Number of people noticing that I named a minor character after Triscuits: 0
Smoothness level: Maximum
Chapter 4Several elves lurked in the woods near the gray city, staying out of the sight of the guards on the caravan-road. The east-west road was a common trade route that curved around the northern side of Cremona. The hidden elves were positioned west of the city, where the road met the normal woods and lead to Vindal.
The leader of the group, named Vael, backed into the shade away from the road and sat down. He sighed. “The caravan is scheduled to leave in an hour or so. I don’t think they’ve seen us, or they’d have done something by now.” Vael looked quite different from the high elves of the city – he was shorter than most of them, but thicker, and had a short beard and thick body hair rather than the city elves’ smooth skin.
A female elf named Risa spoke. “Vael, shouldn’t the caravan be guarded? I don’t think we can handle a full set of guards.” There were three elves besides Risa and Vael,
“It shouldn’t be heavily guarded. We haven’t attacked a caravan in several months, so they’ve distributed most of their guards elsewhere.”
“Why are we starting again just now?”
“I’ve heard the nobles of Vindal are considering cutting off their trade with the High Elven Empire, due to the caravans being unreliable. That would be a huge strike against the Empire, so we’re here to help ensure that happens.”
***
The first thing Corvander noticed when he woke up was that he was on the ground. The second thing he noticed was that his head hurt.
“You passed the mental inspection,” Romus Benedictus said. Corvander looked up and saw the Magister holding out his hand. He took it and the elf helped him to his feet.
“Why was I on the ground?”
“The inspection process is very painful, so I cast a spell to put you to sleep first. It’s doubly useful because if I found any dangerous knowledge then I could have executed you before you awoke.” Corvander’s eyes widened. Romus saw and smirked. “If you have nothing to hide, you have no reason to fear the mental inspection. As for your memories, you still have your common sense and grasp of language, as well as a faint remainder of knowledge of the races of the world and some combat training, specializing in the use of a flail.”
“So what do I do now?” Corvander asked.
“Well, we would prefer if you left the city. Humans aren’t typically welcome here.”
“Oh… right now?”
“Actually there’s a caravan leaving for Vindal in about an hour. You can leave with them and make yourself useful as a guard if they have a spare weapon. They should be preparing at the western edge of the city.” Romus then walked away without another word.
Corvander was left standing in the city rubbing his still-aching head. He decided to figure out which direction was west and head there to figure out what he needed to do.
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At this point I'll note that you can influence characters besides Corvander, although to a lesser extent.
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Topic: Gray Cities, a forum guided story (Chapter 4 up) (Read 4350 times)