Chapter Text
A fire burned outside Liscor.
The blaze wasn't all that big but it worried onlookers. Burning in bright multicolor and unnaturally long it crawled along with little fuel. But that wasn't the worst part.
The flames were making him FEEL. That wasn't right. Fire wasn't supposed to do that.
Senior Guards, mages, and high leveled volunteers rushed out from the gates. He hopes they'd be fast enough to stop its spread.
"Halt!" An older [Guard] barked from next to him, jolting him back to reality.
Someone was coming up the hill and he hadn't even noticed. Guiltily he straightened and looked over to see who was coming. Then he blinked.
It was a human, a woman if he had to make a guess. Outside a few merchants they didn't get many humans in Liscor, nor had he ever seen any travel by themselves.
Yet there she was, a lone human walking towards their gate heedless of warnings. She stopped a few yards away but not out of fear of a barked command or readied speared, a precaution ordered by the [Sergeant]. No one wanted to be the guard who let a [Arsonist] run amuck in the city.
But, again, she didn't stop from any of that. She hadn't even given them so much as a glance. Instead, she was looking at their walls. Up, then to either side, and finally passed them into the city proper.
"It's so different, so small." She mumbled, so softly he almost missed it. And if he missed it then his [Sergeant] and the other Drake Guards definitely missed it.
"Ma'am, state your business." The [Sergeant] demanded. "As you can see we're having a bit of an emergency and may need to seal our walls."
The human blinked at him, then peered over her shoulder to the multicolored Blaze.
"Oh, that? Don't worry too much about that. It should die out on its own soon… probably. Better put some water on it just in case but everything is off on my end."
"Off on your- Are you saying you started that fire!"
"Not on purpose! It was kinda a, a cushion!"
"A cushion."
"Hey, don't be all judge-y." She said, crossing her arms defensively. "I got teleported by a, a crazy [Mage], he sent me to… now."
"A [Mage] teleported you."
"Basically."
"Are they nearby?"
"It was a bit more than a regular Teleportation Scroll."
The [Sergeant] rubbed at his snout. "This is above my paygrade. I'm going to call the [Watch Captain]."
"You do that, I'm going shopping. "
The [Sergeant] stepped in her way, receiving an impatient glare for his troubles. "It would be better if you waited here for the [Watch Captain]."
"Nah, it'll be fine. Trust me, Tells." She said, waving him off with an amused huff even as the [Sergeant] froze.
"How did you know my name?" He asked, and only now did the younger [Guard] notice the cold sweat leaking from between his scales.
"It's a long story, like really long, and I don't have time to share it." She said. "But tell you what, let's compromise. You can have Tkrn here follow me around and if Zevera thinks I need a fine you'll m have someone on hand, sound good?"
Everyone gave Tkrn a quick glance and he had to fight down a gulp. She knew him? By name? He was barely more than a Junior Guardsman!
"I, I'm going to need to know where you're going miss."
She hummed, actually giving the question some apparent thought. "I think I'll just go shopping today, I don't think I have the energy for much else."
The [Sergeant] looked around, then at Tkrn. They both gulped. "Can you swear that you mean no one in the city any harm?"
"On my hat I swear I mean no harm to anyone in Liscor." She made a tipping motion in the air above her head and Tkrn would swear he saw something shimmering there. Something wide brimmed and pointed.
Everyone looked to the wall next to the gate where a series of Truth Stones hung. Each shined with the truth of her words.
Grunting the [Sergeant] went on as if all was normal. "Right, a shopping stopover then. We will still need a name for our records. You understand."
The smile she gave was more than understanding, it was sad. Almost heartbroken.
"Erin Solstice. My name is Erin Solstice."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Minutes later the young woman was walking down Liscor's streets with a nervous [Guard]'s escort. She moved as if she knew the city streets as if she knew where she was going. Tkrn almost asked if she had visited Liscor before but stopped when he looked at her face.
She took in every storefront and Guildhall with that same smile from before. He almost wanted to cry for her
Still, she kept her voice light as they walked. "Krshia should still be at her stall, right?"
"Um, she should be." Tkrn said, off-put by her apparent knowledge. He still did his best to be polite and for more than politeness' sake.
He had heard the very pointed words [Sergeant] Tells said as he walked away.
"We have a high level individual coming through the North Gate, unknown class." He told the [Runner], his eyes tracking Tkrn as he followed the strange woman. "Tell the [Watch Captain] that they appear nonviolent but are claiming responsibility for the fire outside the gate."
The [Runner] raced off soon after that but Tkrn knew the message was for more than the [Watch Captain]. The [Sergeant] was trying to tell Tkrn to be careful, rightfully trusting that his Gnollish ears would pick up the warning. Well, him and every other Gnoll within a very long earshot. Though that part may have been unintentional.
Even if it was, it still worked in his thus the city's favor. In his opinion at least.
The warning had spread like flood waters and reached his aunt long before they arrived at the Market. The Gnollish woman stood proud in front of her stall with her most human-friendly [Shopkeeper]'s smile plastered on her face. The other [Shopkeepers] and [Traders] stayed oddly silent as they approached. Even that cantankerous Drake only gave a mild stink eye from his stall.
They had obviously gotten the message and Tkrn could only hope the rest of the Watch had heard as well.
"Welcome, honored guest!" His aunt greeted, arms spread wide. "You've come looking for the best bargain in Liscor, yes? You will not be disappointed here. I have a wide assortment of goods and I'm sure I have something that will catch your eyes."
The woman's smile broke at the sound of his aunt's voice. Her breath hitched in a strange way as her knees wobbled. Tkrn nearly Dove to catch her as went crashing to the ground but she played it off.
"Phew, need to sit for a minute." She said, wiping at a dry forehead. "I'm still recovering from a bad case of near death. You don't mind if I sit for a bit, do you?"
Krshia gave the human a long look, a look the human only smiled at. This, of course, did not slow down the saleswoman.
"No, not at all. Take your time. Though, is there something in particular you're looking for?"
"Nothing too special, just the basics. Supplies and stuff like that, I'll get the weird stuff later. If you have some paper I can make you a list." She said, faking at rubbing her shoulder to hide the way she wiped her eyes.
"Of course." Krshia said, handing over some parchment and charcoal while politely ignoring the unspilled tears. "Would you like a Runner to make a delivery?"
"Nooo, no. I should be good with my Bag of Holding for most of it, might have to carry some the old fashioned way." She said, writing quickly and almost. Peeking over Tkrn saw that the list really was rather basic.
Soap, a broom, teeth cleanser, bedding, paint, bulk supplies of flour and other foodstuffs. Nothing outrageous despite her entrance to Liscor. The only thing that really stuck out to him was the chessboard. It looked like the things you'd buy when moving into a new place.
The market was still quiet with only a few people brave enough to continue their business. In the distance, Tkrn could hear the sound of boots getting into position ready in case the random high level went crazy.
He hoped she didn't go crazy.
"And that should do it." She announced, cutting through the tension as casually as she pleased and handed over her list.
"Hrm, I have most of this here though I'll have to send a Runner to collect the rest."
"Take your time, I'm in no rush."
Krshia, a practical and social sort of Gnoll, packed as she talked. Deft paws sorted through her wares as she chatted up her customer, gaining details Tkrn was sure the [Watch Captain] would love to hear. His aunt even started with the most important of questions.
"What brings you to Liscor?"
Erin Solstice's smile dimmed.
"An opportunity, I guess." She said after a moment. "A second chance I didn't want or ask for but a jerk forced me to take.
"A [Lord]?" The Gnoll guessed and the Human snorted in response.
"Like a [Lord] could tell me what to do. No, he wasn't a [Lord]. He worked for a [King] though and wasn't taking no for an answer. Obviously. "
As Tkrn digested that his aunt only made an interested and vaguely impressed sound. "He must be a very important man if he works for a [King], yes?"
"He's still a jerk. I mean, I go and help him, like he ASKED, and he forces this crap on me." She stuck out her tongue and made a 'bleh' sound. "There were other things we could have tried and done but he just went and did what he thought was best. And if that isn't the definition of a jerk I don't know what is."
Krshia made an agreeable sound, sorting through the requested items on her countertop and sending a young [Runner] off to collect the rest. Perishables mostly, things she couldn't risk spoiling the rest of her wares.
"So, will you take it?" She asked, "The opportunity he made you take?"
Her response came slow and quiet, barely more than a whisper. "I don't have much of a choice do I? What's done is done and what needs to be done must be done. And maybe, maybe, I can make some things better this time. Things can't be the same but…"
Taking in a deep breath Erin Solstice stood. "Thanks, Krshia. Is this everything?"
"Most, we are still waiting for the [Buther] delivery."
The other woman waved her off, loading what items she could into her bag of holding. What she couldn't fit she stored in a sturdy sack Krshia offered at a steal. "Eh, don't worry about it. Gotta get going while I'm still all determined. I can just pick it up tomorrow. I'll still pay for everything now though."
Krshia raised a brow, "So you'll be staying in Liscor for a while then?"
The smile she gave was as impish as it was nostalgic. "Something like that. Thanks again Krshia, you're always a big help."
"You're welcome?"
-0-0-0-0-0-
Erin left Tkrn at the gate to be swarmed by curious [Guards]. They hadn't even bothered to lower their voice as they asked him about the 'Crazy Human'.
At least that hadn't changed. A bit of familiarity in her weird situation that didn't make her want to break down and cry.
Rubbing at her eyes again she made her way across the rolling hills of the Floodplains, ignoring the eyes staring at her back. She walked a half forgotten route, tracing back the steps of a scared young woman. The route was shorter than she remembered, a little less than half an hour instead of nearly an hour.
How out of shape had she been the first time around? It said a lot that she could walk further and faster after being wheelchair bound then when she was just a homebody.
Or it said something about her Levels. It was probably her Levels, totally. No other reason.
Eventually, she came to the foot of a high and spacious hill. What waited for her at the top were the burnt and crumbled remains of a village long abandoned, and an inn.
It was old and burnt, its roof sagged, and its shutters showed signs of mold. It was old, it was ugly, and yet she patted the door frame fondly. As if she was coming home.
"I'll try not to get you blown up this time." She said, walking in and immediately regretting it. Clouds of dust assaulted his sinuses and forced Thick hacking coughs from her lungs. "Ugh, it's worse than I remember."
Placing down her shopping sack Erin reached into her Bag of Holding, pulled out a broom, and got to work.
"Gogo [Advanced Cleaning]!" Dust and grime followed after her broom, pulling great big piles with every motion. Even the tables looked cleaner as she passed, the air clearer.
Erin almost smiled as she compared the experience to her first-first time she had cleaned that particular inn. What had taken her hours before now only took a handful of minutes.
"It's not so bad." She said to herself, only half referring to the cleaning. "You've done this before, being the mysterious [Innkeeper] who knows more than she should, who has world shaking knowledge. It shouldn't be a problem a second time around. Nope, not at all."
Grabbing a rag from her shopping bag she started to dry wipe the tables. "It's not like none of my friends know who I am, or my family. Heck, my family is spread all over right now. And things aren't going to go the same way this time. Which could be a good thing but…" She didn't finish that thought, she couldn't.
Humming to distract herself she stared at the set of rickety steps on the far side of the room. "Those don't look safe." She wasn't close to being done with the first floor but she would have to get to the second before eventually. "Hmmm, [Partial Reconstruction]."
Nothing happened.
"Guess a little cleaning doesn't make this place 'mine' yet."
There was some logic to that she supposed. The inn hadn't really felt like it was 'her inn' until later on. It was just the building she stayed in to survive, then a business she had to run to live. Eventually it became home but it took a while for her to get her footing that first time around.
But she had an idea of how to speed that process along. It was why she bought the paint in the first place.
It actually took longer to find material than it was to craft what she needed. A broken cupboard door for the face, broken shutters for the stake, and a bit of paint for the message. Then, boom, she had what she needed.
Something Erin learned about being a [Innkeeper] was that it was about more than maintaining a building or feeding a few customers. Sure, that was part of it, a large part even, but that was just the business end. There was a much more important thing they did.
A [Innkeeper] created an atmosphere.
They decided on the menu. They set up the events. They decided who was served.
A [Innkeeper] made the rules of their inn. Immutable to anything but their own desires.
So, the first sign Erin Solstice made did not bear her Inn's name. Instead, she wrote down her own immutable law. The rule that would become her claim to fame and define her in the eyes of thousands.
'NO KILLING GOBLINS'
As soon as that sign pierced the soil Erin could feel it. The silent stirring in the back of her mind sang as her Skills took hold of the building behind her. She even could hear the wood creaking as some of them took effect.
But she wasn't the only one who noticed.
Across the Floodplains every Goblin raised their head as they sensed a warm beacon in the distance.
Everything mystically inclined felt a new leyline bloomed into existence.
And, lastly, every citizen in Liscor suddenly knew the name Wandering Inn by heart.
All things Erin Solstice took for granted, things she took for normal and right.
"Ah, that's better!" She said, stretching her arms and back as she felt something in her unfurl. "It's good to have an Inn again. Well, better get back to it. The sooner I get things set up the sooner I can really get started."
A while later a group of Goblins had started creeping up the hill, caught in the alluring feeling of safety the inn emanated. They promptly turned tail and ran as a shrill scream filled the air.
"Ahhhhh!!! Skeleton!! I forgot about the skeleton!"