Two small figures entered the outskirts of Geltheas in the early-morning light. The larger of the two was a teenage girl with long and fluffy maroon hair, wearing light clothing of a pink tank top and black shorts. Beside her was a much shorter figure, about half her height. His figure was obscured by a heavy black cloak, completely unsuitable for the hot sumr and warm climate of Geltheas. Behind him, the ragged end of the cloak extended nearly a unit, dragging limp behind him. Vision of his face was obscured by a clay mask, although his proportions suggested he was a child rather than one of the smaller races.
The girl kept her eyes ahead as the pair walked down the unpaved dirt streets between the rows of tightly packed single-story wood hos. The child, on the other hand, was constantly turning his head, seemingly fascinated by every aspect of the city. Strangely, he even looked up at the clear sumr sky from ti to ti.
Andre smiled. Easy marks.
As the duo walked past an alleyway between two houses, their path was blocked by a rough looking man. He was only in his late twenties, but life had not been kind to Andre. A combination of alcoholism and too many nights sleeping passed out in the streets had left him with a nasty complexion. A history of bar fights and pointless violence had left him with ear and nose cartilage in rather unique shapes. "Hold it. There's a toll for passing through this area," ca the deep guttural voice. A slightly sour and rotten sll escaped his mouth along with his words.
To his delight, the girl quickly cringed back in fright, a look of terror clear in his eyes. Looking down towards the child, he clicked his tongue as he just continued looking around. Perhaps the kid didn't realize what was happening? It didn't really matter, as long as he got so money and could get drunk tonight.
From the teenage girl, a trembling voice finally ca out. "I never heard anything about a t-toll."
Andre leaned his head back and lood ominously over the much shorter girl, revealing a smile with several gaps where teeth should be. "You're new around here, aren't you? If you want to travel through these slums, you gotta pay . Those are the rules." At that, he held out one of his heavily calloused hands. "Now hand your money."
To his surprise, it was the child who imdiately placed a large pouch of money into his hand. The pouch was considerably heavy, much more than he was hoping for. Opening it to check inside, he was delighted to find several flashes of gold. His revelry was cut short by the feeling of sothing wrapping around his legs.
Looking down, he barely had ti to register that his legs had beco tangled in the child's cloak when a massive blow slamd unseen into his chest, winding him greatly and throwing Andre sprawling onto his back. As the large man gripped his chest and tried desperately to get so air into his lungs, the child calmly walked around his body towards his head.
Getting unexpectedly attacked was not unusual for the thug, and he quickly adapted to the situation. With a guttural yell, he rolled over towards the small figure and used his montum to land a powerful punch directly to the boy's head.
It felt like he punched a stone. Andre gripped his hand as he winced in pain. Was this kid wearing a helt under those robes? Without even flinching from the heavy punch that had ended countless barfights, the boy responded with a fist obscured by a heavy black cloak. Andre then discovered that the boy's hand, too, was as hard as stone.
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At this point, Andre realized he had made a mistake. These weren't just so ignorant kids from the sticks sent to do so shopping. These were so noble's kids, who probably had more levels than him despite their age. Assuming that they didn't turn him over to the guard and have him executed for assaulting nobility, Andre would make sure to spread the word to his friends. Don't ss with these weird kids. Those were his last thoughts before the rocklike fist descended again.
Mud reached over and retrieved the money pouch from the unconscious man. As it moved to strip him, the golem was stopped by its contracted demon's soft voice.
"Wait, taking his clothes would draw the wrong type of attention." Jabrax's eyes scanned the nearby alleyways, spectators quickly retreating behind corners and covering windows as she did. "As it is now, everyone who saw that will think we have a powerful backer that helped us get stronger than our age would suggest." She looked down at Mud who was about to take off the thugs stained shirt and shook her head. "If we start robbing broke people for their filthy underwear, they'll wonder why we would bother, and when things don't make sense people start paying closer attention and asking questions."
Jabrax walked next to the man and gave him a sharp kick to the side. "For now, let's just leave this bum as he is and continue on our way."
Mud took a long look at the useful resources it needed to abandon. Ultimately, maintaining its disguise was more valuable than the man's belongings. Still, it was a regretfully inefficient course of action. Thinking back, the golem wished that it had known about the concept of selling things before their trip to town. There were likely valuable bits of the beasts that were left to rot in the forest when it had hunted previously. Mud vowed that it would find out which monster parts were of value before it hunted again.
Mud turned back in the direction of the center of town, and the two monsters continued on their journey.
As the pair traveled through the town towards the west side of Geltheas, the quality of construction slowly rose. From the single-story shanties at the outskirts, to larger and more sturdy wooden hos. Eventually, they reached a landmark which was visible even from the very edge of town thanks to the perfectly straight streets; the tall stone wall surrounding the city of Geltheas.
The wall was nearly ten units thick, and as tall as a three-story building. Each section, which was as long as a city block, was composed of a single massive piece of seamless stone. The sheer scale made it imdiately apparent that it was not constructed from mundane ans. The top of the wall was studded with murder holes and battlents at regular intervals. The defenses were not limited to only the exterior edge; instead, the wall also had defenses aid towards the interior of the city as well. The only apparent entryway to the top of the walls were staircases located on the interior walls of the arched passageway which allowed traffic through. The passage itself had raised tal portcullis on both ends. Along the top, lookouts stood watch at regular intervals.
There were only two guards at the archway itself, although they were lightly armored and hung their helts on strings from their belts. Their weapons, long spears, rested against the nearby wall as they played cards. They were there, it seed, rely as a formality. Traffic traveled through the gate unimpeded.
Jabrax and Mud walked confidently towards the archway. At the mont Mud passed the threshold, the golem felt a strong compulsion to stop and turn back. Mud had been warned of the magical beast ward, though, and did not faulter. A much weaker version of the ward had also encompassed the slums. It was not overly difficult for Mud to ignore the second ti, despite the increased strength. It was rely annoying.
Continuing out of the archway onto the cobblestone streets, Mud took in its surroundings. Compared to the rather run down and shoddy look of the slums, the interior was filled with sturdy brick architecture and was bustling with activity. This was the real City of Geltheas.
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