It took three hours to reach Starter Town, and as Maria had indicated, while the route wasn’t easy, it was safe. They had to climb hills, traverse rough terrain, and scramble over rocks. At the end of their journey, they were all sweaty and dusty, but they could see the gates of Starter Town. Guards were posted at the entrance; it was late afternoon when they arrived.

  The guards weren’t human, but humanoid. One had the face of a cute, white-furred bunny. Though the bunny-like guard was cute, his companion was anything but. His head was that of a horned lizard.

  The horned lizard looked at the new arrivals. “Hewmans, intaresting,” he said, his pronunciation strange and his tone suggesting he wasn’t necessarily pleased by their arrival. “Rules.” He pointed his spear at a sign by the gate. “Follow them.” He then waved them through.

  They read the rules, which made sense: no fighting, no gambling, various other prohibitions, and a requirement to check in at the inn. Rules were usually posted for a reason, and some of these were a little worrisome. But they would follow them; following rules was standard practice at school. Once they had all read the sign, they entered.

  The town was clean—very clean. This made sense, as one of the rules forbade littering, and it appeared that people adhered to it, at least in that regard. There were houses, warehouses, stores, what appeared to be stables, and various other buildings. They made their way to one of these buildings; a sign indicated it was the town inn. They entered. The main room had a large fire burning, though it was a blue flame, and instead of heat, it emitted cold, making it cooler inside than outside. They went to the counter and rang a bell there.

  From a door—which one could assume led to the kitchens, given the aroma of food that wafted out as it opened—a small humanoid emerged. He looked somewhat human, but his ears were pointed, and instead of hair, he seemed to have feathers. The rest of his body was of average size. “Oh, guests. Very nice,” he said, his voice having a singsong quality. He looked at the five newcomers. “Younger than usual, but who am I to complain about guests?”

  “Good afternoon,” Josh, as the de facto leader, said. “We would like a room.”

  “Yes, yes. Will you all be staying in the same room, or should I assign individual rooms?” The small man climbed onto a stool, as the desk had been built for someone taller. He opened a ledger on the desk, picked up a quill, and dipped it in ink. “Party of five, staying for an indeterminate duration. How will you be paying for your stay?”

  They exchanged glances. How were they going to pay? None of them had brought money—well, maybe a few dollars and some change. “Actually, sir,” Josh said, “we aren’t from around here, and we don’t have any local currency.”

  “Oh, well, not to worry. I’m sure we can come to an agreement. There’s always plenty to do in town and in the surrounding area for your type. I’d recommend checking with the Adventurers Guild first and foremost; they have plenty of work. One room or five?” He held his quill poised to write.

  “Thank you, sir. One room will be fine.” This would be no different from their sleepovers at each other’s houses, where they all slept in the same room.

  “But where are my manners? Welcome to my inn. My name is Mr. Rowen.” He gave them a small bow. “Crooss! Crooss, where are you?! My apologies; my son is probably not doing his work, as usual.” He stepped off his stool and opened the kitchen door. “Table and food for five, please. And someone send for Crooss.” He shook his head and came around the desk. “If you’d follow me, we’ll have some food and drink brought out for you.” He led them to one of the tables in the room and bowed again as he saw another customer raise a hand for his attention.

  They hadn’t really paid attention to the rest of the room. Another person sat at a distant table in a corner. They couldn’t tell the person’s gender, as they were dressed in very dark clothing with a large hat that obscured their face. The hand the person had raised was covered by a glove; no skin was visible.

  They sat in silence, waiting for the promised food. They were quite hungry; they had little left of the snacks they had brought, having only planned to be gone for six or seven hours while swimming and fishing. The promised food finally arrived. The server was a younger humanoid who resembled the innkeeper. Perhaps this was the innkeeper’s wayward son, Crooss, but who knew? Perhaps they all looked similar. The food was brought out on a small cart, and the server quickly placed it before them.

  “Thank you for your stay at Rowen’s Inn. We hope your stay is pleasurable and that you tell all your friends about our wonderful little place.” The speech sounded rehearsed, but it was a good, short speech. They thanked him, and he left them to their meal.

  They poked at their food, which appeared to be a type of stew with vegetables on the side, along with what looked like a tortilla and a sweet-smelling drink.

  “Maria, is this food safe to eat?”

  “Analyzing…” Beep, beep, boop.

  “The food has high nutritional content, and your physiology will be able to process it; therefore, it is deemed safe for your kind to eat. Would you like additional information, such as calorie counts?”

  Before Maria had even finished speaking, Pepe—an eating machine, for the most part—had already begun to eat. It was a wonder how he put away so much food, considering how skinny he was. “Tastes great to me,” he said between spoonfuls. “This tortilla is really good too—not as good as my mom’s, but still good.”

  They dug into their food. It was wonderfully rich, and their hunger made it even more satisfying. The drink was fruity, with the taste of apple and another, unidentified flavor.

  After they finished, the inn staff removed the plates, gathered their belongings, and took them up to their shared room. They followed and were left alone. There was a bed for each of them and a sixth that would remain empty.

  None of them wanted to lie down, as they were sweaty and dirty from their walk; they could really use a bath or shower. They put away what belongings they could, but they still needed to take their change of clothes with them—unsure how they were going to wash their dirty ones. This world was so different; they doubted it had washing machines and dryers. They would either need to wash their clothes themselves or pay someone to do it. So many things they needed to learn, and they had been here less than twelve hours. How were they going to get home? What were the rules of this place? How? How? How? So many questions, and no answers.

  The innkeeper provided a guide to lead them to the bathhouse and informed them that their clothes could be washed while they bathed. The bathhouse was two streets over—a short walk. The guide spoke to the owner, and they were led into a changing room where they were given towels. They all felt awkward walking out with only towels wrapped around their waists. They were then led to an area divided by a wall, with a different sign at each entrance. They paid close attention to the signs, knowing they would need to remember not to enter the wrong side.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Refreshed after their baths, they found simple, clean clothes waiting for them. While the clothes weren’t a perfect fit, they felt good. They made their way back to the inn, taking in their surroundings. The town was so different from where they had come, yet in some ways, it was like any other town, with its stores, houses, and people. However, there were very few humans walking around.

  The inhabitants were strikingly diverse—short, tall, and broader than what the group was used to, in all shades and colors, and all sorts of beast folk: lizards, birds, rabbits, squirrels, and more. But upon closer inspection, they were just people. A giant, standing about eight feet tall, carried a basket of what could only be described as some kind of fruit or vegetable. Some children, younger than the group, played together. They all wished they were the ones playing; just the day before, it had been them. Now, they needed to figure out why they were here and how to return home.

  Though they were worried about how they would survive, they knew they had to stick together, as they had for the past several years. No one would be left behind; they were a team, friends first and foremost. As long as they had each other, they could handle anything. They returned to the inn and fell asleep, exhausted.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The following morning arrived too soon. Outside, the sun shone and birds sang—a stark contrast to what they were used to. The previous night, Crooss had delivered their clean clothes, so they now had both the garments provided at the bathhouse and their own. They went downstairs, rested from the previous day’s stress, and ate a simple breakfast.

  “Maria, how do we find work? The innkeeper mentioned there was plenty.”

  “Bobby, the Adventurers Guild handles all requests. You need to register to access their available work. These are commonly known as quests.” There was another familiar game term.

  The innkeeper came to greet them. “Good morning. Did you sleep well? Is there anything I can help you with?”

  “How do we get to the Adventurers Guild?”

  “That’s easy. It’s three buildings across and to the left. When you’re ready, I can point it out from outside.” He returned to his desk, in case any other customers needed assistance. Once they had finished, they waved Mr. Rowen over. He led them outside and pointed out the building they needed.

  The group found themselves in a small, sparsely furnished building. A lone woman sat behind a desk. Tall and thin, she looked every bit the schoolteacher in her mid-to-late twenties, complete with glasses. Her clothing, while unlike anything they’d seen at their school, was decidedly conservative.

  Engrossed in her work, she scribbled on some papers and didn’t notice the group approach the desk. “No, no, that can’t be right. That won’t do at all,” she muttered. A nameplate sat on her desk, but the language was indecipherable to them.

  Pepe cleared his throat to get her attention. She jumped, startled by their arrival. An endless number of requests were pinned to a board behind her. She looked up, surprised to see them. “Oh my, oh my… you’re… you’re adventurers? Please tell me you’re adventurers!” she exclaimed, sounding excited.

  “Well, we’re trying to be. How do we sign up?” They obviously hadn’t planned to work this summer—the plan had been to have fun. But they had ended up here, wherever “here” was.

  “Oh, yes! I have the application somewhere…” She began searching through the desk drawers and then a filing cabinet behind her. “Here they are!” she exclaimed, pulling out the forms and blowing off the accumulated dust.

  Bobby and Erin, the group’s better writers, took on the task of filling out the form.

  “Party name? Any ideas?”

  “Bombardiers!”

  “The Packers!”

  “I am not going to be a Cheesehead!”

  “Pirates Inc.?”

  “Cats?”

  “Wolfpack!”

  “Alright, calm down. Wolfpack works for me. Everyone good with that?” Josh asked, and the others nodded their agreement. It was definitely better than “The Packers.”

  Bobby and Erin filled out the rest of the form and had the others sign their names.

  The guild manager was thrilled when she received the form, even kissing the paper. “Wolfpack Party is now officially entered into the records of Adventurers Guild Chapter 125. Thank you for registering! This is so exciting! My mentor retired a year ago, and we haven’t had anyone sign up in such a long time. So, if you’re looking for work, we have plenty.”

  “We’d like to look into role training first. Are there any quests for that?” Since Bobby had taken the lead on this, he was the one asking.

  Ms. Hoysver looked at the form, then at her board, selected five quests, and handed them over. “Of course! I’m so sorry; I should have known you’d need these. It’s been so long. Please come back when you’re finished. I have so many quests that could use your help. It’s very rare that we have returning veterans come by to take care of them.”

  Each of their individual quest logs had been updated. While they couldn’t see the quests assigned to their friends, they could see their own, along with a warning.

  “Thank you, Ms. Hoysver,” they each said.

  “So polite! I love it. You’ll need these to show you’re official members of the Adventurers Guild.” She handed each of them a pin shaped like an “A” with a small dash next to it.

  She bowed, smiling. They returned the bow, as this seemed to be the custom, and left the building.

  “Looks like we’ll need to go solo on these, boys. Let’s see where the maps point.” Each took out their individual map and examined it. The locations appeared to be just outside of town. They would need to investigate these quests.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Elsewhere, in different times and places, other groups, like our intrepid adventurers, find themselves transported to an unfamiliar world—a place they did not fall asleep in. Some had been alone, others in pairs or small groups. The previous night, they had been at home, camping, or staying at a friend’s house. This morning, they awoke in a forest. Some groups were near each other; others were far apart. And like our friends, they are greeted by Regi and welcomed to this new world: Reladur, where magic is commonplace and creatures considered monsters walk in the daylight.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Regi’s flashy exit after registering the newcomers left the groups more confused than ever. But there was a purpose to this: they could only help so much; the rest they would have to figure out on their own.

  “Is it done?” his master asked, seated at his desk with his hands steepled as he watched Regi return.

  “Yes, Master. That may be the last of them, but we will continue to check for any stragglers.” He hoped it was the last; he didn’t really want to go out there again, but it was his job.

  “Are your brothers ready? How is the dungeon team progressing?”

  “Last I checked, they’re coming along nicely. They seem to really enjoy their work—some perhaps too much. We’ll see what they come up with.” Saying they enjoyed their job was probably an understatement—except for DungeonNodeY56, who had even requested a transfer.

  “Are your sisters ready to assist their assigned groups?” Those girls were always giving him a hard time about his duties. It wasn’t his fault he was the best node.

  “Yes, sir. HelpNodeX223 is already assisting the first team. Oh, and a request from DungeonNodeY56 to transfer to the HelpNode division has come in. But I’ll handle that request.” Regi still found this confusing. Why would he want to transfer from the Dungeon Team?

  His master waved him away; more pressing matters required his attention.