Prologue: Public Nudity
Kal looked in wonder at Iron. The massive city had walls that created a mazelike barrier. The many alleys that veered every which way made his head spin. Worse than the physical barriers stood the mental ones. He had to intentionally shut off his telepathy or risk madness.
The sheer number of people living in the city was the cause. Going against his natural instincts was quite the difficult affair. However, there was a second issue to attend to. Unfortunately, his armor posed to create a new problem. And if Kal did not make his next move perfectly, his newfound friends would be forced to take a fall.
Looking quickly at his fellow adventurers, he tried to figure out the best one to relay his message to. Should he tell the Monk? Grez was a rather impulsive individual and would try to argue. Not to mention his strange monkey tail might lead to related trouble. That route was no good.
Next, he looked at Sneak Peak. The Giant Rogue was the only reason he was not dealing with trouble already. This was his last choice of confidence. He had a large list of crimes from what the rest of the group had informed the “Psionic”. That word reflected on Kal’s mysterious powers.
Hadron, the Barbarian was like the Monk, too impulsive to be of much help. That left both the Knight Velros, and Paladin Belwyn. These two were by far the most dependable. Thus, he warned them both as the guards finally noticed the second unusual person beside the Giant.
{I’m gonna run away and have the guards chase. Pretend not to know me.}
He dashed away from the front gates before any had a chance to voice a complaint. Footsteps from behind told that he was being followed. Just as expected of course. Kal had been worried that the moment he stepped into Iron, that none would be able to see his armor.
A long time back, a Wizard had given him a magical set of armor. What the whimsical caster had not told him was the second magical property of his clothing. Unless those looking at him had the aptitude for Magic, they would see nothing but his birthday suit.
But being naked in a major city was only the first of his two problems. His race was the second. Kal was not a Human like most who lived in Iron. Nor was he an Elf or Dwarf. Both these races had a couple members scattered nearby. He was not an Orc or Giant, which would have been met with hostility. Said hostility was already a problem for Sneak Peak.
No, Kal was a Tiefling. His mixed blood involved Infernal origins. And considering his nudity, at least to the nearby guards, that spelled double trouble.
Even as he ran down a relatively empty alley, one that probably had crime at night, from the looks of it, he still got a few shrieks.
“It… its naked!” A Human cried. A merchant based on the wares he was holding. Kal wanted to protest that this was false, but he had no time. The guards reacted to the noise and were following.
He foolishly turned around to inspect what chased him. This forced his defenses down. An unfortunate thing when he collided with another person. They wore heavy armor based on the pain his body felt on impact. That could only mean one thing.
“Stop right there!” The Guard commanded. “You are under arrest for public nudity and…” The tall soldier looked the Tiefling up and down. “And… for being a Monster! Yes, that is right!”
“I am not a Monster!” Kal declared. He would not bother denying the nudity.
“Is that an admission of guilt for nakedness?” One of the Guards from behind demanded and grabbed him. He could not get thrown in prison. Especially if it would reflect badly on the rest of his friends.
Kal also would not fight them. Escalating this attempted arrest would only lead to worse things. The Tiefling did the only reasonable thing in this situation. He flew into the air and demonstrated that the wings on his back were not just for show.
“Not so fast!” One of the Guards yelled from below. “You will not get away lawbreaker!” Kal intended to do just that. Admittedly, his plan was not so great since eventually he would need to return.
But for now, he needed to get away from this alley. While he was in the air, the buildings around him all rose to a considerable height. He was still an easy target to hit with projectiles.
From the corner of his eye, he saw an object flash as it flew to his position. Kal had little room to maneuver, but the Tiefling had been in worse situations than this. Whether that remained true was debatable when the truth of the attack made itself known.
It was no arrow that Kal had failed to dodge. It was a net! The heavy contraption was pulling him towards the ground. And if he used any of his spells, there was too much risk of harming innocents.
What sort of City has Guards that carry nets?
“Get the Captain!” one of the Guards commanded to the rest. “I’ll watch him.” Kal groaned realizing he could be trapped here for quite a while.
However, his terrible luck ran out almost immediately. A new Guard entered the alley and his armor indicated that he was far more important than the others.
The Captain wasted no time asking the important questions and pulled out a long blade. The look on the Human’s face warned Kal that if he answered wrong, his throat and head would be separated.
“Why are you here monster?”
“I am not a monster!” The Tiefling responded with once again. Yet as far as appearances were concerned, this was false. “Er… I may look like one, but I promise I’m not.”
“Even if you are no monster, you are still naked in this City. That is against the law in most of Spatia!” A quick reading of the Captains mind showed Kal how he was to get out of this situation.
“I am here for the festival!” Kal had no idea what this event was, but it was the only way to avoid falling behind bars.
“Is that so?” The Captain did not look convinced. This gave the Psionic a second idea. Please work. Casting a telepathic command, the Tiefling forced the idea that he and the Captain were friends.
“Very well.” The Captain’s face softened. “You there, take him to proper lodgings. And get some cloths sir!” Kal was unable to do so. It was one of the side effects of his armor.
Whatever this festival was, he could not be arrested for all but the most serious of crimes. Now he just had to attend. Whatever that meant.
Does this story interest you? You can check it out as well as the rest of this series here.