New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chronos stumbled out of the portal Tyr had shoved him and looked around to get his bearings. Seeing nothing but trees around himself, he wondered where he had been thrown to. .

Chronos looked upward, trying to figure out where he was from the stars. One thing he had studied before getting transported to Tyr’s cave was the many star charts in the Fey kingdom’s libraries.

But the bright blue skies met his eyes, and he sighed.

“I guess I’ll have to pick a direction and walk.”

Just as he started lowering his head, a massive flying creature zoomed across his head, shaking the treetops. Chronos could barely identify what it was with the speed at which it passed.

What he saw was a draconic creature, with what seemed to be a shadowy form on its back, almost like it was riding it.

Not wanting to head in the same direction that the monster went, Chronos turned opposite it and started walking.

It took him hours before he came upon signs of civilization, as he crossed some dirt roads, with occasional torches at the sides. Chronos looked at the road, which was almost parallel to him, and kept going in the direction away from the draconic creature, but this time on the road.

He couldn’t see what lay ahead of the road yet, but if there was a road, there was a settlement. He eventually crossed paths with a group of NPC adventurers that were going in the opposite direction from him, and he stopped them.

“Excuse me, sirs. Can one of you tell me where this road leads?”

The group comprised one Elf archer woman, a Human caster-type man, a kind of Lizardman fighter, and a Demonoid barbarian woman.

The Lizardman was the one to step toward him and answer his question.

“Yesss. Thissss is the way to the Ssstellar Woodlandsss Kingdom. Ssstay on the road, and you will reach it in lessss than an hour.”

Chronos bowed his head slightly before resuming his walk. The Lizardman watched him leave, his nictitating eyelid closing and shutting sideways on his eyes.

It was rare to find a Fey outside of their strange forests, even in these parts. The population of Fey people was tiny in the budding kingdom, since they were unattracted to dangerous places where fighting was common.

And the gods knew how the surroundings of this kingdom were a breeding ground for battle. With the constant waves of corrupted beasts, and sometimes even people, coming from any direction, it was no wonder the adventurer population was so high.

So crossing a member of the peace-loving, frolicking Fey species out in these parts was uncommon. But the Lizardman had no interest in the man any longer, and turned back to his party, resuming their patrol route.

Chronos kept walking forward until he reached the opening of the forest. The road kept going forward until it reached a heavily fortified gate that seemed to be hewn right out of the massive stone wall it opened into.

Guarding the entrance, a group of five guards was inspecting the wares people dragged with them, checking identity cards, before letting them in. Chronos walked up behind the short waiting line, pulling out his adventurer license right away.

His turn came soon enough, and he walked to the guard, face still emotionless, as he handed the guard his card. The guard scanned the card in a magic device he was holding before looking at him and nodding.

“Welcome to Stellar Woodlands, young adventurer. The adventurers’ guild is straight ahead, about a mile in. Enjoy your stay.”

Chronos nodded a thank you, taking his license back, as the guard was already turning to the next in line.

He walked into the city, and was immediately met with the hubbub of military drills and clashing of blades to his right. To his left was the neighing and pawing of hooves, coming from a stable with many stalls and horses.

Chronos could tell by the number of visible handlers that this stable was very busy. This effectively meant that the city was quite prosperous.

And yet, he had never heard of the name Stellar Woodlands before. He had learned the name of many of the major cities, including the five great cities of the continent, even learning a few names of cities on the dark continent.

But Stellar Woodlands was not one he had ever heard of or read about.

‘Cities don’t just grow out of the ground. It must have boomed in recent times. I wonder who rules this city. And where it is located.’

Chronos lost no time heading to the adventurers’ guild, registering locally and renting out a room to stay in. Then he asked the clerk for directions to a library or place to gather information.

The Dwarven woman smiled her large toothy smile at him, before leaning down on the counter from her side.

Her large breasts hit the counter before her arms, which wasn’t a surprise, given the length of them, compared to the thickness of the others.

“Aye. Ay’ can tell ye where ta go fer information. M’ay sister runs an inn ’round the corner. T’is as good a playce as any fer information, I reckon.”

Her heavy dwarven accent gritted made her harder to understand for Chronos, but he got the jist of her message.

“Around which corner should I go to reach that fine establishment?”

He was trying to stay as polite as he could, since dwarves were renowned for their shorter fuses, amongst other things.

“Hah! Ay’ wouldn’ call it a fine establishmen’. You can find it to the left of ‘ere. T’is about two blocks from ‘ere.”

Chronos nodded in thanks before flicking a silver piece over the counter to the dwarven lady. She caught the coin with a deftness uncommon for someone with small arms, and pocketed it quicker than a thief hiding his loot.

He left the guild, heading left of the building, and easily found the inn. As the woman had said, it was far from a ‘Fine’ establishment.

The exterior was clean enough to pass for a respectable place, but the loudness of the crowd inside was filtering heavily through the closed doors and shutters. Chronos was already wincing at how loud it would be inside.

‘I need information. Guess I’ll have to find someplace calm to rest my ears after this.’

He resolved himself before pushing through the closed door, assaulted immediately by heavy laughter and chanting, as well as the rancid odour of cheap ale and sweaty patrons.

“Welcome to the Singing Boar Inn, traveller. Come right in, I’ll be with you in a moment!”