As I wandered down the road towards the gate, I started to encounter groups of people. Most of them seemed like they were downtrodden and destitute, dirty, unkempt and dressed in little more than rags. Perhaps they weren’t allowed within the village walls after dark. Many of them were begging for handouts from the people who passed by, but when I passed them they demurred. I wondered whether it was because of the look on my face. Maybe, given my ragged appearance, they thought I fit in with them and didn’t have much to offer. If only they knew my pockets and pack were full of valuables. Some of the people gathered around large communal pots getting ready to eat whatever meager sustenance they had scraped together that day. Stone soup, anyone?
As I quickly approached the guards, they took notice of me. My initial impression was correct. The two were orcs. They were standing and crudely joking with one another, but when they caught sight of me approaching the gate their gazes hardened and they stepped out to meet me.
“What do we have here?” left orc asked as he stepped forward to meet me, barring my way forward. “You should know that beggars are not allowed in town after dusk.”
“I’m not a beggar,” I replied. “I was exploring out in the forest and had some unfortunate encounters with the local wildlife. I survived, but they didn’t.”
“Exploring the forest by yourself,” he responded. “I didn’t think anyone was that daft.”
“Well, when I entered the forest I had three compatriots. Two of them fell in battle and the last one attacked me when we got into an argument. He had some skills but nothing I couldn’t handle. I’m sure that the carrion eaters feasted well.”
I turned and showed them where my clothing had obviously been damaged by a forged weapon.
“Oh, so you’re a tough one,” right orc interjected. “Should we be frightened?” Then, both orcs started laughing at me.
I’ll admit it. Not for the first time, I may have oversold my abilities a tiny bit.
“So, can I enter and find an inn, replace my clothing and enjoy a good meal with lots of ale?” I asked.
“A rich tough guy like you can clearly afford the entry fee,” left orc said. “We have to eat, too. Pay up and be on your way.”
“And how much is the entry fee tonight?”
“For you, since we like you, only five coppers.”
I had no idea what money was worth in this world, but still I felt like I was being shaken down. Based upon their calculating expressions and their forced joviality, I got the idea that they were looking for either easy profit or a fight and didn’t much care which they got.
“Five coppers seems pretty steep,” I said. “Maybe I should just camp out for one more night and try my luck tomorrow after your shift changes.”
Sometimes I think my interpersonal skills need a little development. Rather than the desired effect of starting the process of haggling, my statement seemed to make the orcs angry. Right orc stepped forward towards me, shifting his spear into a ready position.
“Or maybe we just say you were trying to sneak past us into the village without paying,” he said. “Maybe when we tried to arrest you, you started fighting with us. Maybe we were a little overly enthusiastic trying to subdue you. Maybe you don’t survive your wounds. And maybe, when the guard captain searches your corpse, he finds out that you didn’t have any money at all.”
My bluff had well and truly been called. Perhaps five coppers was the standard entry fee at night. Maybe I was essentially being mugged by town guards. How was I to know? Looking at the two burly orcs, I didn’t really trust my odds if it came to fighting, and if I fought them then I would have to find another town and maybe go through the same thing again there.
“Alright, you’ve made your point, five coppers it is,” I replied, my hand dipping into my pocket. I had previously sorted the coins so that all my copper coins were in my left front pants pocket and my few meager silver coins were in the right. I reached into my left pocket with my thumb and index finger, being certain to keep my other fingers straight to avoid drawing attention to my false sixth finger. Pulling out the copper coins one by one, I transferred them to my right hand until I had five of them. Then I reached out my hand towards the orcs, palm upward.
“Which one of you handles the money?” I asked.
Left orc stepped forward and scooped the coins from my hand. Quickly counting them, he nodded at right orc and suddenly the two were once again full of false cheer.
“Go right in, and enjoy our village’s hospitality,” he said, a hint of glee in his voice.
Yeah, I completely overpaid.
Glancing around me, I could see some of the beggars close by staring at me mournfully, clearly chagrined by their miscalculation regarding my level of wealth. I took one of my sacks of provisions that I had looted from Levan and tossed it to the nearest group. One of them, a ragged looking orc, grabbed the bag and looked in it. Then his eyes widened and he looked up at me with a tusky smile. I nodded to him and walked past the guards into the fine village of Sleetfield.
I would like to say that I had never seen a greater hive of scum and villainy, but that would be a lie. Most of the streets were dirt, except that the main road was cobbled. It was certainly rustic but almost all of the buildings were well taken care of, and the streets were relatively clean, even though I had to dodge piles of animal dung in the street from time to time. Although most of the side streets were unlit, oil lanterns high on posts illuminated the main thoroughfare. As I had no idea where I was going, I decided to stick to the main road. After just a couple of minutes of walking, I found myself in some sort of town square or plaza.
The square was about a hundred feet in depth and wider still. The pedantic part of me thought that maybe it should be termed a town rectangle. Directly across from me was a two story stone building that seemed to be government offices of some type. Flanking it to the left appeared to be a church or temple and to the right was a small park. One area of the square was set aside for market stalls, but due to the late hour none of them were open. Another portion seemed set up as a drill area for the town guard. Groups of people milled about the area, socializing and enjoying their evening. I could see a variety of different races. While the population was predominantly orcish, I saw smaller groups of humans, elves, what I presumed to be dwarves, and a bunch of races that I did not recognize. On the other three sides of the plaza, businesses lined the area. Although most of them were closed, some of them were clearly restaurants or inns. They were well lit and filled the night air with a cacophony of voices and other noise. I could see wandering groups of guards patrolling the area in pairs.
I felt completely overwhelmed. Seeing groups of people strolling around, conversing and enjoying their lives was nearly too much for me to handle. After spending so much of the last few days stuck in fight or flight with no idea how I would provide for myself and survive, witnessing the banality of daily life was like a gut punch. I stood off to the side, trying to steady my ragged breathing. Slowly, I forced myself to calm down, to be in control. I was so close to the finish line, to relative safety, that I could taste it. I couldn’t afford to fall apart here.
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Looking around, I could see that some of the people entering and exiting the area had taken note of me. I caught a ton of disapproving looks. When a couple of human parents saw their young children wandering too close to me, they grabbed them by their hands and quickly pulled them deeper into the square, like I was about to abduct them and eat them or something. Yeah, I really had to get cleaned up and improve my appearance. Compared to the people around me, I looked completely disreputable.
As I was gathering my nerve to enter the square, I noticed a pair of guards walking directly towards me. They were being led by a man who I presumed was the father of the children that had been hustled away from me. Reaching into my pocket, I palmed a couple of copper coins. My supply was getting low, but I assumed I could unload some of my jewelry. That would only work if I could avoid getting kicked out of the village before the morning. The father pointed at me and hurried away as the guards kept advancing. When they were about ten feet away, I greeted them.
“Good evening, guardsmen.”
“What’s your kind doing in the town after dusk?” the larger of the two asked.
“I just returned from an expedition in the forest that went horribly wrong,” I said. “I paid my entry fee at the gate and am in need of a place to stay, to get cleaned up and to buy some new clothing. As you can see, mine is pretty much unusable.”
Reaching forward with my hand containing the coins, I offered them to the guards.
“I was hoping that I could pay for some directions,” I supplied.
The orc reached into my hand and grabbed the coins, placing one in a pouch at his belt and passing the other to his partner.
“We aren’t allowed to charge for directions,” he said with a smile. “But perhaps you have purchased some of our time to escort you to your lodging to avoid any misunderstandings along the way.”
“You are exactly right,” I replied, returning his smile. “Would you know where I can find a clean yet affordable inn where I can take care of my issues?”
“Follow us,” he replied.
The two led me back out of the square for a couple of blocks until we reached a narrow unlit lane. Turning down the lane, I followed closely behind them, even though I was a little trepidatious, thinking I might be taken to a quieter area to be robbed. My right boot squelched as I stepped in a pile of something that I couldn’t see on the street. After a couple of dozen steps, the road curved and once around the curve I noticed a building up ahead that was lit with a couple of torches. Rough wooden tables lined the front of the building and I could hear people talking to one another. As we got closer, I noticed a faded wooden sign with a picture of a rooster on it. The people in front, universally orcs, were laughing and drinking. A harried kobold waiter was slinging drinks as fast as his little legs could carry him.
As we got closer, I noticed that all of the orcs were dressed in guard uniforms. Great, the bastards had led me to a cop bar.
“Aren’t you supposed to be on duty?” one of the orcs with a rank insignia of some sort asked my escorts.
“Yeah, sergeant,” my escort who had done all the talking replied. “We have us a weary traveler looking for a clean, safe place to bed down for the night. And what could be safer than the Cock of the Walk.”
Glancing towards me, the sergeant snorted out a reply. “Safe, yeah. Clean, not so much. When you get settled in, feel free to come buy me a drink and tell me about all of your adventures.”
This town was turning into nothing more than one big shakedown. I had already resolved that after I got cleaned up, tomorrow I would look into finding someplace else to stay.
Reaching into my pocket, I palmed another of my dwindling supply of copper coins. I placed it on the table before him.
“Sergeant, I have been in the wilderness for a long time,” I said. “I really want to just get cleaned up and collapse into bed. Perhaps I can buy you a drink tonight and tell you my story another time?”
He nodded to me in appreciation and then seemed to lose interest in me. I followed my escorts into the inn.
The inside was small and smoky from the large fire burning merrily in the stone fireplace. A bar ran along the length of the room to my right, and each of the five tables inside was full of orcish guardsmen. One of the guards was pounding on a drum and all the patrons were chanting what I assumed to be some sort of drinking song, as every once in a while the beat would stop and one of them would chug their drink. I had no idea what the rules of the game were, and I didn’t really want to play it anyway.
I was led to the bar. Behind it was an older, battle-scarred orc with a broken tusk. Scurrying around his feet were a couple of overworked kobolds.
“Gramman, we have a customer for you,” the more garrulous of my escorts announced. Then, he nodded at me and they walked back out of the bar.
“What do you need?” he asked, looking me up and down. “Your kind don’t find their way here often.”
“I need a room, a bath, and some food and drink,” I replied.
“You have money?”
“How much will it run me?”
“The room is three coppers. The bath is one copper, two if you want hot water. Stew with bread and an ale is two coppers.”
Yeah, I had definitely gotten screwed at the gate. Reaching into my pocket, I fingered the last of my copper coins, counting them. I only had about twelve left. Pulling ten of them out, I handed them to him.
“I’ll take the room, the bath with hot water, and two meals. I am very hungry. The extra copper is to have the meals delivered to my room, as every time I run into an orc in this town I end up having to buy them a drink.”
Gramman laughed a little at that, pocketing the coinage.
“All right, big spender,” he replied. “That will work.”
He handed me a key half the size of my forearm.
“You are in the second room from the left at the top of the stairs. The bathing chamber is at the end of the hall. Don’t use the bed until you get cleaned up. Your bath should be ready in a short time. I will send your meals up after your bath.”
I nodded, and then turned and found the stairs. Opening the second door on my left with the key, I entered a small room with a single straw pallet on the floor, a rickety looking wooden chair, a small table with a wash basin and pitcher, and a chamber pot. The lack of indoor plumbing was something that I would need to get used to. The room smelled musty, as if it was rarely used.
I sat in the chair for a few minutes after depositing my gear next to the bed. Then, I got up and went to the bathroom. When I entered, I found a kobold dumping steaming kettles of boiling water in the tub. Nodding at me as soon as he was finished, he left the room. Locking the door and then disrobing, I entered the tub. The hot water felt like heaven on my various aches and pains. I stayed in the bath until the water was cold, scrubbing my body and clothing with the harsh lye soap that was provided by the inn. When I got back out, my skin was wrinkled and pruney. After drying myself with the rough towel the inn had supplied, I decided not to put my wet clothes back on. Instead, I wrapped the towel around my more sensitive bits and scampered back down the hall to my room, succeeding in my hope that I wouldn’t run in to anyone in my semi-naked state. It was only after I made it to my room that I realized that I had forgotten to put my gloves back on.
In front of the door was a tray with two bowls of stew, two large chunks of bread, and two mugs of ale. I opened the door, carried in my meals, locked the door behind me, and started devouring my food. I had obviously spent too much time in the bath, as the stew was only marginally warm, but I didn’t care. Both meals were gone in short order. Then, after placing the empty dishes back in the hall and making sure the door was locked with the chair wedged in front of it for extra security, I hung my clothes on the table to dry and collapsed onto the pallet.
Through the floor, I could hear the sound of a drum pounding and voices chanting out the guttural drinking song, and I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. My fears were unfounded, though. Within a few moments, I was unconscious.