As everyone piled into the vehicle outside Rosepebble, Thalia and Aiden sat in the front.
Well, Thalia, Aiden, and Sir Oinks-a-Lot.
The little boar was no longer than Aiden's foot, but somehow still weighed seven pounds. He wore his tin cup hat valiantly, front hooves planted on the dashboard as he stared out through the windshield.
His tiny spiral tail wagged enthusiastically.
Aiden started the vehicle and glanced at the gauges.
They only had around fifty miles left before the tank was empty.
As they began circling around the city walls and heading toward the border between Balwuk and Alucan, Aiden turned to Thalia.
"We forgot to grab fuel. Are there any refuel spots on the way?"
Thalia shifted Sir Oinks-a-Lot to the side, much to the little hog's clear indignation, and grabbed the map.
After a moment of looking it over, she said,
"The closest one is just past the kingdom border, around ten miles out. A place called Tanis Carbuncle Farm."
Aiden nodded and kept driving.
For the most part, the change in kingdom was obvious. Balwuk was known for its occasional hills, but Alucan was known for being covered in them. From what Aiden had heard at the inn, you never parked anywhere but the top of a hill. Otherwise, you might drive right past a city and not even know it.
As they drove, they eventually approached the large stone wall that served as the border between kingdoms.
It was simple in design.
Big.
Sturdy.
Built to last.
Ballistae and catapults sat along different parts of the wall, while groups of bored-looking guards loitered around.
At the checkpoint, a vehicle ahead of them was being inspected.
Aiden drove up and came to a stop as a soldier with a clipboard walked over.
The soldier was an elven man with the dead-eyed expression of someone who had said the same sentence far too many times in one day.
In a flat monotone, he said,
"Welcome to the Balwuk-Alucan border. What is your reason for visiting the kingdom of Alucan?"
Aiden turned to Thalia, surprised by the sheer emptiness in the man's voice. His eyes looked like he could fall asleep at any moment.
Aiden turned back.
"Uh, we're traveling to attend the Plate Games."
He grabbed the flyer and handed it over.
The soldier looked it over, nodded, and handed it back.
"Very well, sir. We will just need to inspect your vehicle, and then you can be on your wa—"
The man stopped mid-sentence.
His eyes landed on Sir Oinks-a-Lot, who had his hooves pressed against the window and was sniffing the air like he was investigating the reason for their delay.
Aiden looked at Sir Oinks-a-Lot.
Then back to the soldier.
The soldier turned slowly toward Aiden.
"Is that a baby pig in a tin cup hat?"
"Uh, yeah," Aiden said. "His name is Sir Oinks-a-Lot. He's our party mascot."
The soldier's face lit up.
The vehicle ahead of them cleared through the checkpoint, so Aiden pulled forward. The soldier walked with them, suddenly more animated than before.
"Then do you all have a party name yet?"
Thalia and Aiden both shook their heads.
The soldier immediately turned toward the other guards.
"We got a group that needs naming, and they have a mascot!"
Several of the guards perked up at once.
A more decorated guard stepped out from one of the buildings. He was a dwarven man who was tall for a dwarf, though still only around four foot ten. He squinted up through the window at them.
In a surprisingly baritone voice, he said,
"Sir, can you please step out of the vehicle so we can assist you in the naming? It will only take a few minutes."
Aiden complied and stepped out.
The others followed.
The dwarven guard nodded and led them into a small room inside the massive stone gate. Inside, he positioned them before a large white canvas. In front of it sat a strange hooded wooden box.
"Please make yourselves comfortable and strike a pose if you could," the dwarf said. "This will go on the wall."
Everyone glanced toward where he gestured.
A large wall was covered in small pieces of paper. On them were pictures of different adventuring groups, each standing in various poses with their names written beneath them.
"Um," Kaelen said, looking at the hooded box with some hesitation, "what exactly is all this?"
"It is a partnership we have with the Adventurers' Guild," the dwarf explained. "At every checkpoint, we take pictures of adventuring teams and send them to the guild at the end of the month. From there, the guild compiles them. If you become big names later, the guild has pictures documenting different stages of your journey."
The man placed his head beneath the blanket attached to the device and gestured for everyone to stand before the white panel.
Everyone struck different poses.
Liora held her staff out like she was about to launch a Wind Blast.
Jax crouched low, ready to leap.
Kaelen posed with his staff out, though it seemed to be partially blocking the camera.
Selene held her arm forward like she was ready to catch an incoming strike.
Thalia held Sir Oinks-a-Lot out, and even the little hoglet struck a pose of valiant defiance.
Aiden saw the camera getting ready and panicked.
He grabbed a potion from his bag and held it up.
There was a flash.
The dwarven man stepped out from behind the camera, waving a small piece of paper.
"We still have to process it, but you all had some creative poses." He looked between them. "Do you have a party name?"
Aiden turned to the others.
He realized this was something they had never actually discussed.
The others seemed just as blank.
"We have never really thought about it," Liora said, raising a hand. "Can we have a minute to discuss?"
The dwarven man shrugged and stepped out of the room to give them time.
"What about the Hounds?" Jax asked excitedly.
Everyone looked at Jax.
Then everyone looked away.
That was a no.
"What about something based on our mascot?" Kaelen suggested with a shrug.
Thalia scratched Sir Oinks-a-Lot behind the ear. The little boar made content little noises beneath his tin cup helmet.
"S-sure," Selene said. "But let's avoid weird ideas like Oink Squad or something."
Behind her, Thalia and Jax slowly lowered their hands.
Apparently, they had both thought Oink Squad was a good idea.
After a moment, Liora shrugged.
"I don't know. Let's go with something simple, like Hog's Feet or something."
It felt kind of bland.
But thinking about it, most adventuring parties probably did not start out with incredibly cool names. Those names only became amazing later, after the party did enough for people to care.
So Aiden agreed.
Selene and Kaelen agreed as well.
With a four-to-two vote, their adventuring party became Hog's Feet.
They returned to the vehicle, drove through the border gate, and continued onto the rolling hills of Alucan.
As they approached an intersection, Aiden drove straight past it.
Thalia looked over.
"Did we not need fuel?"
Aiden came to a stop.
His face flushed as he realized he had completely forgotten.
He slowly backed up, turned the vehicle around, and headed down the road toward Tanis Carbuncle Farm.