The pair of undead walked slowly through the cobble roads inside the perimeter wall. Scattered around the winding road were a small collection of hamlets. Iris questioned the wisdom of surrounding such a large area with a wall, the sum the Diarchs had to pay for the materials alone had to be eye-watering but as she walked in the shade of old trees planted on both sides of the road she began to notice the reason why the mages decided to carve up a safe haven in East Edor.
At the crossroad the elf looked to her right and noticed canals cutting the landscape horizontally, mirroring the path of the walls at either side. Freshwater flowing from Demiurge Bay irrigated the land, bringing with water it water straight out the Giver of Life turning the soil fertile and as black as coals. Next to her, the risen discovered Kia infatuated by something in the distance. Her colourful eyes made little circles as they followed the blades of a windmill.
The elf raised and born in West Edor didn't hold millers to a high standard. Unlike most professions in a village, millers stood apart. Their houses towering over everyone else, either living in the mills or right next to them and their close relationship with the lord of the land gave ample reasons to be suspicious of them or simply jealous. Those things made them often the subject of gossip and rumours in the village and were often accused of earning coin in various nefarious ways; from selling saw dust alongside the grain and lying about the prices, to outright accusations of daemon worshiping, murder and smuggling stolen goods. Of course, those accusations were almost always false and without a grain of truth in them but it did leave a bitter taste in the elf's mouth as she watched the blades of the windmill spin in the distance.
With the sun beginning to paint the sky in darker and darker colours, the pair of undead hid underneath cloaks. With the day waning people from the city began to return to it. The elf noticed that most of the people passing them were wearing metal collars, either being driven toward the city on cargo wagons alongside their tools or marching in disciplined columns toward the city.
The once-slave licked her lips as she saw the column slaves passing them. She observed their faces carefully and saw them slipping little complaining frowns at their overseer meaning that they were not turned into mindless puppets. She expected that all slaves in Oriripol were turned into lobotomised puppets like the ones she had seen in the Forbidden Continent alongside the Oriripol's forces but it seemed she was wrong. Her eyes lingered on the backs of the humans not knowing what to expect. Her mind, gripped by a cold, calculating talon of undeath felt little toward the humans except a simple understanding of their situation. She didn't know if she should be worried by her pitiless thoughts but she couldn't muster any no matter how she tried, at least when the reason for their will being taken away wasn't clear to her.
"Iris?" Kia's voice reverberated inside the elf's skull.
"Yes, Kia?"
"I can't feel my fingers." The girl complained.
The elf looked at her hand which had gripped the mage's delicate hand. She had been squeezing Kia's hand for so long that she had cut off circulation of mana to her fingers. The tall risen instantly dropped to one knee as she noticed Kia's fingertips appeared completely black, slowly bubbling with noxious fumes appearing like a strange toxic sponge.
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In the blink of an eye after being relieved from the unholy strength, Kia's finger reformed into their previous fair form. She massaged her knuckle looking unconcerned all while the kneeling risen processed what had happened.
"Did something scare you?" Kia asked with a strange look in her eyes while she stroked the elf's cheek.
"No, I just... I was thinking about something." Iris responded.
"Something?" Unaware of the effect Kia caused to the elf, she tilted her head to the side in confusion.
"I was praying," Iris allowed herself to obey the mage's silent command. "I was praying to never return to a person I once was."
"Ahh." The ancient nodded but in such a way Iris recognised that the necromancer didn't know what she was talking about. Knowing this she didn't bother trying to explain it to Kia, feeling ashamed that she felt fear from simply looking at phantoms of her past.
The guards at the gate leading to Oriripol proper didn't check anything rather acting as roadblocks for any criminal trying to leave the city. Upon entering they were instantly swallowed by the crowd. Iris held Kia's delicate hand in a gentle yet firm grip as she tried her best to steer toward the fishy smell of the port where the adventurer guild should be, and even if not there should be plenty of inns meant for the sailors to rest in.
The streets in the outer section of the town were clean although Iris suspected this didn't follow through the entire city but it was still a pleasant surprise for her senses not to be assaulted by the smell of horse manure and still water. She never thought that one of her first personal observations of the Oriripol would be about its lack of smell. If anything, she figured it would be perfumed over.
Eventually, the tall elf wielding a spear had cut a path through the busy crowd which didn't appear to have any problem navigating through the dense foot traffic in the lower city. Walking through a quiet side alley the pair ended up in a market square. Most of the vendors had packed up their goods making the usually labyrinthian space surprisingly open. In the centre of the square, there was a simple podium constructed around which three dozen people had surrounded. On the podium a man wearing a simple light red robe with an image of a winged woman holding a goblet embroidered in black thread. As the preacher preached defying all knowledge the elf knew about the city, before swiftly reassembling themselves as she noticed guards carefully eyeing the growing crowd.
Oriripol was infamous for being critical of the true divinity of Aspects and forbidding any faithful from preaching the truth, so as not to question the all-knowing mages. Iris didn't recognise from which sect the preacher was part of as his words reached her ears she didn't think that mattered.
"O, noble brethren and sisters of the sacred faith, let our voices rise to the heavens, for we have witnessed the flickering flame of righteousness dimmed by the ever-growing shadow of the corrupt. Hear me, hear me and listen, children, we will vanquish that vile shadow. Those responsible for the hunger in your stomachs, for poisoning your bread, we shall have them brought to justice, real justice. We are faithful stewards of this world, we must rally together, as strong and unified people, as judges, executioners, and noble souls they had squashed under their boots. We will drown that open shadow in its own blood, gutting the corruption from the city!"
The preacher worked himself into a zealous fervour somehow carefully managing to not step on the mages' toes but his speech quickly winded down as more soldiers surrounded the market square. He said goodbye to the people below and stepped down from the podium causing a few from the crowd to approach him leaving the field kitchen standing in front of the podium.
After hearing the man's words Iris doubted that the preacher was part of any faith she knew of. He neither sounded nor acted as a faithful of the Divine Court or a believer of a merciful System. The symbol embroidered on the man's robes intrigued the elf though as usually, human religions shy away from depicting the divine as part human part animal for obvious reasons.
"Crumbs of faith for the faithless." Iris said as she eyed the soup kitchen which seemed to be the main reason why such a large crowd assembled for the speech. It still shocked her that the soldiers didn't scatter the crowd but she guessed that the preacher managed to not step on anyone's important toes.
"Deliciousness?"
"I think we should get to an inn and get a proper meal. I think that will be quicker than waiting here." Iris said, the pale girl beside her blinking slowly as the time for her bedtime quickly approached.
The elf approached one of the soldiers standing guard at one of the exits and asked where the adventurer guild was. Even if Kia was hiding their fortune inside her inventory the elf felt like sleeping in the guild house would be the wisest choice, for their first night in the city especially if she didn't know for how long they would be staying but probably not for long.