After a well deserved rest, the group got up and packed their stuff to explore the crevice that they had found earlier. The crevice was surprisingly close to the plaza, within minutes they arrived to the entrance of the tunnel. On the outside the crevice looked completely dark but when they stepped in the tunnel lit up. whoever built the road seemingly used the same material as the fake sun on the top of the cavern.
They walked further in, the hero leading the group, the wizard guarding the back and the paladin at the middle. They walked with caution, making sure to not activate traps. There was no end to the road, and the light appeared to run away from them. Perhaps a shy one.
After half an hour of walking the group reached the other side, a blinding light mesmerized them. After adapting to this blinding light they saw another city, this one wasn't in ruins, in fact it was thriving. There were low level and rectangular houses were on the outskirts. Further in, the size of the buildings largened. The largest building was a dome seemingly in the center of the city, it was 9 meters large in height, making itself obvious. On the top of this dome there was a flag with red borders and blue background, in the center of this flag there was the unmistakable symbol of the Great Fox.
The hero was in shock "The Great Fox... again." his breath quickened yet he tried to maintain his composure by gripping his halberd. The paladin put his head on the hero's shoulder "Keep your calm, don't do something stupid this time." he said, trying to calm the hero in his way.
The inhabitants of the city were too far to see what exactly they were. With seemingly no border security, they decide to come in. Not without gifts of course, they needed to show that they mean no harm. The wizard picked up flowers for this gift, it didn't needed to be something fancy or extremely valuable, in fact it would be far more suspicious. It should be just enough to show their innocence.
With their gift on hand the group moved in closer, the city wasn't much different from cities on the overworld but one thing caught their eye. On the west of the city there was long buildings with multiple chimneys, in the near of this building there was raw materials getting moved in.
"Are those... half humans?" The wizard said "They should be on the northern continent."
"Why? We had half human travelers in the kingdom too." The paladin asked confusedly, looking at the wizard for answers.
"After the Golden City Incident, every half humans were banished from the kingdom." the wizard answered, a bit saddened by the situation in hand. "I don't know about the details, the king suppressed any information about the event." She said with a sigh.
Before they were able to continue the conversation, a humanoid figure with cat ears and a tail appeared. In addition to a brown coat and leather boot, the rest of the outfit can be described as a blue lederhosen. Their androgyny made it impossible to determine their gender. In the air, their short, red hair swings freely as their hazel eyes open with curiosity. From cheek to cheek, their faces were freckled.
"Haven't seen you guys around here" They said in a bright smile "Where are you guys from?".
The wizard and the paladin exchanged confused looks
"Northerner speech, let me handle this." The hero said silently to the group and he turned to them.
"My name is Ariel, I am..." He stopped, correcting himself. "I was a commander in the Varsian kingdom, but now... I just travel."
Pointing at his friends, he continued "This is Peter, a wandering chronicler and she is Amy, a scholar of magic and plants."
"A scholar of... magic?" the half-feline said with a confused face.
"She studies magic particles and spells." Ariel said.
Half-feline chuckles a little "Particles and spells huh?" He said while smiling softly "I'm Edwin the Protector of the city, Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you to!" Ariel said with a smile, he didn't thought they would be this accepting. He gives his gifts on the hand.
"Let me know if you need anything." Edwin adds and parts his ways with the group.
The group went further in to the city, after a while a weird smell filled their lungs. It smelled like something was burning metal or wood perhaps but there were no flames anywhere. Without much questioning, they needed to get a roof on their head.
First place they went was a pub. Ariel grabbed the door handle and opened the door, the place smelled like wine and meat. Second he entered from the door, every conversation died instantly, plethora of half humans turned their head to Ariel. Without caring he went straight to the bartender. The bartender towered over the counter with a whopping 2 meters. He was minotor in a white shirt and a black, leather apron, most of his face was in shade because of his size, even Ariel felt a bit scared.
"How much for 4 person room." He said while looking straight to his eyes.
"4 Bronze a day." The minotor said in a deep, menacing voice, his nostrils flared "that aside..." He leaned closer "Drop. Your. Weapon."
With a deep sigh, Ariel lifted his crimson halberd and dropped it on the counter. "Is it fine now?" He said trying to not escalate the situation.
"Fine." The minotor said and dragged Ariel's halberd on the rack of weapons. "Now pay."
Ariel opened his coin pouch, there was barely enough coin to pay, merely 5 Bronze. He pulled 4 of them to pay, the minotor pulled the key beneath the counter.
"44" Ariel read the number on the key and he signaled his friends to come in. The group moved to the second floor, they navigated in a narrow corridor "39, 40, 41... 44" the number led to a secluded door, the place smelled like rotten wood which was neither bad nor pleasant. Peter opened the door, the room was small with four beds carelessly placed on each corner and a fireplace on the opposite wall, they were colored in a depressing blue, which was the only thing painted in the room. The group entered the room with a sigh of relief. Even though they were broke and trapped in an alien city, there was an enjoyment of finding new places.
"So, what now?" Amy said in a not-so excited tone.
"Well, we need to take care of the money first." Ariel said sighing yet again.
"Quests again?" Peter said in a bored tone, who knew how many times they were in this exact situation.
"Quests again." Ariel answered.