Following resupply in Ushgidush, the Dragon Expedition was faced with a decision. Sufficient amounts of rumor and research had been assembled by this point to recognize that the dragon, if it remained within Shdustu and actively mobile, must lair somewhere in the mountains of the northwest. Those lands, which represented the core territories of the Bahab, contained the headwaters of the great Shgutu River. It seemed quite possible that this dragon, confirmed by this time as the blue-scaled frost type serving as a crystallization of the essence of the Lord of Sky, was associated with the source of the great river, possibly lairing atop the great mountains of alpine ice known as glaciers that served that role. Scholarship and sorcery alike converged on this possibility.

The mountains, though in truth controlled by their native inhabitants, were claimed by the Mumsassim Khanate. Despite this, the last settlement of consequence prior to entry into the alpine terrain was a Nikkad town known as Dumumshtu, through which the river flowed and where the Bahab came to trade with outsiders. It represented the obvious stopping point for the expedition in order to rest, resupply, and restructure prior to the push to locate and corner the dragon. Though the northwest mountains were often contested between the Sunshtasgus and Mumsassim Khanates and dominion over the town changed regularly, I was able to place the location on the map with some confidence, based on considerable efforts by previous scholars to properly chart the course of the river. However, the settlement lay a considerable distance to the north, and by this time we had reached the end of summer. Shdustu, being somewhat to the north of the core provinces, displayed this prominently, as the long days surrounding the solstice shortened swiftly. The Kharal may wage war upon the steppe in winter, but caravans do not travel during such times, when snow drifts can pile higher than a camel's back and swamp whole expeditions. Knowing this, it was a question of how far we dared to push before seeking a town – and it would require a place of some size to shelter and feed the whole expedition – where we would take refuge for the cold months. As expedition cartographer this responsibility fell heavily upon me and I conducted many discussions with Master Lam regarding all possible options and routes.

Traveling north from Ushgidush presents two major pathways to the traveler. The first is directly north to Kudstugul, a town on the main branch of the Shgutu just south of the Great Gorge and then north and west across the steppe to Dumumshtu. This route is easier, with kinder terrain and more opportunities for resupply, but it is both longer and being easterly progresses for a significant distance across the contested border regions at the edges of the khanates, a danger not to be discounted. The second route follows the Shgudulus River northwest toward its source, then continues on this path through the region of the Tasgusun Hills via the Tusgun Pass before turning north and eventually rejoining the Shgutu as it bends firmly northward. This route is considerably shorter, taking between sixty and seventy days rather than the eighty to ninety demanded of the eastern path, but there are no towns of significance along the course. Further, the Tusgun Pass is a known point of danger for caravans.

Master Lam and I both argued for the eastern route. The caravaneer believed there was far more profit to be gained trading with the Nikkad towns on the path, and money would be necessary to supply the expedition for any foray into the forbidding mountains and ultimately for the journey back to Crisremon. For my part, I counted out the days and considered that the possibility of early snow, while unlikely, represented a greater danger than any encounter with Kharal war parties patrolling the contested regions. A third voice, unexpectedly coming from Master Olon, said that the alchemists of Shnudidishgu reported the Tusgun Pass was known to host nearby hidden fortresses of the wizards of the Obsidian Order. While the expedition might be well-prepared to fight off ordinary bandits, that threat was a most serious one, and with the many mystics and foreign treasures we carried, sure to draw attention from such blasphemous foes. While I suspect the apothecary's true motive was a preference for flat land and the comfort of stopovers in comparatively civilized towns rather than among clusters of yurts, his argument was a logical one, and Lady Indili and the other mystics among the expedition supported it.

The eastern route was chosen.

We did not know then, and had no means of knowing, for the Kharal are careful to conceal the movements of their leaders from outsiders, that Tugun Khagan, master of Sunshtasgus, had camped to the northwest following the successful conclusion of his summer festivities. Nor could it be known by any save the Divines that in Erun's rush to push north in the hopes of reaching all the way to Dumumshtu before the snows rolled across the steppe, the Dragon Expedition departed Ushgidush two days prior to the arrival of a message rider from the Khagan demanding that the representatives of the Sanid Empire present themselves before him. Certainly Erun had no part in the tragic ambush and murder of this rider by bandits a day later as he raced north in the hopes of catching the expedition. Such things are simply expressions of the inscrutable plans by which the Divines advance the way of the world.

Of such small things are the destiny of nations and empires changed. Perhaps even the Divines cannot fully control the chaos the countless movements of all components and interactions the world produces may generate. Certainly the existence of the mystic arts suggests we are not merely playing pieces on a board. At such times such as this that brings little comfort, for who wishes to say their sorrows are attributable to no more than the flickering variability of the dice as they are rolled?

The steppe between the two rivers is mostly flat and open. There are abundant shallow streams, easily crossed, suitable forage for pack animals, and local Kharal are well-accustomed to caravans and welcome the presence of merchants in their midst. Barring unforeseen difficulty the journey can be made in twenty days without encountering any great hardship. Though it is not the most common route, travel and trade gradually reduce the further north in Shdustu one proceeds, it is hardly unknown. Master Lam had not passed this way before personally, nor any member of the expedition from the Sanid Empire, but several of the Greencoats had. Estiqin, the commander's wife, had been born on this section of the steppe to a Kharal father and a prostitute mother of a people from the distant southern realms known as the Esani. She knew the land well.

Speaking of her, a pleasant, pale-skinned woman who wore green robes, possessed natural talent with herbs, and had self-trained in the basics of both the apothecary's and the healer's arts, it is pertinent to discuss the peculiar status and roles of half-breeds in Shdustu.

Unlike in the Core Provinces, where essentially everyone is Sairn, Shdustu is a land of many peoples, and though they do not often cross the lines of ethnicity when mating, it does occur, for numerous reasons. The population of those who are therefore not wholly of one heritage is fairly large, though there are a number of curiosities attached to certain sub-groups. First, and perhaps most importantly, both the Kharal and Nikkad have rules against relationships with their counterparts. The Nikkad rule is of greater importance, since in most such parings the mother will be a Nikkad and living in one of their settlements. The Kharal rule demands that any such child be abandoned to the elements, which given the nature of those elements in Shdustu, essentially always results in death. This is, I must note, not the only case in which infants are abandoned to the wild, as such practices are conducted regarding the diseased and deformed, much as is done everywhere to return such unfortunate and doomed lives to the cycle to try again in more hopeful flesh. May the Lord of Death give them dispensation. The Nikkad skip the exposure step and simply leave such children to the sacred scorpions, which is theologically sound – the Princess Romou shuddered to hear of it but agreed – if gruesome to contemplate.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Of course, it is difficult to prove that any infant is the result of a Kharal-Nikkad pairing. While the two groups differ in appearance, many others from outside the bounds of Shdustu, as well as the Bahab and Rutar, straddle the boundary of features and this allows a prospective mother some maneuverability in such terrible circumstances. Unless the infant's features are extraordinarily aligned with the alternate parent, which is rare, this flexibility generally means it is the mother's choice to expose or eliminate the infant as opposed to advancing an alternate claim and keeping it. As such, most half-breed infants that are discarded are those conceived of through rape, and it is usually preferred to consult an healer or alchemist to avoid the danger of carrying such an unwanted child to term, but this is, regrettably, not always possible especially in remote settlements. Distressing as it may be to record, the Nikkad alchemists are profoundly capable of ending a pregnancy using specialized poisons in a manner that brings neither risk or pain to the mother, which is often done in cases where a healer deems the fetus incapable of survival.

The prospects of children born from an other cross-population pairing, or claimed to be such, are far more open, though it would be wrong to say that half-breeds are not born disadvantaged. Kharal, Nikkad, Bahab, Rutar, and generally anyone else found living in Shdustu have absorbed enough of the revelation to accept the general teaching that children are not to be born outside of a sanctified marriage. Of course, life is rarely perfectly accommodating and the circumstances surrounding the birth of any such child color their prospects most severely.

It is possible, of course, for marriages to be conducted across ethnic lines, though it is rare. This may happen for a number of reasons. Rich foreign-born merchants who settle in Shdustu usually take local wives, and similarly the children of foreigners who are born in Shdustu may take locally born spouses. This is not generally encouraged, with Nikkad princes being especially opposed, but the Enlightened Revelation offers no grounds to forbid such bonds, and local priests and shamans are usually willing to conduct marriages. Additionally there are certain groups, notably the Silversheen Mercenary Company, who hold that their society transcends bonds of blood and birth in the flesh just as it does before the Divines and regularly marry persons of any origins within their own number. While such groups are not large compared to the total population of the region, they contribute significantly to that of the half-breeds. A similar, if less pleasant to note, cause of such joinings is membership in the Sunfire Cult, which not only rejects all bonds of blood among its adherents, but mandates strict monogamy in service to its heretical beliefs.

However, children born outside of sanctified marriages are a considerably larger source of half-breeds than such unusual matches. Many, as the reader no doubt surmises, are the children either of rape or prostitution, though amorous ill-considered affairs among the young, especially at major trade outposts, are also common. Some of these conceptions are adulterous, especially on the part of young Nikkad women married to rich men who rarely spend time with them. Glamorous foreigners, especially soldiers in polished martial accouterments, can have a profound number of assignations, something I witnessed personally on the part of the expedition's Winged Guard contingent. Though we never remained in one place long enough to confirm this, I am quite certain a number of half-Sairn children were born in the wake of the expedition's passage.

Half-breed children raised by their parents are rarely able to fit in among any of Shdustu's societies and are often driven from home at a very young age whether loved or abused. A great many of these find their way into the caravan life, as handlers, mercenaries, porters, or some other form of laborer, for all are of one company on the trackless road. Children born to prostitutes or of assignations that must be disavowed face a less kind fate. With no household to support them, they are most often sold into slavery. Boys often die especially young, toiling in the brutality of the mines, while girls are liable to become prostitutes themselves. Estiqin faced this fate herself, and only escaped it by ingratiating herself with a caravan apothecary and learning enough lore to save the life of her future husband when he was laid low by infection. Such slaves, if they manage to survive to adulthood, are often granted their freedom, but this does little to improve their circumstances. Nevertheless, this is still a better life than that afforded to the children of rape, in the rare cases where they are carried to term. These are most often given as slaves to ranking leaders and heinously abused as little more than animals, serving as an outlet for the most hateful wounds left by the land's constant conflict. I have seen such wretched creatures at the feet of Khagans and Princes alike, serving as little more than a source of humiliation to guests. No slave in the Sairn Empire is treated with such indignity. People should not be used as animals of entertainment.

Within the semi-isolated world of travel and trade, half-breeds are both numerous and notable. Spurred by discussion with Estiqin to pay close attention to the traits, mostly differences in the arrangement of the nose, chin, and ears, that serve to tell different origins apart, I discovered that no less than a dozen of our caravaneers were some measure of mixed blood. Nearly half of the Greencloak mercenaries were likewise. Such a thing is not only common on land, but among those who trade on the rivers and the salt seas to the south and east. It is quite possible for such people, should they master the merchant's arts, to acquire great wealth, but never any true power. Unlike in the Sanid Empire, where those of great wealth can purchase estates and offices if not for themselves, then for relatives, the boundaries of Shdustu are sharper. Neither arrows on the steppe nor knives in the dark make room for any outsiders.

Despite this, Estiqin suggested it was better to remain in Shdustu than elsewhere. Certainly it would be difficult for those not of Sairn heritage to acquire land or position in the Sanid Empire – law does not prohibit it, but I cannot see the governors allowing any such purchases – and other realms are, if all I have heard is true, even less accommodating. That those of mixed blood can never rise to become Khagan or Prince is considered a matter of little consequence to most merchants, as the positions are considered little great prize. They claim one can build a legacy in other ways. Perhaps, though as one given to the composition of history, my chronicle contains the names of many rulers and few merchants. Only the Divines can say if that is good or just.