Shapeless Hero

19 - Ryelope, Finally

The commander and I sigh in relief. We passed the inspection. We take the cart to the street that Danil pointed us to and a few twists and turns later, our group gets rewarded with a great view of the city. It's far, far bigger than I anticipated.

Ryelope is vertical in nature, because most of its buildings are carved into the sheer rock walls of an enormous fjord. It's enormous enough for the lowest docks to be almost hidden by the atmospheric fog. The tightly arranged houses that line the serpentine roads remind me of old Italian mountaintop villages. The streets occasionally widen into piazzas, whenever the geography allows for it. In the steeper parts of the city, the rooftops double as streets for the buildings above. Countless bridges at different altitudes allow you to cross the fjord. Some of the bigger bridges carry houses even.

We continue towards our second hurdle: The adventurer's guild. Since the city has that height aspect to it, Danil's description of the guild being on the "third level" makes more sense now. There's one thing that I'm curious about. "This city is quite the sight, but it must be a hassle to build here. Wouldn't it be easier to have the town on the flat cliff tops?"

To make way for our cart, the commander startles a couple of pedestrians with her warning shouts. Her voice switches to a casual tone right after. "It was more important to stay hidden, they say. In the distant past, Tyllat was plagued by flying raiders. Since Ryelope is inside this fjord, the raiders' scouts would only see a fraction of the city, making it look less worthwhile to fly down and ransack. Or at least that was the hope."

"It didn't work out from the sound of it?"

"Aye, but they found a way to make it difficult for the raiders anyway: The most important or valuable things were moved to the lowest levels of the city, forcing the flying attackers to descend into the fjord, if they wanted to get worthwhile loot." She shouts again at some inattentive pedestrians, then continues. "Once the raiders flew low enough, the citizens were able to either shoot them down or entangle them in heavy nets, tossed down from above. The attackers could try to land somewhere at the top first and go by foot, but they would lose their air superiority that way."

I rub my chin. "Either they risk getting trapped in nets or they fight their way through the streets of Ryelope, which probably took too long to bother, right?"

"Yes. At some point, the raiders tried to enter the city by flying in low, through the fjord's mouth. To their chagrin, Ryelope has a lot of fishers. The boats made for great obstacles, when placed in the fjord, they say."

"And that made the attacks stop?"

"It would've made for a great story of resistance, but no. Absurdly rich merchants were paying the raiders to attack the cities of Tyllat to manipulate the economy. As an extra incentive, the raiders were told they could keep what they found. Once that secret agreement came to light, the scheming merchants were mercilessly persecuted by Tyllat and the Imperium. Only then did the raids stop."

We enjoy our pleasant distraction of a talk. The commander and I keep conversing about Ryelope's, history and inhabitants during our descend to the third level. The pedestrians here are a vibrant mix of species and cultures. You have your classic palette of orcs, elves, dwarves, halflings, et cetera, but there's far more than those to find: Lizard-kin, rabbit-kin, lion-kin and more walk past us too. At some point, a passing jackdaw offering packs of candied nuts startles me, reminding me of the various bird-folk that also inhabit that world. 

Visiting places with unique history, locals and food—this is what I was hoping for! And to my joy, I still possess taste buds despite being a monster. I pop another peanut into my mouth from the paper bag, which the commander bought from the aforementioned jackdaw. The commander saw me as a horrid skin-walker the day before, but bought me food just a few minutes ago. I am still processing that change of attitude. Thinking about it, she's far more relaxed, since I started to bombard her with my questions born from child-like curiosity.

"Say, Fylka, how old are you anyway?" My Imperial snack-buyer asks at some point.

I try to remember, but no number or year comes to mind. "...I don't know. I only remember that I was allowed to drink alcohol. Something in my twenties, maybe? Could be thirties or more, but my memories fail me there."

She nods. "I see. Apropos alcohol, there's plenty to try here. You should tour the taverns once you earned some coin."

Oh gods, I have no money! No wonder she payed the jackdaw. "Where should I start in terms of making money?"

"Well, we're headed towards a really good place for that right now. If what August says about your skills is true, you should be fine with the jobs, they offer." 

"The adventurer's guild? I guess that would work... but don't I have to take some exam or have papers for the registration? Maybe there's even an entrance fee?"

The commander chuckles. "Oh, you won't join as an adventurer, so don't worry about the fees or exam. When I talk about jobs at the guild, I mean becoming part of the staff in the guild hall." 

"Oh?" I wouldn't mind working as guild staff, but that seems like an odd choice. None of my skills are meant for administrative work or chores, as far as I can tell. I voice my doubts, not too loud for others to overhear, of course. "How exactly would my current skills help the guild staff?"

"You're not a pushover. You can handle the occasional rowdy adventurer. You'd probably be one of the strongest staff members, if you were to join them."

"That might be very suspicious coming from me, but... Do you really trust me that much? Wouldn't you be worried that I'll harm someone because of my shifty nature?"

"I'm not worried about that. Yes, your skill ranks are impressive and you'll be able to beat most people in a duel, but several groups of experienced adventurers on their day off will defeat you. You'll be surrounded by them in the guild hall." A slow sigh follows. She adds: "And you're still under a divine oath that might kill you, if broken, remember?"

I hum. "Yeah, I see." It's a job with a lot of eyes on me then. Good. I want them all to see, that the only ulterior motive I have, is being a tourist. A very resilient tourist.

"So, would you be willing to become guild staff?"

"No objections. If anything, I'll probably learn to appreciate their work, right?"

"Oh-ho, I like that attitude! I'm looking forward to seeing you behind the counter."

The journey continues, turn after turn, down the serpentines. The lower we get, the nicer the streets look. Eventually, we reach a giant stone building, two levels above the water. You can tell from afar, that it's the adventurers guild. If not from the wooden sign, then from the people idling in front of it: Warriors, wizards, druids, archers — in various shapes and sizes, they come and meet here.

We don't stop in front of the guild though. Instead, we take the side street next to the building, where a parking area comes into sight. There, we halt on a marked spot and hop off the cart to reach the back of the cargo area.

"Is it safe to come out now?" August whispers from between the crates.

"Should be fine.", the commander responds after a quick scan of the surroundings. We're alone. "Is Alya still in one piece?"

A foreboding pause. "...not quite."

The commander groans as response, frustration apparent.

"Hey, at least there's no blood!"

The blue hat and robes shift slightly out of pose.