Aiden remembered taking this trail with his grandfather when he was younger.
He would always quiz him on what herbs were on the sides of the trail and what they would be used for before he would have Aiden pick 2 little stalks of Golcorone for them to suck on. He was a lot of fun to be around.
Nevertheless, after taking the same trail every other week for the past 15 years of his life, Aiden had gotten used to it. Especially since he made the trail renovations 3 years ago.
It cost him almost more than his preserving bag, but the investment was well worth it.
In design it was a simple water wheel with a rope. This combined with a small metal track and an old minecart he had gotten for cheap, have allowed me to cut down a normally 3 hour hike down to just 10 minutes down, though he would still have to hike back up as the water wheel was strong enough to pull the cart, but a rider inside would make things tricky.
Aiden sat down in the cart and shuffled the straw padding he had made to help deal with the bumps before he pushed off down the winding track. It wasn't slow by any means, but after doing the same trip for years, the gut churning feeling of sudden dropping didn't do as much for him as it had the first time.
It was still enjoyable to ride down the tracks and feel the wind blow in his face, Misty also enjoyed it, often letting little water droplets spray to the sides as they went. They rolled around a bend as Aiden thought back to what food he had at the house and if he should just grab a meal in town for a change.
The stop was coming up, so Aiden sat up, grabbed the brake level on the cart and started to slow down, the metal squealing at me as it slowed to a full stop.
He wheeled the cart to its waiting spot, double checked that everything was intact, and watched the small cart begin to rattle its way back up the hill slowly but surely.
Turning his back to the track, Aiden began to make his way down the small dirt road leading to the town. He passed the water wheel at the edge of the tree line and saw the rising walls that marked the edge of Hopestone.
The town itself was still as big as he remembered it, and even from here Aiden could see how the town had been chipping away at the mountain. Parts of it were even under the edge of the mountain itself. Other parts still had a strange bridge like system on the lip of the mountain above the dig site. The massive water wheels that served to turn the many grindstones, lifts, and more towered even higher than the walls.
Aiden saw a guard he recognized as he continued down the path and the line of people waiting to enter came into view.
He was a newer dwarven guard named Qos who from what the others had told him was a bit hot headed. Combined with his pirate class meant he was waving around the signature spectral cannons pirates could summon more than some would like. He wore full metal armor shined as if it had just come off the forge with a shorter beard of brown hair and a bland looking cutlass and flintlock pistol at his side.
Aiden approached the wall Qos stared him down like he was eyeing a criminal instead of random travelers. Aiden however didn't really notice as beside him was someone he knew well.
Larz the polar bear fullblood. Like all fullbloods Larz could be easily mistaken for a regular polar bear you would see in cold climates except for the armor, and guard badge he wore around his neck. He has always been a quick to laugh man with his pendant being so people know he's not just a bear who wandered into town and is in fact a fullblood.
Aiden stepped into line to enter the city behind some travelers when thought back to the first time I met Larz. He had been around 8 at the time and never seen a beastkin before. He had practically jumped out of his skin when a bear grinned and asked how he was doing.
Larz ended up getting stuck with a kid that had too many questions. By the end of the day he had answered dozens, like how fullblood beastkin are almost indistinguishable from animals except for their intelligence and the fact they have the system, half-bloods who looked to be a mix of a human and an animal but mostly looking like a human pretending to be an animal, and light-bloods who could be mistaken for human except for the small animalistic features, like slitted eyes, scales on parts of their body's, and even ears and tails.
It was made even funnier when my grandfather told him how Larz had come to the house one time asking if there was a potion to give someone thumbs before. Something that many fullbloods seem to struggle with apparently.
Aiden stepped up as his turn came up.
"Present your ID, and state your full name and business for being in the city."
Qos said with a cold glare. Aiden turned to Larz with an eyeroll that Larz met with a small shrug. He begrudgingly pulled his ID from the bottom of his satchel before he realized what Qos had said and turned to Larz with a grin.
"The population broke the numbers to go from large town to city? How long ago?"
Larz gave me a grin in return,
"Around 4 days ago was when the official letter arrived, and we even got to start calling it a city starting yesterday."
"So how does it feel being a fancy pants city guard?"
Larz raised himself up on his back legs and scrunched his face up while making a movement like checking his nails as he said in a mockery of a regal tone,
"A mere country bumpkin dares to speak to the great and wise city guard?"
We both started chuckling as Qos turned with his neutral expression
"Full name, and business for being in the city."
Larz turned, his joking mood slightly soured by the walking buzzkill that was Qos
"Qos, he has literally been coming here longer than you have been dreaming of being a guard, stop giving Aiden trouble or I'll sit on you, and we both know how dumb you look as you struggle to get free."
Qos's face turned beat red as his voice jumped up an octave.
"Hey, I have been doing a bunch of pushups recently, so there is no way I'll be stuck like last time."
He handed me back Aidens ID and went back to his stoic statue routine as Aiden gave a small waved to Larz and headed into the now city. While it's never big changes, it's always interesting to come back to a place every other week and see how small things are different and try to guess what made them like that, be it a window that wasn't cracked before, or even a new flower in the window of a family home.
Aiden walked down the road, tried to see what was changed, and what was the same. He turned the corner where my grandfather's small shop sat. It was a simple building, that in many ways blended in aside from the slightly higher stonework compared to the surrounding buildings.
Aiden walked to the shop and held out his hand, the engraving on the lock turned and the door swung open. The shop itself was simple to its external appearance, both average, and slightly above average at the same time. Potions sat in little racks and bundles of herbs and medicines sat in small wooden trays. A set of equipment that could be used lined the back wall, allowing customers to see the ingredients being combined in person if they would like.
Inside Peridot was asleep with her head on the countertop snoring away like she hadn't even left, just locked the door and went back to sleep. Aiden walked over and gently knocked on the counter as she sat up and wiped a bit of drool from her face.
Peridot was an elf, and like most elves she had long curly brown hair that he suspect was at one point straight but days of sleeping on it and never brushing had left it a curled tangled mess. From the sides of her head her pointed ears stuck out around 4 or so inches. She was in her 300's and moved to Hopestone to open a business, with her class of pharmacist it was easy to make a medicine shop, but she has always been lazy.
Aiden had once even saw her try to walk a kid through the steps of making a medicine, so she didn't have to get up from her nap. This combined with his mostly antisocial nature led to an agreement after Aidens grandfather left the shop to him. She would act as cashier and medicine production, while he would brew the potions and bring ingredients when needed.
As Peridot yawned and stretched, Aiden stepped behind the counter, slowly pulling the items he had made out,
"Sleeping on the job I see?"
"There isn't anyone who needs anything right now, and I'm running on like 18 hours of sleep here."
Peridot replied in a tired voice as she yawned. Aiden rolled my eyes at this while Peridot gestured to the bag of gold that was his share of the biweekly profit. Aiden counted and made sure It had his gold, sliding it into the pocket on the side of his satchel. He began to make his way towards the door when Peridot tapped my shoulder.
"Before you go, Ms. Sasis left that book you were asking about."
Aiden turned quickly to look at the book in Peridots hand, now excited for the story to continue after months of waiting for it to be off the wait list. It's a series he had been following for a few years. The 7 stars, a story about a bunch of prodigy students trying to save the world.
Aiden had reread most of the books, and with the 16th book in hand, he was excited for what it had to bring to the story.
Aiden waving to Peridot who even as he turned to the door was already snoring again. He shut the door behind him and headed down the road.
With the high of the new book and pay day, he figured today was a good day to treat himself. So, he made his way to the Seared Tusk tavern for dinner.