"I see." 'The Emperor' hmm? What Emperor. She has no idea.

The sled vanishes with a snap of the finger.

...She searches through her pack for the small bag of valuables she came to with, hiding it from view. There's gemstones, and metal coins. Which one is a mark? Silver, hm. There's some silver coins in there. She picks one of the biggest ones.

--She shows it to Daisy and makes what she hopes are Meaningful Questioning Glances in the direction of the guards.

Daisy frowns in concentration, and replies in a low voice. "I think that looks about right, for a Mark? They're charging you like you're a merchant with a cart, but with that many gems, you can definitely afford it."

"-Yeah, no sense making trouble where there is none," she whispers.

She will walk forward slowly and present the big silver coin to the spokesguard with a confident nod. Plus two of the smaller ones. "Keep on keeping, sirs."

He takes it, and returns a genuine smile before waving Wynn on. "Safe travels."

They'll get back on her construct sled (which she remakes) and speed across the bridge and keep going, then.

This side of the river certainly does seem more civilized. Forests are logged, fields are planted, and people are occasionally seen. It's definitely rural, but it's no longer wilderness.

She's glad she didn't go off and attack anyone. Even if this newfound prosperity comes with a Countess, which could be bad in all sorts of interesting ways.

"Seems like a lot has changed, but let me know when you see the place?"

"I remember a Baron. He didn't do much but show up every now and then to demand taxes, and his troops were little more than bandits. At least this lot has uniforms, and pretends to be civilized."

The odd farmhouse can be seen, not too far from the road. Wynn and Daisy draw curious glances from farmers as they travel.

She investigates the populace as they go. Mostly human, or plenty of fox-people and cat-people and devils or something and other anime-isms?

At least half the people are visibly human. Most of the rest have some kind of animalistic features, with lizard-like features being somewhat common, and a wider mix of mammalian features can also be seen. Mostly, there are small family groups with similar traits, but the houses and plots trend larger and better-developed as you continue.

Some of the people seem to be slaves, in that they're working in rags and cuffs, and are wearing collars that look similar to the one that Luna was wearing, if heavier and less fancy. The majority of slaves are nonhuman, and the only non-human slave owners are the ones with lizard-like features. Mostly, the slaves seem to be working the land near the nicer houses, but one farm has several women with fur, horns, and hooves in place of hands and feet; they're penned up and grazing on all fours, as if they're literally just cattle.

"So, yeah. Slaves. And human primacy," She comments angrily. "I thought slavery didn't make economic sense? Fuck's sake." Sigh. "It'd be stupid to go and try some sort of ... revolution. I'm not gonna blow everything I meet up, no. But I hate this."

"There've always been slaves?" She seems a little confused by the 'economic sense' line of reasoning, "Legally, it's mostly like, criminals and captured enemies. When the beastfolk tribes come raiding from the woods, any of them that get captured are fair game; they do the same to us. Sometimes, mercenary groups will raid them back and bring home slaves."

"It's inhumane! But, whatever, non-moral arguments work better. Way I heard it... Slaves don't actually work very hard compared to people you pay, and you still have to feed and house 'em, and there's always the risk of disobedience. Maybe the collars work better here and change the math. Loving Fuvley. Anyone ever go free? Like, legally, not some kind master?"

"That doesn't sound right? A careless master giving bad orders can work their slaves to death by accident. It was, like, half my job seeing to the injuries of wounded slaves, or making Restful Sleep potions to help worn-out slaves recover. Slave collars can be destroyed with the right magic... but it's pretty expensive to do, so it's not common."

"Yeah, that's the whole problem, it looks like you just have much better ways to compel action. That'd do it I guess, since the step of considering a thinking, feeling being and wondering how you can reduce them to a tool seems easy. Ugh. -I need one of those, or at least the technique, I - trying it naively did not work."

On and on they sled.

There's not much further to go; the road leads into an area marked off by a wooden palisade, overlooked by wooden guard towers. This is probably the place.

The guards here are a little shabbier, but the same heraldry can be seen on cloaks and banners. On the other hand, there's also more of them. Wynn and her passenger attract a fair bit of attention as they make their way towards the gates.

She slows down as they approach.

"Hail!"

That's what you say instead of 'hi', right?

"I've found someone from this place trapped by captive-taking flowers in the wilds, and escorted her home."

"Hail?" Judging from the guard's confused look, this does not seem to be the local custom, but Wynn's followup statement gets more attention. Wynn's passenger quickly attracts a great deal of scrutiny. "We don't often get people back from the wilds; usually, they don't want to leave." His gaze takes in her pregnant, but visibly unmutated form. "We'll need to check her to make sure she's safe... but assuming so, that's a good deed you've done. I suppose you're an adventurer?"

Wynn's passenger disrobes and submits herself to examination (and some groping) by the guards without comment.

"Well, she might want to go back. Suppose I am an adventurer, I guess. Long, long story." She frowns at Daisy, unsure if this is... Okay? "...I'd like to see the market probably, since I'm already here."

Daisy doesn't look happy about this, but she doesn't put up a fight as the guards examine her teeth, pour white powder into her ears, and poke fingers into her ass and pussy.

"Suit yourself," says the guard, "I'll check you once I'm done with her."

She bristles.

"That depends," she says, "On what exactly you intend to check."

The guard raises an eyebrow, and looks at Wynn more closely. He's not unaffected by the sight, but puts up a professional front.

"Checking for parasites. Standard procedure, with folk out of the wild. Whole towns have been lost to the things, burrowing through people's skulls in the night and eating their brains. Nasty business, and completely incurable, so we have to check every newcomer."

Zoinks. She's clean, she's almost certainly sure, but that's ... unsettling.

Still.

"...Is there an alternate check available, such as utility or holy magic?" She says dryly, digging out another big silver coin and waving it so it catches the sun.

The guard frowns, and it's not quite clear whether he's more happy with the thought of someone sneaking by him unchecked, or that he might not get to personally examine Wynn. The coin attracts his attention, though.

"Well, we are fortunate enough to have a decent mage in town. I suppose I could get him to examine you instead."

"I appreciate it. Hopefully you and your buddies can enjoy a round on me later for the... Inconvenience." She throws the coin. It's a good toss, going straight to easy catching height. "Too bad I didn't think of the power of silver sooner, though," she says a bit quieter.