The dream she was within scattered as reality swept through, a sudden wind on her face, sweeping the dreamleaves away into nothingness as she sailed past them, through the air that shouldn't be carrying her weight as she slept.

She landed on her back and rolled a moment, then hit something tall and narrow, curling around it for just a second. Then her clueless mind thought of something based on what glimpses it had caught. She'd been thrown out of bed - very far. Across the whole twenty-ish feet, actually.

And there were three others in here with her. Her muscles kicked in, springing her upright to face them... and she yelled out.

"DAD! Who th-"

Instinct. Her right-most opponent's oversized fist sailed low, towards her stomach, so her body pivoted around on her back foot; she settled into a wide lunging stance, and struck at his agape jaw with an elbow jab. She felt the impact, her unprepared skin sliced up by the velocity of the blow - it woke her, gave her clarity- they were surrounding her, a basic triangle formati-

A retialiatory forearm took her in the head, spinning her round on the spot - right into the path of the second fist that slugged her facefirst into the floor.

So this was what she'd brought upon her house.

The Lizardman dropped a knee on her back, and the candlelight shadows on the wall gave away the human with the shortsword hanging over her. A jagged tooth bounced off the carpet, spraying blood and spittle over her face. The one holding her wrist was being laughed at by his fellows now - not a good sign. Three different voices around the room, snickering at the violence. She'd missed one?

He leaned down into her view. Having one or two teeth missing didn't make his elongated snarl any less vicious.

"Hell of an elbow on you, bitch." His other palm came slamming down on her tricep, then he was pulling up, bending her forearm skyward. Someone was holding her ankles. He was going to shatter her arm. His snarl turned into leered satisfaction.

She tried to twist it, praying she'd bloodied it enough to slip out of the scaled claws, she just had to rotate a little- her bones began to grind together, and she pulled on her entire body for any small amount of leverage.

"Please!" She whimpered as loud as she could. "I can pay you-"

The shadows on the wall jerked into movement, and the pommel of the hovering sword nearly broke her skull open. The room flashed in red and black.

"Don't scream too loud now. 'Daddy' might cry."

He yanked harder-

---

Something barked in her face. Some kind of wolfhound?

It was gone before she even considered reacting, shooting off into the morning commute.

She'd been daydreaming again. This alleyway was too shaded, too dark. Or maybe that was hunger forcing her body to shut down? The numbness was spreading slowly, up her legs this time.

She shook them out under her... the stolen dust sheet, drew her knees up, got back to scoping out the crowds - and spotted exactly what she needed. To be more precise, she could hear fortune knocking, and apparently causing a lot of headaches for stall owners.

There he was again. She laid eyes on the small Dullahan child, darting around the blockade of legs and carts with a coinpurse, evading what was quite possibly the burliest - and least clothed - Lizardfolk tourist the continent had to offer lately. He sprang onto a bench as it was lifted with [Telekinesis] by an 'unwitting' mage, and someone innocuously happened to stretch out their arms, leaving their hands in the air sideways as perfect platforms. He even had a dog chasing him to help part the crowd.

He and his plants were putting in a great performance, but he wouldn't escape this Lizardman. She'd already seen the giant get a hold of four pickpockets in the week he'd been showing up around the Adventurer's Guild; three fellow young ones and a fully grown Drake. Presumably a [Thief] or a [Bandit]- that particular attempt had ended in a fistfight. A short one.

The three kids were still in business. That made him a viable mark; the forgiving types were more disposed to a little altruism. At the very least, she might be able to eat with some of his spare change for having sold him some tips from a local... and not risk losing a limb.

At least he wasn't here to join the Legion. Not all Lizardfolk had to be tarred with that brush... she had to accept it.

She slapped her wrist, blearily watching as the chase continued out of her sight. The Lizardman hammered left around the junction at the end of the street, and the sounds of flying crates, general mayhem and a panicked little Dullahan followed nearly immediately in the distance.

She'd find him again later. He was always on the move, barraging around and harassing anyone who looked remotely competent in combat, but she'd catch up with him eventually. She had no fear of losing an opportunity in this town. The streets around her were busy, so congested with the shoving and sounds and smells of the peoples of Baleros that one could imagine this was a major city, much like Invictel or Elvallian. That is, until the travellers, merchants, adventurers and fortune seekers stepped away from the cargo hauling chaos of the docks, got past the fleeting frivolities of the market district and the glamour of the guild halls, and realised they had dropped their luggage down in the absolutely most inconsequential town Baleros had.

From there, they had three.... no. They had four choices. Having arrived on the western face of Baleros, at the mouth of the rivers dividing the territories of the three greatest Companies in the south, they would have to traverse the jungles where the Eyes of Baleros would assess their mettle and their worth; they could then have free access to the Eyes, or journey onwards. Heading north lead to Maelstrom's Howling and the Iron Vanguard, but continuing along the riverbanks that wove and crisscrossed south-east took one deep into the 'Titan's' lands.

And then there was the fourth option - back the way they came. Recalling the face of the Drake who resorted to a Greater Teleport scroll to escape from the 'blasted Lizardfolk blockade' always made her chuckle.

A runner cartwheeled over a fence between shops on the other side of the street, handed a note to a shopkeeper who'd coincidentally fallen on his backside and pointed at the [Town Crier]'s tower. Trying to discern what he had to say at this distance was pointless - she didn't need to. The sun told her exactly what time it was. A new batch of foreigners had set down at the harbour, seasick and ready to be disappointed.

She started looking for the next mark. Luck was on her side. Even for her, Xefrass was so much smaller than it appeared.

She wished she'd known that earlier. Her hand roamed over the dirt in a circle slightly behind her.

...Where had she put her coinpurse?

--

This town was full of damned lizardfolk. He wished he hadn't walked into it.

Manny had run off on him for the thousandth time. He really needed a leash; letting a dog walk untethered after being stuck on a boat for a week had turned out poorly, even with his particular set of Skills. Still, he could at least track the wayward dog through his bond, if not command him.

He was only a little bit anxious. Having to pay off strangers in just about every town he'd stopped in since leaving home for 'accidents' left his savings rather diminished. If Manny had bitten another razorbeak, he'd be seeing no snacks until his owner happened to find a new source of income.

Some lizardfolk [Deckhands] were carrying a lifeboat between berthed ships, blocking the walkway with their nattering and poor co-ordination. He sped up, striding beneath the underside of the boat without brushing against a single floundering lizardman, and paid no heed to nor their shrill panic or the dull impact of wood on wood.

A lizardfolk town. As far as he knew about the latest Company territory distribution, this place still was within the grasp of the Scaled Legion.

He had to find Manny and leave before the smell settled between his scales.

He moved even faster once the docks were behind him, once he was in the town proper; there were more lizards on the sentry towers overlooking the walls between the land and sea, taking stock of everyone and everything that passed through. None of them had the awareness of nobility to recognise his importance, or of decorum to tell him where he could find a compentent tailor.

If he was faced with literally anything other than lizards, he would have deigned to forgive such an oversight - his attire was a little more threadbare for the journey. Fortunately for the roadweary Drake, he didn't even have to entertain this facet of society.

He'd focused his mind on Manny's whereabouts while the guards laid their claws on his bag of holding and asked vapid questions; through the bond he saw glimpses of what a dog happened to find intriguing in an unfamiliar avenue.

No light here. Someone to sit with. Food?

He drifted through town, towards himself, from both directions. One of him passed by a series of food vendors.

Why was she sitting there? He aimed and batted at her with his paw. She did not move. There was a toy next to her. He would take it for Master.

The fish hadn't been fried through properly; just left half raw on the counter to be sold. He spat out a slimy bone. No need to stop and look at the price - he threw a few copper pieces over his shoulder at where the sputtering came from.

He barked in her face for permission, but she did not look at him. He snorted and took the toy in his mouth. He saw something bigger and shinier running away. Quick. Holding food? He gave chase. Lots of wood on the ground here.

That was a youngling. He was jogging now. He was too far away, and Manny was going to get splinters from the shattered timber on the street. This was going to cost so much!

It did not taste like food. The shiny person let go anyway. Gone now. Two toys for Master. Master coming. Time to sit.

"Hah! And I thought you were his little helper! You must be a stray, huh?"

Something big picked up the toys. Gave good rubs. Looks like bigger Master.

And so, the nightmare revealed itself. The grinning face of a rather large lizardfolk had Manny wagging his tail off. 'Master' very nearly bit his tongue in half. He dragged himself back into his own body and tried to hold his traitorous pet in place. If he had sweat glands, they would have burst for the effort he put into this mental command.

'Manny. Do NOT follow him.'

Manny sniffed at the stick of meat. The big lizard let him lick it, then briskly walked away whilst waving it at dog's eye level. "Come on then boy!"

Manny followed.

Razil Maplescale knew then that he was having the worst day ever.

--

This town was extraordinary. Extraordinarily stifling.

Six of the people in the establishment took a glance at the Lizardman and the oversized wolf with jerky strips drooping from its jaws when they stomped in; five looked away, and one sighed emphatically.

A [Mage] and a [Martial Artist] had walked into Xefrass's Adventurer's Guild nearly nine days ago, looking to get rich quick. That would have been the icebreaker joke between newly-forged adventuring teams in a lot of guilds that Servaas had imagined visiting when he left Chandrar. As it had turned out, this guild was the odd one out.

Then again, very recently, he had realised that this travelling companion he'd been saddled with was an odd one out too. He dropped his quill and grabbed at the last mug of wine he could afford today, and only remembered it wasn't even midday after trying to pour as much into the second draught as his tastebuds could handle.

More jerky landed on their table to keep the new party member interested; the massive Lizardman descended on a chair opposite Servaas a few seconds later, and began pitching the usefulness of hunting dogs with extreme confidence.

He scowled at what meager dregs were left in his tankard in disappointment, appraised Manny as he got patted for scuffing and slobbering over the table, then swirled the wine in hope that there was more left than he guessed; then he gave some feedback.

"You were out for four hours, and you brought back one dog."

"Ah, so you feel a little skeptical - what else could have been better? Look at his teeth. Look at the musculature on him! He could bite one of your lightning bolts in half and not need combing afterwards!"

"...He's a dog."

"Haha! It's good to know Chandrarians don't think everything furry is a Gnoll!" The solid, magically reinforced table bounced off of the floor as the Lizardman slapped his gargantuan hand down, laughing at his own joke.

Servaas pressed his spelltome against the wood with one hand, and held his tongue until the quaking subsided. He really wasn't bothered that everybody avoided them anymore. There were always more pressing issues as of late.

"We need help from adventurers, Kutak. We've been here for over a week and we now have less gold pieces than the number of times I've walked through that front door. If we don't find anyone in two more d-"

"But you've only been out three times. Why bother counting?"

Servaas and Kutak stared at each other until the coin dropped. Then Kutak threw his head back and laughed so loud, Manny dropped his jerky.

"Oooooh. I get it. Well it just so happens that our newest party member has already proven their worth!" Two coinpurses clinked lightly onto the table from within the Lizardman's handwrapped fist. "Seems like he has a nose for gold... he 'nose' gold when he sees it! Hah!"

Servaas levitated the money over, grabbed them and judged both bags by their weight.

He threw the first one back down immediately. "One silver, three coppers." The second one...

"Eight gold, eighteen silvers, three coppers. All lined up in order of..." He fiddled the bag open and glanced inside. "...condition." He raised an eyebrow at Manny, then turned it on Kutak. "Alright, that's fair. This dog is a hells of a thief to steal from a Drake."

He leaned back in his chair after chewing on his thoughts for a moment.

"I suppose we could see how he handles a fetch quest...?"

Kutak just grinned.