The hangover was bad, but Gargan was able to recover quickly, and by the time the sun was standing right atop of the Archipelago, he was already back on his feet, and headed to the guild’s office. His little blue companion has alerted him to a call by a staff member that announced that one of his posted quests was fulfilled.

 

He only posted one job under, and that was the cry for help in looking for his pendant. Someone has found it! Over the moon, Gargan has somehow sobered up enough to fly straight to the office, and not bothered by the foot traffic, and greeted the receptionist perhaps with a little too much eagerness.

 

The man who has recovered his pendant was a veteran of the guild, and he stumbled on it by chance when he was surveying the Great Lake region. Miraculously, it was in the hand, or hooves, of a nature spirit, and the endent itself was in a very good condition. Nothing was missing, and not a single feather was damaged. Attached to it was a letter by the concerned veteran, who reminded him to look after it better, and also suggested that Runewicks, a renown university, observe it.

 

Gargan didn’t like the sound of that, as he did not trust those academia enough to hand over it, but was very appreciative that the man did not turn it to the university, but to the guild and in turn, back to him again. He imagined those researchers would love to study a magical charm from another realm, so he understood it somewhat. Still, it shall not leave his side anymore, in case he happens to visit a tavern someday.

 

Borrowing some pen and papers from the desk, Gargan wrote a letter to the veteran, who goes by the name of Eochaidh O’Byrnei, but the receptionist called him with a familiared nickname of Eochy. From what he learned from the freed receptionist, the man was an expert in the field of medicine and herbology, Gargan decided to reward him with some of the more exotic and rare seeds from his collection, which were somehow still on him.

 

One of the two plants is called Flv’e Del, a potent and effective flower that can be used in curing most blood agents, and can be used as a blood thickener to stop bleeding. It has saved him so many times during his numerous expeditions, so Gargan understands how useful it would be, especially under the hand of an experienced herbalist.

 

The other flower is called Draolie, a beautiful and delicate flower with a calming fragrance that is said to have the power to tranquil the most wrathful of dragons, and driften them into a peaceful sleep. It, too, has been a great help in a number of Gargan escapes. And, when diluted, can act as therapy and help him sleep better.

 

He bundled the reward up nicely, and handed it to the receptionist to pass it along to Eochaidh, and exit the guild’s house. With his pendants tightly clasped on his belt, Gargan decided to take a little stroll, and took to the sky. After all, the sky is his second home, and the cold up there feels just right for him. It helped him clear his head, and relaxed his tired mind.

 

After finding the correct thermal path, Gargan wordlessly gilded through the Archipelago, and began to think about his future. Stranded in an unknown world, without a way home, this is certainly the first, but he is sure that there must be a way home, and it is his job to find it. If he has to scout the entire world of this realm, then so be it.

 

Setting that as his long term goal, Gargan began to think about the near future. Does he want to stay here, in the floating islands, or do he want to explore the Lower World?

 

He likes both options, really, as both of them have their own charm that drew him in. On the Sky Archipelago, there is so much culture, so many people, and so much knowledge to be learned, to be absorbed, and to be consumed. There are so many differences between this strange place, but so many things remind the way it is to his old realm. He wanted to know why. He wanted to experience it all.

 

But, down there, on the Lower World, too existed a totally different civilization, a whole different culture to explore as well. And, there too, existed many unknown just waiting to be found, to be discovered.

 

After some time, Gargan decided to base here on the Sky Archipelago for now. There is so much to see around here, so there isn’t any hurry for him to go down to the Lower World just yet. There is something on these islands to explore, so he is in no particular hurry to leave it just yet. Perhaps, he could finally find some travel companions this time….

 

After one fine afternoon of just cruising around, Gargan decided to just spend the rest of his day touring the city, exploring every interesting nock and alleyways that he found, as well as stocking on some essential items.

 

The city of Aerelieth was old, as it is a given for a city of elves, but everything seems surprisingly in  pristine condition. It was a challenge to just find one over building, and finding one in a disrepair state was impossible. There might be one, but he couldn’t find one just yet.

 

The architecture of Aerelieth, too, is also very distinct, and wildly different from Sky Harbor, as the latter seems to be an amalgamation of many, many different styles mixed together, while here, it carried a very stylized, yet simplistic design. Most residential buildings here are of a balanced between style and practicality, with a well-proportioned mix of timbers and stones, creating a very nice contrast of color and texture, and is extremely pleasing to the eye.

 

The city was large, and can even be considered to be as large, if not even grander than most smaller nations’ capitals back home. The most impressive feast of architecture and engineering is the Lord’s residential mansion. It was grander than even the Emperor of his realm’s greatest nations, as every piece of the Lord’s mansion carried some sort of engraving or decorative touches applied. Gargan was just a hair away from taking a closer look at one of the taller towers' decorative bricks surrounding the large stained glass window. It would not be wise to approach the Lord’s resident, unless he wanted to be shot down.

 

Gargan has to admit, this is one of the most aesthetically pleasing cities he ever visited, and that's saying a lot, as the number of cities he has ever stopped by could be counted in the hundreds. Maybe he would settle down here after his adventuring, in the event he could not get back home….

 

To wrap up the day, Gargan spends quite a hefty sum of coin on street food, enjoying all kinds of skewered meats and exotic treats they have on the way back to the inn. It was amazing what a little seasoning could do….Igor’s meal was super, too, not to discount his cooking or anything.

For the rest of the week, Gargan took it slow and only took small and local requests, mostly to help the residents fixing their damaged houses, or to deliver items across town. The pay wasn’t that good, but the job was fairly easy, and Gargan enjoyed those tasks, strangely enough. Maybe it was because of his chosen occupation, he is not very well connected with the local population of the city he visited, and less so emerged and helped them.

 

To him, these small little tasks bring him more joy than to ‘discover the lost treasure in the name of the Count’ or, ‘To represent the King and claim that island!’. He can’t stand those pretentious villains, much less their greedy little probing fingers. There was more than one occasion he almost blew up in their face and just straight up left the palaces. The only thing that stopped him from doing so was their power to put him on an international wanted list. He learned it the hard way….Again. Hopefully, this time will be different.

 

One of the funniest quests he took was actually looking for a lost puppy by the name of Ember. He was quite an energetic one, and looking for him was a task. Together with the family that commissioned him, the quest took him a whole day, and traveled through several of the older urban neighborhoods. Dodging and zigging from the stream of foot traffic, and crawling through half a dozen back alleys, it was very fun. As much as he loves the sky, racing on foot again a little pupper brings him a different sense of exploration.

 

Another fun one he took, and also the strangest one yet, was to help a professor who goes by the name of June from Runewicks writing a simplified dictionary of his own language, as well as helping her about by his own dialect of Common that he speaks.  Speaking of which, that somehow slipped his mind, about how his world’s language was eerily similar to this one, albeit with some minor difference, which was minor enough that no one has mentioned it to him just yet.

 

As a linguist himself, the joint study that lasted for 2 and a half days was as interesting and exciting as him stumbling into a crypt forgotten by time and history. There are so many details and nuances about Common that they did not transfer, idioms and sayings that hold almost no meaning back home, or the slight difference in how the Aeroleans rolled their ‘r’, which sounded a little stronger, but just a nick shorter too.

 

Professor Junes herself was also on her own little exploration, with the goal of meeting and recording any newly appeared Otherworlder and their native tongues, adding them to her newly  decided linguistic library of the University of Runewicks, a strangely large and highly organized academic institution with it own island and population enough to filled a small town.

 

While Gargan doesn't have much of a good impression of the academic type, he and Junes hitted off amazingly well, due to their shared interest in language and literature, a very rare combination back in his world. Over the course of 2 and a half days, they have shared more stories than they should have, yet their work was finished in a timely manner, bolstered with many weird and out of place anecdotes, mostly implemented from Gargan and his conglomeration of tales. The professor has even invited him to visit her office in Runewicks as well, promising her library to him, which he found very intriguing….

 

It was too bad that she’s a human, or else he may try his chance with her. He found her intelligent, very charming and attractive, not counting her taste for colorful clothes and the eccentric accessories she has on her. Especially her vibrant golden-rimmed glass and the slightly yellow tinted lens. It looks good with her dirty brown hair, which she wears in a delicate braid over her shoulder.

 

After the meeting with the Runewicks’ professor, Gargan also has another strange quest. This one, however, seems a little different, as he was not contacted through the guild, but through the drunken dwarf, as his boss wanted to meet the ‘exotic avian’ for a job.

 

Gargan was inclined to decline the invitation at first, as he knew for sure that nothing good would come out of it. A job not through the guild, that was a strange one, as his butterfly companion told him. The guild accepted all jobs, ranging from lost puppies, to investigating the sewers, to subjugation monsters….

 

There was a rumor of the Dark Guild too, another side of the o’ so friendly Adventure Guild, who seems to also take jobs that are less than legal. It is all but rumors, but if they are to hold any kernels of truth to them, then at least 3 different higher nobility members were assassinated through commission, carried out by the Guild’s members. There was even a rumor about a commission for Duke Grogar’s head too.

 

If the guild even takes quests like those, then why did the dwarf’s employer not commission a quest through them? Surely, no one will judge them, right?

 

However, Gargan did think of a reason….and that was enough to persuade him from the invitation for lunch, not to mention the job. Yet, he took the bait. It was not safe, he knew, but the explorers within him were dying to know about such secrecy, and he took the bait. At least, he will have a nice meal even if he declines the quest.

 

The meeting was to be set 2 days from today, and he is to be at the largest, grandest office of the Mordred's Fleet, one of the largest transportation companies of Aerelieth. And the man he is to meet is the Head, one Mordred de Fae, the man who held in his hand not only the transport fleet, but also one of the most elite escorting naval vessels and for-hire guards too.