In the Dark of the Night

In the Light of the Day 1

The City of Vale lies almost on the edge of Galea, near the border of the Wildlands to the south and east. Protected to the south by Mount Celesia and its foothills, it was a walled city until peaceful times allowed expansion beyond its walls. Since then, the well-off have largely bought out the valuable real estate inside the walls while improving the buildings and infrastructure, while the less fortunate have gradually been displaced outside the walls. The old town's cobbled streets are well-maintained and cleaned, while the roads of the new town are dirty and often in need of repair. Despite this, most of the poor and working class far prefer the new town's grime and liveliness to the old town's grandiosity. On this day, three tired travelers made their way to a building with a stone tower sticking out the back of it on the outskirts of the old town. A massive, green-scaled dregordian, a willowy elf, and a mildly hunched-over human, the motley band all wore gray cloaks that identify them as members of Grayson's Grey Riders from the Wildlands. Noticing Grayson's crest prominently displayed on the building, they entered their destination.

Inside, they found a large common room, well-lit by a south-facing skylight and a warm fire. Across from the entrance, a burly man looked up from his book, and nodded at the trio upon seeing their cloaks. To their left, a dark-skinned human woman in a well-decorated uniform sat at a writing desk. Upon hearing the door, she put her pen down, and wheeled her chair around to face the group.

The human of the trio looked up at his companions. They made no attempt to speak, so it must be up to him. He gave her a quick salute with his fist across his chest. "Good afternoon, Ma'rm. Are ye Captain Mapstone?"

She returned the salute from her chair. "That's me. And you must be the new recruits I've been expecting. I'm glad you made it safely - not too much trouble on the roads, I hope?"

"Well, nothin' we couldnae handle," said the man. "But we did have a run-in with some wolves while crossing the Orcshields. That was a wee bit scary, I don't mind admittin'."

"And cold," added the dregordian in a deep alto voice. "I didn't realize there could be snow in those hills at this time of year."

"Let me guess," Mapstone said. "You didn't want to pay the goblinesh toll to use the good road through the mountains?"

"Well, you know, they didnae give us a lot of money for the trip," the man said.

"You should have. The goblinesh roads are safer and better maintained than even Galean ones. Plus the settlements give you free meals and sleeping rooms along the way."

"Ooh," the man said. "No one told us that."

Mapstone sighed. "I keep telling them back at Kythros that they need to impress on you newbies how good the toll roads are. A lot of youngsters have never even been to a goblinesh gather before. Anyway, I'll send them a note about it. Again. In the meantime, would you mind introducing yourselves?" She twisted around and grabbed a paper from a drawer of her desk. "I can probably guess who's who, but I need to make sure everyone's here who's supposed to be."

The human started. "Del Truestone, ma'rm," he said, rolling the R in Truestone even more than usual. "The Wondermaker," he added in a quieter, uncertain tone that went mostly unnoticed.

"Does that mean you're from Truestone, then?" Mapstone asked. "The dwarven town up in the Southern Hills? The accent certainly fits."

"Yes, ma'rm." Forestalling her question, Del continued, "I'm adopted. Had to head out once my head started hittin' the ceilings."

The dregordian spoke up, finally remembering to salute. "Sparrow amin Basma, ma'am."

"That's a Desert Princes name, isn't it? But not a dregordian one," Mapstone said. "Are you adopted, too?"