Luke lowered his head, passing through the gates of Seh Jenah, surrounded on all sides by countless merchant caravans, chariots, and tourists.
He shoved his hands in the pockets of his casual leather trousers, making sure to not make eye contact with anyone within the entry gate.
He had only ever been in The City of Factions once, and knew more than anyone that although it looked like a prosperous and wonderful kingdom to visit... It hid darker secrets than even Equus.
So he made his way through the gate, passing by several guards armed to the teeth and bone with weapon and armor.
He whistled casually as the sight of entering the grandiose city could never truly be something he could grow used to.
After all, it was one of the largest cities in the world, one of the only as a matter of fact, to be built upon a peace treaty instead of the conquering of a tyrant.
There were only a handful of those cities in the world, and they were vastly spread apart from each other; however, with the passing down of crowns through the Aragor family crest, corruption was always imminent.
The city was led by a council of three families who had once waged war upon each other, those families eventually uniting under one ruler of the royal family, all sharing various seats within the Octagonal fortress known as the Jenah castle at the city's center.
Luke looked up after walking through several crowds with his head tucked low once more, amazed at the sight the countless townhouses lined with red-tile roofing and strong stone structures for support. Articulate columns rising up, and holding each of these large halls in place.
Luke had a rough idea of where he would need to go in order to find a decent shop that sold armor and gear that would be essential for the future of Unity.
He stepped through another large crowd of tourists mumbling and chatting about the sights of the vast stone jungle around them.
The main road was a wide boulevard with a paved gravel path that led all the way to the center of the city, past countless blocks and plazas before it eventually reached the entrance to the Jenah castle that towered far above even the colossal walls of Seh Jenah.
Clowns mimicked and danced to the beats of bards along the side of the road, where several children were handed balloons as they too danced along with the jazzy melody.
It had been so long since Luke had seen people with genuine joy that he was taken aback at first, before an elderly man yelled at him about hot dogs and cotton candy at his food stand.
Luke awkwardly shook his head before quickening his pace and heading to the Western district of the city, also known as the trading district, where countless timber-framed merchant buildings leaned against each other along the curving pathways that were known by many as the lantern lit maze.
The reason it was called that was quite simple, considering tall poles with lanterns hanging down from their peaks lit up the roads at night.
But even though it was only shortly before noon, the city was bustling with life just as it had the night he had first visited this kingdom.
At the end of the road a small wooden sign swung with the breeze above a rickety old door.
A big glass window sat to the left of the door with all kinds of goodies and trinkets lined on the shelfs within the store.
Luke casually pushed the door open as the whistle of a bell rang twice upon his entry.
"Good day, fine customer!" A simplistic looking man with an average build and a cleanly shaved face waved as he pulled out a box from underneath the counter behind several fully stocked shelves.
There were only a couple of buyers inside of the shop, all of which seemed to look like poor or of the lower economic group of civilians.
Luke sighed, giving the man a half-hearted wave as he stepped up to the counter.
"Anything specific?" The man asked, unhinging the small box with a carefree smile.
Luke looked up at the vaulted ceiling above, then gave a subtle shrug.
"Armor would be nice." He said flatly, watching the man open the box from the corner of his eye.
"I have a special offer for you today, since you look like you got good money." The man happily chuckled, revealing a small trinket inside of the box.
Luke raised an eyebrow.
"What's it do?" He asked, puzzled by the intricate design of the ruby encrusted ring.
The man lifted it up gently, eyeing it under the light of a countertop lantern.
"Not much actually; however, it's one of a kind, been meaning to sell it to a man of high status, a keepsake if you will." He said, his voice lowering with somberness for a moment before his eyebrows shot up with another smile.
"My name is Lennox by the way! Welcome to Lenny's emporium of goods and trinkets!" His second greeting made Luke eyes narrow suspiciously, but he could only sigh.
But then the mean leaned over the counter with a grin.
"You wanted armor, aye?" He asked with a hint of mischief.
Luke's shoulders slowly dropped with an exhausted gesture, but he did in fact nod in response.
"Well good friend! I tell ya what, if you buy this one of a kind ruby ring, I will give you fifty percent off of any three armor sets you wish to purchase!" Lennox- Or Lenny, whichever he actually went by Luke was unsure, as the man chuckled and held out the ring with a tempting gaze.
"How much?" Luke asked, impulsively tugging on the corner of his tattered bandana that hung around his neck like a scarf.
"Just one gold!" He chuckled, setting the ring back in the box, spinning it, and stopping it in a position that faced Luke with the latch of its face.
Luke shrugged, reaching into his pocket and digging out a handful of gold coins, the last that he had, before lazily dropping them off onto the counter and heading towards the area with armor stands.
He didn't even bother to see the man's surprised and taken aback look, as he desperately needed to buy him, Chase, and Equan some new armor.
Lennox followed him to the back corner of the shop, where about ten or so different armor stands with a couple said stands holding decently appealing sets that stood out more than others.
"Any recommendations?" Luke asked, still tugging at his bandana as he studied the different armors.
"What classes are you looking for?" Lennox asked, with his tone having changed from trying to appeal to a customer for coin: To a genuinely grateful tone.
"Archer, Thief, and...? Paladin I guess." Luke grumbled, unsure of what the shopkeeper would say to the suggestion of Paladin armor.
Sure enough he scratched the top of his brunette hair, unsure of what to say.
"Well, I'm sure you can guess that a poverty strucken, shop owner such as myself would never dare to hold Paladin armor in his shop, especially in a city such as this..." His voice trailed off, but Luke had already pondered the situation, quickly raising his hand and changing his request.
"Berserker armor would work as well, although a hybrid would probably be best if you have it. If not anything of warrior subclass would be just as fine." Luke assured the man who looked to brighten at the change of wanted armor.
"Ah, I have just the thing then, if you look here." He pointed at the farthest right armor set that had stood out most to Luke at first glance.
"A fine set of ivory gladiator armor, fit for an axe or greatsword wielder! The contents of such armor are made from quite expensive materials as well, depending on what quadrant of the world you reside in... That being an alloy made of Aerilite, Sky Serpent scales, and the under clothing portions are made of patchwork giant spider thread! So a fine piece indeed!" He smiled, brushing his stubby finger against the bright set of armor.
While it was indeed a marvelous piece of attire that no doubt had much better durability and protection than the man was giving off, it made Luke grimace.
"Uh... It's a bit bright for his liking, I think..." He eyed the armor a bit closer, studying the dark fabric that held all of the strong-appealing ivory plates together. In all honesty it looked like a light set of armor made for an already durable tank, so it made Luke even more hesitant to actually choose this set for Chase.
Since Chase was known for his high durability and need for speed in a battle, he eventually sighed and nodded.
Lennox satisfyingly began to pack the armor up into a fancy looking box and hummed as he did so. Meanwhile, Luke had already mentally chosen the sets that him and Equan would soon don...