The surveyor adjusted the range on his binoculars to get a clearer image of the walled city.
"There it is... definitely Nulsa. Safest known sanctuary from the anarchy that is the rest of the world..." He lowered the binoculars and held his hand out for his weasel-like companion to use as a walkway to scamper to his shoulder.
"Guess we're about to find out how true that is."
He turned around and returned to his bike. He turned the key and activated the rear propulsion to keep the back end afloat in the air, then walked along pushing it by the handle bars, rolling its singular front wheel through the dirt toward a nearby natural cave. The animal on his shoulder squeaked and twitched its nose at him.
"I know. But if there's one thing I've learned, it's never trust civilized people to be civilized, and never trust legitimately civilized people to be legitimate." Now that the bike was suitably obscured in shadow, he switched it off, then began pulling vines over it for cover.
His ear got lightly nipped and loudly squeaked in.
"I know that was two, I can count dammit! Now want a third? Badgers are the worst conversational partners." He finished obscuring the cave entrance with vines.
"Also, what are you even doing, I'm not the only one with legs. Time to use yours a little bit."
The badger/weasel thing landed in the grass on all four feet, then shook itself off indignantly.
---
One mile later... "What goes there?" A guard shouted.
"Human." The man called back, stopping his walk and extending his arm. His pet was back on his shoulder in a second. "
I think.." He muttered in afterthought.
"Intent?"
"Entrance into the city."
"Proceed."
He approached the guards and the closed gate, and looked up at the twenty foot wall.
"Keeping something out, or in?" He joked. Sort of.
"Name, for the records." The guard replied.
Records? Damn, this place is fancy. "Quintin Massana."
"Weapons?"
Quintin parted his already unzipped leather jacket(Because the Rule of Cool dictates that no jacket or coat go un-unzipped) to reveal a holstered handgun on the inside of the jacket.
The guards took note, but not the weapon itself.
"And this thing?" The guard asked, nodding at the animal on his shoulder.
"Her name's Honey. She's harmless, to you."
"You here for the celebration?"
"No..." Honey poked his neck. "...but I might stay for it?"
The guard's expression was blank and his eyes unreadable, due to the opaque visor, and he went silent for a few seconds, leading Quintin to wonder if he'd said the wrong thing.
"What are you here for then?"
"Food. Lodging. Fuel."
"Eh, in ya go then. Take note of the Word On The Wall and don't start no trouble." The guard knocked a couple times on the wooden gate, and a moment later someone inside opened it.
Quintin just nodded at him, scratched Honey behind the ears, then stepped through the gate. He was now in Nulsa.
"We're
not staying for whatever this celebration is, you know." He said once out of earshot of any guards.
Honey gave him sad eyes.
"Don't even try that with me, you know I'm immune."
Beyond the gate inside the walls was a wide open clearing of hard-packed dirt, with a single lamp post near one corner, with metal signs welded to it pointing straight ahead up the mountain, left, and right. This seemed to be the lowest point of the uneven city, the majority of it was ahead, up the mountain slope. Around the clearing that served as an entry way were several old fashioned houses, some of which were partially on stilts to compensate for the sloped terrain. Several citizens and a couple of the town guard took notice of Quintin, then returned to their business.
The way left, according to the signpost, lead to "The lighthouse". Just looking to the left he didn't see it, only buildings and the outer wall stretching on as far as the eye could see. Which wasn't far, due to the buildings. To the right was the jailhouse and the doctor, neither of which Quintin cared to visit right now. Straight ahead seemed to be where all the interest points lay, with a sign for the Town Centre, The Overwatch, a Train Station, food and room, and a couple signposts that were damaged and no longer readable.
The forward-facing signs were rather redundant though, just looking up at the zig-zagging dirt road up the mountain made it clear where the majority of the city lay. On all sides of the winding road were more houses and buildings, with widely varying heights and sizes. Some were half on stilts, while others just went underground. Every sixty feet or so along the road was an inactive lamp post, as well. Quite a ways farther up, Quintin could see a medium-sized tower, reaching up above the rest of the city. Probably The Overwatch, were he to hazard a guess. His gaze didn't linger on it for long though, as something past it caught his eye. Something distant, and much higher up the mountain than the rest of the city. An old house. Perhaps not a house at all, it was rather massive. He hadn't noticed it immediately, just caught it out of the corner of his eye, but suddenly he couldn't help but stare. It seemed distant at first, but after a moment of looking at it, it appeared to ominously loom above the rest of Nulsa, even the central tower. It was haunting and sinister, yet, oddly welcoming, in a way. Truthfully it didn't feel that welcoming at all, it seemed to cast a dark shadow over the city and the air felt thick, but for some unexplainable reason he still felt drawn to it...
"Ow!" He jerked his head to the right, then glared at the animal on his shoulder. After a moment he looked back at the house - nope, just a distant building. Finally he just shook his head and shrugged, then started up the dirt path. Nobody seemed to use vehicles in this town, either for a lack of fuel or because of unfriendly terrain. He was hoping for the latter, though there were plenty of folk sitting atop trotting horses or similar creatures.
Once at the Town Centre, the city
really came to life. Crowds of people made up of a multitude of species bustled about the area, some leading animals or pushing carts, others advertising or selling things on the street. After a moment of people watching, Quintin took note of the brick wall right in the center of the Centre - at the top of it in large print it read "THE CITY OF NULSA", and below it was a list of rules. They seemed fairly reasonable, no stealing, no killing, except in the case of an agreed upon witnessed duel, no vandalism, and so on. There were a few oddly specific ones as well, such as "Do not stray more than eight inches into another's flower bed", but it was hardly the strangest thing he'd seen this week.
A winding cobblestone path to the right lead to the base of the Overwatch tower. And now that he was higher in the city, looking down to the left he could see the distant lighthouse - it was on separate cliffside than the rest of the city however, with a deep canyon between it and the city wall. At the bottom of the canyon was a river, which connected to the ocean. The cliff eventually curved around and connected to the mountain region the city was on, but the more effective method of getting there seemed to be the parked cable tram. Assuming it worked of course. But that didn't matter, who cares about lighthouses. The far more interesting site wasn't left or right, it was again straight ahead; a massive, well-worn metal half-cylinder of sorts, jutting out from the hillside at an upward diagonal angle. At its highest point it was about fifty feet in the air, and metal beams had been put in place to hold it there. Underneath it was hollow, making a passage leading under the hill, in which there was a steady stream of sentients walking in and out of. It looked like a buried spaceship. A really, really big one. Signs indicated that it was an underground bazaar.
On the hill above the ship/market, was a train station without a train. It looked well maintained though, so a train was probably on the way, but who knows how long that would take.
"Well." Quintin finally said to his pet, once he'd taken in the sights. Then without a trace of enthusiasm: "What a lovely place."
