Roll 18 - Go to a Settlement

She turned her head and blew out a kiss before leaving out the door with her back over her shoulder.

Krea twitched on the couch with a low pleasing purr erupting from her throat. She'd have to take a second bath from that and maybe toss out her couch but...., mmmm, god Zaya was a good fuck. She'd really been needing one for a good while now.

As she got up and started to clean, she wasn't able to see the number above her head. And if Zaya could see it, she'd be able to clearly see a 27% now.
Dink!
26% that is.

Alone now, Zaya started to think on what to do. She stretched her back, arms above her head as she walked. She could just go back to the pool but she still didn't have too much to bring back. And she didn't get too much more from Krea given that she had fucked her into a stupor. TWICE now. So between that and the mental effects, she wanted to give the druid some time to recover.

She did however give up directions to the village. Zaya had a fair idea from the two memories she ate but this was far more useful. Espically due to the Krea added in a few dangers to the map to watch out for. A few animal dens, at least one cave, and a few areas circled of where bandits and thugs could be. With map in hand, Zaya figured it would best to head to the village.

Signs she was close came into view before she even saw the village. A length of ground had changed from rough uncared for to a more stompped down dirt path. Following it she passed by a length of chest high stonework. It looked rather old and cracked in a few places but still cared for.

"Hmmm...," She thought as she stopped to check, "Looks like the stone in the ruins...., I can't blame them for plundering already used stonework though."

The wall wouldn't keep anything but animals out; it would however slow anything down though.

The trees started to part as she went on, before she got to a large clearing. She could see the roofs and chimneys up ahead and even what was clearly a chapel to some god. The rather thick wooden wall however blocked anything else. Made sense to have some sort of protection against the creatures around here.

Or anything from the ruins.

But at the end of the day, it was just a Motte-and-bailey fortification; a somewhat sturdy ground wall, with a fortification up on a raised hill with a mix of wood and stone walls. The people would hide behind that second wall should the village be attacked... or maybe flee if there was a hidden passage.

She walked by a few farm plots down the road, giving a wave to a few workers she saw. Only two of the younger work hands responded.

When she got to the wall she went for the main gate, a guard looked her up and down. He seemed decently armed with a pike and chainmail by the look of it, and there was a pair of guards on the wall above the gate. They were lax with their attention but she could see heavy crossbows on their backs. Still other than a few questions, she wasn't really checked out. And so she was waved into the village of Reevastward.

The village was build down two main roads running perpendicular to each other. The north south road seemed to be the main 'visitor' road with the main market being there and spin off shops and business. The east west one hosting more local attractions and most the homes, along with a small temple and the stonework redoubt. Most the people were off and about doing their own shopping or works.

"I might be able to get some coin from a shop or something too." She thought as she hefted her backpack.

It took a bit to find a place that would buy from her, and she even had to go back near the gate thus retracing her steps but she finally made a deal. Though she wasn't sure if she was getting ripped off or not as she hadn't thought to ask her fuck buddy how much it would be worth. Still she walked out of the shop with a decent pouch of coin; mainly silver and some gold.

"I should mark this shop down though....," she thought as she gave a last wave to the shop-keep, noting her pointier ears.

The village was mainly humans but she'd seen a few dwarves, mainly in the crafting profession, and a few humans with longer hair, thinner bodies, and longer ears. Must be half elves or something along those lines. They seemed more common than the dwarves but the only elf she saw was from a distance so she couldn't really judge how they compared besides the longer ears. The Elf seemed important, possibly a noble or local leader from their brighter clothes so she simply went the other way, dodging the crowd they were talking to.

Seemed like something was going on in town...., was it related to her? Didn't seem to be, as she saw a pair of figures in the crowd that stood out. They looked like a mix of a welder and a deep see diver; very heavy looking gear that was a mix of leather and metal, with a large helmet with a secondary face guard. Whatever was happening seemed to be focused on them so she was in the clear for now.

Still best to try and find an out of the way spot to hold up for awhile, wait for whatever it was to blow over. Besides with how long it took her to get here, not to mention wasting a few hours taking care of Krea, it would be dark by the time she got back to the Pool. While she could see in the dark, she didn't want to risk running into something meaner at night. Better to find lodging in town.

That took a bit longer as Zaya tried to ask without coming off as too sketchy but after asking where she could find a quite place away from all the noise, she finally found what she was looking for. Near the wall but away from the main roads, she found a longer two story building with a sign that read 'Shallow Bell Inn', complete with a bell drawing.

Entering, Zaya heard a small bell ring out. A 'thump' was heard from behind a door near the counter. A head with cropped, curled, blond hair and brown eyes poked out of the door before the rest of the body came out. She was a little short, under 5 feet, with a somewhat fit build(probably from doing so much labor as opposed to doing exercise or training) and a round, unremarkable face. As if she hadn't lost all her childhood roundness even if she was in her twenties now..., maybe too many sweets as a child.

Her skin was a bit paler though, probably due to not getting enough sun. But she did look cute in the green tunic dress and apron. She waved Zaya to come more into the room.

"Welcome!" the innkeeper said with some cheer in her voice, "I wasn't expecting anyone till the dinner rush so I was just doing some work in the office."

"Oh no no you're fine. Do you have any rooms open?" Zaya asked as she felt around in her pocket for some coins.

"But of course. It’s the slow season, so I have a couple rooms at the moment. Heck you’re the only one around right now." The woman answered.

“Really now?” Zaya, thoughts starting to drift into her mind, but she fought that off and took out some money. Planting down two gold, she asked "Would this be enough?"

"For that? I'll keep your room open to you for a week. Food is also covered in your payment." she said as she took the coins and handed over a key, "Up the stairs, second door on the left."

"Thank you." Zaya took a moment to shift her pack as if looking relieved, "You said food is covered? Could you make me a bowl or plate of... whatever dish you think is best? I'm pretty big on meat."

"I can get something ready for you. Go unpack, just note don't try to take anything out of your room, I'll know if something is missing." the innkeeper said as she moved from behind the counter over the the kitchen.

Odd, did she work this inn alone? That might explain a few things about how empty and unused this inn was. More than likely just a local watering hole that had a couple spare rooms to rent. The room she found also helped to explain that; the bed was rather small but could fit her and only a few other bits of furniture were placed inside the room. However it was rather clean with a few homey touches so it wasn't a dump. And the lock was very sturdy from what she tested before heading back down. It would hold against anyone not sneaky enough. Or if they simply didn't care about making noise.

Walking back down stairs, she went over to the 'dinning room' area. The ground floor seemed to be welcoming area which opened up into a dinning area. A few doors lead to restrooms or the eqvilant along with more than likely the kitchen. In fact the innkeeper came out of a door with a tray holding both a large mug and a bowl. Put down in front of Zaya, the bowl had a large mass of cooked ground meat along with a few greens as a side dish. A smaller bowl had some slices of bread to go with. Taking a knife she cut into the large patty, seeing it had melted cheese inside.

"You made this?" Zaya asked as she started to dig into the meal. It was so much better than her own dinner last night.

"Yeah....," the innkeeper blushed as she handed over the mug full of water, "Well I was going to eat this before the evening crowd starts coming in so I just threw in some more for you."

"It's delicious, thank you! I'm going to get stuff like this for the entire week?"

"SURE.... beer is extra." she quickly added which got a laugh from Zaya.

"PFFF hahahaha, I see how you do things now. Smart gal." she took a moment to take a drink, "I think I'm going to enjoy staying here. But I have my own brew."

She took out a small bottle and took a sip from it, making sure to give a nice soothing 'aaaaaah' from the taste. She saw the Innkeeper lick her lips for just a moment. Zaya gestured with the container.

"You wanna taste?"