Driftworld Atlas: Demons, HR, and Papersnips

Eons Later - Part 1

What I now consider the beginning started in Caldette, a quaint town built on an endless plain bordering a sea of trees. It was an untamed thicket, only known as the Spleeping Woods, a no‑man's‑land so forbidding that it even divided the two largest nations of this world. Over time, many a merchant had lost their life trying to cross the shades below its canopy, and while this may seem like a waste, their stubbornness had not been in vain. For without their sacrifice, the northern trade route cutting through the woods, through the plains in the south, wouldn't exist, and Caldette, the last station before the green, would not be standing here either.

In front of the gate of that very town, two seedy city guards faced the woods in the distance. Although they were supposed to keep watch, this was the end of an extremely uneventful day, prompting the older of the guards to send his gaze over the countless cabbage fields growing around Caldette. As the proof of the work of countless farmers, they were a sight he connected many memories with, but he was suddenly pulled from the past.

"Something's coming." It was his younger colleague, shaking him from his lethargy. The old guard squinted, scrutinizing the edge of the forest in return, but the sky was now dark, and his eyes not the best anymore. Or maybe, it was just the evening mist that had risen up by now.

"Are you sure?" he asked his colleague when he couldn't spot anything. No merchant would move through the woods at night, and they rarely came this time of the year anyway. But then again, humans weren't the only visitors they had to contend with out here...

The other guard nodded in response, a short gesture, but one that invoked more than enough anxiety in the old guard. His sweaty hands reached to his left and for the spear leaning on the city wall, and now he could see the patch of black that had separated from the forest's edge, beginning to move down the road and towards them. The fog hung everywhere, hiding all its details, and the guards tensed up as it approached. Suddenly, a gust of wind picked up over the fields that were now blue with night, scattering the veil of mist and playing strangely with the clothes it uncovered: A dark coat over worn out boots. A face hidden by a broad hat. An ominous sight, carrying a bindle behind its back. Wait. A bindle?

The guards heaved a relieved breath, calming slightly as the shape arrived at the gate, and when its head turned up, a sharp face came into view. It was thin and pale, belonging to a blond man who wore a mustache and goatee that turned his face even sharper. He had a dangerous air about him, like the crazy kind you didn't want to have as an enemy, and that impression fit the playful glint in his eyes and the fact that he came from the Spleeping Woods all alone. Looking at him, the older guard wasn't sure it would be wise to let him enter the city.

"Hey there." The unknown man waved and cast a look at the darkening sky. "City's still open, right?" Before the guard could ask what he was planning to do inside, the traveler continued. "I just wanted to take a break. That forest was just horrible... You do have an inn, don't you?"

"Y‑yes, two of them even," the old guard finally found his tongue, now breaking out into a smile. "However, its so late, I don't think they still have space for the likes of you. I might be wrong though." Although the guard's voice sounded deliberately light, it was a forced tone, one the traveler had heard so often that he had stopped to count. Almost out of habit, he took a few coins from his pockets. Was it because of his looks? Should he start to wear a bag over his head?

"And how much is the entrance fee in case you are wrong?"

When the guard heard that, a yellowed smile appeared on his face to highlight the silent understanding between them. "Usually, the price's three Stern per head."

"Of course it is." In response, six gray coins headed for the palm of the guard, prompting a sigh from the traveler. Even three would have been too much. Those cutthroats.