf or halfling should suffice without any modification, so we shouldn’t have problems there.”
It was a small town, but it’s location made it rather busy with adventurers, as such we slipped through the streets relatively unnoticed. Finally arriving at a sign that said armory, we entered the shop.
All over the shop were various sets of armor on stands, on tables, or hung from the wall. Through a doorway you could see a back room that contained the forge, and behind a counter sat a middle aged dwarven male.
I walked over to a set of armor that looked to be made of cloth, but as soon as I touched it I realized it was made of metal. Segmented metal plates had been inserted into thick cloth and riveted to it.
“Ah, ya got good taste there, friend.” the dwarf spoke up, noticing my attention being given to the armor set. “Too many of these young adventurers want full plate, they like the look more I think. But that armor there, cheaper, more flexible to move in.”
“What is it?” I asked him, picking up a similarly made pauldron. The armor set was a dark burgundy in color, and I have to admit it had caught my attention.
“Brigandine, friend. Used to make it for adventurers, but recently only guards seem to buy it. It’s cheaper, but it’s no less protective, easier to maintain too.” he answered, nodding at his own words, clearly proud of himself. “If yer interested, why not try it on?”
“With your fast fighting style, it seems like a good choice.” Tyrael inserted herself into the conversation, opening her coin purse. “We’ll take it, the whole set.”
After quickly buying the armor set, we quickly headed out of the shop and slipped into an alley. I tried on the armor, and due to its nature as separate plates it adjusted to my body shape perfectly, all I had to do was tighten the outer straps.
Even with the pauldrons on, it didn’t really restrict my movement that much.
“Wow, this is pretty impressive~” I admired the armor for a bit, then quickly put my cloak back on. I thought about our next action for a moment, then pointed in some nondescript direction out of the alley. “I wanna go to one of those things adventurers hang out in, a tavern!”
“Tavern’s the other way.” Gox answered, and Tyrael chuckled a bit.
“Yeah, like I could possibly know that.” I pouted, crossing my arms over my newly armored chest. “Just lead the way will ya?”
Gox nodded, and the three of us headed for the tavern. Entering, it was much louder than I expected, the constant chatter making it hard to overhear what anyone was saying unless you were at their table. We found an empty table in the back corner, allowing us some relative freedom away from any prying eyes, and ordered drinks.
I might not look or act like it, but I am a fully grown goblin woman, and I’ve had my share of alcohol before. I quickly downed the sweet beverage sitting in a tankard before me, I think the barmaid said it was mead.
“What do you think of us upworlder's booze, Fif?” Tyrael asked, polishing off her own drink in a second. She put on a harsh exterior, but once she warmed up to someone she was pretty relaxed, though I’m shocked she was able to get comfortable with me so quickly. Perhaps it was part of Beelzebub’s influence, or a hidden ability of my Class.
“Back in the village, we fermented glowshrooms, tasted like death but well, it was the best we had.” I answered her, signaling for another drink from the barmaid.
After a few rounds of drink, I was starting to feel the effects. Gox seemed to hold his liquor quite well, and was still stoic, but Tyrael… well, she was a different case. Gox stood up from his chair and began to head towards the barkeeper.
“I’ll rent us a room, actually, I think I’ll get my own…” he said, taking another look at Tyrael’s drunken state. “You girls have fun.”
“Of course we will!” Tyrael laughed, throwing her arm around my still hooded figure. She was completely and totally hammered, seeming to have forgotten she wasn’t alone here. “Miss, I need more rum!”
The barmaid smiled and returned with another bottle, but before she could refill Tyrael’s glass, the elven woman took the entire thing and began to drink straight from it.
“Here, have some real drink, Fiffil!” she laughed, pouring a dangerous looking amount from the bottle into my empty jug of mead. “That stuff you’re ordering is weak, I haven’t enjoyed it since I was a kid!”
“Uhh, I’ll try it, I guess.” I replied, taking a sip of it. I was already starting to feel drunk, and the strength of this liquor was much more potent, so I felt a bit weary of drinking too much of it.
I don’t know when I blacked out exactly, but in the morning I woke up with a terrible hangover in the same bed as Tyrael, who was missing quite a bit of clothing. Thankfully, my clothing was still on, a small relief I suppose.
