Everwatch was a walled and fortified town of significant size and population. To the north from here was the Wilderness, stretching for hundreds of kilometers, and the city served as an outpost settlement, under the control of the small nation of Sarikot (pronounced as surrey-koh, with the 't' silent).
The guard escorting Jiru had called for a horse cart and helped him load Mister Monster Bacon on to it. When they reached the tall walls he saw that they had three gates open to the road: one was where most of the ordinary people went through, another was for military use, and a third was for those with special privileges, which was the one they went through. The city, which had started out as a small outpost and then slowly but steadily expanded over time, had a distinct medieval feel to it, and some things, he immediately noticed, transcended universes: the outer edges of the city were poor and disheveled, mostly made up of shacks or large community-living buildings, whereas the more you moved towards the center, there were more and more places built from lumber, iron and whatever passed for concrete in this world. The poor, he found out in conversation with the guard, mostly subsisted by providing supporting services to the warriors who went out there to clear out Lairs.
There was an actual castle smack in the middle of the little city, as well as a tall tower that was somewhere in between the outer and inner rings that, according to Gunnar, belonged to a wizard. There was a wall around the castle and a moat that went around the wall, and around that moat were the most important buildings, making up the town center. There was another wall around the town center, and this one was much thicker than the one on the outer perimeter. Clearly defense had been made a priority, and this one looked like it would act as a fallback point if the town's outer walls were ever breached (likely locking down the walled town center and leaving the poor outside it).
The Captain's office was in the Town Hall, just outside the castle. The cart turned away before it reached the moat and pulled up alongside a two-storied building with a tall entrance that turned out to be their destination. There were two more spearmen guards outside it, who greeted Jiru's guide as the cart pulled over.
"What brings you in here tod - heaven's mercy!" Jiru had thrown open the downward-opening half-door of the cart, bringing the guard face-to-face with the dead boar, its big eyes staring lifelessly ahead. Both guards invoked blessings. "It's dead!" One of them exclaimed.
"Here to claim the bounty." He said as he hopped down. Several passersby were stopping to take a look at what was happening.
"The Captain's not in," The guard said, "but you can wait inside."
"How long till he gets back?"
"She is in a meeting with the town committee. About an hour."
"Right…" He thought it over. "I'll go get a drink and come back. Can I leave this here?" Jiru patted the sliced-up snout of the dead body, which had by now attracted the attention of several people, who were openly whispering amongst each other. The guard shrugged.
He studied the Town Center around him as he walked: quiet, not too many people walking around, and yet with many thriving businesses. There were no less than three banks, a large warehouse-sized building from which he could hear the unmistakable sound of mechanical hammers ringing on anvils, two inns, a tavern, two general goods stores, and a couple of magic shops.
Jiru walked into the closest place he could haunt, The Town Centre Eatery and Inn (unimaginative name, but hey, if it accurately described your business, why not?) where the noon rush had not started yet, so the dining room was not crowded. He sat at the bar, depositing his backpack on the stool next to him and his sword on the counter as he was approached by the bartender, a tall man with a bald head and a long beard, whose gaze lingered for a moment on the blood and viscera on his leather armor.
"Beer," He ordered before his messy appearance became a topic of conversation, "And a piece of that meat I smell - what is it, chicken?"
"Yes. Just one piece?"
"Leg if you can."
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"Bread?"
"Sure."
The beer came first. The bartender stuck his torso in through a window in the wall behind him, said something - the kitchen was on the other side, it seemed - and turned around holding a small plate with a fried chicken drumstick and something similar to a pita bread just in time to see the last drops of the beer disappearing as Jiru drank it in a single go, the mug tilted high. He lowered the empty tankard and burped.
"Another," He said as the plate was placed in front of him.
The second mug followed the first in another single go, gulped down as though it were water.
"Another."
"Should I bring the keg?" There was a touch of amusement in the man's voice.
"Maybe later." Jiru said seriously. Hey, I died today, so I'm entitled to drink a bit.
When the bread was gone, the drumstick was a dry bone and the third beer had followed the first two, he burped again, sat back and sighed.
"Nine and a half nilling," The bartender said as he cleared out the dishes.
"Is there a place here where I can change, maybe wash?"
"Cloak room with shower, ten nilling an hour. Bath with hot water, twenty-five nilling."
Jiru paid twenty nilling and told the barman to keep the change. The cloak room turned out to be a tiny little tiled bathroom with storage cupboards for his things. It was surprisingly cool inside, not like an AC, but pleasant nonetheless. There was even a breeze that seemed to come from a mesh-covered vent close to the top of one wall. An aide brought fresh towels, placed them on a stool, and left.
He first stripped his effects, separating the sword scabbard from the harness. His belt and daggers he set aside, leaving the pack itself intact. The shower was cold but it got him clean. He felt the grime and viscera wash off, changing the water to a variety of colors as the blood, mud and other assorted muck drained away.
He also wiped down his leather armor and washed his sword - a terrible idea had he been dealing with a mundane sword made with ordinary materials from back home, but this one, even apart from rust-resistance darksteel - was enchanted and would not rust. It was supposed to be nigh-indestructible, only susceptible to damage by the most powerful of forces.
The soul bond attuned it to him and him alone; letting him summon it from short distances, and supposedly this bond would grow more and more powerful as well. Both gems embedded on the hilt now had what looked like blue liquid sloshing around inside it - Mister Pighead's life force. The liquid moved seemingly in reaction to gravity, but the black cloud swirling around inside the stone didn't. It was more than a little bit strange to watch.
When he was clean he toweled himself dry, sat back on the stool and pulled out a long rectangular pouch out of the Dimensional Box. Inside were two things: one was a one-foot long steel rod with a black handle attached at one end - similar to honing steels and sharpening rods from earth - but it was neither of those things, he knew. The other looked like a small pocket notebook about the size of a deck of cards, but once, again, it was nothing of the sort. This was where the 'variable' part of the variable scaling enchantment came in.
"As Darkfang grows stronger it will align itself to the way you fight with it," He had been told, "The pages will activate accordingly, with its new powers."
A manual in essence. Each page had a dark blue pattern with an image of Darkfang in the middle on one side, while the other side was simply blank white. When he had left the Void, four of the pages had had writing on them in perfect printed font.
* 1) Unbreakable
* This weapon is nigh-indestructible, and can only be damaged by the most powerful of forces.
* 2) Magical Edge
* The blade is dull; upon channeling mana, a magical edge is formed on the dull sides and tip of the blade. It will be able to cut through harder and harder materials as the weapon grows stronger.
* 3) Soul Bond
* This weapon is bound to you. You can sense its presence when separated from it. You can summon it to you from short distances. As it grows stronger, this bond will grow more and more powerful.
* 4) Power Hungry
* Darkfang hungers. Take lives and drain the life forces of your enemies with it to feed the Variable Scaling Enchantment and unlock additional Powers.
Now, however, four more had been activated. The first of these was also the most interesting:
* 5) Swordmage
* By feeding Darkfang its first life, you have activated its casting abilities. You can now use sword magic.