Entering into the town was a strange sensation. There were buildings, but almost no signs of life. Johan was half convinced that it may be abandoned, but he could see shutters being opened and closed, no doubt eyes peeking in on the siblings and the rickety ol' horseless wagon.

That trend continued until he saw an old man just walking down the street around the next corner. The man was definitely old in a visible way, but apparently not so much to the need for equipment to walk around. If anything he looked to be the kind of old man that most men wish they'd be able to be when they got old. He held a cane that looked rather antique-like, with some sort of varnish that glimmered in the sunny day, and had some sort of topper that was definitely shaped, but between distance and the hand of the man, Johan couldn't tell what the shape was. The man was not well dressed, but was presentable, with a white, stained yellow, dress shirt and slacks that went over a pair of boots, and judging by the glimmer at the mans mid waist, a belt.

It might seem odd, but Johan quickly stopped the car, and before his sister could even realize what was going on, he got out and walked down the street to the man.

"Whoa there. Boy, I think you can talk from this distance well enough. My name is Callum, you can call me Cal. What brings you folk here?" The man gestured over to Anne who was staring warily at the old man from inside the car.

"My name-" Johan started coughing as his voice cracked from having had very little water for the past week, having to rely on the half empty water bottles that had been abandoned in the back seats from various trips their family had taken, and then continued, his voice having strain in it, "My name is... Johan Farmer. I come from the country of Ambevelance, me and my sister are heading to the Karshlan Empire in search of asylum, but have no water and very little food, nor any idea where we are." Johan explained to the man.

"Ambevelance? Hm... Alright, you'll come with me, I'll get you some water and a bite to eat, but then we will talk to Nath and Markus." Cal explained, "Markus is our town guard, keeps peace among the people in town and Nath is the man in charge. Has powers, and can scare people real good, not to mention he is also rather strong."

Johan simply nodded, and then asked to have the chance to get his sister, to which the man agreed and then they were on their way down the street, entering a small house.

"Nath! I have them folks who just came into town! You said you wanna talk to em?" Cal almost shrieked into the wooden building from the entry.

"Jeez, keep it down a bit will ya?" An older man, who was sporting a well kept beard walked out from the other entry way on the other side of the room "I might be old but my ears work well, so I ain't needing you to scream loud enough to hurt them."

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The old man, Nath from what Johan gathered, was wearing a T-shirt and a rough pair of jeans, he appeared older than Cal, having silvery white hair as opposed to Cals salt and pepper, and aged like fine wine in terms of looks with the beard having suited him well.

Then Nath turned to the two siblings, and Johan felt his sister hide a bit behind him, apparently a bit scared of the grandfatherly like figure in front of them.

"Oh? Why these are just a couple kids! Please, please, come and sit." Nath gestured to a small couch that had a coffee table between it and a pair of somewhat plush looking chairs.

Johan pulled Anne along and the two of them sat down on the couch, Cal said a few words that Johan couldn't quite hear from his position, and then walked back out the door, which was closed with a rather loud creak.

"So, I was told you two come from Ambevelance. I'll ask you only a few things before you have some food and water, but I need you to answer them honestly, and trust me. I'll know." Johan gulped and nodded to the man. "Good, now let's start with the basics, what are your names?"

Johan was a bit taken for a moment, having expected an intense interrogation for a moment, but shortly answered. "M-my name is Johan Farmer, and this is my sister, Anne Farmer."

Nath nodded, then continued. "Why are you here in Basin?"

Johan flattened his lips for a moment trying to figure out his words, then he responded. "We seek asylum in the Karshlan Empire."

"True, but you have omitted the reason why you seek asylum, would you be willing to tell me?"

Johan looked at his sister. Anne didn't know what he did, honestly with her being as torn up from just the things she did know, he wasn't particularly wanting her to be aware.

"Not at this moment." Johan responded to him.

"Hm... I suppose that's fine, but you'll need to answer me about that later." Nath relented, "Do you have any questions for me?" The old man asked.

"Yes. but they can wait for the time being, my throat hurts from talking." Johan said.

It was the truth, he hadn't had more than a couple of sips of water for more than 2 days, letting his sister have more water to drink as they had run quite low.

"Alright, I don't mind waiting for now, Callum should be back in a moment anyways." Nath smiled kindly.

Johan let out a sigh internally, and for the first time in a week, he felt his body untense, and felt a wave of exhaustion, nausea, and emotion overtake him for a moment, but managed to hold strong.

Shortly after, the food and water arrived, and both he and his sister ate like wild animals, and drank their water greedily. It wasn't good food, not really, but if it didn't feel like heaven at that moment Johan would be a liar.

Only a few minutes after they finished eating, Anne passed out on the couch and Johan was told to move her to a bed on the other end of the house, which extended further than Johan had thought from outside having at least 2 bedrooms. After that, Johan returned with Nath to the parlor.

"Alright then Johan, lets finish the conversation from earlier. Don't worry your sister can't hear you right now."

Johan nodded, not entirely sure if the man was telling him the truth or not, but he did owe the man a story, so he took in a long breath, and then responded.