Cloudfeet - pg. 2

Hugh Cloudfeet had just arrived at Redham, the Marbled Metropolis, as they call it. He couldn’t help but wonder why name a place Redham if it has so much white marble, but he was no historian. He was a traveler! A traveler with the dream to explore the world while making a profit out of it. And what better way to achieve that…than to join the Transporters’ Guild!

Hugh darted around the city looking for the place. There was great opportunity in the guild for a young, brave lad like him; there is always commerce to be made with the rich and rare resources near Redham and there is often shortage of couriers due to the many dangers of the roads. Although none of those would be real dangers to Hugh, of course, he always has everything under control.

After a couple of signs and asking for directions, he finally made it! The grand building of the Transporter’s Guild! Many carriers and mailmen can be seen around, talking, preparing, leaving; some mounted, some on foot or on caravans. It was the metaphorical heart of delivery, exportation and importation in the city. And Hugh, Hugh was in glee.

He adjusted his belt buckle and proudly walked inside, like an honorable warrior being called to their duty (and, in Hugh’s case, to his enrichment venture). The hall was huge, with many races and beings tending to their works and businesses. He passed by some darkling archivers doing paperwork and some boarfolk having an argument until he reached the reception’s desk. Behind it was an avian, dutifully scribing something.

“Hey!” - Hugh shouted to the receptionist, while ringing the desk bell at the same time.

The avian stopped scribing and stared at the little nuisance.

“Can I help you?”

“My name is Hugh Cloudfeet and I’d like to join the Transporter’s Guild!”

“Are you representing an independent enterprise?”

“Uh, of course! The, uh…HC…Transportations and Delivery! Yeah! That’s my enterprise!”

“Do you have the official empire’s seal and the proper documentation of your…enterprise, to follow the registration process?”

“I…must have forgotten it in my other pair of pants…”

“How unfortunate. Well, you may return later with your other pair of…pants, or perhaps you would like to know our building a bit better, why not start over there?”

The avian slowly pointed to her right using her scribing pen. Hugh followed her sigh and realized there was a small desk close to the wall in that direction, with a stack of papers on top and a pen, besides a rectangular hole in the wall nearby. Atop it all was a sign: “New Applicant’s Forms”

“Ahaha, wow, that does sound like fun” - replied Hugh to the avian

“Not that you would, let’s say, use those forms; that is only for individual workers interested in joining an existing enterprise”

“Yeah, you’re right…I would just…check them out a little bit…out of curiosity, you know?”

“Yes, of course, I had imagined that ought to be of interest to you” - the avian smiled wisely. Perhaps smuglishly.

“Well, I’ll…go check them out then!”

“Wonderful. Enjoy.”

The receptionist got her focus back on her work with the relief of finishing that interaction. Hugh felt a bit silly, but walked to the wall desk, taking paced steps and trying to hide his feeling of embarrassment.

That wouldn’t be enough to keep him out of trouble though. In a brief second of distraction, Hugh accidentally bumped into an unsuspecting minotaur.

“Hey, watch it.” - the minotaur told him

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I’m just…getting to know the place”

“First, get to know where you’re going”

After saying that, the minotaur lifted two big sacks of soil and took them outside. It looked heavy, but she carried them easily. The minotaur then placed the sacks inside a caravan and took off with some companions.

As Hugh watched the scene, a smile came about. “One day, that will be me.”, he thought to himself.

With refueled determination, Hugh got to the new applicant’s forms. He swiftly took the pen and filled in the many fields with his infos. Name: Hugh Cloudfeet. Positions of Interest: courier, messenger, scout. Prefered Enterprise: “Any and all”.

He beautifully finished writing those last words, he folded his forms and placed them into the rectangular hole in the wall. He then simply stood there, triumphantly.

He was in.