Portal to Another World

Morning light reaches the settlement wagon yard through thinning rain. Ettel checks the harnesses and provisions on a loaded horse wagon while Leonard, Logan, and Mari gather nearby, openly studying the stranger’s gear.

The council shelter stands behind them with its guards posted outside. L'Sara remains there, wrists secured, while the eastward road waits beyond the settlement gate.

Ettel tightens the final strap and steps aside. Three curious faces turn toward him, leaving the questions hanging in the cool morning air.

The Lone Wanderer leaves settlement wagon yard behind and arrives at Honorhold.

Honorhold rises beyond the eastern road in layered stone walls and crowded towers. Wagons, guards, merchants, and adventurers fill the gate approach beneath banners snapping in the clear wind.

Mari circles half a step toward him, eyeing the suit seams and pockets while Ettel presents their travel papers to the gate guards. The guards wave them through after a brief inspection.

Inside, Honorhold opens into a noisy avenue of stone arcades and guild signs. Many citizens are walking about, doing their usual routines.

The remark carries across the avenue beneath the snapping banners. Stone arcades stand clear of refuse, and the broad streets move with orderly traffic instead of Rivet City's cramped bustle.

Ettel smiles at the comparison, visibly pleased that the newcomer acknowledges what Honorhold offers. She guides the party farther along the avenue toward the adventurers' guild.

Ettel leads the party along Honorhold’s broad avenue toward the adventurers’ guild. Citizens pause beneath the arcades, staring openly at the stranger’s blue suit, rifle, and glowing wrist device.

The avenue opens onto a busy square marked by a carved guild sign. Merchants call from shaded stalls while adventurers cross between the stone buildings, glancing back at the unusual traveler.

At the guild entrance, a dragoness shopkeeper stands behind a counter crowded with weapons, armor, and travel supplies. Her attention settles on the stranger before she looks toward Ettel.

The compliment lands warmly. Ezra’s golden eyes brighten, and her smile grows as she leans across the counter, clearly enjoying the attention.

Behind him, citizens continue watching from the square, but the shop’s crowded displays and Ezra’s inviting posture draw his attention inward.

The Lone Wanderer turns from the counter and retrieves his rifle from where it rests with his travel gear. The movement makes his bruised shoulder throb faintly.

He returns and presents the battered bolt-action rifle across both hands, keeping the muzzle safely angled toward the shop floor. Scratches and worn metal show years of use.

Ezra leans over the counter without touching it, studying the barrel, stock, and unfamiliar mechanisms with bright curiosity while Ettel waits beside the entrance.

The rifle remains on the counter among Ezra’s wares rather than in the Lone Wanderer’s hands. Ettel’s brows lift, while Ezra studies him with amused, appraising eyes.

Ezra does not reach for the rifle. Instead, she taps one claw beside its worn stock, her smile turning from flirtation toward genuine professional interest.

The Lone Wanderer leaves the rifle on the counter and steps back, giving Ezra room. Her claws close carefully around the stock and barrel.

Ezra examines the rifle’s worn action, tracing each component without forcing it. She tests the bolt gently, then peers down the empty chamber before setting it flat again.

Ezra’s smile makes the favor public before she returns her attention to the rifle. The inspection is granted, but the bargain now gives her unmistakable social leverage.

The Lone Wanderer leaves Ezra to her careful inspection and follows Ettel through the guild’s adjoining hall. Honorhold citizens stare from the square as he passes beneath crowded guild signs.

Ettel guides him past a notice wall, a map table, and a stair guarded by a guild attendant. He studies the posted symbols and recognizes a marked section for planar disturbances and portals.

From the balcony, the guild resolves into a working network of contract desks, training rooms, supply stalls, and a quiet archive wing. The arrangement gives him a clear route to the portal records.

The tour takes longer than Ettel planned, and the morning light has shifted across the guild floor. He has learned where the portal records are kept, but the delay leaves less time before the day’s first contracts begin.

Ettel leads him from the guild into the broad avenue. Leonard, Logan, and Mari follow, while Honorhold citizens pause beneath the arcades to stare at the unfamiliar traveler.

They pass a fountain fed by clean underground springs, then a crowded market where smiths, herbalists, and cloth merchants call over one another. The city feels prosperous without being idle.

Ettel turns toward the market and keeps an easy pace, giving him time to look. The others spread around him as curious citizens continue watching from the arcades.

Many Honorhold citizens stare beneath the arcades as Ettel guides the party through the market. Their attention follows the Lone Wanderer’s blue suit, rifle, and glowing wrist device.

A deinonychus woman in dark travel clothes suddenly dashes across the street, clutching a small leather purse. A middle-aged vendor, a broad-built woman with weathered brown skin, a patched blue shirt beneath her red market apron, and a missing front tooth, with a broad face, gray-streaked hair, and a red market apron lunges after her.

The thief cuts between startled shoppers, using the market stalls as cover. Citizens recoil toward the arcades, while the purse swings from her hand and the vendor struggles to keep pace.

Ettel breaks toward the fountain, while Leonard and Logan guide the nearest citizens aside. Mari darts after the fleeing thief, grinning as she searches the cluttered stalls for a shortcut.

The Lone Wanderer breaks after the deinonychus thief, weaving between startled shoppers and market stalls. His boots skid on scattered grain as the crowd closes around the chase.

He reaches for her at the mouth of a narrow lane, but the sudden stretch pulls across his bruised shoulder. His fingers catch only the purse strap as it tears free.

Nyxa springs onto a low stall roof and bounds across its canvas awnings. The stolen purse remains in her grasp while the torn strap dangles from the Lone Wanderer’s hand.

The failed intercept leaves the awnings between him and Nyxa, while the torn strap proves the purse was nearly within reach. The fountain route is now the only clear way to cut her off.

The Lone Wanderer plants a boot against the stall frame and climbs after the deinonychus thief. Canvas sags beneath him, but he crosses the awnings without losing his grip.

His bruised shoulder throbs as he reaches the roofline. The deinonychus thief lands beside the fountain wall, and he catches her around the waist before she can spring away.

The Lone Wanderer holds her securely against the low wall, keeping her arms pinned without striking. The stolen purse slips from her grasp onto the wet stones.

Ettel reaches the fountain as citizens gather below. The purse lies between the Lone Wanderer and the restrained thief, while the market’s chase breaks into a tense standstill.

The Lone Wanderer keeps the thief pinned with his uninjured side, then draws a stimpak from a suit pocket. His bruised shoulder trembles under the strain.

He presses the injector into the sore shoulder and triggers it. Cool medicine spreads beneath the skin, easing the ache and restoring steady strength to the arm.

The stimpak empties completely, its casing cracking when he drops it onto the wet stones. The shoulder is healed, but the precious dose is spent.

Ettel stoops for the purse as the red-aproned vendor reaches the fountain. Citizens hold back beneath the arcades, watching the thief and the strange healing device.

The stimpak instantly heals The Lone Wanderer of any injuries.

Ettel takes the purse from the fountain stones and holds it out to Tomas, but keeps her other hand ready near the restrained thief. The nearby citizens listen beneath the arcades.

The vendor takes the purse and checks its contents. The citizens murmur at Ettel’s proposal, while the restrained thief watches her closely, defiance giving way to wary attention.

The stimpak instantly heals The Lone Wanderer of any injuries.

The vendor closes her fingers around the purse and steps back beneath the arcade. The gathered citizens keep a cautious circle, leaving Ettel room to question the thief.

A tall, white-robed magistrate steps from the arcade, his calm gaze settling first on the secured thief, then on the Lone Wanderer and the orderly crowd. He has watched the entire exchange.

The citizens part as Ettel keeps Nyxa secured and guides the group toward the magistrate. The Lone Wanderer’s rifle, blue suit, and decisive intervention draw Judge’s sustained attention.

The Lone Wanderer watches as Judge leads the hearing beneath the arcade. The crowd settles into ordered rows, leaving the vendor, Ettel, and the restrained deinonychus thief clearly visible.

From his place near Ettel, he notices the important details: the purse is intact, its strap is cut cleanly, and several citizens witnessed the chase from the fountain to the wall.

Judge studies the thief, then the vendor, weighing their words against what the crowd saw. His attention returns to the Lone Wanderer, whose intervention prevented panic and recovered the purse.

The trial now has a clear shape: the theft is established, the hardship claim will be investigated, and the Lone Wanderer has earned Judge’s formal recognition without being forced into a statement.

The Lone Wanderer steps away from the hearing beside Ettel, leaving Judge, the vendor, and the restrained deinonychus thief beneath the arcade. Honorhold citizens part to let them pass.

Ettel guides him from the fountain toward the quieter edge of the market. The crowd’s attention follows them, but no one blocks their path.

Behind them, Judge remains with the vendor and the thief as the market resumes its movement. Ahead, the guild signs rise above the arcades, bright against the clean morning sky.

The Lone Wanderer can only smile and nod as he is reminded of his parents...

Remain with Ettel's party as they prepare for the journey