Agha, for her part, just took the teasing in stride and rolled her eyes.

"Laugh it up ye idjit, I just found this lug here approachin' thae city and decided to take him to see pa and whatnot, don't go gettin' any thoughts in yer skull, ya? Or I might have to tell yer partner yer bein' an arse again."

Agha looked pointedly at the man with squinted eyes. While her demeanor was playful, the smith knew that if he pushed her too much she would tell his partner. Last time such a thing happened, the man had yanked his beard until he apologized. Granted, that was for getting drunk and puking on a traveler but still, his beard was sensitive dammit and Rudir knew it. The smith raised his hands up in surrender as he backed down.

"Alright lassie, no need tae get 'im involved. I'll stop talkin'!"

The man grumbled and returned to his job, grumbling about needing to reheat the metal again and start from scratch. Tyler for his part just stared bemused at the banter, even if their accents made it a little rough to comprehend. Good to know that Dwarves were just as funny as he had imagined they would be. An elbow nudged at him and Tyler started before refocusing on the here and now. Had he been inside his internal musings again? Man, he really had to stop doing that.

"Sorry 'bout that, Ol' Thonidol likes tae tease every now and then. Iffin' ye stick aroun' long enough, he'll mess with ye too. So keep your embarrassing stories close to yer heart, ya?"

"Duly noted." Tyler replied, though he wasn't sure he had embarrassing stories that he could share. At least in this new life.

The duo passed some more shops as they made their way towards what he assumed was some kind of headquarters. There were leatherworking stores, which had a few dwarves tanning leather by tying it to racks, as well as a masonry. He supposed the latter was a given in a Dwarven settlement. It seemed Dwarves had a love of rock and stone no matter if it was in games or a whole new world. One shop did catch his eye though. It seemed...different, somehow. Like there was some magnetic pull in his very soul.

Like the other buildings it was made of stone, but whereas the other buildings were made of a dark granite, mostly light grays with specks of black here and there, this one had a very obviously blue tint. It was also two stories tall compared to the one story buildings that made up most of the shops, houses and various other hovels. There was something about the building that called to him. It was weird. A cough brought him out of his daze and he turned to look at Agha, who was raising a fiery red brow at him. A wry smile spread across Tyler's lips as he spoke.

"Sorry about that, I don't know what came over me. What is that place?"

Agha looked at the the building, then at him. It seemed like she was weighing something mentally in her head before she replied.

"That there's the ol' runesmith building. Old coot who works there dunnae get much in the way of traffic these days. Not enough monster cores to power the enchantments and the like. Given the way it seemed tae hook ya, ye might have an aptitude for Runesmithin'. Might be because yer's a magic type, ya? But either way, we're almost tae the Great Hall."

Sure enough, five minutes and a few twists and turns later, they were in front of the largest building in the city. It was four stories high and made of a much higher grade of stone. The color was a similar gray as every building in the village aside from the Runesmithery, but was polished to be smooth. Columns decorated the front of the building, reminding Tyler a bit of Greek architecture. The triangular roof also helped with that, he supposed. Two guards with warhammers blocked the singular double door entrance. They stirred at the sight of Tyler, but turned to salute at Agha.

"Uasal Agha, tae what do we owe thae honor?"

Agha groaned and looked at Tyler with an apologetic look. Then she waved off the guards and spoke.

"How many times have I told ya to just call me by name? No need fer fancy titles and shite like that. Regardless, I'm here tae bring this uplander to my father. I assume he's awake by now?"

The guards looked to Tyler, then to Agha before looking at each other. Some kind of wordless communication must have gone off between them, because the two guards, one a woman and the other a man, nodded at each other and stepped to the side.

"Welcome to Dir Merdum, tall-man. Enjoy yer stay."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Agha motioned Tyler to follow and he did so, giving the guards a respectful nod in thanks. If they saw or cared, Tyler did not know because it seemed like they had returned to their stoic stature.

"Sorry about that, big guy. Some of the upper echelon o' guards still follow old traditions, ya? They can be a bit stiff, but ye get used tae it after awhile."

Tyler simply nodded, not having much to say. Who was he to judge another race's culture? Maybe if they were cannibals or hurt kids, then he would take issue with them. But as it was now, they were simply...odd. But Tyler had experienced his share of odd people back on Earth. Hell, he was pretty odd himself considering his hobbies and other factors. He supposed he would get used to the culture and people over time. Because, yes, Tyler knew he would likely spend a long time in this small village. And honestly, he just needed to decompress after well, everything. Once everything here was sorted out, he'd go to a tavern, get a drink and a room and go to sleep.

Tyler and Agha made their way up three flights of stairs as they were checked multiple times by the guards. It was irritating, but Tyler supposed one had to follow protocol in a new place regardless of his personal feelings. Eventually they were at a large set of double doors, made from, you guessed it, stone. However, despite this, Agha seemed to easily open them. With a creak of stone on metal, the doors swung open to a large office of stone furniture and bookshelves. The main attraction of the room however, was the desk and the man behind it. The man was, like all dwarves, short and stocky. But there was a sense of power and muscle that could clearly be seen, as the man in front of them wore a sleeveless dark gray robe with metallic-cyan trim. This made it obvious to Tyler just how much muscle the leader of the village had. Honestly it was like looking at a short Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Upon hearing the doors open, the old man looked up from a small notebook in his hand. He took a look at Tyler and something shifted. To Tyler it felt like he was naked and he shivered, causing the old man to chuckle and take a hit from a pipe in his hand. After letting out a puff of smoke from his lips, he stroked his beard and turned to Agha.

"So, my dearest daughter. Finally landed yourself a man, I see."

The groan from Agha was audible.

"Oh fer thae love o' thae gods, pa. I didn't 'land' this guy, I just brought him here tae speak tae you."

Agha muttered in irritation, making the old man laugh to himself before he turned his vision towards Tyler. Those powerful eyes stared directly into Tyler's and for some reason, it felt like the man was looking into his soul. Then, as soon as it happened it stopped.

"Interesting. You should get an eyepatch boy, the eye of yours that is scarred could spook some people. Still, a Voidborn Transmigrator huh? You have a story, I think. Would you care to elaborate?"

Tyler hesitated for a moment before he shrugged.

"It's not the greatest story, but I suppose it is only fair."

So, he sat down from across the dwarf behind the desk, and told his tale. For their part, the two dwarves were silent for a good while after Tyler finished. Agha seemed to be thinking to herself, muttering incoherent words. The old man however, spoke.

"Fascinating. Fer ye tae have met with the Maven of Shadow and become her Scion is certainly something ye should keep tae yerself. Yer race to, at least if ye ever head to the empire controlled territories. Probably human settlements in general. Even those folk can get jumpy aroun' anythin' outside the norm."

Tyler grimaced.

"Is it that bad?"

Here, Agha finally joined the conversation.

"It is an' it isn't. Most places are more progressive, but the Empire has a bit o' a bias against anyone who isn't a human. The elves and dwarves are okay, but yer best bet would be tae try and pass as a half-elf. Maybe half Snow Elf?"

Here the woman shrugged. Tyler grumbled internally about having to hide who he was but he supposed it made sense. Voidborn just in its name would probably cause torches and pitchforks, even back home. Here, where magic and fantasy was a tangible thing? Yeah, that could go south quickly he imagined.

"So, what do I do now? Honestly, aside from the personal quest and sleeping, I don't got much going on."

That was the question of the day if there ever was one. Father and daughter looked at him, then at each other. Agha seemed to close her eyes in consternation, as if her father had spoken into her mind.

"Well first things first, ye should take a bath. There's a bath house on thae west side of the village. I guess it's up tae me tae take ye there. After that, get yourself a room at the tavern in town and rest up. We'll talk in the morning."

Here, she shot her father a pointed stare. The old man simply chortled and pulled out a pipe from under his desk, lighting it with a flick of his hand. To his credit, Tyler had no idea what the problem was, and didn't feel like it was at his pay grade. So instead, he simply bowed lightly.

"Thank you for your hospitality..."

Tyler just realized he never got the man's name. As if reading my mind, the powerful, if old, dwarf blew out a ring of smoke from his pipe and looked at him.

"Chieftain Otrig Soothammer, a pleasure. Now off ye go before ye stink up thae office."

With that, Otrig shooed the two of them away with a wave of a hand. They made their way down the flights of stairs, eventually reaching outside. Here Agha hesitated for a moment. She looked a bit embraced and I had no idea why.

"Right, follow me tae the bath house. Just uh, try tae keep an open mind, ya?"

Tyler simply nodded, not sure what her deal was. They made their way quickly to the bath house. It was a long rectangular building that was shorter than most of the houses around, but there was a veritable amount of steam coming from the back. At the front were two large...sheets of cloth, he assumed. Rather than normal stone doors that decorated every other building had. It sorta made sense, in his opinion. Coughing to herself, Agha stepped past the curtains, soon followed by Tyler. What he saw on the other side shocked him. It was like a large pool, if a pool was basically a big hole of steamy water in the ground. That wasn't the strangest part. It was the fact that the room was filled with men AND women. And...they were all naked.

Every single one of them. They were also very anatomically correct. Thankfully, they all seemed to be adults. The men were hairy everywhere, but the women caught his eye more for obvious reasons...the women were very curvy with large chests and equally large buttockses. There was certainly some variation, but for the most part it sorta fit what he knew of Dwarves from back on earth. Still the site of naked women made his skin prickle. Mostly because he was, of course, a hot-blooded young man. Suddenly, he felt awkward and out of place.