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- Character Biography
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She was in the midst of a great crowd of people, all of whom circled round about the great orange light of pyres, which stretched out into the dark around and above them. Some wept, some chanted beneath their breath, but she stood silently. And while the eyes of many were upon the ground or upon the fires of death, Ahti looked up. Her gaze drifted between the rising sparks, and on into the dark of the sky.
She never imagined it would be like this...
But like all things it seemed, as the great domes of Ragash came into view it was clear that their pleasant trip was nearly at an end. She quietly lamented to herself under her breath, loathe to return to the Estate quite so soon. But, she knew that there were many people who now looked to her for guidance, and so she needed to portray herself with as much poise and wisdom as she could. She couldn't display her anxiety like she just had, but luckily those present were also those closest to her. They understood. Most of the others, likely would not. She was, after all, Daughter of House Merira.
It was while she wandered through her thoughts for the few final moments of relative freedom that she had left when they arrived at Ragash's great gates. They were quite well guarded with many swords stationed all around the surrounding area leading toward the gate, and she knew from having left days prior that there was a similar scenario inside the walls. The gates themselves were vast, with one side of them swung close to bottle-neck the majority of the traffic through one side, while making way for carriage, wagons, and elephants like hers through the other side only when needed. And such had been the state of things in recent weeks, not only here in Ragash but across all of the Empire she had heard.
After everything that had happened at Alabyad Palace that night, the Imperial Guard had more than doubled its presence, Enforcers patrolled the streets in far greater numbers, and travel in and out of the city was closely monitored. Given the cost of what had happened, she could hardly say she disagreed. However, as they drew closer to the gates where her subservient would handle the dealings with the guards, Ahti's eyes cast down to those who were making their way on foot into the city.
The scuffing up of some dust caught her attention. Her eyes fell upon a group of half a dozen guards lining themselves up against what appeared to be one individual. He himself was just upon the gates, and as Ahti's elephant came up alongside, it became clear to her that the guards had taken issue with him.
"I've never seen your face around here before," one of them said, quite loudly at that.
She never imagined it would be like this...
* * *
Ahti took in a deep breath as a warm breeze passed through. She was soothed by the peace she'd found out here in the midst of the seas of sand, albeit from the comfort of the gently swaying howdah safely nested atop a great elephant. Its thunderous steps were muted by the sands beneath them, but she could still feel its weight with every footfall as they shifted and moved with its stride. This was something she was quite used to and found it to be another comfort. It had been some time since she had traveled like this, and though it had been several weeks since she'd been free to do so, she'd had a difficult time bringing herself to depart from the city. And now she returned with only a pair of empty urns. But the journey in itself was something she had thoroughly enjoyed.
But like all things it seemed, as the great domes of Ragash came into view it was clear that their pleasant trip was nearly at an end. She quietly lamented to herself under her breath, loathe to return to the Estate quite so soon. But, she knew that there were many people who now looked to her for guidance, and so she needed to portray herself with as much poise and wisdom as she could. She couldn't display her anxiety like she just had, but luckily those present were also those closest to her. They understood. Most of the others, likely would not. She was, after all, Daughter of House Merira.
It was while she wandered through her thoughts for the few final moments of relative freedom that she had left when they arrived at Ragash's great gates. They were quite well guarded with many swords stationed all around the surrounding area leading toward the gate, and she knew from having left days prior that there was a similar scenario inside the walls. The gates themselves were vast, with one side of them swung close to bottle-neck the majority of the traffic through one side, while making way for carriage, wagons, and elephants like hers through the other side only when needed. And such had been the state of things in recent weeks, not only here in Ragash but across all of the Empire she had heard.
After everything that had happened at Alabyad Palace that night, the Imperial Guard had more than doubled its presence, Enforcers patrolled the streets in far greater numbers, and travel in and out of the city was closely monitored. Given the cost of what had happened, she could hardly say she disagreed. However, as they drew closer to the gates where her subservient would handle the dealings with the guards, Ahti's eyes cast down to those who were making their way on foot into the city.
The scuffing up of some dust caught her attention. Her eyes fell upon a group of half a dozen guards lining themselves up against what appeared to be one individual. He himself was just upon the gates, and as Ahti's elephant came up alongside, it became clear to her that the guards had taken issue with him.
"I've never seen your face around here before," one of them said, quite loudly at that.
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