The Toll Points Left Toward the Wingkin

The toll point did more than collect entry fees. It confirmed the shape of the next choice. The toll goblin said Wingkin usually cost ten gold and usually went left toward the Emrites. That made the missing Wingkin lead concrete again after the boost pit, the bridge fight, and the box politics had pulled the party sideways. Elmyra chose to keep pursuing that route. The rescue was still the rescue. Hugo's priorities were not the same. He considered following Jixie toward the Dimoggio Clan, but Jixie redirected him toward the black market instead. If Hugo wanted a Fidelphi Castro lead, the black market was the better place to look. New Goblin City had now split the party's attention without necessarily splitting their bodies: left toward the Emrites for the Red and Blue Wingkin, deeper toward the market for Hugo's personal hunt. Both leads ran through the city. Neither one was clean. The toll booth gave them directions, but directions in New Goblin City were never just geography. They were prices, factions, and people deciding which need was loudest.