It was interesting, how the perception and treatment of strangers had changed by travelling south, by leaving the rough and tough northern lands and reached a less brutal place. Here, powerful adventurers were both a rare curiosity and common, in a bit of a dichotomy. There were regular merchant-trains making stops in the small town, named Tagulet, that the inhabitants were used to them and didn’t regard us with overmuch suspicion but at the same time, they also knew that angering a group of adventurers could have drastic consequences, meaning that their interest was tempered by a healthy dose of respect, maybe even fear. And that was without knowing details, without trying to Observe any of us, just from the presence we emanated, due to having crossed the first, or second for Sigmir and Lenore, divide.

We had been given a corner of the common-room of the inn and there seemed to be an invisible line that kept the locals, other than the barmaid, away from us. They were looking our way upon entering but were quickly looking away, if any of us was obviously noticing their interest. In a way, that was quite comforting, knowing that the locals seemed to be disinclined to challenge us, making me hope that even my outsider-trait wouldn’t manage to cause us trouble.

Other than the interest, suppressed by respect, the food was decent, not outstanding but also not bad. They had a hearty stew, with lentils, some gamey bacon, potatoes, served alongside fresh greens, warm bread and fruits, creating a satisfying meal for us, especially after a few days on the road. There were just some things I couldn’t cook on a campfire, especially baking was nigh impossible, without going through a lot of trouble to create a makeshift oven. Part of me wondered if Fire- or maybe Earth-Magic would allow me to do that on the fly, similar to the way I could use my Ice-Magic to instantly whip up everything from weapons to walls. Not that it really mattered, I had no idea how to influence the affinities I had gained at the start and, to be frank, even less desire to get rid of any of my magical abilities, they simply felt right. Sure, there might be others that had more power or versatility, or even a better reputation, but the affinities I had were mine and mine alone. The idea of having them changed felt akin to switching out my hands for tentacles or my legs for a fluke. They might be more versatile or better for a certain environment but I would no longer be me.

There was also ale, the smell powerful in the room but I stayed well away from it, remembering my experience with mead in Kolyug and my suspicion that I had murdered two of their youngsters earlier. No, getting drunk would be a stupid idea. But it made me wonder if the respect of the locals towards us would be dissolved in alcohol sooner or later, making them belligerent and aggressive or if the fear was stronger. It seemed like an interesting topic of research and observation, so I kept a close eye on the steady business the tavern owner was making, with locals coming in and sitting down, well away from us.

As I watched, I noticed that the locals weren’t really drinking as much as I had thought and observed in some of the other taverns, especially the one in Kolyug. Maybe a third of them had food in front of them, savouring the food, while the rest simply had a mug of ale. Another observation was that the crowd was surprisingly mixed in sex, bucking the idea that the men went to the tavern to get drunk while the women waited at home. A little more than a third of patrons were female and, to further shatter the traditional idea of the female homemaker, roughly half of those eating were female as well.

“By the gods, if your louse of a son managed to snare my Ramona, he’ll either marry her or I’ll make sure she was the last he has ever defiled!” a loud voice cut through my idle observations and thoughts, taking my attention to another corner of the room, where a sturdy-looking orc-female was standing in front of another orc, that one quite a bit taller but slender. At a glance, I wasn’t sure who had more mass but thought the female had it, especially when it came to muscles.

“As if my Julius would ever lay a hand on your brute of a daughter.” the male replied, his sneer made more pronounced by the clearly visible tusks.

“That hellion of yours will most likely have to hold down any male she is interested in, or they might run away.” he continued, while the noise-level in the previously noisy common-room dropped rapidly. I noticed that the locals seemed to shift around a little, creating quite a bit of empty space around the two loud orcs, while making sure that they had a good line of sight. There was tension in the air, but not the tension of bloodshed, it felt more like the charged atmosphere in a stadium or maybe a movie-theatre on opening night. I almost expected the barmaid to come out with buckets of popcorn, or maybe the betting to start.

“Those two are at it again…” I heard the barmaid mutter, as she walked through the still empty space around our corner of the room. Even with the shifting patrons, the space around us had been undisturbed, which the barmaid used to get around easily. But even she didn’t seem to be worried about the two orcs who had continued to trade insults, disparaging the other's offspring.

“Esteemed guests, please pay them no mind, they have been feuding with the other, ever since their courtship fell apart some twenty-five years ago. They’ve been at each other's throat ever since and both want their children to continue the feud, but neither of them seems to be interested.” the barmaid addressed me, noticing my interest in the slowly escalating situation on the other side of the room.

“I’m sure they have more sense than to bother you, even if it seems tempers are running higher than normal.” she continued, already trying to defuse a potentially hazardous situation. Hazardous for the inn that is, a bar-room brawl was one thing but if any of us got annoyed enough to do something about the brawl, both Sigmir and I had more than enough power to level the inn. Rai and Adra not so much, mostly because their abilities and fighting-style was centered on the precise application of force, not physical or magical brute-force like Sigmir and I.

“It will be alright.” I told the barmaid, getting involved was not on my priority-list, not at all. With that in mind, I focused my mind for a second, activating overflow and instantly projected a simple runic-formation, conjuring up a thin wall of ice between us and them. Not enough to stop any serious attack, not even with the difference in power, but more than enough to keep us from getting hit by accident.

The sudden appearance of the wall had another effect I hadn’t quite expected, the temperature instantly dropped, both metaphorically and literally. The safe-zone seemed to expand just a little and even the two arguing hot-heads stopped, looking at the translucent pale blue wall that was cutting our corner off from the rest of the room.

“Thank you, esteemed guest. It wasn’t necessary but thank you.” the barmaid told me, her voice a little strained.

“Can I get you something else, maybe some fresh fruit or ale? We might even have some wine, if that is more to your tastes. It’s on the house, to make up for the disturbance of your meal.” she added.

“That won’t be necessary but thank you. I think it is time that we retreat to our rooms, we had a long day on the road and the upcoming days promise a similar experience.” Adra told the barmaid, trying to sound calm and reassuring.

“That seems like a good idea. My compliments to the cook.” I added, my mind reaching out to the ice-wall, shattering it into a flurry of diamond dust, which I collected into my hand before compressing it again, magically turning it into a wreath of ice-flowers which I placed on my head with an amused smile. I had done so on a whim, to avoid causing a mess when the ice would inevitably melt but the casual display of magic seemed to both awe and frighten the barmaid quite a bit, while the other patrons had similar expressions of respect and fear on their faces.

I ignored it and stood, as did the others, heading towards the back of the tavern where our rooms were located.

“Please, I beg you, can you help me? My daughter didn’t come home tonight, can you find her?!” the orc-female that had started the earlier confrontation asked, not quite blocking our path but clearly addressing us.