This journey we were on had the potential to be quite lengthy given a number of factors. The distance itself was several days at least, but that wasn’t factoring in the possibility of weather changes, road conditions, and interruptions from anyone or anything on the road. At least it would give me some time to plan some more.
On a lesser note, I felt kind of dirty too. Not in the physical kind of way, more like the ‘I lied to kid’ kind of way. It wasn’t like I knew we even had these carriages, and it didn’t subtract from all the reasons why we couldn’t have used one back then, but sitting in it now still felt a little wrong.
Doing my best to discard that feeling, I started trying to find ways to pass the time. Kala was the primary solution for that as we talked with each other about what we were thinking or feeling in regard to our job. Eventually, the conversation turned to our destination as I asked Kala what she knew about the seat of power for the coalition.
One of her fingers came up and scratched lightly at her chin in thought. “Hmm, not a whole lot if I'm being honest. Before the raid on my home, I never really went further than the next village over. There were plenty of stories and rumors that came from traders and travelers alike though. They described it as a place so large and teeming with people that you could get lost in the sea of faces and winding streets. In the morning, the markets are filled with so much food and goods that it makes you wonder how anyone goes hungry, but at night, the streets come alive with entertainers, performers, and shows of a more mystical nature. I used to imagine a place like that, how amazing it must have been...” Her eyes became a bit vacant as her gaze focused on something at an unfathomable distance. “Now though, I realize that such a place probably has problems all its own.”
It could be said that there are benefits and downsides to becoming worldly. You can certainly learn a lot from experiencing things yourself, but that also means that the messy parts of life become more apparent. Kala’s introduction to the world at large was of the involuntary and forceful kind, to put it mildly. She seemed to have adopted a slightly jaded outlook on life. I decided to do a little something about that.
“Well, no place is perfect, that’s true enough. But, it does still sound fun. What say you to a night out with me once we get settled in there?” I flashed her a bright smile, one that she returned.
“I think I’d like that.”
“It’s a date then.”
That helped to improve her mood as we moved on to other topics. Kala decided that the next direction for our conversation would be to return to her impromptu lessons on how the world worked. I believe we left off on geology and the composition of a planet when we last had a chance to indulge in such things. She was still rather hung up on the idea that a good portion of the planet was made of molten rock that slowly caused the earth to shift.
This passed the time until we were nearing sundown and had to choose a place to camp. Traveling by carriage, while a bit slower than just by horseback, did have its advantages. Chief among them is the ability to carry things that you might not normally have, like tents and cots. The tents were simple, and the cots were the fold out to deploy kind, but it did keep us out of the elements and off of the ground at least. This might have been the first time I had done any real camping. Sleeping on the ground or a bedroll wasn’t camping in my book, it was roughing it. So, this was a nice change of pace compared to what normally happened when I found myself out in the wilderness.
With the day nearly at its end and our traveling done for the day, my ‘escort’ was finally allowed to relax some. Everyone sat around a crackling fire, relaxing, stretching and letting out some sighs of relief at being able to relax. Velian, in particular, exhaled quite heavily.
“You know, I always thought that Durdan’s personal guard were just a bunch of stick in the mud hardasses, but it’s a surprising amount of work to be that composed all the time.” Velian’s chuckle was lightly tinged with weariness.
Hargon nodded in agreement. “Yeah, no slouching, no unnecessary talking, eyes always on the lookout for trouble and then there’s the formal aspect that we have to keep in mind when addressing James.”
A chuckle escaped me. “I take it you guys went through the wringer with that Nactren officer?”
Velian waved his hand in front of his face. “You don’t know the half of it. It was basically a full day of being yelled at for shit that I didn’t even know you could be yelled at for. This conversation we’re having right now would have gotten us a warehouse worth of abuse.”
“Well, when we’re all alone, you can relax, but those lessons were for a reason so don’t forget them when we are around people.”
“How can I forget?” Velian said with a shrug. “I swear that man’s face is going to haunt my dreams for years and his voice is still echoing in my ears.”
“He certainly knows how to command attention, that’s for sure.” Hargon’s comment was somewhere between respectful and fearful.
Even though I only caught a small amount of what they had to deal with, I could still sympathize with them for the trials they went through. “Well, if it wasn’t clear before, I’d just like to say thank you, again, for helping me everyone.”
They all gave me supporting smiles as Ulthises leaned forward to reply. “Hey, what are friends for? Besides, I’d say what we’re doing here is worth the effort.”
“You sure the pay had nothing to do with it?” I asked with a smirk.
“Wellllll, it’s certainly a perk.” That got a few chuckles from everyone.
As the humor began to die down, I became a bit more contemplative. “Say, what would you all do once the war is over?”
That earned me a few raised eyebrows. “That was a rather random question.” Jorn commented. “Why do you ask?”
I shook my head. “I don’t really know. Maybe I just feel that whatever happens after this, we are getting close to the end of everything, and when I try to picture what comes after the end, nothing really comes to mind. What does life look like for all of you once this is all over?”
They all thought about it for a second before Jorn and Otar looked at each other and shrugged. “I don’t think much will change for either of us. Soldiers will still be needed to keep the peace, so Jorn and I will stay the path, probably look for promotion.”
Hargon raised his hand to speak next. “I was actually interested in sailing before being recruited into the army. If the war ends, I would like to return to the sea, probably join a trade ship.
Holdrem spoke up after Hargon finished speaking. “My path will continue in the service of the divine. The world is fractured and hurting, and it will be that way for a long time to come. Perhaps I’ll join a priesthood and travel the land to mend some of this pain.”
While the methods I would have criticized, the end goal was admirable at least. The conflict ended up canceling it out in my mind, so I offered no words either way in response to that. Ulthises shifted his tail around as he voiced his own plans.
“You know, I think I’d like to open my own bar, fill it with games and alcohol and music that will play all through the night. Just building a place where people can have fun sounds nice.”
Many of us gave him skeptical and amused looks. “You do realize that if you cheat against your customers, you will go out of business, right?” Jorn pointed an accusing finger at him.
“Oh come on! Why is my dream getting criticized?
“Because we know you too well.” There was some laughter at the ribbing Ulthises received for his bad habits and the serpentine man pouted and folded his arms at us.
As the mirth slowly died down, Velian gave his two cents on the conversation. “Your dream isn’t bad, Ulthises. In fact, I didn’t really have any real plans for after the war, just figured I would look for some work, take it from there. If you’re going to be opening a bar, would you mind if I helped you run it? I can pour the drink, tell some jokes, loosen people’s lips, and purse strings, at the same time.”
“You know, that sounds like a good idea.” Ulthises then let out a chuckle. “Who’s the cheater now? Seems like you’re the one planning on robbing my customers blind.”
“Hey, I'm doing it completely legally just by being my charming self.”
Spirits were high around the fire with talk of better times in the future, then Jorn directed the conversation back to Kala. “So, Kala, do you have any plans for after the war, other than keeping James' bed warm that is?”
His smirk was met with my glower even if my ears were heating up a little bit. It wasn’t exactly a secret, but it was still a bit embarrassing to bring up in conversation. Kala, though, was very unphased.
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“Well, other than being completely satisfied in bed, I would hope to rebuild my village, my home. After that, though, I imagine James will go on to do many great things for the world, and I will be there for him every step of the way.”
Velian did an exaggerated shudder. “Ugh, you two are sickly sweet sometimes.” Some more laughter went around for a few seconds. “So, does that help you out with your vision of the future problem James?”
I huffed with a smirk. “Maybe a little bit. At the very least all your optimistic futures give me hope. Maybe I don’t need to be so concerned about what comes after, it’s the immediate future that should be more pressing.”
“Yeah, speaking of which, it’s getting late, and we are supposed to be up early tomorrow. I don’t know about you but I’m heading off to bed.” Hargon stood as he said that, signaling his intent to leave the fire circle.
“That’s probably a good idea.” I admitted. “Traveling while tired would just be uncomfortable.”
“I got first watch then.” Otar volunteered. “I’ll wake you in a few hours Velian.” With social hour seemingly coming to a close, everyone went to their tents to seek some rest.
I slept alright, my mind not being particularly disturbing to me, probably because it was filled with concerns about the future and not the past. Whatever the reason for it, I got up, did some mental exercises to help my recovery, and got on with the day. There was still a lot of ground to cover after all.
Our journey quickly became monotonous and uncomfortable at times when the quality of roads we had available to us was sorely lacking. The wildlands certainly lived up to their name in that regard. All that was missing was to suddenly come across a roving group of wild animals with no care for the presence of people. Highly unlikely as I knew that there was still an entire civilization out here that probably hunted these woods.
When we stopped to water and feed the horses, I took stock of all the supplies that Durdan had sent along with us. There was money, of course, quite a lot of it. The small lockbox held a dozen gold coins and a plethora of silver to go along with it. Frankly, I didn’t know what I would even use that much coin on anyway other than some ridiculous bribe, which wasn’t ruled out as a possibility.
Next on the list, wine, because what political excursion is complete without alcohol? It would probably serve well as a gift to get my foot in the door, or to be deployed during the event that I host anyone of significant standing in society. I just hoped that this whole situation wouldn’t drive me to drink all of it until I died of alcohol poisoning, which, oddly enough, I had not experienced before. You’d figure that with the lasting impact of drinking that much alcohol basically moot that it would have happened to me at some point during one of my more despair ridden states of mind. Perhaps the idea of becoming that kind of person didn’t sit well with me.
Oh well, moving on. Everything else in the carriages was rather mundane after that. Food, blankets, tents, my credentials, and various notes for me to study. Anything else I might need I suppose I could just buy given the ludicrous amount of money at my disposal.
Shortly after finishing my inspection, we hooked the horses back up and got on the road again. Near the end of the second day, we found the first signs of life outside our little group. They seemed to be villagers, farmers perhaps from a nearby settlement. It was a group of Ulgor with one Valus amongst them. They were all carrying wicker baskets, though the Valus had several of them all strapped to their long tail, carrying the same as the rest of the group combined. They were certainly making good use of their unique biology.
I wondered what they might have been doing out here. Moving goods? Foraging? Whatever the case, they seemed to be moving in the same direction as us so there was obviously something of note close by if they were walking without any clear camping gear.
It turned out that there was in fact a village nearby. This would be the first village or town that I had seen of the coalition, and as we rolled down the trodden path, I got my first taste of coalition architecture, and it... was really similar to Thrainian village designs. Not sure what I expected to be honest. There are only so many ways you can build a house using just wood, and when you don’t have many tools or funds then those options become further limited.
There was some uniqueness in the decoration at least. It appeared that instead of signage they used the products they were selling to advertise. Herbs, tools, butcher shops, all of them had some physical representation of their goods or services to signify what they are offering. Maybe the larger cities would have more differences since they usually had more cultural leeway when it came to building things.
We didn’t stay long, mostly just an in-passing sort of visit as we rolled through. I made sure not to reveal myself too much for one of two reasons. They might mistake me as being a Thrainian and attempt to stop us because of it, or they had heard the news about the ‘herald of the Eternal Goddess’ amongst other titles they had for me. Honestly, I'm not sure which one would be more annoying to deal with.
Thankfully, no one seemed to notice me, and we were allowed to pass and end another day of travel incident free. Over the course of the next two days, we only encountered one more village and a medium-sized town. The town was at least a little more interesting as it made heavy use of clay bricks as a construction material instead of the carved stone and marble that the Thrainians favored.
It was almost strange to see the various races of the coalition just living normal lives. The only time I had seen any of them up to this point was in a military context. Of course, I knew that they had normal jobs and livelihoods, any civilization did, but it just took a little adjustment to get the ingrained image of soldiers out of my head.
Cognitive biases aside, we were getting closer to the capital of the coalition. Our four-day journey through the rough trails of the wildlands was nearing its end, and I could feel the anticipation, and dread, start to build within me. Part of me was excited to see what the coalition city was like, but the other half was worried about my reception once I got there.
There was a change in the landscape that happened as we exited the thick expanse of forest and undergrowth and emerged into a world of hills, valleys, and mountains as far as the eye could see. The undulating earth was beautiful, containing colors of the earth, grass, snow, flowers all in its untamed glory. The only mark of civilization was the road that we were on, a road that expanded quite significantly now that we were in the open.
Our speed increased as the obstacles and turns were removed from our path. Not only that, but the people we saw multiplied as well. There were wagons, farmers, fields, and livestock all in abundance. It was like we had entered a pocket of life in an otherwise untamed land.
Through the hills and into the mountains we went, along the twisting paths that ran along the sides of the cliffs and down into the ravines. It was while we traveled through these ravines that our destination finally came into sight. Nestled with its back against a mountain, sat the heart of the coalition, Sor’balvas, the Shining Jewel, as it is known in the native language.
With a half-moon wall touching two points of the mountain protecting the outside of the city, the layout of the town itself was like a series of giant steps slowly crawling up the side of the mountain. It made for an impressive and intimidating sight. Sharp spires like fingers jutted up at various points on the steps, providing multiple tiers of defenses that the garrison could attack from. Even if they didn’t have magical support for their walls in any way, this city would still be a nightmare to attack without heavy losses.
The city certainly lived up to its name as it was positively reflective when the sun was shining on it. Whatever they made, or painted, their buildings with certainly bright. As we got closer more details became clear.
The walls were thick, at least ten feet, and they snaked all the way up the mountain with gates at almost every upwards ramp. Large banners flew over the main gatehouse, the symbol of the coalition emblazoned upon them, that being a series of six linked chains with a sword running through the middle one.
As we approached the entrance to the city, I noticed a line that was formed at the front of a bunch of people who were trying to enter on foot or with a small pull cart. Being a ‘noble’ carriage convoy, we skipped past the waiting people and simply drove right up to the front where a small group of guards demanded we stop.
The voices were muffled a little as Kala and I were inside the carriage, but they spoke clearly so we could hear. “Halt! Present your identification.”
Velian was currently at the reins for our carriage, and he removed some official documentation that proved our, or more specifically, my identity. From my position inside, I was able to just glance at the features of the Ulgor guard as he read through the paper. Slowly his features went from skeptical to shocked. His gaze then shot up to the window I was looking out of, and we made eye contact for a moment before he quickly snapped to attention and rattled off some commands.
“Clear the path! Yes, we were told to expect you. Please proceed up the ramps to the topmost district, we have accommodations prepared for you there and a runner will notify the officials of your arrival.”
With clearance given, Velian started to drive the carriage towards the nearest sloping ramp that would take us farther into the city. The first thing I noticed when we entered was how the people were dressed. There was abundant use of leathers and furs in very interesting ways to match the bodies of the different species of the coalition. It most likely wasn’t just a fashion statement, but also a practical choice as the weather around here seemed to be quite frigid, and the sun hadn’t even set yet.
The buildings were a combination of both stonework and bricklaying with wooden supports or aesthetic features. There was white paint or plaster applied to nearly every structure. It seemed the local HOA was really adamant about maintaining a cohesive color palette.
It seemed lively here, more so than what you might expect from the side that was slowly losing the war up until a few weeks ago. Durdan’s description of the people’s state of mind popped into my head again. They became complacent, unable to see the effects of the war this far away from the fighting, so life just goes on for them with no consideration for just how bad things might get if they continue to do nothing.
The farther up the roads we went, the wealthier the surroundings became, a not at all unexpected shift as I imagined that would be the case. Rich people really do like looking down on others. Regardless, this shift in wealth also meant that we were getting closer to our destination.
Along the way we got a taste of the night life that Kala had talked about. There was a small portable stage set up with colorful banners and streamers that drew in the eye. Several long benches were set up in front of it with people standing around because no seat was empty. On stage there were several dancers in flowing clothes that were performing an elaborate dance to the beat of a small orchestra of drums and stringed instruments. People cheered as several Nactren were launched into the air by the much stronger Ulgor, doing a flip before being caught by their fellows on the other side. It was very impressive, but I couldn’t watch much longer as we continued onwards.
At last, we reached the precipice of the city. At the very top there was a large circular boulevard that had many richly dressed people walking to and from various locations. Large buildings, some private, others public, were around the edges of the circle. One of the grandest looking buildings was unmistakably a church, one that looked straight out of the gothic European era. Many depictions of the various gods were on display in the form of statues placed in alcoves on the front. My distaste for the building only grew when I realized that it was highly likely that I would have to step foot in it to do my job.
Our carriage stopped and when I looked out the other window there were a handful of people outside waiting for us to disembark. Taking a fortifying breath, I prepared myself to meet with them. Kala briefly met my gaze and gave me a smile with a small nod in encouragement. I returned her gesture of support just as our friends finished forming up outside the door. With a stiff motion, Otar opened the door for us, and thus my career as a politician officially began.