By the time Anika made it to the road that would lead her towards Oakridge, she had already had to log out for the night. She had taken a detour which avoided the Gnome Hills, so as not to get slowed down by having to fight those little things again.

The weather had turned colder; it was grey and cloudy, but she had a decent sleep and she was confident she could make it to the town by midday. For a long time she was lost in thought about what it would be like. Ralph had told her there would be work to do and other adventurers which must mean she would get to meet other players. Finally she would have somebody that wasn't a computer character to talk to, someone who could give her advice, perhaps make her feel more sane.

Beth had been in a good mood the previous day but seemed to be a little subdued and grumpier than normal. Perhaps it was because they had had little to eat that day, or perhaps she was getting bored with all the walking they had done. It made little sense to go off in search of something for her to hunt, not now they were so close to getting to their destination.

Although visibility on the road was good, and apart from a few bends and small hills, it was easy to see far ahead. Despite this, it took a low growl from Beth to draw Anika's attention to a group of riders coming towards them up ahead. As the riders got closer, Beth moved in front of Anika and took up a defensive stance. She got on her hind legs and gave out a roar as the riders drew close and stopped their horses a few yards away. Two of the riders had crossbows that were now aimed at Beth and Anika, they all wore heavy leather armour and carried a variety of swords and spears with them.

Not sure what to make of the situation, Anika commanded Beth to back down and to stay by her side. Beth did as she wanted, changed her posture but did so begrudgingly. She was still baring her teeth when one of the riders got off his horse and walked up close to them.

"I hope you can keep that beast under control lady. If my men see it making any sudden movements, it'll have arrows from those crossbows through its eye sockets before it knows what hit it. And you'll be next, so keep your hands by your side where I can see them."

Anika wasn't about to put up a fight. She was still trying to figure out if this group of riders were actual players or if they were NPCs in the game.

"Can I see your papers?"

"I'm not sure what papers you mean, but I'm just on my way up to Oakridge. It's not far away from here as far as I can tell."

The man in front of the was not very tall, but he was clearly the guy in charge of the others. Judging by his question, she assumed that they were on some official duty. Perhaps it was normal to put these kinds of characters in the world. It would help with immersion and would make the place feel more real because it had laws and governments and officials enforcing those laws. Although she still couldn't tell, she assumed that they were NPC's, because real players surely wouldn't ride around like this. They would be out there killing monsters and collecting loot, not asking other players for papers.

"No papers eh?" He turned around and looked at his men, two of whom smiled and nodded in amusement. "You are not from around here are you?"

"No, I'm not" she wondered what the consequences would be. This might be some interesting bit of roleplaying, something designed to teach her about the local laws or something. She could do without it though, she wanted to finish the trip and get herself acquainted with Oakridge.

"No papers and you're not from around here. Dare I assume that you don't have an affiliation?"

"No I don't have an affiliation," she played along. "What can you tell me about these papers and about the affiliation?"

"I can tell you it's an offence to travel on the Kings Road without the proper papers, that's what I can tell you. I can also tell you that the fine is two gold pieces for a traveller like you getting caught using the road without permission. You can pay me now and then go see the Magistrate when you get to Oakridge."

She didn't need to check but opened her character screen anyway to see how much money she had available. She had six silver and forty-two copper coins. Although she couldn't be sure, she assumed that there was 100 to 1 ratio between silver and gold. In any case, she was far off being able to pay the fine.

"I'm afraid I don't have that amount of money." She checked her bag in case there was something else she might offer, but all she had were a couple of animal skins and some fruit she had picked up along the way.

"I have a couple of high-quality leather hides and some leather scraps to trade, in case you're interested?" The man in front of her shook his head and chuckled. "If it is such a big deal, I'll just walk off the main road until I get to Oakridge, and make sure I speak to the Magistrate about getting papers when I get there."

The man gave off a sly and nasty grin. "You won't get off that easy lady. The deed is done, you've committed an offence and you will have to pay. If you can't pay the fine, you will have to work it off when we get to town." He waved one of his men over who jumped off his horse and grabbed a coil of rope before approaching. "And no, those leather scraps are worth nothing."

Anika let herself be tied up. She wondered what to do about all this and thought they were taking things too far, but it was probably part of the experience. At least she would get to Oakridge, which was all that mattered.