Deacon and his friends made their way through the southern district of the Crystal Cascade. Tantus stopped several times to examine the stationary crystals in the ground. They were nowhere near as large as the ones adjacent to the palace. This far out they were about three inches tall. Deacon had to tug him away from the ground as he was drawing a lot of attention. When questioned why no one harvested the crystals both Typhus and Deacon began explaining the issue.

“That sounds terrible. All these inert crystals could be used several enchantments if they still had their connection to arcane energy. Such a shame.” Tantus replied.

“Yea, I know that look by now. Don’t let your curiosity get the better of you.” Deacon said before turning and running into a mountain of man.

“Watch where you are going tourist!” The man yelled.

“Woah big guy. I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.” Deacon replied lifting his hands up in a gesture of nonviolence.

“Your father is sorry; sorry he didn’t pull out.” Laughed the large man who was suddenly flanked by laughing followers.

“Look, how about I buy you fine gentlemen a drink. That’s a better apology, right?” Deacon asked as Tantus started tugging on his shirt from behind. Deacon could see where this was going, and the others didn’t stop when he went back for Tantus. Maybe he could smooth this over with some coin.

“It’s first thing in the morning, are you dumb or something?” Scoffed the large man showing he had some missing teeth in his smile.

“Hey Tantus, can you run along while I help my new friends here get some non-liquid breakfast?” Deacon asked almost tossing Tantus further down the busy road.

“He’s dumber than we thought. See ya later Kel’Aish boy, we’ll send him back to you shortly.” Said the big lug as his two buddies slowly circled to either side of Deacon.

“Shouldn’t we go into that alley over there? Aren’t you afraid of the guard?” Deacon asked trying to keep all three in his peripheral. He started to move toward the alley, and they matched his pace. The big guy had club on his back while the other two had their hands on their sword hilts.

“The guard doesn’t care what happens to crystal lookers. Easiest way to find tourists.” Chuckled the one on Deacon’s left. They all entered the nearby alley separating themselves from the hustle and bustle of the morning.

“Ok, give us your bag and we won’t have to hurt you. Scream and we’ll stick ya.” Threatened the one on his right.

“How about I give you nothing?” Deacon asked as he triggered his intangibility. The big one almost had a pig pen like dirt cloud around him, his clothes were caked in filth. They obviously didn’t know what happened as they continued to smirk.

“This is the easiest job ever. Why was the boss so worried?” Asked one of the swordsmen as he drew his blade. The big one just shook his head at him. That made him re-sheath it.

“Not yet, too close to the road.” Said the big guy.

“Come on we’re far enough now. Let’s get the hood on him and let’s go.” Complained the other swordsman.

Deacon was confused. This didn’t sound like a normal robbery. What was the hood they were talking about. He didn’t like this and hoped Tantus would bring the others back quickly. Suddenly and without warning, the big guy snapped a punch at Deacon’s face. The big man was shocked as his hand past right through it and he stumbled into the alley behind Deacon tumbling into a pile of refuse. The others stopped moving entirely. They looked back at Deacon and then down at the man on the ground pulling a discarded fruit rind off his face. Deacon took this opportunity to step closer to the road. His movement sparked one of the still standing men to produce a black hood and lunge at Deacon at the same time his buddy slashed out with a move that would make Ralph jealous. It appeared he pulled the sword and slashed horizontally sending a crackling wave of force toward Deacon. His only mistake was not looking to see what his partner was doing at the time. Due Deacon moving toward the road, the man with the hood took the brunt of the force slash. It opened up a huge gash in his midsection. That attack made the arm holding the hood whip back and cover his buddy’s face. The one now wearing the hood dropped to the ground like someone lost their grip on a bag of apples.

“This is a joke, right? Were you trying to kidnap me?” Deacon asked still backing his way out of the alley.

All of this happened in a few heartbeats as the big one got back to his feet. He looked down at his now bleeding compatriot and the other one snoring into the black hood. Then he looked up at Deacon with a murderous scowl on his face that quickly softened into a look understanding. Tantus appeared behind Deacon flanked by the Cardinal Unit, Amanda with her knives out, and finally Ralph standing in an aggressive stance. Ralph’s eyes were like tiny steel knives as his fingers danced on the hilt of his blade.

“You know what? I think I have to see a man about a horse.” The big guy said hoisting his bleeding friend on shoulders and running in the opposite direction.

“Two minutes. We left you with Tantus for two minutes.” Typhus scolded.

“Not my fault this time. You see that guy on the ground. They tried to put that on my head. This wasn’t about robbing me. Should have thought of that sooner since it’s a well lit morning.” Deacon said shaking his head.

“Come on, let’s take him to the guard. Ty, get his weapons off of him. I don’t think you’re ready for the capital city.” Armand said.

“The capital city isn’t ready for him.” Tantus replied.

“I choose to take that as praise instead of an insult.” Deacon said.

They tied up their captive but left the hood on him. They found the closest guard post, left a full report of what happened, remanded the sleeping man into their custody and went on their way. The streets were filled with market stalls and carts selling wares. Ralph started to eyeball a stall selling swords before Amanda looped her arm under his and pulled him back to the group. They managed to pass a strange man with a small boulder on his back. He had monks robes on, and he was going through the motions of everyday life. Deacon had never seen anything like it before. The streets were set up in blocks more like triangles than squares. They were laid out top to bottom. Meaning the corner of a triangle was often next to the base of another. The group eventually passed a large cemetery with a crier on the corner yelling about the King’s Tournament this week.

“King’s Tournament?” Deacon asked.

“Yes, well it’s a method the royalty uses to recruit un-guilded warriors. Easier to swell the ranks if there is money and glory in it. The more you win the better the chances of being an officer instead of a front line soldier in war times. War must be looming if his majesty has started the tournament.” Armand said.

“You won’t have to worry your little head about it. We won’t be here long enough for that. The rest of the Dwellers headed over to the embassy to secure passage out of the eastern district. We leave directly after you meet with the King. So get your sight seeing in now.” Typhus said.

About an hour later they made it into the Center District where all the outer districts met. It looked like there was a guild hall on every corner. Even some guilds Deacon had never heard of before. Armand explained that besides the thieves, mages, and adventurer’s guilds he was familiar with there were merchant guilds, assassins guilds, and fighters guilds. Armand raised a hand to forestall any questions and commented that there are guilds for almost any organization in the city. What they were looking for became abundantly clear. The same shaped building as the Cow’s Udder only this one was eight stories tall and half again as wide.

“Welcome to the Adventurer’s guild headquarters.” Armand proclaimed.

“It’s much bigger.” Deacon said.

“Size doesn’t matter.” Typhus responded.

“Too easy.” Deacon said getting a scowl from Typhus.