The wooden platform did not shudder or falter under their weight. They rose up high enough to beat the sun at its game of escaping, giving them a few more minutes of sunlight.
With the elevation, came a vantage point. Large parts of the desert they walked on could be seen. Anything hidden from them was either on the other side of the mesa or behind a different one.
With a count of half a dozen mesas, their view range was restricted to the range of a small map. Enough to know what they might walk into, and how much rations to bring, but not much else.
The biome consisted of lots of shrubbery, bushes, and rocks. Lots and lots of rocks. Outcroppings of the tan and orange colored stone lay together in bunches, near quarries and emptier sections of the shrubs.
Bones too, large skeletons and skulls lay about the ground. Some were as large as people, others were the size of a dog.
Herds traveled in the distance. An assortment of very large and colorful dinosaurs. Maximon and Umber would recognize them as stegosaurus and camptosaurus. The wagons below used the later as draft animals. Larger than the wagon's themselves, they proved extremely useful in pulling the half stone wagon. Even larger dinosaurs followed the herd from a distance, bipedal and travelling in a group of 5. Allosaurs. Waiting for the oldest or youngest of the pack to fall behind and prove as easy prey.
They reached the top, their platform jutting to a stop. Drix was the first to step off, excited to explore. Before he launched off to explore, he took in the surroundings. Around him was a large working team of strong looking men and women. Each had chalked hands and sweat covered bodies. They all held onto very large ropes. The larger platform to their left had even larger ropes, around a hundred people were currently in a contest of strength against the weight of whatever a merchant brought with them to the village.
The progress looked rough, a struggle each second. Half of the group that pulled Drix and the crew up left to help. The other half worked to get the platform onto solid ground, rushing to get it done so they can help as well. It made the difference, giving them ground to pull.
A feathered cap appeared over the edge of the mesa, revealing the exorbitant clothing of the merchant. The barrels and cuts of stone next to him, revealed what was so heavy.
Not caring in the slightest about the merchant anymore, Drix turned to the rest of what lay atop the mesa.
Rooves of stone and clay. Each one was round and seemed supported by its own weight. All of the living space was underground, with steps cut into the floor and the rooves being the only thing above foot level. Any flora and fauna seemed cleared out, making the mesa completely flat and devoid of any life that isn't human. The largest roof only came up to Drix's chest.
The streets seemed to consist of whatever wasn't a roof. A large road that seemed to be the heavily traveled one, lead directly to the other side of the mesa. Because of how everything was built into the ground, with just a little bit of a hop you could see most of the housing and all the way to the other side of the town.
Walking down the main road, Drix took in smaller details, already amazed at the larger ones. Each roof of every house had carvings, some were simple and did not say much. Others were intricate, stories and shapes that told details of who live or what happened there. One such large roof, with a larger than usual smoke stack coming out of it, had carvings of metal and stone, hammers and anvils. It also had names, and a picture of a coin front and center. The coin theme was replicated on a few others, but things like leather, fabric, even jewels were beside them. Shops, Drix realized.
Drix was not the only one to be walking the streets of course. Others walked to and fro at a leisurely pace. Many of them were entering homes, probably arriving after a long day of work. Everybody was covered equally head to toe in thin fabrics. Primarily orange, their clothing blended in well with the rock around them.
As he passed them by, they gained distance. Expressions of confusion and some disgust when they got closer. Realizing he walked at thrice the speed of everyone else in the town, he slowed his pace. Then, perhaps due to less wind whipping at his face, he took in his smell. Like a terrible barbecue that somehow got worse, he felt his nose hairs singe at the scent. It was embarrassing how he could let himself get this dirty and stinky, like he was a goblin or something.
Residing to slow his pace, and keep his armpits more closed, he looked around for his group. They were following behind, already moving at the pace of the population. Everybody was scanning the tops of the houses, searching for something.
When Maximon seemed to have spotted something, he walked toward the entrance and beckoned Drix to follow. The rest of the gang followed, disappearing under the roof.
Approaching, Drix noticed the symbol for bread, bed, and drink. An inn, he figured. The realization came with its own burst of excitement. Finally, a bed to sleep on.
Bursting through the opening that seemed to serve as a door. He quickly met face to face with Madove, who was standing patiently with the party.
Backing up to the stairs before got he kicked in the shin, he took in the tightly packed room. A wooden plank was hung from string attached to the roof, on it was a bunch of foreign writing he might never understand. The sign was the only notable thing in the room besides the counter that Maximon stood at. With him was the party, excluding Madove. Talking about something with the woman behind the counter, gesturing with his hands, then pulling out coins.
If it werent for the subtle wisps of magic that Drix saw coming out Maximon's flurried hand gestures, he would have assumed it to be a normal day to day negotiation.
The lady nodded, taking the coin and affirming her fate. Maximon nodded too, taking a few things off the counter beside where the coins lay.
Picking one out from the handful he had, he turned to Drix and threw it at him. Crossing over the small room in just a second and landing in palm. A small medallion hit into the glove of Drix. On it, a bed, and a singular marked line.
"That one is yours, room one. You don't have cash on you so I did you the favor of getting you a room, you'll have to add it to your tab though." the long winded Maximon said, clearly not interested in hearing about how presumptuous he was to do that.
While he looked down at the medallion, Drix heard the group shuffle away. Looking back up, the backs of his companions were heading down a previously unnoticed narrow stairway. Despite their straight spines a second earlier, each seemed to show signs of their exhaustion and discomfort. The warm and dry air that did not seem to get cooler with the disappearance of the sun, did not help Drix with his fatigue either.
The weakness in his bones, the acid in his legs, the sweat sticking his hair and gambeson to his skin. And the hunger, of course.
Having no clue where or how to get a meal, he decided to sleep the feeling off and get a morning meal with the group.
Walking through the same stair way as the group did, he met with a hallway of six doors. The singular one on his left was his, marked with the same symbol. Then there were the other five, oddly enough, spread less apart than his own door was to the rest.
Thinking nothing of it, he simply turned the wooden handle on the wooden door of his own room.
It was enormous, around the size of the entire sleeping cavern he killed those goblins in. A great big bed too, with thick looking padding and comforters. Looking at it from across the room, it was like the stuffed feathers called to him. He almost already threw off his helmet before the door opened behind him. The same lady from behind the counter was there, staring at him with a slight smile on her face. Her hands were full with a clay bowl and a plater. Smokey meat lay on the platter, and a rich smelling soup was in the bowl.
An amazing retreat from the smell of his own sweat and the blood stuck on his boots. The soup smelled sweet, like sugary juice from a succulent fruit. Chunks of red that he couldn't recognize floated alongside bits of something green. Strips of extremely thin meat ran along the side of the bowl, sticking a little over the side. Soaking in the soup, they looked tender. And then the meat platter, a huge thigh leg of tough looking meat. A shiny substance covered it, and it smelled sweat like the fresh honey of a hive. Cuts into the meat let out the smell of a five star chef.
He was already in the seat in front of the food, oblivious to the lady leaving the room with the door closed behind her. His gloves came off with a tug, his dark mahogany fingers and long nails revealed in the his darkvision. Then his helmet, it was tight around his head, but he managed to tug it off without removing his ears. Focus was on the food though, as his hands reached to the meat in a haze. Hot, he quickly realized, was the only quality other than scent that he would be able to pertain from the meal. The soup then. He picked up the wonderfully carved wooden spoon. The feeling of holding it in his hands was foreign, he had no clue how to hold it exactly, so he simply gripped it like his stiletto. He dipped the end into the soup, picking up some liquid and a red cube. Placing it in his mouth, the broth spilled around his tongue and the red cube melted in his mouth. A sweet explosion of flavor erupted inside, tickling his taste buds with new senses. The red cube was sweet and almost gelatinous in texture, but more tough and required chewing. The broth was a wonderful mixture of the sweet taste of fruit and the taste of fresh meat. He put the spoon in once more, this time picking up one of the green bits. It seemed to have the same consistency as the red one. Putting it into his mouth, he crushed it against his tongue and the roof of his mouth. A flavor explosion of more sweetness, the sugars tickling his mouth.
The soup was gone the next minute, drained entirely. The meat lining the bowl was like a treat to finish. As tender as a cloud, the meat fell apart as soon as it touched his tongue, it tasted like meat, but tasted like the soup just as much. Licking the bowl clean, his stomach still grumbled from lack of food. Clearly, growing multiple feet in the course of twenty four hours, was taxing on the intestines.
The bone sticking out the thigh of meat fit perfectly in Drix's hand. It had to have been two and a half odd pounds. It weighed far less when he took the first bite out of it. Honey was the correct assumption to what coated the huge slice of meat. Something more though, hidden inside the proteins of whatever beast the leg came from. His sharp teeth quickly reached bone. The hard tendons and muscle was picked clean off the bone, giving it a white sheen. He bit down more, something in his heart told him to do it, like his subconscious took over for his better interest.
The bone was soft, testament to the cooking done. The taste would not have been enough to keep anyone eating though, clearly it wasn't the thought of the cook to make the bone more edible. Drix did not care for the taste though, as it entered his stomach, it radiated warmth through his entire body.
The bone was gone quickly, Drix's belly finally feeling full enough to not pain him. He licked the platter clean of the honey that dripped off, and rose from his seat. The long and chipped fingernails slightly off put him, now that he was not focused on his sense of taste. Quickly putting his gloves and helmet back on, he placed the bowl on the platter. Getting up, he stretched. Grabbing the platter, he placed them outside. A pile of clothing and leather was in front of his door.
He stared in shock.
A small piece of paper was on top. The crudely written words of goblinish covered it, "present". The words got caught in Drix's throat. He grabbed the pile with gentle hands, closing the door behind him.