…..:::::|. Cloudsfall Harbour .|:::::…..

Her formers, looking at bright lights flare up as other passengers cleared the docks, spoke a bit about direction and which way this thing or that thing was but Halycind's enamored eyes only drank in the shadowed shapes of buildings behind thick mists, lamplight flickering through ground clouds, workers on the docks calling whistles to one another.

Cloudsfall seemed to be a town of ascending and descending bridge-walks and stacked buildings that lay on a sloping beach, with the occasional very tall structure here and there. Watchtowers stretching far up to reach over the mists, she presumed.

Kodlaa, beside her, held on fast to Percival's cloak as to not lose her Exemplariat in this surrounding mystery. It was too close for her, the clouds on the ground. Siin, however, seemed all to comfortable in this possibly small, possibly vast nothing. He'd let Halycind walk very close to him as she was holding him by the arm, so as not to bump into anything she didn't catch sight of, but all she could think to do was steal glances up at him as they followed the two men who seemed almost all to eager to be walking these high and low bridge-walks.

She made a little roo and he, looking down to her with genuine smiling eyes, roo'ed back as she watched his full lips form the shape of the sound. His tongue was adept at making that small noise even though he wasn't any parts wolf. Her imagination wandered and she wondered what, other than languages and spellcraft, his tongue was adept at.

In twisting giddy half-smiles, Halycind went to inspecting the forms in the mist, taking tiny glimpses of this old friend-new companion igniting a certain fresh confusion in her gut. She wanted to hate herself for acting so green and hug herself for the way she was starting to feel, but she chose to just walk alongside the good-spirited young man.

He was looking around intently, almost regal in his watch. She wanted to ask how often he had been here as he seemed so familiar with the places they’d all been. But he was studying how the land lay as if it’d been sometime since he’d last visited these shores.

“They’ve built new watchposts and repair landings.”

“Oh, I was just about to ask.”

He smiled down to her. “I could tell.”

Her grin shied away to look on other parts of the clouded vista.

A glint of copper caught his eye once more as he peered through the mists to see more crates with the tubes attached. He was beginning to lose ease. He was used to knowing the reason for the construction of things but he could not suss out what these crates were for. Were they for fuel?

Then, just to the left of the crates he saw brothel sashers standing in a little group just outside of their open door. They were laughing amongst themselves and a few caught his smiling eyes. One of the younger ladies, looking his way, wore no satin sash as she may not have garnered hers yet.

Halycind finally outside of her hesitation tapped on his arm just as he was making a hidden gesture to the girl. He didn't notice the girl's sudden panicked confusion as he turned to face Halycind.

“How many cities are like Cloudsfall?”

He hesitated an answer as he was listening for a secret whistle in response to his gestured question. When he didn't get it, he became suspicious. “I-In technology or in lay?” He stuttered.

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“In lay?” Then she thought again. "Aaand technology?"

“Only about two other port towns boast large networked docks like this, Kilgesh is among the most notable. But none of them boast of constant fog. And outside of Vollilandre in Gaen a Nce, which is much a mystery...Air House Library is the most technologically advanced city in the world and they've gotten much of their noteworthy systems from here."

Wholly outside of the fact his voice was making her insides dance, he sounded a slight distracted. “You called this place...an armpit.”

“Yeah.” He seemed just a little distant now. “Seedy underbelly and whatnot. Too moist for honest thievery.”

She gave him an odd look for his face had gone grim.

“Murderers, Cash. Many of them surround us, now, in the form of hired assassins.”

The chatter of the docks and first band of cobbled roads clued him in to the conversations about town. Lots of languages passed by his ears, though he understood them all, it was the massive use of Kith-Cante that most unnerved him. Contracts were being claimed and given under the noses of unwitting travellers fresh from far off countries.

He whistled and Percival whistled back.

Siin almost felt better instantly understanding Percival knew there were other Paragons here in Cloudsfall. He decided to just listen and not engage in the secret conversations of those like his kindred.

Suddenly they stopped as Veygornne's voice burst to a cheerful joy. He'd seen a familiar face in a merchant just across a thin stretch of mist. A woman with fat greying braids also stretched arms wide looking like a happy square in her hand-painted caftans. Their hug was warm and rich and so incredibly not Ashok-like of Veygornne to perform.

He, then, hastily pulled from his rigs a collection of what used to be a quintox. He rushed her saying it had been damaged during a foot chase. She giggled, almost sweetly, and scooped from him the broken device. They shared many smiles and hugs.

Halycind, Kodlaa and Siin all grew the same thought. Had Veygornne ever courted in his life? He seemed so...untaken by the whims of others.

Two of her assistants pulled tools and calibrating machines from the holds and cupboards of her stalls in front of her shop. They were foxen, the two young lads; fine pointed beards and pointed ears tufted with fine bright fur. The quintox was also a Buraam invention and quintechs such as these repaired them, as they now repaired Veygornne's. He and the sweet brown-skinned woman talked more as the boys worked.

Percival gave them room.

Out of the corner of her eye, Halycind saw Percival's fingers make a gesture. She looked around, discreetly, for who he was speaking with. But she saw nothing and no one.

“Hey, Percival what's Mal'aenhk mean?” Kodlaa uttered up his tall back as she hung a hand loosely in the fur of his cloaks.

He chuckled suddenly. “Bad boy.” Siin answered in unison with Percival; a sly song to his words, remembering the playful chide favourably.

“Wow.” Both Halycind and Kodlaa looked to them. Percival had influenced the young Siin at some point in a permanent way for they both shared the same grin of achievement at that appellation.

Even in this grinning moment, Halycind caught Percival's fingers make yet another gesture.

When Veygornne had returned with an oddly joyful face and freshly repaired quintox, they followed Percival turning in synchronous movements with a group of figures walking at their parallel in the mists. He dared not get close but he did match speed.

“Sooo, Agent Veygornne?” Kodlaa chimed. “Who's the feather?”

“Sigrid. My mate.”

“You're married?!” All but Percival shouted.

“Of course.” He turned up an eyebrow.

They wanted to ask so many personal questions. When did they marry? Was she wolvkin? Did they have children? When did they see each other long enough to make children? Did she worry over him in service of Kings? Did she know he was drab? Was he actually drab? Veygornne offered only one answer, knowing their silent confusion.

“She is a travelling merchant, she sells some of the leather-crafts I make and I get tips on ne’er-do-wells about the areas she frequents. Cloudsfall homes one of her stationary shops she checks on every Mossbend. We see one another when we can. She will be in Havvenchael soon, so if there’s time I may go and see her.”

They nodded out all of their confusions as Percival picked up on a gesture thrown at him.