The next target is based at a city called Latorna. The bird was expecting another small town, but as he flies north, through the darkly ominous crosswind, it becomes apparent that Latorna is a real city. There are thousands of buildings instead of a few hundred. Instead of the relatively crude walls, the defenses are large blue translucent.. constructs, set between stone towers. There are farms both outside and inside, with significant open areas set aside for agriculture, as well as what looks like familiar grain storage buildings.
It's also large enough to make finding a single mid-level combat ready adventurer far from trivial. Atalon was easy to spot, being a bow-wielding hunter like nobody else in town, but Serena.. well, the bird has spotted multiple people wearing heavy armour already, even if many of them seem to be city guards. At least Serena isn't a guard, being another independent adventurer.
Maybe it'd be easier if Serena was a guard. There would be officers and duty rosters and such. Someone with the freedom to move about is going to be much harder to track down.
Nevertheless, having the ability to check everyone's windows without anyone caring is really, really useful, even if it'll take hours to sift through the whole city. It'll make a list of only a few people and there's time to check them out one at a time. Sooner or later Serena will be discovered.
Well, someone cares. After the bird has cleared a dozen blocks, checking out windows, a thief notices the suspicious behavior. Someone.. even something as strange as the tiny creature, looking window to window checking for loot? That's worth noticing. Maybe someone's got a strange new scouting device. Maybe someone's got a new spell. Worth investigating, in any case. And although the bird mostly sticks to rooftops, it does go down to ground level for a few basement windows..
"Hey, you. Don't move."
The bird freezes. About two feet away is a civilian, a person in ordinary clothing, holding a small crossbow. The tip of the bolt looks sharp and implicitly deadly. The man has carefully positioned himself to keep the crossbow out of street view.
"What are you? Can you talk?"
"Yes."
"Well, damn. You someone's spell or construct or something?"
"No.. I've got an I.D. Right here."
The bird flicks the coin to the ground, next to the thief's feet. He slowly bends down to retrieve it.
"What the hell? Damn."
"Okay, bird. Whatever your thing is, you're not with Stronghold's crew. She wouldn't be seen dead using something as weak as you. And you're not with the guards. They wouldn't use anything they have to pay when they can get away with doing stuff for free. And I don't care about the Kuzenkos.
But there's one thing I do care about. You're stealing on our turf. You can't do that without us being in on it. And five silver isn't enough to buy you permission, not by a long stretch.
So you got three choices. You pay us off, and come up with a lot more than you've got, you get out of here and don't come back, or you come with me and I introduce you to the boss. If Dirty Frankie's got a job for you, maybe you can stick around and get your thing done. Sound good?"
"Got it."
"Alright. Dirty Frankie's this way. And if you fly off, don't come back unless you got a big sack of silver. That clear?"
"Crystal."
The next target is based at a city called Latorna. The bird was expecting another small town, but as he flies north, through the darkly ominous crosswind, it becomes apparent that Latorna is a real city. There are thousands of buildings instead of a few hundred. Instead of the relatively crude walls, the defenses are large blue translucent.. constructs, set between stone towers. There are farms both outside and inside, with significant open areas set aside for agriculture, as well as what looks like familiar grain storage buildings.
It's also large enough to make finding a single mid-level combat ready adventurer far from trivial. Atalon was easy to spot, being a bow-wielding hunter like nobody else in town, but Serena.. well, the bird has spotted multiple people wearing heavy armour already, even if many of them seem to be city guards. At least Serena isn't a guard, being another independent adventurer.
Maybe it'd be easier if Serena was a guard. There would be officers and duty rosters and such. Someone with the freedom to move about is going to be much harder to track down.
Nevertheless, having the ability to check everyone's windows without anyone caring is really, really useful, even if it'll take hours to sift through the whole city. It'll make a list of only a few people and there's time to check them out one at a time. Sooner or later Serena will be discovered.
Well, someone cares. After the bird has cleared a dozen blocks, checking out windows, a thief notices the suspicious behavior. Someone.. even something as strange as the tiny creature, looking window to window checking for loot? That's worth noticing. Maybe someone's got a strange new scouting device. Maybe someone's got a new spell. Worth investigating, in any case. And although the bird mostly sticks to rooftops, it does go down to ground level for a few basement windows..
"Hey, you. Don't move."
The bird freezes. About two feet away is a civilian, a person in ordinary clothing, holding a small crossbow. The tip of the bolt looks sharp and implicitly deadly. The man has carefully positioned himself to keep the crossbow out of street view.
"What are you? Can you talk?"
"Yes."
"Well, damn. You someone's spell or construct or something?"
"No.. I've got an I.D. Right here."
The bird flicks the coin to the ground, next to the thief's feet. He slowly bends down to retrieve it.
"What the hell? Damn."
"Okay, bird. Whatever your thing is, you're not with Stronghold's crew. She wouldn't be seen dead using something as weak as you. And you're not with the guards. They wouldn't use anything they have to pay when they can get away with doing stuff for free. And I don't care about the Kuzenkos.
But there's one thing I do care about. You're stealing on our turf. You can't do that without us being in on it. And five silver isn't enough to buy you permission, not by a long stretch.
So you got three choices. You pay us off, and come up with a lot more than you've got, you get out of here and don't come back, or you come with me and I introduce you to the boss. If Dirty Frankie's got a job for you, maybe you can stick around and get your thing done. Sound good?"
"Got it."
"Alright. Dirty Frankie's this way. And if you fly off, don't come back unless you got a big sack of silver. That clear?"
"Crystal."
