As Valus was heading towards the old inn, one of the few, that layed on the great road and not some local pub of some unaccesible settlement. The place was lately full of many new voices. Valus didnt like them, many of them dwarven or with eastern accents. Noone bothered him in particular, but the sheer mass of them has always been bothering him. At first it was great, long caravans full of new buyers, eastern luxuries were now more avalible than before.
He himself bought a nice vase from Mediturris, the center of the world. It’s intricate colours and ornaments depicting the great towers, or lighthouses as they were called in the west, where seafairing was much more spread.
Recently, though their presence has only brought in misfortune for the citizenry of the lands, curfews were introduced to stop many bandits, that were trying to survive through not noble means and to stop the plagues coming in. Everyone knew something had to be done.
Today, he even noticed tall dark-skinned figures guarding the entrance. They seemed intimidating, but Valus knew he had nothing to fear.
Then he heard a mass of footsteps behind him. “You there, you seem like a rich guy, give us all you’ve got!“ It was some small group of bandits. They must have been desparate, to be looting so close to the tower in sunlight would be the ultimate death sentence. They probably didnt notice the guards as surpriswd gaps were heard, when the elven warriors rushed to immeadeatly put an end to the looters, which quickly dispersed with the guards running after them.
He finally opened the door and in front of him, he saw an unexpected scene. The dim light ilumimated the whole room, where there stood about a dozen figures dressed in armor or lavish robes of various expressive colours of silk, cloth and hide. They stood around a table full of different maps and papers and treaties.
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A tall man whose expression already seemed furious before he even interrupted his speech, looked at him with his dark eyes was now gripping the hilt of his sword.
“Wait!” A high-pitched voice exclaimed from the left of te room as a bearded dwarf examined Valus. “He poses no threat.”
“Who are you, what do you want?” Said an older man, sitting on a chair in the middle of the room with a great crown on his head.
Valus stood there, taken aback. He immeadeatly knew that he was not supposed to be there, he wanted to flee, but his legs were frozen. “I didn’t know that, the pub is closed today…, I will just go home, and…” He stuttered at every word. “…I am sorry.”
“Oh you ain’t going anywhere,” said the tall elf again, moving closer to him from the table.
“How did you get past the guards?” said a girl in full armour, standing behind the old king. “Did you bribe them to let you in?”
“Nobody stopped me from going in. They were busy catching some bandits.”
“Alright, alright… you’re fine… actualy you’re under my protection,” said the dwarf in a jolly manner and giving Valus an understending look with his blue eyes.
“What? We can’t let him leave! He knows too much, if he gives something out, then we can all go home, secrecy is of the utmost importance, Kaman!” said the tall tanned man.
“Yes, yes of course, but I won’t have people’s blood on my hands!” came from the dwarf, his pale face getting reder as he was getting angrier and angrier.
“Gentlemen, please…” said the old man, putting a hand on his eyebrows, visibly disappointed. When he noticed, that the squabbling didnt stop, but was getting even more intensive, he yelled: “that’s enough!” Across the room fell a veil of quietness, which was only broken by the old man’s cough.
“Are you alright, father?” came from the young girl as she kneeled over him.
“Yes, yes... I just need rest…”
The girl turned to him “what to do with you…?”