"We should find a place to spend the night," Leo suggested.
"Don't you want to explore?" I asked. "It looks like there's a lot more than just the palace here."
"I would feel better if we secured accommodations first."
"Okay, sure," I said, and then tried to get the attention of a very muscular gorilla walking by us. "Excuse me, sir. Do you know of a place we could spend the night?"
The hulking beast looked me up and down, from head to toe, before resting his eyes on Louie and the faint blue glow emanating from him. Only then did a smile appear on his face. He regarded me again.
"Yes," the black gorilla said, in a voice lower than a ship's horn. "It's your choice really. If the spot is empty, you can sleep."
"Okay..." I said, a bit confused. "But where would that be? Is it like a hotel or an inn?"
"No, no, no. You can rest here, though it can get a bit loud and busy. Or you can walk through that corridor and go into the royal forest. There are also a lot of caves if you follow that path," he said, pointing his finger each time.
"Oh, you actually mean out in the open?" Louie asked, and the gorilla nodded. "But is it safe?"
"It is safe," he replied. "Just stay away from the lakes if you mind mosquitoes. Very nasty lately. If you really want a bed and walls around you, you should go straight on until you see the 'Resting Nook' sign."
"Thank you and have a good day," I said.
The gorilla flashed his teeth before going his way.
"Well, off we go to that place, I guess?" I asked and we started walking again.
The place they called the palace was actually more of a complex of structures interconnected with tunnels, paths, and stone stairs between the different landscapes. Had I not known this was an actual faery-land, I would have guessed we were in a high-budget theme park. So beautiful and diverse was each part.
The path we were walking on was definitely the one that was more oriented toward humanoids. On either side of the stone-paved path were little shops occupied as much by people like Leo and myself as by animals. We passed a barbershop ran by an ape, a bakery that smelled like fresh butter croissants served by what looked like an elephant man, and a restaurant where large spotted cats were running around on their hind legs, holding trays filled with delicacies.
"This is such a fun place, Alex," Louie said. "Maybe we can find a place with more dogs. Or wolves. Yes, wolves would be interesting."
"Sure, buddy," I replied, then spotted and pointed at a wooden sign hanging from two silver chains on the side of the street. "'Resting Nook'. This is the place."
I pushed the heavy circular wooden door and a little bell chimed when it was open halfway. As soon as I stepped in, a feline-looking humanoid approached us and took a deep bow.
Name: Rajit An Inan
Race: Felinefolk
Class: Fighter
Level: 4
"Welcome to the Reshting Nook," the cat-person said with a wide smile and a thick accent. "Are you eating with ush or reshting with ush?"
"Just rooms for now, please," I said.
Rajit regarded us carefully and pointed to each one of us before addressing me again. "Three roomsh, I preshume?"
"Rory is definitely getting one on his own," I joked and turned to look at him, but he was already on his way to the wooden bar at the other end of the big room. "Leo do you want a room to yourself too?"
"That would be best, yes," he replied.
"Then three rooms it is. I'm sorry, before that," I said, suddenly realizing that I had no idea of the currency used in this realm. "It's our first time here. Can I pay with Cosmos money? Or can I pay with my Dark Energy Marketplace account?"
"You can ushe your DEM account to pay in shopsh but the roomsh will be paid by the queen," he said, pointedly looking at Louie's soft glow.
"That's very nice of her," Louie said.
Across the room, Rory was putting down his first empty glass mug on the bar, his beard littered with beer foam.
"Here are your keysh," the cat-man said, and passed us three thin metal rods with numbers engraved on them. "If you need anything, pleashe call Rajit. Enjoy your shtay in the Reshting Nook."
I smiled at him and passed one key to Leo before calling out to Rory who had already managed to down another mug.
"Good mead, good place," the dwarf said.
I passed him his key and we walked up the creaking wooden stairs that led to the rooms.
"Is that your criterion for good accommodation?" I joked as I looked for my room number, 1337.
"Of course it is!" he said and headed toward his own room. "Drinks and food. Sleep is the same everywhere."
"Can't argue with that," Louie retorted. "Shall we check our rooms and then go for a walk?"
"Aye," the dwarf said, and opened his door.
Our room was nothing short of what I imagined a medieval inn would look like. A beautifully carved wooden bed with a matching nightstand stood next to a window that overlooked the triple towers of the palace. The walls were a warm dark-brown, the same color as the bed and all furniture in the room.
"You like it?" I asked Louie, who was already on the bed, maniacally digging in the covers.
"'Sleep is the same everywhere, half-Celt,'" Louie said, imitating Rory's voice and accent.
"That's actually pretty good!" I laughed. "Let's go."
Leo was already waiting for us and Rory opened his door just as I was about to knock on it. A couple of minutes later, we were walking the streets of Mommur, following the signs toward the food court, hoping that was where the restaurants were. The walls of the little stores we
