The next day, I didn’t wake until midday. It was the first time since coming here that I got to sleep in. After a long bath, I was pleased to see my clothes and jewelry were waiting for me next to the door. They even perfumed them. I got dressed before summoning Tenebris and Sanaa. The two dragons settled onto their perches a few moments later.

“Alright, you two are going to have to be a bit more polite. It wouldn’t be good to offend any of our potential friends.” I spoke out loud instead of through the bond, this time wanting to see if there was a difference in what they could follow. There was a pause before Sanaa responded through our connection.

“Not a pet.” I could tell there was more she wanted to say, but it was like her intentions were being dulled down. It was frustrating for both of us. A similar feeling hit me when Tenebris spoke up. “She was annoying.” I chuckled at that. “Regardless, we have to get along with people.”

“Are you collecting people?” Sanaa added, her mental voice sounding much more interested. I started to shake my head when I thought about it. I was technically collecting people. “Kind of. I want people to join me. I want to build a home.”

“They are your hoard?” Tenebris added, and I wasn’t sure how to reply to that. “I don’t think so. I will protect them, but they aren’t objects. They would be my people, but not in that way.” I sighed as I tried to come up with a reply that would make sense. After nearly five minutes, I realized I didn’t have one. I decided to ignore it for now. “We should get going.” I stood up and quickly made my way to the door. Thankfully, neither dragon had any more comments.

After speaking with the front desk worker, I got instructions to two places that could help me. The first was a large building called the “Guildhall”. Based on the description, it was more like a communal market where all the trade guilds did business. The second place was more of a communal place for workers. It was an old barracks where people who were looking for work would spend their time. I decided to head to the Guild Hall first. The city was much busier in the middle of the day. The brightness of everything shocked me. Men and women wore clothes of a variety of colors and covered in geometric shapes that seemed to move if you looked at them from the right angle. Some of the more expensive outfits did move.

Unlike what I would have expected, no one was in a hurry to go through the district. Everyone took the time to speak with each other and enjoy the moment. It was a bit surreal to watch. Once I exited the district, I was in things changed a bit. The colors became more muted, and the clothes became simpler. What was truly striking, though, was all the weapons. I saw people carrying blades of all shapes and sizes. Some spears and even a few whips. There weren’t many wands, though. I wasn’t sure if that was because they kept them hidden or if spell casters were rare. I made a note to go shopping for something like that as well.

When I reached the building, I realized it was a bit bigger than I had thought. It was three stories tall, with a central courtyard. They had turned the courtyard into a kind of garden. It had plants of all kinds of colors and shapes. Some purple and black roses were particularly interesting, but I decided to leave them alone. I had Sanaa and Tenebris stay on my shoulders. The crowd of people coming and going visibly parted to give us the room to move. I wasn’t sure if they were more worried about the dragons or the fact that I was about a foot taller than everyone else in there. Either way, I reached a large central desk a few minutes later.

As I approached, a dark-skinned woman who looked to be in her fifties stood up. She had braided her greying hair close to her scalp, and she wore a kente cloth-like fabric tied across her body. “Hello, to what do we owe the appearance of such an odd person?” She spoke in a grandmotherly tone that made me feel like a child. Then a feeling of shame swelled inside. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had spoken to my grandmother. There had always been another time. A “tomorrow” that I could call her and then there wasn’t. I smiled sadly before speaking.

“Hello, I wasn’t aware that I had already gained a reputation.” The woman laughed and then gestured to the dragons on my shoulders. “There aren’t many, even among adventurers, that have dragons accompanying them. I also have more than a few people who are willing to share stories with me.”

I chuckled and nodded. “I am glad to hear that I have drawn enough of your eye.”

“Enough pleasantries. I am sure you did not come here to compliment me and my friends. What can I do for you?” I nodded at her and focused on the task at hand. “I am looking to start a settlement. I need materials, seeds, livestock, and everything possible.” By the time I had finished, several additional eyes had fallen on me. Despite what was the equivalent of telling someone, “I need everything without knowing what “everything” was, the woman was undeterred.

“I see, first, what sort of soil do you have access to? How much water? Do you have enough food to last until the crops come in? Do you have guards? Do you have a way to transport that much materials? Do you even know what building materials will complement what your settlement already has access to?” I wilted under the weight of her questions. I decided to follow a truth my father had taught me. It was better to provide as much information as possible and let the more knowledgeable party determine what was important.

“It is in a canyon about two weeks from here. It’s deeper into the desert, so crops that need a lot of water would be out. I have access to a body of water if that helps. There are several strong trees and greenery near it. I also have access to a stone quarry. I will need food for both right now and in the future. There is something else, but it might be better to discuss it in private.”

The woman nodded patiently until I got to the last part. She raised an eyebrow before gesturing for me to follow. She stepped down from her perch and a hole was made in the crowd. I moved to catch up as she moved through a side hallway, another room, and then round a corner. “Alright, so what is so special that we couldn’t discuss it in front of everyone?”

I did a double-check, but neither I nor my familiars noticed anyone else. “My lands are also a Place of Power. I am not sure if that will affect—” Before I could finish, she held up a hand. “I am afraid I don’t know much about old legends. I am afraid I can not help you with information about that. Is there anything else you need?” I shook my head, and she waved me to follow her. We didn’t return the way we came, instead, we took a left turn and headed down a set of stairs. She led us to a sub-level that had several groups of people milling out.

“Alright, I have someone interested in making a very large order. This will require the cooperation of multiple guilds.” She looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. “Just how much were you looking to spend on this?” The eyes of everyone in the room turned toward me. Sensing the intensity shift in the room Tenebris spread his wings while Sanaa bared both sets of teeth.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Right, I am not sure how much this will all cost. I am also not sure if you can help me find workers and settlers.” I placed my hand on the floor in front of me and I summoned thirty gold bars from my ring. It didn’t leave me with much to hire workers, but first step first. I also had to give Zakia her share when I saw her.

When the group saw the gold, the mood in the room shifted from tense to jubilant. “Well, it looks like that should be enough to get things started. What’s your name, boy?” A man standing in the back of the room called out. He was one of the elephant humanoids, one of his tusks had been cut off. He lumbered forward, nearly half a foot taller than me. “Darterrius”

“It will take us a few weeks to get everything you asked for, as well as a ship that can transport it all. Based on the gold you are throwing around, I assume you want the best of all the things we can get?” The older woman added as she looked down at the pyramid of gold bars. I nodded, and she waved me away. “Good, good. I will send a messenger to the Blood Lodge once we have everything ready. You will need to find the citizens you want on your own. I would suggest you check the adventuring guild or amongst the homeless. If you are willing and able to pay for these people, you will get far more people to help you.”

I nodded, although it was clear that no one was paying me any attention now. The woman had pulled out a monocle and was staring at the gold intensely. “Right, well, I will talk with you all later?” I turned and made my way out of the room. It was time to go shopping for some clothes.

Before leaving the Guildhall, I visited a merchant who could exchange my gold bars for gold coins. When he saw that I wanted to exchange three of them, his eyes bugged out and I was sure that my reputation with him shot through the roof. Unfortunately, I didn’t get an actual prompt about it. The man handed over a large velvety pouch nearly overflowing with gold. The pouch disappeared into my ring and I went about my business. It was nearly ten minutes of searching before I decided to get directions to a good clothes shop. The store they led me to wasn’t for functional clothing. Everything looked closer to Paris Fashion Week. I entered the three-story stone and wood building. Before I could call out a hypnotic voice called out to me.

“Hello, I will be with you in a moment.” I couldn’t tell if the voice was masculine or feminine. It had a melodic rhythm that made you wish you could hear it a bit longer. I looked around but didn’t see any signs of life in the place. The shop was about as large as a department store with white balls of light floating in the air. I felt Sanaa tense up as she watched a group of them. “Stay close. We don’t want to break anything.”

“I would also appreciate it if you didn’t break anything.” The voice came again, this time from right next to me. I stepped away, arms raised, ready to defend myself if needed. When I caught sight of the person who spoke, I had no idea how I missed them. They were around five and a half feet tall with dark brown skin. Their eyes were slitted like a snake and they had patches of scales going down their arms and chest. They wore long dress-like garments in a rainbow of colors. It took me a moment to realize it but the dress was changing colors the more you looked at it.

“As pleased as I am to have a beautiful man stare at me. I do have a business to run. Although if you want a more social meeting, I would be more than happy to oblige?” They looked me up and down with a hunger and curiosity that I almost agreed. Fortunately, I came back to my senses in time to remember what I was supposed to be doing.

“Ah, thank you, but I am here on business. I am looking to get some new clothes.” They smiled and began to look me up and down this time as if appraising a sculpture.

“I see, I see. Well, I suppose we should begin with what you want to wear. Does it need to work with armor? Do you prefer to wear pants? Dresses? Robes? Do you have a budget? Do you like accessories, or do you want to keep things simple?”

I hadn’t thought about it before, but this was a chance to dress differently. “Let's try on a variety of things and see what fits. As for budget, let’s stick to say two hundred gold. I lost all of my clothes, so I am going to need some of everything.”

Their eyes widened in surprise before they flicked their serpentine tongue out as if to lick the air. “Right, right in that case, give me a moment.” They hurried over to the door of the shop. There was a click and then the lights above us dimmed a bit. “There now, I can give you the time you deserve. Please follow me to the back. I will need to take your measurements.”

“So what’s your name?” I asked while following behind them. “You don’t seem to mind my familiars?” They looked back at me as if noticing the dragons for the first time. “Ahh, I suppose they are interesting. I don’t think I can provide them with clothing, though. As long as they cause no damage to I have no reason to dislike them. As for my name, you may call me Samaira”

That was rather anticlimactic, but I left it alone. They led us into a room with a stone bench in the middle, a mirror on the wall, and several clothing stands decorating the side wall. They picked up a tool that looked like a glowing blue sphere. “Alright, I will need you to disrobe. The measurements will be best with the fewest amount of layers over your body. I will need your companions to not be on your shoulders. Unless you want your clothing to take their presence into account.”

I hadn’t thought about that. “What do you think?” I sent my question through our bond."

“I want to stay,” Tenebris added.

“It would be good,” Sanaa added as she dug her claws into my shoulders.

“They both want to stay. I also need to still wear the rings I have and the necklace.” Samaira nodded and tapped the sphere. It pulsed a deep azure blue before floating into the air. The sphere made circles around my body. It made a whirling sound that reminded me of a computer fan. I wasn’t sure if I had to stand still or not, so I decided not to move. Thankfully, the process was quick, only taking around ten minutes. Once the sphere finished, it floated back to their palm. “Perfect. So you have two choices. I can have some clothing custom-made for you based on these measurements or I could find something here that approximates it and then tailor them to you. Unfortunately, if I do that, I would need to get creative with your shoulders. They may come out a bit chimeric.”

I shook my head. My robes would be more than enough for the next few days if not weeks. “As my mom would say, ‘Do things right the first time and you won’t have to do them again’ Make the custom garments. Would you be able to send them to the Blood Lodge?” They pulled back as if they had touched a hot stove before nodding their head. “That I can do. I would need payment upfront. I assure you that I will provide an accounting for every coin at the end of the—” I raised a hand to stop him before summoning the pouch from my ring. Once the pouch appeared, I looked around. “No need. I will trust you. Do you have a place where you want me to pour them out? There is a bit more than three hundred in the pouch.”

“I ah ri—of course.” They reached into their clothes and removed a burlap sack about twice as large as the one I was holding. Once they were ready, I opened my pouch and began to pour. It took us a few minutes to get the exact amount right. When it was done, though, my pouch was much lighter. I willed it back into the ring. “Is there anything else you need?”

Samaira shook their head and led me back to the entrance. “Do you intend to wear these for more formal occasions or adventuring?”

“A bit of both. If you can, I would like you to give me two groups. Some things for formal occasions and some things for outdoor wear. I imagine I am going to need to impress some people, eventually.”

“I can do that. I thank you for your patronage. What did you say your name was?”

“Darterrius” They looked at me as if searching for something. It wasn’t until the door was open that they decided to ask their question. “Do you not have a last name? I don’t mean to be presumptuous?”

“Oh, Darterrius Solomon Maximilian.” I waited for him to reveal why they wanted to know that but they didn’t. They gestured for me to continue, and I stepped back out into the city.

“Food” Tenebris sent the word and his hunger through our bond. My stomach growled in response and I looked over at him. I wasn’t sure if I was hungry because he was or if I was just hungry as well. I tried to search for a division between my feelings and his, but I couldn’t quite find it. I began walking down the street in search of something to eat.