[Ailwin Ianrona's POV]

It took merely an hour for me to see the edges of the city, and...it was stranger than what I expected.

Not only did most of the outskirts of the city look to be in ruins, but I couldn't recognize or familiarize the structures with anything I'd ever seen.

I didn't know how to describe it.

Or how to describe the strange metal boxes that seemed to litter the area, these little boxes seemed to have seats inside of them, a console of sorts, and two storage compartments, in both the back and front of the rectangular box.

Some of them even had these weird mechanical pieces inside one of the compartments that reminded me of Dwemmer Machinery, what these Machines did, I had no clue, let alone what the Machines would have looked like when fully assembled and not missing parts, pieces, and sometimes even sections of the machine.

I came across all of these cars on a...weird rocky road, and they seemed to all be facing the same direction, unfortunately, I even found skeletons inside some of them, including that of children.

More concerningly, however, is that I hardly found any plant life, and I have been to the deserts of Alik'r, even that Desert had more life than whatever desert I found myself traveling in.

However, as I continued walking along the road, following the trail of clairvoyance, I got closer and closer to the outer edge of the city, I could see what looked to be larger versions of the containers stacked upon one another to form a kind of...wall?

The path led right to a gap in the walls, so I could only assume that this was 'Westside,' and where the spirit wanted me to sell some of the mushrooms.

Approaching the wall, I noticed movement, and when I honed onto it, I noticed there seemed to be a mix of Imperials, Bretons, and Nords manning the walls, wearing simple leather armor and having some kind of metal staffs in their hands.

Approaching slowly, one of the men noticed me and shouted out.

"Halt there stranger! What business do you have in Westside?" The man asked, wariness clear in his tone and stance.

His shoulders and hands tensed, as if ready for a fight at a moment's notice, the others doing the same.

"I'm here to trade," I informed them, calmly.

"Trade? Trade what? I don't see a Caravan with you," The man asked, suspicious.

Raising the duffle high enough for them to clearly see, I say, "Edible mushrooms, sir, not the best, but good enough to make a grown man fed."

"Open the bag," The man commanded.

I sighed, and did as he said, showing them the bag stuffed with Mushrooms, flicking his head at one of his comrades, a younger man climbed down and came around the wall, nervously walking toward me.

Placing the bag on the ground, I waited, backing up, to help the boy feel at ease.

Only getting a wary look from the boy, I shrugged and watched as they dug through my bag as if looking for something dangerous.

"H-He's clear," The boy stuttered.

"Then welcome to Westside, Mister, keep out of trouble, and if we find that you poison anyone, you are not going to get far, do you understand?" The Commander shouted over the wall.

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Nodding, I grabbed and closed the duffle bag and walked into the...settlement? If it can even be called that.

Trash littered the streets, I could see the homeless occupying every corner, and if my eyes were not betraying me, I think one of the beggars was dead.

Just what kind of settlement is this place? Is this why the Spirit warned me to stay on guard? How could such a disorderly place even exist? Where's the Guards?

I grew increasingly concerned with every step I took.

This...place was horrible, not only to the senses and eyes but also to my beliefs.

Steeling my heart, I searched for an appropriate spot to begin selling the mushroom, and eventually found one, with it being a corner right next to an empty alley.

Clearing my voice and casting a simple spell, I began advertising my goods.

"Hungry? Thirsty? Come try out these Mushrooms! Less than five caps, and guaranteed to be filling!"

I suddenly felt something sharp touch my back, instead of panicking like a novice, I simply readied an Oakflesh Spell and a Destruction Spell.

"Hand me all of your caps, or I'll gut you," A young voice spoke from behind...too young.

Tilting my head to get a glance behind me, I found it was a young girl, one who just so happened to be wielding a knife and poking a said knife into my back.

"Ancestors, help me," Once again cursing the state in which this settlement was, where a robbery could happen so blatantly and in front of so many people, I calmly tried to defuse the situation, "I don't have any," I answered honestly.

"Lies, your clothes are too good and clean, you smell nice, and you are too healthy, if you don't have any caps, then I'd be rich," She joked, not believing me.

Shrugging, I replied, "If you don't believe me, pat me down, I can guarantee you will find no such...caps on me."

Not wasting a moment, she began patting me down, looking for a punch I could be hiding on my body, she even searched my pockets, but once again, she found nothing.

She grew increasingly frustrated, and not liking how quickly this situation could spiral, I decided to make an offer.

"You want money, right? Tell you what, how would you feel about helping me?" I offered, seeing if she'd be willing to take the branch I generously offered her.

"Helping you with what?" She suspiciously said her grip on the knife clenching.

"I happen to be a Merchant, you see. And I want to sell my goods, if you help me sell my stock, I'll give you some money for your effort," I explained.

"And what would I have to do?"

"Simple, you'd just have to catch the attention of whoever you find and inform them of my products," I told her, wanting a sort of 'Crier' that would vocally advertise and direct customers to me.

"And what are you selling?" She asked, eyes glancing everywhere until they settled on my duffle bag.

"Food," I explained, before trying to reach for the duffle bag, only to feel her poke me deeper with the knife.

"Take a look for yourself, if you don't believe me."

And so she did, opening the duffle bag and taking a look at the wide variety of mushrooms I had in the bag.

"What are these?" She asked, sounding disgusted.

"Mushrooms, filling and nutritional, but somewhat bland in taste, I'm even offering a type of mushroom filled with mostly clean water," I explained.

"Don't say that!" She suddenly shouted.

"Say what?"

"Clean water, do you not realize how scarce purified water is here in Westside? Some will kill for a taste of that!" She hissed.

"I see...so what your saying, is that they'd sell quickly?"

Her eyes widened and quickly turned to disbelief, "Are you crazy, mister? Because if so, all you are asking is to be killed and left in a ditch somewhere," She warned.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be able to protect myself," I chuckled, only to get a disbelieving glare in return.

"You are stupid, mister," She told me as if it was a matter of a fact.

"Confident, not crazy," I informed her with a smirk.

"Now, can I turn around?" I asked before she pulled the knife away.

Slowly stepping away, I turned around to get a proper glance at her.

She was clearly malnourished and starving, not to mention dehydrated.

"Tell you what, why don't you give it a try? Have a taste for yourself," I suggested.

Although she was still suspicious of me, I watched as she took a chance and reached into the bag.

"Don't eat that," I quickly warned, seeing the mushroom in her hand.

She glanced over it, "Why?"

"Because that will only make you feel sick," I explained, after having been explained by the Myconoids and the Spirit that it was a 'Laxative.'

She slowly put it away, and I instead grabbed a different mushroom for her, which she quickly ate.

Although it was bland, I could tell she didn't think much of it.

"It's not bad," She murmured before looking back to me, "How big of a cut would I get if I manage to help you sell all of those mushrooms?"

"You can have five caps for every five mushrooms I manage to sale, how about that?" I offered, to which she instantly agreed.

I let out a small smirk.