The stone walls of Duinford towered before the three figures that wanted to enter the city. Being one of the biggest cities in the empire, its fortifications matched its greatness in every aspect. Every finely chiselled rock that made up the structure, like a link in a steel chain strengthened its whole. Every hundred or so paces, a watchtower stood erect, with guards stationed in each one to guard the wall's perimeter. In front of them, one of the city's many gates stood, with people gathering to exit or enter. Thankfully, any checks wouldn't cause trouble for them.
When they arrived at the gate, one of the four well armed guards that was stationed there began the questioning.
"Name?", he asked Dave first, with a dismissive tone in his voice.
"Martin", he immediately answered, showing him his bag and weapons without even being asked.
"You may pass, welcome to Duinford", the guard said, with the most unwelcoming tone possible
When Eddie was asked to state his name, he hesitated for a couple of seconds, before answering "Salvador". This raised the guard's suspicions, and when he asked Eddie what he was carrying with him, he hesitated even more before showing his weapons.
The guard seemed unwilling to believe him after that pathetic display of a fake identity, so Dave, to the guard's excitement, was forced to discreetly pass him a generous amount of coin, despite his unwillingness to part with even a little bit of it. Despite the change in his ideals, his stinginess was there, still as strong as ever.
Asher's turn went on without a hitch, as she had no weapons with her, and managed to come up with a fake name quickly. The thirsty gazes from the guards, who looked as though it was their first time seeing a female probably didn't hurt, but they were much less welcomed by her.
When they were finally into the city, they saw a sight unlike any they had seen before. The city was vast, with houses and buildings of various floors stretching in every direction. Their daedalian complexity would confuse even the best of guides, following the most up to date map. Most of the buildings were made of wood, with a few exceptions here and there.
The group's first order of business was to find cheap accommodation, and then some flow of income, until they were ready to leave the city.
The two freedmen were awestruck by the number of food stands scattered on every street, jumping from one to the other like children in a candy store, but Dave's mind was focused on more practical matters. Still grumpy from having to spend his money on bribing some stupid guard, he wasn't willing to part with the rest of his silver on food stands. He looked around for an armoury, and a cheap one, preferably.
Once managed to get the other two on-board with his line of thought, and out of sight of the stands, they wandered around the city to find an armoury. Luckily for them, armouries were surprisingly easy to stumble upon for a city like this, perhaps because of mercenaries passing through such a central hub in the empire, or, to a lesser extent, all the hunters that could be subsisting near the woodlands. Perhaps unsurprisingly though, all of them were too expensive for their situation.
Just as they were about to give up the search for the day and head to some inn, they stumbled across an unimpressive little weapon's shop that appeared to be just what they were looking for. It was a small, wooden building of several floors, with the first one being the actual shop. There was a small sign that simply read "Armoury" in it, in plain black letters. They decided to step in and give it a try.
There were some pretty inviting pieces, nothing really extravagant, but adequate stuff nonetheless. They decided to pick a simple chainmail for each, and they would then ask about weapons. Dave really needed a new bow, arrows and a good sword, Asher needed something that would match her physique. Eddie didn't really need anything, seeing that he already had two short swords and a dagger, but they all certainly needed training quickly.
Dave went up to the counter to ask for the weapons, and maybe a good weapons trainer, and the seller started showing him the many different options.
He was a tall, muscular man in his late fifties, with long white hair, and a beard that reached his belly. He spoke with a happy voice as he was going through his wares, and thoroughly explained every little detail about them.
They were normally conversing and talking through the product, until Dave's eye caught something. It was a simple, two handed sword, but the craftsmanship seemed exceptional on this one. Of course the hilt was nothing special, just a simple wooden grip, wrapped in leather, but above that, it was maybe the shiniest and most well shaped blade he had ever seen.
"How much for this one here?".
"Oh young man, it appears ya have a keen eye for such. But this one is gonna cost ya a bit", said the armourer, with a glint in his eyes.
"How much?".
"Five silvers", he instantly replied.
"Three and a half, and we'll be returning soon", always savvy Dave responded, with an impeccable poker face.
"Four and a half, final offer, and I'll throw in a fine rapier for the lady"
"Sold!", Dave instantly shouted, really happy with his barter.
After everything was said and done, they paid seven and a half silver coins for the armour sets, the bow, the sword and the rapier. It was a good deal, but that left them with just two silver coins. With accommodations and food, they'd last for a couple of days, maybe three if they used them sparingly. They'd need to find some income, and quick, or they'd be left in the mercy of the streets in no time.
They found an inn, probably the cheapest, and dirtiest in this part of the city, and after a quick meal, they went to their room. Tomorrow would be spent searching for work, but for now they could enjoy their first night of rest in Duinford, atop lice ridden mattresses.