Effurd Hir can be seen up the road as they continue onwards, the night setting in. The town walls are tall and made of solid stone with large wooden doors in the archway. The walls stretch far to the left and right with the forest cut back making way for a stone pathway around the large town. Buildings can be seen beyond the wall, rising up with the mountain behind it.
Krankos and Nibbles's eyes brighten, amazed by the sheer size. Although Krankos had seen major cities centuries ago, it struggles to recall memories of those days. Anything it does remember has required something to prompt it's memories, but this is the first time it has seen such grandeur since waking.
"Is this Mount Lyke?" Krankos asks, bright eyes fixed on the town ahead.
"Of course not," Borkin replies in a tone that makes Krankos's question sound silly.
"But it's such a large place..."
"Oh, trust mi, Mount Lyke is much bigger 'n' grander."
Keetuk, on the other hand, slows her pace to a stop, nerves beginning to show after being hunted by Curtmar and with other Coori being hunted. Her only saving grace is that Curtmar is unaware she is traveling with Krankos. "Can you wait here for a moment? I just need to put something on. After Curtmar, I just want to be safe."
Krankos, Nibbles and Borkin stop and turn to Keetuk with intrigue, "Of course," Krankos says, Nibbles nods and squeaks and Borkin replies, "Aye."
Keetuk runs behind some large trees for privacy.
A few moments later, a woman emerges. She is human, five and a half feet tall, black hair, dark skin, pointy nose and long fingernails. Certainly pretty by human standards, with leather armour and pouches almost identical to what Keetuk wears, just slightly different shapes, sizes and wearing black shoes.
"Keetuk?" Borkin asks precariously.
"Borkin, that can't be Keetuk. Where are her wings?" Krankos replies, confused by how Borkin could mistake this human for Keetuk.
"Krankos, I am Keetuk," she replies, her accent now more formal and proper, with far less pronunciation on vowels and her tone no longer chirpy or bird-like.
Although this human knows its name, Krankos cannot understand how Keetuk could change so much, so quickly, "If you are Keetuk, what happened to your feathers then?"
Keetuk lifts her hand, "This." A golden ring with a round emerald gem sits on her index finger.
Whilst Krankos isn't sure if that is what Keetuk is referring to, it cannot see anything else on her hand and makes an educated guess, "The ring?"
"Yes. A gift from my family before I left. They believed it would come in handy, clearly they were right. It allows you to transmogrify yourself into another race."
This ring makes Krankos feel uncomfortable, considering it to be a deceptive, and therefore an untrustworthy, item.
Borkin and Nibbles on the other hand are very intrigued; Nibbles for how pretty it is and Borkin for the power it possesses.
"Shall we get a move on then? It is very late," Keetuk suggests as she pushes past them and continues onwards to Effurd Hir.
Krankos, still not completely sure how a simple ring can change someone so much, quietly asks Borkin, "So, are the colour changing lizard people like that? Able to look different from one moment to the next?"
Borkin, entranced by the ring and what fun he could have if he had it, replies, "Sure."
Effurd Hir is a main trade town, known in dwarvish as an Ögrezki town (Pron. Or-gres-ki), meaning Safe Trade town. Although a distance from the capital, it is a much easier place for travellers outside the dwarven lands to get to. The roads and terrain beyond these towns are far more treacherous with fewer towns and stops. As a result, not many traders walk that far into dwarven territory, preferring instead to trade at the foot of the massive mountain range. If it wasn't for the unique and valuable goods that come to and from Mount Lyke, through local merchants with knowledge on the mountain terrain, it is likely that the region would suffer financially, but towns like this enable it to thrive.
For this reason, security is very tight and the gates are only open during the day; as night falls, the gates are shut and heavily guarded. Anyone wishing to enter can only do so with permission from the guards stationed on the outer gate. If let in, they are escorted to their destination with all guards granted authority to execute any unauthorised personnelle roaming around the marketplace at night.
The dwarven soldiers guarding the gate wear helmets, covering most of their face. The helmets are enchanted which improves their vision in darkness. Their armour is made of fine steel and built for performance, no fancy golden trims. Those at ground level are equipped with warhammers with archers atop the walls. With all their armour, it is difficult to distinguish one guard from another, only their eyes, beards, height, build and voice give anything away.
A guard stationed on the outer gate approaches the group.
Seeing the guard, Nibbles hides under the tattered cape once again.
Unlike most guard's they have come across, this one doesn't seem to find anything unusual with Krankos, instead pointing to Borkin, "What's happened to him?"
"Got in a fight, wish I was the other guy." Borkin replies.
"Huh..." The guard nods in acceptance, "Well, welcome to Effurd Hir. The gates have been shut for the night. What business you have here?"
"We are here to stay for the night? Is that a problem?" Keetuk replies.
"No problem. This is an Ögrezki town though, or Safe Trade town for those of common tongue. We can take you to the nearest Inn but fair warning, one slight misstep and we are permitted to take appropriate action." The guards tone isn't aggressive, but informative, stern and clear.
"Can't you just let us in and give us directions? I'm sure we can find our way." Keetuk asks, uncomfortable around dwarven guards at present.
"No-can-do I'm afraid, we have a responsibility to protect the people and their goods. For all we know, we let you in and you go raid one of the shops. Can't be having that."
"Surely goods get stolen during the day," Keetuk persists.
"Aye and we have guard's patrolling streets however it is ultimately the vendor's responsibility during the day. Look, you want in or not?"
Borkin and Krankos turn to Keetuk for her decision being the only one with any objections.
“Fine.” She agrees with reluctance.
The guard holds his hand out to halt the group and turns around, gesturing to those at the wall. They ready their weapons; although this group doesn't pose a threat, the guards remain alert should anyone unauthorised try to enter the town; either by force or other means. With this, they wave for the party to proceed.
Moving forward, the large wooden doors open outwards and behind that, a large metal gate lifts upwards, all controlled by mechanisms within the walls. The gates don't open fully, whilst still providing generous space for them to enter, it was still far from fully open. Due to the mechanisms the walls are thick making it a true stronghold for any invaders.
Inside the walls are more dwarven guards also with their weapons drawn and a large circular courtyard. The courtyard is walled with buildings, many being shops, all now closed for the night.
The group is taken to the centre of the courtyard. "Wait here," the outer guard commands before meeting with four other guards stationed on the inside of the gate to brief them.
"What is taking so long?" Keetuk asks under her breath.
"As a merchant, I'm impressed, at least I know mi goods wouldn't 'ave gone missing if we made it 'ere," Borkin replies.
Krankos doesn't say anything or even acknowledge Borkin's mocking comment. It is used to waiting around for dwarfs, at least this time they can be seen. Nibbles remains hidden on Krankos's shoulder.
The outer guards return to their post, the gates closing behind them. Although the mechanisms are incredible, increasing security and reducing manpower, they also make a lot of noise.
“I’m surprised they let anyone in during the night with how noisy the gates are,” Krankos states with concern.
“Aye, well, doubt the sound travels that far. Besides, courtyard’s lined with shops. Nobody will be sleepin’ ‘ere,” Borkin replies.
Two of the four inner guards approach the group.
One guard stands at the front of them, "Okay, we will take you to The Silver Flagon, it's the nearest Inn and tends to have rooms available. Granted, not the best, but will have to do. Now come on, don't have all night." He says, gesturing for them to follow him.
The party follows with the other guard tailing them who comments, "Nice Elmforge."
"You know about Elmforge?" Krankos asks, unsure why they are so friendly if they know of them.
"Aye, of course, they pass through regularly, often with travelling merchants coming to and from Mount Lyke. Plus they were infamous during the war, though that's my granpapi's story," the guard replies.
This gets Krankos excited as it’s eyes brighten wanting to know more, "Are there any Elmforged here at present?"
"Maybe. It's a pretty big town, can't recall seeing any recently though."
Every street and alleyway is wide in order to accompany multiple carts and horses of various sizes that pass through daily, not even Krankos feels oversized. At night however, they appear unusually large, clearly made to occupy hundreds of travellers. Each building is made of wood, brick and steel with solid beams designed to last. All suited to occupy races from all over Elmmora.
They approach The Silver Flagon. "Okay, here we are. This is your stop," the leading guard instructs with a hand waving them to the door.
They all enter, eager to finally have somewhere to rest.
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