I'm a little cold when I wake up next morning, but not terribly so. Probably because someone piled some dry leaves on during the night without me noticing. I guess [Spot] doesn't work when you are out cold and [Danger Sense] is only triggered by actual danger. Just as well. I sit up, yawn and blink as a divine whisper brushes my mind.

[*Ding!* You slept. Not bad, but not terribly well either! Health increased by 6! Mana increased by 2!]

Alright, that certainly could be worse. I'll still need several days to fully recover at this pace though. All the bruises I can feel are a reminder of the fact that I just can't ignore.

I shrug off the leaves with a little groan and sit down at the fire Núira has going. The refilled water bottles are nestled against the hot stones once more, including mine. I nod in appreciation and warm my hands a little.

“Thank you.”

Than another thought strikes me. I blink in surprise. There is hardly any smoke at all. There is simply noway this is the same kind of fire I spotted the other day.

“One of the others made the fire yesterday, or am I mistaken?”

The ranger snorts.

“Silvina. Gods and goddesses have mercy on her soul. She never got it through her head that her life, and ours for that matter, could depend on a proper smokeless fire.”

She sighs and lets her shoulders slump a little.

“I should have taught her better. I should have been more insistent. I should have tried harder. I should … I … I just don't know.”

I can only nod. Is this survivor's guilt? Maybe. It's not like I'm an expert. I'm not in any position to help her with that. She needs someone to provide some counseling and that someone is most likely not a complete stranger like me.

After a while the other two join us at the fire too, to rekindle their spirits with some hot tea. There is no actual breakfast though and we quickly pack up and get going again. Rani enlightens me as to why.

“Another hour or two, not much more for sure, and we should be back at the city. I'd rather take care of our comrades, collect the bounty and maybe the reward for our mission and get some actual food afterwards.”

I blink in surprise once more.

“Couldn't we have kept going yesterday if we are this close already?”

The warrior laughs out loud, as he drags along the stretcher with the mortal remains of his departed comrades.

“We could have. We wouldn't have reached the city before nightfall though.”

Núira pipes in at this point.

“Which in turn means that we would have had to camp outside the gates and the guards really don't like that.”

“Huh? They really make no exceptions, or do they?”

Aila is the one to answer that question and there is a deep frown marring her face as she does.

“Oh, they do. Usually in exchange for coin. To be honest, I'd rather spend a night out here than waste perfectly good coin on those scumbags.”

I guess she is a woman of principles. She probably has to be to be a cleric. On one hand I can understand her distaste for corrupt guards. On the other hand this is knowledge that might come in handy one of these days.

Although, to be honest, unless the city's walls are terribly high and imposing I'd probably try to scale them in the dead of night rather than waste coin on bribing guards.

The lands around us change, bit by bit, as we get closer to the city. It is not just the forest that grows a little less dense either. It takes me a moment to realize, but it is the very air itself that changes. On one hand there is the smell of smoke that grows more noticeable. That isn't all though. I just can't put my finger on it. In the end I decide to just call it the smell of civilization. Not civilization as I might know it, but civilization anyway.

Then we come across the first clearing. Clearings only recently cut into the woods, usually centered around individual farmsteads. Individual farmsteads, but not individual farmhouses. There are usually several similar buildings, mostly built from the very wood that was cut down to clear away the forest, clumped together. Often they are connected by crude earthen ramparts crowned with wooden palisades.

Then, at long last, the city mentioned by the trio of adventurers comes into sight. Again it is not the kind of city I might be used to, but I'm not one to complain.

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It looks very much like I would imagine a medieval town though. Almost like it is fresh from a picture book. Or maybe rather the cover of a grimy sword and sorcery novel? Yes, maybe the latter is a better comparison. The buildings are a curious mix of stone and half timbered structures, with a few wooden shacks thrown in here and there.

The wall surrounding the town of Riverrun, aptly named as it is built into the bend of a river, is by comparison quite solid. This of course doesn't mean that it is impressive though. It isn't terribly high, but high enough. It is pretty sturdy though. The battlements at the very least seem wide enough for several people to walk abreast. The gatehouse and the towers that are built along its length are a little taller and even more sturdy.

Overall, it is a wall meant to discourage bandits and to keep rampaging monsters out rather than invading armies. And that it apparently does well enough. Otherwise the town probably wouldn't have lasted long around here on the frontier.

More importantly though, at least for me, the town is in the progcess of outgrowing its wall. Plenty of houses, and not just ramshackle huts, line the dirt roads along the outside of the wall facing away from the river and thus in our direction.

Maybe a second wall with a new gate will be built eventually, but right now, I don't have to actually go over the wall to enjoy some city life. Probably. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

We don't head right for the gate though. No, our first stop is a graveyard that is still situated a little outside the town, or rather the temple built alongside it. There Rani and his compatriots drop off their dead.

Aila and the local priest of the temple perform funerary rites for them while the rest of us watch. In the end they are quickly put to rest in two fresh graves out in the graveyard.

Núira apparently notices my surprised look and shrugs. She does offer an explanation too though.

“People tend to live short and intense lives out here on the frontier. Short and quick funerals are pretty common. Common enough in fact that the gravedigger will start on a fresh grave probably even before we are gone.”

Then she shrugs again.

“Back home, among my people we would usually dig a more shallow grave and plant a fresh tree on top afterwards. We don't have musky and dusty graveyards like this.”

Rani nods and pipes in in turn, speaking in a hushed tone.

“I have seen one of those ancestral spirit groves. They tend to be much more pleasant. At least as long as you are on good terms with the departed. I guess you can't expect people whose whole lives revolve around cutting back the deep dark woods to foster the heart of a new forest though.”

Eventually one of the local gravediggers starts filling in the now occupied graves. And true enough, another starts digging a fresh one only a little bit further down the line.

Aila rejoins us after passing some coin to the local priest. She looks and sounds relieved.

“Well, should we try our luck at the gate?”

She looks at me as she speaks and Núira jabs her elbow into my side lightly.

My eyebrow arches a little.

Rani sights and pulls their ears playfully.

“Be nice, you two. She saved our sorry behinds after all.”

Then he turns to me, before he continues.

“What our dear cleric means is, that the gate guards might give you some trouble due to you class. Never mind that half of them would not be considered any more respectable than a scoundrel in any proper city.”

He pauses to sigh dramatically.

“That of course probably won't stop them from trying to rustle you for some quick and easy coin. Whatever they say or do, please just don't make a fuss. Just turn around and head off into one of the nearby alleys if it gets too much. Yes?”

I nod reluctantly. He makes sense after all. Making a fuss, or actually attacking a guard, certainly won't help my cause. If anything the latter is likely to earn me a spot on a wanted poster. I'd rather like to try and avoid that. Especially if it is for such a silly reason. In the end I snort.

“You make it sound like you are speaking from experience. Or am I mistaken?”

I look over at Núira, as I speak, but she is quick to wave her arms in denial.

“Nuhu. No! Wasn't me! Gaotano was the troublemaker of our group.”

The other two snort in amusement. In the end Rani clarifies.

“She isn't wrong, although she causes us plenty of trouble herself. It usually is the harmless kind though. Anyway, it took some serious effort to smooth the waves with the guard in Gaotano's case.”

For a moment we walk in silence, heading in the general direction of the gate facing the forest. We head in the general direction because there is curiously enough no direct path past the buildings that have sprung up outside the wall.

Finally Núira speaks up again.

“Anyway, just walk off if they give you trouble and try again after the guard changes. Or you could try to go over the wall. It's not like I'm an expert or anything, but I heard it mentioned that it probably isn't too hard.”

Aila snorts but nods, before adding her own commentary.

“The adventurers' guild local office is inside the walls at the market square. You can't really miss it, should you want to join. If not, you probably can find some decent shops and inns out here too. Just try not to get mugged at night.”

As she winds down we are finally approaching the actual gate. Even before we can actually reach it I feel the familiar sensation of an identification skill of some sort being used on me. Except, this time around it feels worse. Much worse. My eyes in turn immediately snap to one of the shabby goons leaning onto a halberd just outside the gate. I refrain from saying it out loud, but I'm not impressed. Not at all.

This doesn't go unnoticed. Núira is the first to groan. Aila is soon to follow. At last Rani's shoulders slump too.

“Damn. Sorry about that. That would be Timur. Among all the rotten apples he might just be the worst.”

My shoulders slump a little too. What rotten luck. Then I make an effort to perk up again. This isn't my travel companions' fault after all.

“I think I'll not even bother while that one is around. That felt a lot more unpleasant than a regular identification. Anyway, thanks for having me along.”

I flash them a mischievous grin.

“Without you I might have turned into an actual mountain hermit out there. Or worse.”

Aila and Rani pat my back in turn while Núira wraps me in a brief hug.

“Try to avoid the or worse option.”

“Best of luck to you on your endeavors.”

“Take care! Maybe we'll meet again. Yes?”

I bow slightly.

“You too. Take care and try not to end up as mushroom zombies.”

Then I turn and move into one of the nearby alleys instead, as Rani recommended earlier.