An old man was humming and whistling along to a tune that was playing inside of his mind.
He was carefully adjusting the wine barrels at the back of his stall, a content smile present on his face as he finally perfected his wares' position.
With a nod he patted his clothes, removing the bit of dust that had fallen onto him, as he turned around to face the street where customers would appear.
An elderly lady walked up to him with a big smile, she reached into a basket filled with several different herbs, pulled out a yellow feather-like one and inspected it, "Their quality is always top-notch... how do you do it?"
The old man bowed lightly, "Thank you for the high praise, but they are nothing special. To tell the truth... when I was younger, I came across a beautiful and well-hidden spot within the woods of my hometown. Although I appreciated the sight, it took me several years and a lot of travelling to learn what was actually growing in there."
"A nice lady in some remote village then taught me how to pluck herbs and delicate plants, well, one thing led to another, and I have since been using that spot to grow medicinal herbs, alongside my vineyard."
The old lady fawned as she lowered the feather-like herb back into the basket, "How much do you want for these?" she asked while twirling her finger through her pouch.
"How about fifteen gold?" the man offered.
"No, no. You are too kind. I cannot pay you so little for these." the old lady refused and instead offered her entire pouch.
But the old man pushed the pouch back into her embrace without even looking inside, "Consider the price a token of our friendship. Believe me, I won't starve because I give them to you on the cheaper end."
The woman's forehead wrinkled then relaxed again, "Fine. But I will repay you some other way. Come by my shop if you are ever in need of an herbal extract." she dug exactly fifteen coins out of her pouch and left them on the counter in exchange for the basket of herbs.
She stashed away the pouch then waved as she began walking back to her shop, "Come again soon!" the old man shouted after her, pleased with himself as he picked up the coins.
He looked at her back for some time before he shifted his focus into the other direction, where he spotted three disgruntled-looking guards.
The old man leaned over the counter of his stall where he glanced down both sides of the street, but he found nothing that would warrant guards to come inspecting the area.
He sat back down on the chair he prepared for himself and observed as the guards came closer, probably intending to pass by in a hurry.
"Good day." he nodded at them, but his smile vanished as the guards grabbed his arms, one each, and pulled him out of his seat, then pressed him against the cold hard ground.
The street where he placed his stall was rather empty, so there was no one around to cause an uproar at the sight, only the old man himself, however he hardly had any air to breathe as one of the guards pressed their knee onto his back, let alone riot in response to the sudden assault.
"I will close down the stall and investigate the wares, you two get him to the dungeon for interrogation." the third guard ordered, and his subordinates began to drag the bewildered old man away.
"Where are you taking me? What did I do?" his hands were shaking, he had no strength to resist, he would have even cooperated if they just asked him nicely!
There was no need for such excessive force!
But his captors remained silent all the way until they reached the basement of the guard station, where they strung him up using rope, then sat him down on a metal chair.
Four guards surrounded him, one on each side of the room, keeping a close eye on him, and their hands rested on their weapons' hilts.
The door to the chamber opened with a loud creak, and low thuds rang through the candlelit room, a single person entered.
"Do you know why you were brought here?" a man with a black executioner's mask to hide his face behind questioned the old man, as he fiddled around with some sort of needle between his fingers.
The old man desperately shook his head, "I- I am not- I don't know!"
The masked man took a step closer and lowered himself to meet the old man's eyes, "You entered the city only a short while ago... did you see anything on the way?"
The old man's breathing became louder, visions of the bandits turning into frozen statues replayed inside of his mind.
He opened his mouth, ready to tell everything he had seen, every minute detail... but then he remembered that the person he would rat out was a mage...
"I- I don't want to die! Please! Don't make me say it!" the old man closed his eyes, his face scrounged up as tears began to run down his cheeks.
The masked man glanced at one of the guards next to him, who returned a nod, then he looked at the old man again, "If you can provide information, then I can promise you in the name of our mayor, that you will be safe from all harm."
The old man nodded enthusiastically, his eyes red, and his cheeks wet, "I am just a humble merchant that intended to travel from Aventia to Pyrehaven, to sell my wares. I usually make several stops between to restock my merchandise, but my sales in Aventia were miserable, so I headed straight for your esteemed city."
"Before I departed, I encountered a young lass, that wore a long coat, and hood over her head. She offered to escort me safely if I allowed her to ride on the back of my carriage... and so I did..."
The old man swallowed his saliva, his body tensed up as he got to the important bit, "We- We entered the vicinity, the outskirts of Pyrehaven when four men on horseback encircled us. Me- Members of the Bloody Hooves... they, uh, wanted to have a portion of my wares... which I was willing to give! But the woman insulted them... I don't know why, but it was obvious she disliked them, maybe she has a grudge against the Ironhoof family..."
"Then she used magic to encase them in ice?" the executioner asked, he sounded like he knew what happened, just that he needed that bit of extra assurance.
The old man nodded again, "Yes..."
"Then... do you know where this woman currently is?" the executioner followed up as he nodded at the guard from earlier.
The guard rushed out of the room to go and report, while the old man frowned at the question, "I don't. Please believe me! She was gone before we arrived at the gates. I have no idea where she went, or if she entered the city at all!"
"Why didn't you report this right away? You know, covering up for a criminal is just as big an offence as committing the crime." the executioner trailed the needle over the old man's wrinkly skin.
"I feared for my life! You have seen what that woman can do! Tattling on a mage is a death sentence, no?! I didn't want to get caught up in any of this..."
The executioner scoffed, then got up and walked towards the door of the room, "Wait! Where are you going?! When can I leave?!" the old man shouted after him, then broke out into a coughing fit, but the masked man left without looking back.
"Wait! Wait! I have more information! If I tell you, please allow me to go!" the old man pleaded.
The masked man stopped in his tracks, he did not turn around to look at the old man, but his ears perked up, "If your information is useful, then I promise we will let you go."
The old man's eyes lit up with hope, "White hair! She had white hair! I saw it poking out when she killed those poor men!"
"White hair? I see. Thank you for your cooperation." the executioner continued walking.
"What? Please let me go! You promised!"
The man looked over his shoulder, "Hm? I promised, indeed, but we never agreed when that would happen. You will be free once we catch this killer and ensure that you played no active part in the murder."
He slammed the door shut on his way out, muffled screaming came from behind him, but his laughing soon overshadowed that, "A mage? Heh. I do wonder how it would feel to dissect one as such... perhaps I will finally get my chance. Dear mayor, please do your best to get me this little treat."
... ...
One of the guards watching over the gate to the east grabbed a woman's wrist, however she easily ripped her hand out of his grip, her arms were muscular and almost as thick as her own head, her yellow hair was braided into a ponytail, even the muscles on her abdomen bulged out from under her armour.
She held a large hammer in her right hand, its head facing the ground as her expression soured, "My party and I are tasked with recovering an artefact from the Land of Fog, I don't care in the slightest what new inspections or rules the mayor added this time."
"Miss Matilda, please don't do this... I am just trying to do my job..." the guard was almost begging, "I will be in a lot of trouble if I just let you all through." he gestured at her and her party-members, a man with a black tattoo across his face, daggers were holstered at his waist, female twins, one with a bow and a quiver full of arrows on her back, and the other with a sword and shield on her back.
Another young man with a big scroll on his back, and a book with a leather cover in his hand, and a giant of a man that was wearing very light armour, he had broken cuffs around his wrists, from which chains still hung, as if he had just broken out of jail.
"Trouble, eh? Can you even imagine in what kinds of trouble you'll be in if I were to inform our contractor that we were unable to complete his request because a guard was preventing us from leaving on time? Huh?!" she raised her eyebrow and got uncomfortably close to his face, "I mean! Even the mayor has sent us his best regards for this matter!"
The guard raised his hands in protest, but then lowered them and sighed, "...Just go."
"See ya." the twin with the bow snickered as they passed them, she and her sister sat atop the same horse, Matilda had her own, the man with the tattoo drove the small carriage they had, with the young man in the back, while the giant walked behind the carriage.
"Boss. Could you remind me why we rented the carriage again? I don't think the artefact will be that heavy." the man with the tattoo grumbled.
"You are always so stingy when it comes to our party's funds. I'll tell you once more, Miser, first off, the carriage was cheaper than a horse for you and Till each, and secondly, imagine if we come across a ton of artefacts and gold! We wouldn't be able to transport them back without one!"
Miser rolled his eyes, "That's never going to happen."
"It hasn't happened yet! Doesn't mean it never will." Matilda corrected him with a wink.
"I actually prefer this. The horses I ride usually get scared by the scroll and act really unruly." Till, the young boy in the back of the carriage spoke.
"See?" Matilda smiled at Miser, her face wearing an expression of 'I told you so'.
The twin with the sword and shield felt her sister's grip around herself get tighter, she tilted her head, "Is something wrong, Sinnah?"
Both of them wore leather armour with a thick armguard, they had brown hair and looked nearly identical, the only difference being their chosen weapons and the length of their hair, one had long hair, and the other short, to prevent any hiccups during close quarter fighting.
"Mhm." Sinnah made an affirming sound, then pointed ahead of her sister, at a silhouette along the road, "It looks like something is waiting there, Sarah."
"Boss?" Sarah inquired for their leader's orders.
Matilda stroked her chin, "I have a feeling I know who that might be. Nonetheless, stay on guard."
The caravan slowed down, then stopped as they came upon the hooded figure, Matilda made her horse step closer, "Are you this 'friend' we are supposed to take along?" Matilda asked as she thought back on a conversation, she had with an old bartending friend of hers today.
The figure nodded.
Matilda eyed them curiously, "I am Matilda, the leader of this party. I trust that you know how to behave yourself. Get in the back. Not sure what you want in the Land of Fog, but I am not interested in you slowing us down."
The figure nodded again, then walked by the rest without offering them a single glance and joined Till at the back of the carriage.
"Hello, I am Till. Nice to meet you." Till greeted the newcomer, unlike the others, he didn't treat the stranger with a disdainful amount of suspicion.
"Hello." a female voice responded to him, and he instantly became flustered and went quiet, his eyes avoided looking at the hooded woman.
However the woman pulled out a strange object from her pocket, some kind of wristband, that drew in Till's attention again, he loudly gasped, "An artefact?! You have one too?!"
"You can feel that its and artefact?" the woman asked.
Till shook his head, "I am not a mage, it's not me that managed to feel it, but my artefacts that sort of resonated with it. I'm sorry, I can't really explain it. This is the first time such a thing has happened."
"Ho." an interested noise escaped Matilda's lips as she looked back towards the two, "You know, I heard something funny before we left... that someone broke into the mayor's treasury and supposedly stole the artefacts that were intended for the victor of the tournament."
Her eyes narrowed as she observed the stranger in their midst, "I doubt any regular human could break into that place..."
The hooded woman neither confirmed nor denied her claims, which just made her all the more curious, "How did you manage to sneak by the guards? Don't get me wrong. I am not going to sell you out. This stuff is between you and the city. I would just like to know." Matilda shrugged her shoulders.
The woman remained quiet, Matilda turned her attention towards the road ahead, "Not the talkative kind? That's fine. That makes two, isn't that right, Tomalta?"
The giant at the end of the caravan radiated pure and utter silence, his loud and heavy steps were the only thing that made people remember he was even there.
"Is he a slave?" the hooded woman noticed the cuffs on his arms.
"He was a slave. I bought him off an awful noble, and since then he hasn't left my side. Though I wish he would be a little more social. At least he can drink like there's no tomorrow, must be thanks to those giant genes within him. He is pretty resistant to getting drunk, there are always idiots that think they can outdrink him and even bet money on it."
Silence returned for a moment, before Matilda waved her hand, "I am kidding, he is a normal human, but people believe me at first glance whenever I tell them, and that's how he got his reputation, and well, nickname, I guess. Tomalta the giant."
"So... how far exactly are we supposed to take you along? Just to the border of the Land of Fog? I honestly have no idea why you'd want to go there, no matter how strong you are, without people to have your back you are more than likely to meet your end in there." Matilda continued, just a bunch of artefacts weren't enough to ensure anyone's safety, not even Till, who she knew was a reliable artefact user.
"I am not sure. I'll go however far I'll need to." the hooded woman responded; her voice full of unbreakable determination.
"You are either brave, or foolish, whichever one it is, you'd actually make a fine addition to our party." Miser interjected.
The woman shook her head, "Thank you, but I believe I am better off on my own. You have your goal, and I have mine."
She then turned to Till, "You are an experienced artefact user then? Perhaps you could help me find out what these do?" the hooded woman rummaged through her pocket and pulled out another object, that looked like a single crystalised teardrop.
She held it and the wristband out to Till, who nearly recoiled in shock, "This...! Are you sure? I mean, I could just not give them back? Maybe use them against you..."
But the woman insisted, "You don't look like the type of person to do that."
"You seem to have a good eye for people." Matilda nodded in her direction.
Till smiled and happily accepted both items, he placed them on his lap, then picked up the book with a leather cover he was carrying on him at all times, he opened the book, which then began to flip through its pages on its own.
The book soon stopped again, landing on completely white and empty pages, Till held onto the book with his left hand, while his right moved down to pick up the wristband first.
He held it in front of his eye for a bit, turned it around to see all sides, then pushed the artefact into the pages of his open book.
The hooded woman's gaze intensified as the book swallowed the wristband whole, not a speck of it was left!