Flora and fauna
Fresh air welcomed her as she closed the door behind her. Darren had still been sleeping when she had left her room, as was the innkeeper, snoring loudly in the common room. She had helped herself to some bread and eggs and decided she would go see the mayor next. Dusk of Dawn looked a whole lot different during daytime than it did at night; the houses looked quaint and old-fashioned, the streets were mostly dirt roads and the ceremonial pole in the middle of the plain looked like it hadn't been tended to in ages.
The plain itself, however, was made of a beautiful type of rock. Not unlike her peculiar hair, it seemed to shift colors when walking across it. Of course, only the most influential people had their houses and shops on the edge of this marvelous plain.
The sun, she noticed, was only just peeking up from the horizon and lit the world up after the trouble and pleasure she had gone through that night, washing most of her worries away. This low sun also cast long shadows and, upon closer inspection, she saw that the shadow the pole cast was reminiscent of a sundial albeit this one was huge. The whole plain seemed to have numbers carved into it, showing the hour of the day to anyone who walked by.
Even though she could see the mayor's house nearby, she seemed a bit hesitant to walk across the plain to it. Located directly across from the Inn it had the large number '12' inscribed into it. The highlight of the day just had to be cast upon the most important figure in the village. She scoffed at that notion.
She sighed as she felt reluctant to meet up with a self-important person. No use in wasting any more time though. The sooner she would find out what the Snugloth was bothering and create her potions, the sooner she could get on the road again.
She picked up a quick stride and glanced upwards as she passed the pole. She could see a giant shadow and fur softly dancing in the wind; the Snugloth clearly enjoyed his home up there as he seemed vastly asleep at this moment.
"What secret are you hiding, little fella? What is bothering you so much to shed your hair and make everybody fall asleep?" She softly murmured to herself. She shrugged and then hurried to the mayor's house, pointed out to her by one of the customers who was also awake at this hour of day, about 6 o'clock in the morning according to the sundial under her feet.
She reached the heavily inscribed, beautifully adorned, oaken door to the biggest house in the town, at least as far as she had seen. The knocker resembled the pillar behind her, except that this one still maintained the features the pillar behind her had lost through age and erosion.
She knocked three times and waited patiently. A shiver ran up her spine knowing the sole reason for putting nearly the entire town to sleep was lazily sleeping right behind her, from a height she could not reach. If he would shed now she would have no way out and she knew she was out of 'all-nighter', the last one having been used to play around with a handsome Gargoyle in one of the towers of Bellhammel. She tried to regret it but thinking back only put a smile on her face and a blush on her cheeks.
It took another minute before she was snapped out of her daydream and the door finally opened. An aging man stood in the door opening, wearing sleeping attire, topped off with a sleeping hat. He rubbed his eyes as he eyed his early visitor.
"Good morning, mayor." Viria started off. "I've come to rid you of your mascot's little problem." He eyed her and then fixated on her dazzling river of hair. Naturally she had taken good care of looking her very best this morning, as she did every day. Her hair had been brushed until it shone and using natural products she had applied some cosmetics that topped off her natural beauty.
She was dissatisfied when the man only cleared his throat. "A girl has come to take care of the Snugloth?" Asked a raspy voice. A pang of anger shot through Viria as he emphasized 'girl' a little too much. As a professional she decided to pretend not to hear it. She did, however, lower her own tone. "Your town seems to have a sleeping problem and I think I can help with that."
His eyes trailed off to the pillar behind her and his eyes widened as he realized what kind of risk he took by keeping his door open. "Yeah," he said hurriedly, "just come in and we'll talk." He took a step back and allowed her to enter his home.
The inside was exactly as she expected. A plethora of paintings, vases, carpets, hanging lamps and furniture were carefully placed. Not an inch of this home was wasted in an artistic sense. The only thing standing out at the moment were the bright colors of Viria's hair and the bear-patterned shirt and pants the mayor was wearing.
"Can we start discussing the details right now or do you want to slip into something," she paused and looked at his hat, "less comfortable." He muttered an apology and went upstairs, the moment he left the living room a smile crept upon her face. She certainly loved putting self-absorbed people in their place.
She seated herself in one of the huge futons, sat back and took a good look at the room. Her gaze instantly fell upon an interesting painting above the fireplace. It was a huge piece of work, mostly dark except for a depiction of the man she just met but clad in armor. She giggled as it showed the man standing on a rock looking out over a turbulent sea, in his one hand he held a sword and in his other was the severed head of a lion. A severed snake was hanging around his neck which led her to believe it was a chimera he had supposedly slain.
Maybe the mayor is a retired adventurer himself and this is from back when he was still a young and strong lad. One with a strange taste in bed-wear, she had to add.
The creaking of the stairs sounded a second time as the man came back once more, this time dressed in fancy clothes which dispelled any doubts of him ever having been an adventurer. He looked so comfortable in these clothes, he could have never worn anything else.
"Let's get to business then." He started. "My name is Borren of house Torra. I am the mayor of this town. You said something about taking care of Zondax?" He inquired. "Zondax? Is that what you call your Snugloth?" He sat down in a rocking chair near his fireplace and folded his hands. "That's his name. If you have any problems with it, I have sent for some renowned bounty hunters to find out what is happening here. If push comes to shove, I'll let them kill Zondax" His voice was cold and distant. He truly did not seem to care that much for the town's mascot.
Stay professional, Viria. Don't let him get to you."Okay, fair enough, I guess. My name is Viria, a healer from the Selliawoods. I chase rumors and fix problems around the land. The snugloth is a beautiful creature and there must be a logical explanation for his behavior. I won't let you kill him just because you think he's a bother!" A frown appeared on his face.
"So, fierce! Color me surprised and you make it rainbow-colored. Tell you what, sugar. If you manage to calm Zondax down I'll give you a bag of gold. If you fail, I'll have to put him down."
Viria stood up, her expression now changed into one of anger. "Just make sure it contains at least fifty gold coins. Got any leads, mister mayor?" The man shrugged. "There is a monster in the woods east from here. I suspect he has something to do with it." Her eyes grew cold as she looked at him. "And you haven't sent anyone out yourself to investigate it?" He smiled weakly as he lightly shook his head. She then walked back to the door. "Apparently I can't expect the pampered mayor to take care of things for once in his life. Expect me back in a day or two."
He put up his hand and opened his mouth but Viria had already pulled open the front door and stormed off. She heard his voice spitting vitriol behind her but couldn't make out the words. She didn't care, she hated being looked down upon and this man did nothing but that.
She knew, however, that it was probably a bad idea to antagonize this Borren but she had a short temper when dealing with someone with such a condescending stance.
The cool wind welcomed her back outside as she slammed the door behind her. She wasn't sure if it was the slamming of the door or the fresh morning air but she felt already a whole lot better. It's probably because I don't have to look at Boring's face anymore, she mused to herself.
She found herself on the plain once more and thought about her next move. According to the mayor there lived a monster in the woods just outside of town. She remembered seeing it when she walked into town the day before.
She opened her trusty satchel and rummaged through what potions she had left. One vial of 'Surfquake', two 'Hot-in-the-pots' and lastly, a 'Deadtrax'. She had been better stocked but just these potions did not make her helpless. Besides, she would find plenty of ingredients in the woods. If it came to a fight she would be far from helpless with her knowledge of nature and alchemy.
Without wasting any time she left the plain and found herself on the dirt roads once again. As expected of a town plagued by narcolepsy, she encountered only a handful of people on the streets. Most shops were closed, probably by neighbors after discovering the shop owners were vast asleep. Now and then she could see someone sleeping in uncomfortable positions behind windows, all of those opened at least a little bit. They stood no chance to Zondax' sleep-inducing hairs.
On one hand she thought it was a shame such a quaint little town was reduced to this, but on the other hand it was entirely predictable. Why couldn't they choose a mascot that is far less harmful? She would like to see a town where one of those giant Squorrels was jumping from roof to roof. The worst such a creature could do was make its way into the granary and eat his own bodyweight in grain.
