As we left the mansion, brought to the door by the finely dressed goblin and the green skinned goblin maid, we began our my day in the city for real with no distractions or attempted assassinations.

Zutal: “Can we please go to a clothing store first, I am freezing in this temperature.”

Allelu: “I know of a good arachne in town that my family uses for clothing. Not that much more expensive than regular adventurer leather armour, and considering that Zutal needs no armour but instead requires a large blanket with heating enchanted threads this would be the perfect place to visit.”

Sofia: “Such a fancy place, how come you never told me about it. I was over here running around in the same blue Xiuhtilmatli for a year, new clothes for my wardrobe and something to dress my familiar with.”

Allelu: “It would be far too expensive and hard to find similar quality thread or a replacement robe for such well enchanted garments that you already possess. We only use these garments for special occasions, not war like your family and the leading tribe.”

Sofia: “I am a noble lady, even if I am tenth in line for chiefess, so it would be nice to show off myself.”

Marie: “You are no longer in your tribes lands, have some conscience about buying a useful item to stay alive.”

Sofia: “I am following the adventurer rule of only spending when I get better versatility items or improved items, however mother always told me to test my crafters before paying them big sums of money for work.”

Allelu: “Well, I can tell you that Arachne is the best weaver around but even her lower end work costs at least a gold coin.”

Marie: “What is she spinning with? A gold loom or dragon feathers?”

Allelu: “ha ha, really funny saying that we have elder dragons flying around nearby.”

‘Well this is interesting, more speech about one of the gods that I worship and what my race is related to, time to ask the groups magic expert.’

Zutal: “Sofia what is a dragon? And what is an elder dragon?”

Sofia: “Dragons are powerful creatures that are rarely seen in modern society, but I read that they have scales and wings.”

Marie: “Someone as young as yourself cannot comprehend the power that a dragon holds.”

Allelu: “Really? When I was little and worked under my father we would often visit the Deep Woods and talk with the druid dragons. They were scary but they did not hold that much power to rule the woods in their own element. Medusas were far scarier if you encountered one unprepared, I even saw a stone dragon.”

‘Nice, it feels so great to be able to understand them, even if over the month I still have trouble speaking.’

Marie: “I saw a real dragon when I was little, not the quadrupedal, flying lizards. But a real dragon with feathers and a serpentine body, small and stubby legs with a set of wings on its back, it flew from the clouds and when it rained it never got so much as a drop on its feathers.”

Sofia: “Wow a real elder dragon!”

Marie: “Oh please, you children are so easily impressed. I heard real war stories from the village elders of the Draconic war, passed through word of mouth for generations even among elves.”

Allelu: “War stories, In a peaceful village close to the desert cohorts? The only war you wood elves ever saw was the seceding of the neutral city once they got fat on trade between the three nations.”

Marie: “The wood elves have lived in that forest for longer than the Sentient Assemblage has existed, although for a new race that might be hard to imagine, and as a race that lived alongside the dragons we have stories of their downfall.”

Zutal: “Do tell.”

Marie: “I said we lived with them, it might have been a bit of an embellishment to say we still had stories of their downfall. I mean, we lived because we were routed from battle and not because we were foolish enough to stand and fight. And that is also why all dragons are cursed.”

‘What.’

Zutal: “what. Can’t leave like that.”

Marie: “ Oh, don’t worry about it too much the curse isn’t contagious so me and Allelu aren’t bad luck magnets.”

‘That is not my problem. Argh, one question answered and two more appear, like what is the curse and how did the dragons loose a war. Why were the elves not cursed? I need to make this question quick.’

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The group stops walking in front of an ornately carved wooden store front, with large glass panes showing the insides of a the store to be filled with ball dresses and wedding dresses. In the background Sofia is complaining to Allelu about this maybe being the wrong place.

Zutal: “against who?”

Marie: “Well, that is quite obvious is it not? Who else but the Claret Confederacy and their ‘New Gods’.”

‘Stupid question, although maybe asking about why the elves were not cursed also foolish since they did not know how they lost, let alone the intricacies of curses and who is affected by them and why.’

As the group enters the store through the double doors, they happen upon a shop overflowing with dresses that are stuffed on every rack to the point of some that are just resting atop the clothing racks.

Allelu: “Seamstress Grove, it is me Al, I have come back.”

Bella: “Young lady, you have some nerve to come back into my shop. No letters, to your family or me. And most importantly you left me, for two years while inside the town you never came to visit me.”

Allelu looks at the ground with a bright red look. Even as the giant spider 3 metres (10 foot) across with an upper female torse on top of the spider body approaches. She is adorned with jewellery in her blonde hair, that is done up in a bun and has needles stuck into it with gems attached to their ends, her human torso is also wearing a dark pink dress with a few frills that go over her spider back.

Allelu: “Sorry bella. But stop treating me like your so much older than me.”

Bella: “Hm, what ever happened to my best friend that I would always gossip with? We would gossip all day, and now you are, you are all grown up and ignorant of even me even if I was the ‘prettiest lady’ with the ‘most beautiful dresses’.”

‘Seems that this is rather personal for Allelu. Well I better pretend to move the racks as though I am looking at the clothes.’

Allelu: “I didn’t want to stress you after our break up. And later I had just thought that we all had moved on, I mean it was over a century ago.”

Bella: “Haa, you can be so cold hearted Al. Anyway it has been a long time and I still have a few dresses that I want you to take with you, free of charge. I have just the perfect green dress…”

As Bella moves away ranting about clothes and stitches Zutal approaches Allelu.

Zutal: “How did you get to know such a talented individual?”

Allelu: “Well, it’s a long story. To shorten it when I was 20 and going through my phase of luxury and ballrooms I met with a 30 year old Bella, she had just come from the jagged peaks a decade earlier and was trying to show off her wears. Before she became popular she had big problems with bipedal creature clothing designs, so I met her at a ball for growing businesses at the port and was amazed by the craft, being heavily interested in dresses and reading unhealthy amounts of magazines about them. We just hit it off for three decades.”

‘What, that is crazy, how does one even break up after such a long relationship.’ Allelu pauses for a while and gets slightly redder as she continues to speak.

Allelu: “Then I was watching the mansion guards practice swords and got heavily invested. Then I started regularly practicing and taking less time to model, until I got my first bounty hunting job in Snout Port and then another. Eventually we just broke up and I went to the Desert Cohort for more work with all the outlaws hiding there.”

‘Wow, that is some dedication, although for a part demon and part elf a lifetime of doing something you no longer like would be rather long.’ Soon after Bella comes back with a 1 metre (3.3 foot) by half a metre (1.6 foot) wooden crate.

Bella: “Allelu, please take these, this will finally lift a burden from me.”

Allelu: “Thanks.”

Allelu takes the crate easily without any strain.

Allelu: “My party members have come here for some of your enchanted store goods. I know that you are the best weaver in town, but I did not just come here for that, we did need a closure.”

‘Seems that Allelu is more nonchalant about this than the spider woman, but I guess that different species take break ups differently and it’s also good to see Allelu showing compassion.’

Bella: “Well what do my esteemed guest desire for their clothes, well I am assuming one of you might just take anything.”

Zutal: “There is nothing wrong with my lack of clothes, after all my scales are all the clothes I need. Although a warm cloak, that can actually cover most of my body, with heating enchantments would be ideal.”

Bella: “It is always nice to see a forest berry appearing in my shop. I already have your measurements in my head, just tell me what colour you would like and your price range.”

Sofia: “We talked about this yesterday, and we are willing to give five gold coins towards Zutals clothing. I do not think Zutal cares about colours since he will wear nothing in battle.”

Bella looks towards Allelu with a raised eyebrow.

Bella: “Your tastes change so quickly, although I think this one is better than running around a desert and killing fugitives. I can get you something for four gold straight away, but anything custom like defensive enchants will cost an additional two gold and take a week to make and sew into the robe.”

‘I have no idea about the effectiveness of these enchants, I also don’t want to get a useless challenge offering me clothes, so I guess we just go for the basic option. Basic is sometimes the best.’

Zutal: “Robe my size. Leave tomorrow.”

Sofia: “Well I am not one to shame another’s fetish.”

Bella: “Okay wait a minute while I cut the fabric and stitch a clasp onto it.”

Marie: “We got a good deal on the warming fabric, although it is a bit of a shame that we don’t have the time for defensive enchants. You never know what could be hiding around every corner.”

‘I wonder, how does the fabric work if it is warm or cold. Where does the energy come from?’

Zutal: “Sofia, how does the warming fabric work?”

Sofia: “It is a simple enchantment, with it using a magical material that you can put mana inside off to warm yourself to room temperature, dependent on the mana inserted. Before you ask, no it only raises the temperature and does not cool you down to room temperature like a general comfortability enchantment.”

When Bella returns around an hour later she has a black robe in her hands. This one is simpler in design compared to Sofia’s robe and is not decorated by much.

Bella: “Try this on, it is rather inconspicuous but designs cost a few more silver and will not be done by tomorrow.”

The black robe has a hood and is inconspicuous as it has enough cloth to hide almost all of Zutals body, if not for the snout and green eyes peering from the hood.

With Marie handing over the money the party leaves the store. Allelu carrying her box and Zutal wearing an inconspicuous black robe that keeps him warm in the Autumn air, syphoning magical power from the wearer to do so.