"Bugger me, what a hike." I swear, letting my one-object-away sack hit the ground with such a pathetic thud. It's almost drowned out by the sack flopping itself were it not for the very city behind me being so full of noise. Never mind the weather, too. At least there's a fresh breeze coming up this mini-mountain.
I take a few steps forward, approaching the ornately made edge, and stare down the drop. Put some magic in me and I can survive that fall, no trouble at all. Once I'm done today, that might just be the case. Hopefully, anyway.
My head turns slightly towards the city, following the gaudy battlements until I reach the gate. I've been near city gates, town gates, forts and castles. I know what a proper fortress looks like. This is not that, this is someone's art project, and they had a budget for more than just the arts & craft shop down the road.
"Hope I have a key." I remark, picking up my back of a thing and heading off. I keep to the fancy, marble brick and gold-cemented road for the sake of something, not dirt. Carrying on and on until I reach the limits of the gate's main building. An almost superficial thing with how it can't decide between a show of wealth or a show of force. The guards are much the same, utterly, fabulously bedecked in wealth and shine. A lethal way about it, too.
Too many patterns and cuts to really focus on or care for. It's almost like they want you to stare at their plate, cloth and padding just as much as they want their swords to catch your eye. A possibly enchanted thing that has way too much of this sunlight flaring off of its pure jewel pommel. I almost want to risk getting caught out as a bug just to stop that precise glare.
Thankfully, it eases up as I approach one of the guards, "Uh... Hello... Am I allowed in?"
I ask, embarrassing myself right out of the gate. Or, well, outside of the gate. How do I even ask permission to enter a city like this...? I'm so used to places just kind of letting me in as a simple rule, but here seems like there should be some kind of-
"Of course, noble doctor." the guards nod, stepping aside to pull on what I can only imagine to be a silk rope. A series of chimes go off, its mechanical complexity so blatant with how the song changes pitch, going around and across the wall and its interior. I shuffle about on my feet, watching the gate's art move and shift. Statues pop out, the road revealing several pre-set paths.
These precious metal, stone and jewelled men walk ahead, their limbs covered at parts. Blatantly and intentionally exposed at other points. All to show off the craftsmanship, the art and the passion. All timed to the sounds of those gears.
"Alright, then." I mutter as quietly clear as I can and the guards step aside some more, their part so clearly rehearsed.
"Welcome, noble doctor, to the Royal Capital, home of Her Majesty the Lady-King!" they greet as together as they can really make it. I nod in acknowledgement and move into the city, paying close attention to the marvels of this Royal Capital. If anything's to have magic in this place, surely it's in the city.
Both the walls and in the more usual way people think about things inside of cities. A thoughtful noise goes through me and I try to keep my mind off of all the pretty things. Things that once upon a time could've made my life so easy and luxurious. Yet, somehow, I doubt I could afford a home here because of one simple, simple rule. Supply and demand.
If all the wealth is here, in the windows and the carpets, you will surely need more than its worth to live here. Honestly, I don't want to think about it. Enough money already has gone into this mountain to make me feint. I don't need to consider how much goes into just this city.
Maybe I'll even stay away from the people and just head to the palace... Everyone here is so snooty, so full of themselves in the same way their pockets are fit to burst. Yet, somehow, I don't seem to be on the receiving end of any of the arrogance one might expect of this. They all seem to be good-natured and I can only assume it's because of my... Doctor-ly appearance.
In fact, someone seems to be approaching me precisely because of it.
"Noble doctor! Noble doctor, I need but a pinch of your time!" the fancily dressed woman asks, her heels clicking as much as strings of pearls and more.
"Hm? How can I help?" I ask back, minding what seems to be the path towards the palace. Or maybe just some rich folks' home. Is there even a point in thinking about it belonging to some rich couple...?
"Oh, it was so tragic, noble doctor! The dashing chevaliers of the street over were duelling and tragedy struck! Their blades drew blood when nothing was supposed to come of it and- Oh, just come now!" she begs, her composure breaking a bit but otherwise remaining. I nod in understanding, more enthralled by how much her heavily decorated wig is shaking. There's too much hair there for it to be natural, surely.
"Right, of course. Show me the way." I say, lifting my arm up and trailing along ever so closely. One has to wonder, really, how does she even run in that? Well... Run like that, anyhow.
"Just around that corner there, please, please hurry! Noble doctor, save their lives with your Lord-given gift!" she begs, putting her hands on me and almost shoving me. I speed ahead, not needing her as my guide anymore, and I turn that very corner. Finding a little more than I bargained for.
"Gods above, what kind of accident was this!?" I let out, noting just how much blood is already out across the floor. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't just some duel. There's broken teeth, loose limbs, shattered armour and weapons. Splinters, cracks, screams, the whole war zone lot.
And the mood, somehow, in a flash of light, changes. All because of me being here. Eyes light up, prayers to this so-called Lord fill the air. It's alright now, a noble doctor is here. Me.
A smile comes to my lips, a moment I never really considered. People are happy to see me here, here to save the day. There was always this uncomfortable awkwardness for us all on the surface. The Dark Crow is an osibindah, the only true mortal osibindah. A monster's spawn.
But, here, they don't know that. I'm just the noble doctor to them, but one of many, but still a beloved thing! It's... It's exciting, strange. Excitingly strange and I feel electric just because I'm happy...
"Alright, stand aside. I need room!" I bark, calling on what little experience I've had with actual doctors. My magic flares up, coming into controlled view and I spread my literally magic touch across the bodies. Wounds vanish, bones go back in place and while I can do nothing about their clothes, gear and more. I can fix the bits that matter up.
Crying men go silent, their slobbering, bloody jaws now no more than a messy reminder of it. More 'thank you's,' more praise. It's almost enough to spontaneously build me an ego. Not quite enough, though.
"And... That's... That's everything." I let out, sighing with a sudden twitch of lost nerve. My magic goes back inside of me, returning to where it needs to remain. I shouldn't spend too much. I'm here to get my magic back, not here to lose it all and-
"THANK YOU!" the woman from earlier cries, a round of tremendous applause going off as the saved rise up.
"Well..." I let out, rising to my full height as the bombastic noise just keeps on coming. I twitch, stepping back with a strange feeling I've not felt in a long time. I'm embarrassed out of praise...? So childishly innocent and I never want it to-
"Who are you?" someone demands to know, a group of black-cloaked men coming into view. A small group, possibly half-a-dozen or so at a slight glance. All masked in pale beaks of varying designs, marked with other little things. Rank? Awards? I suppose it doesn't matter.
"I'm Doctor Nin!" I pop, a familiar sense of understanding in the world coming back to me. There's no praise in this man's voice, just scepticism. Annoyance. Something contemptible. An uncomfortable familiarity that is so easy on the mind. So... Comfortable.
"You do not bear the markings of a doctor of the Royal Capital..." the masked man utters, his voice filled with an arrogant snobbishness that I expected far earlier in my time here. It took me two streets or so to get this kind of behaviour. Not just the very gate itself.
"I'm new...?" I go, hoping the claim is enough.
"Call for the watch, speak of the foul acts this pretender claims." he goes to his fellows and they head off, their cloaks catching on the speed of their departure. My brow cocks and I look towards the lives I've saved.
It's strange, really, now that I focus on it like this. I've saved lives, hundreds. Thousands... No, millions. I've saved millions of lives fighting, battling, working, and hunting. All together. Every job, every moment of hunger, Smiling Jhurack and Atarifuge. All of it.
And these are the first lives I can think of so easily that I saved by simply being there. Giving magic in an act of charity. Not because I took a life or put someone on the path to lose theirs. I saved their lives by doing what Vapooliar, Rose, Einervaene, Lari and so many others have in the past. Giving magic.
"I saved these men." I point out, having no trouble admitting to that. My claw extends, going over the men who will live to see another sunrise and another day of prayer and more. Creation is not losing their light this day. I saved them.
The doctor looks them over, perhaps even doing so jealously, "All the more reason your vile lies must be brought before judgement and infallible eyes!"
"Wh-What...?" I ask, not seeing how this has suddenly become a problem. The guards at the gate let me in without any real judgement, so why is this now an issue? I suppose they probably saw no reason to think on it. Another doctor is another doctor in their eyes.
But these lot are actual ones, and, while I'm no fraud. At least in the sense of what these people see as the 'gift,' I am not actually a licenced practitioner. Trumped up as this in what seems to be a moment of perceived stolen triumph. I guess there's not a whole lot I can do, ending up in a prison cell and ending up before...
Wait.
Infallible eyes? Judgement? The Lady-King herself, perhaps? Ok, no, I can work with this... I can actually make something work with this. The villages out across the resort, the ones with doctors in them too. They were surprised by my magic. Surely such a notable trait about me would catch the Lady-King's eyes and ears?
Hopefully, they just don't ask me to strip and show off my true form... Can't really afford to have that happen.
The other doctors come back, guards in tow and some confusion about them, too. A perfect way to get through the palace gates. If that is where imposter doctors end up going... I guess it's just a gamble I have to take.
"Not like I haven't gambled my life away before." I say quite clearly for others to hear and I approach the guards.
"You are the one the noble doctors speak of?" one guard asks, looking me over with a kind of familiarity that only says one thing. He knows what a magic flow looks like.
"I am the pretender, yes. I need to repent before Her Majesty, the Lady-King." I answer, still not too sure about this, even with my history of putting my life on the line. The guards look me over again and gather for whispers.
"He admits to it, but the Lord did bless him with the gift." one goes.
"Her Majesty's judgement is needed, most certainly." another agrees and they all nod. The jealous doctor's wants certainly fulfilled. But mine too.
"Noble doctor, would you let us accompany you to the palace?" the guards ask surprisingly politely, and I nod in acknowledgement. Letting them handle me to their modest hearts' delight as we turn and head off. A slight smirk on my face as that rattish doctor no doubt has a scowl on his.
Source of magic, I'm on my way!