Searing 40, 122
By the time Imogen Ward reached the gates of Drathera, the mists which had assailed the harbor for days had cleared, but the aftermath of the chaos mists was visible at a glance. The city's western approach showed signs of fortification; barricades made from spiked wood, supplemented with bags of sand and barrels of whatever happened to be lying about, a tactic undoubtedly conceived of during Ecith's prior struggles with the Imperial regiments. Ominous, ugly splatter marked the barricades, proof that they had not been raised without cause.
On the other hand, little of the wood and masonry around the gate showed more than light damage; more evidence that whatever had assailed the city was not of colossal size. On the other hand, one of the huge wooden barricades bore a huge burn mark, which continued for several meters before and beyond the impromptu wall. What manner of beast could have caused that?
When Imogen had left the city just weeks ago, the gates were open and unguarded; not a single member of the armies serving guard duty had seen any reason to bother travelers coming in and out of the country. Now there were questions; even citizens were being stopped, albeit respectfully, as the shaken city tried to gather information about the scope and shape of the disaster which had just occurred.
"Hoy! Foreigner? Name and travel!" one of the Orkhan soldiers called to Imogen as she approached. Seeing the sudden roadblock and checkpoint, her immediate instinct had been to simply sneak into the city; it wouldn't have been much of a challenge. Still, someone looking to apply for citizenship in a foreign land probably shouldn't start unnecessary trouble with the authorities. "State your name, purpose, and where you've come in from!"
”Imogen Ward” she replied, ”Late of the city-state of Zaichaer in Karnor; most recently back from, uh, family business in Gihah K'uvfoi'uv Fi'uv.” That wasn't a lie, technically or otherwise.
"That's... westerly, near the big river deltas? What news?"
”Still standing, when I left, but hard-pressed. There was some sort of... wind, six days ago, which froze the village's water, left it open to attacks by the fire Primal. I did what I could.” She didn't dare talk too much about the Vonaoid Koid, lest the guard start digging into why she had gone to a Primal's lair while on holiday. ”Returned to look for passage back to the continent and alert the Shield Army, but...”
Imogen didn't finish that thought. One would have to be blind not to see that Drathera had just suffered some kind of assault too- hell, even Imogen had noticed it.
"Another one." The Orkhan soldier spat, "And on the same day?"
The soldier thought about the matter for a moment, then decided that this kind of shit was above his pay grade. Imogen seemed harmless enough, but the General was going to want any information about the state of affairs in the villages. Plus...
"The Harbor's oeon'uv ohie" the man told Imogen, an Ecitherse expression which did not bear translating, "You need to get to the Third Shield command post and tell the officers what you saw in Gihah K'uvfoi'uv Fi'uv. If I give you directions, will you go there?" The man seemed strangely uncomfortable with the idea of just ordering her to go somewhere, which Imogen found a little endearing. Still, if the harbor was truly oeon'uv ohie, she was going to need to know more about what happened to the city.
”Yes, I will go now.” Imogen replied.
Two of the shield armies had a joint administrative building between the inner farm district and the harbor; unfortunately, this had spilled out into the streets, with temporary pavilions set up to process the arrivals of citizens coming with news and injuries. When she arrived, Imogen made her initial report to Ri'uvue Ohaip, the officer overseeing the intake, who directed her to wait in the plaza until his commanding officers determined whether they needed a statement. She made a point of indicating her willingness to provide assistance if required, but there seemed to be plenty of soldiery on hand.
To that end, she found an unoccupied bench in a shady corner of the plaza, with a grand view of the mountain, rearing up behind the buildings of the city, and settled in to wait.
By the time Imogen Ward reached the gates of Drathera, the mists which had assailed the harbor for days had cleared, but the aftermath of the chaos mists was visible at a glance. The city's western approach showed signs of fortification; barricades made from spiked wood, supplemented with bags of sand and barrels of whatever happened to be lying about, a tactic undoubtedly conceived of during Ecith's prior struggles with the Imperial regiments. Ominous, ugly splatter marked the barricades, proof that they had not been raised without cause.
On the other hand, little of the wood and masonry around the gate showed more than light damage; more evidence that whatever had assailed the city was not of colossal size. On the other hand, one of the huge wooden barricades bore a huge burn mark, which continued for several meters before and beyond the impromptu wall. What manner of beast could have caused that?
When Imogen had left the city just weeks ago, the gates were open and unguarded; not a single member of the armies serving guard duty had seen any reason to bother travelers coming in and out of the country. Now there were questions; even citizens were being stopped, albeit respectfully, as the shaken city tried to gather information about the scope and shape of the disaster which had just occurred.
"Hoy! Foreigner? Name and travel!" one of the Orkhan soldiers called to Imogen as she approached. Seeing the sudden roadblock and checkpoint, her immediate instinct had been to simply sneak into the city; it wouldn't have been much of a challenge. Still, someone looking to apply for citizenship in a foreign land probably shouldn't start unnecessary trouble with the authorities. "State your name, purpose, and where you've come in from!"
”Imogen Ward” she replied, ”Late of the city-state of Zaichaer in Karnor; most recently back from, uh, family business in Gihah K'uvfoi'uv Fi'uv.” That wasn't a lie, technically or otherwise.
"That's... westerly, near the big river deltas? What news?"
”Still standing, when I left, but hard-pressed. There was some sort of... wind, six days ago, which froze the village's water, left it open to attacks by the fire Primal. I did what I could.” She didn't dare talk too much about the Vonaoid Koid, lest the guard start digging into why she had gone to a Primal's lair while on holiday. ”Returned to look for passage back to the continent and alert the Shield Army, but...”
Imogen didn't finish that thought. One would have to be blind not to see that Drathera had just suffered some kind of assault too- hell, even Imogen had noticed it.
"Another one." The Orkhan soldier spat, "And on the same day?"
The soldier thought about the matter for a moment, then decided that this kind of shit was above his pay grade. Imogen seemed harmless enough, but the General was going to want any information about the state of affairs in the villages. Plus...
"The Harbor's oeon'uv ohie" the man told Imogen, an Ecitherse expression which did not bear translating, "You need to get to the Third Shield command post and tell the officers what you saw in Gihah K'uvfoi'uv Fi'uv. If I give you directions, will you go there?" The man seemed strangely uncomfortable with the idea of just ordering her to go somewhere, which Imogen found a little endearing. Still, if the harbor was truly oeon'uv ohie, she was going to need to know more about what happened to the city.
”Yes, I will go now.” Imogen replied.
~~~
Two of the shield armies had a joint administrative building between the inner farm district and the harbor; unfortunately, this had spilled out into the streets, with temporary pavilions set up to process the arrivals of citizens coming with news and injuries. When she arrived, Imogen made her initial report to Ri'uvue Ohaip, the officer overseeing the intake, who directed her to wait in the plaza until his commanding officers determined whether they needed a statement. She made a point of indicating her willingness to provide assistance if required, but there seemed to be plenty of soldiery on hand.
To that end, she found an unoccupied bench in a shady corner of the plaza, with a grand view of the mountain, rearing up behind the buildings of the city, and settled in to wait.
