Perona hummed as the party strolled down from the airship docks. Cozith led them to a tram station. They waited there for a couple minutes before one of the streetcars arrived, clunk-clunk-clunking on the rails and chugging to a stop.
Luckily, the tram was a public service and paid for by the city, so they didn't have to pay anything at all to hop on board.
Pillowed benches lined the long sides of the railroad street car and left two booths for the two drivers at each end of the railcar. The party sat down on either side of the two doors.
Leaning back against the glass windows that encompassed the tram's interior, the party watched as the scenery of the docks rolled by.
The tram made several stops along the way, picking up more passengers before arriving at its terminus station besides one of the massive elevators.
The party, along with the other riders, stepped off and found themselves before the colossal doors. Armed guards stood watch on either side, directing the incoming crowd into lanes one through five.
The group started into the same lane, but a kind guard approached, rightfully assuming that they were new to Galrahn. He explained that they should queue separately.
Cozith quickly explained they were together, and with an "ah, sorry for the inconvenience", he let them remain as they were.
A ticking street clock marked the minutes, while signs nearby outlined the elevator's schedule—much like a tram, it arrived every thirty minutes. Simple enough.
Before long, the light above the great doors blinked on, and with a metallic grind followed by a sharp ding, the elevator arrived at their level.
The elevator was truly enormous, and a crowd orderly filed out of the elevator. A pair of armed guards went in and inspected the elevator before waving them forwards.
In the short time that they had been waiting, a massive line had already formed behind them. The party shuffled forwards and packed into the elevator along with what seemed like an entire inn's worth of passengers.
The guards scanned everyone over, and a pair stepped into the elevator with them as the doors closed.
Then, there was the immense rumbling of the elevator as the giant structure descended smoothly into the ground. It was a little while before it stopped at one of the lower floors. Some passengers stepped out and others stepped in.
This process repeated for four more floors before the elevator finally reached the ground level.
The party stepped out and emerged onto the main city of Galrahn—an immense expanse of streets, plazas, and towering structures, all resting on the colossal palm of the stone hand. The scale was staggering; buildings stretched upward like they were trying to match the fingers of the stone giant, and the avenues teemed with more people than they'd seen in any city before.
The sheer press of the crowd made the air feel alive with motion and noise. Even Perona, usually unshakable in her enthusiasm, looked a little dazed by the enormity of it all.
That didn't last for long, however, as Hadarai spotted a tram station and the party headed over. Perona became starry-eyed and hyper again—honestly, Aralynn was surprised that Cozith and Champagne Pop could keep up with Perona's endless enthusiasm even up to this point.
- - -
After a short while of travel on the tramline guided by Cozith, the party arrived at the base of the agricultural district. While Perona wanted to go to the market district immediately, the rest of the party, Cozith and Champagne Pop included, pointed out that it might be good to take a look around first.
They headed up the elevator, and Perona was every bit set on doing a quick runaround then promptly left, but stopped in her tracks as soon as they'd reached the mini-city center.
There was a plaque that explained that in the city's inception, the agricultural district had been built upon a massive stack of soil and dirt, perhaps a couple of cities deep in itself that was housed on the carved out thumb of Galrahn.
The entire titanic finger had been hollowed out into a bowl-like shape. Mages and manual labourers had transported all manner of agricultural materials and goods over to the ward so that the agricultural district could supply the city with food.
The agricultural district was centered around a small city clustered at the base of one of the massive elevators that connected the different levels. Beyond its streets, the landscape opened into sweeping grassy pastures and farmlands. Each plot was overseen by a family head, many of whom had managed and cared for their land since the earliest days of Galrahn.
One of their attractions, aside from the food, were the massive variety of farm animals. After entering the traveler's center in the agriculture district's city hall, Perona noticed a catalogue filled with images of all the farm animals.
Along with the pictures, the artist of the brochure had done a particularly good job at drawing cute and small cartoon versions of the animals that accompanied their pictures and 'fun facts'.
Perona did a complete 180 in character.
"... Okay, fine. Maybe coming here wasn't a complete waste of time after all. Let's take a look around and grab a bite to eat while we're at it."
Aralynn giggled. Perona was like a kid. She huffed and puffed at not wanting to do something, but once she'd seen something worth her while, all of a sudden she wanted to stay.
Oh, well~
- - -
The party munched on large flavoured pretzels while they walked through the city, making their way to one of the exits. Each pastry was perhaps one and a half handlengths across, and were wrapped in paper to stop their hands from getting greasy.
They'd bought a variety of pretzels from the vendor—Perona got one with salt-dried tomatoes and herbs. Hadarai bought one lathered with butter, while Amon took bites from a pretzel dusted with spices—heavily dosed on a specialty pepper, which was locally grown. According to Amon, it was "good for his stomach" as a devilkin.
Grango and Derrick had versions baked with salted meat, cheese, and honey, while Aralynn bit into one with baked herbs and salted fish. Cozith had picked one similar to Aralynn, while Champagne Pop bought one that had been lightly brushed with herb oil and cooking wine.
The rest of the party—save for Cozith—stared at Aralynn strangely for wanting to have fish on a baked pastry. However, Aralynn paid them no mind. It was a perfect blend of spice, saltiness, and the tiniest hint of sweetness from the pretzel.
…That might just be my tastes, though, as a birdfolk related to ospreys. Actually—no, on second thought, it's just good. Aralynn ate quickly, polishing off the pastry in quick bites. It wasn't everyday that she got a good meal, especially compared to the rations that she'd gotten during her time in the imperial army.
Aralynn tightened the straps on her pack before grabbing her canteen and taking a sip of water, swishing the liquid around in her mouth to clean her teeth.
"Where are we going now, Perona?" Aralynn asked as the half-elf stopped on the sidewalk at an intersection.
"...Straight, I think. I want to see the grassrunners." Perona glanced at Cozith, who smiled and nodded.
"We're going the right way," the neko woman promised.
Perona turned back to Aralynn. "Oh, and guess what? Apparently, they're pretty tame, and they have domesticated herds for transportation." Perona exclaimed, eyes shining. "Hehe~" she hummed.
As Perona skipped forwards on the sidewalk, Amon caught up to her. "Perona, just so you know, we're not buying one, even if we're going to see them."
Perona made a point of seeming hurt and innocent. "Whatttttttt~? Who said anything about buying one?"
Amon looked at her with dead eyes like a disappointed father who said he wouldn't buy his daughter a pony for the umpteenth time.
"Right. Either way, we can't afford or take care of one—"
That was when an explosion cut Amon off with an ear-shattering clap. Screams followed, along with the sound of roars—and it seemed close.
Amon glanced at the rest of the party, including Perona. The half-elf rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I know. Just who do you think I am? Let's go."
Cozith stepped up. "Please follow me. I heard which direction they were coming from, and I know these streets well enough. I'll get you there in less than a minute."
Without waiting for confirmation, the neko woman immediately took off in the direction of an alleyway. Her tail swished, aiding her balance as she dashed down the sidewalk with the rest of the party hurrying close behind her.