Fable - Ask Lords of Dust

[Ivan Skender]

Tell Arran - The Empire

It was intriguing perhaps, how sometimes the smallest, seemingly most insignificant of events could have the deepest repercussions down the line.

In Tell Arran, for instance, it had been rather surprising how the death of a small silk merchant some months prior had played into the already deeply-seated misgivings about the newly-forged Empire and its perceived neglect of the periphery to foster a full-blown mutiny.

While such events, occurring in a backwater such as this, would normally have been dismissed by the world at large, the Arrani had the relative misfortune of living close enough to the Anirian border that such happenings in their lives were of note to its Southern neighbour.

The city itself was difficult to access, laying at the heart of a mountainous massif that rose as an offshoot of the Fel Draza range further to the southeast. Surrounded by narrow gorges, insurmountable peaks, and arid wilderness, teeming with hostile tribes of sand elves, Tell Arran was not exactly a place it was easy to keep tabs on. So much so in fact, that rumours of these rebellions had taken months to reach Vel Anir, just next door.

Still, for all its remoteness, the settlement still commanded incredible strategic importance, laying on the narrow pass that connected Aniria proper to the Empire to the north. This had made it into something of a commercial hub for those courageous, or shrewd, enough to brave the craggy passes of the mountains.

It had been this mix of strategic and economic value that had prompted Vel Anir to send a small detachment to assess, and act on, the recent - or maybe not so recent - events that had transpired within the fortified settlement.

With a mission to investigate, make contact, and - should the situation favour such an approach - play the power-brokers of Tell Arran to secure a friendly government in the city, a group of initiates had been assigned to the mountain settlement.

Considering his recent successful foray into these lands, Ivan had been among those handpicked for this mission. Riding at the head of the small Anirian grouping, astride Naspie, the black camel he had… acquired during his first visit to the Tell Arran, the blonde had been rather eager for this assignment. Not only was it a great opportunity for advancement - due to the great responsibility placed upon the initiates - but also it was a chance to get away from the smothering embrace of the Academy. For while the border was close, Aniria itself was far away and difficult to reach, which meant that, while they were to be stationed here, they would be completely and fully on their own.

His mount, for one, seemed to share in his eagerness, its contentment to be back home rather evident in its gleeful bleating as they approached the reddish-brown walls of Tell Arran.

- “We should find shelter the moment we get into the city.” - He told his comrades. - “Our last intel from the city is from months ago." - He continued. - "Better set up camp somewhere first to try and figure out what's happened since ." -​

 

[Rhidian]

"Shame Quinnick ain't here to exercise her Kaliti. I am so awful with the language." Rhidian grimaced, riding astride Ivan on his own equine steed. It seemed his experience in growing up in a family that served the Guard and going through the training for six months before active duty gave the figure heads of this mission the idea to sigh up Rhidian to keeping order in this bordering city.

He had heard Ivan speak of the adventure he had taken last he was here, Livia assisting him. He knew after hearing it all that he wouldn't follow Skender into any ruin or let him touch anything.

"Fuck, and I thought the Savannah was hot... this heat is something else." He wiped his face down with his light layered sleeves, eager to bathe and get some rest as soon as he could. "Got any contacts to ask around or we doing this the old fashioned way, going door to door and hoping they can speak Common or Anirian?" The former more likely than the latter.

 

[Ivan Skender]

Shame Quinnick ain't here to exercise her Kaliti. I am so awful with the language.​

Naspie the camel let out a bleat that almost made it seem as though the beast agreed with the other initiate. Ivan couldn't blame either, really. He had heard Rhidian's... attempt at speaking Kaliti, and suffice to say his respect for his comrade had not improved following that display.

But alas, they were not there to test their conversational skills, but rather their subterfuge ones.

- "No, we're going in blind." - He replied to Rhidian. - "We had one contact that stopped reporting a few weeks ago, and even then, the intel we had from before is months old by now." - And they would both know that, when it came to a city at war, a matter of mere weeks could feel like ages as far as information was concerned.

That was especially true here, in Tell Arran, where - if rumours were to be believed - power brokers and ambitious kingmakers switched sides and shifted their allegiances with about as much frequency as the breezes changed directions.

- "I would also avoid approaching people, if it can be helped, and especially not in Anirian." - Though a fair time of travel away, beyond the mountains, Aniria was still Tell Arran's most important neighbour. The issue with this was, of course, as the elves of the Falwood could attest to, that having Vel Anir right next door was not something that inspired confidence in anyone.

- "Last time I was here there were a bunch of abandoned houses throughout the city," - He continued. - "We can try to locate one, and make it our headquarters." -

He then glanced over his shoulder, to the rest of the Anirian group.

- "We should split up here." - He told two other initiates. - "You two go East, survey the mountains, and then join us back in Arran. We need to know if something's about to come out of those hills." -

With a head nod, the two pulled the reins of their mounts and changed course, heading towards a lateral path that led up the steep slopes all around them.

As they disappeared behind a tall rock formation, Ivan pulled his hood up, so as to hide his straw-blonde hair, and urged Naspie forward, towards the gates of the city.

Rhidian​

 

[Rhidian]

Rhidian watched as the two Initiates didn't make a fuss at Skender giving them an order, moving towards the east.

"Alright then, somewhere to base our order of operations." He leaned back, hand grasping at the haphazardly folded map he stuff in his saddle bag. "Quinnick drew these up. Updated with the last reports too..." And she had made plenty of notes in the margins of best places to station themselves for defensive reasons. He wondered to himself if she should have tagged along, but the Compass was deemed too important for another mission. And thus, they lost someone that spoke Kaliti.

"There's apparently a goldsmith workshop and shopfront in one building. Has a vault, but the business has moved on." Rhid recalled the reports he had read, the very same ones Ivan mentioned. A lot of fmailies and business decided to move further into the Empire, as if they would still be protected there. "A vault can act as a cell, right? Just in case, of course."

Was that possibly a good place to stake a claim on?