They had started by looking into the recommendation Joe had received from the desk clerk at the Captain's Glass. The Copper Kettle Boardinghouse was a large rambling structure, three stories tall with four to six units per floor. Being a temporary home it had a lot of wear and tear. Creaky stairs and doors with loose hinges. Threadbare rugs and chipping plaster.

On its plus sides, it was very clean and smelled of sea air and not people. The few tenants Joe and Hah’roo had encountered seemed pleasant and the landlady, Missus Hedriek, was genuinely sweet and welcoming. She led them through a few of the empty large units on the first and second floor, as well as the smaller rooms on the third.

Joe knew the rooms would do in a pinch but he was not overly captivated by the Copper Kettle. He wanted his first apartment to be something that spoke to him instead of just settling for good enough.

One of the great things about the upcoming festival was Missus Heriek had no worries about filling up with new borders any day now. She kept cheerfully telling them how this was the one time of year she always had a full house. That and how she thought Joe and Hah’roo made just the sweetest-looking couple. She was more than happy to share what she knew about rooms in the area over a pot of tea.

They left her after an hour, and several cups of minty tea, with a list of eight places that had rooms to rent, that were not the other couple of boarding houses down by the docks. She was quite adamant that such a lovely couple should by no means settle with the riffraff that filled those establishments. Sailors were the life-blood of Fort Coral but they made terrible neighbors according to the talkative landlady.

With plenty of the afternoon still left, Joe and Hah’roo worked their way down the list. The first two were nice but wrong for different reasons. The first one was tucked behind a large warehouse giving it no view of the sea. The second one was huge; two whole floors over a map-maker’s shop. It was far more space than either of them wanted alone. It would be great if they planned to live together but that was not what either of them was looking for.

The third spot was all Hah’roo. The rooms were on the top floor of a tall building on the corner of two lanes. It was one of the few unplastered stone buildings in the city. This gave it darker air which reminded the rope-dancer of her home in the far-off mountains on the Sapphire Coast. Inside, heavy wooden beams held the upper floors. The sills and shutters were made of dark wood. Joe found the place dour compared to all the bright airy places he had visited in Fort Coral so far but, to Hah’roo, it was perfect. She negotiated a lease for a few months since neither of them knew how long they planned to stay for.

As they were leaving to check out the fourth entry on Missus Heriek’s list, Joe was shaking his head. “You had to pick the gloomiest apartment in the whole city?”

“I liked it. It was much like the homes where I grew up. I even got the top floor to best hear the gossip the winds will whisper,” she retorted. “It was perfect for me and I will not have you impugning my new abode,” Hah’roo bumped him, making Joe misstep as punishment for his unwanted opinion.

“To each his own,” he shot back, regaining his stride.

Now that Hah’roo was taken care of, they just had to find a place for Joe. This made it easier to judge the next few spots. It became more difficult because each one seemed better than the one before. The next entry on the list was amazing but very expensive. It came with its own bathhouse, a music room, and a large terrace. The tall windows were stunning. Joe knew it was way more than he needed or could count on affording. Eighteen gold a month might be affordable if he was constantly questing but if he wanted to take a break or save up for better gear, it would be a hindrance he didn’t need.

The fifth entry was almost the complete opposite and yet Joe was far more drawn to it. The place was a small one-room apartment with a gorgeous balcony. It did not have quite as nice a view of the ocean but Joe could see a bit of blue water around the corner of a neighboring building. What really sold the place to Joe was the neighborhood. The house stood on a quaint little street with a cafe, some small shops, and a bakery. The bohemian vibe of the lane spoke to Joe. It also was less than a quarter of the price of the last place. He could have it for four gold a month.

He decided to look at the next listing even though he was very happy with the tiny spot on Flax Street. When they reached the second to last entry on their list, all thoughts of the prior places were forgotten. He knew he had found what he wanted. The building on Serra Lane was two stories tall in the shape of a squared ‘U’. The tenants shared a stunning atrium in the center of the U. A fountain burbled merrily in the middle of the courtyard and red wooden trellises covered in vines formed a loose green lattice overhead. Purple and red flowers hung from the living canopy like bunches of sweet-smelling grapes. A balcony ran around the inside of the U. The building was angled so a corner directly pointed at the ocean which left two sides with views to the sea.

“This is it,” Joe uttered as he walked around the shaded courtyard. “I hope the rooms match this.” There was something in the air that spoke to Joe’s senses. He felt both at peace and charged up at the same time.

The courtyard was clearly the heart of the building. There were benches and planters, some with flowers, some with herbs. Joe saw baskets with various items sitting under the eaves, safe from the rain but clearly unafraid of theft.

“It suits you, Joe,” Hah’roo breathed, her eyes half closed, listening to voices she heard on the winds that Joe could not. “This is a good place for a zephyr.”

After a few minutes, an older human stepped out to meet them. “May I help you?” he asked. He had the feel of a retired sailor about him. Joe’s wound-sense nudged for his attention drawing his eyes to the man’s arthritically swollen hands. They must have been causing him a good deal of pain for Joe’s healer instincts to push that hard.

“Hi,” Joe replied. “Missus Hedriek from the Copper Kettle said you might have rooms to let. I would love to see one if there are any.”

“We have two. There and there,” the man pointed, first to a door on the lower floor away from the ocean and then another one on the second floor at the back of the courtyard. “The name is Halten Rigg. And Who might you two be?”

“I’m Joe. This is Hah’roo. I’d be the one renting. She just found some dreary tower on Ashwalk and Helm.” Joe managed to avoid most of Hah’roo’s lighthearted blow to his shoulder.

“I know the place. That was once one of the early lookout towers. It’s almost as old as the city itself. The Red Mage knew his magic, that’s fer shore. Damn strong magic in that old building.”

“That’s cool. I prefer it here, though. The courtyard is what caught my attention. It’s beautiful.”

“Shore is. My wife was a druid. She created the lattice and grew the Climbing Abaaka. This was her grove.”

He spoke as if she were gone but his tone was more wistful than mourning. Joe wanted to offer condolences but he was not sure enough. Instead, he chose to reaffirm his feelings about the flowering atrium.

“It really is amazing.” Joe could not help but run his gaze around the space as he spoke to Halten.

“You’ll have access to it, as do all who live here, but you mistreat it and yer out of here. Understand.”

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“Of course,” he replied immediately. “The apartment on the second floor looks like it would have a view of the ocean. May I see that one please,” Joe asked.

“Good choice. I was going ta suggest it,” the old man stated as he led them to a set of beautifully carved wooden stairs. “I have an elder lady who might be moving from her place on Finger Street. Stairs are becoming tough for her so she wanted a spot on the ground. I haven’t heard from her in a few days though so maybe she found somethin’ else.”

The banisters had been sculpted to look like they were wreathed in vines. While the tops of the rails had been worn smooth by years of hands, the vertical panels were in near-perfect condition. The wood was a deep reddish color, which matched the building’s doors and sills.

At the top of the steps, the elder drew a ring of keys from his belt and unlocked the door to the back apartment. Joe stepped out of the dappled shade of the atrium and was greeted by light. The wall in front of him was mostly windows. They stood in the center of a large sitting room with a dining table off to the left. A pair of large chairs faced the windows but they could be spun around in the winter toward a tiny fireplace on the wall behind them. Given how warm the environment was, Joe doubted he would ever really need a fire, but it would be fun to have one on cooler days just for the ambiance.

Past the dining table was a small rectangular kitchen. It had wooden counters with several recessed stone cutting slabs. One of the slabs was a reddish stone carved with runes. Joe had seen these in eateries and the previous apartments. The runes, when activated, projected heat, much like the heating element of an electric stove. Joe had learned that they did not have the variability of a modern stove, the rune was either on or off but there were clusters of the runes. If you need more heat under a certain pan you would activate more runes in that spot. The sink was a stone basin too but instead of a water faucet, there was a large blue crystal also inscribed with runes to create water. The super fancy apartment had two such runestones, one for hot and one for cold water but this kitchen just had the one. The last major feature was an ice chest also powered by pale blue runic crystals. The wall cabinets were crafted from the same red wood as was used on the exterior of the building.

Beside the kitchen was a small bathroom that consisted of nothing more than a commode, a tiny sink, a single cabinet, and a mirror. Only the posh apartment so far had had a full bathroom, so Joe was not expecting much more. Between his new ring, at least two bathhouses nearby, and the Adventurers Guild, he would have plenty of ways of staying clean.

The bed in the bedroom was a good size. It was bigger than any of the hospital beds he had been stuck in but not as big as the queen-sized one from the Captain's Glass. Joe flopped down on it and found it was not nearly as comfortable either, but it would do. Joe was more than happy enough with everything else that a lumpy mattress could be tolerated or replaced in time.

Sitting up Joe smiled widely at Hah’roo. “This place is great.” He turned to their guide and asked, “How much, sir?”

“Six gold a month.” Joe worked the numbers and realized he’d save about two and a half gold a month from the Glass. More importantly, he’d have a spot he could truly call his own. Halten assured him that he could change out any furnishing he wanted to. There was not a lot of furniture already, just a few chairs, as well as the table and bed.

“Deal,” Joe exclaimed happily. He reached into his pouch and drew out a dozen gold coins, handing them to the old sailor.

“It was six, Boyo.” he corrected, handing Joe back the extra currency.

“First and last,” Joe blurted instinctively.

“First and last what?” the elder inquired, his bushy eyebrows rising up into his forehead.

“Never mind. It’s a custom used where I’m from.” To cover his embarrassment, Joe switched topics. “Hey, Halten, would you allow me to do something for you? Start us off on a good footing.”

“And that’d be?”

“Mind if I tend to your aches. I’m a healer.”

“Really.” the elder replied with a long drawl. “Well, that would be quite a welcome to the Abaaka House. Seems like all my tenants lately either came old or got old on me except you and young Mahq who live with his grandparents right downstairs.” Halten extended his hand, which Joe took.

Much like Madina Spooner, Mister Rigg’s joints were an angry red to his woundsight. Joe's skills had improved considerably since that first day. He worked from the inside of the inflamed joints outward instead of the other way around as he had with Missus Spooner. This used less mana and soothed the arthritis far more effectively.

Halten’s aura blued up quickly. The red vanished and the gray of the constant pain brightened to a cerulean hue.

The old sailor groaned in happy relief. “Oh, now that is a blessing. Every now and then I take myself over to Swift Water and let a Mercy Suku take the ache away but she’s got more needy folks to tend to than me. We try not ta overload the good woman. Well, if you’d be willing to do that for Catstaffs and Runkbadok, maybe even Senrella, I think you could expect a damn good feeding on yer first night with us. I’ll chip in the rum.”

“I’d be happy to.” The three of them exited the apartment.

As they headed down the stairs, a whisper on the wind reached Joe’s ears. “I told you this was a good spot for a zephyr.”

Joe turned and nodded back at his smug-looking companion. When they finished the steps, he asked Halten, “Can I sit on the edge of the fountain while you let them know?”

“That’ll do. It’s plenty sturdy enough for sittin’. Let me get Runk, first.”

The old sailor walked to the lower door opposite the last empty apartment. He gave the wood a good rap and called “Heya Runk. Come on out. Founders Day came early.”

When the door opened it revealed an incredibly odd-looking being. The creature's skin was covered in moving tan and green zebra-like stripes. It hung loosely from his body suggesting an older age. He had a hunch on one shoulder and a downward curved horn coming off the other side of his head. Joe recognized the race as one of the chaotically-aligned Nu but he had only gazed at one in passing before. The shifting stripes were beautiful to behold. Unfortunately, as the man approached, Joe’s [Eye of the Healer] took over and all he could notice from then on was how much the creature was suffering. The hump had twisted the nu’s spine and it was causing even walking across that short distance to be a chore.

Joe jumped up and moved to him. “Hello, Mister Runkbadok. Let me help you.”

“Just call me Runk,” the nu stated in a deeper voice than Joe was expecting.

Joe started healing before he recalled he had not asked permission. He focused on the man's back. Joe could tell in places the bones were rubbing against each other. Whatever cartilage that should have been there cushioning the intersections was flattened to thin scraps. Joe tried to build it back up, while simultaneously easing the pain along Runkbadok’s backbone.

As the landlord had, the nu groaned when a large chunk of his pain vanished.

“Where did you come from Myrrhceeian?”

“Um. I’m not actually a follower. Just a freelance healer,” Joe replied. “Oh, and your new neighbor. I just rented the back apartment on the second floor.”

“Well, you sure have a damn good way to welcome, kiddo,” Runk rumbled. He held out his hand and to Joe’s surprise, it was just as fearsome looking as his own mitts. Runkbadok’s hands were less hairy than Joe’s but his claws were longer and he had spiked nubs popping through the skin on his knuckles. Joe took the savage hand in his own and gave it a strong shake. The twisted elder grinned broadly at the taloned clasp, clearly following Joe’s thoughts.

The nu turned to Mister Rigg, and in the comfort of old friendship, scoffed. “You just gonna stand there ya old skinflint or are you gonna go get Berti and Ord.” He tipped his chin out to indicate the apartment under Joe’s new place. They must be the grandparents Helten had mentioned.

“You ungrateful abomination. Here I bring ya healer and all you do is ride my back.” Halten actually blew a raspberry at Runk before sauntering off.

Joe chuckled and in a low voice asked, “Old friends, I take it?”

“Yeah, but don't tell him that,” the nu whispered back with a wink.