The Immortal Kobold

To get into port with a crippled pirate ship and a damaged merchant vessel brought a lot of attention to the arriving ship, the dock was full of various people from bored city dwellers to interested mercenary companies looking for potential new recruits. The dock was a veritable sea of bodies all turned out for the fan fare of an impromptu event. The city loomed just beyond the docks, a testimony to years of hard fought claim staking, the port itself was a walled off section showing just how little space the initial pioneers of the continent had to work with.

Each section of the sprawling town was walled off, with each year more of the jungle was cut away and another walled section erected expanding the city outward. Part of said section twisted up a near by cliff, a long road leading to a large mansion on the top over looking the town, guards covered every wall and gate house, showing how much the local leader went through to ensure they were not pushed back by the local indigenous.

As the trio stood on deck, watching the two crews herding off their pack of prisoner pirates. None of them looked forward to wading through that sea of people so let the procession continue without them. They stood upon the aft castle looking to the city with interest, far off in the distance over the outer wall they could see the tall jungle trees, the crash of a falling tree echo'd in the beyond, the canopy shuddering as logger teams felled another, the hollow tone of a blown horn signaling something far off.

Xing Lei smiling resting on the rail beside his mate and lover watched the dark city, the sounds of the bustle on the dock drowning out the sounds of work camps nearby. Yawning he nodded to Al.u.s.triea and Osilliaice, leading them over the opposite side, jumping down easily onto the cargo dock. Several sailors waved to the trio as they made their way into the harbor proper, he was intent on talking to the harbormaster, such would be a good source of the who's who in town. They needed to find lodging and he was eager to see if there was any available workshops.

The harbormaster turned out to be a decent enough help. The rather gruff man wasn't too keen on seeing a Lizardfolk and kobold as recent arrivals but beyond an initial flinch in the mans look he soon had given Xing Lei a great deal of information on the local goings on. The spring push was underway, each year the local magistrate, an elf by the name Taldri'sal Ivorylight, pushed to expand the town, loggers, defended by mercenaries, would start chopping into the jungle. Naturally the tribal halflings would retaliate. Thus well into the summer such an operation would be plaged with attacks.

That was what the distant horn was, halflings had likely been spotted by one group or another and the signal was for the loggers to pull back from what was likely to erupt into a combat zone. Once summer rolled around, builders would start expanding the wall out to however far the logger teams cut adding a new sub district to the city. This year was another housing development to meet the growing influx of adventurers and fortune seekers. Those seeking employment would need to register with the mercenary guild in district three, for settlers... district five was the place to head, it held the housing market with most available lodging in district six and eventually in the expansion for district seven, though being closest to the wall they were dangerous housing prospects.

Anyone looking for supplies should head to district four, it was the local market and craftsman section, though it was becoming more cramped as of late, weapon and armor smiths were in high demand pushing out other craftsmen. Not to say there wasn't business for other craft professions just smiths focusing on weapons and/or armor tended to out number others by a ratio of two to one. For establishing a business he'd first need to contact the local market to see what was available.

As for an inn, there was a few in district one, most temporary lodgings were converted to an entertainment district when the town stabilized and wasn't in complete risk of being driven into the sea. The harbormaster suggested they try either the Harpy's Roost or Killingar's Taphouse, both were more open to non human guests, the rest were strictly human or at least demi-human. Neither was of outstanding quality but like most places in civilized society, monstrous humanoids just weren't on their clientele lists.

Leaving the helpful and informative fellow a decent tip the trio head off to a quite lodgings, one look at the Roost made them immediately seek the second. To call the Roost a stable would be generous. Modelled after a nest like structure build around the thick trunk of a still standing jungle tree each 'room's was open air, coupled with the fact the clientele was more monstrous than humanoid told wonders over the quality, it was likely established by an individual who never turned away a coin but knew there was no other place to put up unless one wanted to risk the outer wall merc camps.

Seeing Killingar's this assessment was proven all the more true, the Taphouse was a fairly regular, if enlarged, inn. Run by Killingar, a minotaur, it was a rather boisterous place that welcomed one and all. It was more than friendly when Xing Lei and his companions wandered in. From what the host himself stated, the Taphouse was an effort to see their kind in a better light rather than exploit their more outcast nature like the Roost did. The rate was a little steep, but the fact the morning and evening feast were included already put it in higher standing than most inns that provided one or the other.

Settled in, the trio set out to explore the town, each district seemed to have it's own 'style' with no two districts maintaining a theme. Either Ivorylight was a very whimsical magistrate or he fully accepted bribes from interested developers who had their own sense of architecture when it came time to expand. Take for instance the dock, one could see the elven influence as unlike say a human dock, the Tor-Vatal docks were an ornate affair. Dark jungle tree wood frame in swirls of silver and carved murals where as most docks were simple wooden constructs.

Then you had the inn district which was a cl.u.s.ter of styles. No inn or tavern shared a likeness with any other. The Roost being a big tree with nest like rooms where as Killingar's was a large dark stone brick building with dark wood trim, others were mostly wood while an elven inn looked like an ivory tower of marble trimmed in silver and gold. The only unifying feature of the town was the district walls. Large, gray stone was the uniform theme with battlements periodically placed every set length. Guards in blue uniforms with iron armor patrolled the top of each wall section, leaving little chance for climbers to sneak in.

Though being a wall guard was especially risky, while preventing the indigenous from getting in there was always a risk of being the one dragged out, and from what most stated once out in the wood alone with a tribe it was considered great luck if someone might come across your bones or an identifying item. Get back inside? Never happened. If you were dragged out it was pretty much your death. Thus the outer wall guards were usually those that slacked in duty or were guilty of crimes against city law. A week of worrying wether you'd be dragged off and eaten did wonders for ensuring the local military stayed very uncorrupted, or at least, uncaught.

The market district was another eye opener, taking a page from the desert port town, the market district was pretty much an open market. Stalls lined the walls or were spaced out in tight cl.u.s.ters with a sea of bodies wandering between. Hawkers cried out their wares while forges rank with workers under the cover of tall concealing tents. Still the air was alive with the energy of shoppers, people haggling and arguing over prices back and forth in half a dozen languages. Like the walls, guards patrolled here regularly, but being in the heart of the town, this was likely the most relaxing post to be assigned.

Leaving the market, and Al.u.s.triea who had been mesmerized by the mystic section. Osilliaice and Xing Lei continued into the trade district, here great stone workshops line a simple cobbled street. Guards were posted at each shop, but these were hired mercs more than town employed militia. Privately employed by the tradesmen to guard the precious materials and goods. Here the true craftsmen plied their trades, most often selling directly to the town though many had stalls in the market district for their more common products.

Xing Lei truly had to marvel at how this town looked and was laid out, there seemed to be a basic plan in mind but it seemed like the designer might have been a wee bit drunk when it came down to filling the individual areas with buildings. Back at Killingar's most had commented on this oddity, passing it off in truth as being the design and whim of a drunk gnome. Xing Lei rather hoped such was true, he'd heard much of the race but had yet to meet one to see why so many shook their heads at the oddity of their nature.

The last area to be reached was the current front gate, extensions of the wall had already started, the skeleton of a new district divider was slowly taking shape on the cleared land, though they could see the massive gate it was locked tight. Apparently the horn sounding earlier was the last call to get inside before defenders pulled back, once those perimeter guards were in the outer portal would be shut tight before the flood of angry tribals assaulted the walls. Xing Lei pondered what savages could really do against stone walls when the wall itself shuddered under a great impact.

It seemed the halflings of the jungle were fond of riding the great monstrous beasts of the jungle, the beasts great strength could threaten the walls with the bigger ones, most though rode swifter small ones. It was only when several tribes combined they saw the larger ones and today seemed to be the luck of the draw. The guards atop the wall were raining down arrows on the unseen forces beyond but between the cries and roars it wasn't possible to tell how effective they were being. Turning from the gate, the pair headed back to the Taphouse to meet up with Al.u.s.triea who had managed to pick up a few trinkets at a decent price.

Al.u.s.triea was able to point out that there were ruins out in the jungle that mercs often looted for these sorts of items, the local tribes treated these as holy sites and relics but the mercenaries were only too happy to loot them in such cases as it had been shown early on the halflings had no qualms disturbing the early pioneer grave sites. Now anyone who died was committed to the sea or cremated if an available wizard could be hired. Burying only lead to the tribals digging up and removing the bodies.

Such was why they didn't yet bother with a grave district like some bigger cities maintained. Once the place got some actual residents of note that weren't tradesmen or mercs they'd look I to dedicating an expansion for a cemetery, until then they could only do so much for everybody's last rites. Sitting around the table the three shared their sightings all were quite excited to start their new journey here, the city seemed to be in the early stages of stabilizing. There was alot of opportunity to be had, even more so when Al.u.s.triea reporting passing a street food stall and detecting the faint pulse of energy off the sizzling meat that likely meant they could continue their training finally.

The elf was getting quite anxious, without Xing Lei to help calm her she'd likely have started freaking out a bit at the inability to reclaim what Xing Lei had shown her, now that it was seemingly back in plausibility so she was in much brighter spirits.