After a night of gut-wrenching travel down the Harp River, the party has at last managed to bring the little bark to a halt beside a small riverside town, where the Harp and the Teesar Torrent meet. As Greythur starts to wade ashore, however, things are not quite as pleasant as they might seem. man: (walks briskly upshore towards the party, a long metal hook in one hand, and shouts a little too loudly) Hold! What do you think you're doing, there? Greythur: Uh... going ashore? man: You can't dock there for free, you know. One gold, each of you. (he pauses, noticing the Elves and dwarf with a somewhat suspicious glint in his eye) Say, you aren't from around here.... Where'd you come from, anyway? Alenniel: (looks the man in the eyes) You really do not want to know. Rimli: (gripping his axe) Who bloody wants t' ken? Tasencia: (in a hushed tone to the group) The North Province and the Great Kingdom aren't exactly very hospitable places, so keep your head low and let's get going. Rimli: (not quite as quietly, but trying to whisper) So do I off 'is 'ead an' kick 'im in th' drink? (he looks like he thinks this is a good idea) Tasencia: (closes her eyes and slightly shakes her head, noting her words passed right through Rimli's ears without hitting anything in between) Not today Rim. (she smiles kindly at the dwarf) Ajax: (leaps out of the boat, clearing the water) Have you seen any other halflings come down the river today? (he looks upriver) man: Halflings? Like you? Nah... no way one of you could've lived through the night in the Harp. (he looks impatient) Gold? Ajax: (distracted) Oh... yeah, right. Here. (he is about to hand him seven gold pieces when he suddenly stops, takes one back, and gives the man the rest) man: (looking skeptically at the six coins in his hand) Hey... what gives? Ajax: (looking thoughtfully at the single coin in his) What? man: These Nyrondese trinkets aren't good in the North Province! Greythur: (wading ashore) Is there a moneychanger here? man: Yeah... but I can't let you ashore unless you pay the fee. It's the law. Tell you what, though. You give me the extra, and I'll get it changed myself. Say, about five gold, each. Rimli: Och! Five-- Ajax: Don't worry about it, Rimli. (he pockets the coin and gives the man another 30) man: (accepts it) Right. Get outta the boat an' follow me. Name's Rylek. All of you disembark into the shallow, cold river water, some grumbling about the excessive cost, some worried about getting their boots wet, and some just wondering how you'll complete the task at hand. Rylek, who seems to be a town official of some kind, leads you to a small building on the docks where you're asked to register your names and places of origin in a leather-bound register. The registry is clean and well-kept, as is the registrar, although he does a fair bit of disproving frowning as he notices where some of you are from. Rylek hands him the money Ajax paid, and you are free to move about the town, which you gather is named Harp's Gate. Though small, Harp's Gate benefits from the timber of the Adri Forest, to the south, and from the barges which make their precarious way down the Teesar Torrent, bring with them valuable textiles and electrum ore, the main exports of the North Province. Here are found boatwrights, carpenters, weaponsmiths, tanners, and all manner of other goods and services. The gentle rain persists, and, combined with recent events and the discomfiting stares of passers by, this town feels like only slightly less unfriendly than the one you've left behind.