It was a thing of beauty. A masterpiece that could bring a tear to the eye of anyone who looked upon it. For different reasons.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
"MOVE IT!"
"NO, YOU MOVE IT!"

The argument was never ceasing, coming from every direction as the entire street was so jam packed with carts, carriages, and wagons of every kind that no one could move even an inch. Even the walkways on the sides for pedestrian traffic were crowded and flowing at a snail's pace as people shoved each other, trying to get to their destinations. It was so bad that people had walked off of the path, into the street while all the vehicles were stationary. That just made things even worse.

Hylltywyll looked down at his handiwork from above, perched atop a lamppost. He was proud of just what a mess he'd made. The careful planning it had taken. Getting one road after the other shut down by getting one carriage wheel stuck in a hole here. A freak weather event of rain only occurring on a single street there. Soon enough, it was as if all the traffic in the entire city had been redirected onto one street, and it wasn't nearly capable of accommodating that many wagons or pedestrians.

Hylltywyll listened to the complaints and insults being thrown around as if it was the chorus of his favorite song. He smiled to himself as another fat merchant stuck his head out the window of his carriage to complain, only to be shouted at himself by the crowd.

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Gridlocked
Participants: Two or more
Location: Sol City
Post Requirements: 5 posts per person, 200 words per post
Reward: +1 Renown

Description: Sol City becomes chaos this time of year, with people from all over flocking to enjoy the summer festival. Merchants come to sell their goods, while Bardic Virtuosos come to sing and dance for entertainment. However, because of how much attention this attraction brings, the city streets can often times become gridlocked. You find yourself caught up in a messy gridlock somewhere in Sol city. Wagons, carts, horses, and other livestock remain stalled while hundreds of people push and weave their way through the crowd… some sort of occurrence or disruption causing the street to become jammed. Find your way out while navigating the unknown chaos that may pop up.

It. Had been. An Hour. What in the hells was taking so long. It would literally be faster to walk to the festival, were it not for her 14 bags of luggage strapped to the top of the rented Stretch Carriageousine. She poked her head out of the window to shout at Mori, who was taking ample advantage of her master not being able to see by cheerfully flipping off a fat merchant in the carriage next to them.



The cat maids ears twitched in fear as she heard her masters voice calling from behind. “Where are we, I’m not hearing the festival music yet. We’re going to be late to Bartholomews performance at this rate.” Gwen said, her voice dripping with annoyance at having to stuck here surrounded by the ever present smell of horse shit and poverty. Mori, being not the most verbal maid, simply shrugged, which Jess had to translate as “We can’t really fit this Carriage onto the sidewalk Ma’am.”



“I told you it was a dumb idea.” Millicent said, sitting halfway down the padded couch on the inside, ashing her cigarette out of the window. “Should have just flown while we had the chance.” Gwen plopped back onto her couch with a grimace, shooting empty daggers into where she could sense the maids presence. “Shut it. There is value in arriving in style. And I told you to stop doing that inside the carriage.”



“More value in arriving at all” The blase maiden replied, before squishing the tip into the outside of the door, then flicking it into the carriage next to them.

Oh? Now that was an irritating voice that Hylltywyll recognized. He turned around, swiveling on his lamp post perch to see the gray hair and stupid veil of Gwen through a carriage window as a hand opened the curtain to flick a cigarette out.

In the carriage next to them, there was a sudden scream as the cigarette landed on a silken pillow and started a small fire. The pompously dressed merchant or noble, or whatever else Hyll didn't care enough to identify, screamed at the sudden flames and started to frantically stamp them out. Their efforts proved ineffective as the fire spread to the cushion of their seat and caught the hem of his fancy robes too before he threw them off and climbed out of the window of his carriage with a shrill scream.

The carriage went up in flames and everyone ran, trying to get away from it, but it was difficult in this mess. The crowd flowed like molasses to give the pyre some room, and the wagons right next to it were unable to move at all, including Gwendolyn's. The flames threatened to spread to the nearby vehicles if it wasn't put out quickly.

Hylltywyll watched, half amused, half angered. The fire was hilarious to him, but he wasn't pleased with someone upstaging his work here. Whoever set that fire was piggybacking off of all his effort to set up this major traffic jam and he wasn't going to let them steal all the credit!

But... There was possibly an opportunity here. The fire was awfully close to Gwen's carriage. Maybe he'd just wait and see if he could get something out of this.

The sound of excitement and screams piqued her ears as she slouched in the seat. Were they at the festival already? She hadn’t felt the carriage move that much, and it sounded like people were pounding / running into her ride on foot. Probably the peasants finally having enough and throwing off the bonds of oppression. It was bound to happen, she just wished she wasn’t stuck in the middle of it in such a display of wealth and prestige.



“Jess, what’s going on out there?”



Jess did not hear her masters question, having largely been distracted by the raging inferno of a carriage burning next to her.



“OH SHIT OH SHIT, MORI WHAT DO WE DO?” She shouted, looking back at the Catmaid whose only response was a shrug. “UHHH… ICE SPIKE” A wedge of ice formed in her hand, casting a small mist before being launched at the burning cart. Of course, it did little to nothing. The spike lodged itself in the door, and sizzled before beginning to melt.



All this commotion was starting to concern Gwendolyn. On top of everything else, the summer heat was starting to seep in to the carriagousine in an uncomfortable fashion. Pulling the curtain back and unlatching the window, an immense amount of heat blasted her in the face. Someone had lit a fire, in the middle of traffic?



“The fuck IS going on out there” Millicent asked, leaning back to peek out of the window. “Hah, some imbecile got their carriage set on fire.”



“It’s way too close. We’re going to lose the deposit on this ride at this rate” Gwen muttered, peeved at the loss of her spending money. She slid to the left side of the compartment, and threw the door open. Stepping out with an air of authority not found commonly on these streets. And then Millicent followed shortly behind to help her master walk around, quickly undermining a significant portion of exuded authority.
Ice Spike

Hylltywyll chuckled under his breath, trying to be quiet. Vis voice wasn't going to be concealed by the shadows as it usually was, thanks to the perfect vantage point to view the chaos sadly not being in the shade. The top of the lamp post gave him quite the view, and everyone below was too busy arguing and now running for their lives to look up and notice the little gremlin.

The ice spike melted pitifully, unable to make even a dent in the growing inferno. It at least was some kind of attempt to do something, he'd give them that. It seemed that they had no way of solving this problem on their own. A perfect opportunity for Hylltywyll to offer his assistance. He'd need to be careful about it. He was sure Gwen would be much more cautious of making a deal with him after the last time they'd met. Or not. She was pretty stupid.

"Not so nice to see you again." He greeted Gwen and her maids after disappearing from his perch and reappearing on top of their weirdly long carriage. "You look like you're having a bit of trouble with some fire. Would you like some assistance?"

---

Blink

Millicent twirled around, a second to recognize the little bastard was all she needed to start conjuring lightning from her fingers. She forced Gwendolyn down and behind her, a well trained bodyguard as well as a maid, before she felt the silk gloves of her master on her readied hand.



Gwen recognized that scent all too well. The bastard in the forest. “Have you caused this mess, Gremlin?” She muttered, referring mostly to the fire. “Thing’s are different here. The royal guard could be here in minutes. Not alot of shadows to hide behind in the city of the sun.”



The noblewoman stood up, though she never actually turned to face the creature on top of the carriage. Didn’t need to, she supposed. The bastard was trying to get another deal out of her. It would be wise to nip this in the bud as soon as possible. “No need, we have it covered. Millicent, please aim my hand towards the fire.”



The grey haired maid raised an eyebrow, before shrugging and doing as she was told. Though she did have to do a small amount of manuevering around the long carriage, as well as making sure her master wasn’t pointing at any hapless bystanders.



Gwen’s ring glowed a deep electric blue, before she snapped her fingers towards the burning carriage. The sewer grate between them rumbled, before erupting upwards in a tower of goo, forming a wall between the fire and her deposit. (1) "Feel free to fuck off now"

Mori looked backwards at the new commotion happening on top of her ride. Her normally lackadaisical smile turned into a mischievous one as a lifted finger sparked with flame. (2)

1 Eternity Ring of Wolfe
Goo Wall

2 Not an attack, just a threat of a fire bolt. 

Hylltywyll smirked and glanced at Millicent knowingly.

"If you mean the fire, no. It wasn't me who started it." He answered smugly. He was being honest about not causing the fire, but they hadn't asked about the rest of this traffic jam which he was responsible for. Looked like Gwen was still not very learned in the way of the Fae. She still couldn't ask the right questions to get the answers she needed.

He was a little annoyed as he watched the wall of slime come up between the two wagons, protecting this one from the flames. He could have used his own magic to stop her from casting such a spell, but he knew there was no way she'd agree to a deal to help her with this problem if he was actively hampering her from solving it herself. It took more finesse to make someone ask for you to help them solve a problem you started, and that wouldn't have been it.

Still, he wasn't entirely out of options. He did have something against them that might get their attention.

"There are plenty of shadows to hide in, and even without them, a few guards won't be able to capture me. Besides, I didn't start the fire, but I know who did, and I think the guards might be very interested in hearing that information." He said, his eyes darting to the cigarettes Millicent was carrying on her and then giving her a wide smile.

"I wonder what keeping your little helpers out of jail is worth to you, considering you need their help just to step out of your carriage."

He looked to the side at Mori, who was threatening to cast a fire spell at him and chuckled.

"Do it. Throw some fire at me while I'm standing on top of your master's carriage." He taunted in a whisper, daring her to set her own master's carriage ablaze right after Gwen had used her magic to protect it from the inferno right beside it. Now that would be entertaining to see.

Hmmm, the hell did that mean. Did Mori throw a firebolt at the rich man’s carriage for some reason? Mori was usually pretty reserved, especially outside of actual combat. She may be simple minded, but she knew enough not to provoke the law in the middle of a city. Was this little bastard trying to frame her servants now? Even after he had the audacity of controlling and draining her the last time they met?



No. He was just trying to draw her into another fae game of bullshit. He was busy picking a fight with Mori, so she might be able to catch him off guard. Despite her blindness, she lifted her nails to inspect them, an obvious indicator of nonchalance. “Mhmm, not very impressive gremlin of the woods. I wonder who the captain of the guard will believe? A noblewoman from an esteemed family, here spending solars to support local tourism? Or a little fuzzball fae who thought he saw my driver throw fire.”



Mori whipped her burning finger to put it out, replacing it with a tongue sticking out of her face. The fire continued to burn on the other side of the slime wall, though a handful of citizens had begun running buckets from a well a block away.



“Surely you’ve something better than that”



Millicent glared at the smug little bastard, his looks to her and the pack of cigarettes very telling. Fuck, it wasn’t her was it? There was no way to prove it. No way.

Hylltywyll stuck his tongue out right back at the cat-eared maid and crossed his arms in front of him. These girls were no fun. Especially the snotty noble lady who was acting all high and mighty even when she was stumbling around blindly as one of her servants lit someone's carriage on fire and the other one was threatening to throw fireballs around in the middle of a crowded street. The sheer audacity was almost admirable.

"Hmph. If those morons know anything about Fae, they'd know we can't tell lies..." He grumbled, but he knew she was probably right anyways. Most people knew little to nothing about Fae and they probably wouldn't believe him if he told them he couldn't lie. Even if they did believe, they still might side with the noblewoman just to try and gain favor or not risk gaining a noble family's ire. Ah, the world was so unfair for the common folk.

"Fine, how about a different offer then? You want out of this traffic jam, don't you? I could get you out of it. I could even bring your whole carriage along too. I won't even ask for that much as payment for my services. No favors or more of your senses. Some shiny trinkets or coin will do. Interested?"

He grinned as he glanced at Millicent again who seemed to be realizing that she was the cause of the fire. If she refused this deal too, then maybe he'd just shout for the guards to come and then leave. With all the evidence, they'd probably be caught easily if he wasn't there for them to try and blame.

Her eyebrows involuntarily raised at the offer. She had almost forgotten about the Bartholomew H. Newton performance that was supposed to be starting any minute now… A ride to the fairgrounds would be invaluable. Seeing this traffic, she’d almost certainly be stuck for at the very least another two hours. Especially now that most of the intersection had evacuated due the fire. She would have to choose her offer quite well. What could transportation like that cost anyways, 100 solars?



“How about this. I will give you my silver armbands, in exchange you will take us, and the carriage to the fairgrounds. Deal?” She asked, careful to not exude any hint as to her ruse before taking the bands off, and holding it towards the creature. Their carefully detailed engravings shone in the sunlight, and a magical power was apparent to those who could sense it.



Millicent’s face went from anger at the gremlin, to a slight surprise at her master. Why was she giving away her combat armour in the middle of a festival? Sure, it was morphed into just the armbands when she wasn’t in combat, but if something were to happen, she’d be almost defenseless. The internal smugness of Gwendolyn was palpable, she must have had a plan.




Mystborn Platebody, morphed into silver arm bracers


An incredibly ornate set of armor that is covered in exquisite engravings, which comes with one hit prevention. The armor is capable of changing shape to resemble whatever armor or clothing the wearer desires (but does not change the number of hit preventions available). The armor is bonded to you; you can take a single action to summon it from any source of smoke.

Her smugness was palpable. There was definitely something fishy about this deal. He had said he wouldn't ask for that high of a price, but she was offering those? He could even sense some magic from them. Why would she offer something so valuable when it was unnecessary? He should reject it...

Oh, but they're so shiny...

No, she had plenty of other shiny things on her. Things that were less expensive, but pretty. Those would do just fine. He should refuse the arm bands and ask for something else instead. Even some solars would do.

So shiny...

"Hrng... Fine! Deal." Hylltywyll said as he reached down and snatched the arm bands from Gwen, unable to resist the allure of the shiny. He looked the arm bands over with a childlike curiosity. The engravings were pretty and added a bit of detail to the glint of the sunlight the bands caught as he turned them this way and that. He slid them onto his own arms, but they were just a bit too big for the tiny Fae. However, after a moment, his arms thickened slightly to fit within the bands perfectly, making his arms just a tad disproportionately muscular compared to the rest of him, though this was mostly hidden under his poncho once he lowered his arms again.

He was satisfied with his payment, and now he just needed to provide his services.

"Get inside the carriage." Hylltywyll said to them all, including the maid sitting in the driver's seat. He pointed a finger down at the door he was perched above and smiled.

---

One With the Cosmos

The softest of smiles crossed Gwen’s face as she was led back into the carriage. The sewer sludge wall began to sag back into the street as the other maids clambered on in as well. The flames had largely died down, the carriage beside them now a smoldering wreck of charcoal being mourned by some man. Millicent quickly latched the door closed, and ensured the windows were sealed.



“What are you thinking?!” She hissed in a whisper at her master, who sat at the front of the carriage with utmost serenity. “Is that armour not invaluable? Did you bring a fake just for this?!”



Gwen could only smile, before softly replying “It’s quite the real deal. Though, I’m sure I will come across a replacement at the faire. Now, settle down ladies, apparently the Fae cannot lie. We should soon be out of this jam, though in what manner I am unsure.”



She tapped the roof twice with her knuckle, indicating that the fae was in the clear to begin moving them. How would he do it? Simply part the sea of carriages so their progress could move unimpeded? Perhaps even dispell the illusion of traffic so he could theoretically get away with stealing from her. No matter, any gain of his would be temporary anyways.

Hylltywyll waited until everyone was inside the carriage and the curtains on the windows were closed before he got to work. He went and unharnessed the horses from the front of the carriage. For what he had planned, they needed to be. His magic was powerful, but even he had limits, and he was well aware of them.

Released, the horses just stood there, unable to go in any direction. To three sides their way was blocked by other carriages and to the fourth, there was a smoldering wreck. The bucket brigade had at least managed to prevent the fire from spreading, but the burnt carriage was a lost cause early on. The horses at the front of it had been detached and lead as far as possible in the traffic jam.

Hylltywyll cackled to himself as he put a hand on the top of the carriage and used his magic. Darkness spread from beneath his hand to coat the entire stretch carriageosuine. Painted wood morphed into obsidian scales and gold trim turned into golden markings down the sides of its length. The wheels stretched out into legs that jutted out from the sides and ended in reptilian clawed toes. The stupidly long carriage became even longer as a tail extended from the back and a scaly head stretched out the front, casting a shadow over the horses. In hardly any time at all, the carriage had entirely transformed into a massive black salamander with glowing purple eyes and Hylltywyll standing on its back.

On the inside, things also changed quite a bit. The wooden walls became pink and fleshy, and the curtained windows changed to be what looked like round holes covered in some kind of membrane that just let in enough light for them to see. Well, for the maids to see. While it was unsettlingly organic, it remained as spacious as it had been and retained its seating. Where the doors had been were now just vertical seams in the wall that looked like they could part to let them through, but were currently sealed tight.

The salamanderosuine looked down at the two not nearly as calm as before horses with a smile, its tongue poking out of its mouth to lick its own eyeball.

"I'll call you... Salbus! On Salbus! To the fairgrounds." Hylltywyll announced, like a mad doctor pleased with his creation. When Salbus didn't immediately move, he looked to see what had its attention and saw it staring at the horses. "Oh, I guess you can bring those." He said with a shrug.

Salbus looked happy as it scooped both protesting horses into its mouth to carry them as it began to move, climbing right up and over the other carriages in its way. They would make it to the fairgrounds in no time.

---

Alter Reality

Her smug smile turned into a face of genuine concern as her seat changed texture. The overall smell of the place was off, but it was the “What the fuck” from Jessica that really sealed the deal. Gwen’s hands reached down to grasp onto something solid as the entire carriage began to tilt and rock, recoiling in horror as the soft feeling of flesh met her.



“What in Ginmas green earth is going on. Millicent, please describe the situation for me.” The scent of space magic was overpowering, something had fundamentally changed with their ride. “Ah… I think we might be in a lizard now? Maybe a gecko, I’m not really sure. But it looks like some kind of reptile creature, and it’s climbing over traffic.”



Gwen buried her face into her hand, the annoyance at the situation boiling to a peak. Why couldn’t anything with this demon be simple, or straightforward. She prayed that nobody had seen her specifically in this predicament, because it surely would be on the front page of tomorrows Lore Gazette at this rate. Visions of PR knightmares danced through her head, before a peculiar sound could be heard after going over another obstacle in the street.



“Was… was that a whiny? Millicent, please tell me that a horse is not inside our compartment” A moment of silence as she could hear the uncomfortable adjustments of maids maneuvering around soft flesh. Fabric brushed her arms, presumably Millicent was listening to the walls. “Nope, theyre behind the front wall. I guess in it’s mouth? Are we in it’s-“ Gwen put a finger to her mouth, shushing the maid loudly. She did not want to know, she did not want to hear speculation. If it were ever discovered that a noblewoman like herself was riding around in some random lizards intestines, it really might drive her truly mad.



“Please be over soon.” She muttered, before hearing the telltale hurk of a person about to vomit. The rocking and climbing of the creature was unnerving, Jess was well known to have seasickness. What could possibly happen to make this day worse.

It was a bit of a bumpy ride on top of the creature too. At least inside they had seats and swayed a lot less, but Hylltywyll had been smart enough to make sure he had something to hold onto. The railings at the top of the carriage to tie down luggage to and prevent it from sliding off were still there, and Hylltywyll was holding onto the bar at the front as he rode along, his legs stretched out beneath the bar in a sitting position. All it took was moving all that annoying luggage out of the way to make room for him.

Onlookers stared in what Hylltywyll believed must have been awe, but was much more likely fear and confusion as to why a giant lizard was walking across the tops of all the packed in carriages like it was some brick road. The horses in Salbus's mouth still whinnying loudly in complaint at the situation only helped get people's attention. 

With the weirdly long length of its torso thanks to the weirdly long length of the carriage, Salbus easily bridged the gaps between carriages. It resembled something of a wiener dog, but reptilian. A wiener lizard.

The exact genus of Salbus didn't really matter. What mattered was that they were shmoving down the street, completely ignoring the gridlocked traffic. They'd make it to the fairgrounds in no time!

As long as they were headed the right way. Come to think of it, Hylltywyll didn't actually know which way the fairgrounds were. He was a lot more used to navigating the city by stalking through shadows rather than actually using the streets. But Gwen's carriage had been facing this direction and that was where she was headed, so this was probably the right way. It was a whole festival, how hard could it be to find?

---

Hylltywyll's Shady Shelter