To Meirgrand

It had been a few uneventful days on the Emperor's Road for the Silver Sect. They noticed a lot of people traveling both ways. Curious as to why the road seemed busier than normal they asked a random caravan.

"Where have you been hiding?" a middle aged, scraggly bearded tinker, asked from his cart.

"What do you mean?"

"The attacks on the Emperor and the other Kings have caused people to panic. The border restrictions have tightened, we got turned around. You'd be best to do the same, rather then waste your time." He snapped the reins of his horse to continue trotting. They ignored his warning and pressed onward.

On the border between Sa'vour and Voria the nations had stationed a section of Embers. Positioned on either side of the bridge over the Grey River. The Sect slowed their progress as a line of other travelers were attempting to cross. The river was a natural border between Sa'vour and Voria. The bridge across was the only safe place to traverse the river.

"This had to be Ottothal's doing," Erigos said, as he controlled the cart.

"One would assume that," Harim said.

"How do we plan to get through? They probably have an image of us or at the very least a description."

"How would they know we even left the city?" Rothox said.

"One in Ottothal's position would have all his bases covered. He will have informed his men the morning they tried to arrest you. All the Embers will be looking for you. Let me do the talking. You three do your best to disguise yourselves."

Alissa waved her hand and changed her appearance into that of a simple child. Rothox threw his cowl over his head, whispered a phrase before similar magic to Alissa's changed him into a human male with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Harim seemed impressed, "Perfect, and you Erigos?" He turned to the elf.

"Unfortunately I don't possess that ability but I will wrap my face and you can think of something since you'll be doing the talking." Erigos removed some cloth from his pack and covered his face. They were still a few carts away from the front, the line moved quickly with the majority getting turned away. This was not a comforting sign.

"Halt, what business do you have in Voria?" The Ember approached their cart. He waved his hand for his men to search their cart. One of the men that did not approach was holding a few pieces of paper. He would look down at one then back to the group, then down again, and back to the group.

"Sir if I may," Harim gestured for the Ember to come closer. He was apprehensive but he did. Rothox noticed as he shoved a heft sack of coins into Ember's hands. The Ember quickly placed it in one of his military pouches on his waist.

"They are good, let them through, no need for inspection." His men halted.

"Umm...Sir are you sure?"

"Yes, let them through." The Embers stepped aside and allowed them to pass. Once they were across the bridge and well out of eyesight Erigos unwrapped his head.

"So much for doing the talking."

"Money has its own voice." Harim smiled.

"How much did you give him?" Alissa asked, as her child disguise faded. Although not much had really changed about her.

"Alissa, it's not polite to ask that," Erigos once again acted as a father figure.

"It's alright, maybe one day she'll need to learn how to bribe a guard." He winked at her. Harim went on to tell her about his strategy for bribery, when-to and when not to. Erigos and Rothox both had done their fair share of bribery over the years but even they learned a few things. Who was this merchant; monk; briber that they had now shared a week of traveling with. Time would tell.

Meirgrand, the capital city of Voria, the North Eastern Kingdom of Yulandi, wasn't anything special at first. It looked to be a city built next to a large canyon. The city grew larger as they approached and from the highlands that began to slope down towards the city, the group noticed the far side of the canyon had been carved out. The city was built into the side of the canyon with massive waterfalls flowing over the top of it, hiding a majority of this section of the city. A silhouette of a mountain range to the north feeds into a large river that flows into this canyon. Meirgrand, a mining and industrial city makes use of bridges and cable cars as the roadways to and from the surface to the canyon. This natural separation is also a cultural separation. Dwarves and humans both reside in the city. The humans mainly live on the surface with the dwarves dwelling in the canyon. At the bottom of this massive canyon is a river that feeds into the Eastern Ocean.

Rothox wasn't born in this city but he was from it. The lower levels in the canyon are home to an array of misfortunate and poorer people. He grew up there as an orphan, for obvious reasons. His mother had been a slave in the mines near Culku City. She managed, with the aid of a friend, to get her child out of the mines. He was left at an orphanage but went off on his own as soon as he could. No one among the Sect knew this and as they waited in a line of carts and people, again, to get into the city he kept it to himself.

After a while, the line still hadn't moved. A voice called out over the crowd.

"Meirgrand is closed indefinitely! There will be no entrance into the city! The assassins are still at large!"

"What do you mean indefinitely?" A voice from further up the line called.

"Meaning no one enters or leaves the city until the King says so. Go home."

"This is our home!" A new voice yelled.

"Be patient, camp outside the city. If you run out of supplies there will be rations."

A crowd began to form at the front as people had questions. For fear of a riot a substantial force of Embers arrived and formed a defensive barrier in front of the main gate.

"What now? Might be tough to bribe our way in." Erigos looked at Harim as he spoke.

Rothox, who was sitting down in the cart, turned to face Erigos. "I may have a way in."

"Oh?"

"I know of a secret staircase into the canyon. It is more dangerous than the one we encountered after leaving Zarcum, though."

"How do you know this?" asked Harim.

"Just like you I have my secrets," said Rothox. Harim respected his secrets, after all, he had his.

"What do we do with the cart and the donkeys? We need them to get to Culku City," Erigos asked.

"We leave them and hope the city opens soon and we can come back or we buy new on the other side," Rothox replied.

Harim and Erigos were able to sell the cart and the donkeys to one of the many people stuck outside the city, making sure to take the necessary items from the cart. They were able to carry most of the supplies between the four of them. Rothox led the way off the road, heading East around the walls of the city.

A few hours later they had left the city behind and were following, from a safe distance, the side of the canyon. From this close, they could see the vast size and depth of it. On their side, Erigos noticed a bundle of boulders just ahead.

"What are those boulders?" he asked.

"That's where we are heading," Rothox said.

The boulders were sheltering a small hut. The little wooden structure was built against the largest of the boulders. Rothox whistled a little tune as the hut came into view. A halfling appeared at the entrance of the hut.

"Is that Rothox!" The halfling man stepped out of his doorway.

"Hey, Laf."

"Damn it's good to see you! How long has it been?" The two clasped arms.

"Too long, friend, too long."

"What brings you back to The Scar?"

"Got a favor to ask...We need entrance to the city."

"I heard rumors they might close her down, never expecting they'd actually go through with it. I can take ya, but we'll have to wait for nightfall, the flame boys are on high alert these days."

"Of course Laf, we appreciate it."

"Anything for Rothox." He smiled.

"Have you never heard the story of The Scar?" Lafamar asked as they made their way down the first set of stairs. Night had arrived and their halfling guide was eager to start the treacherous journey.

"Do tell us." Harim was curious.

"Legend says that before we humanoids were born the world was roamed by large Titans. These Titans were birthed by the earth itself, born of the elements. They say that The Scar was the birthplace of a great earth Titan. It awoke and pulled itself from the earth's womb leaving this massive canyon."

"Titans? I doubt that," said Erigos.

"Maybe, maybe not, but it's a better story than, it was just there." Laf laughed as he skipped along the narrow ledge, inches away from thousands of feet of a sheer cliff.