Clifford
Alex had been waiting for nothing in particular for a few hours now, and while she had expected that motivation to continue her journey up the Serpentine Coast towards Miller Dale would spark movement in her, she had gotten distracted. She couldn't remember by what though, and so it seemed as good a time as any to make her way towards the town. She had heard, from passers-by in the last town, that she would like this little slice of paradise (that is after all what they had called it).

After packing up her things, and slinging her back over her shoulder, she fished out a folded map from her pocket and opened it, carefully avoiding a rock that was planning to trip her. Making it to the small road nearby, she stared at the map, then at the road, then nearby river and coast, then the map. She slowly turned it upside down, then right side up—or is it wrong side up and right side down? She puffed her cheeks in annoyance, wondering what craven monster had developed cartography and why they would have done such a thing. I mean, it's terrible, she noted. She rolled her blue eyes in annoyance and summoned the patience to fold the map up and not crumple it up and throw it into the sea for some manner of shark or skate or jellyfish—jellyfish?—to eat it. Shoving it in her pocket, she sniffed the air and picked a direction at random. North seemed right.

After a few more hours of walking along the road, she could see one of the two rivers that the map had helpfully suggested were on either side of the pleasant little city. She picked up the pace a little bit, wanting nothing more than to reach town and do three things. 

First, take a shower. Ideally a bath, in one of those fancy tubs with the little animal feet for legs. Second, eat real food. She had been living on dried rations for more than a couple of days, and a hot meal would do her some good. Finally, a bit of civilization.


Also finally, she would love to brush her hair. As it always was, her golden curls hung just above her ears and were dried and worn from the sun and the salt of the waves. Sirens were not immune to a need for proper care, and if her mother could only see her now she might die of shame. She reached up, grabbing a handful of the blonde curls and squeezed them, feeling how brittle and dry her hair was. Poor babies, she thought, we'll take care of you soon, I promise. 

This she saw as pivotal.

Also also finally, a bit of music never killed anyone. As she walked towards the town she could see signs of live and laughter. It was an idyllic place, and she already knew that she would like it there.

Oh, also also also finally. Bread.
Bryant
"Greeting!" Called out an elf from about a hundred yards. "Are you ok?"
Tyler
"*I have a way of seeing and it's nearly goneAnd nobody was listening so I wrote this song*. - Death to Death, Stars" 

"*Greetings*!" Alex's ears perked up a she looked around herself. She saw an elf, not too far away, calling out in her direction. She wondered whether or not this was someone that she knew or perhaps they were looking for someone else. *That embarrassing situation where you wave at someone, but they're not waving at you, they're waving at someone past you and you have to pretend that you're doing the same thing to save face*. She paused for a moment to peer over her shoulder and looked off down the path that she had come up but there wasn't anyone there. She turned back at the elf, pointing at herself, putting the tip of her finger on the end of her nose. "*Me?*"

She wondered what the other person may have meant by that. *Physically?* She absently checked her body with her hands, no injuries. She reached up, running her fingers through her blonde curls until they got caught in her knots. "*I suppose so? Though, I'm hoping that there's an inn or something where I can get a room, some food, and ideally a bath. Might you know if that's something that can be found here?*" She continued walking towards the elf, pitching her volume accordingly the closer she got.
Bryant
She giggles at the way the girl reacted. "You're funny. It seems you're a bit lost and based on your dainty clothes not a woman of the woods. I just wondered if you needed help. I was fishing and went to the wood to collect some herbs and mushrooms." She pulled a leather bag from her side to show the stranger. "I love coming out here to relax on my days of from ranger duty." She starts to walk towards the river as she waves her hand to be followed. "I'll get you to Miller Dale. About an Inn... Well there is this nice inn ran by a motherly halfling, think a room there is a silver a night. It's a quaint home little place, its called The Singing Shepherd. The place is right on the west road of the town, easy walk into town center and quiet. Now we rangers have a contract at the so-called fancier The Fox and Flagon. Rooms there run about 2 silver a night or more if you like something nicer. Last is the Amethyst Theatre, I hear sometimes they rent out nice rooms and even apartments for entertainers that come into town. I wouldn't know how much those would be." As they reach the bank she pulls out a net with three fish in it that she left there to keep cool. "Come on. We will be there in an hour or less. We'll actually enter from the south so you will have all three places at the same distance basically."
Jennifer
When Khozarr had bought a probably overpriced passage from the small merchant ship, he wasn't expecting it to dock in such a place. This wasn't a port, and it didn't look like a place for adventure, glory or epic stories to him. They had sailed up a river and reached what by all accounts looked like a small paradise, and he had no idea what a paradise might even look like before. The landscape looked so green, so full of life, that it had nothing in common with his home. 

As the gnoll took his time to stare at the surrounding area, jaws slightly hanging in equal parts of confusion and wonder, something pushed his side from behind. He quickly turned around to see the captain of the merchant vessel probing him with his walking cane. 
"Right, that's your stop, now get out of the way before we start unloading our cargo." The old man began pushing Khozarr towards the plank using his walking cane, and the gnoll had to respect the man for having the courage to treat him like this, but he wasn't gonna give up that easily. 
"I don't want to be here, I want a challenge! Dangerous places!" The gnoll turned around, resisting the urge to bare his teeth to make his point, but the captain was having none of it. 
"You paid to drop at our next port, and here we are. Now unless you can buy another ride..." The captain squinted and Khozarr lowered his head. "... As I thought, I hope you enjoyed our fine services, now get off of my ship!"

With a growl the gnoll turned around and walked down the plank towards the docking platform by the river. In the past days he'd heard enough from the crew to know better than to argue with the captain, so he had to deal with this situation on his own. He stopped in the middle of the platform, receiving bewildered stares from the few surrounding dockworkers. Clearing his throat, the gnoll called out. 
"Grrretings, uh, people? How do you earn coins around here?" He bared his fangs in an admittedly dangerous 'smile', then corrected himself to appear less threatening. "Or get cheaper passages..." He chuckled to himself, half turning his head back towards the ship he had left. *Appear friendly and perhaps they won't run away screaming*, he thought to himself.
Christopher
Ouranos was one of the dock managers and had come up to take the captain's Bills of Lading for the cargo to be accepted. When he saw the Gnoll attempt of a smile he laugh a bit "Easy friend, no need to exert yourself. In town perhaps but best work on the smile. Cheap passage? Don't think that will happen, few boats cross from the sea into our river docks. Coin, well there are many ways. What you good at or looking to do? We ourselves are short-staffed today, damn flu bug has a few of my men out."
Jennifer
The gnoll turned to the source of the voice, eyeing his interlocutor briefly before showing a more moderate amount of fangs. "Need a hand here? Not my thing... But I can handle it if it pays." 
He nodded, looking back to the ship. "If it means I get to step back there, all the better. Teaches him to push me off the ship." 
He chuckled at the idea of pissing off the captain some more, seeing him step back on board. *Perhaps take something back with me when they're not looking? Or not, too suspicious.* His glare became briefly cold, then looked back to the man with a seemingly cheerful expression. 
"Get enough coins to stay in town? Need to pay there too, right? Gotta pay for everything here..." He sniffed once, looking around the landscape once more. Make the best out of an unusual situation, he had to work with that.
Christopher
"Hehe. That's life in the city my friend, got to pay for everything, even the water you drink. I do miss living out in the woods but a girl will change your life and well here I am 60 years working and living in the city. My boy on the other hand is out there somewhere trying to make some coin too with a company of dwarves, ah the life of adventure." Staring for a second norward as he takes the Bills of Lading. "Well I need to go over these before my men start accepting, if you wanna help you can stay if you are looking for something else The Guard, The Rangers at Highwater Keep, or even the market or inns make have something for you." He starts to walk off to a group of mans and waves his hand to follow. 

"Farfu," He calls the half-orc sitting between the men who stand over 6 feet tall. "What's in this one Ron?" 
"Looks like a few loads for Sylindil Winery and something for The Prince Of Bards. Then some other odd ends, Have your man work this fast. I don't want to get home late today." 
He turns around "So friend. Do you want directions or are you on board the help these guys? Based on your size you should be helpful here, it will take about 5 hours before we close our shift, so a nice gold coin for you if you turn out as strong as you look."
Tyler
"*Oh, gray river; your waters ramble wild*. - Annan Water, The Decemberists"

Alexis immediately found herself endeared to the girl for her laugh and collection of mushrooms. When she held out the bag for Alexis to look into, she stood on her tiptoes, balancing as she peered in. "I love coming out here to relax on my days off from ranger duty," She said as she started to head towards the waters of the river. Alexis required no coaxing ever to be drawn towards bodies of water. She slipped her hands into the pockets of her linen pants and followed along next to her. Alexis listened carefully as the other woman explained the different options, and found herself drawn to the name 'The Singing Shepherd', how could I not be, she observed. She watched the other woman work, and whistled softly as she did. There was nothing special about Alexis' song other than it was a nice song.

"Come on, we will be there in an hour or less." *Is that all?* *That's alright then isn't it*, she thought as she held out her hands, offering to carry something if the ranger would give her something. After she explained the geography a bit, Alexis made a mental note of the locations—which she immediately forgot—and pretended that she remembered what the woman had said.* I do remember,* She chided, but no response came. She pursed her lips, puffing out her freckled cheeks a bit as she followed along in quiet contemplation for a moment.

"Is there anything near the water?" Alexis asked after a few minutes of walking. "The town looks lovely and all, but with such beautiful waterways, I'd be silly not to want to hear that sound all night, right?" She gave the woman a bit of a friendly jab with her elbow. As they got closer to the city, she could immediately see the charm of it all. Friendly and quotidian were the words that came to mind immediately, but a whole host of thesaurus worthy words followed.

She found herself marveling over the architecture of the houses, from little huts to taller buildings and found that there was an almost irresistible charm. She swore that she could hear music on the light afternoon breeze as they made their way towards town. There was a port, with some vessels lined up, equipment and supplies loaded and unloaded. The stones under her feet were rounded and smooth, and she occasionally dragged a foot to feel the little bumps and scrapes of pebbles along the way. 

Nature had its own special kind of music. She glanced back at the ranger, wondering whether she knew what the best option was to be closer to the docks.
Bryant
"Well as you can see the city makes use of the rivers." She smiled warmly as they approached. "Besides a lot of creeks around here, lots of waterways and channels have been made over the centuries to make life here a very pleasant one and easier to move merchandise from the river docks out into the main lands. Now if the sound of water is what you want then The Singing Shepperd is your place. It was built to use the creek water to run a watermill and other things. I've never stayed but it looks like a doll house, it was made for halflings but lots of old merchants love to stay there when they come to pick up cargo." Stopping at a bridge that crosses over a waterway "I have to head this way, sorry I don't ask you over just a bit of a mess today. Here go here and there, you cant get lost for sure, but if you do as I can see it in your glazed eyes just ask anyone. If you ever need me ask for me at The Fox and Flagon or leave me a note. Bye!" As she waves and takes a step onto the bridge a medium cargo barge goes under it with some ten crates on it and an old man smoking a pipe that seems to be more asleep than at the helm. "Remember The Singing Shepperd!" She calls out, just in case.
Jennifer
The gnoll mulled over the offer, he still had no real experience with the cost of things and services so he wasn't sure if what he was offered to work was suitable or less than expected. Still, he had paid a large bag of silver coins of different origins for the passage and he hadn't much left with him so every little bit helped. Shrugging lightly he decided to accept, he could use the exercise anyway after so many days confined on a ship. This would be a learning experience, observe how other species worked and learn to act like them, that should make things easier to be accepted and foster a modicum of trust. He grinned widely, stretching his arms before approaching the rest of the workers. "Where do we start?"

Khozarr followed the lead of the other workers, moving crates with little trouble and being careful when told to. He guessed some of the crates had fragile or expensive things in them, but he wasn't sure if he could recognise the value of any of them unless it was pure gold or silver. That was a noticeable inconvenience and he tried to ask casual questions about it, filling the gaps of his knowledge. When the others called for a break he took a deep breath and sat by the dock's edge, massaging his arms while looking towards the city in the distance. This was truly a foreign place, but he couldn't help but wonder if anything interesting could be find here even if it wasn't where he imagined he'd land.
Christopher
"Alright Fartu, we got it all done for the day. Dont need to dock master to get on my case in the morning so this is good. Send your boys home and I'll see ya tomorrow for the early shift, remind the men."
Looking around he calls out "Gnoll! Sorry I was so distracted by work I didn't get your name." As he waits for a name he hands him 10 silver. "Figure you could use the change instead of the coin. Listen I'm heading home and I live next to a nice quiet in, unless you want to go somewhere more crowded that is, but I'm friends with the owner as our children practically grew up together. She only charges a silver a night and I can have her throw in dinner, the cook there is a grumpy old man but knows his business, get him drunk and he is a barrel of laughs. So where do you want to go?"
Tyler
Alexis, with no small amount of interest, peered over into the nearest river. There was something just purely comforting about this town. She figured that the proximity to the water, the constant sound of babbling brooks, and the friendliness of the people were what was doing it, but she couldn't be sure. The desire to stay in this city, putting down roots and living there crept into her mind and then immediately slipped from it and out into the nearest river where it flowed away. 

"Now, if the sound of water is what you want, then the Singing Shepherd is your place. It was build to use the creek water to run a watermill..." Alexis half faded from the conversation, imaging this little place with a massive waterwheel. It flowed day and night, and the wheel drove the business and the little mill ground up wheat and they baked bread with it. The smell of delicious, freshly baked bread filled the air and people would come from all over town to buy it, early in the morning. Not long after opening, the matron would say 'we're all out' and they'd have to leave and come back the next day. Wait, what? She snapped back to reality and looked at the ranger. 

"If you ever need me ask for me at The Fox and Flagon or leave me a note. Bye!" The ranger waved and off she went, down the stream. Alexis waved happily as she watched her go. And realized that she didn't know the other woman's name. 

"Ranger-lady," She tested. "Fishing ranger?" She lowered her hand and did her best to remember where she was supposed to go. "Fish... Ger. Rangersh..." She tugged absently on her ear as she started to make he way towards where she believed she had been pointed to. "Rangisher?"

It took her almost an hour of aimless wandering to find the Singing Shepherd, and she was not disappointed. It was cute, it had charm. And she figured they were probably out of bread.
Jennifer
Accepting the first legitimately earned coins of his life, the gnoll was at a loss for words for a few seconds. He felt like this should have been an important event, but then the moment was gone and he looked back to the man trying to get his mind into the conversation. 
"Ah, my name is Khozarr but some call me Chuckles. I don't understand what's funny about that." He remained quiet for a few moments, then he barked a short laughter and slapped the shoulder of the man in front of him.
"Thanks for the pay, it was hard work but felt good." He nodded and pocketed the coins while glancing at the town with an inscrutable gaze. "I don't know where to go yet, I don't think I ever did but I'll think about it. It's hard to make choices, no?" He turned his gaze back to the man and grinned.
"Your help is... Uh... Appreciated! Also no one ran away screaming yet so I have a good feeling about this place. Maybe I'll see you around?" The gnoll sniffed once and nodded is head, then tentatively offered a clawed hand to shake as he'd seen people do before. *Do as they do, try to fit in. Best chances for survival this way.* As he thought that he grinned again, showing just a minimal amount of teeth. That had been some good practice before heading into the town proper.