Jeff Inlo - Chain of Bargains

As opposed to immersing herself into the details of the oddities, Holli focused on the city as a whole-obtained an outlook of the bizarre situation from a high level and on a large scale. As the entire population of Ashlan seemed to accept the coalescence of humans and dark creatures, she viewed the city as one massive, complex curiosity. She tracked individuals only to the point where she could understand their part in the overall structure. She wished to understand how the city could possibly operate under such radical conditions.

In hopes of finding some plausible explanation, she looked more to the activities of the dark creatures than the humans. Scores of goblins meandered along the streets in daylight as well as at night. They traveled in packs, and did not socialize with the humans in any intimate manner. Holli found this behavior consistent with her understanding of dark creatures as described in elflore. She could not, however, understand why the goblins established a presence in a human city without the desire to conquer the indigenous population.

As she noted the size of the goblin population within the city limits, that question became even more vexing. The troublesome fiends numbered a sufficient force to take control of at least one third of Ashlan. They could have hunkered down within and around the closely built structures and thwarted any assault to remove them. All they had to do was come together as a horde-which was their basic instinct-and inflict heavy casualties on the humans in one particular area. They did not, however, employ such a strategy.

Instead, they moved about as if they had already conquered the entire population, but decided not to suppress the humans into bondage. For the most part, they simply ignored the people around them, accepted them as an unavoidable minor annoyance. The only time they interacted with humans was when they hoped to obtain some material possessions or when some dispute arose.

While the humans kept their distance, there were times when contact simply couldn't be avoided. Goblins didn't like stepping around people and made their disapproval apparent in many ways. They often shoved humans aside roughly and made grunting, scowling threats to those that didn't move fast enough for their liking.

Still, the goblins showed much more restraint than the elf ever expected. On many occasions, she waited for what she believed would be an inevitable violent encounter, but the goblins never pushed any confrontation to that level. Many times they would even back down. It was not out of fear of the humans, for there were times they greatly outnumbered their adversaries, yet still they refrained from outright conflict.

As Holli continued to monitor the activities throughout Ashlan, the conduct of the other prevalent dark creatures became apparent, and in this, she found her answer. She could not help but notice the presence of inferns all around the city the very first night she entered Ashlan. Their glowing bodies gave away their positions like burning torches dropped in hollow black pits, but unlike the goblins, the half-demons limited their activity.

They moved about the city, but in slow methodical fashion. Whereas the goblins interaction with humans was narrow, the inferns remained completely aloof. They walked among the people, but never with them, never acknowledging the humans in any significant fashion. They did not enter stores or taverns with any regularity. They did not press their way through crowded streets. Never did the slightest conflict arise between infern and human.

Just as with the goblins, the infern behavior confounded the elf guard. As foot soldiers for draevols, inferns served as shock troops. It was not only their mission, but their inherent nature, to cause turmoil, and yet, they did not prey upon the weak or make any attempt to cause damage or suffering. Holli would have expected the city to be nothing more than a burning cinder with so many inferns walking Ashlan's streets, but the half-demons refrained from all barbaric actions.

Holli could not help but recognize the actions of the inferns, as they moved about the city like sentries intent on keeping order. Their actions became obvious and their tactics were very familiar to an elf guard who's duty it was the to protect an entire elf camp. The half-demons positioned themselves as peacekeepers, and their appearance often dissuaded the goblins from acting aggressively. They even revealed an uncanny knack to anticipate goblin bedlam before it broke loose, and they always appeared to lurk nearby just before any encounter destabilized.

Even from up high, Holli could see that the goblins feared the half-demons. She witnessed them cease their aggressive behavior and scatter at the sight of a disapproving infern. With such dread in place, she could not deny the goblins' willingness to refrain from hostility and to accept a less combative life among the humans.

The explanation did little to ease Holli's concerns. It simply accounted for the goblins' restraint. It did little to clarify the inferns' desire to act as mediators. It also did not explain why the humans allowed the goblins to enter the city and why inferns were placed in positions of power and control.

She was also becoming certain that Ashlan was at the very heart of the turmoil across the Great Valleys. After monitoring the goblin activity, she realized that the dark creatures utilized the city as a base for their activities. Many came and left during the first two days of her investigation of the city. She watched the flow of travelers across the main roadways, and the near endless flow of goblins simply could not be dismissed.

There was also the matter of Prilgrat. He was obviously an influential figure within Ashlan, and in a town where inferns kept the peace and goblins coexisted with humans, a man of influence would hold many answers.

As a regional steward, Prilgrat maintained contacts across several of the valleys, that much could be assumed by the politics of the area, but he also served as the link to the soldiers at Huntston. Holli still could not guess why Prilgrat ordered towns in the valleys to keep watch for her and Ryson, but it proved another link to Ashlan and the mysteries of the region.

During her reconnaissance, Holli had located key town centers, including the offices of the regional stewards. She had pinpointed Prilgrat from afar, even followed him to his home, but she would not make contact until she spoke to Ryson. When the time came to confront the steward, she wanted to make certain she knew the right questions to ask. That time was growing near.

On the third night of her excursion into the city, she turned her mind to another anomaly. The magic around Ashlan behaved in a similar manner to that of the energy at Huntston. The magical flow from above and around the city bent toward the collection of structures and its inhabitants. She could not pinpoint an exact source for the disturbance, but she could not deny its existence.

The magic washed over the city as a whole as opposed to focusing upon one distinct point. She disregarded the thought of a single spell caster trying to manipulate the forces. A wizard redirecting magic with no cause or purpose was a waste of effort, but she could not make any greater assumptions beyond that. Something pulled at the energy, directed it toward the city and then sent it back on its way.

While Holli would not risk revealing herself by questioning the general population of Ashlan, she accepted the minimal peril of exposing herself to an individual she had perceived in her earlier explorations of the city. The magical pulse across the city was making it extremely difficult to sense other spell casters, and there seemed to be an almost blatant lack of sorcery within the city limits, but one building caught her attention quite by accident.