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Rimiri’s eyes widened as the little caravan of wagons rumbled toward the settlement. Foroughfore. She had never heard of it before, but there were so many newly established settlements these days, that was not terribly surprising.

Foroughfore was up on a protected ridge, and there were newly built palisades up around parts of the settlement. She could see animal pens off toward one side, a great longhouse near the center of the settlement, and a decent scattering of buildings around it, some large, some small. Some still being actively built. Sorrel was right, then. Building things always meant a blacksmith was needed somewhere somehow.

The wagons came closer and she saw it. In front of the main entrance was a flag with…

A strange yellow creature.

With beady soulless black eyes.

Rimiri shuddered. What a disturbing creature. She wondered what it was, maybe some rare powerful monster from a dungeon around here? Was this their flag then? Perhaps it was to intimidate bandits.

Her pa nudged her shoulder and pointed toward the ongoing construction he could see.

“We should head over there once we get settled in. See what they need help with, yeah?” He suggested. She had been thinking along the same lines just a moment ago.

She looked at him as they walked alongside the wagons. That her pa was walking at all was a miracle. He’d taken some sort of damage from those draugrs when defending their village. A hit to the leg. Then a necrotic sickness of some sort.

It should have killed him. Would have, if not for Ironha. She had potions, real potions, potions specific to the necrotic magic sickness. Something like that would have cost Rimiri a year’s wages, and Ironha would hear nothing of payment when Rimiri promised to repay her for it.

“I am just relieved he got here in time,” Ironha had said.

Rimiri had cried. Again.

Not long after, her pa had woken up and found Rimiri and Sorrel both at his bedside. He’d thought he had died and this was the afterlife, and had been rather distressed both of them were here with him.

Looking back… it was a bit funny. Or it would be, in time. A story to tell for ages.

Pa had made a full recovery within a day. The original wound had not been bad, and the potion had taken care of the necrotic illness. He was not keen on bedrest as a concept, and when he heard there might be a need for blacksmiths in the bigger settlement, he’d been on board to come over with the next trip. So Rimiri and her pa and Sorrel had come with that merchant group and the powerful orc kin woman.

And now… now they were here. In Foroughfore.

…. Now what?

Rimiri stayed near Sorrel and the other refugees that had made the trip, lingering near the wagons, everyone looking a bit lost until a young boy came running, all smiles and cheer.

His name was Jem.

He was going to show them where they’d be staying for now, until they build more houses. So the group followed him while he pointed and explained what was what.

“Over there is the chicken coops, and near them is the goat pens, and over there is the barn and they’re starting to work on some fields back there and—"

There was a longhouse. That’s where people gathered, apparently. They had hot food in there, free to come and go as you please as long as you don’t go hungry. A command post where the militia and scouting groups gather and report. A healer’s house where Ironha apparently works in when she’s here.

They round a corner and Jem points out two buildings that catch Rimiri’s attention. The building lodge for the carpenters and stone masons, with a big outdoor work area beside it with logs, saws, piles of stone and waste wood, and stacks of planks. And…

The forge. It wasn’t large or grand, but it was there. Unmanned at the moment. Cold. Rimiri grimaced at that, there were superstitions about cold forges. She wondered if it’s because the dwarven blacksmith guy was down in Threeburrow for now. Possibly.

Jem led them past those buildings toward a long rectangular structure. Stone base, log walls, a few windows cut in here and there boarded up with shutters against the cold, wooden plank roofing. Rimiri had noticed something as they walked through this apparently brand new settlement.

Everything here was… quality. High quality, like what you’d expect in a merchant district in Glasshold. Yes, the buildings were log-based, but… the joining was flawless, the chinking holding the logs together was smooth and well-done, a soft beige in color that blended well with the natural wood of the logs. The wooden roof planks overlapped and hung over the edges of the buildings, and they were uniform in cut and size and thickness. It was not just good work. It was fine. These people knew what they were doing when they were making these buildings.

“They seem to have master craftsmen, Riri.” Pa murmured, also appreciating the work as they followed the group along. Rimiri nodded, still taking in all the detail as they reached the entrance to the long building that Jem was introducing as the “hostel.”

“Hostel?” Sorrel tilted his head, confused by the word. “What’s a hostel?” Others in the group nodded along, also confused.

“It’s like a hotel but less fancy I think.” Jem hummed, scratching at his head.

“What’s a hotel?” Another refugee asked.

“It’s like a fancy inn.”

“And this hostel is… a less fancy hotel?”

“Yes.”

“Why not just call it an inn then?”

“I dunno.” Jem shrugged, but he was smiling. “I like hostel better. It’s a funny word, and that’s what Carl called this place while it was being built, so… hostel stuck.” There were shrugs and confusion all around, nobody knew who this Carl person was, but the group collectively decided to just… roll with it.

“Anyways, this is the hostel,” Jem carried on, getting back into it. “The occupied rooms have little signs on the door with a big X facing out, and the empty ones have the blank side facing out, so just turn yours around when you choose one. When you guys get all settled in, come on over to the longhouse and we should have dinner ready soon! Edda will want to meet you all at dinner, she’s our village head.”

He asked if there were any questions. There were none, so the kid smiled at the group and prepared to leave.

“Try to stay away from the new buildings going up down the lane, we don’t want any accidents.” He explained as he headed toward the door, gesturing in the direction of the new buildings going up. He stopped himself before leaving fully and turned back as if he remembered something important suddenly. “Oh! And if you see a big moving metal person, don’t panic. That’s just Zim, she’s nice, I promise!”

And then Jem was gone.

The refugees looked among themselves for a moment, then started to slowly break away and look at the rooms. Occupied ones had an X marker, empty ones did not, flip it over when you choose one. Sorrel lingered near Rimiri and her Pa, wanting to see which rooms they chose, and maybe wanting to pick one near them. Rimiri picked one further down the hall. Sorrel almost chose the room right next to her, but her pa put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him.

“Sorrel, my boy. I like you, but no. Not that one.” the big blacksmith smiled a little less than politely at the young farmer that very much liked his daughter.

“R-right, sorry Mr. G.” Sorrel turned about as red as an apple as Rimiri’s pa maneuvered Sorrel over one more door down and chose the room in between them for himself. Rimiri just huffed a little. Overprotective father. She was just glad he was alive enough to be overprotective anything.

Rimiri ducked into her new room to check it out. A small but good quality bed, a small storage chest, a table and chair, and an oil lamp on the table. Minimal and sparse but all of it was crafted well, and the blanket… she ran her fingers over it. So soft, so warm, such high quality wool… was this… rabbit wool? How was such a new settlement so abundant in such subtle luxuries?

She didn’t have much to unpack so she just set her satchel down on the floor and then flopped back onto the bed, looking up at the ceiling. They’d go to dinner soon. Meet the village head, see what needed to be done and where. Maybe she and pa would start helping with the building work tomorrow. Get the forge burning and get to making tools and nails and whatever else they needed to keep expanding. Sorrel was likely to start working in the fields. She wondered if he’d still come by to make sure she was stopping to eat now and then.

It had been a long couple of weeks. Rimiri felt like she’d aged a few years from it all. But she had her pa back. He was alive enough to scare boys away from rooming right next to his daughter. She had Sorrel, who had been talking to her more and not so subtly hinting at wanting to court properly. She had a roof over her head now, a proper one. And a bed under her. And dinner would be soon.

Threeburrow and Foroughfore had to be the strangest places and the strangest people she’d ever met so far. Goblins, Kobbolds, Gnolls, and humans all mingling together in relative harmony. An Orc kin. An elf. A Dwarf. A Beast kin. Apparently some sort of big metal person? Strange people was perhaps an understatement.

But they were good people. They had taken her village’s survivors in without question. Given them food and shelter and safety. Saved her pa’s life. Brought them into their settlement and given them rooms and real beds.

Rimiri sighed and closed her eyes, relaxing for the first time in what felt like years.

She thinks everything is going to turn out alright now.