Aliases are alternative forms of a reference. They can include actual aliases for characters, nicknames, gendered variations of the some [Classes], plural variations, and even typos.
The expression on the cart driver’s face and the way the guardsmen at the gate reacted when they inspected the bulky objects strapped under the tarp attracted some attention, however. So perhaps one or two [Merchants] made a note to inquire about any unusual shipments, and the extremely bored people-watchers might have drifted that way. But many things passed through Liscor, sometimes objects considered illegal in Human lands or very illegal in every land. Those were usually confiscated.
A wise [Merchant] with illicit cargo skipped Liscor’s annoying gate checks altogether and just sent someone to buy enough food and supplies to continue south or north. This was an odd route, this bridge between Drake and Human lands.
Liscor was definitely no trading city like Pallass, the closest Walled City, but it occasionally got high-profile [Merchants] making a journey that essentially locked them into one part of the continent for a year. Unless they took a sea route to mitigate the High Passes issues.
Any important [Merchants], the question meant. The Human resisted saying ‘for what?’ He was one of a few Humans who came to Liscor, and they were all traders, travellers, or adventurers.
The trading area just past the northern gates was fairly busy due to the [Merchant], so the farmer’s odd wagon was unnoticed as yawning Drakes and Gnolls walked over.
The Human [Merchant] brightened at the sight of another Human face—most of his workers and caravaners for this haul were Drakes and Gnolls, going home. He was about to see what this young woman was doing here when he spotted her companion—and froze. Then he noticed the mysterious cart too.
The adventurer and the [Merchant] looked up. They seemed annoyed to be interrupted, but their expressions cleared as they saw Erin. The man who’d been loading up his wagon smiled genially.
The [Merchant] smiled at Erin while he made a face at the non-Humans passing by on the street. Erin sipped the lukewarm beverage from her mug and made a polite noise to agree with him. The adventurer nodded, chomping down on a baked potato filled with spices.
Erin’s smile froze on her face as she stared at the [Merchant]. He hadn’t even tried to lower his voice. She sensed rather than saw the other Drakes sitting at nearby tables slowly glance over at her and the other two Humans. They didn’t seem to notice, nor had Cervial done more than glance at his companion—he hadn’t said a word. Neither had Erin but…
Hastily, Erin got up and excused herself. The adventurer and merchant bade her farewell and stared after the young woman as she disappeared into the crowd. When she was gone, they exchanged a look. The [Merchant] took a long draft from the fresh mug the Drake had served him and grimaced. Like everything in the city, he could swear the ale they served him was the lowest gutter-scrapings.
Krshia’s head was throbbing. The Gnoll would have loved nothing better than to sit in a corner and bang her head against a wall just imagining what Erin was saying. Better yet, she would have loved to overturn the table and call Erin a tail-biting liar. But [Spot Deception] was a [Merchant] and a [Shopkeeper]’s skill, and if it wasn’t as good as [Detect Guilt] or [Sense Intentions], it was still more than a match for a large falsehood. What Erin was saying was true.
“We’re practically unheard of. My sister’s a [Merchant], and my brother’s a [Knight]. We have relatives, but it’s a small family. We trade in silver and have several large mines in the area. And we’re distantly related to the Reinharts.”
How long ago the conflict had started, the [Merchant] didn’t know. Only that her father had talked about the Bloodfields as having been there as long as the Five Families. After the first wars had brought down Walled Cities and forced the Drakes and Gnolls to the south past the High Passes, the gigantic mountain range that divided the continent, armies had pushed each other back and forth, often spilling into north and south and destroying cities.
