I remember taking this trail with my grandfather when I was younger, he would always quiz me on what herbs were on the sides of the trail and what they would be used for before he would have me pick 2 little stalks of Golcorone for us to suck on. Gramps was a lot of fun to be around, nevertheless after taking the same trail every other week for the past 15 years of my life, I have gotten used to it. Especially since I made the trail renovations 3 years ago.
It cost me almost more than my preserving bag, but the investment was well worth it. In design it was a simple water wheel with a rope. This combined with a small metal track and an old minecart I had gotten for cheap, have allowed me to cut down a normally 3 hour hike down to just 10 minutes down, and an hour back up. As I sat myself down in the cart I shuffled the straw padding I had made to help deal with the bumps and pushed off down the winding track. It wasn't slow by any means, but after doing the same trip for years, the gut churning feeling of sudden dropping didn't do as much for me. Never the less it was still enjoyable to ride down the tracks and feel the wind blow in my face. As we rolled around a bend I tried to think back to what food I had at the house and if I should just grab a meal in town for a change.
I saw the stop coming up, so I sat up, grabbed the brake level on the cart and started to slow down, the metal squealing at me as I slowed to a full stop. I wheeled the cart to its waiting spot, double checked that everything was intact, and went down the little dirt path to the edge of town. I passed the water wheel as I left the treeline and saw the rising walls that marked the edge of hopestone. The town itself was still as big as I remember it, and even from here I could see how the town had been chipping away at the mountain, and there were even parts under the edge of the mountain itself and others still that seemed to make a strange bridge like system on the lip of the mountain above the dig site. The massive water wheels that served to turn the many grindstones, lifts, and more towered even higher than the walls.
As I approached, I saw a guard I recognized, a newer dwarven guard named Qos who from what the others had told me was new and still a bit hot headed, combined with his pirate class meant he was waving around the signature spectral cannons pirates could summon more than some would like. He wore full metal armor shined as if it had just come off the forge with a shorter beard of brown hair and a bland looking cutlass and flintlock pistol at his side.
As I approached the wall he stood stoic, as if eyeing a criminal instead of random travelers. However beside him was someone I knew well. Larz the polar bear fullblood, like all fullbloods' Larz could be easily mistaken for a regular polar bear you would see in cold climates except for the armor, and guard badge he wore around his neck. He has always been a quick to laugh man with his pendant being so people know he's not just a bear who wandered into town and is in fact a fullblood.
As I stepped into line to enter the city behind some travelers I thought back to the first time I met Larz. I had been around 8 at the time and never seen a beastman before, he even taught me the differences, like how fullblood beastman are almost indistinguishable from animals except for their intelligence and the fact they have the system as well, halfbloods who looked to be a mix of a human and an animal being a humanoid animal, and lightbloods who could be mistaken for human except for the small animalistic features, like slitted eyes, scales on parts of their bodys, and even ears and tails. It was made even funnier when my grandfather told me how larz had come to the house one time asking if there was a potion to give someone thumbs before. Something that many fullbloods seem to struggle with apparently. As my turn came up I waved to Larz and Qos.
"Present your ID, and State your full name, and business for being in the city"
Qos said with a cold glare. I turned to Larz as I pulled my ID from my bag
"The population broke the numbers to go from large town to city, how long ago?"
Larz gave me a grin and said in his deep gravelly voice,
"Around 4 days ago was when the official letter arrived, and we even got to start calling it a city starting yesterday."
I returned Larz's grin,
"So how does it feel being a fancy pants city guard?"
Larz raised himself up on his back legs and scrunched his face up while making a movement like checking his nails as he said in a mockery of a regal tone,
"A mere country bumpkin dares to speak to the great and wise city guard?"
We both started chuckling as Qos turned with his neutral expression
"Full name, and business for being in the city."
Larz turned,
"Qos, he has literally been coming here longer than you have been dreaming of being a guard, stop giving Aiden trouble or I'll sit on you, and we both know how dumb you look as you struggle to get free."
Qos's face turned beat red as he said
"Hey, I have been doing a bunch of pushups recently, so there is no way I'll be stuck like last time."
He handed me back my ID and went back to his stoic statue routine as I waved to Larz and headed into the now city. While it's never big changes, it's always interesting to come back to a place every other week and see how small things are different and try to guess what made them like that, be it a window that wasn't cracked before, or even a new flower in the window of a family home.
As I walked down the road, I tried to see what was changed, and what was the same. I turned the corner where my grandfather's small shop sat. As I walked to the shop and held out my hand the engraving on the lock turned and the door swung open. The shop itself was simple, potions in little racks as well as a set of equipment that could be used lined the back wall. Inside I saw Peridot with her head on the countertop snoring away. I walked over and gently knocked on the counter as she sat up and whipped a bit of drool from her face. Peridot was an elf, and like most elves she had long curly brown hair that I suspect was at one point straight but days of sleeping on it and never brushing had left it a curled tangled mess. From the sides of her head her pointed ears stuck out around 4 or so inches. She was in her 300's and moved to Hopestone to open a business, with her class of pharmacist it was easy to make a medicine shop, but she has always been lazy. I once even saw her try to walk a kid trough the steps of making a medicine, so she didn't have to get up from her nap. This combined with my mostly antisocial nature led to an agreement after my grandfather left the shop to me so he could travel 4 years ago. She would act as cashier and medicine production, while I would brew the potions and bring ingredients when needed.
As Peridot yawned and stretched, I stepped behind the counter, slowly pulling the items I had made out,
"Sleeping on the job I see?"
"There isn't anyone who needs anything right now, and I'm running on like 18 hours of sleep here."
Peridot replied in a tired voice as she yawned. I rolled my eyes at this as Peridot gestured to the bag of gold that was my share of the biweekly profit. I counted and made sure I had my 100 gold, sliding it into the pocket on the side of my satchel I used for coins as I made my way for the door. However, as I was leaving Peridot tapped my shoulder.
"Before you go, Ms. Sasis left that book you were asking about."
I turned around quickly to look at the book in Peridots hand now excited for the ride up in the minecart. It's a series I had been following for a few years, The 7 stars, a story about a bunch of prodigy students trying to save the world. I had reread most of the books, and with the 16th book in hand, I was excited for what it had to bring to the story.
"Thanks,"
I said waving to Peridot who even as I turned was already snoring again. I shut the door behind me and headed down the road. With the high of the new book and pay day, I figured today was a good day to treat myself. So, I made my way for the Seared Tusk tavern for dinner.