Chapter Three Hundred and Eighty-Five — The Go Fish Inn
Chapter Three Hundred and Eighty-Five — The Go Fish Inn We stepped into the Inn and found it to be rather quiet inside. There were a few people eating at round tables dotted across the main floor, and more were at the bar counter at the end of the room, sitting on butt-worn stools while chatting between each other.There were lots of lamps hanging from the ceiling, many of which had glimmering magical lights hanging within. A lot of blue lights, actually, it made the room surprisingly bright and the light from the lamps was competing with the warm glow from the big hearth off to one side which was warming the entire room up.I took in a deep breath through my nose to sniff at the air. It smelled like fish. Cooked fish, spices and potatoes and that tangy scent that came from cooked roots. My tummy perked up curiously.“Hi!” someone said, and I snapped my attention away from my stomach to pay more attention. There was a young woman flouncing her way over to us. She was about half a head shorter than me, even with the antenna sticking out above her head, two of her hands were patting down her pale green dress, the other two were hanging onto a steel tray and a few menus carved onto a wooden slat. “Welcome to the Go Fish, the best inn in all of Codwood!”“Isn’t it the only one?” Amaryllis asked.“It is!” she said cheerfully. “Did you want a table?”“Sure!” I said with a nod. “I wasn’t too hungry before, but it smells so good in here that I’m reconsidering that.”“Could use a bite to eat,” Calamity agreed.“Right this way then!” the waitress said. She bounced over to a table off to the side and then fussed with the cutlery. “Ah, do any of you need anything special?” she asked.“Anything special?” I repeated.She bobbed her head up and down. “Special utensils for eating? Special chairs?”“Um, no, I think we’re okay with, uh, human chairs and such,” I said with a glance to my friends.Calamity wiggled his fingers. “Broccoli and I are basically a few ears and tails ahead of normal humans. What about you, princess?” he asked Amaryllis.“I can manage with this kind of cutlery just fine,” Amaryllis said as she pinched a fork between her talons, then made it spin around between one talon and the other.“Fantastic,” the waitress said as she handed us some menus. “If you need any help, or have any questions at all, just holler.”“Oh, I have one,” I asked. “Or several, really.”“Sure thing!” she said.“What’s your name? I’m Broccoli, and this is Amaryllis and that’s Calamity. We’re explorers!”“Oh, explorers!” the moth woman exclaimed. “That’s fancy! I’m Wendy Winded, it's a pleasure to meet you.”“Do you mind if I ask you what you are?” I asked.“I’m a waitress,” she replied, which set me off to giggling.“I think she meant your species,” Calamity said. “Never met anyone with quite so many arms, and with wings to boot.”I nodded along. “That’s right. I’ve seen a few people like you wandering around in Codwood, but you’re the first I’ve gotten to talk to.”Wendy smiled and placed a couple of hands on her hip. “Well, I suppose we aren’t too common outside of our little woods. We’re mothfolk. We’re not too different from the average person, I guess. We all want warm food, a roof over our heads, and to stare at the moon for hours on end.”I wasn’t so sure if I wanted to do that last one myself, but Wendy seemed very nice and I didn’t want to contradict her. “Thank you,” I said. “Ah, I think we’re going to need a minute to order up.”“Nah, just give me whatever’s fresh,” Calamity said as he went to toss his menu on the table. Then he paused and turned towards Amaryllis. “Ah, assuming I can get paid real quick.”“Don’t worry about the meal,” Amaryllis said. “I’ll have this one, the blue fish? It seems interesting.”“Oh, if we’re all ordering now, then, um.” I scanned the menu quick as I could, eyes bouncing along the choices. “Oh, maybe this fish and veggies plate, but without the fish.”“Without the fish?” Wendy asked.“Do fish count as meat? It upsets my tummy, even if it smells really good.” I shifted in my seat. “Okay, maybe just a small cut of the fish?”Wendy patted me on the shoulder while writing down our orders. “Sure thing. I’ll be back with all of that in no time at all!”I watched Wendy go, then leaned back in my chair. “She was nice. Do you think she’d know about the wedding?”“A random waitress?” Amaryllis asked. “Maybe, but only if it’s big news. Codwood doesn’t strike me as the information hub I was hoping to find. It’s barely large enough to be called a town.”“I could go around and ask,” Calamity said. “I can be quite charming, nya know.”Amaryllis huffed a very disbelieving sort of huff that Calamity didn’t need any help translating.“Hey, it’s true. Give me a bit of silver to spend on some drinks and those fishermen over there will be all buttered up and sharing their best secrets with me.”“We’re not here to learn where the best fishing spot is,” Amaryllis said. “What we’re looking for is a lot more delicate than that. If we can’t learn about the wedding here, then the only place we might discover any good information is over in Inkwren. That’s several day’s travel from here.”“Aren’t we heading that way in any case?” I asked.“Yes, but I want to know whether or not we’re too late to do anything or if we just need to hurry along and pick up the pace. Knowing can only help us in the long run.”That was fair.Amaryllis talked about a few ways we could learn more about the wedding, but they mostly amounted to petitioning the local equivalent of leaders and paying people to listen to others talk for us, which all sounded kind of complicated.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.So when Wendy returned with our meals balanced on a tray, I smiled at her and just asked. “Hey, Wendy, did you hear anything about a big wedding going on in the south, near Port Royal, maybe?”“Oh, the dragon wedding?” she asked.“That’s the one,” I said while I pretended not to hear Amaryllis’ strangled squawking.“I can’t say I’ve heard much about it, just that it was happening. Judas could tell you more.”“Judas?”Wendy half-turned and pointed to the counter with one hand while the other three organised our table. “He’s the inn’s owner. Nice guy. He hired me even if I didn’t have much experience with this kind of thing.”‘You’ve been doing a great job so far,” I assured her. “Are you new to Codwood then, or are you a local?”“Oh, I’m somewhat new,” Wendy said. “I’m an only child, and I live alone besides, so I was one of the first to move to Codwood a few years back.”“The first mothfolk?” I asked.She nodded, and I appreciated the way her antenna wiggled. They were like stiffer ears. “Mhm! A bunch of us live nearby, but I wanted to see the world just a little. Then soon after I moved things back home started to take a turn for the worse and now it feels like half of Codwood is folk like me.”“What happened?”Wendy shrugged. “I wasn’t there, you know, so this is just gossip, but I heard that the dungeon broke. Now there’s no way for there to be more of us. Well, except for the old fashioned way, of course. I’m a third-generation mothfolk, but my mom and dad only have two arms each!”“Oh, wow,” I said. “So the dungeon used to give people moth classes?”“Mhm. That’s the gist of it. Anyway, I’ve got other tables to tend to. Call me if you need anything.”So, if Wendy was to be believed-and I didn’t see a reason why not-then the dungeon problem might already be fixed. Though not in the most ideal way.“Does that happen a lot?” I asked Amaryllis. “Normal humans gaining a new class and evolving like that? I mean, I’m guessing it’s how buns happened, and harpies maybe?”Amaryllis sniffed. “You think harpies came from humans? Broccoli, it’s the other way around. Clearly some harpies got lost, found a human dungeon, and traded in their perfectly usable wings for arms. Then they just spread around, as humans do.”“Oh,” I said. I... supposed that was possible.“Nah, way I hear it, humans are way more common than anything else out west,” Calamity said. “But I heard that most folk are actually the descendants of a strange kind of elf that spent a lot of time in dungeons. That’s why most folk have two arms and two legs and the whole torso bit as a common feature.”“That sounds absurd. Besides, harpies have a clearly different structure to them, and what of the cervid?”“Hey, I’m just telling you what I was told, nya know,” Calamity said with a wiggle of his fork.I hummed and started to eat. Maybe Amaryllis was right, and maybe not. It was probably unfair to assume that everyone had started as human though. That was clearly my own bias as a-was I a former human?-as an ex-human talking.“Well, whatever. I still think it’s neat that an entire new species can just pop up like that from one community of people with similar classes.”“It generally comes with a decent advantage for those who want to live in the area,” Amaryllis said.“Huh?” I asked as I chewed on a carrot, it was glazed over with some sort of fishy oil that tasted strange, but kind of good too.“Wendy over there, I imagine her species is well adapted to whatever forest she came from. Most dungeons have links to the environment you’ll find them in, so if they give a class which turns a person into a slightly different species, then that species will generally be well adapted to the environment too.”“Oh,” I said. That actually made a lot of sense. But then... “What kind of environment leads to people getting bunny ears?”Amaryllis paused mid-bite, frowned, then shrugged. “It’s just a theory,” she said.We continued to eat, and I didn’t regret getting some fish, it was super tasty, even if the fish was a bluish-white colour that I wasn’t used to seeing on any fish I’d ever eaten before. As it turned out, my appetite ran out before my plate emptied, so I gave the rest to Calamity who was more than happy to finish things off for me.Then we sat around and chit-chatted about not much at all while the food settled.Once we were properly done, we stood and headed over to the counter at the front. The man that Wendy had pointed out-Judas-was cleaning some mugs off when we arrived, though he put them down and smiled. “Hey there, Enjoy the meal?”“It was great!” I said. “And Wendy was very nice too.”“Good to hear,” he said. Then his mood improved even more as Amaryllis stacked a couple of silver coins on the counter before him. “Is there anything else we can do to help?”“Actually, yes,” Amaryllis said. “We’re with the Exploration Guild.” She tapped her lapel with her pin. “We’re looking for some information. Wendy mentioned that you were the person to ask.”“Ah, well, I’m a good listener,” he replied. “But if you want to get me yammering properly, I’ll need to have a sit-down first. I can’t work and chat well at the same time.”“We’ll pay you for your time,” Amaryllis said.And so we found ourselves back at our seats soon enough, but this time with the innkeep himself at the table.
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Chapter Three Hundred and Eighty-Six — Here's a Story About a Little Town That Lives in a Blue World
Chapter Three Hundred and Eighty-Six — Here's a Story About a Little Town That Lives in a Blue World “So, what are we looking for?” Judas asked. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and clasping his hands together. His smile seemed genuine, warm even. I imagined that the coins Amaryllis had given him was cause for some of that, but Judas seemed like a nice guy in any case.“We’re interested in information about a wedding,” Amaryllis said. "It's happening in the south, by Port Royal. There's a dragon involved."“Wendy mentioned that you had mentioned it,” I said.Judas nodded. "I'm a man of the land, so to speak. I try to keep tabs on things. What's important to people? Turns out that a big one is weddings. Not that I am particularly fond of them myself. Most of the Codwood weddings are held right here, you see. Inn’s the biggest place in town and we’ve got the kitchens and the drinks.”“That makes sense,” I said. “So, you’ve heard about the wedding?”“Ah, right, that one. Well, I don’t envy whoever’ll have to cater that wedding. A dragon! Getting married! Never heard the like. Wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t hear the rumours from two sources either.”“Two sources?” Calamity asked. He was sipping away at a frothy mug of something local and leaning back on his chair so that it stood on two legs.Judas nodded. “First I heard of it was from some merchants. They stop by here every so often, buy a load of Blue Lake cod and oils and the like; bring in some stuff we need too. Would have dismissed it at that, but then one of my pals, a fishermen fellow from nearby Inkwren, came by for a visit a few days back. He does that, sometimes, skirts along the edge of the Blue Lake and stops by. Says the fish are bigger on this end, but I bet he just buys the biggest fish we’ve got here then resells them in Inkwren for a few lazy coins. Anyway, he mentioned this particular wedding too.”I nodded along to his story. “Do you know when the wedding will be taking place?” I asked.“I heard the winter solstice,” Judas said. “But that sounds like it’s an awful long time from now for a wedding. Most of the time when two younger folk hitch up here, it’s only a matter of weeks before we’ve got to prepare a proper party.”I turned towards Amaryllis, and my question must have been obvious. “The solstice is... in about a month and a half from now,” she said.“Oh,” I said. “Shouldn’t it be getting colder then?”“It has been,” Calamity replied. “For a bit now, even.”“Oh,” I said. I hadn’t noticed. Then again, the difference from climbing to a high altitude and then coming back down was pretty big sometimes. It was super cold up in the sky, especially at night, so when we descended back down to ground level, things felt comparatively warmer. “So, we do have plenty of time to get to Port Royal, then?” I asked.“We have enough time, yes,” Amaryllis said. Although we won't have enough if we linger around and follow every side-quest like a dog chasing squirrels, right Broccoli?"Amaryllis gave me a pointed look, which I ignored. I turned my attention back to Judas. “So, is there anything you need help with?” I asked. “Maybe with the mothfolk?”“Why are you asking that, Broccoli?” Amaryllis asked.“Because I want to help?” I asked.She kept staring until I found myself fidgeting on my seat.“Because I want to help the moth people so that I have a reason to go around hugging them. But Amaryllis, they have four arms! Imagine how cool that must feel! You don’t need to worry about whether your arms are above or under when hugging them because it can be both, and they look so soft!”“No Broccoli, we won’t go saving people just to hug them, that’s... morally questionable, I think. Maybe.” Amaryllis frowned. “In any case, it’s a bad idea.”“The mothfolk are in a bad way,” Judas said. “Their dungeon’s being plagued by these strange plants, I’ve heard.”I looked at Amaryllis.“We’re on a schedule,” she said.“They’re offering a lot of gold to anyone who could help, but no one’s answered the bounty yet,” Judas continued.“That does make it more tempting,” Amaryllis muttered.“I like gold,” Calamity added.I pouted. “Guys, we don’t do things for money, not when that thing is helping people who are in need of helping. It’s not nice.”“We absolutely do things for money,” Amaryllis said. “The Beaver doesn’t run on water and happy thoughts you know. And our time and expertise is worth something. A lot, in fact.”“I like gold,” Calamity repeated with a nod.I crossed my arms. “Judas, how bad are things right now?”“Not so great. The mothfolk used to get a lot of the things they needed for their village from their dungeon. The first few floors give cloth.” He reached to his sweater, which seemed like it was made of a thick, soft sort of knit material. “We used to buy lots of it here in Codwood. Not just for clothes. It’s a really tough silk, so it makes for great ropes. Not so good for sails though.”“It’s a moth-themed dungeon, right?” I asked.“It is,” he said. “If you want to know more though, and if you want to try to help, I know a few folk who would love to meet you.”I looked at my friends, then shrugged. “Sure. Are those people in town?”“They shouldn’t be far,” he said. “I can probably have them meeting you here by tonight.”Tapping my chin, I considered it for a moment. It would be nice to get some proper information before starting off on a little side-adventure. And a side-adventure would also be fantastic. I had skills that I wanted to improve, and I wanted to be a stronger bun. A dungeon would help a lot with that!This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.“Do you think these friends of yours could meet us at our ship?” I asked. “If we’re going to do this-and I haven’t said we would yet-then we’d have to ask the rest of the crew about it. We wouldn’t be going into a dungeon with just the three of us.”Judas agreed, and after offering us something to drink-on the house, but we ended up refusing-he got up and returned to work with a promise that he’d get into contact with his friends as soon as he could.“Well, that’s something,” I said as I stood up and stretched until my back went crick-pop. “Do you think we should head back to the Beaver now?”“After a short stop,” Amaryllis said. “We need supplies. Not just for any dungeon we might inadvertently end up in, but for the Beaver as a whole. Our pantry isn’t as full as I’d like to see it.”“Alright!” I said.We left the Go Fish inn and headed down to the docks with some directions from a helpful local. There was a small market where fishermen brought their daily catches. It smelled... strongly. Very strongly. But other than that, the place was lively and fun, with stalls displaying the best of the day’s catch and others with fishing gear and locally made crafts on sale. From what I understood, the market was free for anyone to pick a stall and use, but it was only open for a couple of hours a day. That meant that anyone not selling stuff had to hurry over to grab what they needed, but it also meant that the gossips and busybodies all had a place to gather every afternoon.We paused by one of the stalls to stare at the fish.“I don’t think i’ve ever seen a blue fish before,” I said.The fish on display was very dead, with half of it cut open to display the fish meat within. Pale cyan fish meat. It had pearlescent blue scales and fins of a darker cobalt colour. “These are Blue Lake cod,” the man behind the counter said. “I hear they’re quite the delicacy elsewhere in the Endless Swells.”“They’re very impressive,” I said.Amaryllis struck up a conversation with the man about the best places to buy preserved food while Calamity barely held back his drool.I made a note to buy a small bit of fish for Orange.We ended up being pointed towards another merchant who sold these little barrels no bigger than my head filled with salted fish on beds of dried seaweed and covered in copious amounts of a blue-tinged salt.“Nearly everything from the lake comes out bluish,” he said. “Just the way it is.”I thought it was a little too weird for it to be dismissed so easily, but then I hadn’t grown up next to the Blue Lake either.We picked up some food, grabbing fresh produce while we could. I really had to start a garden up on the Beaver one of these days so that we could have fresh carrots whenever we wanted. Or maybe I could help Awen invent the fridge so that wouldn’t be a problem?Soon enough, we were heading back to the Beaver with a couple of barrels of salted fish and a few heavy sacks filled with veggies.We were greeted on the Beaver by most of the crew who were split up handling different tasks. Oda was on a bench, scribbling in a notebook, the other Scallywags had strung up hammocks on the rigging, and Caprica was working through some sword forms on the deck.“We brought food!” I said.There was a cheer at that.“But it’s not cooked yet,” I added.The cheer died down into a bunch of low grumbling, and I found myself giggling as I skipped across the deck with a sack hugged close.I decided that we’d have a big cookout, right there on the deck, and that turned out to be a lot more complicated than I initially imagined it would be.Awen came out, was a little miffed about the idea, then took charge of building everything we’d need to make it not be a disaster. Fortunately, her glass magic was coming along really well, and soon we had a toughened glass device designed to hold some flammable oil and conduct heat into a big in-set plate that a few pots and pans could sit on.I directed some of my friends to chop veggies while I prepped the rest of the food. It was probably a good thing that I wasn’t hungry, because the smells that started to rise up were dizzyingly yummy.We raided our stores for spices and anything that was starting to go mushie, and tossed those into a big stew while I seared some blue fish in oil and got everything warmed up.Things were just about ready when someone showed up by the Beaver Cleaver’s side. I was informed by a watchful Orange, who was guarding the ship while ripping into a big chunk of raw fish. She meowed at the arrival of a stranger and that had my ears perking up.“Oh,” I said. “Caprica, can you keep stirring things?” I asked since she was close.Once the princess was behind the stove-and looking a little lost-I skipped across the deck and paused. “Hello,” the man said.He was a mothfolk person, with long wilty antennae, bent by old age, and huge wings which draped over his body like a long, fluffy-edged trenchcoat. He was hanging onto a gnarled stick that he was using as a cane.“Hi!” I said. “I’m Captain Broccoli Bunch, of the Beaver. Did Judas send you over?”“Hello captain,” he said. His voice was raspy and low. “My name is Lepido Ptera. And yes, Judas mentioned how you might be able to help us.”“That’s fantastic,” I said. “Come! We’re just about to have lunch! We made enough to share, and you can tell us about that dungeon problem you’ve been having. We’re sort of experts at fixing those, you see!”
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