Clutter slinks through the shadows to come to my side before the party’s fifth slowly makes his way over to us. He gently taps my shoulder with barely a sense of urgency, then shifts to press himself against the side of the tower. I’ll take that as an ‘all clear’.

  The fifth walks up to the other four, looks them over one by one, then jabs a finger at Ward. “Why is he soaking wet? We’re supposed to be trying to make a good first impression on whoever claimed this tower. That’s impossible with a soggy wizard.”

  “I was showing off.” Ward says. “My magic is dazzling, after all.”

  “Yes, which is why you're soggy and nearly immobile.” The fifth shakes his head and sighs. “I thought I told you not to do that whenever I’m not around.”

  Ward slowly nods. “My apologies.”

  “Yes, you should be sorry. I missed out on a show! And you won’t be able to do it again for, say, six to eight hours!”

  I blink in disbelief and turn to stare at the fifth. There’s still that look of disdain on his face, but his words don’t carry any ill intent. Is he… just as off as the rest of them? Please, no. Give me one of them that’s not infected with whatever the hell they’ve all apparently got.

  “You know there are going to be humans here! We have to make sure we save all of our best moves for them–even if it means scraping through by our fingernails for everything else.” The fifth puffs his chest out with pride. “I will protect us until then, because my spells and skills are not entertaining to watch. You four just focus on being ready to… why are you gesturing to my left?”

  The fifth turns at the insistence of his party. I raise a hand as he stares blankly at me. “Yo.”

  “Oh my. Um… yes.” The fifth clears his throat and squares his shoulders. “Rather, well met, friend! You–oh, that explains why Ward is soaked. I mean, hello, human! I am Dani, paladin of the squiggly sun, and the second of my order only to one of your own glorious kind!”

  He bows deep without taking his eyes off mine. “Please excuse my previous callousness. I was not aware Ward used his magic to put on a show for… you. Um, you are a human, right?”

  “Mostly.”

  “Close enough for us!” Dani snaps to a straight back and motions at his party. “We have modeled our skill sets after the esteemed dungeoneering and quest-completing parties of your own people. If you would be willing, could we have some of your time to discuss human things?”

  The eager look in Dani’s eyes clashes with the sour expression on his face. He must just be made to look annoyed all the time. And… if I’m reading the room right… they’re damn obsessed with humans. Earthaboos or whatever the word would be. It’d explain why they’re dressed like characters from any generic RPG.

  Still, I don’t feel like I should trust them. Something about the group just rubs me the wrong way for some reason. I glance over at where Clutter’s still pressed against the wall, hoping that he’d show some kind of approval or disapproval of the quintet, but he doesn’t react one way or the other. And since Pearl’s just watching with obvious amusement, it falls to me to make a decision.

  No matter what I choose, I’m not letting these cosplaying paindne into our tower. But maybe now’s a good time to use the lighthouses for… anything at all. I jab a thumb at one of them, and everyone turns to look.

  “We can talk up there. And if you don’t have a place to stay, you can take one of the four and put up some defenses.” I decide, though the moment the words leave my mouth, I feel like I’ll regret them sooner or later. “You five go on ahead. I’ll go get my partner in crime and meet you there in a minute.”

  The party of paindne each give their own kind of confirmation, then Jumble shepherds them towards the lighthouse I pointed at. I watch them walk all the way to the wall, make a doorway into it, and step through. The fact that they didn’t need our permission to get inside makes me reconsider how safe these walls around us are. I raise a hand and motion for Clutter to stand next to me.

  The shadows bleed away as he takes his place. I shoot him a glance with one raised eyebrow. “So what did you think of them?”

  “They’re weird.” He states without hesitation. “I can’t tell if they’re strong, weak, smart, stupid, or anything else. And they’re all dressed like some of the humans I’ve seen.”

  I nod in agreement. “Wizard, bard, rogue, paladin, and barbarian. A pretty typical adventuring party you’d see in a video or board game back on Earth.”

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  Clutter frowns. “Then why are they dressed up like that?”

  “That’s what I want to know, but I’m kind of scared to find out.” I sigh and shake my head. “Enough about them for a minute. Who else is on the other side of that wall?”

  “An ogean, two y’tocwa, a gris, and a paindne. The gris and one of the y’tocwa seem to know each other, and the other three look like they have a tenuous alliance. But they’re not familiar with each other at all; too much tension and not enough casualness for that.” He glances over his shoulder and clicks his tongue. “They’ve taken the two lighthouses on that side, just like those five are probably going to take over the one you sent them to.”

  That’s… more than I thought he’d have for me. “Nice work, Clutter.”

  He smiles bashfully. “It’s nothing. All I did was sneak around and listen to them. Oh, and one more thing; that sun-guy scared the heck out of them with that show of power. As long as he’s around, we shouldn't have to worry about any of them attacking us. Or trying anything, really.”

  “More good info.” I smile at Clutter, whose smile widens in response. “Now for the million-dollar question; were any of them even slightly suspicious?”

  “You mean aside from the party of five?”

  I nod.

  He licks his lips in thought. “I’m pretty sure none of them are with stonestep solutions. If they are, they aren’t making it obvious at all. Even if they aren’t, though, we’ve only got ten of the fifteen people who triggered the quest here.”

  “Which means there’s a good chance the horizonguard or his lackeys are still somewhere in the district.” I finish for him as I cross my arms. “We’ll have to be even more careful from now on. No leaving the tower, the workshop, or the room with doors unless we’re all together.”

  “Gotcha.”

  I tap Pearl’s shell. “Just in case you have to be told, that means you, too.”

  Pearl rolls her eyes. I lean around Clutter to try to catch a glimpse of the other five or the twisted paindne they were fighting, but they’ve all disappeared into the walls. Our unsecured walls. The thought of it slightly sours my mood, but I can’t get all pissy now. There’s unknown shit happening in the walls under our feet and five unknown people somewhere in all of it. Illumisia can’t get here soon enough.

  “If shit gets bad starting now, I’m bringing in Illumisia slightly ahead of schedule.” I say to Clutter as we walk to the party’s designated lighthouse. “We can’t risk fighting someone as powerful as the horizonguard without anything backing us up.”

  He silently nods. I look up at the glassed-in top, the party just now starting to file in. They’re still talking among themselves, and it doesn’t look like there’s any hostility there. If they really don’t have a home tower, though, then they’re at a huge disadvantage. Hell, anyone that didn’t spawn near a tower is at a huge disadvantage. I’m not sure the quest would even start like that, so either they’re lying to me, or the quest’s spawn points can massively influence how it goes for you.

  I shake my head to clear my thoughts as I open a door with my hand. The inside of the lighthouse looks exactly the same as I remember, and the climb up takes a little less time thanks to all the practice I have with the cables in our tower. Clutter lags behind a few steps, looking over his shoulder every few seconds for a sign of… I assume the other five people. A good idea, but right now, I need his input with these people.

  “Our gracious human host arrives!” Dani raises a cup of water as we reach the top. “And with a new friend to boot. What is your name, friend? Mine is Dani.”

  Clutter takes one last glance down the stairs, then walks to my side. “Clutter. Very nice to meet you.”

  Dani nods. “Likewise. These are my party members; Jumble–”

  “I’m already filled in, so we don't need introductions.” Clutter cuts him off with a smile. “So where are all of you from?”

  Jumble leans back and shrugs. “Here and there and all around. We don’t really go into the cities anymore.”

  “It’s not that we don’t want to; there’s just not much of a reason to.” Rina clarifies. “Unless you’re part of some non-system organization, you can’t find any quests in the cities anymore.”

  “Too true.” Dani sighs. “I recall when there were entire buildings dedicated by the system to quests and class advancement. Now that companies and businesses have taken over those roles, it almost feels like the independent adventurer has to rely solely on luck to get by. Alas.”

  The memory of Dizzy’s nearly-empty building flashes over my mind. “What cities are you talking about?”

  “Palastia, Overport, Muckstav…” Euro ticks off names on their fingers. “Unless you’re deep enough that it isn’t safe or profitable for a company to be there, the system’s buildings are pretty much abandoned. But you also don’t find humans in those faraway cities, so there’s no point to go there, either.”

  “Mmhm, yeah, mmhm.” The other four murmur in agreement. I almost point out that they’d be able to find more humans in cities like palastia than anywhere else, but I hold my tongue. They definitely already know.

  “Well, you’re here now, so we might as well get some things straight.” I hold up three fingers. “First; why are you all dressed like that? Second; why are you here in this district? And third; how did you even get into this quest in the first place?”

  Dani purses his lips. “It’s a pretty long story for two of the three. Do you have a few hours?”

  I motion for Clutter to sit down, then do the same. “The city’s doing something. You’ve got our attention until the quest gives us a new notification.”