Thilo was right about this city. Everywhere I go, it’s cold shoulders and narrowed eyes. Service delivered like an obligation, not a welcome. When I paid for my room, the innkeeper looked at me like I had no right to be here. What’s the point of running an inn if you resent the people who keep it standing?<\/span><\/p>\n Any fantasies I had about finding an inn or tavern to perform have been quietly strangled. No one wants an outsider. I don\u2019t get it. I look around, and trade is everywhere\u2013there are boats along the river, markets and shops with goods from beyond Isger, and of course our <\/span>own<\/span><\/i> caravan which brought cargo in addition to travelers. I must have missed the sign that says, \u201cWe want your money. We just don\u2019t want <\/span>you<\/span><\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But, Nine Hells, it\u2019s more than even that. These people barely seem to want <\/span>each other<\/span><\/i>. I overheard two elderly men in the common room, and one of them actually said, \u201cTrue friends aren\u2019t too friendly\u201d. Apparently, that\u2019s an aphorism around here. They\u2019re suspicious of their own neighbors.<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s more cheer at the town gallows. Magdh, there are <\/span>two <\/span><\/i>of them.<\/span><\/p>\n And I get to spend three more nights here before the next travelers leave for Elidir.<\/span><\/p>\n Iskaryn is faring better than I am. The walls around us are high, but they enclose stretches of the farmland that surround the city\u2013and its spite. There\u2019s also a shabby orchard in the city\u2019s center, the trees overgrown and gnarled from neglect.<\/span><\/p>\n From what I feel through the bond, she prefers the orchard and perches there during the day. As long as she minds Thilo\u2019s warning, she can pass for nothing more than a particularly self-possessed bird.<\/span><\/p>\n She can feel me, too. When a stare lingers too long, or someone\u2019s tone sharpens, I can feel her tense up. There\u2019s this restrained indignation at the edge of my thoughts. She <\/span>wants <\/span><\/i>to intervene. I know how badly she does.<\/span><\/p>\n But she\u2019s keeping herself in check.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Saringallow evening Thilo was right about this city. Everywhere I go, it’s cold shoulders and narrowed eyes. Service delivered like an obligation, not a welcome. When I paid for my room, the innkeeper looked at me like I had no right to be here. What’s the point of running an inn if you resent the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[88],"class_list":["post-5393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aoa-vignettes","tag-aemi"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5393"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5394,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5393\/revisions\/5394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}