The guild hall to get signed up.

This “adventurer’s guild” had me interested. As far as I knew it wasn’t a part of the world I created, but it did sound like something I might include if a player asked about it. It was an excellent and easy way to hook players into adventures.

“Heian,” I turned and looked at the cute, girlish half-elf.

“Yeah?” he cocked an eyebrow.

“What are some of the benefits of the adventurer’s guild? I’ve never looked into it.”

“I’m kinda curious, too,” Syvana added.

“It’s nothing especially grandiose, just convenient,” Heian explained. “For a one-time fee of ten gold, you become a member. Members get paid in full for completed bounties and missions, they can post themselves on a group-searching board if they need it, they can use the guild as a sort of bank to store their coin, stuff like that. They also have an adventuring gear shop that has a bunch of general traveling equipment at a discounted price. Larger cities might also offer other services like blacksmiths and even shops with magic items, exclusive to the guild.”

That did sound pretty handy.

“Can you show us to the guild hall? I have ten gold on me, as it happens,” Tyvhoran said.

“Sure,” Heian got up and stretched. He was definitely only five feet tall, an unusually small height for a half-elf, who were generally taller than humans on average. Everyone else stood up with him with one exception, Menhat remained seated.

“Not coming?” I asked.

“Gonna miss me?” Menhat winked at me, and I blushed, not used to being flirted with at all. Then again, Setsuka was much cuter than I was. “I’m already a novice member, a rank above what you guys will be. I’m just gonna turn in early for the night, we’ll probably have a busy day tomorrow.”

“That’s fair,” Heian concluded, “let’s go, you three.”

Something was nagging at me for going outside without my sword at my hip, it was likely just my character’s instincts kicking in. Setsuka had a wisdom and intelligence of 14 so her senses were sharp as a knife. Not to mention that she had an 8 bonus to initiative, the highest in the team, thanks to her Alert feat chosen at 4th level. It was interesting that these mental factors seemed to actually affect me. I definitely was not very observant in the real world, but thanks to these stats my observation skills were through the roof.

That being said, there was a feeling of detachedness about it that I couldn’t quite explain. It didn’t feel so much like I had these heightened senses or instincts, it felt much more like I was borrowing them. But, in a way, I supposed that made sense. I wasn’t, strictly speaking, actually Setsuka herself, I was just… occupying her? Was this what it felt like to be a ghost possessing someone?

Either way, I was noticing every little detail as I passed them by. For instance, the way that Heian walked a bit awkwardly while he was ahead of us, like having us watch him walk was making him self-conscious. It was clear he wasn’t used to walking with other people, least of all in the lead. Syvana seemed to be thinking about other things as she walked along, not really paying attention to her environment at all. Finally, Tyvhoran was smiling warmly at nearly every passerby on her way to the tavern’s door.

I also heard Menhat say, “Okay my turn,” from behind us and then summoned the barmaid. I could only imagine she had less-than-proper intentions, and perhaps had been planning to offer Katherine a generous tip like I had.

When we emerged into the street, I took quick and careful note of the tavern name, “The Demon & the Dunce”. It would do well to know, especially if I had to try and find my way back when we finished our business at the guild. As some interesting coincidence, the initials of this tavern were “D&D”, which would be a relatively useful pneumonic to remember the name by.

I was immediately confronted with how fresh the air was. But of course it was, this was a world of magic and wonder; not fossil fuels and motor vehicles. There wasn’t anything to create pollutants here, at least nothing big enough to be a major problem.

It suddenly occurred to me, as I looked around at the various people going about their daily lives, that this whole planet probably only had about one-hundred and fifty million people on it, since it was modeled after a medieval time period. There was around one person on planet Keldem for every forty-six people on Earth. This world had far fewer people than the one I came from, and it showed. Particularly because this part of the world wasn’t even as densely populated as other parts. Naskalivard had that exclusive honor, I knew.

We were in Lakewood, according to Heian, a major city in the kindgom of Doldra. Their major exports were fish that they got from Lake Fairwhite, on which the town was nestled against the south-western shore. It was also home to an important military base, since it was a large town that was positioned well for defense against potential attacks from Kalendyne, Doldra's overzealous eastern neighbor.

But the point was it was a tiny city compared to what I had come to expect of my modern era. This was something I always knew was the case logically, in terms of a fantasy world, but never truly comprehended until now, just like the lack of pollutants in the air.

I was so distracted by the scenery that I almost immediately lost track of the rest of the group. I quickly jogged ahead to catch up with them. This short jog also surprised me. I was used to short jogs completely kicking my ass and making me a panting mess. Back in the real world, I had never been terribly fit. But a short jog was just as easy for me as walking. I had to imagine Setsuka’s 14 constitution and 16 dexterity had something to do with that, even if her strength was sitting at a lackluster 9.

We approached a building much larger than the others in the area, two stories, in fact. The first story was comprised primarily of stone masonry while the second floor, much like the rest of the buildings in the town, was comprised of very long, thick logs. The rooftops of the buildings were either wooden planks or tiled and painted a deep indigo color. I knew this to be the kingdom’s official color, as it was presented on its banners and flags.

In this world, purple was a color often associated with magic, and blue was a color of protection and adamancy. Indigo was sort of a combination of the two colors, which represented Doldra’s dedication to providing a safe haven for spellcasters who fled the prison-like magic “academies” of Kalendyne to the north. Seeing all of the things that were only present in my notes and in my mind fully realized was frankly amazing and awe-inspiring.

We entered through a large pair of double doors, and I almost believed I had entered into another tavern. There were a number of round tables set up in a large grand hall full of people who looked like adventuring types. The differences between this place and an inn became quickly apparent, however. This place was cleaner, it was quieter, and in lieu of a bar there were several large kiosks with people sitting inside. It sort of reminded me of a movie theater ticket booth, except instead of glass there was a brass ornate cage. All of the people inside these booths looked busy, organizing papers or flipping through books and taking notes. A few of them were speaking to the various adventurers in the room.

“That’s the place where you’ll register,” Heian pointed to a kiosk at the very end, and we made our way over there. There were a few people ahead of us in a lengthy line, so we had to stand and wait. In the meantime, I peered around the room, examining the environment, and taking note of a few things. Namely, I spotted the quest board, the bounty board, and the kiosk that served as the payout window for both. I also noticed how much better geared the other people in here were than us, making me think they must have been seasoned adventurers. There were a few newbies like us, but not many, and most of them were in the line with us.

After making note of the environment, my mind began to wander. If I really was the Dungeon Master of this game, I needed to figure out how to really get stuff done here. I didn’t really know how to change things besides NPCs. It may have been just as easy as thinking stuff, but even if it was, I felt like that would be awkward and it would be difficult to organize. It’s not like I had a binder full of DM notes like I did back home.

At a certain point I was knocked out of my thoughts by the approach of someone who seemed to be headed directly for our group. Specifically Heian.

She was a halfling woman, which this world’s interpretation seemed to simply be a human who had been sized down to about half a human’s height and proportionally a slightly larger head. Otherwise, all proportions, even the feet, were unchanged. She was very curvy. Not just hips and thighs for days, mind you, but big boobs. If she were the same size as the rest of us, her breasts would have been even bigger than Menhat’s.

She was wearing a fancy gold-and-black robe overtop a very revealing white dress. The garment was basically a perfectly acceptable gown that went from the neck to the floor, with exception to a giant hole in the torso that showed off her soft-looking belly and a massive amount of underboob. Perhaps on a less curvy individual it would have been perfectly reasonable, but with her mammaries, any sense of decency never stood a chance.

“Heian,” she called as she approached, pushing up a pair of gold-framed glasses closer to her striking green eyes. Her light brown hair was neatly pulled back into a bun, with only a couple bangs hanging down and framing her face. She sort of reminded me of a secretary.

“Oh, Celia!” Heian called with a smile, and it was the first time I’d seen the expression on him since I met him.

“What are you doing in this line?” the halfling asked, tilting her head, “You just became a journeyman, right?”

Heian threw a thumb backward at Tyvhoran, Syvana, and me, “I’m in a party now, they haven’t signed up yet. Just showing them the ropes.”

Celia turned her gaze on us, running her eyes up and down our bodies in an examinatory fashion. She had the look of someone who was never surprised by anything, so when she got to me and actually did a double-take at the bulge at my crotch, I took that as a personal victory.

“My name is Celia Olivia Hobbin Willowbell II,” she did a curtsy, “I am an attendant at the guild.”

“Attendant?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Attendants are basically party managers,” Heian explained, “they travel with a party in a non-combat role and take care of a lot of menial tasks for the party. Like managing our money, keeping a journal on events we encounter, and providing general utility magic.”

“That sounds really useful,” I said, and then the gears began to turn in my head. I was having an idea.

“Yes, but they’re only available to members who sign up with the guild’s platinum plan, which is considerably more expensive than the standard membership fee.”

“How much?” Syvana asked. I was curious now too.

“Ten platinum coins,” Celia replied, “or its equivalent in gold.”

That was a lot of money. Especially for an adventuring party just starting out. In Keldem, platinum pieces were far more valuable in my worlds than in a typical D&D world. Ordinarily the exchange from gold to platinum was ten gold for one platinum, but here in this world, the exchange rate was one-hundred gold per platinum. Which meant the platinum plan cost one-thousand gold.

That was a lot, but it sounded like a decent deal if you could afford it. And more to the point, I was beginning to think I desperately needed it. Specifically, I wanted Celia for a very specific reason...