Bloomhaven streets [https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXd9mist5uqzh_ZUSeV9bMXp0PTP2M85bukfIvJ4CFB_FcmcbiCxtlLEKabAZQqCzydsh4Ftj4S4AFABl-GAS_xt8IE8-G31DEZtyJ7w-wY6-k8hnJhQR90Kds_ibzlac1kAazEZTA?key=ydQkOJdag5XUl5PwiJ-eyPnV]
Beyond the entrance tunnel through the thick city wall bustled a chaotic marketplace. Merchants waited inside tents, stood in stalls, shouted from carts, and sat on patterned rugs displaying their wares as masses of all shapes and sizes of people, wearing all kinds of clothing and armor, displaying all types and sizes of weaponry, browsed the various goods on display.
Alice stared at a dark blue man with six wiry arms and a ring of red eyes around the crown of his bald head while he browsed a shelf stocked with jars of colorful small balls resembling some type of candy. Or rather, she stared at the six pistols worn on his vest. The guns looked big and blocky, but their design was unmistakable. Scanning the crowd, she noticed a few other firearms, including some long rifles on backs and double, even quadruple, barreled shotguns on hips.
The aroma from dozens of food stalls mixed with the ever-present tang of the nearby ocean got overpowered as the wind shifted, and she caught a whiff of the rank scents from one corner of the area, where merchants bought massive whole animal carcasses from groups who pulled giant, dead beasts from small sacks. Bags of holding?
While fascinated by it all, Alice stood at the edge of it all, just beyond the mouth of the tunnel, unsure of where to go now.
The crowd was dense, a river of bodies pressing against each other from all sides. She felt exposed, vulnerable, standing at the edge of the chaos. Her blue silk robes, pristine and vibrant, stood out amidst the dull, practical armor of the crowd—adventurers all, she supposed. She self-consciously tugged at the belt, suddenly unsure of how she'd tied it. It probably looked stupid. At least her short hair didn’t stand out.
"Outta the way, girly!" a gruff voice barked, shoving her from behind. She stumbled forward, barely catching herself before she bumped into a furry black...thing. It snarled, baring a set of surprisingly sharp teeth as it said, "Watch it!"
Claws flashed, striking towards her face.
Alice raised up an arm to block even as she tried to step back, only to collide with someone behind her.
Then several people screamed as a gray tendril whipped in front of her.
Blood flew, catching Alice in the face despite her raised arm. She sputtered, wiping it from her eyes as she tried to see what happened.
On the ground at her feet lay the stump of a furry black arm and hand. Its owner had vanished, lost in the retreating crowd.
A gurgling from behind alerted her to further violence.
A second person covered in thick, curly black fur struggled against stone restraints pinning them to the ground. Bands of stone grown from the pavement forced its neck, torso, ankles, and wrists to stillness.
Rocky, still appearing as a stone knight, approached and picked up the severed forearm. He held it towards Alice, who stared at it, unsure if she was supposed to take the thing as a trophy or something, before she realized what Rocky wanted to show her.
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A familiar image of a snake slithering amongst skulls, mouth open to catch a drop of blood dripping from a pair of jagged antlers was tattooed in red on the person’s padded black palm. The same tattoo displayed by that snake-skinned gorilla man who took an interest in her outside of the city.
An unnecessary glance at the captive on the ground confirmed they shared the other two’s taste in tattoos.
Alice sighed, glancing at Rocky. “What now?”
The golem nodded towards two identical guards already standing nearby.
The pair kept a respectful distance between themselves and Rocky. “What happened here?” one asked her.
‘No lies,’ she reminded herself.
“I got pushed from behind into this guy’s…well, I don’t know if they’re friends, but they look the same and they have—had—matching tattoos.” She gestured at the arm Rocky held, who offered it to guards. One approached and took it.
“The owner of that arm tried to claw my face, then Rocky stepped in. I assume the one on the ground is the one who pushed me.” She glanced at Rocky, who circled his hand in a ‘get on with it’ gesture. “Oh,” she added, “outside, as we approached the gate, a guy with the same tattoo tried to strike up a conversation with me. Built like a gorilla covered in scales. Had ninety nine Points.”
She wondered if and how ‘gorilla’ would translate, but if the guards failed to understand her they gave no indication. Instead, they turned their helmets to face one another for a moment. Glancing at Rocky, she saw he held a slab of stone before the captive. Apparently he had a question of his own.
“Just kill me, Council dog!” came the reply.
“We can interrogate him without—” the guard cut himself off with a sigh as Rocky cut off his prisoner’s right arm with a quick gesture, giving him an injury to mirror his buddy’s.
A cap of stone covered the stump of the screaming captive, then Rocky stepped back and gestured to the guards, as if saying, ‘He’s all yours now.’
As her adrenaline wore off, Alice fought back the urge to throw up the soup she drank, what, an hour ago? Glancing at the marketgoers, most all had continued on with their day once it became clear someone wasn’t slaughtering the crowd. Only the occasional glance and the bubble of space around them showed anyone continued to take notice of the altercation’s aftermath.
Suddenly, she was ready to be anywhere but here.
“Are we done here?” she asked, deciding to use the impression she apparently gave off. If she was a Council asset, accompanied by a Council golem that could slice off arms with impunity, she didn’t need to waste her time dealing with such petty things as city guards.
She was going to be in so much trouble when Rocky left her alone, wasn’t she?
No matter how good the cloth armor was, if it got her the kind of attention that might get her killed, what good was it? She’d need to sell it ASAP. Might it be worth enough to pay off her debt? That would be…stupid of the Archivist if so, so she doubted it.
But then again, if people were going to attack her at random, maybe she shouldn’t be so quick to get rid of her only protection. Instead, maybe she should first see what a concealing cloak or enchantment cost, like the sergeant suggested.
The guards stopped staring at each other. She suspected they had walkie-talkie enchantments or similar under those helmets. Otherwise they were just being awkward. “We will let you know what we find, Miss Alice.”
She didn’t like that at all. They knew who she was? They could find her? City guard magical nonsense.
…Why did she care? She hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Understood,” she said. What else could she say?
With confidence she didn’t feel, she turned and walked into the market crowd, Rocky following at her side.