It took the Dragonstones and Wick a few days to reach Chiaro by horse.

The roads were well

kept, and the encounters were minimum, but they discovered that the closer they seemed to get, the
sparser the land was. Forests thinned into plains, and fewer and fewer animals roamed. In fact, there
seemed to be precious few things stirring at all.

The Dragonstones took the time to speculate on what may or may not be causing the problems.
Luke had heard of transformation spells that could have possibly caused the men to change, but he
thought it unlikely. Wick had heard of herbs that could increase libido and lower inhibition, but the
closer Chiaro became, the less likely those herbs were to be found. Jack, for his part, believed it to be a
drug that was somewhere between the two.

The trip gave Jack and Wick time to ease the tension between them, and it gave Luke a small pit
of pleasure to see the two of them getting along again. He had always thought that Jack and Wick
would have made a fine couple, if only Jack would be a little less lustful and Wick a little more
forthright about it. He enjoyed Wick's company quite a bit, too, and he would have hated to see Wick
leave.

It was the middle of the fourth day when Chiaro finally started coming into view. Even before
they saw the city proper, they could see the deep red clay walls that the city was famous for. The clay
was fairly common in this part of the Continent, but Chiaro was really the only city that had decided to
use them for building materials. In the bright mid-afternoon light, the walls even seemed to shine a
little, like polished gemstones.

The trio was relieved to see activity outside the walls, as the quietness of the land was
beginning to unsettle them. While all three of them were used to traveling, they were all urbanites at
heart, and it was easier to handle buildings and people than it was wilderness and wild animals. Cities
had life and noise and a specific kind of semi-chaotic vitality.

The main gates to the city were open, and as they got inside, they saw buildings made of red
clay, as ornate and fashioned as any stone buildings of any other city. Large pyramids loomed over the
buildings, a trio of them populating the far edge of the city limits. An ornate, terraced one rose high in
the middle, a small tower atop its summit.

The main road of the city led to a large, open plaza dominated by an ornate cistern, with a large
aqueduct from the hills outside the city feeding it. The closer the plaza got, the more that they could see
rooftop gardens on the lower buildings. A number of them contained flowers of bright and vivid hues,
and at one point Wick swore that he could smell them.

Most of the people making their way through the city were humans with light brown skin, many
of them in homespun clothing, often stained with red clay. There were plenty of visitors, however,
including elves, gnomes, and even a few ratfolk. The native humans, however, weren't interacting with
the visitors for the most part. In fact, as the trio rode slowly through town, they received many
suspicious or outright hostile looks. It didn't take long for Wick to flatten his ears down and draw up
the hood of his cloak to hide his lepori features as much as possible.

Halfway between the city gates and the plaza, a pack of young men weaved their way through
the streets to surround the trio. They were barely old enough to be teenagers, most of them looking like
they lived on the street. They all started talking at once, each one trying to grab one of the trio's
attention. A few of them held in their hands small vials of shining red liquid.
 “Do you need a guide?”

“Help with your horses?”

“Bottle of Red Welcome. Only 50 gold!”

Their Common was stilted but practiced. Their Caecinan accents were fairly heavy. Luke
addressed them in the Caecinan language.

“We are looking for Hassan's Guesthouse. Can you show us the way?” One of the older boys'
eyes lit up when he heard the Caecinan and repsonded in kind.

“Hassan's Guesthouse is not far from here,” the boy said. “I would be happy to guide you.”

“Lead on,” Luke said, flipping the boy a silver piece. “There'll be more once we get there.”

The boy excited let the trio through the city streets, the whole time identifying random buildings
as sites of interest. Luke figured it would be wise to let the boy think that they were only tourists. In-
between tales of local history, the boy began talking about the contents of the vial in his hand.

“You must try Red Welcome,” the boy said. “I can sell you some for only 50 gold!”

“What is Red Welcome?” Luke asked.

“It's a fantastic thing,” the boy said. “It brings peace of mind, strengthens the body, relieves
pain, fills you with courage, and makes you potent.”

“Potent?”

“Yes! You know. Potent. In bed.”

“Ah, I see,” Luke said. “Is there anything this Red Welcome doesn't do?”

The boy thought for a second but eventually only ended up repeating the list of Red Welcome's
effects like a trained barker. When Luke didn't jump at the chance to buy a bottle, the boy started to
haggle, eventually offering to sell it for only 40 gold. Luke declined the offer, but the boy kept trying to
sell. After a while, the boy finally led them to Hassan's Guesthouse, and Luke realized that the boy had
definitely taken the longest route possible to get there.

“Here we are,” the boy said. “Hassan's Guesthouse.”

The three dismounted as Luke fished out a gold coin for the boy. The boy eagerly accepted it,
running off into the streets after. The Guesthouse itself was made of red clay like the other buildings,
but it's ornamentation was distinctly different, closer to the sweeping lines common to the architecture
of the great city-state Karambelas to the south. Sky blue banners hung outside the main entryway
listing the place's name in both Common and Caecinan.

“You two stay here,” Luke said. “I'll go in and see about where we can stable the horses.”
 Luke walked through the front door to find a large but sparsely-populated main room. It wasn't
the most richly-decorated inn in the world, but a great deal of thought had gone into its arrangement
and simple but elegant design. Near the entryway, a small desk and ledger greeted Luke, as did a
handsome, well-built man who was clearly not a native of Chiaro.

It wasn't just the darker skin or the slightly different dress that told Luke that the man wasn't
from around here. It was the fact that the man's eyes brightened and his smile broadened when he saw
Luke walk through the door. The man opened his impressive arms wide as he saw Luke enter.

“Welcome, welcome, welcome to Hassan's Guesthouse!” he said in a strong baritone voice.

“Are you looking for lodging, good sir?”

“Aye,” Luke said. “For myself and two others. Do you have any room for us?”

“Of course, of course!” The man said. “Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Hissar
Hassan, owner of this establishment.” Hassan held out his hand in greetings.

“Well-met, Hassan,” Luke said, meeting the man's hand in his own. “I am Luke Dragonstone.
My brother and our companion would like one of your rooms.”

“Only one?” Hassan asked. “But there are three of you and only two beds per room.”

“Don't worry,” Luke said. “We are more than capable of sharing beds. And we wouldn't want to
take up more space than we need.”

“That is most generous of you, but as you can see, we have plenty of room,” Hassan said,
gesturing to the mostly-empty main room. “All the same, I will prepare your room straight away.”

“Excellent,” Luke said. “How much?”

“One gold a night for each person,” Hassan said, “but I shall give you a special discount for
using just the one room. Of course...,” Hassan leaned in and lowered his voice, “...I can give you a
deeper discount if you have any food to donate.”

“Food?” Luke said, fishing out several gold pieces from his belt pouch.

“My supplies are running low,” Hassan said, lowering his head. “It is quite shameful. Several of
my suppliers have vanished recently, and as an outsider in Chiaro, it has been very hard to convince the
people here to sell to me. I have to import most of my goods, and with the recent troubles...”

“What troubles?” Luke asked. Hassan leaned in even closer, dropping his voice to a whsiper.

“The Red Welcome,” he said. “Ever since that first started appearing in Chiaro, it seems
everything has started to break down.”

“Hassan, do you know a gnomish woman by the name of Saralinda Erico?” Luke asked.

“Why, yes,” Hassan said, surprised. “She has been staying for here for a while now. She assists
me in the kitchen.”

“We were bidden by a cousin of hers to seek her out and help her with something. I think it
might be related. Would you be willing to discuss it with myself and my companions?”

“Yes,” Hassan said. “Let us wait until the evening meal. We shall all meet and discuss the
issue.”

“Excellent,” Luke said. “Do you have a stable? We need somewhere for our horses.”

“Yes, of course!” Hassan said, his voice returning to boisterous. “The stable is quite secure. I
shall help you take the horses there, as my assistant has...well, my assistant is not here at the moment.”

Hassan stepped forward, and Luke saw that he was quite well put-together for an older man. He
had clearly seen his share of physical activity, and Luke surmised that he may have once been a
warrior. His silken clothes tightly hugged his strong body, highlighting both prominent pectorals and
thick thighs. He strode toward the entrance with heavy, confident steps.

“Welcome!” he said as he saw Jack and Wick outside. “Welcome to Hassan's Guesthouse!”