The ground-level streets were laid with thick wooden planks, and shops hung colorful cloth banners outside their doors. Stores run by short, stout races had low doorframes, while shops for larger creatures stood along roomier stretches of road. The air mingled the scents of roasted meat, wood shavings, and some pungent spice.
"Tree Bridge Town." Lumi pointed at the plaque above the town gate, written in three languages.
The town gate was not particularly large. A waist-high barrier stretched between two thick wooden posts, with a shack built beside it. Inside sat a tall, thin man with prominent cheekbones and a chin sharp as an awl. Before him lay a registry book larger than his face.
Lumi stepped forward and handed over a wooden token. Gelu and Dake each handed over one as well.
The registrar opened the book, checked the numbers on the tokens against it, and stamped them. His movements were practiced; he never even raised his head.
Then he saw Su Li.
"Identification," the registrar said.
Su Li spread his hands. Everything he owned was stuffed into the folds around his waist now. He did not even have a proper belt.
The registrar's eyelid twitched. He spoke again, this time in a string of words, not fast, with pauses between each one.
Su Li understood three of them. Identity. Place. Work.
He opened his mouth. Rummaging through the meager stock of words he had learned over the past three days, he pieced together a sentence.
"I... come from far away. Don't understand words."
His pronunciation stumbled, and the grammar was probably wrong too. The registrar's expression shifted from businesslike to suspicious.
Lumi stepped forward and spoke a long, fluent passage. Su Li caught only a few words: forest, found, memory, none.
An amnesiac traveler. That was the