My journey back to the Skinned Lizard fast, as the rooftops were all relatively easy to run across. Most of the rooftops were completely flat, likely in the case they needed to be built upon in the name of expandability.

I had made sure to take some time to rest for the day, wasting the hours away on a particularly nice stretch of field just to the southeast of Crossroads. Despite their being homesteads nearby, though clearly on the poorer end of the spectrum, I wasn’t confronted by anyone while I performed kata after kata. Though, I guess who would dare to confront someone wielding a hammer as large as mine, lighting up the darkness with Divine energy coursing through the rune-work on the weapon.

As I approached the Skinned Lizard’s door, after parkouring over a good portion of the urban landscape, I idly wondered what my Might stat would be now. As much as I had loathed that screen, it was at least useful in having something to compare myself against. Now I was left without, and my hammer wasn’t a constant—only growing heavier as I got stronger—so that was no metric I could use.

I walked into the tavern, not really expecting to see anyone at this hour, but lo there was one person amidst the empty tables.

“Good morning, Gehne. I hope you had a fine night?” I said, trying to keep any pretence of my little show last night out of my voice. The woman turned to me, having known I was here before the door opened with one sense or another.

“Yes,” she responded, smiling as best she could, but it felt wooden and unsure, “I slept well last night. How about yourself, Master Max?” Two things I realised in that short stretch of words. One; she was lying terribly about sleeping—she hadn’t slept at all and she was even feeling ill because of it. Two; she was trying to be… polite? No, courteous. In much the same way that Rethi had tried to be before Mayer took the reins and taught him properly. It had been interesting to watch Mayer do so; the man being so far removed from polite political titling and mannerisms that it was surprising how much he knew. Now Rethi would be considered average in political etiquette, but I had stopped him from him flexing the majority of the politeness muscles on me.

I looked at the Gek woman with another lens, finding that while she didn’t know exactly what I was, she knew I was at least powerful. That was enough to try her best to not piss me off. She stood at an unnaturally straight angle, much like how I bet I had looked when I was first trying to straighten my posture many months ago. She kept any mannerisms she could to a minimum, making her eyes dance around me rather than look me in the face.

“I’m sorry,” I began, giving the woman a shock, “I didn’t intend to make you so uncomfortable last night. I was honestly just excited to be anywhere than a little road town and I got a little ahead of myself.” The shorter, blue skinned Reptilia shifted from foot to foot, her emotional state screaming with just how uncomfortable she felt being apologised to.

“That is okay, Master Max. I just did not expect someone of your–” she stopped herself, her blue skinned throat bobbing slightly, “I would have expected you to be in far nicer lodgings than here.” I looked Gehne pensively for a moment, but I stopped when I realised that I was making her more nervous.

“When does breakfast begin?” I asked, looking outside the sash windows at the brightening sky. The windows were likely an expensive instalment, most buildings on the outer areas having other things in place of glass. Gehne was put off by the sudden question but answered anyway.

“An hour or so, Master Max.” I cringed lightly at the gratuitous use of the title and name but led myself to a table just beside the woman and motioned for her to sit. She did, with no shortage of hesitance. I held my hand across the table, making eye contact as best as I could with her large, separated eyes.

“Maximilian Avenforth, adventurer, faithful to the Hearth, and reluctant warrior.” I said with a smile. We both knew I was downplaying myself, but it was ignored out of politeness. She timidly took my hand in her own, the strange biology of her fingers gripping against my skin in an almost magnetic way.

“Just Gehne, Reptilia rarely have last names.” She quickly pulled her hand back from mine, the odd ridges of her fingers straining against my skin for a moment before releasing. “Waitress? I don’t have much else, Master Avenforth.” She ended timidly, the title eliciting a light chuckle from me—even if there was a little exasperation in it.

“Just Max is fine, Gehne. My companion only calls me ‘Master Max’ because he’s stubborn and also because it annoys me.” I gave her a soft smile that she tried to return, though she still doubted I was telling the truth. “You asked me why I came to the Skinned Lizard over anywhere else?” She nodded.

“Well, it’s pretty simple, all things considered. As a faithful of the Hearth Court, I’m given a little bit of a feeling about places. Their safety, how welcoming the people are, and so on.” Her emotions seemed to indicate a light disbelief, but she wasn’t sure. Crossroads might be a trade mecca, but I hadn’t seen a church of any kind yet. “So, when I was walking the streets it became clear that the residents and workers of Crossroads dislike travellers. When I walked past the Skinned Lizard and felt that it was welcoming?” I shrugged, the rest of my answer I had already stated within earshot of the woman the night before.

“Even still, we cannot provide the comfort and services other inns could, Master– Max.” I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Well, I wouldn’t be much of a faithful to the Hearth if I didn’t gravitate towards the warmest fire.” The small fireplace in the corner of the room, despite being reduced to the silent remains of a fire, glowed with a warmth like it had the night before. An agreement it seems. Either that was my own connection to the domain reacting positively, or it was the other Hearth Gods flexing their own. The Gek woman in front of me noticed instantly but only snorted in amusement.

“Does that happen every time you talk about this stuff?” She said, letting the uncomfortable etiquette drop with some difficulty. I grinned.

“Well, it has been happening more often recently. Apparently, the Hearth Gods are a little partial to me.” Unknowingly, we both waited for something else to happen, turning a sly eye towards the fireplace. We laughed it off, but I could feel the little echo of amusement through my domain, the link to my more Divine kin.

“Do you follow a God, or Court yourself?” I asked curiously. It wasn’t a question I had ever really bothered to ask—most of the people I had interacted with were hardly a devoutly religious sort, or if they were, they kept it private. Maybe Mayer and the Sun Gods, especially as he wielded Hindle.

“Not, really, no. Some Gek still worship their tribe’s God, but I don’t know my tribe so…” She tapered off, thinking for a moment. “I think most people worship Gods that are relevant to their situation. Like a farmer praying to the Harvest Gods come harvest time, but other Gods when it isn’t. It’s usually worship on an individual basis, so I’m not sure that many around here have dedicated themselves to the robe like yourself.” I raised an eyebrow in amusement. Apparently, I was a priest of the Hearth now. Fair enough, it’d do as a cover and it would help me explain away some Divine stuff. I have to admit, I had expected a little more in the way of religiousness, but maybe I was just asking the wrong person.

“Less monotheism certainly makes sense, with their being so many differing Courts. I had expected there to be at least a church.”

“Well, there are some congregations, but Crossroads is a trade city, most of the residents barely staying for a few years before moving north or west.” She shrugged nonchalantly. Oh well, my dreams of learning more about religions—or even meeting another Hearth ‘faithful’—dashed, I let myself just enjoy the woman’s company for a while. That was, until the first of the customers began to trickle down from upstairs and the smells of cooking begun to waft from the joining kitchen. Shortly after that we said a temporary farewell, leaving me to walk up the stairs to wake the teenagers from their slumber.

I was already happy with the meagre progress I’d made for the day, managing to put the waitress I’d worried to ease. I had an appointment with the other Gek woman late in the night, but the day had barely started so that wouldn’t be for a while yet.

I walked up the steps and making a beeline towards our little line of three rooms, only one of which was being actively used. I knocked on the door that I could feel both Rethi and Alena’s emotional presences behind, quickly noticing a particular emotion that immediately made me focus my senses anywhere but inside the room. Even if it did light up in my mind like a Christmas tree.

It took a few minutes for the knock to be answered by the door opening, Alena’s black hair greeting me from underneath my nose.

“Good morning!” She said with a layer of false cheer. I looked briefly into the room, seeing Rethi hastily putting on the rest of his clothes, his figure being remarkably built from all the physical training. I turned my gaze back to Alena a pleasant smile that was just as false as her cheer on my face.

“Breakfast, be down in ten.” And I left to go reserve a table. Not that there was going to be a shortage of them, but more that I really didn’t want to her the whispers from their mental states right now.

Sure enough, in less than ten minutes, Rethi and Alena made an appearance. Alena looked as well put together as anyone could look in travelling clothes, neat and tidy with her shoulder length, black hair pulled back into a practical bun. Rethi, however, looked as messy as he always did. To be fair, most of it was his unruly blonde hair which he’d let grow down to his jawline. With the addition of his green eyes, he would look far more at home with a surfboard under his arm than he would with a sword.

They sat opposite me in silence, letting Gehne come and go without order, then Tenra—the young Tiliquan man from the day before—came back with our food, only stopping for a quick greeting. We ate in silence, all the while the couple’s anxiety slowly rose, clearly worried of what I had heard or sensed. In most cases this would have just been an amusing afterthought, something to poke fun at the teenagers with and then totally forget it even happened by the time the day was through. But as I sat there in silence, slowly munching on warm bread that had a savory paste spread on it, a sudden lightning bolt of panic hit me.

When the meal was done, I gently cleared my throat, “So, I assume that we all know that bringing a new child into the world while we are on the road would be a very poor life decision, yes?” The two teenagers simultaneously choked on air, Rethi just placing his face in his hands as his ears glowed a vibrant red. Alena’s face was just as bad, but she desperately tried to not let it show in her expression.

“You, uh, don’t need to worry about that.” Alena said, trying to keep her voice as stable at possible through the massive wave of embarrassment that I probably could have felt from blocks away. Underneath it all, though, she was entirely sure that she was telling the truth.

“Good, but still be careful.” I said, nodding before standing from my seat without asking why she was sure. Something that I would leave to the absolute recesses of my imagination. I motioned for the two teens to follow, giving a brief nod to Gehne and Tenra as we left the building for the day.

We walked the streets in an awkward silence. Is this what parents felt like when they approached their kids about the birds and the bees? I slowly let the topic fall from my mind as we explored the main streets, we hadn’t quite explored fully the day before. We had seen the majority of the south and western streets, with only a cursory glance at the east and effectively nothing of the north.

When we finally got around to the north, the east being almost the same as the western road, we all quickly realised that we had left the best for last. Basically, every store was some description of lavish—so much so that the custom of listing prices and price ranges had gone out of the window with any expectation that you would go home with anything left in your wallet. We took our time looking in window after window, all of which were full pane in comparison to the multiple of most other stores. Then we came across a particularly interesting store.

Not interesting in that I was overly enthused by it, or Rethi as well for that matter. But Alena’s eyes lit up like she was the Divine warrior of the Sun and not Rethi. Of course, the inside of the store was a showcase of about thirty different styles of clothes, the mannequins always in a pair of two—male and female, dressed in matching clothing sets. I saw Alena’s eyes wander over them and then snap to Rethi, who was trying his best to seem totally oblivious.

With an evil grin to the young man, I walked towards the glass inlayed door of Oscar’s Boutique and Tailory. Hearing an older, flamboyant voice call out from the back of the storefront as the elegant bell chimed.

“Well, hello there! Here to find your astonishing selves inside some of my cloth, are you?” Rethi tried to groan, but his girlfriend’s predatory grin made him stifle it and sigh, resigning himself to his new reality as we entered the store.