The shining white walls of Foscor came into view just below the cloud cover. The group could just barely make out the black and red banners draped down the cliffside leading into the Capitol City’s Harbour. Dozens of ships were waiting to enter as dozens more exited.

“Welcome recruits, to the Capital City. Population 100,000. As you can see, the city was built on a hill and designed to spiral inwards and upwards towards the Overlord’s Citadel. The harbor sits at the bottom of these cliffs and there’s an elevator that will take us up.” said a man coming to join them looking at the city.

“I am Jacques, the captain of this ship.” His voice was dark and smooth, with a hint of an accent.

Arilee turned to see a man with long, dark hair. It was finely combed and well taken care of. Jacques was dressed in the standard Overlord uniform colors, but his armor and gear were shined well and of good quality.

“This is so exciting!” said Leela. “The city is so big! There are so many ships!”

“Indeed. Biggest seaport in the land. It’s magically-enhanced as well.” said Captain Jaques cheerfully, who reached into his pouch to retrieve a circular mechanism with a button. Pressing it, a line of green lights appeared in front of the ship, leading it to the docks.

Chip, watching in amazement asked, “Captain Jaques, what did that do? What are those lights?”

“Well, with all these ships, some smart mage thought it’d be smart to create guidelines to help ships easily find a docking space. If you register your ship with the city, they give you one of these.

“I would never have thought of using magic like that,” said Chip.

“Yessss, very impressssive,” agreed Slicks.

“The Overlord encourages creativity and invention,” replied Jaques.“When we dock, just follow the orders of the Harbour Guards. First, we’ll go through a customs agent. I’ll go first, some people can be a little uneasy around magical folks like Elves and Lizardmen. But, since we’re with the military, there should be no problems.”

The boat rocked gently as it coasted into an open space on the docks. Jacques’s crew quickly went to work tying the ropes to the dock.

“Feelssss good to be on land again,” said Slicks as he dismounted the ship.

“Agreed. After my last two boat rides, I don’t think I will ever set foot on a ship again. First, a sea monster, and then a pirate battle!” said Chip.

“I thought it was kind of exciting,” smiled Leela.

“I’m excited to be in the city,” said Arilee. “It’s much bigger than I was expecting. What do you think is going on over there?” She pointed to a robed man standing on a platform shouting orders to the crowd to form lines.

“That’s the Harbor Checkpoint. Everyone coming into the city must be verified by an agent. The man shouting is part of the MageGuard. They are the only ones who can do that job because they can use Air Spells to amplify their voices.

“Please form an orderly line at the customs agent. Citizens on the left, military personnel on the right. All others see the man at the table behind you.”

Arilee studied the people waiting to get into the city. The civilians were mostly all humans. There were a few larger barbarians, some shorter dwarfs. No elves though.

As they neared the front of the line, Arilee could hear the agent.

“You’re cleared. Next.”

“You’re cleared. Next.”

“You’re - Wait a second Captain.”

The Customs Guard put an arm out in front of Captain Jaques, looking back over the crew.

“Quite a magical creatures you have in your crew, Captain.” said the Guard, staring at Arilee, Leela, and Slicks.

Captain Jaques's smile dropped and his brows lowered. He turned his back to the ground and pulled the custom’s agent over to talk. The group couldn’t hear what he was saying, but Jacques pulled a piece of paper from his jacket that made the customs agent’s face turn white.

The Customs Guard backed down. “Hey now, just doing my job. You all can go through.” He said, making a little mark in his book and waving us on.

“What was that about?” asked Arilee.

“Just a mean person trying to give you the other races a hard time,” he replied.

“What was that you showed him?” she asked back.

“Just some leverage showing we are welcomed here in the city. No worries, you all are safe with me.”

“That was not the warmesssst welcome,” said Slicks, hissing his tongue.

“I’m sure it’ll get better,” said Leela hopefully.

Captain Jaques responded, “If it’ll make you feel better, I can guide you to an inn. I know of a few good diners and taverns as well if you’re interested in seeing some of the city.”

A Dialogue Scroll appeared for Arilee.

Dialogue Scroll

1. Accept Offer

2. Decline, follow Scout Marshall’s directions.

Arilee opted to decline the offer. She decided they might never find the Scout Marshall again if they left the plan now.

“No thank you, Captain. I appreciate the offer but maybe some other time. We have someone to meet.”

“Oh, no worries. Where are you meeting? Maybe I could help with directions”

Leela answered, “ We were told ‘The Inn of Wandering Mists.’ We have to go through a rich section and then it’ll be in a poor section.”

Jacques looked at her confused for a moment. “That doesn’t make much sense. You have to walk through the poor section to get the rich section higher up on the hill. Unless he means... well there is one street. You know what, I think I will come with you anyways.”

The group nodded, seeing no reason to object.