It's early evening as Elan and his new friend Twilly make their way down the road to the western gate of Falconreach. A stone wall surrounds the town, with thatched roofs peeking out above it and the stone Guardian Tower standing high on a hill above the rest.
A cheerful sign by the side of the road says "Falconreach" and then, in smaller writing, "Heroes welcome!"
The falcon statues are even cooler up close!
"Do you think that means there's more heroes in Falconreach than in other cities?"
"Yep! Heroes come to Falconreach from all over Lore, because it's on the way to lotsa places!"
"Lore is the whole planet, and the country is Greenguard," Twilly starts to explain as they reach the gates.
Two people in shiny gold-embellished armour are standing guard. Their weapons look very sharp and very real.
"Hail, adventurer!" one of them says. "Are you here to help us with the war effort?"
"Um… I didn't know there was a war on. I have a quest in the Surewould Forest that I don't know how long it will take, but I think once it's finished I'll be able to help with other stuff?"
"We've received word of a massive undead army on its way to surround the town," she explains. "We've already had a few skirmishes, and we're expecting a big attack tonight once the sun goes down. We'd appreciate any help you could give while you're here—talk to a boy named Ash in the town square."
"Oh! I helped drop a bunch of bombs on an undead army that was going towards Oaklore earlier. Undead and also slimy. But that was probably a different army…"
Elan goes quiet. He was already planning to spend the night in Falconreach so he'd have plenty of time for sneevil-finding tomorrow, so it's not like he has to choose between helping out tonight and trying to find the Black Dragon Box. But he's also not sure how much help he would even be, and what if the fight ends up being like Azure City?
"I knows Ash! Come on, Elan, let's go talk to him and find out more!"
Twilly leads the way through the gates and down the main street.
"Okay!"
Elan looks around at the buildings and people going about their day.
Timber-framed houses with cheerful whitewashed walls line the streets. Most of them are only a single storey, but they look cosy rather than cramped. There aren't many people out and about other than more of the armoured city guards, but as the light begins to fade, candles flicker to life in the windows, lending a warm glow to the evening.
Past a shop with a potion bottle painted on its hanging sign, they enter a wide open square at the centre of a crossroads. On the north side of the square, there's an inn (one of the few two-storey buildings) and a smithy, both identified by similar picture-based signs. To the south is a bank and a large, official-looking building that might be the town hall. The north road looks like it eventually winds its way up the hill to the Guardian Tower.
Twilly waves enthusiastically at someone standing just outside the inn.
"Hiyas, Ash! Meet my new friend Elan!"
Ash turns out to be a dark-haired boy of about 13 or 14, wearing a few bits and pieces of armour and carrying a sword that's a little too long for him.
"Hi Twilly! And...Elan? It's very nice to meet you! My name's Ash, and I'm going to be a knight one day! Are you an adventurer?"
Elan loves how cozy it is! And all the picture signs. It's pretty different from the big cities he's been to before (Cliffport and Azure City) and he likes it.
"Hi Ash! Yeah, I'm Elan and I'm an adventurer. The guards said there were a bunch of undead coming to attack the city tonight and that you would know more about what to do."
He's still apprehensive about this, but he weirdly feels better that the guy in charge is a kid.
"That's right! I've been running messages and coordinating volunteers," Ash says proudly. "I know I'm just a kid, but it's better than taking one of the Guardians away from the front lines. We need every able body we can get to help defend Falconreach! Will you help?"
"I can try! What kinda help do you need? I'm okay with a sword and I can do illusions… wait, I think those don't work on undead… but I can also play inspiring music that helps other people do their best!"
"Inspiring music sounds great! Does it work best if the other people are really good fighters already, or if they're not, or does that not matter at all? Sorry, I've not heard of a class that does inspiring music before..."
"…um, I'm not super good at math, but it gives a plus two. So maybe that means it works best for people who are already good enough at whatever they're trying to do that they do it right sometimes but not all the time? Oh, do you know if the undead attacking are the kind that can do magic fear? I can also play a different kind of music that makes people braver."
"I, uh...haven't had any reports about magic fear? Mostly people seem a normal amount of scared of the army of undead that's attacking the city! I think a song that makes people better at fighting is probably more useful than one that makes them braver. Most of the people fighting are Guardians or adventurers, and they're already really brave!"
"That's true… I think my bravery song helps for attack rolls and damage rolls? I usually use the competence song because it's pretty all-purpose."
A thought occurs to him.
"I'm not wasting your time trying to figure this out, right? I wanna do the most helpful thing, but if it would be better for me to start doing stuff right now I can."
"You're not wasting my time. This sort of thing is what I'm here for! It doesn't sound like the main attack has started yet, anyway." He puts his hand to his mouth in an exaggerated 'thinking' gesture. "If your bravery song and your competence song both help the same amount with fighting, I think you should use the bravery song. Being braver is never a bad thing!"
That thinking gesture looks pretty normal to Elan!
"Okay! The guards said that the undead were going to try to surround the city, so where should I go? Oh, Twilly, are you staying with me or doing something else?"
"Twillies go help in the healers tent!" He points to a big tent set up at the edge of the square. "Unless you wants me to fight with you, Elan?"
"Nah, the healers' tent sounds like a great choice since you're a healers! I think I'll be okay…"
He's still a little concerned, though.
"How long do you think the fighting will be? All night? A whole day? Longer?"
Twilly looks at Ash, who shrugs uncertainly. "I'm not sure. But it'll go a lot faster with your help!"
Elan really hopes that means he should be expecting something more like earlier with Glumbert than like Azure City.
"Okay. I think I'm ready. Where are the people I should play for? Or are there a bunch in different places?"
"There are teams of Guardians at the south and east gates, but the biggest group is gathering at the west gate. That's where all the other adventurers are going, so I guess it must be where they think the most undead will attack! Just follow the main road straight back the way you came. Or I can come with you and show you the way, if you want!"
Ash scratches his head. "I guess there is? But it's just the gate to the docks, so nobody really calls it that. Anyway, I really don't mind showing you the way to the gate! I don't exactly have anything better to do—I'm pretty sure Guardian Jenni just gave me this job to keep me out of the way."
"Well, hopefully there aren't any underwater zombies attacking!"
Elan's gotten very familiar with the trouble posed by aquatic enemies.
"My friends would do that kinda stuff with me, too. Make stuff up to keep me out of the way."
"But you're a grown-up adventurer, not a kid like me! Why would they do that?" Ash protests as they start heading back towards the gate. He seems to have decided to accompany Elan.
"Well, I am the youngest one in the party, even if you ignore the ones who grow up slower than humans. But that's only a difference of like three years, so I think it's probably more that I get into trouble a lot. Like, one time I blew up a castle, which was pretty awesome at the time, except then we all got arrested because of it. But then it turned out that the arrest was kinda fake in the first place, because the guy who sent his paladin to arrest us actually wanted us to work for him but didn't have any other way to ask us because of… I think a bunch of secret stuff and rules? I dunno, I wasn't there when he explained it to Roy and then Roy was still mad at him when he explained it to the rest of us. Because the whole getting arrested thing really sucked."
Pause.
"I forgot what we were talking about before this."
Ash is utterly fascinated. "Whoa! You've had such exciting adventures! ...I also forgot what we were talking about."
Elan laughs.
"That's probably okay! Let's see…"
A lot of his stories from the past year are more scary-for-real or sad than exciting…
"A few months ago, my evil twin brother switched places with me so that I would be stuck in jail while he messed with my friends. I got his half-orc… uh, I think they're called ogres here… buddy who was in jail with me to break the bars. And then while I was trying to figure out how to catch up to my friends, I met a really cool famous pirate who gave me a ride to where my friends were staying on his airship and taught me a bunch of cool swordfighting tricks!"
"Ohmygosh your life is so cool!!!" Ash exclaims, voice breaking in excitement. He's not really looking where he's going anymore, but the gate is in view. The armoured guards seem to be gathering there along with a small group of recognisably adventurer-looking types.
Elan beams.
"Thanks! I'm not even ten years older than you, so I bet that by the time you're my age your life will be just as cool, or even cooler!"
Elan tries to figure out what the other adventurer-types seem to be feeling about the upcoming attack, and also how much cool stuff they have on them. That first thing is pretty hard, though, so he'll probably have to ask when they get in talking range.
The adventurers are mostly either fighters in plate armour, magic-users in robes, or dagger-wielding rogue types in leather. They're a colourful bunch, most of the armoured types having apparently painted their armour and the mages wearing different coloured robes, although none of them have coordinated their accessories or weapons with their overall colour scheme. Some of them look excited to be here, some are playing it cooler, but nobody seems terrified.
It's hard to tell how cool their stuff is, given the unfamiliar magic system. A lot of it seems weirder than he's used to: a rogue has a pair of daggers made entirely of glowing crystal, a fighter has a green-bladed sword with thorns sticking out of it and roses growing from the hilt...just about everyone has a weird probably-magic weapon, and a solid half of them have belts that look far too unfashionable not to be magic. (He'll have to look closer to see if any are wearing rings.) The rest of their gear looks mostly normal, except that capes seem to be in fashion.
Elan tentatively concludes that the adventurers are expecting a challenge, but not a deadly one. He thinks their unfamiliar stuff looks pretty cool but can't draw any specific conclusions on what level they seem to be. The guys at the gate seemed to think he looked capable, though, so maybe Elan should also expect a nondeadly challenge.
"I'd ask if you wanna join in, but if something did happen to you then the Guardians might get mad at me. So… you should probably do whatever you were gonna do anyway."
