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Paradise City

In the north-eastern part of the continent, nestled in an unspectacular part of the temperate belt, there is a rather nondescript region. It is split between a dozen or so minor kingdoms, dukedoms, city-states, none of them particularly noteworthy from a geopolitical standpoint. Border-scuffles and outright wars between them have been known to happen, but they tend not to get really out of hand, and the various monarchs usually stick to arguing about maps and trade-tariffs with their neighbors. Especially maps.

The population's almost exclusively human, with a handful of Halfling settlements scattered around the more friendly kingdoms. The prevalent religion, at least in theory, is the Church of the Allfather - a rather puritanical but also very influential organization that is generally considered to be, if not outright xenophobic, then at least on the human-supremacist side. However, its grip on this particular region is tenuous at best, with most of the local leaders paying lip service to the beliefs and commandments of the church - doing the bare minimum needed to ensure that skilled clerics and priests are available to themselves and the hoi-polloi of their kingdoms because, at the end of the day, the alchemists just cannot manage to quite keep up with those who wield the radiant power of the Gods Themselves when it comes to healing wounds, cleansing poisons, and dealing with things that go bump in the night.

However, if one were to look at a map of this rather dull region, one feature would stand out. A decent-sized desert, right in the middle of the otherwise-temperate lands. Its name would rather heavily depend on where you got your map. In most places, it'd simply be marked as 'Cursed Wasteland - AVOID!' In Duloc, which borders the region to the north but is separated from it by a? ? significant mountain-range and thus don't particularly care, it is marked as 'The Southern Wastes', if at all. In Arulco, to the east of the region, it is dubbed as the Western Arulco Desert. In Ruritania, which lies to the west of it, it is the Eastern Ruritania Badlands. To the south, in Aldovia, its marked as the North-Aldovian Wastes. All of the three later regions officially claim it as part of their territory, if that wasn't obvious, but none of them ever actually_cared_ enough to try and press that claim, especially since doing so would be night-impossible. So they mostly just complain about each other's maps.

Of course, their unwillingness to do anything as hazardous as station troops within this desert area, and ultimate disinterest in trying to control it, all come back to the 'cursed' bit. On top of just being generally dry and inhospitable, not to mention completely lacking in any kind of valuable minerals or other resources, it's also host to some kind of fell curse, or demonic corruption, or magical contamination, or... something of that description. Anyone who goes too deep inside of it will find themselves growing rapidly exhausted, far faster than just the baking sun can account for, and many will suddenly take ill and die for no identifiable reason. Poking around in the neighboring regions, one can turn up some scattered old myths and local legends, which suggest that the current wasteland used to be a fertile region, and the site of a prosperous Dragonhome. However, a human Archmage led an army there, hoping to steal the dragons' wealth, and the resulting magical devastation reduced the whole area to the blasted and/or cursed desert it now was, leaving no survivors on either side of the conflict.

Thus, for many centuries, the inexplicable patch of desert has been roundly ignored by even its closest neighbors, save for the mapmakers and the occasional king looking for an excuse to rattle their sabers at a rival. However, of late, things have... changed. At first, it was just a single caravan or two, every month or so, inexplicably moving through the wasteland - crossing into it from one of the neighboring regions, and coming out the other side largely unscathed, at least in most cases. However, as months and years passed, the number of caravans grew, and just from overhearing the occasional arguments that would break out whenever a caravan-leader encountered a particularly disliked rival taking the same road, the locals - and the nobles who ruled over them - began to put together a semi-clear picture.

Apparently,someone had figured out how to counteract that nasty 'draining curse' that lay over the wasteland, making it just as easily traversed as any other desert region, and figured out that routing through there enabled some kind of profitable new trade-route. This secret method then started spreading among others of their ilk, despite their no-doubt ardent attempts to prevent it, leading to this new growth in commerce. Nobody was entirely sure how heading through that wasteland could make for such a profitable endeavor, but the traveling merchants were unsurprisingly uninterested in sharing such a valuable secret and, besides, nobody really wanted to rock the boat. The merchants, after all, were not opposed to making a bit of extra coin on the way - bringing goods along to sell in the neighboring kingdoms as they passed through and buying others that they expected to make a profit off elsewhere. Various settlements along those new routes found themselves growing by leaps and bounds - as did the coffers of all three nations. (Fortunately, financial advisers in all three nations were wise enough to remind their kings that, with three available routes in and out of the wasteland, any one of them could be cut out of this new windfall entirely if they ratcheted those tariffs and road-taxes up too high.)

Thus, the daily lives of the largely insignificant people, of this largely insignificant region, continued as they always had, just with more travelers passing through, more caravans on the roads, and more money in quite a few people's pockets - and while some complained about the former, nobody had any issue with the later, so the complaints never went beyond idle grumbling. Even so, they querulously tell each other, over a mug of cold ale, some of the travelers that this new trade-route had brought along were really outrageous. Quite a few prostitutes seemed to be turning up, presumably to earn coin off the notoriously horny caravan-guards, taking work away from the good, honest, local whores - and then there were the real weirdos...

A couple of decades ago, Dustrand had been just a small village, near the eastern border of Ruritania - named after the dusty wasteland that waited, less than a day's travel to the east. They'd farmed the land, and played host to a few trappers and fur-traders who made a meager profit off the beasts that could be caught in the nearby woods and mountains. However, with the rise in trade, it had become a popular stop-over for caravans heading into or coming out of the_Eastern Ruritania Badlands_ - and, as such, had grown greatly. Inns and taverns had sprung up, and someone had even tried to open a brothel there - though it had been met by both massive disapproval from the locals, and a surprising degree of disinterest from the travelers and caravaneers passing through, so it had closed up again remarkably quickly.

More importantly, the need to protect the town's newfound prosperity from the bandits that now dwelt in the nearby mountains - drawn to the scent of gold like moths to a flame - had led the king to cough up the funding and supply to provide them with a functional, if not particularly tall, City Wall - and the town's growing coffers had also enabled them to expand the handful of sleepy militiamen that had once served as their primary defense, into a properly-trained, properly-equipped Town Guard, who now manned the wall and gates of Dustrand.

It was evening, and the gates had just been closed for the night. Two sentinels, however, stood atop the gate, peering into the gathering darkness beyond the torchlight. In most places, this kind of duty was much-loathed by the guards - but not here, for it was far from unusual for a trade-caravan to turn up after the gates had closed... and they were almost invariably willing to offer the guards an extra_entry-fee_ - not a bribe, certainly, never a bribe- in return for having the gate opened again just for them. So, when they spied a shadow well down the road, and heard the distant sound of movement, they perked up immediately... only to then wrinkle their brows in confusion.

It certainly wasn't a caravan approaching. The vague silhouette they could make out suggested a single cart, perhaps... but the sound was wrong. No creaking of wheels, nor even the clip-clop of hooves. Instead, the sound was more like the pat-pat of large, stealthy feet hitting the road, and whatever was being pulled behind this unusual draft-animal, made no sound at all. Swallowing, they gripped their spears more tightly, and waited for this unusual traveler to get close enough for a better look.

They did, soon enough - and the sentinels' eyes only opened wider at the sight. The beast they'd heard was like nothing they'd ever seen before - a lizard the size of a draft horse, running on its hind legs while two tiny, rather pathetic-looking forelegs swung in front of it. It was hard to laugh at those, though, when above them a big, broad head with a massive, fang-filled maw could be seen, along with a pair of small, beady eyes that peered around with a predator's hungry intensity. Mounted on its back, meanwhile, was another unfamiliar creature - humanoid, but thoroughly alien, with a cat-like face and ears, a long, sleek lizard-tail, and a hide made up of slick, snake-like scales. The scales glistened pearly-white in the torchlight, and there were a lot of them on display - the strange creature's decidedly female curves were concealed only by a rather skimpy set of leathers that barely, just barely, satisfied the demands of common decency.

Despite this eye-catching sight, however, the guards' eyes were swiftly drawn to the thing behind this strange pair, dragged along by a set of leather reins. Not a wagon at all, but some kind of strange, floating disc seemingly made up of an impossibly-thin, impossibly-strong, silvery material. Sitting cross-legged on top of it was a powerful wizard. That much, at least, was painfully obvious, though they could not hazard a guess as to the age, race, or even gender of this individual. They wore a voluminous, hooded robe of deepest azure that seemed to shimmer with its own light, and every hem was bordered by arcane symbols stitched into it with golden thread. Their hands were hidden in the broad sleeves, and the deep hood cast the face within it in impenetrable shadow. Yes - a powerful wizard indeed, of that there was no doubt. Who else would travel in such an eccentric style?

The odd trio stopped in front of the gates, and the two sentinels suddenly realized that they'd been so entranced by the strange sight that they had forgotten their otherwise-established routine of welcoming any night-time arrivals with a hearty "Who goes there? Friend or foe?" - and as they tried to belatedly marshal the words, the wizard preempted them, while simultaneously giving them at least one clue about what might be found within the robes... for the voice that now rose from the hood sounded decidedly feminine. "Open the gates." It was less a request, more a command - from someone, it seemed, who wasn't used to people putting obstacles in their way.

One of the guards wiped the sweat from his brow, cleared his throat, and leaned over the battlements. "Who goes there?" he demanded, finding that he lacked the guts to say the rest - after all, what if she said 'Foe?' Somehow, he felt certain that she could reduce the heavy, oaken gate he was standing on top of to smoldering wreckage if she decided to. There was a snort from within the hood. "A traveler, passing through, and seeking shelter for the night. What more do you need to know?" There was a snap to the words. Clearly, she thought that he was wasting her time. But, he had a duty to keep, and the Guard Commander would tear him a new asshole if he let such an unusual visitor inside without due diligence.

"Ehm... and what about your... companion?" He asked, gesturing down towards the strange lizard-cat-thing seated on the ferocious-looking draft-animal. "Is she... safe to be around?" She certainly looked dangerous. There was a bow slung over her back along with a quiver of arrows, a sword on her hip, and a lance-like spear attached to the side of her saddle. She looked sleek and deadly - and had not spared him or his comrade so much as a glance since entering the torchlight. Instead, her intimidating, blood-red eyes were staring stiffly forwards, centered on the gate that so unwisely stood in her path.

The wizard harrumphed. "My guardian construct? Yes, it is perfectly safe, so long as nobody threatens my person. Were you_planning to threaten or attack me?" There was a snide sort of threat in the last bit that made the guardsman wince and suspect that he was beginning to wear out this dangerous visitor's patience. "Not if I can help it..." he mumbled quietly to himself - only to jump halfway out of his armored boots when the cloaked visitor sharply replied. "In that case, you have nothing to fear from_her. Now, kindly stop wasting my time, and open the gates before I do it for you!"

Less than a minute later, the gates were open, allowing the sharp-toothed lizard to ride inside along with its rider, and the wizard seated on the floating disc. The 'guardian construct' on the lizard's back still didn't even look in their direction, but it wasn't hard to imagine it leaping into deadly action the moment its master was threatened. No 'entry-fees' were offered, and neither one of the guards even thought of asking for one. They just breathed a sigh of relief as the scary wizard left their area of responsibility, and then dutifully penned a note to the Guard-Commander about the nighttime arrival. With any luck, she wouldn't be staying in town for very long...

The trio's next stop was the biggest inn the town had to offer - which was, admittedly, not a terribly high bar to clear, since there were only two. The other one was located near the eastern gates, and was a decidedly small, cramped, and poorly-cleaned affair, suitable for the penny-pinching traveler or the caravan-guard who'd just blown most of his purse at the tavern. The Dusty Road's End Tavern, meanwhile, was a halfway fancy affair, which had been grown from a small alehouse to its current magnificence by a suitably canny owner, who saw the demand represented by the traveling merchants that kept passing through town and rose to meet it.

Said canny owner still liked to man the front counter there, while his son managed the greatly-expanded stables. The young man in question was used to people turning up after dark sometimes, and wasn't initially shocked when he heard heavy footsteps... but seeing the large, sharp-toothed lizard that was now being led through the doors of his stable by an utterly alien - yet clearly feminine, and rather skimpily-dressed - creature, he nearly fainted away on the spot. He_did_ manage to stay conscious, albeit rather shaky on his feet and ashen-faced, with the panicked whinnying of the horses who had now scented the new arrival preventing him from fading away.

Then a robed and hooded wizard entered just behind the strange pair, offering a viable explanation for the bizarre sight that had gone before, and he felt a bit better - though, not by very much. "I need my riding-beast quartered and cared for..." the wizard remarked without preamble, voice both feminine and raised quite a bit to be heard over the terrified horses, many of whom were now bucking and trying to escape their stalls. "I assume you'd rather it wasn't here. Have you a decent alternative? It need only be reasonably dry and sheltered." The boy's mind bounced around his skull a few times as he struggled to think. "We... have a shed?" he finally piped up. "It's mostly empty, should be enough room..."

"Lead the way..." the wizard demanded, and he promptly did so - hearing the horses slowly begin to settle down again once they'd left the building. The big riding-lizard looked even more terrifying up close, with its beady little eyes and huge, huge fangs, as well as clawed feet and a long, powerful tail that suggested both an impressive turn of speed, and the ability to change directions on a clipped copper. But... at the same time, it also looked rather docile. He'd had to deal with a fair few ill-tempered steeds in his time, and you could always see it in their eyes - a sense of disrespect for any human that wasn't their chosen master. This one looked... relaxed. It was used to horses panicking around it, and to being handled by strangers. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad - and what a story he'd be able to tell his mates later!

The big lizard did, indeed, fit in the mostly-empty shed - good thing they'd used up basically all of last year's firewood! By then, he'd also worked up the courage to ask a few questions, learning that the strange lizard indeed did have a name - 'Sivek' - and that just as its fangs suggested, it was a carnivore. "He is sated, for now, but will need breakfast..." the wizard dryly remarked, the words gaining an ominous ring just from the way she was standing there, hood over her face and hands hidden in her sleeves. On some unseen signal, however, the tall, alien creature by her side, which had been paying no attention to him so far, pulled a handful of silvers out of a purse and offered them to him. "He is not picky. Get offal or other scraps from a butcher first thing tomorrow." The wizard suggested. "You may keep whatever's left, for your troubles... but I trust I need not warn you _not_to skimp on his meal."

She indeed did not. He was a dutiful lad, and always cared well for any animal in his care - even the ones who didn't seem likely to grab his leg for dessert if he underfed them. Besides, he should be able to get plenty of meat-scraps and whatnot for just one_silver, so this was still a rather generous tip. "I'll take good care of him, Ma'am, rest assured!" He piped up, happy to hear that his voice wasn't all _that noticeably shaky, and the wizard chuckled in reply. "Good lad." Then, she left, with the strange servant in tow, to likely give his father just as much of a shock - while he headed back to the stables to fetch some straw to make a more comfortable bed for 'Sivek'.

The innkeeper, sure enough, was rather shocked at the visitors who now walked through his door - but, he was an old hand, and he'd seen his share of odd travelers, so he was able to hide it reasonably well and get his businesslike face back on. "Ah... what can I do for you, Sir Wizard?" he asked smoothly as the hooded figure stepped up to the counter - trying to simultaneously keep an eye on the strange, lizard-cat-person beside her. He wasn't generally fond of nonhumans - the preacher at the local Church of the All-Father had warned often enough about how many of them were jealous of humanity's success, and would seek to undermine it if given the chance to - but their gold was usually just as shiny as any other, so he never let it show.

"A room. A decent room." The wizard's feminine voice suggested that the 'sir' part might have been a mistaken guess - under that heavy, hooded, and rather impressive-looking robe, it was hard to tell much of anything about this late-arriving customer. He nodded, again letting his eyes jump between the two of them. "Ah... two beds, I assume?" he asked delicately, only to be answered by a harrumph that made him wince. "Do you prepare beds for your dogs, innkeeper? One will do - my guardian construct will manage just fine with the floor." He quickly flashed her his best smile, bobbing his head. "Ah, of course, my mistake, Madam Wizard. I have a single-bed merchant's room on the first floor, if that would suit you?" It did - and he_felt better too. Sure, having some kind of magically-created monster in his inn wasn't _brilliant, but at least it wasn't a nonhuman_as such_, and the wizard no doubt had it under careful control.

The door to the small, but nicely-appointed, room closed behind them. Sighing with relief, Kaveri Chandi - KC to her friends, and 'Kaysee' to her most intimate companion - threw back the hood of her robes, revealing a fox-like snout covered in red and white fur. Red-furred paw-hands likewise emerged from her sleeves, and she quickly ran through the familiar gestures and arcane words of the spell, placing a paw on each of the four walls in turn. As she released it, the magic seeped into the very stone - for the next twelve hours or so, these walls, and the now-locked door, were entirely soundproof. Nobody would be eavesdropping on them.

"All done, Kaysee?" Nexis asked behind her, a mischievous edge to her voice. Kaveri swallowed, and pulled the robe off altogether. She wore nothing underneath - not anymore. The fancy robe had been quite the windfall, when she found it on a skeletonized corpse in the first dungeon she'd delved into alongside her beloved Nexis - providing her with both a powerful defense against mundane and magical threats alike (the original owner, it seemed, had carelessly fallen prey to a poison-gas trap, perhaps due to being overly confident in his attire) and a priceless disguise that could both conceal her inhuman features and convince those who saw her that she was a far more competent and experienced wizard than her middling skills could actually support. But, it was also rather bulky and hot, especially when layered on top of her sleek, red fur.

Once, the idea of walking around in public, naked underneath her robes, would've been inconceivable for her - shyness, shame and embarrassment would've prevented her from doing anything of the sort, regardless of how hot and uncomfortable it was to add various under-things between her fur and the robe. But, she had... changed, in the past five years. Thanks mostly to the sleek, beautiful, Tavier huntress who was standing behind her right now. "Done." She declared, clasping her wrist behind the small of her back. She could feel her bushy, white-tipped tail dance with nervous energy just below. "I'm... all yours."

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PREVIEW ENDS - if you want to see what happens next, check out the full story at my Discord-server, link is on my front page.