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Bran is a part of 
Asrinon.
A grunt and an exhale of breath escaped the dwarfs lips as he strode down the last stretch of road towards the city gates. He'd run out of bread and cheese days ago, and it had been a while since he'd caught a rabbit, and while Hogar did enjoy his time walking in nature, even he had to admit it would be nice to have something in his belly other then nuts and berries for a change. Returning to civilization brought the prospect of food fresh from the market, and the old dwarf could feel himself salivating at image of some stew and potatoes with a full pint of ale to wash it down.
Food, however, wasn't his chief concern at the moment though, as the real reason for his trek to the human city was to follow up on a job board he'd seen posted some odd days ago. While he really didn't need the money, having enough to get the basic essentials in his own pocket, the excuse to go on another little adventure was all he really needed at the moment, and the promise of getting to crack a few bandit skulls open was a nice bonus.
"Name?" came the short question of the customs officer as Hogar reached the gate.
"Hogar Rafun." The dwarf replied, setting his pack down and pulling out his travel papers and handing them too the guardsman who looked them over quickly.
"What's your reason for being in the city dwarf?" The man asked. Though from the glances the guard was giving toward Hogar's armor and weapons it was easy to guess the man had an idea as to what the dwarf was there for.
"I'm 'ere fer the royal bounty huntin' job I saw on the message broads." He replied.
"Another mercenary then." It was a statement more then a question. Lots of folk like that had been popping up in the last few days. "Alright you probably know the rules. Don't steal anything, don't pick any fight, don't burn anything down, yadda yadda yadda." The guard rattled off with the tone of a man who had been say this a lot recently. "Also you may want to hurry to the keep then, the cut off time is going to be in the next hour or so for anyone that wants to pile on."
Receiving his papers back the dwarf nodded and gave a word of thanks, before picking his pack back up and treading through the gates. He passed quickly through the streets, resisting the urge to stop at any of the shops to gawk at whatever was on display for the sake of good attendance. As much as Hogar wanted to, he would have to put of his usual sight seeing till later. Getting a few directions he hiked through the twisting streets till he reach the Fortress In Stone, as the locals called it. He stopped briefly to place his hands on the engraved walls carved out of the mountain side. "Good stone work." He muttered to himself, still feeling some of his heritage as a man of the mines calling to him.
Further entry to the keep end up with him being redirected to the "stables" he found. Odd, he thought, as he was thinking that they would have met in a court yard or something if the hired warriors were assembling. It didn't matter much to the old warrior though, but he did have to wonder about the odd placement of the stables in the back of the keep.
Reaching the room where the band was being the assembled at last, the dwarf stood giving a scrutinizing look upon the gather men and women. His opinion on the group still on debate. "So do I just sit anywhere then?" He asked the nearest member of staff. They waved the dwarf of toward a random corner as they soldiers attended to getting the mercenaries placed. Hogar gave a gruff and sat himself down on a box in the corner of the room. Setting his pack down, he pulled out a bag of nuts, popping a few in his mouth and eliciting a loud crunching noise as he bit down on them. Resolving to wait until somebody decided to get things moving, the large dwarf settled down quietly, occasionally chewing loudly on his snack while he watch people come in the door.
Food, however, wasn't his chief concern at the moment though, as the real reason for his trek to the human city was to follow up on a job board he'd seen posted some odd days ago. While he really didn't need the money, having enough to get the basic essentials in his own pocket, the excuse to go on another little adventure was all he really needed at the moment, and the promise of getting to crack a few bandit skulls open was a nice bonus.
"Name?" came the short question of the customs officer as Hogar reached the gate.
"Hogar Rafun." The dwarf replied, setting his pack down and pulling out his travel papers and handing them too the guardsman who looked them over quickly.
"What's your reason for being in the city dwarf?" The man asked. Though from the glances the guard was giving toward Hogar's armor and weapons it was easy to guess the man had an idea as to what the dwarf was there for.
"I'm 'ere fer the royal bounty huntin' job I saw on the message broads." He replied.
"Another mercenary then." It was a statement more then a question. Lots of folk like that had been popping up in the last few days. "Alright you probably know the rules. Don't steal anything, don't pick any fight, don't burn anything down, yadda yadda yadda." The guard rattled off with the tone of a man who had been say this a lot recently. "Also you may want to hurry to the keep then, the cut off time is going to be in the next hour or so for anyone that wants to pile on."
Receiving his papers back the dwarf nodded and gave a word of thanks, before picking his pack back up and treading through the gates. He passed quickly through the streets, resisting the urge to stop at any of the shops to gawk at whatever was on display for the sake of good attendance. As much as Hogar wanted to, he would have to put of his usual sight seeing till later. Getting a few directions he hiked through the twisting streets till he reach the Fortress In Stone, as the locals called it. He stopped briefly to place his hands on the engraved walls carved out of the mountain side. "Good stone work." He muttered to himself, still feeling some of his heritage as a man of the mines calling to him.
Further entry to the keep end up with him being redirected to the "stables" he found. Odd, he thought, as he was thinking that they would have met in a court yard or something if the hired warriors were assembling. It didn't matter much to the old warrior though, but he did have to wonder about the odd placement of the stables in the back of the keep.
Reaching the room where the band was being the assembled at last, the dwarf stood giving a scrutinizing look upon the gather men and women. His opinion on the group still on debate. "So do I just sit anywhere then?" He asked the nearest member of staff. They waved the dwarf of toward a random corner as they soldiers attended to getting the mercenaries placed. Hogar gave a gruff and sat himself down on a box in the corner of the room. Setting his pack down, he pulled out a bag of nuts, popping a few in his mouth and eliciting a loud crunching noise as he bit down on them. Resolving to wait until somebody decided to get things moving, the large dwarf settled down quietly, occasionally chewing loudly on his snack while he watch people come in the door.
“This is where we part for the moment, Misha.” A woman who clearly bare the markings from one of the few tribes around Atris, had halted her rather... Peculiar steed. A white tiger nearly the size of a horse, growled softly at its companion's remark, but did not obstruct Krisiries when she had stepped of its back. “Go play in the forest while I tend to today's business, okay?” The woman gave the white tiger a kiss on its cheek as she gently stroked the creature's chin, before hiking whatever distance was left from her and the city of Bran. Not too much it seemed, as the higher buildings and strong walls has already revealed themselves to Krisiries' sight.
“Name, miss?” Two guards had lowered their spears in front of the gate, obstructing passage for the woman before them.
First time visiting the capital, or any major city for that matter, and already Krisiries had her fill for today. Surely, she hadn't opposed any threat to the guardsmen, and Misha had not followed her in secret. “Err... Krisiries, I am here on behalf of this poster.” With reluctance and annoyance, the woman pulled a sheet of paper from her satchel and pressed it into the guard's face.
“Of course, please enter.” Being stared at for what appeared to be an eternity, Krisiries continued her walk into Bran, not paying any more mind to the guardsmen that had not done well for her today.
Fortress In Stone, is what the Elder had called the building Krisiries had to go to, but what it would look like, was a different question entirely. It wasn't long before the staring of frightened locals had attracted the attention of the guards, and a few of them had offered Krisiries to guide her to the castle.
Once there, the woman was let through the amazingly large halls made out of thick stone, presumably led to the Queen. But nay, the guards had already figured her reasoning for visiting Bran, and escorted Krisiries to the back stables, where other able men and women had gathered. Mercenaries, obviously. Krisiries had seen quite a few of them in her years. Some even made the mistake of trying to rob her clan from any valuables. Poor bastards only tried that once.
Vaguely thanking her escorts with a nod, the woman seated herself a few inches away from the nearest person, and gave her full attention and care to one of the horses that had stood idly in their tiny housing.
“Name, miss?” Two guards had lowered their spears in front of the gate, obstructing passage for the woman before them.
First time visiting the capital, or any major city for that matter, and already Krisiries had her fill for today. Surely, she hadn't opposed any threat to the guardsmen, and Misha had not followed her in secret. “Err... Krisiries, I am here on behalf of this poster.” With reluctance and annoyance, the woman pulled a sheet of paper from her satchel and pressed it into the guard's face.
“Of course, please enter.” Being stared at for what appeared to be an eternity, Krisiries continued her walk into Bran, not paying any more mind to the guardsmen that had not done well for her today.
Fortress In Stone, is what the Elder had called the building Krisiries had to go to, but what it would look like, was a different question entirely. It wasn't long before the staring of frightened locals had attracted the attention of the guards, and a few of them had offered Krisiries to guide her to the castle.
Once there, the woman was let through the amazingly large halls made out of thick stone, presumably led to the Queen. But nay, the guards had already figured her reasoning for visiting Bran, and escorted Krisiries to the back stables, where other able men and women had gathered. Mercenaries, obviously. Krisiries had seen quite a few of them in her years. Some even made the mistake of trying to rob her clan from any valuables. Poor bastards only tried that once.
Vaguely thanking her escorts with a nod, the woman seated herself a few inches away from the nearest person, and gave her full attention and care to one of the horses that had stood idly in their tiny housing.
Xandur
The sun was nearing the center of the sky over the charming countryside surrounding Bran. Perfect amount of light for some reading. A hooded man walked down the main road to the City of the Black Rose Queen, a white staff in one hand and a large leather bound book in the other. His head was down, staring directly at the book with great intensity. The book seemed to be his world, not paying mind to any of the other nuisances of life. However, he seemed to be aware of his surroundings, seeing as he perfectly avoided tripping over rocks or holes without even lifting his eyes from the text. He soon approached the gate of the large city and was halted before he could get past the main gates. Two halberds blocked his way, but he had stopped without looking up from his book. The man at the registration desk stared at him expectantly. "What's your business here?" the guard asked suspiciously. The hooded man faced his body towards the desk and stepped up to it, all while still reading the book. After a few silent moments, the guard looked as if he were going to speak again, but the hooded man raised a large black stony finger, signaling for his silence. Surprised by the hand that sat in front of him and the unexpected gesture, the guard sat there in silence and withheld his statement. The hooded man then snapped the book shut and put it into his satchel. He then raised his head to face the guard. "I'm here to assist your queen with her bandit troubles." The hooded man stated plainly.
The guards eyed each other, unsure of the man. "Your the second man with an eye-patch to have come through here today. Is it standard for you types or what?
" From beneath the hood, the man produced a simple smile. The guards chuckled to each other, but not in a mocking way. "Right then, name?" the guard asked him. "Xandur." he stated in a pleasant tone. The man eyed for a second, then wrote it down. "Alright then. Your lucky, you just made it. Guess that means your the last one. Jacob here will escort you to the....stables." The guard said oddly, gesturing to a guard behind. The two nodded to each other and the hooded man began to follow the guard into the city.
The city seemed rather active at the moment. He had weave his way through the crowd to keep up with the guard. Though, you could feel tension in the air. Though they went about their daily lives, these apparent attacks so close to their beds had obviously offset them. Still they scuttled on with their shopping and sawing and hammering. Anything to make them forget, to try and say for a awhile, I am content. What with the continent slowly circling the proverbial sinkhole into war, they tried to remain happy. Admirable.......but naive.
They had finally arrived to what they called 'The Stables'. It seemed that in this city, stables meant 'cave in back of castle'. Odd that they would reveal an escape point to a band of mercenaries, foreign mercenaries at that. Xandur wasn't worried though, he rarely ever was. The other men and women there were quite the colorful cast. It seemed a fellow patch was their, a dwarf, a tribal, a noble? Wait.....no, clergy member. Symbol of Janos was a dead give away. Xandur was never really popular with men of the cloth. It had something to do with him being agnostic, he suspected. And finally.....a little girl? As he entered the cave and made his way to a rock, he examined her out of the corner of her eyes. There was something off about her. Her eyes and their spacing, her nose and her cheek bones. Her posture was what gave it away though. She was an Elf. Though, he wondered what had happened to her ears.
As he sat down, he pulled out his book and began to read it, holding it in his massive stone hand. Every so often, the pages would turn themselves.
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