Knaresburg sat on high ground above the river. It looked four times as big as Oxenbluff, with the local lord's castle rising up in the middle. The tall, thick walls surrounding the town were a pale yellow color, while Knares Castle was whitewashed to almost shining in the midday sun.
Three main roads snaked through the farms to three large gates. There were few travelers on them, with lots of peasants tending the fields. Since there were no homes on any of the patches of land divided by low stone walls, Killum assumed the farmers all lived within the villages.
As they neared the city walls, they spotted a few structures within wooden walls. Some of them were burned to the ground. Lots of horses, oxen, wagons, and carts were inside the standing enclosures, along with central log cabin type structures and outbuildings.
"Are those corrals or stables or something?" Tiana asked.
"I think those are inns," Fergus said. "Apparently, these folks have an enemy that requires everything be inside walls."
There were a lot more armed and armored guards at the gates and atop the walls, too. Their armor was all brightly polished steel, and the guards all were big, burly, and very grim looking men. The battle-mage checked a few out, and all were mobs. Lots of NPCs to kill if they were of a mind to do so.
"I wonder if they are at war, or the Dread Ones are a bigger threat here?" Killum wondered aloud.
"Yes, that must be it. Lord Kathro and his undead Dread Ones," Tiana muttered. "I'm starting to think Warlord's Castle might be too tough a nut to crack."
They'd crossed paths with another dozen Dead Ones between Goblin Gully and Knaresburg, but easily dispatched them. On the road the Dread Ones roamed in groups of two and three. None of them were pleased to discover that vampires, ghouls, and zombies roamed the land in broad daylight. At least the vampires should only come out at night.
"There's no nut too tough for my battle-axe to cleave open," Rand said. "Once we sell our loot and buy more and better armor and weapons, then we'll be ready for anything."
"It's the little guys who are always the meanest," Fergus said.
"And the toughest," Rand said.
They grinned at each other. Killum ignored them, too busy studying the walled enclosure they were walking past. It looked like a mule caravan of traders was preparing to leave. There had to be three dozen pack mules, with handlers and merchants all around. The most telling thing was the twenty well-armed and armored guards on horseback watching over it all.
"Every one of those men, from the mounted guards to the merchants and workers is a player," Fergus said. "What's up with all these players taking mundane jobs?"
Good question. Asha had pretty much confirmed that they were all trapped in the game, and the Game wouldn't allow them to fret too much on it. Maybe those other players had given up and been forced into earning a living.
"That is a little worrisome," Killum said. "Let's hope we don't give up and this becomes just another mundane world to us. If I'm trapped here forever, then I don't want to spend day in and day out on some soul numbing grind of a job."
"Getting a real job inside a game has to be an oxymoron or something," Rand said.
Fergus shook his head, rolled his eyes, and spoke to the heavens. "The runt doesn't even know what an oxymoron is."
"I know enough to know you're a moron."
Fergus grabbed and shook one of the horns of the dwarf's helmet. "Guess that makes you the ox."
"Can I start calling you 'Oxy' now?" Tiana asked.
Rand just gave her a dirty look. By that time they reached the gate, and the guards were eyeing them suspiciously. Killum stepped out front before Rand said something to get them into trouble.
"Greetings," Killum said. "We're travelers heading north. May we enter your fine town to rest for a night or two?"
"You got money?" one of them demanded.
They all indicated the fat purses hanging off their belts. He nodded and waved them toward the gate. Killum held back.
"May I ask a question?"
"You can always ask, mister," the NPC guard said, though looked away.
"Are you at war? We came up through Oxenbluff, and their villages are not walled like yours," Killum asked. "Plus you have more and bigger guards protecting the gates."
"No. The villages are walled against goblins," he said. "The tribes surrounding us are more numerous and less friendly than the ones around Oxenbluff."
"The Dread Ones aren't a threat here?" Tiana asked.
"No. Baron Gerald's wizards put wards up against the undead."
Killum followed the others through the gate. There were more guards inside, but they looked a bit more relaxed. Like in Oxenbluff, there was a large plaza inside the gate. Street hawkers barked their sales pitches, urchins and dogs raced around making a god-awful noise, and the locals passed through on their business.
The vast majority of the people were humans. Orks, a troll, some hobgoblins, were all mingled into the crowd. The humans mostly ignored them, though he spotted a few giving the nonhumans wary or dirty looks. Among the humans, he noticed his first blacks. He spotted a minotaur wearing Arabic clothes, who was leading a long coffle line of naked slave girls. And no one was giving the slaver or his slaves a second look.
"Knaresburg is more cosmopolitan than the last town," Killum said. "Let's find somewhere to hock our loot and then find a pub or inn near the gate. I suspect Asha will show up before dark."
He spotted a trio of orks, including a rare female. She was a player, six foot five, and made Killum think of She-Hulk with small tusks sticking up from her lower jaw. If he ignored the massive jaw and tusks, she was pretty damn fine in her shaggy black pants, boots, and black leather halter top.
The battle-axe in her hand made the battle-mage hesitate engaging her in conversation. But he was a big fan of She-Hulk comic books. Who didn't love a big, muscular green girl?
Katissa. Ork shield maid (Lvl 16). -1 Dark. PK: 1.
Oddly enough, the two male orks with her were mobs, but both Level 35 warriors. Killum figured the orks would know where they could sell their battle trophies. He walked straight up to Katissa and gave her a friendly nod. Her dark eyes narrowed, but she returned the nod.
"Greetings, Katissa. I'm Killum. My friends and I have some assorted weapons and gear to pawn off," he said. The battle-mage winked at her. "Just a few things picked up on the road, you know?" She glanced at the two pack mules. "Would you know where we could sell our stuff?"
She spoke with a faint lisp, like she still hadn't gotten used to the tusks. "Sure. Take this street up to the next intersection. The Street of Charms is to the left and Armory Row is to the right. You'll find someone to buy anything you won in battle on those two streets." Then she leaned in close. "And if you like to play rough, I'm staying at the Raging Bull Inn. I'll be there all night."
She pointed across the plaza. The Raging Bull Inn was a three floor, half-timbered building, with lots of dormer windows in the thatch roof. He saw a dwarf leaning out one of the attic windows, so that was probably the top floor, making it a four story. Katissa's two companions were already halfway across the plaza heading for it.