Hilfers Caravan started assembling early in the morning, a couple of hours before dawn. It would not depart until midday, but most of the passengers and merchants joining it were asked to arrive as early as they could. Yuriko suppressed a yawn as she and the others walked towards the east of town. She hadn’t had the chance to do anything besides her basic morning ablutions, and her body felt a bit sticky from last night’s fun. She cast Cleanse every now and then, and though she was finally clean by the time they left the town, nothing quite replaced an actual bath.
Come to think of it, from here on after, and as long as they were in the Sandsea Desert, bathing would be a luxury. Scratch that, it would be an impossibility. It was a hundred leagues of travel to reach the city, and they were expected to cross ten leagues a day. There were wells and oasis outposts on their route, which was a rather circuitous path. Yuriko had no doubt that it would have taken her less than a day to fly directly to Herrera, but it probably was not worth the trouble it would cause.
Outside the walls, the caravan assembly stretched out for several hundred paces. Wagons on sledges were yoked to large, yellow-brown beasts that had a couple of prominent humps on their backs, long necks, and funny-looking horsey faces. Camels, they were called if Yuriko remembered correctly. She didn’t know why they were used instead of Steelds, enchanted carriages, or even airships.
Their tickets indicated they were assigned to the sixth wagon from the rear, and since she wasn’t sure if the train was already complete, they waited next to the gate. Yuriko spread out her Anima perception to cover half of the town and focused on the warehouse holding the slaves. They weren’t going to be moved today but were going to be transported in a couple days within another caravan. That would make things a bit more difficult for her initial plans…well, they weren’t plans actually, just whims. She still had not figured out what to do after she freed the war slaves.
Ethnically, the slaves looked to be similar to regular Xothans. Most, even the Sha’ledras, Durandir, or beastkin, had tanned skins. Hair colour was normally a product of Elemental Affinity, as Yuriko discovered from a book. Whatever their original hair colour was would be subsumed as they deepened their connection to their affinities. Most Xothans had dark-coloured hair, but it wasn’t unusual to find someone with white, silver, red, green, or blue hair.
So she wondered if these so-called war slaves were actually Xotha’s own citizens in the crossfire between feuding clans. It wasn't so much said in the handbook, but Yuriko’s intuition told her she was right.
So if she freed them, what then? But then again, all she had to do was give them a chance. They could live and die on their own merits. They were headed to Herrera and should follow the same route the Hilfers caravan would take. She’d make her move after five or so days, and do it in the darkness of the night.
Satisfied with her whims, she spoke about it to Gwendith and Heron using their mental connection.
‘Do what you want, but come back safe,’ was all Heron said.
‘Yuri…thank you.’ Gwendith had been quite passionate the night before.
Well, they would cover her absence, and since right now, she and the others were obscured by their tan robes, it was only Fluffington that really made them stand out. The poor pupper had to stay near Gwendith so that he wouldn’t die from overheating. Still, Gwen’s skill was such that the area around the wolf felt incredibly pleasant.
Once the sun rose, most of the wagons were ready. Theirs was loaded with supplies, mostly barrels of water, though. The wagon was nearly seven paces long, and about four wide. It was pulled by a couple of camels, and the sledges lifted it a pace above the sands. There were benches on the side, but anyone sitting on them would have their legs dangling to the side while the wagon moved.
The procession soon started and Yuriko opted to walk. The sand was quite loose, and if she stayed still, her feet sank into the dunes. Well, when she stopped distributing her weight across a wider area, anyway. She was much heavier than she looked, and it was her habit to spread her weight outwards from the soles of her feet.
After walking for several hours, Yuriko hopped up to the bench and rode for the rest of the day while she meditated. The funny thing was that Gwendith was riding on Fluffington’s back. She had to be nearby to make sure that he didn’t succumb to the heat, and while the wolf pup didn't look comfortable to sit on, Gwen used her Animakinesis to hold on and cushion herself.
The caravan travelled mostly southeast on the first day. They reached the first well by noon, but the stop wasn’t too long. The expended water barrels were refilled, and they moved on. Yuriko felt the water in the well with her perception, finding it mostly filled with muddy water some thirteen paces beneath the sands.
The landscape was filled with dunes and the grains constantly shifted with the winds. Contrary to what she expected, the caravan stuck to the dunes’ peaks rather than the valleys. The shadows covered those areas so she thought the shade would be better for the travellers.
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Until she spotted the bones, anyway. Not humanoid bones as far as she could tell, but many of the particles were actually ground up and crushed bones. She also saw the sands shifting and it wasn’t from the winds.
“What’s under the Sandsea?” Yuriko asked one of the other passengers.
“All sorts of beasties,” the older woman grunted, “Never stay in the shadows beside the dunes. The sandsharks will get you.”
“Oh, and up here is better?”
They don’t like the extreme heat much.”
“What about camp at night.”
“The oasis outposts are built on bedrock.”
Having satisfied her curiosity, Yuriko returned to her meditation.
So passed the next four days. Southeast on the first day, south on the second, directly east on the third, and northeast on the fourth. On the fifth day, they were headed east-northeast, and the beauty of the barren landscape had turned to monotony.
They had been attacked by giant arthropods the second day. Gigantic beasts with hardened black shells, large pincers, and a frightening visage popped out of the sands next to the dunes and lunged for the camels. The beasts of burden got spooked, and the arthropods shot tiny needles at their prey. Anything hit collapsed in a heap, shaking.
A couple of guards got shot, but their fellows saved them before they got dragged away. A couple of camels did get killed, but the creatures were slain before the beasts could be devoured. The caravan organiser butchered the dead camels and carried them along until they reached the campsite, where the meat was smoked or roasted. The casualties seemed to have been anticipated since there were more than enough replacement camels to pull the wagons.
The sand really got everywhere, Yuriko decided. The tents they used to sleep in had half an inch of sand inside them come morning, and everything felt gritty. That was probably why arcanatech wasn’t used much here, since the sand grains probably seeped into delicate runescript work and ruined the spell nodes.
On the third day, she noticed some silhouettes in the distance, their forms obscured by the light reflecting off the sands. They were too far for her Anima perception to reach so she conjured a sunblade underneath her foot and sent it ahead to scout. Even so, the sunblade barely reached them, and she only saw several robed figures riding camels. They were armed with blades, crossbows, and long guns. She couldn’t inspect them for long since they turned around and galloped away soon afterwards. Her sunblade’s sensory spell managed to catch a look at the faces hidden underneath their cowls. As she expected, they were Xothans. From what clan, she didn’t know. But then again, there were more people who weren’t part of the Prime Clans than those within.
On the fourth day, nothing happened during the travel or the evening and night, and on the fifth, Yuriko was ready to go back and free the slaves. Though not now, when it was too bright. She was planning to leave the caravan at dusk, move behind some dunes, and then fly, retracing the caravan’s route to reach the slave wagons.
Speaking of slaves, there were actually several in Hilfers. Though they weren’t being transported to Herrera to get auctioned off or simply sold, but criminal and debt slaves that were serving as manual labour. They took care of the camels, the passengers, and the wagons, and most of them were men, with a smattering of women.
‘This is a matriarchy after all, but what happens to women who were defeated in war? Are they killed, imprisoned, or something else?’ Yuriko pondered.
To satisfy her curiosity, she asked one of the passengers and well, she couldn’t say that the answer surprised her. Most women in the matriarchy, who were defeated in a battle, submitted to the winners. They weren’t enslaved but became subordinates. Only those who refused to swear were enslaved.
And while the slaves didn’t look in tip-top shape, there were little signs of abuse. Since they were mostly debt and criminal slaves, they would also eventually be freed.
Yuriko sighed, still not sure of what to do about the entire thing. One thing she did learn that sort of eased her conscience was that children of slaves were born as freemen. She also knew that what she would be doing tonight would hardly change things for these people and their culture. Not unless she destroyed or took over the Xotha Matriarchy which she had little reason to try, and not enough power to pull off. The leader of each Prime Clan was a Grand Magus, which would have made them the strongest power in their geographical block, but only if they worked together. The Archmagus of Ishodir is one of the few reasons for the disparate clans to work together and Yuriko was nowhere near that power level.
She might try to use her Mien to undermine the social structure but eventually, it would prove futile when those she affected rose above her Anima level.
Hmmm, then again, the majority of people never go beyond Magus, right? Well, perhaps she should try. How would she go about it though? Implant the thought that owning someone is bad and shouldn’t be done? Something that simple?
Yuriko nodded. Simple was probably best. She leaned back against the wagon and decided to begin. She looked at the woman she’d talked to before, and silently pulled a thread from the other and connected it to her own. She sent the thought through it, then pushed the connection away.
The woman blinked in confusion, then looked around, her eyes focused on the slaves doing their work. Her eyes dilated and she breathed heavily, and Yuriko could hear her heart rate go up to the extreme. Sweat poured out from her exposed skin, and her face paled.
“Tsk.”
Yuriko clicked her tongue and reconnected the thread, then she rescinded the order and suggestion. She’d been too hamfisted and it conflicted with the woman’s thoughts too much. If she hadn’t reversed the order, the woman might have died from conflicting thoughts.
It wasn’t so easy to change anything unless she was willing to overwrite the woman’s entire mind. But then, if she did so, wasn’t that much worse than slavery?
Come evening, Yuriko was still not sure of what to do, but she had already snuck away from camp and was already flying towards the slave caravan.